IFAD Calls for Scaled-Up Investments to Build Resilient, Just, and Climate-Smart Food Systems

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has renewed its call for stronger, coordinated global action to build resilient, equitable, and climate-smart food systems capable of feeding a growing global population while protecting the planet. Speaking at the EAT Stockholm Food Forum, IFAD Vice-President Gerardine Mukeshimana highlighted that with the right investments and partnerships, rural transformation can simultaneously tackle hunger, poverty, and climate change.

“With the right investments and partnerships, we can create resilient food systems that feed the growing population in harmony with nature, while they deliver jobs, stability, and hope for future generations,” Mukeshimana said, emphasizing that small-scale producers, rural women, and young entrepreneurs are the backbone of global food production.

Her remarks came following the release of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems, which reinforces the urgency of rethinking how food is produced, distributed, and consumed to meet climate and development goals.

“The report confirms what IFAD has been advocating for: food systems present a great opportunity to deliver on global challenges — addressing climate issues, sustainability, and inequality,” she added.

IFAD’s Proven Model for Inclusive Food Systems

Drawing on the findings of the 2025 Report on IFAD’s Development Effectiveness (RIDE), Mukeshimana underscored that IFAD’s holistic, evidence-based approach has already delivered measurable results. Between 2022 and 2024, IFAD-supported programmes:

• Created nearly 390,000 jobs, many for youth and women;

• Enabled 1.1 million rural households to adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices;

• Achieved an average income increase of 34% among project participants;

• Recorded transformational income growth (over 50%) in nearly half of all projects.

These results demonstrate IFAD’s capacity to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and local realities, ensuring that modern agricultural research directly benefits the world’s most vulnerable farmers.

“We need to invest in what has been proven to work,” Mukeshimana said. “Our projects bring practical solutions that connect science to the real needs of those at the first mile of food systems — the smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs whose success determines global food security.”

The Power of Integrated Investments

According to the RIDE report, IFAD’s interventions that combine finance, training, infrastructure, and market access are the most effective at generating lasting impact. Such projects have boosted both production and market access by 35%, confirming that “first-mile” investments — the crucial link between producers and markets — are key to enabling smallholders to compete and thrive in the global economy.

By empowering rural people with climate-smart tools, improving access to finance, and building sustainable value chains, IFAD is helping communities adapt to extreme weather, protect ecosystems, and reduce rural poverty — all while advancing the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2023 alone, IFAD and its partners disbursed US$17.8 billion in food systems financing, designed to unlock trillions in potential business opportunities through sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, and biodiversity protection.

Partnering with Sweden for Transformational Impact

Mukeshimana praised Sweden’s government and private sector for their long-standing partnership with IFAD and their pioneering role in financing rural development through sustainable bonds and innovative investment mechanisms.

In 2022, IFAD became the first UN fund outside the World Bank Group to issue a Sustainable Development Bond, a US$100 million issuance supported by Folksam, one of Sweden’s largest insurance companies.

Mark Johnsson, Strategist at Folksam Asset Management, explained why investing in IFAD aligns with the company’s sustainability mission:

“If one of our customers asks, ‘Why do you invest my pension in IFAD?’ the answer is simple: IFAD tackles the problems you don’t want in your life — poverty, inequality, and hunger. Companies with high ambitions for a sustainable world cannot overlook institutions like IFAD, which directly support climate adaptation and resilience.”

Following the success of the first bond, IFAD and Swedish partners have continued to innovate:

• In 2024, Skandia and Folksam led a 1 billion Swedish Krona bond;

• In 2025, a further 900 million Krona bond was issued in partnership with Kåpan, the pension fund for Swedish state employees.

“Our partnership with Sweden is not just financial,” Mukeshimana noted. “It is a shared commitment to tackle poverty and hunger, empower women, adapt to climate change, and engage the private sector. Together, we are addressing the root causes of instability and forced migration — building resilience abroad and stability at home.”

Investing in Fragile Contexts and Post-Crisis Recovery

Mukeshimana also emphasized IFAD’s growing work in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, where rural recovery is crucial for stability. She announced that IFAD is designing Ukraine’s first rural recovery programme, which will support smallholders, women, youth, and internally displaced people affected by the war.

“Food systems and rural livelihoods are essential pillars of peace,” she said. “Through inclusive, climate-smart investment, we can rebuild economies and strengthen resilience in the most fragile environments.”

A Financial Institution with Development at Its Core

IFAD remains the only UN fund or agency, other than the World Bank Group, to hold a AA+ credit rating, reaffirmed in 2025. This rating reflects the Fund’s operational efficiency, prudent financial management, and proven track record in leveraging public funds for high-impact development.

For every US$1 contributed by donors, IFAD has generated US$6 in total investment on the ground — amplifying the impact of public resources and mobilizing private capital for rural transformation.

Science, Solidarity, and Sustainability

The new EAT-Lancet 2025 report calls for urgent action to transform food systems so they deliver nutritious diets while reducing environmental damage. IFAD’s work directly contributes to these goals, linking global science with local solutions that are socially equitable and economically viable.

Through partnerships with governments, investors, civil society, and smallholder organizations, IFAD is demonstrating that rural transformation is both achievable and essential for achieving global food security and climate resilience.

“We have the science, the financing tools, and the partnerships,” Mukeshimana said in closing. “What we need now is the collective will to scale up. Investing in rural people — women, youth, and small-scale producers — is the single most powerful step we can take toward a safer, fairer, and more sustainable world.”

Towards a More Resilient Global Food Future

As food insecurity rises and climate extremes intensify, IFAD’s message from Stockholm is clear: the world must move beyond short-term responses and invest in systemic, inclusive, and sustainable transformation.

With its expanding global partnerships, innovative financing instruments, and focus on locally led solutions, IFAD continues to prove that transforming food systems is not just a moral imperative — it is a strategic investment in global stability and prosperity.