IFAD and Thailand sign agreement for new regional office in Bangkok
IFAD and the Royal Government of Thailand signed an agreement to establish IFAD’s first-ever Asia and the Pacific regional office in Bangkok.
Rome/Glasgow, 1 November 2021 - Climate-related hazards are intensifying in the Asia Pacific region, disproportionately affecting vulnerable rural communities. Policymakers must prioritise climate resilience and adaptation measures in order to protect rural communities from losing economic advancements according to a new report released today by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The Building climate resilience in the Asia Pacific region report, reviews the key results and lessons learned from the IFAD-supported Adaptation for Smallholder Agricultural Programme (ASAP) which ran from 2012 to 2017 and invested US$ 305 million in targeted rural development projects that needed support in adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change on rural communities. The ASAP programme made significant progress in the region, supporting more than 510,000 small-scale farming households to adapt to climate change in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Vietnam.
The report highlights the diverse, effective, and innovative approaches that IFAD has developed in cooperation with rural communities to adapt to and mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change on rural people’s lives and livelihoods.
It analyses approaches and actions that were successful and can be “scaled up” in the region, providing a solid foundation for the new phase of the programme called the Enhanced Adaptation for Smallholder Agricultural Programme (ASAP+), potentially channelling an additional US$500 million in climate finance to support the climate resilience of 10 million vulnerable people, particularly women and youth.
“Small-scale producers often know what they need to be more resilient to the effects of climate change, we can support them by helping them to access the appropriate finance and technology,” said Kisa Mfalila, IFAD’s regional climate and environment specialist for Asia and Pacific.
“The report confirms that farmers have developed many successful adaptation techniques over time. We need to act fast to draw upon local knowledge,” she added.
There will also be a live event at the IFAD Pavilion at COP26 on Wednesday 3 November 2021 that includes a virtual field trip to Bangladesh (featured in the report) to discover what steps small-scale farmers are taking to adapt to climate change. Accompanied by documentary filmmaker Qasa Alom, the audience will virtually travel to the country to meet and interact with farmers who are participants of IFAD-supported projects, to discuss their climate challenges and how they and their rural communities are adapting.
Key recommendations of the report include:
Note to editors:
IFAD’s regional climate and environment specialist for Asia and Pacific, Kisa Mfalila is available for media interviews upon request.
You are invited to attend a live/virtual event at the IFAD Pavilion at COP26: A virtual field trip to Bangladesh to discover how small-scale farmers adapt to climate change on 3 November, 2021 (09:00 AM Glasgow), kindly register using this link.
To learn more about IFAD’s work on climate in Asia and Pacific, read this and watch this. (Downloadable B-roll also available upon request).
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Media Advisory No.: IFAD/MA/11/2021
IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub.