Progress against priority actions

Based on the recommendations from the agriculture chapter of the 2023 Breakthrough Agenda Report, a set of priority international actions were formulated. There was at least one action identified for each recommendation. Generally, progress has been made against all areas covered in the 2023 report, though the fulfillment of the priority actions is inadequate to satisfy the broader recommendations and the overarching breakthrough principles, which are much more ambitious. There is more to be done, but the period October 2023 – October 2024 saw several developments (see Annex 2 for the full progress tracker). There is a need to set an even higher ambition this year to ensure strong progress in 2025, halfway to the Breakthrough Agenda deadline.

As noted in section 3.3, climate finance to the agrifood sector needs attention. While there has been progress on all the priority actions that fall under recommendation A1, “Deliver greater quantity and quality of climate finance to support the deployment of sustainable agricultural technologies and approaches with proven effectiveness,” there need to be more international finance mechanisms that directly benefit farmer organizations, as well as increased blended finance mechanisms. Countries should repurpose budgetary transfers to individual farmers, which distort trade and production and are environmentally harmful, toward funding R&D to enhance the productivity of the agriculture sector and its ability to grow more food using fewer resources.

The priority international actions identified that relate to the recommendation to “Test, develop evidence, and share learning on policy and implementation” have all been completed. The specific policy dialogues and working group meetings are listed in Annex 2.

Some progress has been made against the recommendation to develop common metrics and indicators to track the adoption of agricultural solutions. A priority next year could include finalizing the FAO Agriculture Ecosystem-based Solutions Expert Working Group guidelines, promoting awareness and uptake of these guidelines, and developing guidelines for projects pertaining to aspects other than water management.

For the priority international actions relating to research and development, good progress has been made. In particular, the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) has contributed to activities of the Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator Innovation Sprint, which has made progress in several priority research areas, including funding the development of low-cost methane measurement, microbiome characterization, low-methane genetics, and vaccines.

Good progress has also been made toward recommendation A5, “Begin strategic dialogues on how to ensure international trade facilitates the transition to sustainable and resilient agricultural systems.” Countries engaged with the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) to discuss potential positive and negative environmental effects of subsidies as well as related trade impacts, focusing on agricultural subsidies and subsidies related to the transition to a low-carbon economy. Going forward, the 76 countries that are members of the TESSD will address further types of subsidies and focus on identifying best practices and recommendations on how to enhance transparency. More could be done to discuss how the World Trade Organization (WTO) can promote and facilitate trade in agricultural technologies that are needed to meet international climate and environmental objectives.