Ireland announces €7.5 million in support for IFAD

Press release

Ireland announces €7.5 million in support for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The Tanáiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Simon Coveney T.D., has announced his intention to provide €7.5 million over the period 2019-2021 to the International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD), in support of its work eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. 

In a recent meeting with agriculture sector delegates from 11 African Countries Minister Coveney stated that Ireland’s priority in its membership of, and support for, IFAD has been to ensure that ‘the Fund continues to concentrate its work and resources on the poorest and most fragile countries’.  This contribution to IFAD’s work will assist it in that task.

This announcement comes as IFAD’s Governing Council meets in Rome to progress its 2019-2021 plan, which will contribute to the eradication of rural poverty in developing countries, with a particular focus on gender, climate change, nutrition and more recently youth employment.  IFAD’s policies and objectives are closely aligned with Ireland’s international development cooperation programme.

“IFAD and Ireland share a deep commitment to ending global poverty and hunger,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. “IFAD welcomes Ireland’s continued leadership role around the Sustainable Development Goals and its increased support for long-term investments in agriculture and rural transformation that are crucial to reach those goals. IFAD invests in all of Ireland's key partner countries, supporting and empowering the poorest and most marginalized rural people to increase their incomes, food security and resilience."

ENDS

12 February 2018

Press Office

Note for editors:

• The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a Rome based international financial institution as well as a specialized agency of the UN.  It was established in 1977 as a partnership of the member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other developing countries. 
• Ireland was one of the founding countries and IFAD’s membership has grown to include 176 countries. Ireland presently holds one of the alternate member seats on the 36-member executive board. 
• Assessment of IFAD’s programmes in the period 2010 -2015 highlighted that their work benefited the lives of 139 million people, with an estimated 24 million moving out of poverty.
• IFAD enjoys a strong reputation as a lending agency and, in the most recent evaluation of the performance of its projects, 75% were judged to be satisfactory or better in the period 2002 -2015.  This compares favourably with other international lending institution such as the World Bank and African Development Bank. 
• IFAD provides on average of over a billion US$ per annum in agriculture sector loans and grants to 97 developing countries.  Just over 50% of IFAD’s work is in Africa, with 85 projects underway across 40 countries. In the present 3-year programme cycle, 2016-2018, IFAD is on track to lend a total of US$3.2 billion and it plans to increase its investments over the coming 2019-2021 period.  

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