Nepal: Migrant Money  

Nepalese migrants send home $1.5 billion every year - over 20% of the country's GDP. Many of the women here rely on these remittances to survive. Now Savings and Credit Organisations, supported by IFAD and the Nepal Center for Micro-Finance, are facilitating safe money transfers and encouraging people to save. This is transforming villages like Makrahar where, for the first time, people are able to access credit.  

Sri Lanka: Banking the Future 

Each year more than 2 million Sri Lankans working abroad send more than $5 billion to their families. Traditionally this was done through wire transfers or fellow Sri Lankans returning home. But now IFAD has partnered with Hatton National Bank to ensure that migrant workers have more affordable and secure options to send their money home.  

The Philippines: Mobile Money

More than ten million Filipinos work abroad, sending home more than $20 billion a year. But how does it reach their families in remote rural areas when three quarters of Filipinos do not have bank accounts? Well, every Filipino does have a mobile phone. This new innovative system turns the mobile phone into a mobile wallet, giving people instant access to the money sent to them from abroad. 

The Philippines: From Rome to Home 

Every year, one and half million people leave The Philippines to find jobs overseas and send home more than US$20 billion a year. But little of that money is saved or invested. In Mabini - known as "Little Italy" due to the number of people now living there, many big houses have been built - but most are empty. The owners cannot afford to come home. Now a financial education programme is encouraging Filipino workers abroad to invest in agricultural cooperatives in The Philippines - not only giving them a regular income, but also revitalising agriculture and creating jobs back home. 

The Philippines: A Penny saved 

More than 10 million overseas Filipino workers send money home to family members each year. But little of that money is actually saved or invested. Now, a financial literacy training programme, targeted at migrant workers and their families, is helping to change that. Lily Bruhl receives remittance money every month from her husband. After attending the training, she decided to invest this money and now she has built a thriving business. She hopes that this more sustainable income will mean that her husband will soon be able to return home. 

Senegal: Sowing the Seeds

Whenever global food prices rise, developing countries that import food, like Senegal,  are hit the hardest. Rising food prices make the most basic foodstuffs unaffordable. Senegal needed to become more food self-sufficient, but a major obstacle was a lack of access to good quality seeds. Two years ago, the European Union decided to allocate €3.6 million from their Food Facility Fund to help farmers grow more and better seeds. Not only has seed production increased, but there has been a change in the role these farmers play in Senegal's economy

IFAD and European Union Food Facility

Benin

Burundi

Ghana

Mali

Mozambique

Senegal