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What’s on the menu in 2050? For World Food Day, we contemplate what our plates might look like in the future and explore how the world’s small-scale farmers are revolutionizing what we eat.

IFAD surpassed its goal to make measurable strides in reducing poverty and hunger in the world’s rural areas, a rare impact assessment of projects representing a total investment of more than US$ 7.1 billion has shown.

Meet some of the inspiring women IFAD supports as they, in turn, bolster the people around them.

Young members of indigenous communities are working to reverse centuries of dispossession and preserve their way of life, including their food heritage.

As the world faces a myriad of crises, experts fear that the progress rural women and girls have worked so hard for may be reversed. Here is how IFAD is working to prevent this.

Irrigation brings water to the world's poorest rural people in the right quantities and when they need it, helping farmers adapt to climate pattern shifts.

Faced with the impacts of climate change, small-scale producers in Guatemala urgently need to manage risk using tools like insurance. Read how INSURED promotes the use of agricultural insurance to build resilience and strengthen livelihoods.

On his first day in office, IFAD President, Alvaro Lario, shares his thoughts on how IFAD can address the challenges of today to ensure sustainable global food systems and transform the lives of the world’s poorest rural people.

Development finance expert Alvaro Lario takes the helm of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development on Saturday with an urgent mission to battle poverty and hunger among the world’s rural poor as they face existential threats of climate change and food insecurity.

Reducing food losses makes food systems more sustainable. Although the exact causes are different for every crop and in every country, there are plenty of avenues to prevent, detect, and reverse these losses.

The United States Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome, Ambassador Cindy McCain concluded a two-day official visit to the North Western and Central Provinces of Sri Lanka today. Accompanied by the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, Ambassador McCain visited several projects of FAO, WFP and IFAD.

Marking ten years in Cuba, IFAD’s Country Director met small-scale farmers and partners to discuss progress made and what is yet to be done.

Discover hidden gems in rural Bangladesh with two IFAD colleagues as they visit a community-led eco-tourism project that has transformed the area.

From chefs in India to fisheries in Maldives, we examine how the relationship between agriculture and climate change is affecting South Asia. We also reflect on 75 years of independence in India and Pakistan and learn about IFAD’s work in Bhutan and Maldives, and so much more in this bumper episode.

An inside look at how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can help map projects and lift rural people out of poverty.

The trending topic at UNGA this year was the escalation of the war in Ukraine. But the topic IFAD’s Alberto Trillo Barca heard discussed most in the halls and lifts of UN HQ in New York was food security and the global food crisis.

IFAD and Grameen Euglena, a joint venture between Japan's Euglena Co Ltd and Bangladesh's Grameen Krishi Foundation, are collaborating on an initiative that supports smallholder farmers to cultivate mung beans.

The Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) of IFAD is pleased to announce the Remittance Innovation Champions 2022 – South Africa (RIC22-SA) Call for Proposals.

IFAD announced partnerships on Tuesday to slash the cost of migrant remittances to Ghana with financial services providers Ecobank Ghana and Fidelity Bank and pan-African fintech MFS Africa, aiming to boost a vital source of income for a country grappling with the economic impact of the COVID pandemic and Ukraine war.

When the Solomon Islands began seeing its first cases of COVID-19 in early 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock activated emergency food relief efforts. But after years of neglecting data collection, how do you find and feed people without addresses, street names or house numbers?

World leaders and the heads of UN agencies come together in New York this week for the UN General Assembly. As global crises compound and converge, now is the time for global action and common ground. IFAD’s President-elect, Alvaro Lario, will use this opportunity to advocate for rural people and push to transform food systems.

The Indigenous Peoples Awards recognize the efforts and the achievements of development projects that successfully engage with indigenous peoples or ethnic minorities living in rural areas. They promote best practices, share knowledge and identify opportunities to replicate and scale-up results.

IFAD announced today its first grant to a digital payments company, MFS Africa, to promote the use of mobile remittances in marginal rural areas in five African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, The Gambia and Uganda.

Cage aquaculture is a greener, cheaper method of fish farming. Thanks to South-South and Triangular Cooperation, ProSCAWA is helping small-scale fishers get started with cage aquaculture and meet growing demand for fish.

IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo today issued the following Statement on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Kenyan farmers and their crops face a tiny but destructive threat: the fall armyworm. With climate change causing more infestations, push-pull technologies are a sustainable and affordable way of naturally controlling pest numbers. Find out how this simple but effective technology works.

Global hunger and food insufficiency are increasing, reflecting increased inequalities arising from unequal economic recovery and persisting income losses following the pandemic. Satu Santala, Associate Vice-President of the External Relations and Governance Department at IFAD, tells us more about Fund’s approach to tackling these global challenges through SSTC.

