Between 2019 and 2023, EBRD investments in the agribusiness sector helped increase agricultural production in its countries of operation. However, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the climate and energy crises, the EBRD urgently needs to address the evolving challenges in the sector. To incentivise fairer and greener agricultural production, the EBRD must align its approach with the policy reforms underway in many of its countries of operations.
The merging of these crises demands a systemic transformation of the agriculture sector, presenting a unique opportunity to create decentralised, cooperative and resilient production. This shift will be vital for supporting rural development and ensuring food security, particularly in the context of Russia’s invasion, which has starkly highlighted the need for food production and supply to become more resilient to an increasingly volatile market.
Released in June 2023, the EBRD’s evaluation report of its 2019–2023 Agribusiness Sector Strategy recommends heightening ‘the strategic ambitions of the Bank in the sector by better promoting innovative agricultural techniques and transformational approaches to tackle the challenges of food security and sustainable agribusiness’. The concept behind the EBRD’s new Agribusiness Sector Strategy2 is understood to be guided by the sustainable food systems approach recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.3 This holistic strategy is built on three interconnecting sustainability pillars designed to create food systems that are inclusive, economically viable, and productive while helping to reduce poverty, ensure healthy diets, and enhance environmental sustainability.
Ecoaction, as part of the Bankwatch Network, has been monitoring EBRD investments in the sector, particularly focusing on their environmental and social impacts. Given the urgent regional and global challenges, Ecoaction urges the EBRD to consider the following proposals during its upcoming Agribusiness Sector Strategy review.
Download the Issue paper:
Learning from multiple crises to build resilient agri-food systems (PDF)