Achieving a Zero Hunger world (SDG 2) is at the heart of the mandates of the three Rome-based UN agencies: FAO, IFAD and WFP.

Stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) are bred to be high yielding and tolerant to climate shocks such as drought.

In this paper, particular attention is given to the identification and promotion of productivity and resilience enhancing agricultural practices.

Today we stand at a critical juncture – historic progress in reducing hunger has stalled and the successes of recent decades are being reversed.

The involvement of indigenous peoples is key to achieving the ambitions of the SDGs.

If the success of Asian countries in transforming their rural economy is measured by the extent to which poverty has declined over the past 20 years, there is no question that their transformation can be regarded as one of the major achievements in human history. However, new problems are overtaking the older ones and Asia is now entering a critical part of its history.

Agriculture and rural development research will play a critical role in meeting the ambitious targets under SDGs 1 and 2.

IFAD’s vision of inclusive and sustainable rural transformation fits closely with the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda. We work to create the social and economic conditions that can transform rural areas into places of prosperity and hope, where people can build decent livelihoods. Increasingly, IFAD acts as an assembler of development finance, mobilizing resources from a range of sources to fund projects that empower poor rural people to grow, process and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives.

A set of specific priorities and actionable outcomes resulted from the GFRID 2018. These are directly linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.