Riding high: Crunching the numbers on IFAD’s rural investments

Every year, IFAD takes a step back to assess how our support is working for rural people.

In the Report on IFAD’s Development Effectiveness (RIDE), we assess our contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and how well our processes support effective and efficient operations.

The data uncovered here ensures accountability to the Member States who fund IFAD’s work and to the rural people who are our most crucial partners.

The latest RIDE assessed the difference IFAD made to people’s lives through all our projects operating in 2023. About 95.6 million people received services from these IFAD projects, 53 per cent of them women.

Here’s what RIDE 2024 found.

• 50,860 people gained more secure access to land.
• 10.8 million people accessed financial services.
• 3.3 million people received targeted support to improve their nutrition.

• 3.7 million people were trained in income-generating activities.
• 1.8 million people were members of farmers’ organizations that IFAD supported in producing more and connecting to markets.
• 723,900 rural enterprises accessed business development services.

• 2.2 million hectares of land were managed using climate-resilient practices.
• 952,810 households started using environmentally sustainable practices.
• 27.3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided or sequestered.

• 53 per cent of projects approved in 2022–2023 were designed to challenge discriminatory gender norms and power imbalances.
• 37 per cent of IFAD’s programme of loans and grants approved up to 2023 was made up of climate finance. At the end of 2024, this jumped to an impressive 49 per cent.
• 47 per cent of IFAD staff positions are now based in the countries we serve and are closely attuned to local needs and conditions.

With better seeds and agronomy training provided by VCDP in Nigeria, Evelyn has increased her rice harvest from 2.1 to 5.2 tons per hectare. Once cultivating only enough food for her family to eat, she has now made a growing business from her rice field.

In Brazil, Neneide manages a farmers’ cooperative that partnered with FO4LA to certify and market its agroecological produce. This not only ensures that farmers get better prices for their products, but also provides consumers with the knowledge that they’re buying sustainable, ethically produced food.

Water is a growing concern for farmers in Zimbabwe, but Samson’s fields stayed lush even during the latest drought after he switched from cultivating maize to drought-resistant – and nutritious – sorghum.

Next year, RIDE 2025 will assess the progress IFAD has made across the entire period of our 12th Replenishment (2022–2024). As we collect and analyse the data on what works – and what doesn’t – we keep learning how to invest more effectively in rural people, and how to support them in building a prosperous and sustainable future.