Keynote speakers will be:

• Joshua Angrist, Ford Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2021
• David Zilberman, Professor and Robinson Chair, University of California, Berkeley 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture

The conference will be a high-level forum to bring forth research of high academic standards in collaboration with Italian universities, international academic associations, and international organizations involved in economic and rural development policies. This will help to create a collaborative network of researchers, policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders, together with international development organizations, NGOs, regional and international financial institutions, business partners and government representatives.

The IFAD conference will be the venue where new knowledge is created and disseminated, collaboration between researchers is encouraged; a job opportunity for young researchers is facilitated, lessons to design new projects and programs are drawn; and priorities for the future research and policy agenda are set. To this end, the conference will end with a job meet-up event, a session dedicated to scholars to give them the opportunity to meet professionals from the three United Nations Rome-based Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP) involved in research and policy work, with the goal to provide career guidance and networking opportunities. An innovation fair will conclude the event, an area where start-up and innovative projects will showcase their business to inspire new research ideas and the design of innovative projects.

Small grants (max US$5,000) for the best applied research papers presented on topics relevant to IFAD’s mandate will be awarded​.