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At a workshop in Saly, Senegal, today, IFAD, the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility, launched two new programs aimed at improving access to best practices, promoting innovation and digital transformation, and facilitating mutual learning among Great Green Wall stakeholders.

We caught up with IFAD's Country Director for Zimbabwe, Francesco Rispoli, about the country's present challenges – and future potential.

Increasing agricultural production is critical to fighting hunger in Africa, but often results in overexploited natural resources. Luckily, there are ways to do so sustainably.

As leaders gather for World Water Week, IFAD President and UN-Water Chair Alvaro Lario shares insights on our planet's most precious resource.

To mark International Day of the World's Indigenous People, we shine a spotlight on Indigenous Peoples’ essential role in building a sustainable future.

From the Andes to the Amazon, meet three Indigenous Peoples’ organizations that are transforming their communities with IFAD’s support.

Indigenous climate activist Helen Biangalen-Magata weighs in on the urgent need to rethink how development finance supports communities like hers.

Our Associate Vice-President Donal Brown reflects on how IFAD has accompanied this dynamic country on its development journey – and how we will continue to collaborate into the future.

Black-eyed peas are not only an important ingredient in the local cuisine of The Gambia and Senegal – they are climate-resilient, too. Try them yourself with this delicious fonio recipe.

In this episode, we take a close look at what could one day be the largest living structure on our planet: the Great Green Wall.

In the face of challenging conditions, small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe's southeastern drylands are standing strong – and irrigating their way to food security.

Climate change is making seaweed farming off Tanzania’s coast a challenge – but IFAD is supporting seaweed farmers so they can adapt to this new normal.

Coffee has been grown in Saudi Arabia for centuries. But today, climate change is taking its toll. See how one small-scale farmer has built a thriving coffee farm, and is preserving traditions, despite challenges.

Hear from LGBTQ+ farmers forging inclusive spaces in vegetable farming, beekeeping and beyond.

Last Thursday, IFAD, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the Government of the State of Pernambuco presented the activities of Sertão Vivo in Pernambuco. This project, which promotes climate resilience and poverty reduction in the Northeast region of Brazil, was also co-financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Farming is not easy in Brazil’s semi-arid north-east. But with the support of a local cooperative, these small businesses are producing food while protecting nature.

IFAD Associate Vice-President Guoqi Wu shares insights after a visit to project areas in Zambia, which has been hit hard by drought.

We asked IFAD’s climate experts how desertification and drought are affecting different parts of the world – and how rural people are leading the change that’s needed.

Dwindling water sources and severe droughts are degrading soils. But it’s not too late to restore ecosystems – if rural people take the lead.

The African continent loses a staggering US$4 billion worth of soil nutrients annually due to erosion. This loss affects over 485 million people and threatens food security. To address this major challenge and obstacle to feed its growing population, the African Union (AU) convened the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health (AFSH) summit in May, in Nairobi Kenya.

Biodiversity in all its forms has transformative power – protecting it requires a whole-of-society approach, in which we all play our part.

To celebrate World Biodiversity Day, we explore how rural communities are making farming green again. Tune in to hear from a young Zimbabwean and global conservation leaders.

From Tanzania to Tajikistan, rural youth are combining tradition with modern techniques to build sustainable livelihoods on an ancient delicacy: honey.

Given the complex interconnections between the health of animals, people and the planet, how can we prepare ourselves for the next pandemic? Here’s how IFAD’s investments are helping.

A year on from Cyclone Freddy, hope is returning to Malawi’s farms. Tune in to hear directly from the small-scale farmers who are building back stronger with IFAD's support.

Rural Malawians are still rebuilding and coming to terms with Freddy’s impacts. But thanks to much-needed investments in small-scale farming, hope is finally starting to appear on the horizon.

Hear from global leaders in regenerative agriculture – and learn how IFAD is leveraging their techniques to combat climate change in rural communities.

Genetic, species, ecosystem: learn about the three main types of biodiversity and explore the role each plays in making agriculture productive, nutritious and resilient.

Peace and water are inextricably intertwined. That’s why sustainable rural development can help reduce conflict in communities – and why water is often the crucial element that can make the difference.

Amid growing climate challenges in Montenegro, IFAD signed an agreement with the Government of Montenegro to finance the Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience in the Montenegrin Mountain Areas project (GORA). The project aims to support small-scale farmers and rural communities to cope with the effects of a changing climate.

