Knowledge

IFAD’s strategic vision of inclusive and sustainable rural transformation is central to its support of national processes of economic growth and structural transformation in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This document reviews IFAD’s support to LDCs and to the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action, adopted in 2011 in order to enable LDCs to meet the criteria for graduation out of this category by 2020.

This paper investigates how household agricultural involvement affects food consumption and dietary diversity in rural Malawi. It analyses the relationship between on-farm income shares and the caloric consumption levels and shares across food groups. It finds that while food consumption and dietary diversity increase with agricultural involvement, the quality of diets does not improve. It highlights the importance of income diversification to dietary diversity and the need for investments in nutrition-sensitive agricultural value chains, nutrition education and crop diversification programmes. 

IFAD-funded operations in Paraguay focus on empowering smallholder farmers and indigenous families by creating and strengthening rural organizations - in terms of governance, organizational administration and service capacity - to provide members with the tools they need to manage their own development.

IFAD, paying special attention to the needs of disadvantaged groups such as women, youth and indigenous peoples, focuses on strengthening the capacities of rural organizations to assist smallholder farmers in developing profitable rural businesses and tools and strategies to help cope with the challenges posed by climate change.

To achieve this goal, IFAD, in partnership with the Government of Bolivia, designs programmes to develop the technical and business skills of rural organizations, introducing technological innovations to add value to agricultural products by improving their quality and helping smallholder producers to be more competitive.
Furthermore, IFAD-funded operations facilitate the development of public-private joint ventures that help smallholder producers to gain access to markets and value chains.

Strengthening Climate Resilience of the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (CHOSSO) – National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (NEMA)

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. IFAD provides low-interest loans and grants to developing countries to finance innovative agricultural and rural development programmes and projects.

IFAD was established in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. World leaders agreed that “an International Fund for Agricultural Development should be established immediately to finance agricultural development projects…”. The conference was organized in the wake of the great droughts and famines that struck many parts of Africa in the early 1970s. IFAD is now among the top multilateral institutions working in agriculture in Africa.

Remittances are the traditional means of financial support to family members back home.  This infographic illustrates the global flow of remittances.

This brochure describes the operations of the African Postal Financial Services Initiative, highlighting the unique position of postal networks for extending access to cashless payments and securing affordable financial services in rural areas.

It’s a well-worn cliché that women’s work is never done. But in many parts of the world, it’s still undeniably true.