Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
IFAD / INNOVATION RURAL PEOPLE
STORY: IFAD / INNOVATION RURAL PEOPLE
TRT: 04:07
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 FEBRUARY 2024, ROME, ITALY
1. Wide shot, IFAD HQ in Rome
2. Wide shot, the conference room
3. Close up, the Governing Council logo on screen
4. Med shot, various participants
5. Med shot, IFAD’s President Alvaro Lario on stage shaking hands
6. Wide shot, the press conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Alvaro Lario, President, IFAD:
‘Three billion people live in rural parts of developing countries and many of them actually work in small scale agriculture and small scale farming and fisheries and that’s what they somehow rely on to have a decent livelihood and a decent income. At the same time, as you all know, they have a lot of current challenges, very much related as we can see all over the world, not only in developing economies, related to climate change, to soil health and they only receive like 1 percent of global climate finance.’
8. Wide shot of the press conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Nsimadala, President, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation:
“The most challenging thing is access to financing which we believe is the lifeline of smallholder agriculture.”
“We need to really support and provide access to financing to smallholder farmers, be it grants, be it loans, be it machinery, depending on whatever form of financial support that we are giving, we need to make it intentional to be accessed by the smallholder farmers.”
10. Med shot, the main conference room with Alvaro Lario on stage
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alvaro Lario, President, IFAD:
“Climate change and demographic growth are giving impetus to innovation in the areas of food and agriculture. And more and more investors are opening the door to new and exciting possibilities to improve rural livelihoods in an inclusive way. An institution such as IFAD must be capable of responding to these changes”.
12. Med shot, of the main conference room with Alvaro Lario on stage
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alvaro Lario, President, IFAD:
“Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes. It does not necessarily mean cutting-edge technology. It can be drones to monitor plant health or bottle-caps to measure micro-doses of fertilizer to increase productivity. It can be new financial products like SDG bonds or Agroweb which invests in digital public infrastructure. It can be the installation of solar panels for irrigation systems."
14. Med shot, two people looking at a screen at the Marketplace of Innovations
15. Close up, the screen
16. Med shot, two people talking at a table with food samples and ‘recipes for change’ boxes
17. Close up, “recipes for change” boxes
18. Pan right, two people talking
19. Close up, panel “TRACE”
20. Various shots, IFAD President Alvaro Lario handing over prizes to the Gender Awards winners
21. Wide shot, the room with applause
In the face of rising hunger, economic volatility, growing inequality and the ravages of climate change, a quiet revolution is underway fueled by innovation and determination. For small-scale farmers in some of the most remote corners of the world, innovation isn't just a buzzword it's a lifeline with the potential to reshape the future.
Government leaders and development specialists are gathered at the Rome headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development or IFAD today to hear how innovation can help small-scale farmers overcome a myriad of challenges like climate change and food insecurity.
During a press conference, IFAD’s President Alvaro Lario stressed the importance of supporting small scale farmers. He said, “Three billion people live in rural parts of developing countries and many of them actually work in small scale agriculture and small scale farming and fisheries and that’s what they somehow rely on to have a decent livelihood and a decent income. At the same time, as you all know, they have a lot of current challenges, very much related as we can see all over the world, not only in developing economies, related to climate change, to soil health and they only receive like 1 Percent of global climate finance.”
Elizabeth Nsimadala, a Ugandan farmer and President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation said at the press event that access to finance was the most challenging for farmers in her region:
She said, “The most challenging thing is access to financing which we believe is the lifeline of smallholder agriculture.”
She added, “We need to really support and provide access to financing to small holder farmers, be it grants, be it loans, be it machinery, depending on whatever form of financial support that we are giving, we need to make it intentional to be accessed by the smallholder farmers.”
The Ugandan farmer and agripreneur has also participated at the 8th Global Meeting of the Farmers’ Forum, which took place earlier this week at IFAD.
The annual meeting held in Rome centred on innovations that build resilience and make food security and decent livelihoods accessible to small-scale farmers and rural producers in developing countries.
Alvaro Lario said, “Climate change and demographic growth are giving impetus to innovation in the areas of food and agriculture. And more and more investors are opening the door to new and exciting possibilities to improve rural livelihoods in an inclusive way. An institution such as IFAD must be capable of responding to these changes”, IFAD’s President Alvaro Lario told heads of state, government leaders and representatives from IFAD’s 178 Member States during the inaugural session.
The IFAD’s President continued, “Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes. It does not necessarily mean cutting-edge technology. It can be drones to monitor plant health or bottle-caps to measure micro-doses of fertilizer to increase productivity. It can be new financial products like SDG bonds or Agroweb which invests in digital public infrastructure. It can be the installation of solar panels for irrigation systems."
New approaches and tools were showcased at a Marketplace of Innovation featuring innovations such as AI-powered climate information that keep farmers abreast of changing weather patterns, and blockchain and Web3 technology for digital wallet that allow rural people to easily receive and make digital payments.
During the Governing Council, IFAD also recognized the most successful examples driving gender equality and women's empowerment in its funded projects. Project representatives from Bolivia, Cambodia, Ghana, Madagascar and Montenegro were present to receive their award. IFAD's Gender Awards are rooted in the belief that addressing the core causes of gender inequality is crucial to reducing hunger and poverty.
Download
There is no media available to download.
