Agricultural development: Smart investing for global food security

While rural people hold the key to realizing a future without hunger and poverty in the developing world, rural farmers remain disproportionately poor and food insecurity is rising in many countries. For this reason, multilateral intervention in support of food security and nutrition is vital.

The most enduring solutions for feeding people and reducing extreme poverty in low-income countries entail efforts that empower rural farmers to increase their productive capacities. The goal of doubling of small-holder productivity is targeted in the Sustainable Development Goals. This objective can only be achieved by mobilizing more resources. On April 23, a panel of experts discussed the issues and constraints such efforts entail. IFAD’s President Gilbert F. Houngbo explained how his organization can scale up contributions and impact aimed at improving the lives of the world’s rural people.  Other panelists discussed the changes in institutions, markets, and investment necessary to underpin the delivery of food and jobs by transforming agrifood systems in the developing world.