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Rome, 16 December 2013 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) approved US $88 million in grant financing for climate change adaptation efforts in 9 vulnerable countries. At the 110th session of its Executive Board, IFAD endorsed a new generation of agricultural investment programmes which dedicate concessional loan and grant financing to actions that manage growing climate risks. This is funded by IFAD’s new Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), which channels climate finance to smallholder farmers so that they can improve their resilience to climate change.

“This is a great way to end ASAP’s first year of operations. In 2013 IFAD committed US$110 million from ASAP to support 11 new projects, leveraged US $770 million of regular IFAD and other funding, and won a UNFCCC Momentum for Change Award last month in Warsaw. On top of this we are starting to make headway in putting smallholders on the map of climate change through an active advocacy effort in climate and agriculture debates worldwide,” said Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Director of IFAD’s Environment and Climate Division (ECD).

These ASAP-supported projects will benefit poor rural communities in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Djibouti, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan and Viet Nam. They join the Climate Adaptation and Livelihood Protection project in Bangladesh that passed IFAD Executive Board review in September, and the Pro-Poor Value Chain Project in Mozambique, which is currently under implementation.

“ASAP financing benefits small farmer households who live on marginal environments in some of the most vulnerable regions of the world. The climate risk appraisals IFAD has undertaken during the project designs will enable these projects to reduce exposure to climate hazards and diversify income opportunities which will be viable years from now,” said Gernot Laganda, Programme Coordinator.
ASAP is made possible by the generous contributions of five donor countries: Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Press release no: IFAD/63/2013

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$15 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering more than 410 million people to break out of poverty, thereby helping to create vibrant rural communities. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nations’ food and agriculture hub. It is a unique partnership of 172 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).