As more people spiral into hunger and poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Netherlands has stepped up its funding to the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help avert a rural food crisis.

Their €6 million contribution to IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility will help small-scale farmers continue to grow and sell food amidst COVID-19 restrictions in movement and trade. The Facility was launched in April by IFAD’s Goodwill Ambassadors, Idris and Sabrina Elba, and it provides rural producers with timely access to inputs, markets, liquidity and information to ensure an uninterrupted food supply.