The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers authorized last Tuesday a voluntary contribution by Spain of five million euros to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a G-20 financial instrument to mitigate food price volatility.
The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) was launched by the G-20 in 2010, with the support of the United States, Canada, Spain and the Gates Foundation, among others, to alleviate the food price crisis of 2007-2008 and with the objective of improving food security, nutrition and agrifood income of the most disadvantaged populations in the least developed countries.
GAFSP operates as a global fund managed by the World Bank and involving public and private sector actors, civil society organizations, UN agencies and regional development banks. To date, it has been structured in two windows, one public and one private, which will now be combined to optimize the impact of its financial resources, in what has come to be known as GAFSP 2.0.
Over the years, GAFSP has channeled more than $1.7 billion to combat hunger, malnutrition and poverty in more than 40 low-income countries. Spain has contributed $94.2 million (83 million euros, at current exchange rates) to date, making it the seventh largest donor country by cumulative amount.
“Currently, to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food security system, it is important to protect the flow of food and agricultural products in the world, ensure the functioning of supply chains, manage labor shortages and income losses, and increase access to affordable and nutritious diets,” said the Council of Ministers. For this reason, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced in June 2020, during his speech at the Global Goal: Unite for our Future event, a contribution of ten million euros to GAFSP as part of Spain’s commitment to the fight against COVID-19. The Spanish contribution has been divided into two payments of five million euros, the first of which corresponds to 2021.
