Vision

Healthier soils and plants for a food-secure and environmentally sustainable world.

Mission

Bring together innovative research, market expertise, and strategic public and private sector partners to identify and scale sustainable solutions for soil and plant nutrition that benefit farmers, entrepreneurs, and the environment.

Over the coming decades, global population growth will drive a substantial increase in food demand. By 2050, our world will need to feed almost 10 billion people, 2.3 billion more than today. Global hunger is now beginning to tick upward again after a decade of progress.

As food demands rise, global agricultural systems are facing accelerating risks due to climate change and increasingly limited land and water resources. These pressures, together with rapid urbanization, rising incomes, and changes in consumer preferences, will require fundamental changes in agricultural systems to nourish a growing population while reducing agriculture’s environmental impact.

map of projects
Since 1974, IFDC has delivered technologies, practices, and capacity building to increase and sustain food security and agricultural productivity in over 100 developing countries.

IFDC plays a critical role in tackling these global problems through the development and transfer of affordable, effective fertilizer technologies. IFDC’s solutions span a wide spectrum of research and development work, including production process research, applied research on soil systems, development of innovative fertilizer products and application technologies, market systems development to strengthen input and output value chains, and policy analysis to enable fertilizer importation, business development, and smallholder adoption of fertilizer and other soil fertility technologies.

A Sketch of IFDC's Mission in Action with Updated Font

Currently, our work focuses on bridging the gaps between research, development, and markets with the ultimate goal of improving soil health and livelihoods in developing nations around the world. By partnering with donor organizations, national governments, private sector actors, and local entrepreneurs, we strive to achieve a shared vision of a world without hunger.

Read more about IFDC’s strategy.

IFDC and the SDGs

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDGs) have sharpened the world’s focus on agriculture’s role in ending poverty and hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture. IFDC activities in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia contribute to many of the 17 SDG goals, but focus especially on five:

SDGs 1 & 2

We employ an inclusive approach to our research and development. Through partnerships with the private sector and national research institutions, we focus on testing, adapting, and scaling promising technologies for smallholders.

SDG 5

Improve women’s access to agricultural knowledge and tools to empower them and increase their production to provide food security for up to 150 million people.

SDG 12

Reduce post-harvest losses through new practices and tools and provide balanced fertilizer application rates by soil and crop.

SDG 13

Promote judicious fertilizer application and research/disseminate climate-smart fertilizer practices and technologies.

Principles and Values

Throughout the world, in all IFDC offices, and with all of our staff and project beneficiaries, IFDC maintains principles and values that are woven through everything we do. These big ideas underscore our commitment to ensuring sustainable growth – whether in agricultural systems, last-mile communities, and even our staff’s professional development.

Our Principles of Engagement serve as the foundation on which our work is built. These ideas inform our decisions, from setting research priorities, to assessing business opportunities, to measuring our effectiveness. Our complementary Organizational Values describe how we approach our work and our relationships with stakeholders, donors, and global staff.

Principles of Engagement

  • Science-Backed Innovation
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Locally Driven Solutions
  • Gender and Youth Equity
  • Private Sector Engagement
  • Impact-Driven Approaches

Organizational Values

  • Inclusivity and Empowerment
  • Transparency and Accountability
  • Collaboration and Cooperation
  • Innovation and Improvement
  • Efficiency and Effectiveness

Our Initiatives

IFDC partners with allies such as international research institutions, governmental and non-governmental agencies and the private sector to advance, improve and promote food and nutrition security, agricultural sustainability, economic development, and environmental protection.

Our Team

Our team of scientists, agricultural experts, economists, and more make achieving our vision possible. At IFDC, we value teamwork and collaboration. Without these, we simply cannot tackle the challenges that lay ahead of us. We’re always hiring new team members and encourage you to join in our efforts by applying for one of our open positions.

Picture of 2019 Board Meeting

Our Board

IFDC is a public international organization, governed by an international board of directors with representation from both developed and developing countries.

Our History

View our interactive timeline to learn more about IFDC’s 45-year history.