The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge welcomes Global Citizen as a new supporter
The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge is pleased to welcome international advocacy organisation Global Citizen as a new supporter in the effort to mobilise companies to end hunger. Global Citizen joins technical partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Shamba Centre for Food & Climate, World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and World Food Programme (WFP) in supporting the Pledge.
The Pledge is a pioneering initiative that recognises the important role of the business community in achieving SDG 2. Based on the evidence from the Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger, it identifies the 10 priority interventions and 90 countries where investments will have the greatest impact. Its relationship with the Zero Hunger Coalition ensures collaboration and alignment with public commitments to deliver transformative action in eradicating hunger.
Participation in Global Citizen NOW
To mark this new collaboration, the Pledge participated in the recent Global Citizen NOW summit, which brought together global leaders and advocates to advance solutions for the eradication of poverty. In addition to main-stage panels on food security and nutrition, the programme also included side events addressing global hunger hotspots and financing solutions for zero hunger.
The representative from the Pledge, Lysiane Lefebvre, participated in a panel discussion on “Shrinking the last mile – building bridges and catalysing innovative solutions in the face of a global food crisis”, where participants reiterated the importance of:
- Looking to innovative financing mechanisms, especially mobilising more private capital for unlocking and scaling up the financing necessary to deliver on the global goal to end hunger by 2030;
- Strengthening accountability, including through robust data collection and analysis;
- Involving youth in solving for global problems such as hunger, who are too often excluded from decision-making and cannot access the necessary opportunities - including skills and tools - to realise their entrepreneurial potential;
- Recognising the interconnected of hunger and other crises, not only climate change but also environmental and especially land degradation; and
- Investing in infrastructure, especially roads, which are necessary to ensure food accessibility in rural areas and physically connect smallholder farmers which produce essential foods and food ingredients at the last mile, ensuring food accessibility in rural areas.
The Zero Hunger Pledge’s Proposition
The Pledge aims to align private investments with 10 high-impact intervention areas covering three broad categories: Empower the Excluded, On the Farm and Food on the Move.
“Empower the Excluded” calls for greater support for women, youth and rural communities. It recognises the importance of investing in youth and youth-led solutions to end hunger.
“On the Farm” addresses environmental issues such as land degradation through support to the adoption of climate-resilient crops as well as research on water-scarce regions to scale up effective farm-level interventions.
“Food on the Move” promotes investments in and along the agri-food value chain to ensure the production of safe, sustainable and nutritious foods.
The Pledge is also committed to holding itself accountable and reporting on the conversion of pledges into concrete actions by pledging companies. The Pledge led its first reporting process and published its first accountability report in 2023, finding that, in the first two years of the initiative, 14 companies had collectively deployed investments of $140 million through 103 projects in 46 countries.
The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge calls on companies from all sizes and from around the world to join the global movement to end hunger.