The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has signed two co-financing agreements in Bangkok, during the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, to expand joint investment in food systems and rural economies.
Under a new Cooperation and Co-financing Agreement signed on October 14, IFAD and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) aim to mobilise up to US$750 million in co-financing for sustainable agricultural development. The two institutions are drawing up a joint action plan covering agribusiness value chains, market access, rural finance and financial inclusion, climate adaptation, natural resource management and water access, and expect to expand private-sector operations for agribusinesses and rural small and medium-sized enterprises. Since their partnership began in 1980, IsDB and IFAD have co-financed 29 projects worth about US$1.45 billion.
"Through this agreement, we are scaling up investment in the first mile of food systems to create jobs, increase incomes and build more prosperous and resilient rural economies," said IFAD President Alvaro Lario. IsDB Group Chairman Muhammad Al Jasser said the renewed partnership builds on nearly five decades of cooperation.
A day earlier, on October 13, IFAD and the World Bank signed a new Co-Financing Framework Agreement. It modernises the arrangements for co-financing country-level investments and allows common arrangements for technical support, procurement, financial management, disbursement and environmental and social oversight, while each institution keeps its own policies and financing decisions. The agreement runs for five years and renews automatically for five more.
The World Bank Group is IFAD's largest multilateral development bank partner. IFAD's co-financing with the World Bank's International Development Association more than doubled, from about US$646 million in 2021 to US$1.56 billion in 2025. The two already work together on AgriConnect, which aims to help transform agriculture for 300 million smallholder farmers by 2030, and on a US$70.5 million programme in Lesotho that IFAD says has created nearly 1,500 jobs, with more than 106,000 people adopting climate-smart farming practices.
"The next generation needs opportunity, and agriculture can be a powerful source of jobs, growth, and food security," said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga.
Photo: Sahmeditor / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: IFAD
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