Climate and environment
The lives of small-scale farmers are being upended by climate change. They need support to adapt to climate change and to protect the planet’s precious resources
Preparing for crises - IFAD
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Preparing for crises
1 billion
live in fragile contexts
live in fragile contexts
630 000
people protected against climate risks with IFAD’s insurance programme
people protected against climate risks with IFAD’s insurance programme
38.2 million
IFAD participants more resilient between 2019 and 2021
IFAD participants more resilient between 2019 and 2021
© IFAD/Ibrahima Kebe Diallo
By building resilience, rural people are better equipped to endure crises and to continue their lives afterwards
Context
In an increasingly interconnected and uncertain world, crises – from pandemics to conflict to climate change – can push rural people into poverty and erase fragile development gains.
For the most vulnerable people, the line between getting by and going under is often all too thin. A bad harvest or untimely rainfall can create a setback from which they find it almost impossible to recover.
People living in fragile contexts face a convergence of economic, societal and climatic shocks. At the same time, the institutions around them are unable to help them cope. This leads to a self-reinforcing cycle of fragility.
That’s why resilience – or the ability to withstand or recover from difficulties – is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. And that’s why IFAD focuses on supporting small-scale producers and their communities to prepare for crises, whether predictable or not.
Opportunities
When rural people are resilient, they are more able to recover and rebuild when disaster hits. Their communities are more peaceful, and people are less likely to resort to migration to cities or other countries.
Increasing livelihoods is the single best way to build resilience. When rural people earn a fair wage, they are better able to withstand crises. They can invest in irrigation infrastructure to mitigate against drought or insurance to protect against lost harvests and pest infestations. Access tailored financial products and knowing how to use them effectively can mitigate against risks and safeguard against shocks.
Building rural resilience is also crucial for ensuring we all have enough to eat – in good times and in bad. Climate-smart agriculture enables farmers to produce food sustainably. Such techniques have lower emissions, fewer negative environmental impacts and create farms that are more resilient to drought and disease.
Investments in agriculture are needed to build stability, strengthen food sovereignty and break the cycle of fragility. Enabling farmers to produce more can reduce food insecurity and vulnerability due to shortages or import price fluctuations. It can even reduce conflicts over limited resources. This requires striking a balance between long-term development and crisis response.
Women have an essential role to play in building resilience. Households, communities and countries with climate change when they have an equal say in decision-making.
What IFAD does
IFAD partners with communities, governments and the private sector to build resilience on many levels. Through this deep, long-lasting engagement, more disasters can be avoided or withstood.
IFAD supports people at the frontlines of climate change to engage in climate-resilient agriculture. For example, we build sustainable irrigation systems that reduce waste and provide improved seeds that are resistant to changing conditions.
We promote food storage and processing techniques to preserve food safely so there is enough to eat during hungry seasons.
Tools like the Gender Action Learning System empower women as equal partners in community and household decision-making.
The INSURED programme helps develop climate risk insurance products that strengthen resilience, protect livelihoods and boost investments in agriculture.
Working in fragile contexts
IFAD works in even the most challenging contexts to build stability and support the rural people who feed their communities.
IFAD supports women in particular, who are often disproportionately affected by shocks.
We strengthen institutions and communities to promote local governance and services.
To prepare for and respond to disaster, we boost productivity, improve access to markets and promote sustainable natural resource management.
The Crisis Response Initiative builds rural resilience by addressing the urgent needs in countries most acutely affected by converging crises.
The Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability supports displaced people and host communities to make agricultural systems more productive and sustainable.
Experts
Yukta Kumar
Senior Specialist, Operational Policy and Results Division
[email protected]