African agriculture is at a crucial juncture. It has enormous potential to not only feed Africa, but also the world. Yet, global conditions are holding small-scale African farmers back. Five numbers show how transforming African agriculture can make a big difference.

The impacts of the war in Ukraine, coupled with the pandemic and climate change, are threatening the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the world over. Finance is a critical lifeline, but can rural agri-SMEs access it?  

Following months of incessant rain, nearly one third of Pakistan is underwater. Millions of people are affected, thousands have died, and agriculture is at risk. IFAD’s Country Director in Pakistan reflects on what is happening on the ground.

With fossil fuels dwindling and access to energy already scarce in Africa, people are turning to renewable energy. In this month’s podcast, energy specialist, Dan Martin, explains how IFAD incorporates renewable energy into its projects, while a farmer tells us about the reality of renewable energies on the ground.

East Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades, with millions facing food insecurity as crops fail, livestock die and water sources dry up. Read how IFAD is building resilience to climate change and what else needs to be done.

Coastal communities in the Philippines depend on the sea for sustenance, but these once thriving oceans are emptying due to climate change and harmful fishing practices. Local women are fighting back, protecting fisheries while using them sustainably.

The highlands of southern Türkiye are honey heaven. Meet two beekeepers who are building a flourishing honey business while protecting bees and, in turn, biodiversity.

On a recent trip to Guatemala and Honduras with the US Ambassador to the UN agencies based in Rome, IFAD Country Director, René Castro, explains how smallholder farmers are transforming rural communities despite the challenges of climate change.

As the current crises and disruption in food networks lay bare most African countries’ dependence on food imports, it has become critically urgent to transform the agriculture sector in order to lift vulnerable rural people out of poverty and hunger, according to the African Agricultural Transformation Initiative.

With limited access to schools, markets and jobs, many young people leave Bangladesh’s Haor wetland region in search of more stable opportunities. Meet three young people IFAD is helping to upskill so they can generate an income while staying in the region.

Rural youth around the world face a dilemma: their roots are in their rural homes, but it’s often hard to build a future there. Meet some of the young people IFAD is helping to devise solutions to the challenges they see around them and build more resilient futures.

The sixth IPAF cycle focuses on advancing indigenous peoples’ conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity for adaptation and resilience to climate change.

Indigenous peoples can teach us a lot about mitigating the impacts of climate change. Over generations, these communities have protected the biodiversity of their homes. They also use language in a powerful way to describe how they interact with the natural environment. Discover five unique words and concepts.

The pandemic pushed up to 80 million people in Asia into extreme poverty. Governments across the region had to respond quickly as incomes fell and food security was threatened. IFAD worked with them to ensure vulnerable rural people got the support they needed.

When a massive tsunami devastated low-lying coastal areas in Tonga, local people had to rebuild their lives from scratch. For many, home gardens provided much needed fresh produce, as well as renewed hope for the future.

Amid rising challenges posed by climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic shocks, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) doubled down on its commitment to the world’s poorest rural communities in 2021.

The world entered 2021 on a precipice. We all knew the path we had been on was unsustainable and inequitable, and that nothing less than transformative change would be needed for recovery. As we face the challenges 2022 brings, we’re looking back to the lessons we learned in 2021 to guide our next steps forward.

In the current context of emergency, France and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday reaffirmed their joint commitment to averting a global food crisis and investing in more resilient and sustainable agriculture.

As the world experiences new and complex crises at an ever-increasing pace, we must back up decision-making with rigorous research and data. Here are three principles to bridge the divide between research and policy.

During a visit to Cameroon, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Rémy Rioux, Director General of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) reaffirmed their shared vision for agricultural development in response to the challenge of food security.

When Megnath Ale Magar returned to his village in Nepal after a decade working abroad, he found a degraded land. In just three years, he transformed his barren farmland into a lush ecosystem using a permaculture approach.

In Africa, almost 800 million people are facing food insecurity. This situation is made worse by a triple crisis - COVID-19, climate change, and conflict. In this podcast, our team take us on a journey through the nutrition landscape for small-scale farmers across Africa.

Five Country Directors from IFAD’s highest priority countries in its Crisis Response Initiative tell us how the war in Ukraine is impacting rural people on the ground.

Climate change, commercial agribusiness, and societal norms threaten small-scale farmers’ way of life in a small village in Sudan. A women’s savings and credit group is changing this.

COVID-19 presented new challenges for poor rural farmers in Pakistan. An IFAD-supported project shared personalized advice to farmers via their mobile phones to help overcome the challenges of the pandemic.

