Vitalii Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, met with Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The meeting took place in Rome, Italy. This is the first meeting with Alvaro Lario since Ukraine joined the Fund and became the 179th member country. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Oksana Osmachko.
Vitaliy Koval thanked for the cooperation provided to Ukraine during the process of joining IFAD and spoke about the approval of the Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development -2030.
‘The Agricultural Sector Development Strategy will become a roadmap for the Ministry’s cooperation with international partners, including IFAD. It is about supporting Ukraine in the areas that are the priorities of the Ministry. In particular, irrigation, rural development and support for the transformation of food systems. All this is the mandate of IFAD,’ the Minister said.
Vitalii Koval and Alvaro Lario also discussed the financing mechanism to support farmers.
The Minister said that Ukraine has already established contact with the national coordinator for Ukraine, Head of IFAD’s International Office for North Africa and Eastern Europe, Naufel Telahig.
Vitaliy Koval invited IFAD representatives to join the Grain from Ukraine food summit and take part in the discussion on food security and the fight against disinformation and illegal trade.
For reference. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialised agency of the United Nations system and a financial institution with a mandate to overcome poverty and hunger in rural areas and developing countries. The Fund is the only multilateral development institution that focuses exclusively on transforming rural economies and food systems. The Fund was established in 1977.