On 16 February, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), represented by its President Alvaro Lario, and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), together with the DRC’s Permanent Representative to IFAD, Ambassador Paul Emile Tshinga Ahuka, signed a loan agreement to reduce poverty and ensure food sovereignty in rural areas

FAO marked World Pulses Day 2023 with a virtual global gathering on 10 February, which featured opening remarks by the FAO director-general

International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Burkinabé authorities have reached a staff-level agreement for about US$80mn – comprising 50% of Burkina Faso’s IMF quota – in emergency financing through the IMF’s Food Shock Window of the Rapid Credit Facility

Global experts meeting during a panel session at the second international summit on food production in Dakar called for accelerated avenues to close the financial gap in agriculture and address barriers to the growing finance market for agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)