Key messages of the Rural Poverty Report, Summary of the presentation

• Rural populations are changing.  More and more rural people are emerging from poverty, fewer are living in extreme poverty, and growing urbanization is changing rural-urban linkages. Still, one billion rural people live on less than $1.25/day, concentrated in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The role of agriculture is changing in developing regions where rural incomes are being diversified through self-employment, non-farm employment, remittances, etc. Yet, four out of five rural households still engage in farming to some degree, and in most countries agricultural production and labour remains a key element of the livelihoods of the poorest households. While agriculture will not be a route out of poverty for all rural households, it will be for some, and it will be a first step up out of poverty for many others.

• The profitability, productivity, sustainability and resilience of agriculture are shaped by the surrounding markets, and they themselves are changing. Markets should be considered as integrated or restructured, versus export or import, and only sustainable and productive systems will be profitable. An agenda of ‘sustainable agric. intensification’ is urgently needed to respond to the growing threats of NR degradation and scarcity, and reduce exposure to the shocks of climate change.

Recommendations: attention and investment needed around four cross-cutting issues:

• Rural areas must become a place where people want to live and do business: need to invest in rural infrastructure, utilities, services, and improve governance

• Managing risk prevents poor rural people from taking advantage of opportunities: need to make the rural environment less risky, and help people to better manage risk

• Knowledge-intensive agriculture requires individual skills and capacities: need to expand access to education, technical and vocational skills development, all adapted to rural needs, and with focus on agriculture

• Organizations of poor rural people give them confidence, power and security: strengthened collective capacities for reducing risk, managing assets, marketing produce, representing and negotiating interests.