Increasing demand for food worldwide

• Further EUR 400 million for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• Support for smallholders, financing of food production and agricultural development
• Adapting to climate change, tackling the impacts of the pandemic

In Rome today, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW signed a further promotional loan agreement amounting to EUR 400 million with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). An initial EUR 400 million was provided in 2014. As an international financial institution and specialised United Nations agency based in Rome, IFAD aims to improve food security in developing countries. Key issues in this area include increasing agricultural production and adapting farming and the food sector to climate change. Additional focus currently lies on tackling the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which has negatively affected supply chains globally and thus also disrupted the food supply for poor rural populations in particular. Using the funds from KfW, IFAD will be able to finance a significant part of its planned investments – in total, up to USD 3.5 billion from 2022–2024. The funds help smallholders increase their production with improved crop cultivation and livestock farming techniques as well as modern water-saving irrigation systems, among other measures, and also enable them to better market their products and clarify land use rights. They are also being used to establish rural finance systems. The funds from KfW support the IFAD’s work, thus contributing to food security for poor rural populations around the world.

“Global demand for food will double in the next 50 years. Climate change increases production risks and reduces harvests. Furthermore, smallholders are facing increasing challenges due to the progressive transformation in global and local food markets. For this reason, IFAD and KfW consider smallholders to be at the heart of agricultural development measures that serve to both increase food security and alleviate poverty,” said Christiane Laibach, Member of the KfW Executive Board.

Further information on KfW Development Bank is available at
www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/en.

IFAD:
IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families, increase their incomes and build resilience. Since 1978, IFAD has provided around USD 23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. IFAD is currently supporting 203 projects around the world. IFAD is an international financial institution and specialised United Nations agency based in Rome, the UN’s food and agriculture hub.
www.ifad.org.