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Established
1977
Headquarters
Rome (Italy)
Members
165 states
Organization
Governing Council (with the representation of all member states) as highest decision-making body; 18-member Executive Board is the standing operational
decision-making body
President
M. Kanayo Nwanze (Nigeria)
Financing
Member contributions, loan repayments, investment earnings
Swiss contribution in 2009
CHF 7.1 million
Link
www.ifad.org
International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD
The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, is a specialized agency of the United Nations with the aim of fighting rural poverty. It was founded in 1977 as the reaction of the industrialized countries (OECD), the OPEC member countries, and the developing countries to the major food crisis that plagued the Sahel region in the 1970s.
| The main tasks of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD |
"Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty" (IFAD mission statement)
The IFAD endeavours to promote agricultural development and to reduce poverty in the rural regions of developing countries by helping poor rural populations to increase their production of foodstuffs
and boost their income.
The IFAD principally invests in six domains in view of enabling poor rural populations to gain enhanced access to - and to be equipped with the competency and organizational capacities to take advantage of - the following:
- natural resources, in particular water and land
- new agricultural technologies and production services
- a wide range of rural financial services and instruments
- farm-input-supply and agricultural-product markets that are transparent and competitive
- non-agricultural employment possibilities and the creation of small enterprises in rural areas
- policy and programme-formulation processes at both local and national levels.
The IFAD directs its activities at the poorest population groups such as small farmers, landless agricultural workers, nomadic herdsmen, fishermen, indigenous people and poor rural women. The fund consistently grants the largest share of its resources in the form of credits at especially favourable terms to the poorest countries. Nearly half of the credits and donations accorded by the IFAD go to the benefit of populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Every year, the IFAD grants more than USD 700 million in new credits. The Fund is replenished every three years so as to ensure adequate financing. To this day, some USD 10.8 billion have been invested in more than 800 projects and programmes that have benefited over 340 million persons.
| The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and Switzerland |
Switzerland has been participating in the IFAD as a member since 1977.
The highest decision-making body is the Governing Council which decides on such matters as the acceptance of new members, the election of the president or strategic orientation. Switzerland takes
part in this body with one representative each from seco and the SDC.
Numerous tasks have been delegated to the Executive Board which is composed of 18 executive directors, of whom eight come from the OECD States, four from the OPEC member countries, and the six others from the developing countries. There are also 18 deputy executive directors, one of whom is a representative of Switzerland. The Executive Board gives the green-light authorization to the work programme, approves the requests for project financing, and decides on the annual administrative budget.
Switzerland has a voting share in the IFAD that amounts to 1.37%. It took part in the last replenishment of the Fund (IFAD-VIII 2010-2012) with the sum of CHF 21.3 million. Since the creation of the IFAD, Switzerland has contributed more than USD 120 million to the Institution (including the 8th replenishment of the Fund).