Rural Development Report 2016 & IFAD Flagship Event 

The world around us is changing quickly and empowering rural people to create their own prosperity has never been more urgent. Rural areas around the world lag behind urban areas on virtually all development indicators, and large numbers of rural youth faced with dismal prospects see their future anywhere but on the farm. Poverty, social unrest, growing unemployment and distress-led migration are some of the most visible consequences.

The 2030 Agenda holds up the promise of a different future for rural people, agriculture and the world’s food systems. But this ambitious agenda requires enormous efforts to invest in rural people, in ways that ensure no rural youth, woman or man is left behind. It is an agenda of inclusive development and, for rural areas, inclusive transformation.

IFAD puts rural transformation at the top of the world’s development agenda with two major initiatives:

Rural Development Report 2016: Fostering Inclusive Rural Transformation (14 September 2016)

The report, which will be launched soon, highlights that rural transformation is an integral part of the overall structural transformation and development of countries, and must be fostered by policies that ensure benefits and opportunities for rural people.

IFAD Flagship Event: International conference on innovative approaches to inclusive financing for rural transformation, Rome 25-27 January, 2017

This international conference brings together policy and decision-makers, representatives of Government organisations, the private sector, research and academic institutions, multilateral and bilateral development organisations, civil society and others for two days of solutions-focused events and discussion. The conference begins with an inaugural session at the Italian Ministry of Finance.