IFAD Partners With The World Bank To Accelerate Agricultural Transformation In Guinea Through Agriconnect

At the launch of the AgriConnect Guinea Pact today, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) expressed its commitment to collaborate with the Government of Guinea, the World Bank Group, and other partners to support this effort, bringing its experience in investing in small-scale producers and building resilient, market-oriented food systems.

This ambitious initiative is designed to transform agri-food systems and strengthen food security across Guinea. AgriConnect Guinea is based on a comprehensive approach to transform agriculture into a key driver of food security, job creation and economic growth.

"Through the AgriFARM project, IFAD is well placed to contribute to all AgriConnect programmes, promoting inclusive and sustainable rural transformation," said Ann Turinayo, IFAD Country Director for Guinea.

AgriConnect partners will be working together in line with the Programme Simandou 2040 to prioritise investments in value chains such as rice, poultry, and fonio, while also promoting complementary sectors including maize, soybeans, mangoes, and other high-value crops.

Guinea’s economic growth in recent years has been driven by the mining and agriculture (crops, livestock, aquaculture, fishing, forestry, and logging) sectors. Despite economic progress, however, roughly half of Guineans still live below the international poverty line and struggle to meet basic needs.

By 2030, the AgriConnect Guinea Pact aims to significantly improve food and nutrition security and create hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs across agricultural and agri-food value chains - particularly for young people and women. In addition, it will reduce dependence on imports of staple foods – especially rice and poultry products – and enhance export potential for products such as fonio and mangoes.

IFAD has been active in Guinea since 1980, investing US$270.94 M in 15 projects and programmes with a total cost of US$615.49M, directly benefiting 651,450 rural households. IFAD-supported operations have helped increase incomes, improve food security, and enhance the living conditions of rural communities participating in the Fund’s programmes and projects.

AgriConnect is a World Bank Group initiative which aims to help 300 million smallholder farmers worldwide to commercialise their harvests more effectively and increase their incomes by 2030. It is supported by partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Bayer and Google.

IFAD is exclusively focused on investing in smallholder agriculture. IFAD-supported projects target poor rural people who derive all or part of their livelihoods from agriculture. At the AgriConnect initiative announcement in October 2025, IFAD pledged to reach at least 70 million small-scale farmers and significantly transform their lives by increasing their incomes, productive capacity and market access by 2030. This pledge reflects the aggregate planned beneficiaries of over 200 IFAD-supported projects that will be implemented globally across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Middle East, between 2025 and 2030. The majority of outreach will be concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and in low-income countries.

About The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the only international financial institution exclusively focused on transforming rural economies. IFAD invests in rural people and their communities, building food security, shared prosperity and stability. Today, IFAD and its partners have nearly US$23B invested in ongoing projects that are transforming rural economies.