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IFAD issued its first SEK club deal today, a strong indication of investors’ continued interest in IFAD. The lead investor Skandia, and Folksam, bought a seven-year one billion SEK sustainable bond to support IFAD in its mission to stimulate sustainable growth and inclusive development in rural areas of developing countries. Skandia led with a 900 million SEK investment, and Folksam complemented with 100 million SEK.

Growing food is a challenge in the harsh desert landscape of northwestern China. But thanks to new greenhouses built by a local cooperative, this village is bursting with fruits, vegetables and mushrooms.

Marine biodiversity is a precious resource – but it has long been under threat. Today's coral reefs, for example, cover half the area they did in 1950, and nearly 10 per cent of marine life is at risk of extinction.

A new financing agreement aimed at improving the livelihoods of wool and mohair farmers was signed recently by IFAD and the Kingdom of Lesotho by correspondence. The new project aims to increase the economic and climate resilience of 225,000 rural people.

Rural communities need energy to develop, but in a rapidly heating world, a green transition is crucial. Renewable sources, like solar power and biogas, are allowing them to prosper without relying on polluting fossil and wood fuels.

Water stress is growing around the world. To effectively tackle it, a new approach assesses not only whether water infrastructure is available and working, but also whether it is meeting the needs of the people who rely on it.

IFAD is increasing its efforts to facilitate private sector engagement in rural development. By providing a US$2.5 million loan to Hamkorbank, a leading commercial bank in Uzbekistan, 1,500 low-income dairy and horticulture producers will be able to access micro-loans to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods.

As the climate crisis intensifies and multiple conflicts increase global instability, visionary and committed political leadership is more crucial than ever to address the root causes of hunger, extreme poverty, and inequitable food systems, warned Gérardine Mukeshimana, Vice-President of IFAD, at the Berlin Agriculture’s Ministers Conference of the 16th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture.

IFAD President Alvaro Lario will be visiting Algeria next week in his first official visit to the country since he was elected head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in 2022.

IFAD and the Interamerican Development Bank have joined forces to increase small-scale farmers’ income, and improve food and nutrition security, in the Piauí-Canindé basins, reaching 210,000 poor rural people in Piauí, one of the poorest regions in Brazil.

Why has the UN declared this year the International Year of Camelids? IFAD’s Country Director for Bolivia, Daniel Anavitarte, explains why you should care about these extraordinary mammals – and why they’re key to sustainable rural development in South America and beyond.

La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) y el FIDA proponen una nueva aproximación al concepto de ruralidad en México y América Latina con el objetivo de focalizar la acción pública para reducir las desigualdades y avanzar en la consecución de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.

As global leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss financing today’s global challenges, IFAD is accelerating its efforts to catalyse increased private sector investments in rural and agricultural development.

There’s an international day for nearly every global issue you can think of. Learn how they come into being, the key observances for rural people – and why they matter.

Climate change is making extreme weather events more intense and frequent. With IFAD’s support, small-scale farmers are getting the advanced warning they need to limit damage to their livelihoods – and recover faster.

New partnership between IFAD and international money transfer operator, Moneytrans. The project is part of the Platform for Remittances, Investments and Migrants’ Entrepreneurship in Africa, an initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances.

To address the lack of an effective and efficient payment infrastructure for low-value remittances in Southern Africa, IFAD and the European Union have joined forces through the PRIME Africa initiative.

Young people are crucial contributors to prosperous rural communities. Meet two entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka who are working hard to make a difference.

Climate leaders' plans to tackle some of the planet’s greatest challenges. IFAD Vice-President gives insight into the challenges faced by rural people, followed by fellow IFAD colleagues explaining how we can improve the lives of small-scale farmers. More about the ongoing battle to combat desertification and what’s in store for 2024.

For countless people in IFAD-supported projects, 2023 was a year in which their lives changed. Here are some of the stories we told over the past 12 months.  

All over the world university graduates are trading in cities for rural areas. IFAD is helping to create employment opportunities so that young people can earn a living and stay connected to the land.

At a time when climate change and conflict are fuelling greater food insecurity in many developing countries, IFAD received record-breaking pledges in support of its largest replenishment ever, putting the organization on track to positively impact the lives of millions of rural people across the globe.

Statement by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves De Sousa, Minister of Finance of Angola; Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France.

