The Committee on Development Effectiveness met to consider the Independent Evaluation Group report Toward Productive, Inclusive, and Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Firms: An Evaluation of the World Bank Group’s Support for the Development of Agrifood Economies (2010–20) and the draft management response.

The committee welcomed the Independent Evaluation Group’s findings and recommendations and noted the timeliness of the evaluation, given the ongoing global food security crisis and the World Bank Group’s progress toward and focus on increasing productivity, inclusion, and sustainability through agrifood systems development programs. The members appreciated management’s broad agreement with the evaluation’s findings and recommendations. Members underscored the importance of identifying lessons learned and of implementing concrete follow-ups to the recommendations to maximize outcomes and enhance the contribution of Bank Group support for agrifood systems development. They noted the timeliness of the report to inform the forthcoming technical briefing on International Finance Corporation Global Food Security platforms and its importance in helping the World Bank better shape its interventions for climate resilient agriculture and food security.

Members were pleased to learn about the Bank Group’s ongoing efforts to develop and implement tailored projects that increasingly integrate cross-cutting and sectoral themes that holistically address productivity, inclusion, and sustainability of agrifood systems. They also appreciated International Finance Corporation’s efforts to address challenges that client countries have, especially low-income countries, in trying to meet the institution’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards. Members also expressed their appreciation of the Bank Group’s convening power and leadership role on this agenda, and encouraged management to be more deliberate in its interventions for more robust delivery outcomes.