Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
IFAD works on a variety of rural development issues, from poverty reduction and food security to gender equality and climate change – among many others. To learn more about these issues, read the IFAD feature stories below.
‘Climate conversations’ tackle daunting challenges
In connection with the 18th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference under way in Doha, IFAD experts offer viewpoints on interventions that can help smallholder farmers adapt. Read more
In Ethiopia and six other nations, UN agencies join hands to empower poor rural women
A new collaboration between UN Women and the Rome-based UN agencies focuses on pooling best practices to accelerate women's economic empowerment. As the co-lead agency for Ethiopia, IFAD will be sharing and expanding some of its most successful approaches and innovations to help women gain more equal standing at home and in the community. Read more
Building bridges to reclaim land for farmers in The Gambia
Simple concrete bridges, built above the level of seasonal floodwaters, have given farmers in many communities in The Gambia more land to farm. In Youna village, for example, everyone can now get to the paddy fields, even in the rainy season, simply by walking over a sturdy bridge built with support from the IFAD-funded Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project. Read more
Eastern Province, Kenya, 19 June 2012 – The long rains from March through May were plentiful in Kenya this year, following two years of calamitous drought across much of East Africa. The fields and forests are lush on the drive from Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, toward snow-capped Mount Kenya, about 150 km to the north-east. Read more