The President of the International Fund of Agriculture Development (IFAD), Dr. Felix Nwanze Kanayo, has called on governments to step up investment in agriculture to enable smallholder farmers grow more crops and increase their incomes.Dr. Nwanze was speaking to journalists ahead of the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development, which started on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."We need to turn rural areas into vibrant places where young people have the opportunity to earn their living, to build up a business and to start a family,” he said.Currently, IFAD is funding projects in Rwanda including 14 rural development programmes and projects.IFAD loan/grant is funding coffee, tea and other crop development projects to the tune of $37.4 million in several parts of the country.It also funds the Kirehe Community- based Watershed Management Project (KWAMP), and offers support to Strategic Plan for the Agriculture Transformation (PAPSTA) in six districts, namely: Kirehe and Bugesera in Eastern Province; Nyanza and Nyamagabe in Southern Province; Ngororero and Gakenke in Western and Northern Provinces, respectively.This year’s conference will focus on two themes; among them, a green economy in the context of sustainable development,t poverty eradication and institutional framework for sustainable development.Dr. Nwanze noted that the private sector had progressively become an important partner towards achieving sustainability worldwide.He noted that the challenge of leveraging private sector engagement was one of the most pressing priorities towards achieving food and nutrition security and overcoming poverty."Today, the private sector increasingly is the engine of growth in rural areas”.Dr. Nwanze observed that there has been improvement in the lives of rural dwellers over the last 20 years with infrastructure already enhanced for small farmers to reach markets easily.He said there was no magic bullet to eliminate poverty and unemployment to guarantee sustainable food security overnight, but underlined that agriculture has the power to reduce poverty and feed its people."It provides employment opportunities for young women and men,” he said.He called on journalists attending the conference to play a key role to tell the story of rural women and men and their contribution to sustainable development and food security for all."We can raise awareness on the issues facing the rural poor such as food insecurity and malnutrition,” He expressed hope that the conference would offer the opportunity to advocate for solutions for smallholder farmers to achieve sustainable development and poverty reduction.