Vietnamese rural people need to farm to eat and make a living. But if they don’t do this sustainably, it can damage the land and degrade the forests. IFAD’s new project helps them manage their forests sustainably, while earning a decent living.

IFAD today appointed its top finance executive, Alvaro Lario, to be its next president, choosing a champion of private sector investments to lead the UN agency into battle against a global food security crisis triggered by war in Ukraine, climate change and the economic shock of COVID-19.

The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest SOFI report shows that rather than moving towards zero hunger, evermore people are hungry. On the back of these disheartening results, three IFAD experts give their reactions to the report.

At IFAD, we take a community-driven, bottom-up approach to project design. This creates a sense of ownership for rural communities and governments alike. A recent example from Ethiopia shows how government and communities came together to design investments in building resilience.

Projects funded by IFAD helped around 257,000 rural families to overcome poverty in Brazil from 2016 to 2022, according to a report on implementation of the guiding IFAD Country Strategy (or COSOP) for Brazil in 2016-2022, which was presented today to the Brazilian Government in Brasilia.  

Chef Anahita Dhondy is a passionate advocate for Parsi food – the rich cuisine of India’s Zoroastrian community to which she belongs – as well as for the use of local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients. We recently caught up with her to hear more about her work in and out of the kitchen.

Chef Thomas Zacharias is a big fan of storytelling as a way to get people interested in fixing our food systems. We caught up with him to learn more about what drives him to tell the stories of the farmers he’s met and to champion local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients.

20 million people in the Horn of Africa are at risk of starvation, largely due to a four-year drought making the region the driest it’s been in forty years. Dr Joseph Awange and IFAD’s Satu Santala discuss the root causes of famine and the solutions we can put in place.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the cornerstones of a vibrant rural economy. Discover ten rural businesses from every continent that are thriving with IFAD's support.

In the tiny village of Manh, nestled in the green uplands of Lao, agricultural production groups are coming together to develop their businesses and learn new techniques. For Boun Tham, groups like these made all the difference for his pig farm.

IFAD elects its next President on 7 July, designating new leadership at a crucial time when rising food, energy and fertilizer prices threaten to trigger a global food crisis and push millions more rural people into hunger and poverty.

Actor, activist, model, and IFAD Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Dhowre Elba went to Kenya to see how rural small-scale farmers are transforming their communities. In her photo diary, she shares what she saw and learned on her visit.

IFAD has today issued its first-ever bond in Asia of US$50 million with the Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (Dai-ichi Frontier Life), setting the stage for increased investment in some of the world’s most vulnerable rural communities.

Award-winning Indian chefs Anahita Dhondy and Thomas Zacharias have joined IFAD to promote Recipes for Change (R4C), a platform that aims to bring a taste of rural people’s lives to consumers through the food they eat.

The main element in Chef Gil’s vegan dish is jackfruit, a truly sustainable crop. Calorie-dense and nutrient-rich, jackfruit are known for their nutritive value and their resilience against climatic shifts. With a unique texture akin to pulled pork, their versatility in the kitchen is unmatched.

Years of conflict in Yemen have taken their toll – and among all of the devastation that’s been wrought, the country’s agricultural sector is one of the hardest hit. Now, an IFAD-supported initiative is helping Yemeni farmers get back on their feet.

Japchae is a traditional Korean dish known for its versatility. Chef Yoon’s version features crickets, a superfood packed with essential nutrients. If you’re looking for a new source of protein with almost no greenhouse gas emissions – or you’re just feeling adventurous – give this recipe a try.

Global remittances, the hard-earned money sent by migrant workers to their family members in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), grew by 8.6 per cent in 2021. Despite predictions that the COVID-19 pandemic would reduce remittance flows, the momentum was sustained due to a 48 per cent increase in money sent through mobile channels, according to the report MobileRemit Africa launched today by IFAD.

IFAD and the Centre for International Agricultural Research (CIAR) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) signed a letter of intent today, detailing the conditions of a strategic partnership between the two organisations in their efforts to jointly support rural revitalization in China and globally.

The MobileRemit Africa Report provides a framework to help countries identify data gaps, measure how enabling their policies are and the operating market environment for mobile-enabled remittances.

On the occasion of the International Day of Family Remittances (16 June), IFAD will launch its new MobileRemit Africa report, which includes a specific country analysis about the Gambia.

Millets – grain-producing grasses that can be found on farms all over the world – were at risk of being forgotten entirely amid the rise of industrial agriculture. They’ve made a comeback in recent years, thanks to a growing awareness of their nutritional and environmental benefits among farmers, chefs and consumers.