Knowledge

In this review, the role of farmed animals in circular food systems in the tropics is presented in four case studies.

In this report, we highlight past trends and explore possible future trajectories of smallholder farming to predict who the farmers of the future are.

Using a food systems approach, this paper reviews existing evidence and discusses the conditions, rural population segments, and timelines needed to achieve desired outcomes.

This paper explores the role of water in Egypt’s food system and the dilemma the country faces: raise food self-sufficiency by allocating freshwater resources from the Nile to food production, or rely on food imports from water-abundant regions worldwide.

The paper finds that short- to medium-term interventions are most effective for improving the livelihoods of poor farmers, including food security and health, off-farm employment, and social assistance.

In this paper, the certification requirements and schemes of two export commodities—banana and cocoa—are discussed using food system analysis.

Agroecology applies ecological principles to agriculture and ensures a regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while addressing the need for socially equitable food systems in which people can choose what they eat and how it is produced.

IFAD’s strategy in Ethiopia focuses on providing smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agropastoralists with the critical assets they need to enhance productivity and resilience. These include natural resources, technology, finance, institutional capacity and access to markets.

Remittances sent by migrant workers to and within Africa were over US$85 billion in 2018, of which US$25 billion were sent by migrants residing in Europe.

This Just-in-Time Policy Note examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pakistan’s food system and provides recommendations on key policy actions and adjustments to make the food systems more resilient to future shocks.

This paper explores the rise of SMEs in transforming food systems—from traditional, to transitional, to modern.

Developing competitive and inclusive food value chains requires domestic macroeconomic policies to improve the agricultural sector’s business environment and create outside opportunities, and sector-specific targeted measures to promote smallholder participation in competitive value chains by reducing market access costs.

This paper explores how traditional processing of fermented foods can be scaled up while enhancing functional food properties and strengthening local value chains.

This document offers insights into the challenges and opportunities of building public-private partnerships, and their potential to transform food systems in the region.

This briefing note provides a background of the Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool and case studies from projects in Kenya and Eswatini.

This paper argues that food systems transformation should incorporate a dietary perspective that is guided by information on diets, dietary trends, consumer motives, and the food environment characteristics.

This background paper examines the linkages and interactions between women’s empowerment, food systems, and nutrition.

This paper provides a framework for assessing the dynamics of rural wellbeing and food systems change.

This brief lays out the key elements of IFAD’s response to the global impacts of the war in Ukraine. Our goal is to protect the development gains and livelihoods of poor rural people, while reinforcing their resilience, focusing on the poorest and most affected countries. 

Greening our food systems to deliver healthier and more nutritious food sustainably cannot be done without financially empowered agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises (agri-SMEs).

Faced with a triple health, economic, and social crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, Farmers’ Organizations (FOs) have been called on by members and partners to play a variety of roles in response to the crisis.

This article reviews how food system activities contribute to climate change and how dietary changes affect food systems. It shows that while emissions from food production are increasing in most regions, emissions from land use change are decreasing.

This paper shows that while anticipated increases in food demand by 2050 can largely be met regionally, potential yield increases or diversification will not contribute automatically to inclusive rural transformation. Instead, urbanization may potentially increase rural inequality and poverty.

Although the importance of inclusion in food system transformation is gaining traction, this paper argues that recent research and discourse on the topic is insufficient and that specific actions are needed to ensure that this transformation does not take place on the backs of the rural poor.

This toolbox provides guidelines on how to design and assess food biodiversity and dietary diversity projects with local communities, with the aim of improving the diets and nutrition of Indigenous Peoples.

Since 1981, IFAD has financed 19 rural development programmes and projects in Rwanda, for a total amount of US$358.04 million, and directly benefiting about 1,540,157 rural households.

Since 1979, IFAD has invested US$455.09 million in 20 programmes and projects in Kenya (at a total cost of US$980.31 million), in support of the Government’s efforts to reduce rural poverty.

This policy brief explains what FPIC is, how IFAD seeks FPIC, and examples of how IFAD and indigenous peoples are working together with FPIC.

This report documents how GIS methods and secondary data can be used as a complementary set of tools to conduct impact assessments when in-person interviews are not possible.

Resilient Food Systems (RFS) promotes a holistic approach to enhancing agricultural productivity and restoring degraded landscapes in smallholder farming systems. This report showcases the achievements and innovations of the programme across 12 countries in 2021.

The Agricultural Value Chains Development Programme (PADFA) seeks to improve post-harvest activities (packaging, storage, processing and marketing) for rice, vegetables, and mango in Côte d’Ivoire.

This glossary provides standardized terms in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish in order to share knowledge and widen understanding of nutrition.

Based on the work of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development over the last two years, this white paper presents a set of responses and priorities for donor engagement and a menu of options for future donor commitments.

Using country-level data from 85 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), this paper outlines a food systems index (FSI) and analyses the linkages between food systems and structural and rural transformation, as well as population distributions.

This paper explores the prospects for a food system index (FSI) capturing several key components that influence differences in food system performance at the country level.

This paper highlights five fundamental paradigm shifts that are required to overcome trade-offs and build synergies between health and nutrition, inclusive livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and food system resilience.

This report looks at how the EU and IFAD have leveraged the partnership to develop new approaches that scale up actions to drive innovation in public-private sector partnerships, financing models, and pro-poor agricultural research, as well as supporting farmers’ networks.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is one of the countries with the largest number of different ethnic groups in the world. The history of these ethnic groups extends beyond human memory.

Internationally, the ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (STs) of India are generally referred to as ‘Indigenous Peoples (IPs)’. However, the Government of India emphatically rejects equating Scheduled Tribes (STs) with IPs even while abiding by the operational directives of bilateral and multilateral agencies with regard to IPs while operationalising projects with their financial aid.

This note provides practical guidance on how to roll out the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) for IFAD-funded projects.

This How-to-do note outlines how an internal knowledge gap mapping exercise can be put together to derive meaningful inferences.

This  catalogue features innovative geospatial tools and real life case studies from IFAD’s operations, to give a flavour of how and where IFAD uses such technology. 

Since 1979, IFAD has funded 17 rural development projects in Madagascar for a total of US$434.285 million. Four projects are currently ongoing.

This brief describes how an IFAD-GEF project promotes sustainable peatland management, secure carbon stocks, and conservation of biodiversity, while improving the living standards of local communities.

This policy note discusses how China could further advance its food and agricultural development model, making it greener, more sustainable, and more inclusive.

This policy note discusses the challenges and opportunities for China to update its development model to reflect the new context. It suggests three priority areas and nine policy actions which China should focus on.

The IFAD Development Practices Community shares ideas, good practices, tools and lessons to enhance the effectiveness of development projects and better address the needs of the people IFAD serves.

EvalForward is a Community of Practice on Evaluation for Food Security, Agriculture and Rural Development.

This brief raises awareness about water harvesting systems and describes the design of water harvesting interventions. It aims to inform stakeholders on the assessment of water demand, water available for harvesting, and the selection of suitable water harvesting systems.

The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach is adopted in the vast majority of projects funded by IFAD in sub-Saharan Africa. Through this stocktaking, we analyse the extent to which the FFS approach helped peasant farmers engage in collective action, band together, and become more autonomous in responding to the problems they face.