Rome, 11 July 2013 – The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo F. Nwanze, will visit the Republic of Nicaragua from 13 to 16 July where he will meet with President Daniel Ortega Saavedra and senior government officials to examine the progress in rural development and poverty reduction. This is the first time an IFAD president has visited the country.

While in Managua, Nwanze will also have discussions with Samuel Santos, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Iván Acosta, Minister of Finance and Public Credit; Maria Antonieta Machado, Minister of Family Economics; Edward Centeno; Minister of Agriculture; and Valdrack Jaentschke, Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of External Cooperation.

During an event at the National Agrarian University (UNA) on 16 July to mark the International Year of Family Farming, Nwanze, together with ministers Acosta and Jaentschke, and the Rector of the university and President of the National Council of Universities, Telémaco Talavera, will discuss issues and lessons related to family farming as an economic activity and its social benefits across Latin America.

The Nicaraguan economy has grown over the last 10 years and made important advances in reducing poverty between 2005 and 2009. The agriculture sector is a motor of the economy, representing 20 per cent of GDP. The sector produces more than 60 per cent of annual exports, constitutes more than 30 per cent of the labour force and grows 70 per cent of the country's food supply.

While in Nicaragua, Nwanze will visit small-scale producers and afro-descendant communities in initiatives supported by the partnership between the government and IFAD. Producers make important contributions to the economic growth of the country through their participation in the production and commercialization of coffee, cocoa, basic grains and dairy products.

IFAD has collaborated with the government of Nicaragua since 1980, funding projects that support and promote rural people's access to assets and opportunities in order to build their capacities as individuals and as groups. In all of its work in the country, IFAD focuses on women and young people. To date, IFAD has mobilized US$250 million, of which $104 million has been in the form of co-funding, benefitting some 670,000 rural women and men.

Press release No.: IFAD/44/2014

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided about US$15.8 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached some 430 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN's food and agriculture hub.