This policy brief examines the potential of private sector financing to alleviate acute food insecurity, through providing a targeted review of key mechanisms for mobilizing private sector investment in priority regions affected by acute food insecurity.

The review shows that private sector financing has a role to play in building the resilience of medium-term food systems in order to prevent future emergencies, but that it is not suitable for addressing short-term, urgent financing needs related to acute food insecurity that is at crisis levels or near to them.

It is suggested that substantial additional donor and public sector intervention is needed to catalyse private sector investment and to direct it towards investments that will have the biggest impact on food security. Efforts should focus on catalysing private investment in local agricultural processing and value addition. Blended financing also needs to be leveraged to mobilize local financial institutional lending to small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in processing and value addition.