The United Nation’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on Monday, announced US$3.5bn loans and grants to fight poverty and hunger in developing countries.
IFAD estimates 47 million support to smallholder farmers to increase their production through access to technology, finance and knowledge, while improving access to markets for 46 million.
Also, 24 million people will be enabled to develop greater resilience to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather, 12 million people will see improvement in their nutrition, and 44 million people will experience better economic status.
IFAD President, Gilbert F. Houngbo statedd that “To achieve these goals, IFAD will intensify its work on climate, nutrition and gender – key focus areas which will be mainstreamed across our portfolio. We will also sharpen our focus on youth employment in order to meet one of the most pressing challenges faced by the world today.”
A statement from IFAD said the target was announced during the final consultation of the eleventh replenishment of the Fund. The fund would enable IFAD expand the size of its programme of loans and grants by 10 per cent, while deepening and improving its operations over a 3-year period from 2019 to 2021.
