Food security – France announces a $150 million contribution for the replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (September 23, 2023)

In a video released at the Global Citizen Festival in New York on September 23, President Emmanuel Macron announced a $150 million contribution for the replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). This is the largest contribution ever made for IFAD replenishment. France will host the final session of the 2023 replenishment consultation in Paris on December 14 and 15, in partnership with Angola, and the two countries will be championing investments that benefit small-scale rural farmers in the poorest countries.

France is calling for an extraordinary effort to raise $2 billion to help IFAD guarantee food security and stability in the long term. This move is consistent with the goals of the Paris Pact for People and the Planet – a massive investment in sustainable, resilient food systems makes it possible both to combat poverty and save the planet. IFAD is playing an active role in the EU Food and Agricultural Resilience Mission (FARM) mechanism, particularly the track dedicated to coordination among financial contributors and partners at the national level to boost sustainable agricultural production.

France is working steadfastly to promote food security, nutrition and agricultural development, especially given the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine on the world’s most vulnerable populations. Its contributions to food aid will surpass €950 million in 2023.

France supports:

• Ukrainian grain shipments by the World Food Programme (WFP) to the most vulnerable countries. In that regard, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna announced on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High-level Week that France would contribute an additional €40 million to the World Food Programme. That will make it possible to send new grain shipments to Nigeria and Sudan as part of the Grain from Ukraine initiative, through which France already funded WFP shipments of Ukrainian wheat. It will also facilitate the establishment of regional grain reserves in several countries of the Global South.
• EU solidarity lanes, which are vital and have made it possible to ship nearly 45 million tons of grain from Ukraine since March 2022.
• Food security for the Afghan people, with €1.5 million in additional aid via the WFP by the end of 2023.

France supports ambitious programs worldwide to develop sustainable local agriculture and to support school meals. In this regard, France will join with the WFP to host the first global meeting of the School Meals Coalition on October 18-19.