Global policy engagement

Why policy matters

The success and sustainability of IFAD’s development efforts depend on the design and implementation of policies and investments  that enable inclusive and sustainable rural transformation.

In recent years, IFAD has been strengthening its policy engagement at the global level to contribute to policy and investment frameworks that benefit the rural people that we serve. Our contributions to global policy debates are backed by 40 years of experience and evidence.

We engage with partners in a range of international processes, platforms, and events. These include inter-governmental, inter-agency and multi-stakeholder forums and includes consultation with stakeholders at all levels – including civil society organisations, representatives of farmers and indigenous peoples, the private sector, academia and international experts.

IFAD's global policy engagement is geared towards ensuring that the international community – as well as national policy makers – recognises the effectiveness of investing in smallholder agriculture and rural transformation for promoting food security, improving nutrition, and eliminating hunger and poverty, and the importance of poor rural women, men and youth as agents of change to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Scaling up our impact

To maximise our impact in global policy fora, IFAD works closely with representatives of our Member States,  the other Rome-based Agencies (FAO and WFP), other parts of the UN system, other International Financial Institutions, and other strategic partners.

Global policy engagement is a corporate undertaking at IFAD, bringing together different departments and divisions throughout the institution, in a dynamic process of dialogue and complementarity between country-level operations and regional and global efforts.

By sharing the evidence and expertise acquired by our development and lending programmes with governments and partners, we can scale-up our impact. IFAD’s specialized knowledge of inclusive rural transformation and its role across the SDG targets supports governments and other organizations to implement investments and policies to help end hunger and contribute to inclusive rural prosperity and human development.