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More and more of IFAD’s development projects are focusing on nutrition as a way to optimize their impact. Our work in Ethiopia exemplifies this.  

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

Norway boosted its fight against hunger and poverty today by announcing a contribution of NOK140 million (US$14.7 million) to IFAD.

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.

Brejo Dois Irmãos is a tiny and isolated community of 200 families in north-east Brazil. It hides a precious treasure: the burití, or “tree of life” in the indigenous Tupi-Guarani language.

IFAD launched the Innovatech project today, which aims to develop agricultural (AgriTech) and financial (FinTech) digital solutions to facilitate small famers’ access to markets and to financial and non-financial services in Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.

Jeong Kwan is a Zen Buddhist nun. She’s also a chef famous for both her sustainable vegan recipes and her pure and sincere approach towards cooking. Our conversation touched upon everything from traditional Korean temple food to what we need to do to rebalance our food systems.

This month, in anticipation of International Women’s Day 2022, our focus is on gender equality.

World leaders today called for urgent and innovative investments to help rural communities in the world’s poorest countries adapt to climate change. Speaking at the opening of the annual Governing Council meeting attended by 177 Member States of IFAD, leaders specifically highlighted the vulnerability of small-scale farmers to severe weather events, like the storms that devastated Madagascar in recent weeks killing at least 121 people and destroying more than 176,000 hectares of land.

Job opportunities in the agricultural sector can be very limited for people with disabilities. In rural China, therefore, initiatives dedicated to including people with disabilities in their local economies – including IFAD-supported projects – have been central to national efforts to eliminate extreme poverty.

Many persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing education, training and employment – and for women with disabilities, those barriers are even higher. Fortunately, there are a growing number of programmes designed to help rural-dwellers with disabilities find decent jobs and fully participate in their local societies.

Heads of state, ministers and rural development experts will come together at the 45th annual Governing Council meeting of IFAD to look towards a post-COVID world, and discuss how to harness innovations and new financing mechanisms to build more inclusive and resilient rural economies.

A US$ 1.07 million grant agreement between IFAD and the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia will finance the Resilience Livelihood Action to COVID-19 project (RLAC-19)—a move to strengthen the ability of poor rural people to cope with the effects of the COVID pandemic and threats to their livelihoods.

Brejo is not easy to reach: the only way in or out is a 12-kilometre dirt road running through a swamp, which most vehicles can’t manage. And with no way to sell their most important crop – burití (Mauritia flexuosa), a native palm tree – the 200 families living there frequently felt forgotten by the outside world.

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.

To make sure we’re investing in what works and achieving maximum impact, we evaluated 17 of our project Impact Assessments to look for broader trends. The results have implications for everyone who works in rural development – from those on the ground to the donors who make this work possible.

In a significant move to strengthen its commitment to ethical investments, the Executive Board of IFAD agreed on a policy to further shift the Fund’s treasury investments to green bonds and other Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments.

Herding livestock is central to Kyrgyzstan’s economy, society and culture, but the nation has long lacked enough veterinarians to care for these animals. Now, an IFAD-supported project is helping to train veterinarians and make sure they reach even the country’s most remote areas.

This month’s episode is all about what lies ahead for the world of agriculture in 2022.