IFAD 50d ago

Held on 11–12 May in Kenya, the Africa Forward Summit brings together Heads of States and leaders shaping the continent’s development agenda. At the summit, IFAD President Alvaro Lario will contribute to the roundtable on agriculture. To mark the occasion, follow the journey of these organic, fairtrade pineapples from smallholder farms in Rwanda to shop shelves in Europe —an example of how African‑led development, supported by targeted investment, can drive inclusive growth, resilience, and integration into global markets. Freshly harvested in Rwanda by members of the Tuzamarane cooperative, the organic pineapples are dried locally before arriving at Agro Sourcing’s warehouse in France, where they are packaged and sold to European consumers. With support from IFAD and the Government of Rwanda, cooperative members were able to scale up drastically by investing in infrastructure and equipment such as a modern plant, industrial dryers and transport trucks. These investments were financed through PASP, the Climate‑Resilient Post‑Harvest and Agribusiness Support Project. As a result, household incomes among PASP participants rose by more than 26 per cent. Young people like Emmanuel, who works at the cooperative, can now afford a home and health insurance—tangible signs of how value‑chain development can transform lives. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the only international financial institution exclusively focused on transforming rural economies. IFAD invests in rural people and their communities, building food security, shared prosperity and stability. Today, IFAD and its partners have nearly US$23 billion invested in ongoing projects that are transforming rural economies.