Today, IFAD launched the Africa Integrated Climate Risk Management Programme (AICRM): Strengthening Smallholder Farmers' Resilience to Climate Change Impacts, with a workshop in Banjul, The Gambia. Dr Jyotsna Puri, Associate Vice-President of the Strategy and Knowledge Department at IFAD joined over 60 participants, including government representatives from the programme's host countries, as well as financial and implementing partners.

Visit the five inspiring winners of this year’s Gender Awards and find out how they’re addressing the harmful practices, social norms and economic disparities that keep women from achieving their potential.

A global food crisis and the effects of climate change are taking a toll on those most vulnerable: millions of people – many of them small-scale farmers and their families – who are unable to afford a healthy diet. At this critical juncture, Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD, is visiting the Solomon Islands and Australia from 29 February to 8 March 2024 to collaborate on next-steps and to deepen IFAD’s strategic partnership with governments across the region.

In this episode, we explore why we must pursue zero hunger and zero waste as joint goals. In particular, we look at how these efforts are crucial for children, who depend on nutritious diets for healthy development.

All too often, value chain development harms the planet by emitting carbon and degrading environments. That’s why to build truly prosperous rural areas, we must make value chains not just strong, but sustainable.

We asked four farmers’ organization leaders from around the world about current challenges, new developments and their hopes for the future at the eighth global meeting of the Famers’ Forum.

IFAD Recipes for Change chef Sophie Grigson travelled to Malawi to meet local small-scale farmers who are fighting back against climate change by diversifying their crops.

Learn how to make a delicious and sustainable Malawian meal with these recipes collected from rural communities by Chef Sophie Grigson.

Seaweed packs a punch. It produces more than half of the world’s oxygen and removes millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. It's also incredibly nutritious and easily cultivated, with seaweed farming making up nearly a third of all marine aquaculture.

Wetlands are closely linked with our wellbeing – they protect against erosion, improve water quality, and host a vast range of species. Let’s visit some of these precious ecosystems and meet the rural people protecting them.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

In this episode, 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

As Brazil redoubles its efforts to combat poverty and hunger, IFAD and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) signed a new financing agreement today to strengthen the resilience of one million people in rural areas of the Sertão, Brazil's semi-arid and highly vulnerable region in the Northeast of the country.

Amid growing climate impacts and water scarcity, the Kingdom of Morocco and IFAD signed an agreement today for a new project that will improve the livelihoods and living conditions for rural people in the mountainous areas of the Oriental region and reduce their vulnerability to climate change.

When rural women access finance, the entire world flourishes. Find out how financially empowered women are leading the fight against climate change, achieving sustainable development and ensuring food security for their communities and the planet.

All over the world rural women face numerous challenges that men do not. Find out how an IFAD-funded project in Türkiye is providing them with the tools to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive.

Meet IFAD’s new Vice-President. Gerardine Mukeshimana discusses the importance of investing in rural communities, climate change adaptation and giving women access to resources.

El Niño is back, and its effects are expected to have dire consequences for rural people. Oliver Page explains why we must do more to create a resilient, sustainable future in the face of this devastating climate phenomenon.

As countries meet to evaluate how much progress has been made towards the Sustainable Development Goals, find out more about these 17 objectives and why they’re important for the rural communities we work with.

IFAD’s Regional Director for the NEN region, Dina Saleh, reacts to the disastrous events that have occurred in the region this week.

The Asia Pacific region is one of dizzying contrasts and incredible scale. We caught up with Regional Director, Reehana Rifat Raza, to find out the challenges faced by rural people in this dynamic region and how investment can make all the difference for their futures.

East and Southern Africa is home to a diversity of landscapes, people and challenges. We sat down with Regional Director Sara Mbago-Bhunu to talk about rural life and the importance of investment.

It’s time countries step up their investments and secure a climate-resilient future for small-scale farmers in Africa. Here’s how.

The line between getting by and going under is often all too thin. Disasters can immediately upend lives and reverse decades of progress and rural development. That’s why rural people also need their community, their country and their planet to be resilient.

