Latest news with #Lario
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Health
- Express Tribune
Global hunger down slightly in 2024: UN
Global hunger fell slightly in 2024 but still saw between 638 and 720 million people suffering food shortages with rising numbers in Africa, a UN report said Monday. Around 8.2 percent of the world's population faced hunger last year, a fall of 0.3 percent compared to 2023, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, compiled by multiple United Nations agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme. But a major drop in Latin America and the Caribbean was balanced against a worsening situation in Africa, where the figure is 20.2 percent. The report, released at the UN Food Systems Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, highlights how far the organisation is from meeting its goal of ending world hunger by 2030. Current projections suggest some 512 million people will still be undernourished by the end of the decade, 60 percent of them in Africa, the report said. "Global hunger figures have slightly improved compared to 2022 and 2023," Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, told AFP. "But we have not come back to the levels of five years ago. This isn't very good news." Four of the worst five countries for food security are in Africa: Nigeria, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. The report also highlights the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the entire population is experiencing severe acute insecurity. "Lack of access has been ongoing for some months now and we are now seeing people starving," Lario said. "Access must be granted to provide life-saving humanitarian aid urgently," he added. The UN report highlights "persistent inequalities" with women and rural communities most affected, which widened last year over 2023. AFP
Euronews
4 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Hunger surge strikes Middle East and Africa, UN survey shows
The ongoing burden of rising global crises has exacerbated hunger in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, UN agencies warn. According to the UN's State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 report, also known as the SOFI report, trade tensions, conflicts and climate change are the primary causes of global food inflation. The report, which gathers data from five international organisations — FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO — was drafted by IFAD, a Rome-based UN agency that provides grants and low-interest loans to fund projects in developing countries. "The situation is quite alarming, especially in Africa and in the Middle East," Álvaro Lario, president of IFAD, told Euronews. "It's a mixture between the conflicts, some of the disruption or shocks caused by economic or trade tensions and also the climate shocks. These are the three main drivers," Lario explained. Since the trade tensions of 2018, during the first Trump administration, elevated tariffs have mainly remained in place, contributing to ongoing trade tensions and influencing global agricultural trade dynamics. The figures of the survey show that the proportion of the population facing hunger in Africa surpassed 20% in 2024, affecting 307 million people, while in the Middle East an estimated 12.7% of the population, or more than 39 million people, faced hunger in 2024. Small farming activities under threat Increasingly dire living conditions for small farmers and rural populations in developing countries are catalysts for economic migration flows. "It's clear, when people do not have the ability of really having a livelihood where they are, then they are forced to migrate," Lario said. The link between migration, the ability to feed oneself, and the ability to also continue producing food is clear, he added. According to UN criteria, small-scale farmers are those who exploit less than 2 hectares of land. They produce one-third of the world's food and up to 70% of the food in Africa. The economic existence and sustainability of small-scale farmers are quintessential to food supply and food security in developing countries. Yet, according to international standards, they all live under the poverty threshold. They represent 80% of the world's poorest population. According to the IFAD assessment, international aid to agriculture doesn't meet the needs of small-scale farmers: in fact, they receive less than 1% of climate finance, which amounts to slightly more than €4 billion per year, when they would need more than €70 billion. Long-term investment in agriculture and small-scale farmers in developing countries is crucial for addressing global hunger. "Africa imports approximately €70, 80 billion of food every year. Clearly, they could be self-sufficient and they could create a lot of those jobs in Africa," said Lario. Each year, approximately 10 million young Africans enter the job market. "There could be many jobs created in terms of not only production, but distribution, storage, marketing, exporting," Lario stated. Rising conflicts disrupt the food chain According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), more than 35 million people are living in a state of emergency (IPC Phase 4), and almost 2 million have reached IPC Phase 5, which is categorised as "catastrophe". Places where the population is facing extreme degrees of food insecurity are the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, along with South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti. The survey indicates that 100% of the population in the Gaza Strip faces high levels of acute food insecurity, affecting a total of 1,106,900 people, nearly twice the 576,000 recorded in 2023, the highest numbers ever estimated globally in IPC history. "The situation is quite alarming, especially in Africa and especially in the Middle East. I would say those are the two areas where we're saying the numbers continue to increase," concluded Lario.
