In a world of dwindling aid budgets, one U.N. organization has broken its own record, with its member countries contributing more core resources than ever before in its latest three-year funding cycle.
For nearly 50 years, the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development has provided low-interest loans and grants to rural communities. As both a specialized U.N. agency and international finance institution, IFAD supports small-scale farmers, pastoralists, and entrepreneurs in some of the poorest parts of the world, financing small businesses and connecting them to local and international markets.
This year, the institution raised $1.42 billion from 93 member states — and counting. That money came in while across the world, conflict, crisis, and disaster were at record highs, forcing the world’s largest development funds to compete for the same dwindling donor resources.