International Fund for Agricultural Development

Thirty-third session of IFAD's Governing Council: What is the biggest leadership challenge of the 21st century?

On 17 February 2010, during the thirty-third session of IFAD’s Governing Council, CNN anchor Jim Clancy will put tough questions to an African Head of State and a number of renowned development leaders, including Sir Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development; Dr Nahed Mohammed Taher, CEO of Gulf One Investment Bank and one of Forbes magazine’s 100 most powerful women; leading climate change expert Dr R K Pachauri;  and Kevin Cleaver,  Associate Vice-President, Programmes at IFAD,  as they pave the way to transform summit declarations into reality in the fields of half a billion small farms around the globe.
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Back to business in Haiti

Vital remittances flow uninterrupted after earthquake
While other banks in Haiti were still closed, it was almost business as usual at most of the Fonkoze branches in Haiti.  Whether operating from a branch office in an area spared the devastation of the earthquake or from desks set up in the yard outside the remains of their office in Port-au-Prince, this microfinance organization was back serving its clients.Fonkoze (from the Creole words “shoulder to shoulder”), which operates predominantly in rural areas, is a recipient of IFAD grants supporting improved remittance flows in rural Haiti. They have been providing these critical remittance services every day since the earthquake in the places where their branches were operational.
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‘Agriculture makes good business sense’: IFAD President urges Davos leaders to invest in developing countries

Nwanze stresses immediate needs of Haiti’s rural areas
Rome, 26 January 2010 – As business, government and private sector leaders gather in the Swiss town of Davos this week for the World Economic Forum, global food security and poverty will be among the key challenges they will need to tackle. The power and potential of 500 million smallholder farms will be brought to discussion tables by Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The United Nations rural poverty agency has been invited to the Davos Forum for the first time. Nwanze is slated to speak at key Forum sessions.
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Climate change: a development challenge

Climate change is one of the most serious threats the world faces. It will affect all of us, but will have a disproportionate impact on millions of poor rural people. Climate change is a challenge to everyone working in development. It puts more people at risk of hunger and makes it more difficult to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. For development work to be effective, we must not only help poor rural people emerge from poverty, we must also enable them to cope with and mitigate the impact of climate change.
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