Ifad launches country office Thursday

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) has announced the launch of its country office in Lilongwe on with a long-term commitment to increase investments in reducing poverty, increasing food security, improving nutrition and strengthening rural people’s resilience.

Ifad country director Bernadette Mukonyora made the announcement on Tuesday in Blantyre during the visit of the organisation’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, Sara Mbago-Bhunu.

She said the projects Ifad has been funding in the country, such as Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (Trade) Programme and Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprise Programme (Farmse) are transforming lives of farmers; hence, the launch of the office to continue serving local farmers better.

Said: “I am particularly happy to see how women’s lives have transformed through milk bulking and village and savings loans groups. 

“That’s why we are launching the Malawi Office on Thursday to show our commitment to smallholder farmers that we are here to serve you.”

In her remarks after visiting the Mpemba Milk Bulking Centre run by a cooperative of 780 women from Mpemba Catchment Area who are benefiting from the Trade Programme, Mbago-Bhunu said Ifad was willing to support further the Trade programme so that more people can benefit and transform their lives. 

“We will continue to support the programme and we expect that during my next visit—we will see transformation in other areas. 

“During this visit, I was particularly impressed with what the women cooperatives have achieved and I wanted to encourage them to even more,” she said.

Ifad operates in 22 countries has provided more than $23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to fund programmes and projects in developing countries namely Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Last year, Ifad-supported projects reached an estimated 130 million people.