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High labour costs, unpredictable weather, and limited access to modern technology have long defined the reality for rural farming families.Access to equipment and modern farming methods had until recently been only a dream for farmers from across Covalima and Zumalai Administrative Posts. But no longer. Earlier this year, 28 farmer groups, representing 560 farming families, including 130 women headed families, received newly procured hand tractors as part of a United Nations-supported project. “These tractors help us start planting earlier and reduce expenses,” said farmer group coordinator Armando Soares.The story and its significance go beyond tractors; it is about transforming an entire food system. The hum of the engines in Covalima marked the start of a journey on how food is produced and sold, as well as how it is consumed, governed, and valued.From Tractors to MarketsFarmers had historically not invested in expanding their production due to uncertain market conditions: can they sell their products and at what price. “We used to mostly sell to our neighbours,” Mr Soares said. “We did not have access to formal markets.” This is why the joint program between the government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations looks at the issue in holistic manner addressing both supply and demand, explained Funmi Balogun Alexender, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Timor-Leste. Providing inputs along with market access minimizes the risk of investing in productivity gains that farmers themselves do not yet perceive as economically valuable or demand driven. “There is a paradox: our farmers have the capacity to produce more, yet there is food insecurity, widespread child malnutrition, and reliance on imported food,” said Lino Magno, Director of Agriculture Services, Covalima municipality. “Productivity and market access must advance in tandem.”In Covalima, Senior Extensionist Quintino Gusmão da Cruz has witnessed these challenges for years. “Farmers can produce in large quantities, but without reliable markets, there is little incentive to do so,” he said. “That’s why many young people leave rural areas to seek work elsewhere. Imports and unstable prices make it very difficult for farmers to benefit from their own labour.”Women and young children are particularly affected. Poor dietary diversity, limited nutrition knowledge, and inadequate access to nutritious foods continue to drive chronic malnutrition, stunting, undermining children’s development and the country’s long‑term human capital.Launched in May 2025 and funded by the Joint SDG Fund, the Food Systems Transformation Project in Timor‑Leste is part of global efforts to support countries in implementing their National Food Systems Pathways.Under the coordination of the UN Resident Coordinator and leadership of the Vice Prime-Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs, the project is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, two pilot Municipalities (Covalima and Viqueque) and in close partnership with the National Council for Food Security, Sovereignty and Nutrition in Timor-Leste (CONSSAN‑TL) as the National Food Systems convener.The Joint SDG Fund’s support plays a catalytic role in providing flexible financing that connects and coordinates enabling policy environment for investments, agricultural innovation, nutrition and market development into one coherent national effort, ensuring that improvements on the farm are matched by opportunities to sell, earn, eat well and thrive. Develop market linkages include engaging with public and private sectors to increase demand for locally grown produce, supporting farmer groups to connect with buyers, and contributing to broader policy dialogue on how to stabilize and expand market opportunities for smallholder farmers.“What distinguishes this initiative is its whole‑of‑system design,” said Komar Mendonca, the Executive Director of CONSSAN-TL.The Fund supports long‑term investment planning, cross-sectoral coordination, policy coherence, and the mobilization of public, private, and blended finance. It reflects the vision of the United Nations Cooperation Framework: a nationally owned mechanism capable of sustaining food systems transformation well beyond individual projects or donor cycles.Innovation, Climate Resilience and Reduced DependencyUnder the project, FAO is integrating climate‑smart agriculture, soil conservation, and organic inputs with local knowledge – strengthening resilience in a country increasingly affected by erratic rainfall and extreme weather events, while also decreasing reliance on imported fertilizer. Demand-side interventions include strengthening public procurement of local produce, establishing more reliable buyer-farmers linkages such as with school feeding program called Merenda Escolar, and contributing to policy frameworks that create stable and predictable demand for smallholder output and looking at opportunities for investments in food systems through pipelines of bankable and marketable projects. At the same time, UNICEF is leading efforts on nutrition and consumption with particular attention to pregnant women, lactating mothers, infants, and young children. This includes promoting breastfeeding, improving complementary feeding practices, strengthening community awareness, training health workers, and supporting home gardening and dietary diversification. Ensuring adequate nutrition for children is not only a health priority. It is a cornerstone of national development, with lasting implications for education outcomes, workforce productivity and long‑term economic growth. A National Transformation Taking RootIf this momentum sustained and if the link between investments, productivity and market access is strengthened, Timor-Leste stands to achieve stronger agricultural productivity, improved rural livelihoods, better nutrition outcomes, and a more resilient, self-reliant food system, said Funmi Balogun Alexander, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Timor-Leste.  “The lesson from the field is clear: transformation requires listening to farmers, understanding what they value, and building systems that work for them – not just around them,” she said.The tractors delivered in Covalima are an early and promising sign of this shift. What is unfolding is a national transformation, government-led, UN-supported, and enabled by the Joint SDG Fund, rooted in a simple yet powerful belief: when food systems truly transform, lives transform.