AKDN | Agriculture and Food Security

Our main pillars include:

• community-led development, where AKDN supports locally-driven goals;


• agricultural assistance, which works with farmers to improve yields;


• enterprise development and employable skills, which supplements villagers’ farm-based incomes;


• natural resource management, which includes equitable water use and restoration of degraded land;


• financial inclusion, which helps smooth erratic incomes; and


• the creation of rural infrastructure that improves the quality of life, such as bridges, drinking water systems and irrigation canals.

Now in their sixth decade, these programmes are also addressing the emerging challenges of rapidly changing demography, climate change and unpredictable geopolitical circumstances.

The Aga Khan Foundation: Boosting agricultural yields in food-scarce areas

Agriculture remains the largest employer globally, accounting for around 26 percent of total employment. However, between 638 million and 720 million people worldwide still face hunger. Climate change is intensifying these challenges, disrupting agricultural systems and threatening the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the countries where the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works: Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda.

AKF strengthens agricultural livelihoods by supporting smallholder farmers to build resilient food systems, improve productivity and access markets. In 2025, AKF reached about 590,000 farmers, including about 370,000 women, helping to expand inclusive participation in agricultural value chains. AKF also supported about 63,000 hectares of land under regenerative farming practices and enabled more than 1.1 million people to use infrastructure AKF developed with partners, improving access to irrigation, transport and storage. Read more.

This approach directly addresses structural constraints in global food systems, including inequality. Closing gender gaps in access to land, inputs and services could reduce the number of undernourished people globally by up to 150 million, while increasing agricultural productivity and incomes.

Research at the University of Central Asia

The Mountain Society Research Institute (MSRI) focuses on improving mountain livelihoods and building resilient communities. MSRI researchers have studied the correlation between migration and agriculture development, conservation and sustainable development of endangered plants. Read about research on drought-resistant beans, sustainable livestock farming and medicinal plants.