A. Introduction

The key objective of IFAD since its inception has been poverty reduction through sustainable rural development programmes and projects. IFAD targets 75 percent of the world's poor who live in rural areas and earn their livelihoods largely through agriculture and its links with the rural economy and, sometimes, with markets beyond. Beneficiaries of IFAD's lending programme are often those with limited access to natural resources resulting from long-standing historical and cultural factors. Fund-financed projects are located in areas where, for instance, land reform and tenure systems, water rights and access by rural communities to forests and other common property resources are sources of social conflict. The Fund is thus helping address the twin challenges posed by the poverty and environmental degradation nexus in contexts fraught with inequity-driven tension, and accompanying widespread unsustainable misuse of natural resources.

IFAD-financed projects are designed to systematically consider potential implications of natural resource use, through environmental screening of all projects entering the Fund's pipeline. This is an inevitable outcome of the Fund's focus on marginal areas and the marginalised peoples whose livelihoods depend primarily on agricultural use of ecologically fragile and degraded lands. These lands are home to some of the poorest segments of the rural population

IFAD works with a vast spectrum of partners and stakeholders - addressing many of the environmental problems of global concern, from de-forestation, overgrazing, overfishing, desertification and drought, and accompanying famine. It works primarily for the poor who are often locked into these patterns of natural resource degradation - enabling them to gain access to the knowledge and the means to overcome their constraints - towards the sound management of their natural resource base. This entails partnerships led by the affected communities themselves in developing local solutions to their priority problems, that build on traditional indigenous wisdom and practices blended with the best of available scientific knowledge.

This process follows a truly iterative dialogue between resource-poor farmers and scientists, in full appreciation of the contribution that the rural poor themselves can make to meet the new Millennium Development Goals. Recognition is accorded to the stewardship of the poor in marginalized, resource-poor areas for the environmental services they provide globally. Enhancing women's agency in the management of community and household resources is an equally essential objective of the Fund's initiatives.

IFAD's paper to the World Summit for Sustainable Development, entitled "Survival or a Better Life for the Rural Poor?" describes IFAD's strategy for rural poverty reduction including an overview of the commonalities and specificities across the regions of the developing world, on which its lending programme is focused. This lending programme is complemented by a Grants Programme devoted to supporting pro-poor agricultural research. The challenges posed by the poverty, hunger, population growth, HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation confront the world as it enters the twenty-first century. Addressing poverty within the context of enhancing natural resource management is an important underlying theme of the IFAD paper to this World Summit, and is also an important objective of the Fund's loans and grants portfolio.

Under the IFAD Grants Programme many new technologies with a pro-poor bias have been developed to help underpin the lending programme. They include examples ranging from widely adopted sustainable agricultural technologies in dryland areas and environment-friendly biological control technologies that have tackled some of the major pest and disease crises in the developing world. These programmes have not only addressed key constraints of major food staples vital for improved food security, but also include those classified as minor when viewed on a global trade basis, but of critical importance for survival of vulnerable communities when viewed in the context of genetic erosion in desert-prone areas.

The IFAD Pavilion at the Ubuntu EXPO of the Johannesburg Earth Summit show-cases some of the key successes and impact of this agricultural research grant programme totalling over 200 grants costing a modest USD 250 million over the past two decades. The Pavilion also highlights IFAD's lending programme featuring a diverse portfolio promoting environmentally sustainable technologies among the poor, including soil and water conservation practices, watershed management, rangeland management, community-based forestry and fisheries management, sustainable aquaculture, combating desertification in the degrading drylands, biodiversity conservation and environmental health in general.

The IFAD Pavilion shows how IFAD's research grant programmes have played a role in improving on a sustainable basis the yields of staple crops, while developing other income generating activities of vital importance to poor farmers, without undermining their natural resources. In this way, the Fund is helping create a virtuous cycle of intensification and poverty reduction, by assisting farming communities to reverse the predominant downward spiral associated by their poverty and human-induced natural resource degradation.

The sustainable improvement of agriculture while alleviating poverty and maintaining the natural resource base is also an intrinsic part of the WSSD WEHAB agenda, which clearly recognises agriculture as the cornerstone of development in most poor countries, where over 70% of the people depend on the land for their livelihood. Agricultural growth must preserve the productivity of natural resources without further damage to the earth's life support systems - land, water, flora and fauna. Pro-poor Research-for-development is an important means by which this can be achieved.

