International Fund for Agricultural Development (HQ)

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial organization and a United Nations agency that aims to alleviate poverty and hunger in the rural regions of developing nations. Established in Rome, IFAD is the only international development agency specifically devoted to rural economies and food security and is involved in over 200 programs in almost 100 countries.

Other offices are located in countries such as Ecuador, Turkey, Moldova, Sudan, Mauritius, Burundi, Dem. Rep. Congo, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Colombia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Mali, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Yemen, Madagascar, USA, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. IFAD supports and funds projects that strengthen land and water management, expand rural infrastructure, train and educate farmers in more efficient technologies, boost climate change resilience and improve market access. Its approach is that Investing in rural people is a long-term solution to many of today's challenges since hunger, poverty, youth unemployment and forced migration are all deeply rooted in rural regions and these may all be dramatically alleviated by investing in small-scale agriculture and inclusive rural development.

IFAD’s actions and projects are involved in agriculture, civil engineering, poverty reduction and rural development sectors because rural development is critical for eradicating hunger and poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.