UN Joint Programme on Nature-Positive Food Systems

Excellencies, Representatives of government, Development partners and members of the diplomatic community, Colleagues. Thank you for joining us today. Let me begin by thanking the Government of Armenia, and in particular the deputy Minister of Agriculture within the Ministry of Economy, for his leadership and partnership. I also acknowledge FAO, UNEP, and UNDP for their close collaboration in designing and delivering this joint initiative.

Armenia’s food system has important strengths, including rich agrobiodiversity and agricultural traditions, an innovative private sector taking opportunities available on the global markets, and clear national policy commitments. The country also faces interconnected challenges: land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate stress, unhealthy diets, a large base of smallholder farmers, with limited access to innovative finance. With a continued dependence on imported seeds and inputs, the food system remains exposed to climate shocks, price volatility, and broader geopolitical uncertainty. Strengthening local seed systems, restoring pastures, reinforcing and expanding domestic value chains are therefore central to resilience, food security, and long-term economic stability.

The programme we launch today is grounded in the concept of nature-positive food systems - systems that go beyond minimizing environmental harm to actively restoring ecosystems, enhancing biodiversity, and regenerating natural resources such as soil and water. Their aim is to produce sufficient, nutritious food while delivering measurable positive outcomes for nature and people, aligned with the global goal of halting and reversing nature loss by 2030. It aims to ensure economic viability across the value chain - from farm to fork - by linking policy, finance, markets, and consumer behavior.

Armenia has articulated clear ambitions through its National Food Systems Pathway, Food Security Strategy, and the forthcoming National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. This Joint Programme provides a concrete mechanism to operationalize these commitments in an integrated way.

As Armenia prepares to host CBD COP17, the programme offers an opportunity to demonstrate how biodiversity objectives can be translated into practical, financeable solutions within the food system, linking environmental outcomes with livelihoods and economic development.

A defining feature of this initiative is that it seeks to change how decisions are made and how resources flow - through a Food Policy Lab to strengthen cross-sector coordination; a Food Systems Innovation Incubator to connect policy reform with real-world pilots; and a Development Impact Bond to test results-based financing focused on outcomes rather than inputs.

At the heart of this effort are people and livelihoods. The programme provides an opportunity to bridge the gap between traditional, low-income agricultural activities in rural areas and more recent, capital-intensive, export-oriented investments, such as greenhouse production. By linking smallholders and agri-SMEs to finance, innovation, and markets, it aims to ensure that modernization is inclusive and that rural communities benefit from transformation.

There is also a clear peace and cooperation dividend. Progress on peace, including border opening and expanded regional trade, can create significant opportunities for Armenia’s agri-food sector. We all anticipate that these benefits will require careful preparation - strengthening competitiveness, standards, and value chains - so that all actors, particularly small producers and SMEs, can benefit.

This work is supported by the SDG Fund, a global financing mechanism backed by multiple development partners, created to enable integrated, multi-agency solutions to complex development challenges. In addition, through the UN Coalition on Food Systems, the programme can draw on global evidence to support the shift to targeted, performance-based incentives that reward measurable outcomes for land restoration, nutrition, and biodiversity. The United Nations stands ready - through FAO, UNEP, and UNDP - to work closely with the Government of Armenia, development partners, and the private sector to deliver this programme. 

Thank you.