A cooperation agreement was signed on Tuesday in Vienna between the OPEC Fund for International Development and the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) aimed at expanding their partnership through the intensification of their co-financing of projects to improve food security and build resilience to climate change among smallholder farmers.
Signed by Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, President of the OPEC Fund, and Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD, during the OPEC Development Fund Forum 2024, this partnership aims to improve the effectiveness of co-financed projects through sharing of knowledge and a rapprochement of coordination activities, indicates an IFAD press release.
“Food security and climate action are cross-cutting strategic topics for the OPEC Fund. We are determined to support a sustainable and just energy transition while helping to provide the world with vital food,” Mr. Alkhalifa said in the statement.
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“We will strengthen our long-standing partnership with IFAD by working faster and smarter to provide support where it is needed most,” he stressed.
For his part, Mr. Lario said that small agricultural producers understand better than anyone the links between food, water and energy. Helping them adapt to accelerating climate change requires collaboration between different partners.
OPEC Fund member states, he continued, helped found IFAD in a similar moment of crisis and this new agreement provides a unique opportunity to renew our commitment to serving the women and men who serve us. best enable everyone to benefit from a healthy and nutritious diet.
The OPEC Fund and IFAD have collaborated since 1978. It makes a major contribution to IFAD programs: USD 1.03 billion, allocated to more than 120 projects to date.
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