On 3 November 2025 in Doha, the UK set out a shift in how it will tackle hunger and poverty: moving from one‑off aid to long‑term investment in climate‑resilient food systems, with programmes led by national governments. The statement, delivered by Chris Elmore MP at the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty high‑level debate, also confirmed the UK serves as a vice chair of the Alliance’s Board of Champions.

The promise is practical. Ministers framed a “demand‑led, country‑owned” model that blends public funds with private capital and better coordinates partners to get more impact per pound. That approach sits alongside new financing architecture emerging from this year’s UN Financing for Development summit, where the UK endorsed Sevilla Platform for Action initiatives designed to integrate SDG and climate finance behind country plans rather than scatter efforts across small projects.

Zambia is the first big test. The UK announced a six‑year Zambia Poverty Reduction Programme worth up to almost £40 million to strengthen social protection and help families build climate resilience. It follows a year of severe drought that affected an estimated 9.8 million people and pushed 6.6 million into severe food insecurity, and dovetails with new World Bank support for resilience and natural resource management. If it delivers predictable cash and services during shocks, it could shorten hunger seasons and protect assets.

The UK also highlighted technical assistance in Ethiopia focused on livestock productivity and rural incomes-an area where British‑backed research is already active. A UK‑funded UK‑CGIAR project led by ILRI and Scotland’s Rural College is developing improved forages to lift milk yields and cut emissions intensity, while CGIAR partners are scaling feed and forage innovations that raise smallholder incomes in multiple regions. Putting this science into national extension systems is the kind of durable systems change the Alliance wants to back.

On agri‑food finance, the UK announced a new match‑fund channelled through the Common Fund for Commodities to support small, sustainable agribusinesses across sub‑Saharan Africa. CFC’s blended‑finance model is already steering capital to farmer‑centric ventures; in July its committee recommended investments expected to reach more than 11 million smallholders and catalyse roughly US$74 million in total project value. The UK’s move complements earlier support for AgDevCo Ventures to grow early‑stage African agribusinesses.

Why this matters now is clear in the data. FAO’s 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition reports about 673 million people faced hunger in 2024, with Africa accounting for 307 million-roughly one in five people on the continent. At the same time, the UN‑backed Global Report on Food Crises recorded a record 295 million people in acute food insecurity in 2024, driven by conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks.

Solutions exist at scale if financed properly. School meals are among the highest‑return investments in human capital, with the World Food Programme estimating up to US$35 in benefits for every dollar invested, while productive alliances that link farmer groups to buyers have lifted sales and incomes in multiple countries. Social protection that expands during droughts and floods has repeatedly prevented households from selling livestock or skipping meals.

Resilience spending also pays off. The World Bank and GFDRR estimate that making infrastructure more resilient yields around four dollars in benefits for every dollar invested-through fewer outages, faster recovery and avoided losses. Applying that discipline to rural roads, storage, power and digital services can help farmers keep trading when climate shocks hit.

Yet food systems remain underfunded in climate finance. New analysis led by Climate Policy Initiative finds agrifood systems receive only about 7 percent of global climate investment, and small‑scale producers-who grow a large share of food in low‑ and middle‑income countries-capture well under 1 percent. The Alliance’s push to pool and target finance is meant to close that gap and link climate funds to adaptive social protection and smallholder resilience.

Consistency will be vital. The UK stresses it remains a major ODA provider, but Parliament’s Library notes plans to reduce aid to 0.3 percent of GNI by 2027. The World Food Programme has already warned that global aid shortfalls are forcing cuts in life‑saving assistance. If investment‑led approaches are to bite, they will need predictable public capital alongside private finance-especially in fragile settings where markets are thin.

What to watch next are delivery markers: fast‑track country plans the Alliance is shaping-where Ethiopia and Zambia are among the most advanced-plus how Sevilla Platform initiatives translate into pooled finance this year. Success looks like fewer hungry months for families, more children staying in school because meals are reliable, and smallholders earning steadily from climate‑smart markets. That is the promise the UK just signed up to help deliver.