International Fund for Agricultural Development

Description

In partnership with recipient governments, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) supports programs and projects in rural areas. All IFAD projects are country-led and country-owned, designed in consultation with smallholder farmers and other rural beneficiaries, and strongly focused on inclusion. IFAD is the “only specialized global development organization exclusively dedicated to transforming agriculture, rural economies, and food systems.”

Use of Funds

Funds are used for loans, grants, co-financing, and other instruments to grow food, improve nutrition, better manage natural resources, and train individuals. Funds will go toward the second installment of the U.S. commitment to IFAD’s 12th Replenishment (IFAD-12; F.Y. 2022-2024).

Justification

• To date, IFAD has “empowered approximately 483 million people to grow more food, better manage their land and natural resources, learn new skills, start small businesses, build strong organizations, and gain a voice in decisions that affect their lives.”
• In 2020, IFAD had 203 ongoing projects, $7.5 billion in financing, and reached 123 million people.
• In 2020, IFAD launched a multi-donor COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility with $40 million of its own seed funding to accelerate recovery from COVID-19.
  • The RPSF has mobilized $53 million from member states.
  • $36.6 billion for 53 projects were approved in 2020 through the RPSF and are expected to reach around 1.6 million rural people. 49% of these funds are going to low-income countries, 47% to countries in fragile situations, and 70% to countries in Africa.
• Each $1 of U.S. funding to IFAD supports the delivery of approximately $8.4 of overall programming.