Innovation at IFAD
Innovation at IFAD
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Innovation
Globalization, climate change, environmental degradation, migrations, the spread of communicable diseases and conflict are just some examples of evolving challenges and opportunities confronting rural poor women and men. Development practitioners constantly face new challenges and many good practices may quickly become obsolete. Making a positive and lasting impact on rural poverty requires the capacity both to implement tried and tested practices and to respond to new challenges and opportunities as they emerge. In other words, it requires the ability to innovate.
The complexity and diversity of rural poverty call for new, better solutions. Despite global progress towards the SDGs, many countries and regions are lagging behind, and social and economic inequalities are growing almost everywhere. This situation calls for new approaches to eradicating rural poverty and a better understanding of its challenges as seen by the rural poor.
Achieving one’s goals better
IFAD defines innovation as a new process, product or approach that adds value and delivers a sustainable, equitable, inclusive and/or new contextual solution to rural development challenges.
For IFAD, the most important innovations are those that impact poor rural people directly. IFAD aims to catalyse the generation, testing and scaling up of solutions that have the potential to contribute to deliver equitable, better and greater impact for the rural poor by leveraging on learning, strategic partnerships, digitalization and the implementation of suitable tools and guidelines.
Related publications
Related publications
Handbook for Scaling Irrigation Systems
Handbook for Scaling Irrigation Systems is a joint publication between IFAD and IFC on how to develop and scale innovative solutions to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and increase crop productivity.
GeoTech4Tenure: Technical guide on combining geospatial technology and participatory methods for securing tenure rights
This technical guide provides orientation for project designers and implementers on how to combine participatory methods and geomatics technology to strengthen legitimate tenure rights in land-based investments.
Mapping Rural Development: How to use GIS to monitor and evaluate projects
This practical manual provides guidance on how to use geographic information systems (GIS) in the monitoring and evaluation of rural development projects.
Related events
Related events
M4D Joint Open Innovation Challenge Pitch Event
Selected from 200 starts-ups, four finalists will pitch their AI-driven solutions to enhance climate adaptation, resource management, and disaster readiness in rural communities.
IFAD Innovation Talk: Building an Innovation Engine
Discover how top innovators, like Google, Apple and Harvard, build organizations that repeatedly develop break-through innovations from Innovation Alliance’s Chris Heemskerk.
2023 IFAD Innovation Day
How to make innovation and impact investments work for the rural poor?
Related news
Related news
12 startups de Latinoamérica y el Caribe lideran el cierre de la brecha digital en zonas rurales
Innovatech, el novedoso proyecto financiado por el FIDA e implementado por la entidad financiera alemana Sparkassenstiftung, está sentando un precedente en Latinoamérica, al lograr una exitosa vinculación entre startups tecnológicas –empresas fintech y agtech–, y el sector rural en seis países de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.
Spatial technology creates opportunities for vulnerable small-scale food producers as IFAD and ESA join forces
IFAD and the European Space Agency have stepped up their partnership to help vulnerable small-scale food producers increase their ability to grow food and adapt to climate change by using state-of-the-art spatial technology and data.
2021 Agrobiodiversity Innovation Challenge
Innovators who aim to mainstream agrobiodiversity solutions into the agri-food sector are welcome to submit applications to the Agrobiodiversity Innovation Challenge.
Related stories
Related stories
Clean energy, thriving rural communities
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.
The people feeding the world should get their due
Despite their gruelling work, rural people all over the world aren’t getting a fair return. Find out how IFAD is empowering small-scale farmers to earn and produce more, while improving their working conditions.
Five decades of rural transformation: IFAD's greatest successes
Since its founding in 1977, IFAD has worked to enable rural people all over the world to overcome immense challenges and thrive. We take a look at some of our biggest successes over the years.
Related blogs
Related blogs
When it comes to measuring water security, lived experiences matter
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.
Rural realities go global with immersive storytelling
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.
How livestock in Lesotho is adapting to climate change
An IFAD-FAO study from Lesotho provides valuable insight on how to mitigate against climate change while sustainably producing enough healthy food for everyone.