Brasilia, 9 February 2026 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a long-standing strategic partner of Brazil, has announced a significant expansion of its investments in the country. IFAD has more than doubled its investment portfolio, increasing from 450 million dollars between 2017 and 2024 to over 1.1 billion dollars for a new series of rural development projects through 2030, aimed at supporting approximately one million rural residents. The announcement was made by Rocío Medina Bolívar, IFAD’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, during a visit to Brazil with a delegation for high-level meetings with authorities and public and private sector representatives.
IFAD’s investments in Brazil represent the fifth-largest portfolio among the Fund’s operations globally and include the highest number of IFAD-financed projects in a single country. Medina Bolívar highlighted that Brazil accounts for 40 percent of IFAD’s financing in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing its strategic role in advancing rural transformation in the region through collaboration with public and private partners.
Brazil is the only country with two IFAD offices, one in Brasilia and a newly opened office in Salvador, Bahia, which focuses on project supervision and pipeline development. The Fund mobilizes resources from multiple national and international partners, providing about 15 percent of total project financing in Brazil. Key partners include the Green Climate Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the German government, and the Brazilian Development Bank, along with co-financing from national governments.
The Northeast region, which faces the highest poverty rates in Brazil, is at the center of IFAD’s investments. The Fund currently supports eight projects in this area, including the Food Security, Nutrition, and Climate Resilience project in the Semi-arid Northeast, implemented with the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming. The previous phase of this project achieved a 90 percent reduction in extreme poverty among participants.
IFAD has also begun working directly with private sector partners, approving a new loan to the credit cooperative CRESOL. This marks IFAD’s first direct private sector loan in Brazil and the second in the Latin America and Caribbean region, reflecting the Fund’s commitment to joint efforts with private actors. Arnoud Hameleers, IFAD’s Country Director in Brazil, noted that the Fund’s programmatic approach, strong performance, and high financial leverage could serve as a benchmark for promoting rural prosperity in other upper middle-income countries.
Beyond project financing, IFAD engages in policy dialogue, including supporting Brazil’s Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, established during its G20 Presidency. The Fund also promotes South-South knowledge exchange through its Regional Triangular Cooperation Centre in Brasilia, hosting delegations from countries such as Angola, Pakistan, and Mozambique to share expertise on topics including land access, markets, public policy, gender equity, youth empowerment, and water security.
IFAD, based in Rome as a United Nations specialized agency, has invested over 25 billion dollars in grants and low-interest loans since 1978, empowering rural communities worldwide to reduce poverty, improve food security and nutrition, and strengthen resilience.
