Stories

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.

 

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.

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

Pulses are at the heart of thriving rural communities, and an essential ingredient for a sustainable future. Learn about some of these superfoods – and how to cook them with our Recipes for Change!

Brazil’s São Francisco river is a place of convergences. The river delta, and the stunning tropical forest surrounding it, is home to many different ethnic groups who settled there in search of a fresh start. Plans for a new ecotourism route that would allow visitors to experience the area’s rich culture and traditions were well under way – and then the pandemic struck. Nevertheless, one IFAD-funded project managed to support the region’s artisans and fishers.

For centuries, people living in Brazil’s semi-arid region have struggled with a lack of water. But over the last decades, thanks to support from IFAD and other development actors, these communities are squeezing a few more drops of water from Mother Nature.

Too many people assume Brazil’s fundo de pasto communities are relics of the past. Today, they’re at work uniting centuries-old traditions with contemporary food systems.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reinvention of the agricultural sector is indispensable today. In fact, it is already beginning to take place with young people at the heart of it.

For all the chaos they bring, crises also have a way of giving birth to unexpected opportunities. One way they do this is by urging people to develop new tools to help them resist disaster. 

In north-eastern Brazil, as in so many other places, rural women's work is often invisible. But a revolution is taking place – and IFAD is a part of it.

An organization of artisan women, facing a slowdown in their work due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, has begun to make protective gear for local health care workers.

Seven women and men from Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast take part in a one-week learning exchange programme in Brazil focused on climate resilient post-harvest management of cassava.