FAO: Extra $105bn a year needed for agri to help end world hunger

Ending world hunger sustainably by 2030 requires an estimated additional $105 billion of investment in agri and rural development per year, said a new Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, Achieving Zero Hunger.

According to the report, 0.3 percent of world economic output in 2014 or roughly $267 billion per year, is required to fund social protection and “pro-poor” investments from 2016 to 2030.

Targeting “pro-poor” investments, which enable the poor to earn enough to lift themselves out of poverty, would eventually diminish the need for social protection.

Some $105 billion will be needed for rural development and agriculture, while $151 billion would be for “pro-poor” investments in the productive sectors, and $46 billion for urban areas.

The report found farmers are the major source of investment in the sector, but formal systems of credit and insurance often discriminate against them, especially smallholder family farmers.

Read the report, Achieving Zero Hunger.