The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development will help millions of small farmers weather the devastation wrought by climate change and to produce more thanks to a 300 million euro loan from France agreed on Thursday, IFAD said in a statement.
The loan from the French government's overseas aid agency AFD will target smallholders in countries at high risk from climate shocks, according to the statement from Rome-based IFAD.
“If we want a world without hunger and poverty we have to focus our attention on the most vulnerable places where the poorest people live -and this is in rural areas,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD.
“This loan demonstrates France’s strong commitment to investing in rural people, as well as the role of IFAD in assembling development finance to fight climate change in line with the Paris Agreement.”
Climate change could drive 100 million people into poverty by 2030, with those working in agriculture suffering most and the scourge, IFAD said.
Poverty is expected to increase for the first time in decades and is likely to result in more hungry people, the UN agency said.
Almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019 – up by nearly 60 million compared to five years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic could increase that number by an additional 135 million by the end of this year, IFAD warned.
This sovereign loan from AFD aims to reverse these worrying trends. Besides helping rural small-scale farmers to increase their productivity, the money will also help them better manage scarce natural resources, access new markets and financial services, and build their resilience to climate shocks, IFAD said.
As small farmers grow 50 percent of the world's food, investments in smallholders have a significant impact on global food supplies, IFAD underlined.
AFD has collaborated with IFAD on various activities, including improving agricultural and weather risk management, co-financing projects in Cuba and Angola and strengthening the capacities of African farmers’ organizations.
AFD has contributed 292 million dollars to IFAD since the UN agency's creation in 1977.
