Finland grants €50m to developing countries’ agriculture

Finland will grant a long-term partnership loan amounting to 50 million euros to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said the government in an official press release.

IFAD President will visit Finland on 13-14 March.

On 7 March 2019, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen decided to grant a long-term loan to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the UN.

The amount of the loan is 50 million euros and the repayment period is 40 years. The loan is granted from the appropriation for development policy investments in development cooperation.

“The loan granted to IFAD complements in a significant way the work Finland is doing to improve food security in developing countries. In its work the organisation also stresses equality and climate issues, which is well in line with Finland’s objectives. The projects help small farmers in adapting to climate change, and almost half of the beneficiaries are women”, said Anne-Mari Virolainen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland.

One of the key priorities in IFAD’s work is the UN sustainable development goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. There are still more than 800 million people living in starvation in the world, and about 2 billion suffer from poor quality of food.

Because of climate change and conflicts these numbers are growing again. IFAD supports smallholder farmers - they produce more than 80% of the food consumed in the developing countries but still often suffer from hunger themselves.

IFAD operates in the same way as the international development finance institutions, granting financing in the form of donations and long-term credits to developing countries. Besides this loan Finland participates in IFAD’s 11th replenishment round by a traditional grant donation of EUR 10.6 million.

The loan agreement between Finland and IFAD will be signed during President Gilbert Houngbo’s visit to Finland. Also on the agenda in the discussions between Minister Virolainen and President Houngbo is how Finland’s expertise and know-how could be used even better in IFAD’s work.

“We have just become a member of IFAD’s Executive Board, and this provides an excellent opportunity to influence its work”, Minister Virolainen added.

On Thursday 14 March there will be a stakeholder seminar on the topic of climate change adaptation of small farmers in developing countries. President Houngbo will give the keynote speech at the seminar.