Search

16.6.2026 | President of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario will visit Helsinki on 16–17 June. The topics on the agenda are Finland’s cooperation with IFAD and global food security.

21.8.2024 | Sweden's Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren and Finland's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah visited the National Emergency Supply Agency on 20 August. The Finnish and Swedish Governments aim to develop economic cooperation, and exchange of information and communications related to security of supply.

15.7.2024 | The Agriculture and Fisheries Council met in Brussels on 15 July 2024. The main topics discussed were the viability of rural areas and trade-related agricultural issues. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah represented Finland at the meeting.

20.11.2025 | Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio's speech at UNICEF's Sustainable Stock Exchanges event on 20 November 2025 at the Helsinki Stock Exchange Building.

25.11.2025 | Three separate studies examine the development of nature value markets from the perspectives of sellers who generate nature values, buyers and intermediary organisations. According to the studies, nature value markets are an important means of increasing private funding for nature action, but their large-scale establishment requires clear rules and additional incentives.

14.5.2025 | As part of the reform of regional state administration, the Government will establish 10 regional Economic Development Centres which will be based on the current 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres). The aim of the reform is to strengthen regional vitality and sustainable economic growth. The preparation of the reform is a joint effort of five administrative branches, with the reform affecting about 2,500 central government employees.

14.9.2022 | The Rural Village Water Resources Management Project in the Far West region of Nepal ends this autumn. It succeeded in its goal of reducing poverty. In addition to improving access to water, the development cooperation project promoted livelihoods and rural business development.

1.3.2023 | Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing Majid Al-Hogail visits Finland from 1 to 2 March.

2.4.2025 | Opening Statement, LDC Future Forum 1 April 2025, Lusaka, Zambia Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio

2.12.2023 | Inflation, disruptions of raw material supply, extreme weather events and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine aggravate the food security situation in East Africa. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland will invest in the ARCAFIM programme to boost the agricultural productivity in the region and improve food security. The programme will also create new jobs and improve the living conditions of up to 1.5 million people. Private sector financing will account for half of the programme’s funding.

19.1.2024 | Finland finances international forest research as part of development cooperation in the forestry sector. According to Pia Katila, Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, multidisciplinary approach is a key to producing information to support forest policy in developing countries.

12.3.2025 | The last projects of the Catch the Carbon package of climate measures ended at the end of 2024. The implementation of the knowledge and climate change resilient solutions produced in the package of 180 measures will continue and be further intensified through cooperation in different parts of the country. The processes to support this include the activities of the National Climate Unit of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres).

21.12.2023 | IFAD aims to reduce rural poverty and increase food security in the poorest countries in the world. The need for IFAD’s efforts is even more acute following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland and the other IFAD Member States announced additional contributions to the Fund in Paris last week.

17.11.2022 | Nepal and Finland have a long history of development cooperation that dates back to the 1980s. Long-term development cooperation has helped Nepal reduce poverty, improve literacy and give almost everyone access to clear drinking water, according to Finland’s Ambassador to Nepal Riina-Riikka Heikka.

8.12.2021 | In a report commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, likely future outlooks for regional development in Finland have been examined through four different scenarios. According to these scenarios which extend to 2040, regional development may be globally selective, concentrated on raw materials and tourism, patchwork-like or balanced.

26.8.2021 | Finland suspended its development cooperation with Afghanistan after Taliban took control of the country. However, the results of development cooperation in the past 20 years will not be lost, says Senior Specialist Merja Mäkelä.

26.11.2021 | Satu Santala, Director General of the Department for Development Policy in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has been appointed Associate Vice-President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD is a specialised agency of the UN.

18.6.2021 | Suomen tulee vaikuttaa ja ottaa nykyistä enemmän vastuuta globaalin ruokaturvan ja ruokajärjestelmän vahvistamisessa. Erityistä huomiota on kiinnitettävä kaikkein köyhimpien maiden ja haavoittuvimmissa tilanteissa elävien ihmisten ja ryhmien aseman parantamiseen. Tätä mieltä on Kehityspoliittisen toimikunnan KPT:n asiantuntijaryhmä, jonka analyysi ruokaturvan ja ruokajärjestelmien tulevaisuudesta julkaistiin perjantaina.

17.3.2021 | The first event in the series of live broadcasts entitled Partners in Development, which are organised in collaboration between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Development NGOs Fingo and chambers of commerce, focused on energy. The participants agreed that, in developing countries, cooperation with local communities is the key to eradicating energy poverty and to the green transition.

Governments and ministers You can browse the information on the site by government, minister, ministerial title and ministry. All ministers are listed for each government, along with their terms of office. The information on individual ministers i...