English - IFAD

218
Rural Poverty Report 2011
Creating opportunities for tomorrow’s generation
We started out this report stressing the paradox of a world in which demand for
goods and services related to agriculture is growing, natural resources are
increasingly scarce and valuable, and yet rural areas across the developing world
remain hosts to the majority of the world’s poor. We referred to the 2006-2008
food crisis, which hit both urban and, in many countries, poor rural people, and
which provided a stark reminder of the overall marginalization of smallholders in
agricultural and food markets – not only global ones but also urban markets in
their countries. In the aftermath of the crisis, a variety of initiatives have been taken
to step up agricultural production, stabilize food markets, and/or reduce poor
people’s vulnerabilities to food price shocks across developing countries. And yet,
the challenge of addressing rural poverty while also feeding a growing world
population in a context of increasing environmental scarcities and climate change
continues to await adequate responses.
Hopes and plans for the future of today’s rural youth
“My hopes are to see an
integrated region, with much
employment. Especially the
authorities that rule our
region – they should work
with a lot of effort, but in an
agreed manner with the civil
society, not separately. And
yes, I see a good future
because… I have hope that
the youth who are
developing and coming out
from the universities have a
different vision of our future,
a new way to see our
region… Well, I have hope
that this society will change,
though I know it’s very
difficult – but not
impossible. We have to work
very hard on that…”
Elsa Espinoza Delgado,
female, 23 years, Peru
“I can see me in 10 years
time: the rains have come,
and we have possessions,
and all kinds of seed are in
the market, and I’ll be
saying, ‘Look at that seed
we’ve never tried, let’s get
some of that,’ and we do,
and we save it for the
rains… to plant it when the
rains come.”
Suzanne Tsovalae,
23 years, female, Madagascar
“If I had money I would buy
a buffalo. I will sell the milk
to run the household…
If someone has a buffalo,
he can run the household
satisfactorily… The wages
which I will get from daily
labour, I will spend on my
children’s education. I will
enrol my children in a good
school, [using] the savings
from daily wage labour or
from selling a goat kid…”
Javed Iqbal,
male, 25 years, Pakistan
“We all hope and pray that
our children have a better
life than us. And I believe
they will indeed have a
better life. The world is
moving and they will have
better ways to make a living.
Who would have thought