At HLPF 2026, WFO Board Member Rob Larew called on the UN to recognise farmers as partners in sustainable development, from rural policy to city planning.

With less than four years remaining to deliver the 2030 Agenda, the 2026 United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) focused on the transformative and coordinated action needed to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

This year’s Forum included an in-depth review of SDG 6 (water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 17 (partnerships) – all with direct implications for farmers, rural communities and agrifood systems worldwide.

The Farmers’ Major Group brought farmers’ priorities into the discussions, from their contribution to the energy transition to the links between rural and urban development.

The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) contributed to this engagement through WFO Board Member Rob Larew, President of the United States National Farmers Union, who represented the Organisation at the Forum.

Speaking on behalf of the Farmers’ Major Group during the review of SDG 11, Larew highlighted the close connection between the future of cities, agriculture and rural livelihoods: “Sustainable cities cannot exist without sustainable – and thriving – rural communities,” he said in his address.

He called for policies that protect agricultural land, strengthen rural infrastructure and improve connections between rural producers and urban markets, and for integrated investment in sustainable food production, transport, storage, water management, digital connectivity and resilient infrastructure. Farmers and their organisations, he stressed, must also be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of local development policies.

The intervention was part of the Farmers’ Major Group’s broader contribution to the Forum. During the review of SDG 7, the Group also highlighted farmers’ role in the energy transition, including through agrivoltaics, sustainable bioenergy and other locally adapted renewable energy solutions. It called for policies, investment, technology and secure land tenure that enable farmers to expand this contribution while strengthening food security and rural communities.

Beyond the formal sessions, the Farmers’ Major Group joined the other Major Groups and other Stakeholders for a meeting with the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), an occasion to bring farmers’ economic realities directly to the body that oversees the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda.

The Ministerial Declaration adopted at the close of the HLPF addresses several of the issues raised during the Forum. It commits countries to increasing water-use efficiency across agrifood systems, supporting agrifood products and processing within industrial value chains, integrating urban agriculture into city planning, and promoting sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems.

Yet one element remains missing: although agriculture and agrifood systems are featured throughout the Declaration, farmers and their organisations are not explicitly recognised as partners in delivering these commitments.

As Larew put it in his address to the Forum: “Farmers stand ready to work with all partners to advance localised, inclusive and integrated solutions that strengthen food security, support livelihoods and build communities that can thrive for generations to come.”

WFO will continue working through the Farmers’ Major Group to ensure that sustainable development policies are shaped not only around agriculture, but with the farmers who make agrifood systems work.

Cover photo: Screenshot from the 6th meeting “Sustainable cities cannot exist without sustainable – and thriving – rural communities”