By working closely with the CGIAR centres, together with ARIs, Universities, the private sector including both private companies and Foundations, NGOs and CBOs IFAD has supported productive partnerships among a broad spectrum of research stakeholders at national, regional and global level. These constituencies come together under the umbrella of GFAR, the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) which IFAD helped set up in the period, 1994-6. The Global Forum for Agricultural Research that brought together all these stakeholders was launched in October 1996 in Washington DC and was chaired by the President of IFAD, and it led to its establishment as an umbrella organisation for all agricultural research stakeholders.

The second GFAR conference with over 450 delegates from the various stakeholder constituencies met in Dresden in 2000 to review progress and bring forward priority proposals for future collaborative research partnerships. This programme is based on fostering global partnerships in the context of poverty alleviation, food security and improved natural resource management, and continuing to help develop the NARS and their regional/subregional fora. The third Global Forum is scheduled to be held in late 2003 in Dakar, Senegal, giving further opportunity to cement the new research partnerships, and endorse a further three year GFAR programme.

This exhibition reflects the nature of the IFAD Technical Assistance Grants programme in supporting these goals. The IFAD exhibit also provides a snapshot of programmes and technologies developed through CGIAR (of which IFAD is a Co-sponsor with the World Bank, UNDP and FAO); and through the constituencies of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR - for which IFAD mobilises sustained support, as Chair of the Donor Support Group).

Visit the virtual expo

The Programme Context of the Models on play

The following is a brief description of some examples of successes in the development of enviromentally sustainable technologies.

Stress-tolerant Maize for Sub-Saharan Africa

IFAD and the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) have formed a partnership to refine and deliver stress-tolerant maize varieties to poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. CIMMYT researchers have developed experimental varieties over the past decade that provide 20-30% more yield under drought. These varieties also tend to be much more efficient in absorbing nitrogen from the soil, making them potentially more productive. With IFAD support, CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are working with national research programmes in Africa, refining and adapting the new varieties to the environmental circumstances faced by local producers, together with them, for release as soon as possible. This IFAD-CGIAR-national programme-farmer partnership will begin making a significant difference in the lives of poor African farmers within the next five years.

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Diffused Light Potato Storage - building on Indigenous Knowledge

Research on diffused light stores funded by IFAD has made available to subsistence farmers a simple and highly dependable technology that protects potato seed tubers between harvest and the next planting season. The technology builds on traditional knowledge systems of indigenous communities. Seed tubers stored in diffused light produce more uniform and vigorous crop stands than tubers stored in more traditional systems. The stores also play an important role in controlling insect pests. When used as part of an IPM package, diffused light storage greatly reduces the need for dangerous and costly insecticides. Use of the stores - in combination with other IPM techniques - is spreading rapidly to thousands of farm families in the main potato-producing areas of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

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Combating pests without pesticides: the miracle of Biological Control

IFAD is a strong supporter of environmentally friendly technologies for the control of agricultural and livestock pests, especially through biological control campaigns. Acknowledged as a pioneering donor, IFAD has been the catalyst in successful campaigns involving a large number of donor partners who joined in the deployment of innovative large-scale pest-control technologies. These have either reduced pest infestations to economic insignificance or have resulted in total eradication: a rare achievement measured in purely economic and biophysical terms. IFAD's approach has been to help detect potential pest-induced disasters as early as possible and to identify, design and support timely, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable integrated-pest-management strategies. These strategies help the rural poor avoid crop, fruit, vegetable and animal production losses.

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Supporting innovative pest-control technologies influencing the behaviour of the Desert Locust: The promise of preventive versus curative approaches>

The desert locust becomes a major pest when, stimulated by favourable climatic and other factors after a long dry spell, it begins to swarm. IFAD has supported pioneering research work on biochemical signals (known as semiochemicals), led by the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). The IFAD-led donor consortium, which includes the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Swiss International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development (AFESD), is supporting the programme that has led to a scientific breakthrough in the development of a viable biorational, preventive locust-control strategy. The programme has successfully identified and investigated the roles of semiochemicals that mediate in the complex behavioral dynamics of the locust and prevent the gregarization and swarming of locusts in breeding areas.

