Trail Blazers - IFAD

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialized
agency of the United Nations dedicated to combating rural poverty in the
world’s most disadvantaged regions.
Through both loans and grants, this international financial institution develops
and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to
overcome poverty themselves. Co financing has been provided by the central
and state governments, project participants, multilateral, bilateral donors
and other partners. Working with other partners, including the poor people,
governments, NGOs, financial and development institutions and the private
sector, IFAD tackles poverty not just as a lender but also an advocate.
India is one of the founding members of IFAD, and one of its main donors
having a permanent seat in the Executive Board. India receives more funding
from IFAD than any other country in the world. There have been a total of 24
IFAD supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects in India
till date. IFAD’s strategy in India focuses on improving poor rural people’s
access to natural and social resources. One of its priorities is to assist the
rural poor in developing and strengthening their organisations and institutions.
IFAD projects support Self Help Groups (SHG), Community Institutions and
Village Development Associations in tribal and non-tribal areas that work in
synergy with the local self-governments.
These and similar groups participate directly in designing development
initiatives and become progressively responsible for the programme, project
resources and its management so that they can advance their interests and
remove the obstacles that prevent so many people, especially women, from
creating better life for themselves. This way, they are able to participate more
copiously in determining and directing their own development.
IFAD has always placed a maximum level of importance on women. Over
its 33 years of operations IFAD has always realized that rural women play
a critical role in agricultural production, natural resources management and
households’ food security in developing countries. Yet, they have less access
to assets and services and less decision making power than men. Addressing
gender inequalities and empowering rural women, is thus critical to rural
poverty reduction and to the effectiveness of IFAD operations.
Since the early nineties IFAD has designed and implemented stand-alone
women projects and project components/activities specifically directed to
women. The IFAD Strategic Framework (2002-06) recognized the link between
poverty reduction on the one hand and women’s empowerment and gender
equality on the other. It acknowledged that powerlessness is a dimension of
poverty and that gender inequality is a manifestation of poverty. It stated that
gender issues should be addressed as a cross-cutting concern in all aspects
of IFAD’s work. In particular this Framework articulated for the first time in
IFAD the role of women as “agents of change” for their communities.
IFAD’s Targeting Policy: Attention to gender issues, as an element of IFAD’s
poverty targeting approach, was reconfirmed in IFAD’s targeting policy,
approved in September 2006. The Policy states that “..in any given context,
IFAD will, together with its partners, identify the target groups through a
gender-sensitive poverty and livelihood analysis and have a special focus on
women within all identified target groups – for reasons of equity, effectiveness
and impact – with particular attention to women heads of household, who are
often especially disadvantaged”.
IFAD’s Strategic Framework 2007-10, approved in December 2006, reiterates
that “For development efforts to be effective, differences in gender roles
and responsibilities need to be taken into account; and across all these
(target) groups. IFAD will focus particularly on women, not only because they
have significantly less access than do men to assets and services – and
less voice in public decision-making, but also because addressing these
inequalities and strengthening the capacity of rural women to perform their
productive roles more effectively, has a major impact on poverty reduction
and on household food security”.