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As the world becomes more and more urbanized, many have suggested that cities hold the key to an efficient, sustainable future.

The prospect of eradicating hunger and poverty received a boost today as IFAD obtained its second strong public credit rating, facilitating its access to private funds to invest in increasing rural prosperity and development in the world’s poorest countries.  

Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD was invited to hold a hearing to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament on 18 November.

Moldova’s agriculture sector is increasingly developing and modernizing. This is due both to an increased presence in lucrative markets like the European Union and to the efforts deployed by IFAD and the Government of Moldova to help restructure the sector, largely through sustained investments and financial support to small-scale farmers, to accompany this modernization.

Apple season in Lebanon is much like apple season in many other parts of the world. But in Lebanon, apple growers – along with small-scale farmers of all kinds – face a number of constraints on their ability to efficiently grow and sell their crops.

As more people spiral into hunger and poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Netherlands has stepped up its funding to IFAD to help avert a rural food crisis.

In an effort to tackle the devastating impact of climate change on rural hunger and poverty, the French Development Agency (AFD), today signed a €300 million loan to IFAD to help small-scale farmers in high-risk countries build their resilience to shocks and increase their productivity.

Only 1.7 per cent of climate finance – a fraction of what is needed - goes to small-scale farmers in developing countries despite their disproportionate vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, according to a report released by the IFAD and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) today.

For the first time in history, today 13 Public Development Banks (PDBs) made a joint commitment to strengthen investments in food and agriculture in the context of a global pandemic and a changing climate.

Risk and uncertainty intensify in the agriculture sector – especially throughout Africa.

In many parts of the world, full participation in society – including the ability to earn an income – is still dependent on owning (or having the rights to) land.

Agriculture has periodically been shaken up by various technological revolutions. The latest? The advent of digital technologies.

Four years ago, back-to-back misfortunes upended Hafeeza Begum’s life. She knew it fell to her to get her young family back on their feet.

Rural young people are increasingly concerned about the environment. Many of them work in sectors that are threatened by climate change, and they’re well aware that their industry and food systems will need to become more resilient and sustainable than ever before.

In this month’s programme, we have the latest on COVID-19 from IFAD’s Associate Vice-President Donal Brown; news on nutrition from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; and a report on getting youth issues right in development activities.

A unique opportunity for China to advance its agricultural and rural transformation agenda.

For rural people, especially low-income rural people, land and livelihood are one and the same.

Ten African Heads of State have issued a strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to IFAD or risk jeopardizing Sustainable Development Goal targets for eradicating poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa.

Ten African Heads of State have issued a strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) or risk jeopardizing Sustainable Development Goal targets for eradicating poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa.

Today, World Food Day marks the 75th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Born on the wake of catastrophe - World War II, three-quarters of a century later, FAO's mission to end hunger and nourish the world has been made more relevant because of another global scourge - the COVID-19 pandemic, said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

For Idris Elba, returning to Sierra Leone late last year was about two things: reconnecting with his roots and learning about the challenges facing the country where his father was born, so that he could become a better advocate for its people

All across Latin America, rural women are taking charge of their communities’ food production – and their own economic and personal development.

Simon Chottu works hard and plays hard. An events manager by trade, he’s spent the last few years hosting hip-hop parties and organizing music events and competitions across the South Pacific.

Our food supply is at risk if we don’t start prioritizing rural women during this pandemic, said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD in a strong call to governments to increase their investments in rural women.

IFAD is currently updating its Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) which was introduced in 2015 and last updated in 2017. This ongoing update of SECAP is not intended to be a comprehensive revision of the Procedures.

In times of crisis, rural women are the key that holds families and rural communities together – and in times like these, they need our support more than ever.

Meike van Ginneneken joins IFAD today as the new Associate Vice President of the Strategy and Knowledge Department.

On a dusty side street in Auki, a seaside market town on the island of Malaita, Arania Enterprises is bustling.

Life in the countryside isn’t always easy – especially for rural women, whose contributions and successes have only recently begun to receive the attention they deserve.

The return of spring to Santiaogou, a tiny village nestled high in China’s remote, mountainous Qinghai province, should have been idyllic.