Press Release: The EU and the International Fund for Agricultural Development sign a partnership to improve sustainable agriculture

The European Union Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs and the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo F. Nwanze, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further strengthen the cooperation between the EU and IFAD on agriculture.

Through this enhanced partnership, the EU and IFAD will jointly address challenges in sustainable agriculture and food and nutrition security, in order to reduce poverty in rural communities in developing countries.

Priorities lie in developing technologies for sustainable agricultural intensification (i.e. increasing production by using resources more efficiently) and promoting innovative rural financing mechanisms (like private-public funding facilities) that primarily benefit women and men smallholder farmers.

Other focus areas are providing assistance for small farmers to adapt to climate change and securing equitable access to land. An example of this partnership is the Support to Farmers Organisations in Africa Programme, co-financed by the EU (EUR 5 Mio) and the IFAD (USD 1.5 Mio). This programme contributed to strengthen Farmer Organisations and to enable them to influence policies so that smallholders' needs are better taken into account. A follow-up programme (Farmers Africa) is being designed with an EU financing of 26.9 Mio EUR, in order to build on the first results.