The United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Korea Rural Economic Institute agreed on Monday to boost joint efforts to end hunger and poverty in developing countries around the world.
“This memorandum of understanding reflects our commitment to draw lessons from Korea’s remarkable success in rural transformation and to ensure that others benefit from that experience,” said IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo, who signed the MoU in Seoul with KREI President Kim Chang-gil.
Korea and IFAD share a similar approach to attaining global food security – from helping smallholder farmers access knowledge, technology, credit and markets, to aiding rural communities mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, according to IFAD.
KREI is a national policy research institute, that leads the development of agriculture, rural areas, and the food industry as a think tank for agricultural policy, and also works with IFAD to improve the effectiveness of development aid, IFAD stated.
Under the partnership, KREI and IFAD will join forces to further develop agricultural value chains, climate-resilient agricultural practices and food security for smallholder farmers in developing countries, by mobilizing financial resources and contributing to the global policy dialogue, IFAD said
Korea, a founding member of IFAD, is now widely considered to be a source of knowledge and innovative ideas from which developing countries can learn, said the UN agency.
The Asian nation has achieved "significant milestones" in land reform, the development of sustainable agricultural technologies and practices, through an inclusive approach, IFAD stated.
Korea also gained recognition for its work on value chains, agricultural cooperatives, the 'green revolution' for increased crop production and the 'white revolution' for increased production of high-value horticultural products, added IFAD.
The MoU was signed on the side lines of the Third Global ODA Forum for Sustainable Agricultural Development hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs of Korea, IFAD noted.
