There are few wage-earning opportunities for the 223 million unemployed or underemployed youth in developing and emerging economies. Many of those young people are in rural areas where the local economy is largely agricultural. Agripreneurship – entrepreneurial activity in agriculture – increases youth employment while teaching them the hard and soft skills they need to manage enterprises profitably and sustainably. This improves their revenue, reduces business failure and fosters innovation in the agrifood systems of tomorrow. The brief explains the principles of investing wisely in such programmes for maximum benefit. This publication is part of the Investment Briefs series under the FAO Investment Centre’s Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.

The achievement of the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – end poverty and hunger by 2030 – requires substantial investments. To fully contribute to sustainable development, both public and private investments should be perfectly aligned with the SDGs. In this context, empowering youth to invest in their own farms and businesses along agricultural value chains should be a key component of sustainable development-centered investment promotion and mobilization strategy for three reasons: the improvement of food security; the promotion of the added value of food products; and the improvement of employment and economic well-being. This strategic planning tool can help propel investments by young agri-entrepreneurs at national or regional levels, and help ensure their sustainability. It analyses the current environment and overall conditions young investors face while offering practical solutions to overcome the main challenges identified. The strategic planning tool also helps ensure that decision-makers take ownership of the results through a participatory and inclusive process. The strategic planning process consists of four steps: 1. Identify which actions to prioritize (promising agri-food chains; target areas and groups of young people with the potential to become successful agri-entrepreneurs and who need help the most); 2. Analyse the current context, institutional, policy, legal, and incentive frameworks as well as existing services which help young agri-entrepreneurs make sustainable investments in the agricultural sector and food systems; 3. Develop a common vision of the optimal situation for young agri-entrepreneurs investing in agri-food chains; and 4. Develop practical solutions to enhance sustainable and responsible investments by young agri-entrepreneurs.

Measures that empower young agri-entrepreneurs should be a key component of a sustainable development-centred investment promotion strategy. The very realization of future generations’ food security, the sustainable transformation of food systems and the combat against unemployment and distress migration all depend upon the successful implementation of strategies that make the agri-food sector more attractive for the youth. This, in turn, requires smart policy responses that will help young investors overcome the numerous barriers they face – access to finance, land, information and technical services, to name but the most crucial ones.Since 2017, FAO has provided support to African and South-East Asian countries in identifying key challenges for young agri-entrepreneurs and good practices through participatory capacity analyses and strategic planning processes which were carried out with, and for the youth. This report summarizes the main findings and lessons learned from FAO’s work with eleven African countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda. It identifies key challenges and policy recommendations regarding youth’s access to finance; land; technical services and information; as well as the engagement of youth in policy-making processes. The report also contains a set of five overall key policy recommendations for the empowerment of young agri-entrepreneurs.

The Investment guidelines for youth in agrifood systems in Africa, developed jointly by FAO and the African Union Commission (AUC) through a multi-stakeholder and participatory process, highlight the importance of youth as change agents and key stakeholders contributing to sustainable agrifood systems. The guidelines aim to accelerate investments in and by youth in agrifood systems by providing practical guidance - including tools and examples - to design, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate youth-focused and youth-sensitive investment programmes and to engage youth fully as partners in the entire process. The guidelines were prepared with the support of the AUC and FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) “Partnership to Support AU’s Strategies on Social Protection, School Feeding and Rural Youth Employment” of the FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) and from the Investment Centre (CFI). This publication is part of the Investment Toolkits series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Finance, Technology and Law Reform Achieving the SDGs requires a fundamental rethink from businesses and governments across the globe. To make the ambitious goals a reality, trillions of dollars need to be harnessed to mobilise finance and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Bringing together leaders from the World Bank, the financial and business sectors, the startup community and academia, this important, topically relevant volume explains what the SDGs are, how they came about and how they can be accelerated. Real-world case studies and authoritative insights address how to direct investment of existing financial resources and re-align the global financial system to reflect the SDGs. In depth chapters discuss how financial institutions, such as UBS Wealth Management, Manulife Asset Management and Moody’s Rating Agency are supporting the SDGs. The opportunities arising from Blockchain, Big Data, Digital Identity and cutting-edge FinTech and RegTech applications are explored, whilst the relevance of sustainable and transparent global supply chains is underscored. Significant attention is paid to law reform which can accelerate progress of the SDGs through SME Financing, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Lending and tax restructuring. To achieve the ‘World We Want’, much needs to be done. The recommendations contained within this book are critical for supporting a fundamental shift in thinking from business and governments around the world, and for building a more just and prosperous future for all.

This book focuses on the contested nature and competing narratives of food system transformations, despite it being widely acknowledged that changes are essential for the safeguarding of human and planetary health and well-being. The book approaches food system transformation through narratives, or the stories we tell ourselves and others about how things work. Narratives are closely connected with theories of change, although food system actors frequently lack explicit theories of change. Using political economy and systems approaches to analyze food system transformation, the author focuses on how power in food systems manifests, and how this affects whom can obtain healthy and culturally appropriate food on a reliable basis. Among the narratives covered are agroecology, food sovereignty and technological innovation. The book draws on interviews and recorded speeches by a broad range of stakeholders, including international policymakers, philanthropists, academics and researchers, workers in the food and agricultural industries and activists working for NGOs and social movements. In doing so, it presents contrasting narratives and their implicit or explicit theories of change. This approach is vitally important as decisions made by policymakers over the next few years, based on competing narratives, will have a major influence on who will eat what, how food will be produced, and who will have a voice is shaping food systems. The overarching contribution of this book is to point toward the most promising pathways for achieving sustainable food systems and refute pathways that show little hope of achieving a more sustainable future. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers interested in creating a sustainable food system which will ensure a food secure, socially just and environmentally sustainable future.

Poised to become the go-to place for agrifood investment and finance solutions, the FAO Investment Centre provides a full suite of investment support services to FAO Members, working in over 120 countries. The Centre acts as a bridge between Members and financing partners to scale up agrifood investment for greater impact at country level. It also supports better enabling conditions for policy and investment and integrates FAO’s vast knowledge and expertise into national and regional investment planning.In 2022, the Centre helped design 45 IFI-approved public investment projects in 34 countries for a total of USD 8.8 billion in new investment – up 22 percent from the previous year’s USD 7.2 billion. And it provided implementation support to 275 ongoing investment projects representing a portfolio worth over USD 44.5 billion.Also notable were contributions to 52 agricultural studies, 25 sector studies, 17 policy studies and 6 policy dialogues and the publication of 34 new knowledge products – from a flagship study on carbon neutrality in agrifood systems to investing in youth in Africa, among others.