Investing in inclusive and sustainable rural transformation is strategically important for the 2030 Agenda. This has been broadly recognized in debates about the SDGs, particularly the roles of sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition in relation to SDG2, the eradication of hunger. It is important to recognize that the eradication of hunger is inseparable from the eradication of poverty in all its forms (SDG1). While poverty is often the main driver of food insecurity and malnutrition, hunger and malnutrition also result in the inability to escape poverty. Investments targeted at rural people are needed not only to ensure no one is left behind, but also to unlock the catalytic role that inclusive rural transformation has been shown to play in reducing and eradicating poverty and hunger, as well as promoting wider prosperity.

The participation of rural stakeholders is central to promoting inclusive, mutually beneficial and sustainable urbanization. Globally, most of the world’s poor and food-insecure people are still located in rural areas. Undernourishment continues to be concentrated among populations based in rural areas, although a growing number of poor people living in urban areas are affected. It is thus critical that rural people and their organizations participate in designing and implementing development policies and programmes that have an impact on rural-urban linkages − for example in food security, territorial development, urban food planning, natural resource management or infrastructure.

The importance of the rural sector for sustainable development is well recognized in the debate on the post-2015 agenda, particularly in connection with sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition, corresponding to the second proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2) drafted by the Open Working Group (OWG) this past summer. Both agriculture and more broadly rural development are, however, important also for many other SDGs related to poverty eradication, reduction of inequalities, inclusive growth, protection of ecosystems, combating of climate change and others.

In September 2015, members of the United Nations will sign up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These – together with their targets and indicators – will guide global and national efforts to achieve sustainable development for the next 15 years. Governments will then be expected to draw on the SDGs to define national implementation strategies and effective monitoring systems, and to align public expenditures and streamline government institutions to support such strategies.