Con el apoyo técnico y financiero del FIDA, la Ruta de Resultados e Intercambio de Experiencias en la Cadena Productiva de Camélidos ha iniciado hoy, con el objetivo de mostrar los avances del sector de camélidos en los departamentos bolivianos de La Paz, Oruro y Potosí, en el marco del Programa ProCamélidos y rumbo al 2024, Año Internacional de los Camélidos - declarado por la ONU.

Rural people in Kiribati are leading the way in sustainable farming, making nutritious foods available and creating a foundation for better health in the years to come.

When climate and natural disasters strike, it’s rural people who are worst affected. Investing in their resilience ensures that they not only endure times of crisis, but emerge stronger. Associate Vice-President of Programmes Donal Brown explains how rural communities can change the world for the better.

Press conference - IFAD’s Member State consultation and pledging session.

Integrated farming provides ecosystem benefits and builds climate resilience. Find out how this system is strengthening Cambodia’s small-scale farmers and their communities.

Last Friday at the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai, UAE, the Netherlands announced an historic pledge of US$150 million to IFAD.

In the face of escalating climate change impacts on vulnerable rural populations globally, Alvaro Lario, the President of IFAD, emphasized today that promoting gender equality in rural communities is essential to climate change adaptation, with women acting as powerful catalysts of change.

For rural people, the climate nightmare is a reality. They urgently need support to adapt to a changing world. To do this, IFAD is issuing three calls to action – find out what they are.

Following the recent release of data confirming a sharp global decline in climate finance dedicated to adaptation efforts, IFAD and partners have today unveiled a new financing mechanism to boost support to small-scale food producers in rural communities in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to adapt to a changing climate.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, announced today at the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai that the US will contribute US$50 million to the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS)’s new multi-donor trust fund, hosted by IFAD.

In a world of climate catastrophes, rising food prices and global instability, find out how persons with disabilities are taking their rightful place in the effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Follow IFAD's journey at COP28, as we showcase efforts towards sustainable agriculture, climate resilience and food security, and raise the voices of rural people all over the world.  

IFAD will urge global leaders at COP28 to urgently focus far more attention and funding to the hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers who feed much of the world and are key to global food security and stability.

IFAD and the Government of Indonesia signed a new initiative aimed at transforming dryland farming to make it more climate-resilient and profitable, bolstering the livelihoods of over 200,000 farmers over the next five years.

COP is an annual meeting where decision makers discuss how best to tackle climate change. But how did the summit come to be and what difference does it make for rural people? Find out here.

A regional knowledge and experience sharing workshop that addresses nutrition, rural development and food system transformation began today in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Improving food and nutrition security in West and Central Africa is crucial. It is estimated that 29.8% of the population of West Africa and 13.9% of the population of Central Africa are undernourished.

COP28 is just around the corner – our 50th episode focuses on small-scale farmers and their resilience in the face of climate change.

Ahead of COP28, IFAD urges global leaders to shift gears and drastically and urgently scale-up climate finance for small-scale farmers and small agribusinesses.

The path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals has never seemed more precarious. Find out how IFAD is using private investment to secure prosperity and sustainable development for the world’s poorest communities.

Private investors are a powerful force to help us fund a world where no one is left behind, said Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD at the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

El FIDA se incorporó como nuevo miembro adherente de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Instituciones Financieras para el Desarrollo.

In Nigeria, aquaculture brings new opportunities to rural youth and helps to reduce the country’s unemployment rate.

Gérardine Mukeshimana, the recently appointed Vice-President of IFAD, will make her first official visit to Egypt during which she will discuss with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly the need for concerted action to advance sustainable rural development through Egypt's Nexus for Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) Programme.

Climate change is having a huge impact on Indigenous Peoples all over the world. We sat down with three indigenous youth to talk about how erratic weather patterns are affecting their communities and how they are drawing on tradition and technology to cope with it.

IFAD will share results of its first sustainable bonds at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on 21 November, and illustrate how investments are improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers, who are trying to cope with climate change, inflation and broken supply chains.

The Regional Overview 2023 indicates that, despite halting the upward trend in the last period, hunger levels in the region remain above the 2019 figures prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, 8.6% of children under five years of age are overweight.

The Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia is a dynamic region faced with many challenges. We caught up with Regional Director Dina Saleh to find out how rural people are coping with the realities of conflict and climate change and to understand why the right investments now can make all the difference later.