Norway increases the support to poor small-scale farmers in rural areas in Low Income Countries

- To eradicate poverty, we have to reach small-scale farmers in rural areas in developing countries. Around 80 percent of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world live in these areas. Ifad’s programmes increase the income of small-scale farmers and provide poor families with better living conditions, said the Norwegian Minister for International Development Dag-Inge Ulstein.

Norway supports Ifad’s ambition to double its impact by 2030. Ifad’s 12. replenishment runs for the period 2022-24. Norway has pledged a total of NOK 508 million for these three years, and that is a 40 percent increase based on Norway’s contribution to Ifad-11.

Ifad has communicated that it will only be able to increase its support to Low Income Countries if the Member States combined succeed in increasing the total contribution from Ifad-11 by 40 percent. Norway therefore hopes that all Ifad members will step up their contribution at a scale that enables Ifad to increase its support to Low Income Countries.

- Our development policy is prioritizing the poorest. Hunger has been increasing since 2014. We must end poverty and stop the negative trend on hunger. Access to sufficient, safe, and healthy food is fundamental for peoples’ lives, said Mr. Ulstein.

Norway, Sweden, and Finland are the greatest contributor to Ifad combined. The three Nordic countries cooperate to encourage others to help Ifad to step up their contribution to Low Income Countries. Norway’s support to Ifad is a part of the implementation of Norway’s Action Plan for Sustainable Food Systems in our foreign and development policy. Based on that plan, Norway supports more than 50 different projects and programmes to strengthen food security in the world.