About IFAD
At the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) we invest in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families and increase their incomes. We help them build resilience, expand their businesses and take charge of their own development.Activities by IFAD
Corporate Portfolio Stocktake on Food Systems
Global Not ApplicableIFAD’s corporate portfolio stocktake provides a comprehensive overview of the performance and quality of the organization’s operations and results, paying special attention to food systems, sustainability, and scaling up in 2023. To better understand IFAD’s operating context and enhance the analysis of the global portfolio, interactive data dashboards enhanced by AI technologies were developed to evaluate the portfolio in terms of relevance and alignment on four sub-components of food systems: production, livelihoods, climate change, and resilience. Using Large Language Models (LLMs), AI translation tools, and other natural language processing (NLP) techniques, statements from national pathways, summit dialogues, and country strategies were processed, transformed, ranked, and classified according to IFAD-specific and multi-dimensional food system taxonomies. Results were aggregated, visualized, and analyzed in an interactive data dashboard that combines quantitative and qualitative data for a comprehensive overview and detailed examination of IFAD’s operating context.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsResearch/Reports/AssessmentsOmnidata Data Platform
Global Not Applicable
Omnidata is IFAD's internal platform for data and analytics, including technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Geographic Information Systems for advanced analytics. Omnidata empowers IFAD’s workforce to do more with data and AI, developing data dashboards and AI-augmented solutions for use cases across many thematic areas such as biodiversity, south-south triangular cooperation, crop production, and more. Through the platform, a strong community of practitioners are developing new skills and augmenting the way they work at IFAD across all departments and divisions. Through Omnidata, IFAD management and staff are working together side by side to pilot and release solutions in a phased manner, practically demonstrating that data and AI provide value not only in efficiency, but also in developing new products and insights with the potential to transform ways of working. Omnidata is both a platform with robust technical infrastructure, as well as a growing community of practitioners across the organization being upskilled with new competencies required for the continuous delivery of data and AI-augmented solutions for IFAD. The benefit of Omnidata’s platform and
community approach is not to solely focus on one or two use cases, but on democratizing technology and building capacity to address many complex problems where data and AI can provide value.
Thematic Portfolio Stocktake on Fisheries & Aquaculture
Global Not ApplicableSmall-scale fisheries and aquaculture are crucial to inclusive and sustainable rural transformation, contributing to better nutrition and livelihoods while conserving natural environments. IFAD-supported projects provide access to finance, value chains, and market infrastructure to poor fishing communities, enabling them to earn more from high-quality sustainably caught or farmed fish. To support stocktaking efforts related to cataloguing Fisheries & Aquaculture projects across the IFAD portfolio, AI technologies were used to analyze IFAD project documents for information on relevant activities and target groups. By designing prompts with clear definitions, taxonomies, conditions, and objectives, Large Language Models (LLMs) deployed within a scalable AI system classified the contents of IFAD project documents to determine relevance to Fisheries & Aquaculture, allowing for a more systematic, comprehensive, reliable, and accurate assessment of this thematic area across the IFAD portfolio.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsResearch/Reports/AssessmentsVoice Companion for Farmers by Viamo
Africa, Asia and the Pacific PakistanTanzania
AI-powered Voice Companion for agriculture extension, delivering
instant, localized climate-smart agriculture information in local languages. Viamo has been scaled up in Tanzania with support from WFP and is currently being used by the IFAD country team in Pakistan on the National Poverty Graduation Programme (NPGP). In Pakistan, the programme utilizes interactive voice response (IVR), SMS messaging, and digital surveys to engage and empower beneficiaries with critical knowledge to improve well-being and resilience.