A partnership to eradicate rural poverty - IFAD

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Why invest in agriculture and rural development? Extreme poverty is overwhelmingly rural. Three quarters of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and agriculture-related small industries and services to earn a living. Most of them are smallholder farmers, landless wage labourers, pastoralists and artisanal fishers. Agriculture is the major employer, the largest sector of the economy and the top export earner in most developing countries. The link between spending on agricultural development, and economic growth and poverty reduction has become increasingly clear. In recent years, a strong correlation has emerged between greater levels of spending on agriculture and progress towards achieving the MDG targets of halving the proportion of extremely poor and hungry people. 8
Gender matters This is especially true in Eastern and Southern Asia. By contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa where domestic support for agriculture is extremely low, poverty is on the rise in many countries. The commitment by African Union members to allocate at least 10 per cent of national budgets to agriculture and rural development could reverse this trend. Sixty per cent of the world’s rural poor people are women and girls. IFAD and the OPEC Fund encourage initiatives that empower them.Women have enormous potential as agents of change.When a woman’s economic status improves, her self-esteem and confidence increase and she is more likely to become involved in social action and community decisionmaking.Women can then transform their own lives and the lives of their families and communities, thus becoming powerful contributors to social and economic development. IFAD and the OPEC Fund support programmes and projects that remove the obstacles preventing women from reaching their potential. Better access to financial services, training in new job skills and improved access to land are key components. When governments invest in agriculture, small-scale farmers can increase productivity and gain better access to markets. As productivity rises, demand grows for seeds, irrigation, fertilizer, tools, processing and transportation, leading to increased employment by the rural non-farm sector. As the farming and rural non-farm sectors become stronger, they help sustain the whole economy. International trade is another key engine for growth and poverty reduction. With improved quality and quantity of goods produced by the agriculture sector, and equitable access to export markets, developing countries can generate valuable foreign exchange earnings for domestic investment. Following a long period of underinvestment, there is growing recognition by developing country governments and donors of the critical importance of investing in agriculture and rural development. Along with investment resources, IFAD and the OPEC Fund provide borrowing governments with access to knowledge and expertise that helps translate concern for agricultural and rural development into activities leading to increased production, economic growth and improvements in the lives of rural people. 9
Page 1 and 2: IFAD AND THE OPEC FUND A partnershi
Page 3 and 4: Making a difference in the fight ag
Page 5 and 6: Foreword It is 30 years since OPEC
Page 7 and 8: With support from their crew leader
Page 9: Transforming this idea into reality
Page 13 and 14: Reversing land degradation through
Page 15 and 16: Each partner focuses on certain sec
Page 17 and 18: IFAD AND THE OPEC FUND COFINANCE PR
Page 19 and 20: Improved irrigation and better anim
Page 21 and 22: IFAD AND THE OPEC FUND JOINTLY SUPP
Page 23 and 24: Cover photo: A man prepares vegetab

A partnership to eradicate rural poverty - IFAD

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?