[ERC44] Digitalisation, finance, and the future of agrifood systems transformation in Europe and Central Asia

At the FAO Regional Conference for Europe (ERC44), held on 2-3 October in Budapest, Pierre Maison delivered statements during the sessions on Harnessing digital solutions for agrifood systems transformation and Unlocking sustainable and inclusive finance and strengthening public–private partnerships for agrifood systems transformations in Europe and Central Asia.

Both interventions called for the recognition of peasants’, pastoralists’, fisherpeople’s and Indigenous Peoples’ rights as the cornerstone of any transformation of agrifood systems — rejecting false corporate-led solutions and reaffirming agroecology, food sovereignty, and public policy as the real pathways towards resilience, justice, and sustainability.

Harnessing Digital Solutions for Agrifood Systems Transformation (ECA/44/25/5)

Thank you, Chair. I speak on behalf of the Nyeleni Europe and Central Asia Food Sovereignty Network. For peasants, pastoralists, fisherpeople and Indigenous Peoples in our region, digitalisation is not a neutral process. While the background paper highlights opportunities for productivity and sustainability, we must underline the risks: digital tools are too often designed for large-scale, high-input farming and imposed without considering the realities of small-scale producers. This creates dependency on corporate-controlled platforms, patents and infrastructures, reinforcing inequalities and fuelling new forms of digital colonialism.
Digitalisation, and also carbon farming and nature credits which have been proposed as solutions to financial and climate crisis, financialise nature and commodify biodiversity while locking farmers into extractive models. These are false solutions that divert attention and public funds away from systemic change. The real innovation lies in agroecology, rooted in peasants’ knowledge, collective seed systems and territorial markets, and backed by strong public policies that guarantee fair incomes, regulate markets and protect rural communities.
The FAO paper rightly points to digital divides, especially for women and youth. But the solution is not simply “more technology.” Generational renewal depends first on access to land, fair income and rights. Without these, digital tools cannot empower the next generation. Gender equity must mean dismantling structural barriers that exclude women from land, finance and decision-making spaces, not just offering them digital applications as superficial solutions.
Consumers, too, are impacted: as shown in the SOFI report, inflation and inequality push citizens towards ultra-processed foods. Digitalisation must serve, not replace, these territorial markets.
In conclusion, we urge FAO and Member States:
– Ensure the implementation of UNDROP and UNDRIP in digital strategies;
– Prevent monopolies and corporate capture in the governance of digital tools;
– Prioritise open, farmer-led, agroecology-based innovations over technofixes;
– Guarantee generational renewal and gender equity through access to land, income and rights before digital adoption;
– Invest in Food Social Security and territorial markets as the true backbone of resilient food systems.
Thank you.

Unlocking Sustainable and Inclusive Finance and Strengthening Public–Private Partnerships for Agrifood Systems Transformations in Europe and Central Asia (ECA/44/25/6)

Peasants, pastoralists, fisherpeople and Indigenous Peoples remain at the heart of our agrifood systems. Yet finance rarely reaches them. As the background document itself recognises, subsidies and financial flows are too often skewed towards large-scale actors. This undermines small-scale producers’ ability to live with dignity and blocks the agroecological transition that society urgently needs.
Finance must be guided by rights, not profit. We call for the full implementation of UNDROP and UNDRIP, which means securing access to land, water, seeds and territories, and protecting peasants from debt traps, financial speculation and unfair trade. For pastoralists this means the right to mobility, grazing lands, water points and customary institutions must be respected and financed. For fisherpeople it means guaranteed access to coastal waters and rivers, and protection against industrial fleets and aquaculture grabbing their territories. These rights are non-negotiable foundations of food sovereignty.
Public policies must guarantee remunerative prices covering production costs, as peasants’ organisations have long demanded, combined with public food reserves, market regulation and social protection schemes. Without these, so-called “inclusive finance” remains empty words.
Public–private partnerships, as promoted in the background paper, too often open the door to corporate capture and the financialisation of food systems. What is needed instead are public financial instruments under democratic control:
– public banks and funds directed towards small-scale producers;
– Food Social Security schemes ensuring access to healthy food for all citizens while supporting territorial markets;
– targeted support for women and youth, not just as consumers of finance but as rights-holders with access to land, credit and decision-making.
Generational renewal is impossible if the only pathway is indebted, large-scale, export-oriented farming. We need public land banks, priority access for young entrants, and financial tools adapted to small-scale, diverse agroecological farms. Women must be explicitly supported with secure land rights and gender-responsive finance, beyond tokenistic microcredit.
We must also highlight the rights of agricultural and food workers. According to the ILO, agriculture remains the most dangerous employment sector, with accident rates double those of other industries and over 40,000 deaths annually from pesticide exposure. Any financing strategy must uphold the principle of decent work, with fair wages, safe conditions and respect for migrant and seasonal workers’ rights across the food chain.
Consumers are also part of this financial picture: as the SOFI report shows, inflation pushes more and more people into food insecurity. Redirecting finance towards Food Social Security, local procurement and solidarity-based markets links producers and consumers in ways that strengthen both livelihoods and public health.
In conclusion, we urge FAO and Member States to:
– redirect finance from export-oriented agribusiness towards small-scale producers, territorial markets and agroecology;
– uphold the rights of pastoralists to grazing lands and mobility, fisherpeople to waters and oceans, and workers to decent labour conditions;
– put in place public tools – including price regulation, public reserves and Food Social Security – instead of relying on private finance and PPPs;
– and guarantee generational renewal, gender equality and Indigenous Peoples’ rights as the foundation of any sustainable finance strategy.
Only by anchoring finance in rights and public policies can we truly transform agrifood systems towards food sovereignty and climate justice.
Thank you.

Nyéléni ECA reaffirms its position that real transformation of agrifood systems in Europe and Central Asia will not come from digital or financial technofixes, but from rights-based agroecology, public policies, and collective control over territories, resources and markets — ensuring food sovereignty, social justice, and climate resilience for all.