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Business Standard
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Bringing investment to rural sector key priority: IFAD president
"IFAD's priority is to mobilize financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and especially to have and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most," Lario told PTI Press Trust of India New Delhi Bringing investment to the rural sector is a key priority for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), President Alvaro Lario said, adding that investment in agriculture is two to three times more effective in reducing poverty than in any other sector. In an interview with PTI, Lario stressed on the importance of bringing private capital to the rural sector, and said that globally, investments worth around $ 75 billion is required to adapt to the impact of climate change. Founded in 1977 in response to a global food crisis, IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency and an international financial institution that tackles hunger and poverty in rural communities. "IFAD's priority is to mobilize financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and especially to have and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most," Lario told PTI. "So for us, finance is a means to an end and we know that investment in agriculture is two to three times more effective in reducing poverty than in any other sector," he said. He said IFAD has partnered with India for nearly 50 years and India is among its founding members, as well as one of IFAD's largest borrowers and also a donor. Lario said for India, the three big questions are, "how do we make agriculture more remunerative for farmers, how do we enhance productivity at the same time as we're tackling a lot of the climate shocks and how do we move from food security to nutrition security." The IFAD president said climate shocks are one of the biggest threats to global food security, with rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events already reducing yields and disrupting a lot of the rural livelihoods. "So we know that small-scale farmers need approximately at least 75 billion US dollars to adapt to many of these climate shocks," he said. "In case of India we're seeing seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, so there's a lot of investments that can actually support these small-scale farmers globally. In global climate finance, what we're seeing is that these small-scale producers, hundreds of millions of rural people, are only receiving less than one per cent of the overall global climate finance," he said. He pointed out that agriculture accounts for around 20 per cent of GDP in India and it employs around 42 per cent of the workforce. "So even though there has been a lot of progress, we believe that continuing investing in pro-poor inclusive value chain and connecting small-scale producers to markets continues to be fundamental," he said. He stressed on bringing private capital into the sector. "We're also trying to bring private capital, private local companies with the government by really bringing a partnership of the public, the private, and the producers themselves. We're also adopting agro-ecological approaches that are currently supporting commercially viable and sustainable value chains so that once more the goal is to improve the income of small-scale farmers and also the resilience to shock," he said. He said IFAD's approach is about "co-creating solutions" with the central and the state governments in India, making sure the private sector is brought in, and ensuring that small landholders, tribal communities, rural youth and women are very much at the centre of many of these investments. "This will very much translate into a more vibrant market-driven rural economy that will create the jobs and opportunities that many of these rural communities lack. For that we need to aggregate, we need to make sure that many of these investments are aggregating, scaling up, processing and really making that formal market access a reality," he said. "For this transformation we will also need a lot of the private sector enterprises, that's why we need to create the incentives jointly with the governments to make sure that this mobilization of private sector capital is happening where it matters most, which is in the first mile of where food is being produced," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Print
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Print
Investment of USD 75 bn needed for Indian farmers to adapt to climate change impact: IFAD President
Asked about the impact of climate change on the rural sectors, especially on small and marginal farmers, Lario said it's a key focus. In an interview to PTI, Lario said for IFAD in India, the three big questions are, 'how do we make agriculture more remunerative for farmers, how do we enhance productivity at the same time as we're tackling a lot of the climate shocks and how do we move from food security to nutrition security.' Founded in 1977 in response to a global food crisis, IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency and an international financial institution that tackles hunger and poverty in rural communities. New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) Investments worth around USD 75 billion is required for small-scale farmers in India to adapt to the impact of climate change, and bringing finance to rural areas is a critical challenge ahead for rural communities across the world and in India, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario said. 'Small-scale farmers need approximately at least 75 billion US dollars to adapt to many of these climate shocks,' Lario told PTI. According to the 10th agriculture census of 2015-16, small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land account for 86.2 per cent of all farmers in India, but own just 47.3 per cent of the farming land. 'In case of India we're seeing seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, so there's a lot of investments that can actually support these small-scale farmers globally. In global climate finance, what we're seeing is that these small-scale producers, hundreds of millions of rural people, are only receiving less than one per cent of the overall global climate finance,' he said. Lario lauded schemes like 'soil health card', and said it gives farmers personalised recommendations on how they can improve their soil health, as well as incentives to adopt treat irrigation and other water-saving technologies. 'The challenges remain and we're seeing that many of the farmers are still struggling to adopt some of the climate smart practices. So still we need to continue investing, we are investing with the government at the central and state levels in India,' he said. 'For example in Maharashtra, in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, where we are bringing too many of these investments climate resilient practices that combine sustainability but also with income,' he said. He said it's important to focus on how these small-scale farmers can continue increasing their income through crop diversification, improved water management, or micro irrigation systems, and also creating community seed banks or using drought tolerant seeds. 'All of this is really gonna have a translation into better lives and better incomes,' he said. Lario said IFAD's priority is to mobilise financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most. 