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Controlling Fruit Flies: rehabilitating the livelihood systems of smallholder fruit producers through control of the Carambola Fruit Fly

The carambola fruit fly is a relatively recent introduction into the Western hemisphere. This fruit fly is recognised as one of the most serious among the tropical fruit pests, reported to infest about 30 host species, comprising eight cultivated and 22 wild fruits. The pest attacks important fruits such as the starfruit or carambola, the Curaçao apple, mango, guava, West Indian cherry and the sapodilla. Other infested fruits include the tropical almond, Suriname cherry, cashew, grapefruit, orange and mandarin. The deployment of the male annihilation technique (MAT) is already showing results. MAT uses a powerful male attractant, methyl eugenol, mixed with a bioinsecticide and strategically distributed among host trees. Male flies attracted to the lure are trapped and annihilated by the bioinsecticide. The male population is reduced to the point at which reproduction is no longer possible, leading eventually to eradication.

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Launching the Africa- wide Cassava Mealybug Biological Control Programme

The combating of the cassava mealybug in Africa represents the world's largest and most ambitious, successful biological control programme in recent times. The success of the programme is reflected by the international recognition it has received - it is associated with the 1996 World Food Prize and the King Baudouin Award. The pest was introduced accidently into Africa, where it was threatening food security throughout the cassava belt right across the continent, and more than 200 million people were about to lose their staple food. In response, IFAD funded an adventurous search to discover a natural predator against the cassava mealybug. The large-scale programme that followed involved the introduction of a natural enemy from Latin America through quarantine in Amsterdam, mass-rearing/multiplication at IITA in Nigeria and Cotonou, and aerial release in all infested countries of Africa. The latest study shows a 1:200 cost-benefit ratio, which is a conservative estimate, limited to a period of only 20 years, although the mealybug will now remain under control for as long as cassava is planted.

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Search for enemies of the Cassava Green Mite ends successfully

IFAD is also supporting other important initiatives against equally devastating cassava pests such as the cassava green mite. Successsful IFAD-supported research has led to the discovery of the phytoseiid Typhlodromalus aripo, which was introduced from Brazil and is now bringing the cassava green mite under control in southern West Africa and locally in eastern and southern Africa. More than 25 nations and agencies came forward and pledged resources for the programme - a demonstration of international solidarity and commitment in the face of an emergency of this nature. The programme averted a serious threat to our environment and to the livelihood of millions of vulnerable African farmers.

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Using environmentally-friendly control against pests of Pulse Crops in South Asia

Millions of southern Asia's poor are now living in the shadow of a pulse-crop crisis triggered by pest attacks. In India, both the urban and rural poor, whose dietary protein intake continues to rely on pulses, will need to drastically reduce pulse consumption levels as pulse prices rise in the face of production shortfalls. Among the pests, the pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera, is the single most important insect pest in the agriculture of southern Asia, attacking a wide range of crops including cotton, tomatoes, chillies and sunflower in addition to pigeonpea and chickpea. It has become resistant to a range of insecticides, resulting in increased production costs and increased yield losses, that in pigeonpea were recently estimated at more than USD 420 million annually. In chickpea, pod damage ranges up to 84% depending on location, with worldwide losses estimated at USD 330 million annually. The research has developed a number of IPM solutions, including the use of biopesticides, botanicals and the nucleo polyhydrosis virus (NPV), which is proving effective against the pests.

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Unlocking the potential of smallholder Livestock Production: the challenge of addressing destructive Pests and Disease

Animals make a significant contribution to nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Meeting the future demand for meat and milk depends entirely on improving livestock productivity, which is sharply reduced by animal diseases. Annual losses of USD 4 billion represent appproximately 25% of the total value of livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa. Trypanosomiasis - or sleeping sickness - is the single most important constraint to animal production in Africa., and is caused by the tsetse fly. IFAD is financing promising research on the sustainable management of trypanosomiasis. The tsetse trap, (see photo), is based on using a fly attractant that lures the tsetse. IFAD-supported research at ICIPE and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) led to the discovery that the tsetse locates its host through the odour of cattle urine. ICIPE has done cutting-edge research that has identified a chemical compound that releases the same odour. This has proven successful in developing this tsetse trapping technology, which is a key tool in the ongoing control programme.

