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FAO’s longstanding partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the subject of a new brochure highlighting the Complementarity and Cooperation between the two organizations.

While the two Rome-based agencies have different specialties, they have been teaming up for nearly 40 years to free the world from hunger, poverty and malnutrition.

FAO, a knowledge organization specializing in food, agriculture and rural development, supports member countries in making sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

IFAD, with one of the largest rural investment portfolios among the international financing institutions, is working to combat poverty and hunger and transform rural communities.

Joining forces

Since 1977, IFAD has financed more than 340 investment operations across the globe, prepared with support from FAO’s Investment Centre and valued at over USD 11 billion. The two agencies have also worked together on hundreds of co-financed and trust fund projects. By joining forces, they have leveraged their comparative advantages to achieve scale and have a far greater impact. 

In Nepal, for example, FAO and IFAD have been supporting an innovative leasehold forestry initiative for the last 20 years aimed at reducing rural poverty while re-greening degraded forest lands.

The two agencies are also working with the Government of the Republic of Congo to improve the livelihoods and food security of small-scale fishers and fish farmers – from enhancing production and fisheries management to strengthening the value chain.

And they have designed a programme to create decent rural employment opportunities for young women and men in the Caribbean.

These are just a few examples of their collaboration over the years, ranging from multi-year planning, investment project design and policy support, to monitoring and evaluation and capacity development initiatives. 

Scaling up investments

Both agencies are active members of multi-stakeholder platforms such as the Committee on World Food Security and the Commission on the Status of Women, among others.

Together they are promoting responsible investment, and drawing on FAO’s technical expertise for quality assurance and enhancement of IFAD investment projects.

They are also keeping abreast of the latest innovations, tools and approaches for improving investment in food security and nutrition, agriculture and rural development through events such as the “Knowledge for Investment” series.

Strong and effective partnerships such as the one FAO shares with IFAD are more important than ever. Climate change, water scarcity, forced migration and displacement, population growth, rapid urbanization and youth unemployment are just some of the development challenges the world faces today.  And it’s impossible to tackle them alone.