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Welcome to Farms. Food. Future. A podcast that’s good for you, good for the planet and good for farmers.

It has long been recognized that the money remitted by migrants is used to supplement the receiving family’s income and is therefore largely spent on consumption. Only a small amount of remittances is invested in productive assets, much less saved.

Half a million of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable families are set to benefit from a new US$451 million project to increase their resilience to climate shocks in the country’s poorest regions.

Water and sanitation are at the very core of sustainable development, critical to the survival of people and the planet. SDG6 not only addresses the issues relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, but also the quality and sustainability of water resources worldwide.

The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD and the Government of Sierra Leone are holding a half-day workshop in Freetown to share the findings of the independent evaluation of IFAD’s country strategy and programme for Sierra Leone.

Wool and mohair form the bedrock of Lesotho’s rural economy. Producers range from smallholder farmers with small flocks, to breeders of large flocks of superior gene-quality animals. With over 1.2 million sheep and 845,000 goats there is a lot of potential to develop the industry.

With about 60 per cent of the developing world’s rural youth living in Asian and Pacific countries, specific and effective policies and investments are urgently needed to offer them a future, according to a report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to be presented at Peking University today.

The fisheries sector is crucial for enhancing healthy diets, as fish are a valuable source of nutrients and micronutrients.

This call for proposals is to select a recipient or consortium of recipients to receive a three-year IFAD grant financing to implement the project: Promoting sustainable technologies and marketing strategies to increase incomes and reduce food losses in small fish systems for a total amount of up to US$2.5 million.

Women constitute the majority of remittance recipients globally and remittances have an impact on both women’s actual income as well as on social norms.

Most of the population of Bhutan depend on farming to make a living. However, as the climate crisis bites, this Himalayan nation is being hit by erratic rain, hailstorms and flash floods. This in turn is effecting farmers’ production.

Next year China is hoping to announce that they have eradicated extreme poverty - but what are the challenges that China would need to deal with after 2020?

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are calling for urgent funding to avert a major hunger crisis and for the international community to step up investment in long-term measures to combat the impact of climate shocks and build the capacity of communities and countries to withstand them.

We are just over 10 years out from the deadline to the meet the SDGs, but the goals will require a step change in the quantity and quality of financing made available.

Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, will meet with government leaders in India this week to strengthen joint efforts to boost farmers’ incomes and build sustainable food systems, and review project activities that have already empowered more than one million rural women.

A new €81.9 million project will help more than 1 million vulnerable small-scale farmers in Chad improve their incomes and food security and boost an underperforming agricultural sector hampered by recurrent droughts and rain-fed farming practices.

In recent years, the concerns and worldviews of young adults have been increasingly occupying center stage in global debates. And they should.

IFAD and Samoa have signed a financing agreement to significantly increase agricultural production and incomes for 25,000 smallholder farmer and fisher families, and to help protect against natural disasters on Samoa’s Savai’i and Upolu islands.

Sri Lanka is a small island nation in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean off India’s southeastern coast. Given that a large proportion of the population is concentrated in coastal areas, the country is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.

Today, on the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, I wanted to step back and reflect on progress.

Hoy, el FIDA, en conjunto con el Gobierno Federal, inauguró su oficina en Brasilia y lanzó una agenda de discusión sobre su Estrategia de País con entidades del Gobierno Federal, representantes de la sociedad civil y agencias internacionales.

With over 80 per cent of the Sudanese labour force engaged in agriculture, a new €77.7 million programme that aims to increase food security and ensure access to natural resources is a vital investment in Sudan’s future.

A powerful short film featuring acclaimed poet Maya Angelou was launched today by IFAD on the International Day of Rural Women to raise awareness of the power and potential of rural women to help fight global hunger.

Mapai is one of the driest districts of Mozambique, with an arid and semi-arid tropical climate where water for consumption, cattle and agriculture is the major challenge for the people living there.