Joint investments in small-scale farming in developing countries not only increase vulnerable rural people’s capacity to cope with the ever-increasing climatic and economic shocks, but significantly benefit the environment and climate by helping to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, recovering degraded land and curbing biodiversity loss, according a new joint report launched today by IFAD and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Small-scale farmers need financial support to face the climate crisis. For the last 20 years, IFAD and the Global Environment Facility have been supporting rural communities as they build food systems that nourish us all.

El Gobierno del Perú ha anunciado esta semana la puesta en marcha de un proyecto para conservar los ecosistemas silvestres de la Amazonía, mediante la puesta en valor de la biodiversidad para la seguridad alimentaria y los bionegocios. Esta nueva iniciativa contará con el apoyo técnico y financiero del FIDA, junto con la FAO y la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Industrial (ONUDI).

Few storytelling mediums are more powerful than film. Find out how IFAD is using virtual reality and 360° video technology to ensure that rural people’s voices are heard.

Drought is the number one cause of agricultural production loss. This is why IFAD supports small-scale farmers as they grow crops that are resilient, but often neglected.

IFAD and the Government of New Zealand signed a NZD 5.75 million (USD 3.57 million) agreement to support Pacific communities to ensure sustainable access to water and healthy diets.

Con apoyo técnico y financiero del FIDA, el Ministerio de Desarrollo Rural y Tierras de Bolivia ha anunciado la puesta en marcha de un nuevo programa orientado a incrementar los ingresos y la resiliencia climática de más de 19 000 pequeños productores rurales vulnerables en 35 municipios de los departamentos de Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, La Paz, Potosí y Tarija, y en las regiones del Altiplano, Chaco y Valles.

Join us and IFAD’s Climate change and environmental specialist Oliver Page to learn more about how to help the small-scale farmers and fishers strengthen their climate resilience in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Meet the woman who fought for her right to land ownership and contributed to halting drought and desertification.

Small-scale farmers in developing countries produce one third of the world’s food. But today they are only one flood, one drought or one failed harvest away from ruin. To stem the impact of climate change on food security and to reduce poverty, IFAD is calling for more investment in rural communities - now.

IFAD's new film, ‘A New Day’, tells the story of Tunisia’s rural people and is a testament to their resilience as they battle to adapt to our changing weather. We speak to two IFAD-supported project participants about their daily struggles, as well as their hopes and dreams for the future.

IFAD’s latest film, ‘A New Day’, was shot in Tunisia amid soaring temperatures. Get a behind the scenes look of how we made the film, the people we met and the challenges of shooting in an area dramatically affected by climate change.  

In an age of multiple intersecting crises, only a holistic approach to both humanitarian and development assistance can disrupt the cycle.

The world is full of misconceptions about rural people and the environment. Find out what’s true and what’s not, as we debunk three major myths.

This month we are focusing on water scarcity.

Biodiversity is especially important for small-scale farmers. Here’s how IFAD is further integrating it into projects all over the world.

On World Bee Day, meet the pollinators buzzing to protect our planet and the rural people taking care of them.

IFAD and the government of the state of Maranhão launched today a project that seeks to address the pressing issue of environmental degradation of the Amazon Forest in Maranhão and the high rates of poverty and food insecurity in the region - the “Amazon Sustainable Management Project (PAGES).”

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and IFAD have today penned two agreements to further strengthen their cooperation in low- and middle-income countries worldwide, with a particular focus on Africa.

With sharp reductions in methane emissions key to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, IFAD is launching a new initiative to help developing countries lower methane emissions from agricultural and small-scale farming. Announced today at the AIM for Climate Summit, the new program will receive US$3 million in support from the Global Methane Hub and US$ 1 million in support from the US State Department.

Climate change poses a myriad of challenges for Argentina’s rural herders. But one woman has no intention of backing down and tells us how she plans to forge a new way forward.

Journalists can play an important role in telling the stories of Indigenous Peoples. Here are five ways in which the media can report on these important communities in a meaningful way.  

Shepherds in Türkiye rely on the Taurus Mountains for their livelihoods - but living and working in these highlands is no mean feat. Here’s how IFAD-funded caravans have provided them with more comfortable, hygienic and safe living conditions.

After 40 years working with rural people, here are some of the things we have learned to make our work under IFAD13 a success.

Our catchword of the month is innovation.

The IPCC’s latest Synthesis Report is a reminder that the power is in our hands to prevent the very worst outcomes of climate change—if we take decisive and ambitious action now.