MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development Announces Launch of Diaspora Investment in Agriculture Initiative

The International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD’s) Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR), a fund that aims to reduce poverty by channeling remittances to finance development in rural areas of developing countries, announced that it recently launched its Diaspora Investment in Agriculture (DIA) Initiative. In collaboration with the US Department of State and other partners, the initiative aims to identify investment opportunities in agriculture for diaspora groups, individual investors, agribusiness and other potential stakeholders. Countries that are eligible for the program, of which there are ten in Africa, two each in Latin America and the Middle East, and one in Asia, reportedly represent a collective diaspora of 16 million people.

This news appears in FFR’s quarterly newsletter, which also covers the development of a transfer system in Somalia that would enable recipients to collect their remittances in the form of goods, namely groceries, the implementation of a financial literacy program in the Philippines, the extension of remittance services via postal systems in West Africa and the drafting of a guarantee fund to spur entrepreneurship within the Romanian migrant community in Italy.

By Jacqueline Foelster, Research Associate

About International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations, was established in 1977 as an outcome of the 1974 World Food Conference. IFAD is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries by focusing on country-specific solutions. Since 1978, IFAD has invested USD 12 billion in 860 projects and programs. Another USD 19.6 billion has been contributed in co-financing from governments, project participants and multilateral, bilateral and other donors.

Source and Additional Resources:

[1] Financing Facility for Remittances Newsletter, 2nd Quarter 2011, Issue 3, “FFR Update,” http://www.ifad.org/remittances/newsletter/3.pdf

MicroCapital.org Brief, May 12, 2010, “Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) Announces Call for Proposals 2010,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-financing-facility-for-remittances-ffr-announces-call-for-proposals-2010/

MicroCapital.org Brief, June 22, 2010, “International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Presents Decision Tools for Rural Microfinance,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-international-fund-for-agricultural-development-ifad-presents-decision-tools-for-rural-microfinance/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=International+Fund+for+Agricultural+Development+%28IFAD%29

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/

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