Tracking financial flows to food systems in Jordan

Adequate, well-targeted and coordinated financing is essential for transforming food systems into more inclusive, resilient and sustainable systems capable of delivering healthy diets for all. Recognizing this, Governments, development partners and private-sector actors committed at the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit to increase financing for national food systems transformation pathways, and to redirect public and private resources away from practices that harm people and the environment.

Despite these commitments, significant information gaps remain regarding the volume, sources and allocation of financing directed towards food systems. In many countries, expenditure relevant to food systems is spread across multiple ministries, institutions, programmes and sectors, including agriculture, water, health, nutrition, social protection, infrastructure, environment and climate change. Consequently, policymakers often lack a comprehensive understanding of how much financing is being invested in food systems, which areas receive the largest share of resources, whether investments are aligned with national priorities, and where critical financing gaps persist.

Our approach

This project supports Jordan in strengthening the evidence base for food system transformation by improving the tracking and analysis of financial flows to the sector. It builds on the 3FS methodology developed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank, in collaboration with the United Nations Food Systems Coordination Hub, and on previous ESCWA work on expenditure analysis and support for food system transformation in Jordan.

The analysis covers key components of food systems, including agricultural development and value chains, infrastructure, nutrition and health, social protection and food assistance, and climate change and natural resource management. It draws on two complementary data streams: a systematic review of domestic public expenditure to identify and classify food system-related spending, and international development finance data from the Creditor Reporting System of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), covering official development assistance and other official flows.

The results improve the visibility of financing patterns and gaps, support assessment of alignment between spending and national priorities, and inform more coherent and targeted investment decisions across resilience, nutrition, and climate-smart transitions.

Our partners

Beneficiaries: Government of Jordan

Collaborating entities: IFAD

This initiative is funded by IFAD

Our activities

This project provides national-level capacity development and technical support to Jordan to apply the 3FS methodology for tracking financial flows to food systems. The project provides training and capacity-building activities, establishes a centralized repository of relevant financial flow data, and generates national analysis of spending patterns, gaps and investment priorities. A final national dissemination workshop shares the findings and support agreement on a road map for institutionalizing the 3FS methodology within national systems. 

The activities are implemented in collaboration with relevant national institutions and stakeholders, with a view to strengthening national capacity to monitor and align public financial resources with food systems priorities.