Global Donor Platform for Rural Development 134d ago

20 January 2026 | A conversation with Corinna Hawkes (Director, Agrifood Systems and Food Safety, FAO) and Jim Woodhill (Senior Advisor, GDPRD) on the importance of adopting a systems approach to agrifood finance in an era of constrained resources, and its potential to help donors and investors align limited financing to catalyse real, system-wide change. Finance and investment play a critical role in driving the shift from fragmentation toward unlocking and maximizing long-term impact. This conversation will focus on how we can think, work and act differently to embed a systems approach into finance and investment for agrifood systems transformation – exploring elements such as flexibility and the catalytic potential of (public) financing, leveraging entry points, and creating financial incentives for system-wide action and alignment. The discussion was informed by two key references: The FAO report “Transforming Food and Agriculture through a Systems Approach” The GDPRD White Paper "Financing Agrifood Systems for People, Planet and Prosperity” 00:00 - Welcome and Scene-Setting: Navigating a new financing reality by Jim Woodhill, GDPRD Special Advisor 03:22 - Introduction to Corinna Hawkes, Director, Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division, FAO 04:42 -A Systems Approach to Agrifood Finance 15:14 - A Conversation with Jim Woodhill and Corinna Hawkes: How adopting a systems approach can help us think, work, and act differently to embed a systems thinking into finance and investment for agrifood systems transformation 35:49 - Interactive Q&A with audience 45:00 - Closing and key takeaways