ROME - The Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Investment Forum 2025 opened today at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters, showcasing more than $15.9 billion in investment cases that target improving the food security of some of the world's most vulnerable peoples.
More than 2000 participants from governments, private companies, development banks, and foundations are gathering for the four-day event, which catalyzes and hosts bilateral meetings where vulnerable countries can pitch their cases for profitable and livelihood-improving projects ranging from Somalian sesame and Tuvalu taro to Bangladeshi flowers, Mongolian cashmere, and Paraguayan aquaculture.
The Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum mobilizes large-scale, data-driven financing for agrifood systems to accelerate progress toward ending hunger and achieving sustainable development. It is part of the World Food Forum, a global platform that drives action to transform agrifood systems through the power of youth, science and innovation, and investment.
"We face an unprecedented opportunity, and responsibility, to collectively transform global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable," FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said in remarks kicking off the Forum, which this year focuses on investing for scale and investing for success.
"Transformation requires investment, and not just more investment, but better targeted and longer-term investment" he added, noting that current financing levels are insufficient and often misaligned with national priorities.
"It is not only a question of limited funds - it is about the need to ensure that resources are strategically allocated where we can deliver the greatest impact, guided by robust data, analysis, and evidence," Qu said, noting that low and lower-middle income countries hold the greatest potential for growth and transformation.
This year's Investment Forum features 31 countries and six regional initiatives presenting investment opportunities valued at almost $16 billion across agrifood sectors, value chains and regions. These investments have the potential to benefit over 175 million people by improving food security, nutrition, and climate resilience.
The annual forum provides an opportunity for governments to present investment plans developed through the Hand-in-Hand Initiative's tools and technical support, including geospatial analysis, soil mapping, climate-risk assessment, and economic analysis. Investors can use a dedicated bilateral meeting app to request one-on-one dialogues with the HIH countries and regional initiatives to explore investment opportunities.
By working with international financial institutions and governments, the Investment Forum helps de-risk private investment through evidence and blended finance. Since 2022, it has mobilized $8.7 billion in commitments.
Public finance acts as the catalyst, unlocking and derisking larger volumes of responsible private investment, Qu said. "This is how transformation becomes tangible, how capital turns into crops, innovation and livelihoods."
President Gabriel Boric of Chile also gave a keynote address to open the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum 2025.
This year's highlights
Three thematic sessions on systemic investing, climate finance, and innovative approaches for women and youth.
A high-level panel on bridging investments and smallholder farmers for resilient coffee value chains.
An interactive exhibition showcasing Hand-in-Hand methodologies and tools, including FAO's Data Lab, Geospatial Platform, and the Environmental Externalities Accounting Tool, known as EX-ACT.
A new regional initiative for Pacific Small Island Developing States, comprising 14 countries and a nearly $1 billion suite of integrated investments linked to biosecurity and pest management, digitalization, certification and traceability, and improved infrastructures for coconut, taro and fish industries.
The Investors Networking Lounge, a hub for governments, private investors, international financial institutions, and development partners to connect and build partnerships.
The private sector networking reception will take place on Tuesday evening, hosted by FAO's Director-General and the International Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Chefs' Manifesto. The event provides an opportunity for the private sector to network and dialogue, to spark collaboration, and to define joint commitments to scale transformation.
The Investment Forum 2025 agenda is here, while detailed descriptions of each country's proposals, along with those of the six regional initiatives, can be accessed here.
Hand-in-Hand Initiative progress report
Some 80 countries are now participating in the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.
In 2024, 29 countries and five regional initiatives presented $15 billion in investment opportunities that, if realized, would reach more than 120 million beneficiaries.
Billions of dollars in funding have already been pledged and mobilized.
At the last Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum, Papua New Guinea clinched a $60 million funding arrangement with the Asian Development Bank and IFAD to establish national horticultural markets, catalyzing the enhancement and consolidation of the country's food supply chain, further integrating coastal and highland specialties.
South Sudan has secured a $55.6 million investment from the African Development Bank to boost the production of rice and sorghum, among other crops, expand rural infrastructure, and promote climate-smart agriculture, research, and financing for women and youth agribusinesses.
São Tomé and Príncipe advanced its blue economy strategy using HIH geospatial tools, securing $15.6 million in financing from various partners, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union and the Green Climate Fund. Priorities include expanding coastal transport to improve inter-island connectivity, restoring beaches for climate-resilient tourism, and modernizing artisanal fishing to improve safety, sustainability, and livelihoods.
The FAO initiative also helped broker a deal in which small-scale farmers in highland Peru sell 600 tonnes of native potatoes to a snack company with a processing plant in Lima.
About the Hand-in-Hand Initiative
Launched in 2019 by FAO, the Hand-in-Hand Initiative is a country-led initiative to identify agrifood investment areas and value chains and access finance.
It applies a territorial approach and uses geospatial, biophysical and socio-economic data, as well as advanced analytics, to identify territories where agricultural transformation and sustainable management of forest and fisheries have the greatest potential for alleviating poverty and hunger.
This holistic approach brings together national and local governments, experts, and value-chain participants to discuss, identify and assess technically, projects that are suitable for the Hand-in-Hand approach, leading to an agreement on an investment plan with actionable and bankable projects reflecting each country's aspirations.
