Italy: Day 5 (IFAD)

January 8, 2018The second half of Day 5 consisted of visiting IFAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, another one of the Rome-based agencies dealing with food insecurity. IFAD, with the mission of "investing in rural people", is an international financial institution (a "big bank" of sorts).IFAD has over 8 billion in capital. Funding for countries is sent in installments and the agency works with them to ensure project success. Almost every year IFAD closes with a loss and continues to make investments in rural lives. IFAD makes incredible investments in developing countries in rural infrastructure, agriculture and development, with active programs in 21 countries.Conflict is changing how IFAD operates - it is changing the reality of funding. One of the speakers said, "we need not compromise the security of our people or our partners...there are areas we cannot go." IFAD recently signed a financial agreement with Madagascar to sustainably improve incomes and food and nutrition security for 320,000 Malagasy rural households in eight regions located in the southern part of the country. In areas of conflict, IFAD conducts a risk assessment on conflict zones to determine the best course of action. This can result in shifting resources from one area to another, bring different partners in or out of the equation, increase constant monitoring, or provide funding to other groups/NGOs to provide help in ways the government cannot. About half of the countries under one of our speaker's direction are experiencing fragile situations, largely in the form of conflict or migration issues. Sudan, Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon were some countries that IFAD provides funding for. I feel these are incredibly critical because of the deep impact conflict makes on food insecurity. There was a 30 million person increase in food insecurity from 2015  to 2016, largely from conflict, climate change and economic development. Many conflicts are fought in rural areas which directly hits agriculture and the livelihoods of the poorest individuals."No food insecurity without peace, no peace without food insecurity" and folks, that is so true and is one of the biggest reasons I focus my efforts on alleviating food insecurity. The U.S. should continue their support of investing in rural communities because, as the recent SOFA report shows rural communities matter. Without engaging rural people, world food security is not possible.There are challenges and benefits of supporting international rural communities and I think one of the biggest challenges is dealing with domestic and international food insecurity concurrently. There is such a stigma surrounding hunger within the United States and many people question why we support foreign causes; in my opinion, perhaps the biggest benefit of engaging in rural development is national security. Eliminating food insecurity can reduce conflict and our biggest threats come from conflict stricken countries. A challenge is always going to be ensuring the funds are used as allocated and are used in ways that truly benefit the people, instead of perpetuating the cycle of poverty and/or food insecurity or giving a "hand out."Funding is inherently limited, and must be coupled with knowledge and support to become something lasting and sustainable. IFAD leverages funds to create change and I was really encouraged by that.