With an overall budget of US$100 million, FARMS will focus on sustainable rural development and livelihood support for refugees, displaced persons and rural host communities. IFAD recently launched its Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability (FARMS).

We partner with governments to help design and implement poverty reduction strategies, and work with local people and organizations to deliver them. It is our combination of funding capacity and expertise that makes IFAD a partner of choice for so many governments, agencies and NGOs. By the end of 2016, we had invested US$889 million in 43 programmes and projects in the region, in partnership with 22 recipient governments. IFAD customizes solutions to address specific key challenges. In countries of the former Soviet Union with abundant water resources, we might be called upon to address solutions for improving farming skills, whereas in the Near East and North Africa, solving water scarcity and enhancing agricultural production are our priorities.Īcross both subregions, increasingly severe droughts, or floods, and related losses in productivity and incomes, have hampered rural transformation. In a highly diverse region, every rural transformation challenge needs to be tackled in its proper context. They include the degradation of agricultural land and collapse in food production in the areas left behind, as well as increased pressure on natural resources, food security and agricultural production systems in host communities, and increased competition for jobs. The consequences of the still-unfolding Syrian crisis have been far-reaching. Forced displacement has a strong rural dimension, as large numbers of displaced people originate from rural areas. The crisis in Syria, in particular, is driving large-scale migration: Syrian refugees now make up some 25 per cent of the population of Lebanon and 20 per cent of the population of Jordan. As a consequence, poverty is on the rise, as is food and nutrition insecurity, especially in rural areas. Many young people have been driven off the land, disrupting food production, and exacerbating already high unemployment. Climate shocks, together with economic and political disturbances have resulted in some of the toughest and most enduring poverty challenges in the world.Īcross the NENA subregion, 22.4 million people have been forcibly displaced by conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. The average number of undernourished people within NENA has doubled over the past 25 years - from 16.5 million to 33 million - amid acute pressure on natural resources. In the Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEN) subregion, the main obstacles concern currency volatility and sluggish growth. Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID)įragility, migration, and water scarcity, combined with persistently high unemployment rates, are among the key challenges hampering rural development in the Near East and North Africa (NENA).Working group on the Performance-based Allocation System.Gender Transformative Mechanism in the Context of Climate Adaptation.Nourishing people and the Earth through inclusive and sustainable agriculture.Global gender transformative approaches initiative for women’s land rights.Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women.Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network.Platform for Agricultural Risk Management.National Designated Authorities partnership platform.International Aid Transparency Initiative.Insurance for Rural Resilience and Economic Development.Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability.Climate and Commodity Hedging to Enable Transformation.China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility.Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme.Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia.

Rural life in middle east