Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Deputy Secretary-General's opening remarks at the GAIN-led Food Systems Transformation Accelerator Side Event at the Second Food Systems Summit Stocktake - Accelerating Food Systems Transformation: Why and How [as prepared for delivery]
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Excellencies, colleagues, friends,
It is a pleasure to join you today to focus on one of the most urgent and high-impact levers for the Sustainable Development Goals: transforming our food systems — and doing it fast.
I thank the Governments of Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia and Bangladesh for their leadership, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition for driving this conversation forward. I also acknowledge the many partners gathered here whose work makes this initiative possible.
What brings us together today is clear: countries are doing the hard work, but they cannot do it alone and they cannot wait.
Food systems are the thread that tie together our goals for health, prosperity, and climate resilience, and 2030 is just around the corner.
Political will is strong in many places. But implementation is still being held back by slow-moving finance, fragmented partnerships, and the sheer complexity of translating ambition into investible action.
That is where the Accelerator comes in, and precisely why its such a pleasure to be here for the launch.
The Accelerator offers a practical response to what countries have asked for again and again: support to turn food systems strategies into real, financed, and scalable change.
This is about moving money, fast to the right people.
It means financing that aligns with national development priorities.
Financing that reaches smallholder farmers, youth, women-led businesses, and underserved communities.
It might sound straightforward on paper, but the question we need to ask ourselves today is: how do we do that?
First, it means cutting through complexity. Today’s financing landscape is fragmented and hard to navigate. The Accelerator can help bring order to that chaos, guiding governments through the maze of options and helping them build strong pipelines of action.
We will make sure this initiative is anchored in the UN development system — particularly through Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams — to ensure support is tailored, timely and responsive to national priorities.
We can tap into mechanisms like the Joint SDG Fund, so this Accelerator isn’t just a concept but a tool delivering real results on the ground.
Partnership will also be the backbone.
The UN cannot do this alone, governments cannot do this alone. No one actor can.
We need deep cooperation across public, private and financial sectors.
This Accelerator will be a meeting point of institutions, energy, ideas and will.
So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get to work.
Let’s refine the model, scale up the ambition, and ensure that this initiative is set up to succeed.
The stakes are too high for half-measures. Food systems transformation cannot remain a slogan. It must become a signal of change in how we invest and how we collaborate.
I know many partners have worked hard to make this happen, but I would want to especially recognize the work of Lawrence Haddad and Maximo Torero.
Let’s leave this room with a shared commitment: not just to support this Accelerator, but to use it, and use it well.
Thank you.
***
It is a pleasure to join you today to focus on one of the most urgent and high-impact levers for the Sustainable Development Goals: transforming our food systems — and doing it fast.
I thank the Governments of Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia and Bangladesh for their leadership, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition for driving this conversation forward. I also acknowledge the many partners gathered here whose work makes this initiative possible.
What brings us together today is clear: countries are doing the hard work, but they cannot do it alone and they cannot wait.
Food systems are the thread that tie together our goals for health, prosperity, and climate resilience, and 2030 is just around the corner.
Political will is strong in many places. But implementation is still being held back by slow-moving finance, fragmented partnerships, and the sheer complexity of translating ambition into investible action.
That is where the Accelerator comes in, and precisely why its such a pleasure to be here for the launch.
The Accelerator offers a practical response to what countries have asked for again and again: support to turn food systems strategies into real, financed, and scalable change.
This is about moving money, fast to the right people.
It means financing that aligns with national development priorities.
Financing that reaches smallholder farmers, youth, women-led businesses, and underserved communities.
It might sound straightforward on paper, but the question we need to ask ourselves today is: how do we do that?
First, it means cutting through complexity. Today’s financing landscape is fragmented and hard to navigate. The Accelerator can help bring order to that chaos, guiding governments through the maze of options and helping them build strong pipelines of action.
We will make sure this initiative is anchored in the UN development system — particularly through Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams — to ensure support is tailored, timely and responsive to national priorities.
We can tap into mechanisms like the Joint SDG Fund, so this Accelerator isn’t just a concept but a tool delivering real results on the ground.
Partnership will also be the backbone.
The UN cannot do this alone, governments cannot do this alone. No one actor can.
We need deep cooperation across public, private and financial sectors.
This Accelerator will be a meeting point of institutions, energy, ideas and will.
So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get to work.
Let’s refine the model, scale up the ambition, and ensure that this initiative is set up to succeed.
The stakes are too high for half-measures. Food systems transformation cannot remain a slogan. It must become a signal of change in how we invest and how we collaborate.
I know many partners have worked hard to make this happen, but I would want to especially recognize the work of Lawrence Haddad and Maximo Torero.
Let’s leave this room with a shared commitment: not just to support this Accelerator, but to use it, and use it well.
Thank you.
***