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.
Asset development
IFAD supported interventions typically include asset development (water mobilization, storage and distribution for agricultural uses by crops and livestock), together with the development of the related institutions (WUA, water boards, etc) and capacities (water management from plot to basin levels). They also include activities related to the possible restoration of natural resources needed (soil and water conservation, flood control, etc) and support to more inclusive local governance of the natural resources (watershed management committees, watershed development plans, etc). Interventions being implemented locally and based on local demand (expressed at design and/or implementation), interventions also include WASH activities.
IFAD gives pride of place to capacity- and asset-building for agricultural water poor rural people through the programmes it supports and its complementary policy engagement to enable them to realize their full potential. IFAD also engages with partners with expertise in other sectors, particularly health, education and water and sanitation to leverage impact on health and nutrition. IFAD interventions focus on addressing four main sources of environmental threat: resource degradation, pollution, loss of habitat and biodiversity, and natural hazards. In this vein, IFAD will pursue “multiple-benefit” approaches that simultaneously enhance biodiversity, increase agricultural productivity and lower greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector while contributing to poverty reduction.
At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, a multimedia Water Pavilion is hosted between 1 – 12 November 2021. The Water Pavilion programme offers a wide-ranging and inclusive series of events demonstrating the numerous ways that water is enabling transformative climate action – at all … Read more
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