Regional Communications Officer, Asia and the Pacific
[email protected]Seoul/Rome, 17 October 2024 - President Alvaro Lario of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) concluded a productive first-ever official visit to South Korea from 15-16 October 2024. The visit aimed to strengthen IFAD's partnership and collaboration with the Republic of Korea (RoK) to reach rural development and agricultural transformation goals.
During his visit, Lario met a range of high-level government officials, including the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung; Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Kweon Ki-hwan; and the President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Chang Won-sam. On World Food Day, he also engaged with students from Seoul National University.
“Korea’s development story provides a roadmap for many developing countries IFAD works with. By addressing food security and improving rural prosperity, the Korean Green Revolution led to widescale development that is an inspiration for our work. The Government of Korea and IFAD have a strong partnership dedicated to how Korea’s development lessons can be used to drive sustainable progress elsewhere,” he added.
In his meetings with government officials and partners, Lario discussed new opportunities that would enable IFAD and the RoK to contribute towards their mutual goal of eradicating poverty and hunger.
The RoK is a founding member of IFAD. Cooperation between the RoK and IFAD has deepened and the RoK’s contribution to IFAD’s resources has steadily grown over time. The RoK has contributed US$73.8 million to IFAD’s regular replenishments since 1977 and has provided additional supplementary funds for rural development projects.
One example of the partnership between IFAD and the RoK is the Kiribati Outer Islands Food and Water Project (2016-2023), due to which around 2,300 women in Kiribati increased their cash income through sales from home gardens. Watch a video here.
Press release No.: IFAD/85/2024
IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency. Based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub – IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided more than US$24 billion in grants and low-interest loans to fund projects in developing countries.
A wide range of photographs and broadcast-quality video content of IFAD’s work in rural communities are available for download from our Image Bank.
