IFAD and Sweden share a vision of a world without poverty and hunger. They also share a commitment to increasing sustainable inclusive investments in agriculture and rural development – a traditional focus for Swedish development cooperation, not least because Sweden used to be an agrarian country. The 2016-2018 Strategy for Sweden’s Engagement with IFAD recognizes the Fund’s efforts to improve external efficiency through several successful organizational reforms.

Sweden is a founding member of IFAD and the Fund was led by a Swedish President from 2001 to 2009. It is currently one of the 36 elected Members of IFAD’s Executive Board and a member of the Working Group on the Performance-based Allocation System (PBAS), through which it provides leadership. Sweden recognizes IFAD’s unique ability to ensure country ownership of good rural development results on gender equality, climate resilience and sustainable food security.

Sweden has been a key partner in IFAD’s financial innovation processes, playing an important role in establishing the Fund’s Sovereign Borrowing Framework and helping to shape the financial leveraging approach for the period 2019-2021 and beyond.

IFAD focuses exclusively on poverty reduction in rural areas, where 80 per cent of the world’s poorest people live. We invest 90 per cent of Member State contributions in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, including 50 per cent in Africa and 30 per cent in fragile situations. The Fund’s investments help rural women and men produce more food and start businesses. They also help rural poor people sustainably manage natural resources and participate actively in decisions that affect their lives, including through better governance, improved access to land and water for productive and domestic use, and environmental services. Its work tackles the root causes of poverty and contributes directly to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Every dollar Sweden provides to IFAD’s core contributions is leveraged to mobilize an additional US$2.86 in internal resources and sovereign loans. IFAD has 40 country offices across the developing world and is headquartered in Rome, Italy, the UN’s food and agriculture hub.