The second Friday in October is World Egg Day. A day to recognise the vital role of eggs in feeding people around the world.

With increasing population, underemployment and increasing demand for food, youth can pay rich dividend in terms of social and economic growth when given the right opportunities and support.

IFAD opened a regional office in Cairo today that will serve as a strategic rural development center for its work to reduce poverty, empower women and youth, and create employment opportunities in seven countries across the region.

Over a decade ago, in the region of Tombali, Arama Tudarame’s husband and local chief sought land around their village suitable for growing cashew trees. Then, as now, monoculture of the kidney-shaped nut dominated the country’s agricultural sector

The President of the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Gilbert F. Houngbo, will meet with H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, during a four-day visit to the country from 6 to 9 October to discuss IFAD’s ongoing investments and to pave the way for a strengthened partnership towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

About 30,900 rural people in the Kingdom of Eswatini will benefit from a new US$38.5 million project that aims to improve the prosperity and resilience of poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in the country.

This call for proposals is to select a recipient or consortium of recipients to receive a three-year IFAD grant financing to implement the project: Inclusive red meat value chains for women and youth farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa for a total amount of up to US$2 million.

The resilience of smallholder farmers, coupled with the support of development projects is allowing Peru’s rural people to progress towards better living standards. Women and youth are very often on the frontline of that effort.

IFAD is the only IFI with the specific mandate to eradicate poverty and hunger by investing in poor rural people through financial and technical assistance to agriculture and rural development projects in developing member states.

Mohamed enjoys welcoming visitors to his vegetables garden in Fria town, in Guinea, and is proud to show every crop he has been growing. This 32-year-old rural entrepreneur recalls how his business succeeded thanks to an unexpected opportunity while he was pursuing a civil servant career.

Last Friday was the global climate strike day. I have found myself wondering how we have arrived to this point.

At first glance it may seem access to energy shouldn’t be high on the development agenda as almost 89 per cent of the world's population has access to electricity. However, the data mask disparities between rural and urban areas.

Climate change ranks among the most important dynamics shaping livelihoods of young people now and in the future.

About 150,000 rural young people in Senegal – 50 per cent of them women - will benefit from a new US$93.3 million project that aims to create income and decent sustainable jobs in agricultural, pastoral and fishery value chains.

Today the Rome-based agencies (RBAs - FAO, IFAD and WFP) recognized the interagency country team based in Guatemala for their concerted efforts in maximizing results and impact on the ground.

Following the spikes in global food prices in the years 2006, 2008, and 2011, agricultural risk management has become an important topic in G20 discussions.

The UN Rome-based Agencies (RBAs), namely, FAO, IFAD and WFP, gathered on the occasion of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation and highlighted the importance of “leaving no one behind” in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Haor region is a wetland ecosystem in north-eastern Bangladesh, which is located in a tectonic depression. During the monsoon period, the Haor gets between 3,000 and 4,000 mm of rainfall, together with the flow of monsoon river from the Meghalaya and Barak basins.

Is it possible to link small-scale producers to emerging opportunities in dynamic food systems?

Sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse is unacceptable and has no place in IFAD, including its operations and financed activities. IFAD reaffirms its no tolerance policy.

Opportunities for migration and mobility have long influenced people's lives and livelihoods.

Thabo Lefatle owns and runs a small vegetable farm in Lesotho’s Mafeteng district, south of the capital Maseru. He is one of 55,000 smallholder farmers in Lesotho who applied for and won public grants.

Urgent investments in agriculture and rural development from Africa's leaders are needed to create opportunities in support of the millions of young people who will soon enter the job market.

A new framework will guide practitioners to use a broad portfolio of crop species to bring nutrition back to the table.

Mangroves are one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and play an essential role to ecological balance and community livelihoods. But in many areas across West Africa, these wildlife-rich wetlands are under threat.

This is a Call for Proposals to identify the recipient of a three-year grant financed by IFAD for a total amount of up to US$3 million.