Under the leadership of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia, Françoise Jacob, and with support from the UN Joint SDG Fund, the Government of Armenia, alongside FAO, UNDP, and UNEP, officially launched the joint programme “Unlocking Sustainable Finance for Nutrition-Sensitive, Climate-Smart Food Systems Transformation in Armenia” on 29 January 2026 in Yerevan. The initiative aims to advance inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable food systems by improving access to finance, strengthening climate-smart value chains, and promoting healthy food consumption, while supporting national priorities and demonstrating scalable solutions for resilient and equitable food systems.
The programme focuses on strengthening seed systems, developing sustainable dairy value chains, expanding financial access for agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting healthy, sustainable diets. These interventions are designed to increase productivity, reduce environmental pressure, create rural employment, and improve access to nutritious food across Armenia. Françoise Jacob emphasized that the initiative invests in people—farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers—enabling them to participate in a food system that supports their health, livelihoods, and the environment, while advancing the biodiversity agenda within agricultural priorities.
Supported by the UN Joint SDG Fund with contributions from the European Union and multiple governments, the programme aligns with Armenia’s Food Security Strategy 2023–2026 and the National Food Systems Pathway. It contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to food security, nutrition, climate action, and sustainable economic growth, by linking policy support with practical investments that promote climate-resilient agriculture, nature-positive production, and inclusive economic opportunities.
FAO, as the lead agency, will help translate policy priorities into tangible results, ensuring farmers and agrifood enterprises can adopt climate-smart solutions, strengthen local food value chains, and promote healthy diets. UNDP highlighted the programme’s innovative outcome-based financing model, including a Development Impact Bond in the dairy sector, which mobilizes public and private resources around independently verified results, demonstrating that agricultural transformation can be both climate-smart and biodiversity-positive while delivering measurable social and economic returns. UNEP emphasized that hosting the seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity positions Armenia to advance sustainable food systems and biodiversity-focused agricultural practices.
