International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Agenda 2030 offers clear evidence that IFAD’s mandate of investing in rural people and enabling inclusive and sustainable transformation of rural areas, notably through smallholder agriculture-led growth, is of absolute global relevance today and over the coming decade.
IFAD’s work aims to catalyse country and global progress for rural people to overcome poverty and achieve food security through remunerative, sustainable and resilient livelihoods. All three strategic objectives of IFAD are related to water: SO1 to increase poor rural people’s productive capacities (incl. access to natural resources, agricultural technologies and production services), SO2 to increase poor rural people’s benefits from market participation (incl. water for agro-processing) and SO3 to strengthen the environmental sustainability and climate resilience of poor rural people’s economic activities (incl. environmental sustainability and climate change).
Estimated annual water and sanitation budget: IFAD water-related portfolio currently covers 118 projects in 68 countries, representing about 1.3 billion USD in loans, grants and technical expertise.
Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme
SDG 13, climate - IFAD has pioneered channeling climate and environmental finance to smallholder farmers with the establishment of its flagship "Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, ASAP". ASAP is incorporated into IFAD’s regular investment processes and benefits from rigorous quality control and supervision systems. IFAD places strong emphasis on facilitating the restoration and sustainable management and use of ecosystems and their services in projects and through policy engagement and partnership-building. Its programmes develop capacities and incentives for rural people to become better stewards of natural resources by fostering creation of environmental service markets for carbon sequestration, watershed management and safeguarding biodiversity. By 2025, IFAD’s objective is to reach 100 per cent climate mainstreaming. POLICY ENGAGEMENT (supporting agricultural institutions in IFAD Member States seeking to achieve international climate change commitments and national adaptation priorities); CLIMATE RISK ASSESSMENT (facilitating the systematic use of climate risk information when planning investments to increase resilience); WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT (increasing the participation of women in, and their benefits from, climate-change adaptation activities); PRIVATE-SECTOR ENGAGEMENT (strengthening the participation of the private sector and farmer groups in climate change adaptation and mitigation activities); CLIMATE SERVICES (enhancing the use of climate information for when planning investments to increase resilience); NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE (strengthening the participation and ownership of smallholder farmers in decision-making processes and improving technologies for the governance and management of climate-sensitive natural resources); KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (enhancing the documentation and dissemination of knowledge on approaches to climate-resilient agriculture).
A Food Systems Summit will be convene as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The culminating Summit gathering will take place in New York in September 2021 in conjunction with the UN General Assembly. This will be preceded by a pre-Summit gatheri … Read more
On 22 March, 2021, World Water Day will be celebrated in an online event. The World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the global water crisis, and a core focus of the observance is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 20 … Read more
World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. The theme of World Water Day 2021 is va … Read more
Opinion Gilbert F. Houngbo, Chair of UN-Water and President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) The coronavirus has stopped the world in its tracks and while the pandemic threatens rich and poor alike, our ability to protect ourselves is far from equal. While we wait for th … Read more
Joint statement for World Water Day and World Meteorological Day 2020 UN-Water 21 March, 2020 World Water Day and World Meteorological Day 2020 Joint message Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization, Gilbert F. Houngbo, Chair of UN-Water and President of the International … Read more
