Without major investments in biodiversity protection, sustainable development and eradication of hunger will not be possible, the head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said today and announced greater support for small farms that have richer biodiversity than large farms.
"Biodiversity is the foundation of healthy and sustainable food systems," said IFAD President Gilbert Ungbo ahead of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Conservation Congress starting today in Marseille.
"From protecting pollinators to improving soil fertility and building resilience to the effects of climate change, biodiversity is critical to solving global hunger. We need to increase our investment in protecting biodiversity before it's too late. Our future depends on it," he pointed out. Ungbo.
IFAD has announced that it will direct 30 percent of its funding in the field of climate by 2030 to support "natural" solutions in small farms.
These "natural" solutions, i.e. solutions based on nature, encourage proactive conservation, management and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity to contribute to the response to challenges in the areas of climate change, food and water security and human health.
"Rural communities and farmers with small farms have an important role. They depend on biodiversity but are also its important guardians because they grow a wider range of species than is grown on large farms," said the president of the UN agency for agricultural support in developing countries.
Investments in nature-based solutions aim to promote a healthy biosphere, increase productivity and improve food security, nutrition and resilience to climate change, IFAD said.
As it is added, improving biodiversity on small farms will result in healthy and productive soil that collects more carbon.
IFAD also states that eight out of ten of the poorest people in the world live in rural areas and their survival mostly depends on agriculture.
It is also emphasized that the number of hungry people in the world increased dramatically in 2020, to 811 million people.
Representatives of governments, civil society and companies, as well as scientists will gather at the World Conservation Congress, and the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, will also speak on the panel in which Ungbo will participate.
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