Alexandria, 30 June 2006 – Two leading organizations dedicated to the eradication of rural poverty and hunger will co-organize a research-based regional policy forum focused on the Near East and North Africa. The forum, organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will be hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 3-4 July in Alexandria, Egypt.

The forum will bring together experts, donors, national policy makers, and representatives of farmer associations and civil society to review research on the best practices and policies to enable the region’s poor overcome poverty. Up to 90 participants, including many of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of agriculture and rural, will attend eight sessions scheduled over two days. The format will allow for robust exchange of ideas, with contributions from various parts of the world and different disciplines about solutions to rural poverty.

IFAD and IFPRI share a common vision of a world free of poverty and hunger and have a long history of collaborative research. Participants will define appropriate and effective policies and institutional changes to empower rural communities in the Near East and North Africa so they can better manage natural resources.  Identifying the proper conditions to make management of natural resources more decentralized through community development and institution building is a central tenet of this joint approach.

An IFPRI study, “Empowering the Rural Poor under Volatile Policy Environments in the Near East and North Africa Region”, will be the centrepiece of the discussions. The study was funded by IFAD. Conducted from June 2003 to December 2005, the research included three case studies developed for Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia.  A synthesis of these results at the regional level will be presented and deliberated at the meeting. A regional policy roadmap will also be developed incorporating the new findings. 

Among others, keynote addresses will be given by the representatives of the three sponsoring organizations: Joachim von Braun, Director General, IFPRI; Gunilla Olsson, Director, Policy Division, IFAD and Ismael Serageldin, Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

---

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 187 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.2 billion. IFAD has invested more than US$2.9 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help nearly 80 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.0 billion in 705 programmes and projects that have helped nearly 300 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Governments and other financing sources in the recipient countries, including project participants, have contributed almost US$8.8 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.0 billion in cofinancing.