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IFAD and its partners diffuse an ecological time bomb: Eradicating the New World Screwworm

The New World Screw worm is known to be one of the most destructive livestock insect pests in the western hemisphere; and its presence in North Africa was confirmed in late 1988. It could have spread rapidly to areas with suitable climatic and vegetational conditions in the eastern hemisphere and caused damage to livestock, wildlife and perhaps even human populations in Africa and the Near East. Eradication of the fly had been achieved successfully in North America only through the sterile insect technique (SIT): aerially releasing a large number of factory-sterilised screwworm insects over endemic and outbreak areas to achieve control and subsequent eradication. In an emergency response, IFAD acted quickly to design and support a pilot biological control programme for the eradication of the fly, implemented by FAO. Besides testing the feasibility of transferring SIT to North Africa and its efficacy within the region's environment, the pilot programme included: support for strengthening livestock movement control and quarantine operations; assistance for a public-awareness campaign and development of logistical support in preparation for the large-scale eradication campaign.

The foundation laid during the pilot programme and the fly-release operations that began in December 1990 facilitated success in the near-eradication of the New World screwworm population from North Africa by early March 1991. By the time full-scale operations started, the campaign was so successful that it had almost achieved its main objective - the eradication of the screwworm from North Africa, in record time. The large-scale programme served to further protect the area from the regeneration of the screwworm population and from any residual focuses of infestation that may have remained after the pilot programme had achieved an advanced level of eradication. The implementation of the USD 55 million programme depended not only on the mobilisation and smooth channelling of financial resources, but on a large number of partners who carefully orchestrated inputs of scientists, technicians, administrators and implementing agents, all working together on a scale of unprecedented magnitude. The eradication programme involved more than twenty five nations and multilateral agencies, who came forward at IFAD's request and pledged resources for the programme - a heartening demonstration of international solidarity and commitment in the face of such an emergency. It averted a serious threat to our environment and to the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable African and Near Eastern farmers and herdsmen.

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Reviving Agroforestry in the Sahel

Agroforestry is a traditional land-use system that involves retention or introduction of trees or other woody perennials in combination with crop and animal production. Tree species preserved have economic value - they provide timber, firewood and a host of valuable non-timber products, such as fodder, fruits, gums, etc. - and they play a daily and vital role in the diets and health of the people. The environmental spin-offs of these traditional practices, such as improved soils and protection against desertification, are considerable. But changing circumstances are threatening the efficacy and sustainability of the system. What remains of the forest in the Sahel is a diverse arrangement of crops and rangelands characterised by a much lower density of trees compared to the situation only a few decades ago. The remaining trees reflect their importance according to the social, economic, strategic and religious values of the ethnic groups using the land. The forests have thus been transformed into "parklands" consisting of cropped fields and pastures with scattered trees. Parkland systems are particularly threatened by the combined stress of overgrazing on reduced surfaces, shortened periods of fallow that hinder natural regeneration, and severe tree lopping for fodder and firewood supply. Specific technologies predominantly based on traditional knowledge systems have been tested in order to alleviate pressure on the threatened agroforestry systems. Their introduction follows a holistic approach, taking into account the perspectives of different stakeholders (farmers with different land- tenure rights, herders, women, etc.) in harmony with overall village land-management systems. IFAD-financed research and development projects are mainly promoting four agroforestry technologies in Sahelian West Africa: living fences, windbreaks,fodder banks, and improved nursery management.

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Aquaculture - recycling nutrients on smallholders plots

Fish provides a very high percentage of the animal protein intake for people living in coastal areas of southern Asia., as high as 70% in Bangladesh. Capture-fishing is in decline everywhere, and aquaculture presents a valuable alternative source of fish for the poor. A typical southern Asian farm household that has adopted aquaculture technology integrates fish into its farm and, by recycling its on-farm resources, has been able to: provide better nutrition for its members through increased crops and fish; earn extra income from fish sales; and use compost instead of packaged fertilisers, saving on input costs and reducing water and air pollutants. IFAD is supporting the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in developing integrated aquaculture-based farming systems that: are adapted to local conditions; are developed through participatory interaction with fishermen; minimise the use of expensive purchased inputs; and maximise the input-output relationship by recycling natural resources. Such systems not only produce more food without damaging the environment, but they also give resource-poor fishermen and farmers improved incomes, and an avenue of escape from poverty.

