The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat is participating in the 2nd session of the consultation on the 13th replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) resources, held in Italy on June 19 and 20.
H.E.’s was invited by the IFAD’s President Alvaro Lario to benefit from the development experiences between Egypt and the IFAD and its role in the food pillar of the NWFE program, and Al-Mashat’s international expertise, in the context of the fund's endeavor to mobilize the necessary resources to increase capital and the 13th replenishment of its resources from all member states.
Al-Mashat is set to deliver a speech on promoting joint efforts with the IFAD, supporting comprehensive and green development in Egypt, stimulating efforts to combat poverty and stimulate food security, and highlighting it as an effective model within the framework of the partnership between the two sides. This is in order to motivate the ongoing efforts to mobilize the necessary resources to support the Fund's efforts, as the 13th replenishment consultations aim to support efforts to attract more resources to overcome the current challenges -especially the impact of climate change- and enhance the ability of countries to adapt to these changes and face the repercussions of the global crisis on food security.
It is worth noting that Egypt has contributed to the 12th replenishment of the IFAD with a value of $3 million, and according to those contributions, the value of development funds allocated to Egypt amounted to about $63 million.
The IFAD is a major and strategic partner that supports the Egyptian Nexus for Water, Food and Energy platform, the NWFE program, as it is the leading developmental partner for food pillar projects. The delegation coordinates efforts between development partners at the level of mobilizing funds, investments that stimulate the private sector and the necessary technical support to design food pillar projects within NWFE.
Food pillar projects within NWFE are worth $3.3 billion. It aims to enhance adaptability and flexibility in agricultural lands, support farmers to adopt smart practices and achieve economic benefits associated with increasing crop productivity and price stability, modernize irrigation systems and increase their efficiency, enhance human development efforts, increase efforts to enable rainwater, improve access to water, enhance resilience in areas most in need, and improve the resilience of the agricultural climate by modernizing agricultural practices.
It is worth noting that Egypt has extended relations with the IFAD over a period of 40 years, as the total development cooperation portfolio with the IFAD amounts to about $1.1 billion. The Fund contributed to financing 14 projects with the participation of a number of development partners and was funded by about $520 million where said projects contributed to sustainable agricultural development and raising the level of income for small farmers.