JP News

IFAD BFFS/JP unit to close: an appeal for stories

April 2011. The IFAD/Belgian Fund for Food Security Joint Programme will be radically downsized at the close of this year. New BFFS projects will be implemented under different arrangements, which will make IFAD’s participation in these projects unlikely. Ongoing JP projects will gradually be brought to an orderly close.

In the next months the BFFS team will be compiling a celebratory document that will chart the work of the Joint Programme over the last 27 years. The book will be written for a broad, non-specialist audience, and will document the unique and important contribution of the JP to IFAD projects.

Please share with us any stories, anecdotes, photographs and other documents relating to BFFS, that will help us build up a picture of what the JP has achieved over the years, and of the lives of the people it has sought to support.

Contact: Sylvie Trochon  

The Belgian Fund for Food Security (BFFS). New name – new opportunities

January 2010. A third phase of funding has been approved by the Belgian Parliament for a further ten year period. BSF will be renamed the Belgian Fund for Food Security (BFFS) to better reflect its primary focus: reaching the most food insecure regions of sub-Saharan Africa.

Studies of food insecure regions carried out by the Belgian Development Cooperation will determine the geographical focus of the JP’s future work. The Programme will work in partnership with other development organizations, including Belgian NGOs and the Belgian Technical Corporation.

The JP looks forward to expanding the scope of its operations through new partnerships with donors, including foundations and the private sector.

Gender assessment: the JP reinforces its support to women

November 2009. JP operations strive to improve women’s economic empowerment, knowledge, health, wellbeing and public decision-making roles. When women are healthy and empowered, communities fare better.

The JP recently commissioned a comprehensive gender assessment of its projects in Kenya, Mozambique and Niger. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of JP-funded health, education and water and sanitation components on the lives and status of women. It also provides guidelines for the design and monitoring of future projects that will improve gender impact and equality still further.

Factsheet: Empowering women: The JP reinforces its gender impact (PDF)

Environment assessment: the JP reinforces its support to the environment

November 2009. Environmental degradation and the effects of climate change are increasingly a development concern, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The JP recently commissioned an external assessment of the environmental impact of two projects operating in environmentally fragile areas of Tanzania and Mali.

The aim of the study is to support and guide an increased focus on the conservation and rehabilitation of the environment within JP projects. The report proposes various activities to enhance land and water management and protect against the effects of climate change, including a set of guidelines to inform the design of future projects.

Factsheet: Environmental study of IFAD/BSF JP (PDF)

The IFAD/BFFS Joint Programme celebrates its 25th anniversary

September 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the IFAD/BFFS Joint Programme. Since 1983 BFFS and IFAD have worked together to design and fund 57 projects in 16 African countries for a total amount of more than US$200 million. Delegates from African countries attended a week of discussions, knowledge exchange, training on evaluation methodologies and the annual steering committee.

On this important anniversary the JP assesses the considerable benefits of the intersector approach and working in partnership. It takes stock of past achievements and lessons learned, with a view to broadening its activities and increasing its impact in years to come.

25 years of cooperation (PDF)
Statement by the President of IFAD on the occasion of the 25th anninversary

Impact assessment: measuring the benefits of the JP’s intersector approach

June 2009. A recent study conducted on behalf of the JP in Kenya, Mali and Mozambique illustrates – qualitatively and quantitatively – how combined support to both social and economic sectors can increase synergy and add value to rural development initiatives. The report evaluates the concrete benefits of the intersector strategy by comparing data gathered from JP interventions relating to the programme’s impact at household and community level, with results from other IFAD programmes in the same countries.

Intersector strategy: The IFAD/BSF partnership for food security (PDF)
Added value and synergies between socio-economic and productive sectors (PDF)