'We know that agriculture accounts for around 20 per cent of GDP in India and it employs around 42 per cent of the workforce. So even though there has been a lot of progress, we believe that continuing investing in pro-poor inclusive value chain and connecting small-scale producers to markets continues to be fundamental,' he said. He also stressed on bringing private capital into the sector. 'We're also trying to bring private capital, private local companies with the government by really bringing a partnership of the public, the private, and the producers themselves. We're also adopting agro-ecological approaches that are currently supporting commercially viable and sustainable value chains so that once more the goal is to improve the income of small-scale farmers and also the resilience to shock,' he said. Lario gave the example of Meghalaya, where IFAD has promoted and incubated a number of market-driven enterprises which are offering agri-entrepreneurs incubation, mentoring, credit, and access to markets. In Mizoram, he said, IFAD is promoting integrated farming, bringing together crops, livestock, agroforestry, in community-led clusters. 'We're introducing weather-based crop planning which is also enabling farmers to align the sowing with the rainfall forecast thereby reducing climate risk,' he said. He said IFAD was the first UN funded programme which received two credit ratings, and currently they're issuing bonds that are being bought by pension funds and central banks all over the world. 'We are also bringing capital and investment, especially private capital to these rural areas,' he said. 'We're currently using our own financing to co-invest with the private sector by directly investing in agri-enterprises, in local financial institutions and in value chain institutions that are very much serving small holder farmers,' he said. Lario further said the strategy is very much aligned with the Indian government's approach and over decades. According to IFAD, it has invested over USD 1.5 billion in India in the last 45 years, reaching over 6 million families. 'Our focus has been very much on investing in women, in tribal communities, small-scale producers and also on strengthening community institutions,' he added. PTI AO HVA This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Investment of USD 75 bn needed for Indian farmers to adapt to climate change impact: IFAD President
Investments worth around USD 75 billion is required for small-scale farmers in India to adapt to the impact of climate change, and bringing finance to rural areas is a critical challenge ahead for rural communities across the world and in India, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario said. In an interview to PTI, Lario said for IFAD in India, the three big questions are, "how do we make agriculture more remunerative for farmers, how do we enhance productivity at the same time as we're tackling a lot of the climate shocks and how do we move from food security to nutrition security." Founded in 1977 in response to a global food crisis, IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency and an international financial institution that tackles hunger and poverty in rural communities. Asked about the impact of climate change on the rural sectors, especially on small and marginal farmers, Lario said it's a key focus. "Small-scale farmers need approximately at least 75 billion US dollars to adapt to many of these climate shocks," Lario told PTI. Live Events According to the 10th agriculture census of 2015-16, small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land account for 86.2 per cent of all farmers in India, but own just 47.3 per cent of the farming land. "In case of India we're seeing seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, so there's a lot of investments that can actually support these small-scale farmers globally. In global climate finance, what we're seeing is that these small-scale producers, hundreds of millions of rural people, are only receiving less than one per cent of the overall global climate finance," he said. Lario lauded schemes like 'soil health card', and said it gives farmers personalised recommendations on how they can improve their soil health, as well as incentives to adopt treat irrigation and other water-saving technologies. "The challenges remain and we're seeing that many of the farmers are still struggling to adopt some of the climate smart practices. So still we need to continue investing, we are investing with the government at the central and state levels in India," he said. "For example in Maharashtra, in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, where we are bringing too many of these investments climate resilient practices that combine sustainability but also with income," he said. He said it's important to focus on how these small-scale farmers can continue increasing their income through crop diversification, improved water management, or micro irrigation systems, and also creating community seed banks or using drought tolerant seeds. "All of this is really gonna have a translation into better lives and better incomes," he said. Lario said IFAD's priority is to mobilise financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most. "We know that agriculture accounts for around 20 per cent of GDP in India and it employs around 42 per cent of the workforce. So even though there has been a lot of progress, we believe that continuing investing in pro-poor inclusive value chain and connecting small-scale producers to markets continues to be fundamental," he said. He also stressed on bringing private capital into the sector. "We're also trying to bring private capital, private local companies with the government by really bringing a partnership of the public, the private, and the producers themselves. We're also adopting agro-ecological approaches that are currently supporting commercially viable and sustainable value chains so that once more the goal is to improve the income of small-scale farmers and also the resilience to shock," he said. Lario gave the example of Meghalaya, where IFAD has promoted and incubated a number of market-driven enterprises which are offering agri-entrepreneurs incubation, mentoring, credit, and access to markets. In Mizoram, he said, IFAD is promoting integrated farming, bringing together crops, livestock, agroforestry, in community-led clusters. "We're introducing weather-based crop planning which is also enabling farmers to align the sowing with the rainfall forecast thereby reducing climate risk," he said. He said IFAD was the first UN funded programme which received two credit ratings, and currently they're issuing bonds that are being bought by pension funds and central banks all over the world. "We are also bringing capital and investment, especially private capital to these rural areas," he said. "We're currently using our own financing to co-invest with the private sector by directly investing in agri-enterprises, in local financial institutions and in value chain institutions that are very much serving small holder farmers," he said. Lario further said the strategy is very much aligned with the Indian government's approach and over decades. According to IFAD, it has invested over USD 1.5 billion in India in the last 45 years, reaching over 6 million families. "Our focus has been very much on investing in women, in tribal communities, small-scale producers and also on strengthening community institutions," he added.
