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Carlo Cracco, one of Italy’s most famous chefs, is helping IFAD promote jackfruit as a way to adapt to climate change in rural Sri Lanka.

With COP27 just seven months away, this event brings together food activists and chefs, a climate journalist, a climate expert and farmers themselves to talk about why small-scale farmers must be part of the climate change conversation and the value they can bring to those reporting on climate issues.

While we can no longer avoid climate change, we can still limit its impacts. It is time we start viewing agriculture as an essential part of the solution.

Making the right decisions about managing natural resources isn’t always easy. That’s especially true for watersheds, where the local ecosystem depends on the health of multiple waterways. Now, GIS technology is helping communities in rural Nepal monitor and preserve the forests fed by local watersheds.

Sustainable development can only be achieved with the contributions of rural women, yet they face many challenges. Let’s meet three women who have transformed their lives with the help of the JP RWEE initiative.

“At the end of the day, restaurants are a luxury, but having food is a right. Everyone should have access to food.”

This month’s episode is all about biodiversity and agriculture.

IFAD and the Government of Bolivia have signed a financing agreement that initiates the implementation of the ACCESOS Rural Project. This rural development intervention will help Bolivian small-scale farmers counter the great impact of climate change on the country’s rural areas to increase staple food production, thus enhancing food security.

IFAD’s Associate Vice-President for Strategy and Knowledge Jyotsna Puri visited Egypt last week, where she met with the Egyptian government, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, representatives and beneficiaries of IFAD's projects, as well as local media. Dina Saleh, Regional Director of the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division, accompanied her during the visit.

In Sri Lanka, the climate crisis is causing rising temperatures, increasingly extreme weather events and variable precipitation patterns are harming agricultural productivity and food security. Through the Smallholder Agribusiness Partnership Programme, IFAD offers solutions for rural people, including promoting jackfruit among smallholder farmers because of its high value and resilience.

Groundwater depletion continues to be a challenge for small-scale farmers in the NENA region, despite the existence of water-saving technologies. Now, a new study is shedding light on ways farmers can improve their water efficiency – and where they can turn for help.

Below our feet lies a hidden treasure: groundwater. It sustains ecosystems and provides food, drink and livelihoods for billions. And as climate patterns change with global heating, this reliable water source is becoming ever more important for food security and livelihoods.

Forests are an excellent buffer against the effects of climate change. They’re also home to a variety of native plant and animal species that can foster resilient, sustainable local economies.

Farming can be a risky business indeed. Recently, some IFAD-supported initiatives have begun piloting crop insurance programmes for participating farmers – and for KCEP-CRAL farmers in Kenya, the new insurance policies arrived just in time.

Thanks to driving lessons provided by the Haor Infrastructure and Livelihood Improvement Project - Climate Adapation and Livelihood Protection (HILIP/CALIP), a group of young rural women in Northern Bangladesh now have careers as drivers—a typically male-dominated profession.

This International Women’s Day, we sat down with Steven Jonckheere, IFAD’s Senior Technical Specialist on Gender and Social Inclusion, for a conversation on why women’s land rights matter – and what IFAD is doing about it.

Despite being largely responsible for the food on our farms and on our tables, women don’t have access to the same resources as men. Without access to land, finance, training, inputs and equipment, women can’t produce effectively, achieve financial stability or food security, or grow their businesses.

Rural women already know what needs to be done to help their households and communities adapt to climate change and build resilience. Here are four ways to empower them for a climate-safe future.

IFAD and the Government of Cuba hosted an event today at the Hotel Nacional in Havana to launch the Agroforestry Cooperative Development Project (PRODECAFE). The project aims at increasing coffee and cocoa production in the eastern region of the country, while contributing to enhanced resilience of this region’s smallholder farmer cooperatives to climate change.

Women and girls all over the world are more strongly affected by climate change. For International Women’s Day, we’re taking a look at why that is and how women and girls can lead the way in adapting to the new environment.

The IPCC’s new report, “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, underscores the urgency of climate change adaptation.

Last year, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake caused more than 2,200 deaths and US$2 billion worth of damage in southern Haiti. In February 2022, a Donors' Conference was held to seek financial and political support for the reconstruction and relaunch of the region.

With Malawian farmers still reeling from tropical storms that devastated crops and livelihoods in recent weeks, Norway’s Minister of International Development and the President of IFAD will visit the country to meet its leaders and small-scale farmers to discuss the impacts of climate change, and ways to build resilience.

For our people and planet to flourish, we need agrobiodiversity: agricultural systems that enhance our wealth of ecosystems and living beings instead of diminishing it. Our work has long recognized the importance of agrobiodiversity for sustainable food systems, and now we’re taking this commitment even further.

IFAD, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in Jordan, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed a EUR 4.13 million financial agreement this week to strengthen the sustainability and climate resilience of ongoing interventions under the Rural Economic Growth and Employment Programme (REGEP) in Jordan.

In our end-of-year episode, we’re focusing on all things innovative in the world of agriculture. We hear from agro-preneurs in Australia, Africa and Asia who are using cutting-edge technologies and exploring new solutions to common problems.

In the wake of COP26, which featured a strong call for increased financing to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, Denmark today announced a contribution to IFAD of DKK 190 million (about US$29 million) to help small-scale farmers cope with unpredictable weather.

Over half the world’s arable land is already degraded, and this number is growing at a rate of 23 hectares per minute. But with the support of an IFAD-funded project – along with an unlikely ally – farmers in Bolivia’s Pando region are restoring the land in record time.

The term “food systems” encompasses a huge variety of activities and issues. To make sure we’re all starting from the same place, let’s focus on the fundamentals: the land, and how to treat it well.

It’s clear by now that no real progress on climate change mitigation will be achieved without the active participation of today’s top greenhouse gas emitters. In addition to transitioning their energy sectors away from carbon, actions such as making their agrifood systems more sustainable and promoting the use of natural carbon sinks could produce dramatic results in record time.