With the majority of the poor living in rural areas, we emphasize the need to revitalize the agricultural sector, promote rural development and ensure food security, notably in developing countries, in a sustainable manner, which will lead to rich payoffs across the sustainable development goals.

We will support sustainable agriculture, including forestry, fisheries and pastoralism.

We will also take action to fight malnutrition and hunger among the urban poor.

Recognizing the enormous investment needs in these areas, we encourage increased public and private investments.

In this regard, we recognize the Committee on World Food Security’s voluntary Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems7 and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.

8 We recognize the efforts of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in mobilizing investment to enable rural people living in poverty to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience.

We value the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme and the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.

We also recognize the complementary role of social safety nets in ensuring food security and nutrition.

In this regard, we welcome the Rome Declaration on Nutrition

9 and the Framework for Action,

10 which can provide policy options and strategies aimed at ensuring food security and nutrition for all.

We also commit to increasing public investment, which plays a strategic role in financing research, infrastructure and pro-poor initiatives.

We will strengthen our efforts to enhance food security and nutrition and focus our efforts on smallholders and women farmers, as well as on agricultural cooperatives and farmers’ networks.

We call upon relevant agencies to further coordinate and collaborate in this regard, in accordance with their respective mandates.

These efforts must be supported by improving access to markets, enabling domestic and international environments and strengthened collaboration across the many initiatives in this area, including regional initiatives, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.

We will also work to significantly reduce post-harvest food loss and waste.