NAIROBI, Dec 15 (IPS) – The world is not on track to end hunger and poverty as the future of rising food insecurity and climate challenges beckons. Small-scale farmers are the backbone of food production, producing a third of the world’s food and up to 70 percent of the food consumed in Africa and Asia. Yet they are often cut off from the services they need to pull themselves out of poverty. and food insecurity.
As small-scale farmers and communities in rural areas – where 80 percent of the world’s poorest live – move even closer to the epicenter of climate-induced disasters, there is an urgent need for world leaders to increase financing to provide much-needed tools for rural communities to adapt to and mitigate these challenges.
To address these challenges, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has received record-breaking commitments to support its largest ever replenishment, putting the organization on track to positively impact the lives of millions of rural residents across worldwide.
“This is a clear sign of the confidence Member States have in IFAD and the importance they attach to our ability to deliver results and impact through targeted investments that transform agriculture, rural economies and food systems. They understand that investing in rural residents and small-scale producers, who produce a third of the world’s food and up to 70 percent of food in low- and middle-income countries, is the only path to a food secure future. said Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD, after the donor session in Paris.
During the fourth replenishment session, which Angola and France hosted in Paris, we saw an increase in pledges. IFAD is both a UN agency and an International Financial Institution (IFI), working in remote rural areas where poverty and hunger are at their deepest, so that rural populations are not left behind and are equipped to lift themselves out of poverty.
A replenishment session is the process by which IFAD mobilizes its core resources – an accountability exercise in which IFAD reports to its Member States on its strategy, reforms and performance, usually midway through the previous replenishment period.
To date, 48 Member States have pledged $1.076 billion to replenish their nuclear resources. Ten countries have increased by more than 50 percent on their previous contributions, and 31 countries have committed to their highest ever contribution, representing a record level of funding for IFAD’s 2025-2027 work program.
IFAD launched its 13th supplement in February 2023, calling for increased investment in small-scale farmers and rural residents in the developing world. Every three years, Member States replenish IFAD’s resources. The consultations culminated in a pledging session in Paris. Fundraising will then continue in 2024. Typically, more than 100 countries contribute to IFAD supplements, making it the most supported of all major IFI supplements.
“I am humbled by the positive momentum of today’s session and confident that IFAD’s ambitious call to mobilize $2 billion in new financing to support a $10 billion work program impacting more than 100 million rural residents will be achieved in the coming months,” said Lario.
To address today’s complex challenges facing rural communities, IFAD has urged world leaders to increase investment in rural areas. IFAD Member States have demonstrated their record-breaking support and IFAD’s critical role in reviving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals by investing in rural residents.
“We rely on IFAD to ensure the resilience we are trying to build, taking into account climate change and all other factors that hinder our development,” said Carmen do Sacramento Neto, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Angola, at the opening of the session. .
“There has been an improvement in the living conditions of the rural and fishing population where the IFAD project was implemented, and this has had a significant impact. We announce that Angola will maintain and increase its contribution in the coming years, as a clear sign of our commitment.”
“With four in five of the world’s poorest people living in rural areas, the path to a prosperous, resilient and food secure future runs through rural communities. As multiple crises converge, rural residents need us to invest more than ever As countries scramble to respond to unforeseen crises, development budgets are being squeezed, making making the right investments urgent and critical. ‘
In partnership with Member States, IFAD invests in rural development and food systems to help small-scale farmers produce more food in greater variety, access markets, adopt new technologies and adapt to climate change. IFAD ensures that Member States’ contributions reach those who need them most, with 45 percent of total concessional financing going to low-income countries and at least 30 percent of core resources being spent on fragile situations.
Pledging money today for SDGs 1 and 2 means spending less on development tomorrow. Every dollar spent on resilience now saves up to ten dollars in future disaster relief, not to mention avoiding hardship for millions of people around the world. IFAD’s work has a measurable impact.
Between 2019 and 2021, IFAD’s investments improved the incomes of 77.4 million rural residents, while 62 million rural residents increased their production, and 64 million rural residents improved their access to markets, allowing them to sell their production.
Furthermore, through improved agricultural practices, access to technical assistance and credit, and the diversification of their income sources, IFAD has helped 38 million people build their resilience, which is a measure of their ability to recover from climatic and non-climatic conditions . shock.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
