FAO statement at HLPF session on SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

The strengthening of agro-industrial value chains, local manufacturing and service ecosystems, especially those driven by Micro, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises, and of innovation capacities that create value-added and decent jobs, particularly for women and youth, are key to inclusive and sustainable industrialization in rural areas.

It is also essential to incorporate integrated technology solutions into broader national strategies for industrial development, innovation and skills enhancement. However, their uptake will depend on an enabling environment that bridges the divide between technical feasibility and scalable implementation.

This demands increased access to rural connectivity, reliable data, digital public infrastructure, digital advisory services and skills, coupled with strong institutions and governance, and innovative financial mechanisms that reach, among others, smallholders, women, and youth.

Partnerships are also fundamental: governments, farmers, academia, private sector, and financial institutions have a singular, yet complementary role to play in this regard.

At FAO, we endeavour to bring all these elements and stakeholders together, providing the robust data and a portfolio of solutions required to access the finance and identify key partners to deliver impact at scale.

We also offer a neutral space for dialogue, such as the recent FAO Global Conference on Smart Farming: Leveraging data and technology for sustainable agrifood systems, where we discussed these issues which are crucial not only to transform to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems but also to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including SDG 9.