From California to the Sahel, from the steppes of Central Asia to the Andes, drylands are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world. But they’re also some of the most fragile.

With land degradation gaining ground and affecting up to 40% of lands on Earth, IFAD today called for a significant increase in investments to help small-scale farmers protect and restore lands and ecosystems, build their resilience to climate change, and ensure long-term global food security.

International model, actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Sabrina Elba, arrives in Kenya today on an official visit.

When Fatima-Zohra first arrived in her new home, a rural village in the Moroccan highlands, she discovered the local women didn’t have many job opportunities. But they were enthusiastic about the idea of going into business for themselves – and so Fatima-Zohra got to work.

The Vice President of IFAD, Dominik Ziller, will meet with Edouard Ngirente, Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, as well as other high-level government officials during a visit starting 9 May.

As the risk of global food security rises due to the war in Ukraine, IFAD will launch its Crisis Response Initiative (CRI) at a press conference in Nairobi.

The war in Ukraine is testing the resilience of the people of Moldova, including its small-scale farmers. Our support is essential for helping them respond to the crisis – but opportunities to help are slipping through our fingers.

In many countries, we have the opportunity to partner with public policies and programmes to deliver the services our project participants need. Although effective inter-institutional coordination is never simple, it is doable – and entirely worth the effort.    

We know a thing or two about connecting youth with the financial services they need to start a business – but there’s always more to learn. Here, we reflect on some of our “lessons learned” as part of a recent grant programme in East Africa.