IFAD president reappointed
Member states of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have reappointed Gilbert Houngbo as the organisation’s president for a second term. He first became its president in 2017.
Mr Houngbo is a former prime minister of his native Togo. He was born in a rural area of the African country and has also lived, studied and worked in Canada.
IFAD works to address hunger and poverty in rural areas, where three-quarters of the world’s poorest and most food-insecure people live. It has said that decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse due owing to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to IFAD, as many as 150 million people could fall into extreme poverty by the end of 2021. On being reappointed as IFAD president, Mr Houngbo said the organisation would continue tackling hunger and poverty, and addressing the impacts of climate change and youth unemployment.
