The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Kingdom of Tonga have signed a US$5.3 million financing agreement to launch the Tonga Rural Innovation Project, Phase III (TRIP III), a six-year initiative designed to strengthen climate resilience and create economic opportunities for rural communities.
The agreement, signed last week, Rome, 26 February 2026, aims to benefit around 35,000 people, more than one-third of Tonga’s population, by helping them better withstand climate shocks and natural disasters while improving livelihoods and food security.
“We are moving beyond local development to confront the defining challenges of our time, from climate change and eroding biodiversity to rural youth unemployment, to ensure rural communities cannot just withstand future shocks, but also thrive,” said Reehana Raza, IFAD Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “TRIP III is a testament to IFAD and Tonga’s shared commitment to building long-term resilience by fostering productive crops and expanding economic opportunities for rural people.”
A Broader Investment in Rural Development
The total project cost, IFAD will provide US$5.3 million as a grant, while domestic and international partners will contribute an additional US$10.16 million.
TRIP III marks the sixth project in IFAD’s US$33 million rural development portfolio in Tonga. The previous phase, TRIP II, which concluded in 2025, exceeded its original targets by reaching nearly twice the intended number of beneficiaries, more than half of whom were women.
TRIP II also institutionalised bottom-up planning, enabling communities to design their own development plans tailored to local needs—an approach widely recognised as a leading model of decentralised community-based development in the Pacific. Community gardens and cluster farms supported under the project significantly increased production and marketable surpluses, with cluster farming profits reaching TOP 242 million (approximately US$104 million).
Building on Past Success
TRIP III builds on two previous phases and aligns with Tonga’s national Agriculture Sector Plan II. The new phase will promote diversified crop production, climate-resilient farming practices and greater social inclusion.
A key feature of the programme is support for community and cluster farming, allowing farmers to pool land, tools and other resources to improve efficiency and reduce production costs. The project will also strengthen links between small-scale farmers and domestic and export markets, while creating on and off-farm employment opportunities for young people between 2026 and 2031.
An innovation facility will be established to help farmers, particularly youth-test and scale up sustainable solutions such as mechanisation services, greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, digital applications, value addition initiatives and agricultural waste utilisation.
“TRIP III is designed to deepen our impact. We are committed to securing Tonga’s food and nutrition security by integrating climate-resilient practices into the very heart of rural community life,” said Candra Samekto, IFAD Country Director for the Pacific Islands.
Addressing Unique Vulnerabilities
Tonga faces significant development challenges. While most of the population lives on the main island of Tongatapu, residents of outer islands often have limited access to markets, infrastructure and technology.
Small-scale farmers are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate variability. The economic impact of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption contributed to a nearly 6 per cent decline in real GDP in 2021 and 2022, underscoring the urgency of building long-term resilience.
