Amid a global food crisis, Ireland has been urged by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to increase funding to rural people in a bid to curb global food insecurity.
During his visit to Ireland today (Tuesday, July 4), IFAD president Alvaro Lario will advocate for greater investments in small-scale farmers and food producers in developing countries.
Despite generating a third of the world’s food, these small-scale farmers and food producers are often most impacted by hunger and poverty, according to the IFAD.
With targeted investments, small-scale farmers can adapt to climate change, and access the markets, technologies and financial services that will “transform their lives”, the IFAD said.
Global food insecurity
The current global food crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change is worsening, as more than 700 million people go to bed hungry every night.
Investing in agriculture is two to three times more effective at reducing poverty than investment in any other sector, according to the IFAD.
Small-scale farmers produce up to 70% of food in low-and-middle-income countries, and about 80% of the world’s poorest people live in the rural areas of developing countries, the IFAD said.
Sustainable food systems hold the potential to generate $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities every year, and to create more than 120 million rural jobs, Lario said.
Highlighting that failure to invest in rural people and small-scale farmers in developing countries will mean more hunger, more poverty, and more conflict and migration, Lario said:
“Investing in small-scale farmers is an investment in a more prosperous and stable world. We cannot continue to neglect rural women and men.
“After years of under-funding, we need to urgently scale-up these investments so that rural people and small-scale farmers can adapt to climate change, increase local food production, and access markets to earn a decent living.”
Small-scale farmers receive less than 2% of global climate finance and, on average, they earn $0.06 for every $1 worth of food they produced, the IFAD said.
Between 2019-2021, investments by the IFAD raised the incomes of 77.4 million rural people while improving food security for 57 million people.
Ireland
During his visit, Lario will provide an updated brief on the “urgent need to invest much more” in rural people and food systems to make them more productive, resilient, inclusive and sustainable.
Lario will meet, among others, with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State for international development and diaspora, Sean Fleming.
His visit is a “great opportunity to discuss the immense global challenges we face related to food, nutrition and climate, and our shared vision for how to respond”, Minister Fleming said.
Ireland is a founding member of the IFAD and shares its commitment to invest in rural people so that they can overcome poverty and hunger themselves, the IFAD said.
Ireland pledged $63.6 million to the fund’s regular resources since it was established in 1977, and provided over $15 million in supplementary funds to support small-scale farmers’ climate adaptation.