International Finance Corporation and FAO, a good match to boost agri-business in developing countries

20 September 2019, Washington DC – FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and Karin Finkelston, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Vice President of Partnerships, Communication and Outreach, today met to discuss expanding the cooperation between the two organizations.

In particular, they agreed on the need to scale up agri-business initiatives that are built on the basis of solid science and research to help small-holder farmers in developing countries.

In this context the IFC with its expertise in the private sector and FAO with its knowledge and data resources can complement each other’s work.

Qu outlined FAO’s new Hand-In-Hand Initiative which prioritizes targeted work that benefits people in the world’s most vulnerable regions including small island states, least developed and landlocked countries.

The FAO Director-General and Finkelston agreed there is a need to help small-holder farmers shift their efforts towards agricultural production that can provide better income generation.

The parties agreed to explore concrete actions related to the Hand-In-Hand Initiative.