UN Rural development agency partners with Amundi to issue IFAD’s largest sustainable bond to date

Rome, 1 June 2023 – Today the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) issued its largest private placement (€115 million) to Amundi Asset Management, to increase financing for inclusive and sustainable rural transformation. IFAD is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency based in Rome, the UN’s food and agriculture hub. Amundi is Europe’s largest asset manager and a strong advocate for responsible investments.

With the 15-year issuance, IFAD completes its 2023 funding plan. The proceeds, together with contributions from IFAD’s Member States, will support IFAD’s investment program of up to US$3.5 billion planned for the triennium 2022-2024 in rural areas of more than 90 developing countries.

Providing small-scale farmers access to markets to sell local produce, developing agricultural value chains, sharing and implementing agricultural techniques that are climate-resilient, rehabilitating land and protecting coastal areas from extreme weather events, promoting diets that are nutritious and sustainable, and enabling women to access financial resources and decision-making power are only a few of the areas that this issuance will support.

“We are delighted to have been able to complete the 2023 funding plan so early in the year, and we are proud to partner with Amundi, a frontrunner of Environmental, Social and Governance integration in the investment process, and a firm believer that ESG criteria in investment decisions is a driver of long-term financial performance. This trade is yet another example of how two like-minded institutions can overcome challenging market conditions” said Natalia Toschi, Head of Funding at IFAD.

The investment comes as global leaders will be converging to the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on 22-23 June to discuss ways to reform the global financial architecture and channel more funding to the world’s poorest countries enabling them to finance climate action and their development.

About 3 billion people live in the rural areas of developing countries and rely to a significant extent on small-scale farming for their food and livelihoods. Small-scale farmers produce one third of the world’s food and up to 70 percent of the food in low- and middle- income countries. While being essential for global food security, they often live in poverty and hunger. About 80 per cent of the world’s extremely poor people reside in rural areas. The number of people suffering from hunger has been growing in recent years and reached approximately 828 million in 2021.

Note to editors:

After having obtained two AA+ credit ratings in 2020, IFAD issued its first sustainable bond in June 2022 as part of a strategy to explore new funding models to channel more resources to vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. It became the first United Nations Fund and the only UN body and specialized agency other than the World Bank Group to operate on capital markets.

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Press release No.: IFAD/48/2023

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 of IFAD’s work in rural communities are available for download from its Image Bank.