Towards a Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge

Hunger has steadily been on the rise prior to the COVID-19. But the pandemic has supercharged these trends, with an additional 130 million projected to be suffering from hunger in 2020 alone, even before the devastating situation we are currently seeing in India and Brazil. But as shown in the ground-breaking Ceres2030 studies—backed up by another study by German organizations, the PARI Report—this situation can be turned around. With USD 33 billion in additional annual spending, we can reduce the number of hungry people from 811 million today to USD 170 million by 2030. The new evidence shows that a specific set of investments is needed to end hunger in ways that also ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all, support sustainable consumption shifts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate decent and dignified livelihoods, and build food system resilience to future shocks.

Most of the additional USD 33 billion will come from governments—but they are already under pressure from the pandemic and the associated economic downturn. Large companies can and should step in to play a catalytic role in this effort.

Speakers

• Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
• Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, GAIN & Chair, Action Track 1, UN FSS
• Ute Klamert, Assistant Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
• Ibrahim Gourouza, Grow Africa & AUDA-NEPAD
• Sanne Helderman, Lead research, World Benchmarking Alliance
• Takaaki Nishii, CEO, Ajinomoto
• Caroline Keeling, CEO, Keelings 
• Hanneke Faber, President, Food & Refreshments, Unilever 
• Julia Friederike Harnal, Vice President Sustainability & Governmental Affairs Agricultural Solutions, BASF

Watch the event's full recording

Check out the presentation given by Dr. Lawrence Haddad

The Zero Hunger, Nourish the Future Pledge is an opportunity for companies, investment funds, and philanthropies to align USD 5 billion of their resources with new evidence and complement their pledges with new commitments being made by global institutions and governments to end hunger and nourish the future by 2030. The purpose of this parallel session is to get buy-in from CEOs and ministers on the pathway to an ambitious partnership that leverages their combined resources and that leads to a high-level pledging moment by companies, investment funds, and philanthropies at the UN Food Systems Summit.

This event was organised jointly by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Grow Africa, Grow Asia, the World Benchmarking Alliance, the World Food Programme,  the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and Cornell University 

#ActionforZeroHunger

Why is this session important for the Food Systems Summit?

The Zero Hunger, Nourish the Future Pledge is a game-changing solution that emerged from the Summit Action Tracks and is supported by Dr. Agnes Kalibata, UN Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, and by Professor Joachim Von Braun, Chair of the Science Group of the Summit.

It is an opportunity for companies, investment funds, and philanthropic organizations to play a catalytic role by pledging USD 5 billion per year until 2030 to trigger the end of hunger.

This is the missing piece of the puzzle needed to remove 500 million people from hunger, double the incomes and productivity of 545 million poor farmers, and protect the climate, in line with the objectives of the UN Food Systems Summit, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Climate Agreement.

This parallel session laid the groundwork for a high-level pledging moment from companies at the Summit.