India, IFAD launch new eight
The Government of India and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on Tuesday launched a new eight-year Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) for 2026–2033 aimed at strengthening rural incomes, improving resilience and expanding sustainable livelihood opportunities across India.
The programme was unveiled during the IFAD–India Partnership for Rural Prosperity event at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, attended by senior government officials, IFAD representatives, development partners and private sector stakeholders.
According to the government, the new COSOP is aligned with the Viksit Bharat@2047 vision and focuses on two major priorities — enhancing the social, economic and climate resilience of rural communities, and strengthening knowledge systems to scale successful development models across India and other countries of the Global South.
Anuradha Thakur, Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry, said the India-IFAD partnership has remained closely aligned with national priorities such as agricultural transformation, livelihood diversification, women’s empowerment and institutional strengthening.
She said the partnership has evolved from basic poverty alleviation efforts to creating sustainable and market-oriented rural livelihoods capable of withstanding climate and economic shocks.
IFAD Associate Vice-President Donal Brown said the partnership goes beyond individual projects and focuses on building systems that connect institutions, finance, infrastructure and markets for long-term rural development.
The strategy places significant emphasis on strengthening grassroots institutions including self-help groups, farmer producer organisations and cooperatives, which are expected to play a key role in linking finance, technology, infrastructure and markets.
The government said IFAD-supported projects in India over the past two decades have contributed to women’s financial inclusion through self-help groups, improved farmers’ market access and promoted women-led enterprises through value addition and e-commerce integration.
The new programme also aims to position India as a knowledge leader in rural development by sharing successful models in areas such as digital agriculture, inclusive rural finance and climate-resilient value chains with countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
On the sidelines of the event, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed a strategic partnership agreement with IFAD to strengthen rural finance systems and support innovation in agriculture and allied sectors.
India and IFAD have partnered for nearly five decades, during which 35 rural development projects have been implemented across multiple states to support millions of rural households.
