The FAST Partnership: Supporting Agriculture through Climate Finance

Challenge

Agriculture faces rising climate risks while dedicated climate finance for the sector has declined, limiting efforts to shift food systems onto more sustainable pathways.

Solution

The Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership strengthens national capacity and climate finance access, so countries can reorient agriculture toward resilient agrifood systems.

Overview

The Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership was launched at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022. It aims to support a shift in agriculture that benefits people, the climate, and nature by increasing the volume and quality of climate finance directed to the sector. FAST responds to a clear problem. In 2019, agriculture represented about 23% of global climate finance, but the share going to agriculture and food systems has since declined even as climate risks to farmers and food supply chains continue to expand.

FAST is organized around three main pillars. The first focuses on strengthening national capacity to secure climate finance for agriculture, particularly for vulnerable groups. The second pillar provides analysis and capacity-building support that can help governments and other actors design measures to transform agricultural systems. The third pillar supports the preparation and implementation of policy instruments such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), which are central to advancing the transformation of agricultural systems.

Partnership governance and membership

FAST governance involves the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which act as facilitators. FAST brings together 39 members, including 19 government agencies. It aims to work with existing global and regional initiatives rather than creating a separate track, to create synergies across ongoing efforts.

Guiding principles for implementation

Through multi-stakeholder consultations, partners agreed on eight guiding principles:

1. Ensure that food security concerns and agrifood system diversity are considered.
2. Empower and engage women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and people in vulnerable situations.
3. Use the best available science and innovation together with local knowledge and practices.
4. Promote a holistic vision that considers the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, including trade-offs and synergies, to support more sustainable agrifood systems.
5. Promote peer-to-peer exchanges.
6. Ensure wide and balanced stakeholder engagement, including scientific, financial, and civil society partners alongside governments.
7. Ensure member countries’ flexible engagement in accordance with their interests, priorities, and needs.
8. Coordinate and collaborate with ongoing global and regional initiatives and partnerships to maximize synergies and avoid redundant efforts.

Recent discussions and continuing challenges

At COP28, FAST convened its first meeting since launch. Government and international organization representatives discussed how to respond to climate vulnerability in agriculture and how to develop adaptation and mitigation options for agrifood systems. During this meeting, the Food and Agriculture Organization released a report calling for more climate finance to reach vulnerable groups such as smallholder farmers and drawing attention to the downward trend in finance that targets agriculture and food systems.

At COP29, a ministerial meeting focused on expanding financing mechanisms and strengthening capacity-building work. Participants discussed persistent obstacles in accessing climate finance, particularly for those most exposed to climate risks. These discussions helped clarify problems and future directions, but they did not yet lead to concrete improvements in climate finance flows for agriculture.

The FAST Partnership continues to concentrate on increasing both the quantity and the quality of climate finance for agriculture by 2030. Its pillars on capacity, analysis, and policy support provide a structure for helping countries connect climate finance with concrete changes in agricultural systems.

Acknowledgements

This report is based on publicly available information from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and on a Japanese briefing note prepared by the reporter, Kei Kurushima of IGES.

Related information

• Overview of FAST Partnership
  https://www.fao.org/food-agriculture-sustainable-transformation-partnership/en
• Japanese briefing note by the reporter
  https://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/agriculture-and-climate-change-cop27-onward/ja
• COP 27 FAST Initiative Overview
  https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/39adc24f-d64b-42a1-875d-3455e4a65c75/content