This note, part of the RAI Knowledge into Action Notes series, provides guidance on how to
ensure tan agricultural investment makes a positive
contribution to local and national food security and
nutrition. Investments can play a critical role by
introducing technologies to increase productivity, by
providing demonstration effects, by creating quality jobs,
by catalyzing modernization of the sector, and by linking
small-scale producers with global markets—all of which, in
the right circumstances, contribute to food securityand
nutrition. Yet, investments can have a negative impact and
be detrimental to food security and nutrition, especially
where investments reduce local access to land and water. The
challenge for policymakers and investors is how to design
policy and business models that maximize the positive
benefits to food security and nutrition but minimize the
associated risks.