The UK is boosting support to poor rural farmers around the world
to boost food security for the future.
Nearly half of the world’s population lives in the rural areas of
developing countries and rely on small farms for their
livelihoods.
These small farms are critical to feeding the world, producing up
to 70 per cent of food eaten in low- and middle-income
countries.
To protect these livelihoods and global food security, the UK is
pledging £66.7 million to the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), the UN agency dedicated to supporting those
living in extreme poverty rural areas.
Since 2021, the number of people facing a serious lack of food
has increased by 34 per cent. In Africa, about 20 per cent of the
population faces hunger. Progress against the UN Global Goal on
ending hunger and malnutrition is in reverse and current
projections indicate that 670 million will still be facing hunger
in 2030.
This work is more urgent now than ever. While global food systems
are struggling in the face of conflict and economic turmoil and
climate change, rural people and small-scale farmers are
particularly vulnerable to climate shocks, instability and forced
migration.
The UK is leading efforts to find solutions. Last month the UK
hosted the Global Food Security Summit which brought together
partner countries, organisations and world-renowned experts –
including IFAD - to explore ways of ending hunger and
malnutrition.
The UK is a founding member of IFAD, whose programmes improve
food security and nutrition, empower women and girls and help
protect the planet. IFAD-supported projects help farmers to
increase yields through enhanced soil and pest management,
fertilizer use and access to better quality seeds. They also help
rural women grow more food, connect to markets, increase their
incomes, and become more literate and financially skilled.
It aims to support more than 100 million poor rural people from
its latest replenishment round.
Minister for Development and Africa, said:
Christmas is a good moment to reflect that the world is in the
throes of a serious food security crisis. Feeding the world may
sound like a cliché at this time of year, but hunger and
malnutrition are a scourge, putting lives and livelihoods under
grave threat. The tragic irony is that we live in a world of
plenty. It is scandalous that anyone should go to bed hungry for
reasons that we have the power to fix.
That is why the UK is investing £66.7m in IFAD’s work for the
next three years. Simple steps like better land management and
smarter farming practices can help produce more crops and reduce
waste. Renewable technology will help farmers rise to the climate
challenge in a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and
protects the natural environment.
We must act before the food crisis reached unconscionable
proportions. In less than 30 years’ time there will be two
billion more mouths to feed in the world than there are today. We
urgently need to increase food production and make food systems
sustainable.
President of IFAD, Alvaro Lario said:
We are grateful to the United Kingdom for their generous
contribution to IFAD’s 13th Replenishment, which confirms their
unwavering commitment to eradicating rural poverty and hunger.
This contribution will further strengthen our long-standing
partnership, a relationship that has played a vital role in
transforming the livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest
and most vulnerable rural people. The UK’s pioneering investments
in small-scale agriculture climate adaptation have been
instrumental in empowering smallholder farmers and building
resilient food systems in the face of climate change.
The UK has been the driving force behind IFAD’s Adaptation for
Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), which channels climate
finance to smallholder farmers to build their resilience,
increasing yields and enhancing biodiversity.
For each dollar invested in ASAP, IFAD was able to leverage $6.5
from other governments and organisations to help build climate
work into all IFAD agricultural projects, supporting an
additional 3.2 million people to cope with the impacts of climate
change.
Further information
- The UK has been a core contributor to IFAD since it was
founded in 1978.
- This replenishment covers the three-year period from 2025 –
2027.
