Latest

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.

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.

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).