Germany and IFAD share a strong commitment to ending poverty and hunger. Germany’s special initiative One World – No Hunger and IFAD’s mandate are strongly aligned. Both place smallholder farmers and rural people at the heart of their work and both recognize that the future is in rural areas, where 80 per cent of the world’s poorest people live.

Germany is a founding member of IFAD and one of its top donors. Through financial contributions, involvement in IFAD’s governance and the engagement of German development institutions, Germany helps drive innovation within the Fund.

Germany and IFAD’s shared vision for rural development is underlined by a strategic partnership agreement. The agreement sets out key areas of collaboration, including nutrition, gender equality, inclusive private investments, innovation, adaptation to climate change and creating jobs for rural young people.

IFAD’s approach to rural transformation embraces all of these elements: it funds programmes that help rural women and men produce more food, sustainably manage natural resources, start businesses, build strong organizations and gain a voice in decisions that affect their lives. IFAD-funded projects are designed to be scaled up. That means the innovative approaches they introduce can be replicated by others and reach as many people as possible. IFAD leverages the core resources it receives. Every dollar that Germany invests in IFAD delivers a pro-poor total investment equivalent to 4 dollars. The Fund has 40 country offices across the developing world and is headquartered in Rome, Italy, the UN’s food and agriculture hub.