Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
Agenda for IFAD's roundtable discussions on rural employment and livelihoods
Rural employment and livelihoods is the theme of GC 2007
The world's poorest countries often struggle with high rates of unemployment and underemployment. Higher incomes and better standards of living in some urban areas have encouraged a large number of poor rural people to migrate to nearby cities or other countries to find work. Those who remain in rural areas are facing new challenges that are being created by globalization, growing competition and the social and demographic changes resulting from migration.
Recognizing the importance of rural development to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of extremely poor and hungry people by 2015, IFAD has chosen rural employment and livelihoods as the focus of its 2007 Governing Council.
Three roundtable discussions will take place on Wednesday, 14 February to discuss issues related to rural employment and livelihoods.
Roundtable 1: Migration and rural employment
Background document and final report:
- Migration and rural employment: How can rural areas benefit from migration and remittances
- Proceedings of the Round Table on Migration and Rural Employment
- Download report of the roundtable discussions on rural employment and livelihoods
Date: 14 February Moderator: Panellists:
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How can rural areas benefit from migration and remittances?
The number of people worldwide migrating in search of a better life has been rising steadily. Whether their destination is a foreign country or a nearby city, their starting point is usually the same: rural areas of developing countries.
Rapid migration has robbed many rural areas of its skilled workers. Increasingly, women are joining the tides of migration – another aspect of migration that is changing the social and demographic face of rural life.
Remittances from migrant workers have become a major source of external funding for some developing countries. In 2005, money sent home by expatriate workers reached an estimated US$232 billion. A significant portion of these international funds flow to rural areas. Domestic remittances from urban to rural areas add to the pot. Recent research suggests that remittances have overtaken agriculture in some areas as the main source of income for rural households, and are often used to fund such important activities as education, health care and entrepreneurship.
What is the impact of migration and remittances on rural households and the agricultural sector in developing countries? What initiatives can we promote that will reduce the need of poor people to migrate from rural areas? What employment strategies can be developed to foster a balance between sustainable livelihoods and migration? How can we reduce the problems in rural areas that fuel migration while supporting rural investments made by migrant workers? How can we support the investments that migrants make back in their home country?
Roundtable 2: Rural employment promotion through the value chain approach
Background documents:
- Rural Employment & Value Chain Approach: Adding value creates employment?
- Rural employment promotion through the value chain approach, Hans Posthumus
- How can value chains help smallholder farmers increase their income and create rural employment? A Macedonian Perspective, Goran Damovski
- Cadenas de valor y desarrollo de las microempresas rurales: La Experiencia del Proyecto de Apoyo al Desarrollo de la Microempresa Rural - PADEMER, María Oliva Lizarazo
- icipe’s approach to value chain development in sub-Saharan Africa, Christian W. Borgemeister
- Download report of the roundtable discussions on rural employment and livelihoods
Date: 14 February Moderator: Panellists:
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How can value chains help smallholder farmers increase their income and create rural employment?
An important issue for rural development is access to markets and the exchange of goods and services on fair terms. The rise of retailers in recent years has changed the nature of agricultural trade worldwide. A few powerful retailers now determine what goods need to be produced and how. These giants also largely decide the international standards and retail prices for products. Entry barriers for small producers have increased, further limiting their market options. And poor rural producers receive only a small share of the value that is being created by new markets and value chains.
Given these changes, many argue that smallholder farmers need to add value to their products to compete – and that they need stronger organizations to either help integrate themselves into existing value chains on more favourable terms or to develop alternative processes. Input suppliers and processors of agricultural products are also a crucial source of job generation in rural areas.
How can small producers become more integrated in value chains? How can value chains contribute to creating rural employment? What strategies – technological, financial and commercial – need to be pursued to enhance poor rural people's benefits from value chains? How can poor rural producers take advantage of expanding urban demands? What are the alternatives? And most importantly, how can we mitigate the risks for poor rural people?
Roundtable 3: Generating remunerative livelihood opportunities for rural youth
Background documents:
- Promoting Livelihood Opportunities
For Rural Youth, Paul Bennell - Promoting Livelihood Opportunities for Rural Youth: Some Lessons from Tanzania, Asha JUMA
- Rural youth unemployment and coping strategies in the Near East and North Africa Region, Samir Radwan
- A ‘youth crisis’ brewing in rural areas
- Download report of the roundtable discussions on rural employment and livelihoods
Date: 14 February Moderator: Panellists:
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How can the rural sector generate better remunerative work for young people?
Unemployment and underemployment are particularly high among the world's young people. In rural areas of the developing world, where most unemployed people between the ages of 15 and 24 live, an even greater issue is severe underemployment, with young people participating in household-based activities with low productivity.
Given the opportunity, rural youth can be productive members of society. But without employment, they can be a breeding ground for social unrest. In some poor countries, young people represent as much as half of the population – a figure that is poised to rise in countries with high birth rates.
The challenge is to find new ways to engage rural youth and enhance their capabilities, particularly through education and support services.
How can development policies help unemployed rural youth become productive forces? Do we need specific strategies to meet the needs of young rural women and men? Given the trends in migration, commercialization and technological advancement, what sort of livelihood support do they need? How can agriculture offer job opportunities that are more attractive to rural youth?