Our vision

Three in four of the world's poorest people live in the rural areas of developing countries. Most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihoods – and in turn, produce much of the food we eat. It’s not an easy job.  

Many rural people living in poverty face massive economic, social and environmental challenges – from climate change and food insecurity, to inequality, conflict and lack of access to resources.  

These overlapping problems cannot be solved working alone. As an assembler of development finance, we partner with governments, the private sector, civil society and others to provide grants and concessional and low-interest loans to developing countries. This helps to address critical needs and support rural people as they lead their own development.  

IFAD-supported projects promote prosperity, food security and resilience by connecting rural poor people to the finance, markets, technology and knowledge they need to address their biggest challenges. 

We catalyse public and private investments, advocate for policies that empower rural people and their institutions, and promote innovation in order to achieve lasting, systemic change for rural communities in every region of the world.  

Throughout our work, we emphasize the importance of inclusion and equity, focusing special attention on gender and groups that are often overlooked, like youth, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities. We strive to foster an organizational culture built around these values.   

Furthermore, as a results-driven organization, we conduct rigorous monitoring and evaluation to assess our impact and scale up what we know works. That’s one of the reasons we are a top-rated development organization.