The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialized agency of the UN with a mandate of enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty. IFAD works with the rural poor people especially women, governments, donors, non-governmental organizations and many other partners to focus on country-specific solutions, which can involve increasing rural poor peoples' access to financial services, markets, technology, land and other natural resources, infrastructure and services and to promote the management of land, water and common property by local communities.. The three strategic objectives are to :

• strengthen the capacity of the rural poor and their organizations
  
• improve equitable access to productive natural resources and technologies
  
• increase access by the rural poor people to financial services and markets

Underlying these strategic objectives is IFAD's belief that rural poor people must be empowered to develop and strengthen their own organizations, by advancing their own interests and dismantling the obstacles that prevent many of them from creating better lives. They must have a say in the decisions and policies that affect them and strengthen their bargaining power in the marketplace.
IFAD’s support to the Nigerian government’s poverty reduction programme focuses on facilitating economic and social development in rural areas. IFAD offers direct assistance in the following areas :

• empowerment of small-scale farmers, landless people and rural women to generate sustainable incomes from farm and other activities
  
• support pro-poor reforms and local governance to expand access to information, effective transport systems, village infrastructures and technologies
  
• improve access of poor rural communities to financial and social services.

In addition, IFAD is also an advocate for rural poor people. Its multilateral base provides a natural global platform to discuss important policy issues that influence the lives of rural poor people, as well as to draw attention to the centrality of rural development to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

On-going IFAD operations and proposed programmes in Nigeria are:

• Roots and Tubers Expansion Programme (RTEP)
  
• Community-Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP)
  
• Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme - Niger Delta (CBNRMP)

Yet to be implemented:

• Rural Finance Institutions Building Programme (RUFIN), just approved by the IFAD Executive Board
  
• Rural Micro Enterprise Development Programme (RUMEDP), under formulation.

IFAD Field Office: UN House, Abuja.