Forecast-based action, resilient crops, efficient irrigation, diversification, and integrated support systems help farmers withstand El Niño shocks and strengthen long-term food security.
IFAD
Remittances reached US$728.6 billion in 2025, supporting households worldwide, strengthening rural economies, and helping families build resilience through savings and investment.
“There's much more consciousness of having food and food security as a matter of national security, and clearly it's not only about availability of food. What food should we be growing? Where should we invest? Does it make sense that a lot of countries are importing a lot of the rice, for example, from the east when transportation costs go up?“
Growing up in rural Spain, Alvaro Lario’s parents managed a small fruit farm that sold melons in local villages. Now he is President of the ĢƵ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and is helping small scale farmers to thrive all around the world.
“All of these people are extremely entrepreneurial. They're extremely creative. They have a lot of willingness and energy. Many times it's just the lack of opportunity or the lack of means, and I think that's what makes this job or this role very rewarding.”
The ĢƵ supports rural communities around the world as they gain economic self-reliance through agricultural activities. In this episode, Alvaro Lario reflects on attracting private sector investment for those projects, on what indigenous groups can teach others about resilience to global shocks, and shares how building one new road can transform thousands of lives.
Photo: ©IFAD/Joe Kinyanjui Kageni
In rural Haiti, ’s blue economy investments strengthen coastal livelihoods, restore mangroves, support sustainable fishing and help local entrepreneurs build resilience amid climate and economic crises.
With nearly half of the world’s young people living in rural areas, IFAD highlights how combining skills, finance, entrepreneurship and access to markets can help young people build lasting careers and businesses while strengthening rural economies.
sent by more than 200 million migrants and diaspora members support around 800 million people worldwide and are a vital source of income for rural communities. Through its , the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is helping maximize their impact by investing in digital infrastructure, financial inclusion and innovative partnerships. Programmes in Africa, Central Asia and beyond are making remittances safer, cheaper and more accessible while linking them to savings, credit, entrepreneurship and climate resilience. By strengthening financial services and leveraging diaspora investments, IFAD aims to transform remittance flows into a powerful driver of rural development, economic growth and long-term resilience.
By compensating rural communities for ecosystem services such as reforestation, soil restoration, and carbon sequestration, we can generate income while promoting conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development.
Nutrition is a cornerstone of rural transformation, linking healthy populations, resilient food systems and stronger local economies. Malnutrition costs the global economy up to US$3.5 trillion each year, while every dollar invested in nutrition can generate about US$23 in returns. The International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD) promotes nutrition-sensitive investments that address the causes of malnutrition and strengthen sustainable food systems. Home-grown school feeding programmes illustrate this approach by improving children’s diets while creating reliable markets for small-scale farmers. In Kenya, IFAD-supported cooperatives supply nutritious grains to schools, boosting food security and livelihoods. Through partnerships with governments, donors and international agencies, including Norway-funded initiatives in seven African countries, IFAD has improved nutrition and livelihoods for over 263,000 rural people.
’s public-private-producer partnerships connect companies with small farmers, increasing incomes, strengthening supply chains, and supporting sustainable rural development globally.
From a remote farm or village, the spark of the next pandemic can travel faster than the world expects. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) argues that prevention starts in these rural “first miles,” where most infectious diseases emerge from animals and degraded ecosystems. Its investments strengthen livestock health, restore land and support small-scale farmers whose livelihoods anchor global food systems. By improving animal husbandry, ecosystem management and local incomes, IFAD reduces health risks at their source while stabilizing supply chains. Guided by a linking human, animal and environmental wellbeing, and boosted by its new role in the global Pandemic Fund, IFAD is scaling up rural investments that protect communities locally while reinforcing health security and economic resilience worldwide.
Angèle is helping transform Benin’s rice sector, showing how targeted support can improve local nutrition and compete with imports. ’s main funding comes from core contributions, which support long-term rural development, while extra funds from partners like Norway help focus on specific priorities, such as better nutrition. With Norway’s support, IFAD expanded projects in seven countries, improving food systems and reaching hundreds of thousands of people despite global challenges. This shows.
Core replenishment contributions remain the backbone of International Fund for Agricultural Development’s financing model, enabling long-term rural transformation. As IFAD enters its , each dollar from Member States helps mobilize significantly more investment. Countries like Norway by supporting core resources and supplementary funds targeting specific priorities. During the twelfth replenishment, these funds reached record levels. Norway’s nutrition-focused fund supported projects in Benin, Burkina Faso and Malawi, delivering measurable results. Aligning supplementary and core funding shows how strategic partnerships can scale impact and advance inclusive, sustainable rural development.
Rural young people are vital to global development, with nearly half of the world’s 1.3 billion youth living in rural areas and brimming with entrepreneurial potential. Yet they often lack access to opportunities that enable them to thrive. Targeted investments, through ’s youth-sensitive programmes, are unlocking that potential — creating jobs, fostering agribusiness leadership and strengthening rural economies. By nurturing skills, providing access to finance and connecting youth with markets, initiatives like Agribusiness Hubs empower young people to build sustainable futures in their communities rather than migrating elsewhere. These success stories underscore why investing in rural youth is essential for food security, economic growth and lasting stability.
In 2026, IFAD is strengthening rural economies by empowering youth, promoting resilience, and connecting small-scale producers to markets to drive inclusive, sustainable growth.
By investing in rural development, jobs and value chains, IFAD helps turn migration from a necessity into a choice by creating stable, home-grown opportunities where people live.