Alvaro Lario

In 2026, small-scale farmers have faced a convergence of severe droughts and other climate extremes alongside energy and fertilizer price shocks, threatening harvests and increasing the risks of higher food prices and food insecurity.
 
Strengthening partnerships and scaling co-investment are central to @IFAD’s efforts to build resilience and accelerate rural transformation. Our new co-financing framework agreement with @WorldBankGroup, IFAD’s largest multilateral development bank partner, builds on longstanding collaboration across financing, policy engagement and global initiatives.
 
The agreement will help scale joint investments, combining global financing capacity and reach with IFAD’s expertise at the first mile. It builds on initiatives including #AgriConnect, which aims to help transform agriculture for 300 million smallholder farmers by 2030, and #WaterForward, which seeks to improve water security for up to 1 billion people by 2030.
 
As we approach #COP31, we must recognize adaptation as an investment, not a cost.

With developing countries needing an estimated US$305 billion annually for adaptation by 2035, stronger partnerships and mobilizing public and private capital are essential to building resilience at the first mile, before shocks strike.
 
To learn more about the co-financing agreement: ifad.org/en/w/news/worl…
 
#FinancingTheFirstMile | #COP31Türkiye | #COP31Antalya | @turkiyecop31

When we talk about agricultural finance, the focus is often on large agribusinesses and commodity exports. But how do we ensure small-scale producers can participate in these markets and benefit from the opportunities they create?

At the @FT Africa Summit, I highlighted why investment must go beyond production. Cold storage, access to markets, and stronger producer organizations and cooperatives are essential to helping producers aggregate their products, connect with buyers and access working capital.

This is where @IFAD plays a critical role, investing in remote rural areas where economic opportunities and access to finance are often limited. The challenge is not simply to attract more capital, but to create the conditions for investment to reach the first mile, connecting small-scale producers to larger markets and enabling them to capture more value.

#FinancingTheFirstMile #FTAfrica @ftlive

Rural transformation requires more than financing agricultural production. It requires investment across the value chain, from infrastructure and local processing to access to finance and markets, underpinned by strong partnerships and sustained cooperation. For development finance institutions, the challenge is not only to mobilize more capital, but to deploy it in ways that address investment gaps, crowd in private finance and generate sustainable economic opportunities.

@IFAD's partnership with @isdb_group demonstrates the value of sustained cooperation. Since 1980, our institutions have co-financed investments worth approximately US$1.45 billion. In Indonesia, our joint investments are strengthening agricultural value chains for upland farmers. In Nigeria, we invest together in agro-industrial processing zones to connect small-scale producers with processing facilities, businesses and larger markets.

Building on this experience, I signed a new agreement with Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, Chairman of the IsDB Group, to mobilize up to US$750 million in co-financing for food systems and rural transformation.

Importantly, the agreement also draws on the wider IsDB Group, including @ICD_PS, @ITFCCORP and @ICIEC_IDB. By bringing together development finance, private-sector investment, trade finance and risk mitigation instruments, we can help overcome financing constraints, strengthen rural enterprises and attract additional investment into underserved markets.

Read the full press release: ifad.org/en/w/news/isdb…

#FinancingTheFirstMile

Today at the @FT Africa Summit in London, I made the case for investing in Africa's rural economies in a conversation with @Sabrinadhowre, IFAD Goodwill Ambassador, moderated by Andrew Hill. Farmers and rural entrepreneurs are building businesses that drive productivity, create jobs and strengthen food supply chains. Access to long-term capital is essential to realizing that potential.

Africa's small and medium-sized agribusinesses face a financing gap of around US$65 billion a year. As an international financial institution, @IFAD works with governments to strengthen the infrastructure, institutions and markets that make rural investment viable. We also use concessional finance to share risks and mobilize capital for businesses and producers underserved by commercial lenders.

These priorities also guided my bilateral discussions with UK
Development Minister @kirstyjmcneill and @NickDyerFCDO of @FCDOGovUK. We discussed how to advance shared objectives on food security, rural jobs and private investment, alongside cooperation through the #G20 and #G7 agendas to address the debt crisis and reform MDBs so they can deliver more financing but also achieve more depth and impact with coordinated action. IFAD can support the creation of the conditions that will make investments more impactful in rural areas.

The economic benefits of investing in the first mile extend beyond the farm. Investment in processing, storage and distribution helps businesses reduce losses, reach buyers and retain more value locally. It creates jobs and strengthens the supply chains on which domestic and international markets depend.

African leaders ambition to drive rural economic growth becomes visible in their strong commitment and pledges to
#IFAD14. Their contributions strengthen IFAD's capital base, enabling us to borrow and mobilize additional to invest in long-term growth, food security and economic stability.

#FinancingTheFirstMile | #FTAfrica | @ftlive

Pleased to welcome @WFOPresident to IFAD Headquarters in Rome and congratulate him on his election as President of the @worldfarmersorg. Our conversation focused the importance of creating opportunities for young people, promote rural farmer enterprise development, and digitalization of farmers.

We agreed on one key message: Farmers should be looked at as economic actors.
@IFAD is strongly commitment to the Farmers' Forum, which brings farmers' organisations, IFAD and governments together around priorities identified by farmers themselves. In practice, this means consulting and involving farmers' organisations in shaping our investments together with the national government.

This involvement of farmers' organisations matters. For example, in Senegal, a national farmers' organisation strengthened community ownership by requiring project participants to secure endorsement from family farm heads and local farmers' organisations. These experiences underline the importance of farmers shaping the investments that affect their livelihoods.

Our shared focus is on working with small-scale producers to access finance, reach markets and manage climate risks, while ensuring their experience informs decisions in global forums.

#FinancingTheFirstMile