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Artisanal Fishery: Promoting sustainable resource management

Artisanal fishermen are among the poorest in the world. IFAD-financed fisheries projects and research grants in coastal areas have demonstrated that artisanal fishermen can be assisted effectively. The aim not only being an increased catch, better processing and improved marketing, but also to contribute to the conservation of the natural resource base. This has meant: improved equipment; better designed and more robust boats equipped with outboard motors (extending the fishing area open to artisanal fishermen, giving them access to deep-water resources); appropriate nets, fishing gear and simple but better processing facilities for drying and smoking; technical training and capacity-building for both men and women; promotion of self-help groups and improved organization, building on traditional social systems; market intelligence and hence a better negotiating position in the market; and access to rural financing through credit and savings facilities. Medium-term credit enables fishermen to buy the improved boats and associated equipment. Promotion of the use of nets that conform to appropriate standards is a key component of these fisheries projects, but to encourage adoption, conventional extension systems need to be combined with efforts to establish self-regulatory community-based organzations.

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Realizing the potential of Bamboo - The Poor Man's Timber

IFAD with the Canadian International Development Research Centre, IDRC,is financing through another grant the development of profitable technologies for smallholders through an international network on bamboo and rattan, INBAR, bringing together farmers, the research community and the private sector in Asia, Africa and Latin America. INBAR is the first intergovernmental organisation to be located in China. Over 300 000 small and medium-scale enterprises based on bamboo and rattan are already contributing to the vibrancy of the country's rural economy. These rural microenterprises employ an enormous labour force, over 60% being women. Many of these microenterprises are being supported by IFAD loan-financed projects. Such efforts both address rural poverty and reverse the excessive exploitation of bamboo, rattan and other forest resources. IFAD supports INBAR in its efforts to: accord special attention to addressing the livelihood needs of disadvantaged target groups, including women. It helps enhance the role of bamboo and rattan in the protection of the environment, particularly in arresting deforestation, soil erosion and land degradation; conserve and expand the biodiversity of bamboo and rattan resources. INBAR also helps develop and promote policies to add value to bamboo and rattan products, where that potential exists, through the introduction of labour-efficient post-harvest technologies.; eg promoting bamboo construction technologies through training the landless and providing skills to surplus labour in Costa Rica and Tanzania.

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Promoting Apiculture and Sericulture for improved incomes in Africa

Apiculture and sericulture are promising rural microenterprise options for resource-poor farming communities in Africa. They can supplement farm income by enhancing off-farm rural employment opportunities, particularly in areas where the risk of crop failure is high or there are landless poor with few other income options. Both sericulture and apiculture are time-tested, economically attractive alternatives for income generation in Asia. IFAD is now supporting ICIPE in transferring, adapting and in some cases improving these technologies in the African context, with promising results. The new technologies include improved, locally manufactured hives, (see photo); honey products; royal jelly and beeswax; and silk production techniques with multiple benefits, including better nutrition and improved income.

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Combating Desertification

Desertification threatens over one billion people worldwide and damages almost one-third of the total land area. About 73 percent of Africa's drylands are moderately or severely affected by desertification. Desertification costs the world an estimated USD 42 billion a year. In addition to climate variations, four human activities are usually the most immediate causes of desertification: overcultivation exhausts the soil; overgrazing removes the covering of vegetation that protects it from erosion; deforestation cuts the trees that bind the soil to the land; and, poorly drained irrigation turns cropland salty, desertifying 500 000 hectares each year. In the past, the people of the drylands were blamed for destroying their own livelihoods. But as the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD hosted at IFAD recognises, there are usually deeper underlying causes that leave them no alternative: the principal cause being poverty. Poverty drives the poor to obtain as much out of the land as possible to feed their families in the short-term, even though they are thereby foreclosing their long-term future.

IFAD research grants have helped develop, and replicate through IFAD financed projects, a number of indigenous technologies to combat the threat of desertification through improved soil and water conservation techniques and approaches. These have included: Contour Stone Bunds , which are small stone structures built along contours with the help of a simple device, which help avoid erosion and recharge the soil's water supply. The Half moon: a process called "half-moons" allows the texture of the land to capture water as it flows. Tessa: a form of bunding with planting pits; and the Caag system, which is a type of water harvesting technology.

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IFAD working with International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) for soil fertility restoration and management in resource-poor areas of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

The rural poor often have to produce their crops on weathered and fragile soils of low-to-moderate fertility. In particular, supplies of nitrogen and phosphorus soil nutrients are limited in many developing regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Declining fertility takes the form of loss of organic matter, nutrient mining and breakdown of soil structure, thus preventing farmers from achieving the full potential of yield possibilities and productivity levels. IFAD has financed pioneering IFDC-led initiatives to promote the availability and efficient use of the two major soil nutrients - nitrogen and phosphorous - and the use of indigenous phosphate rock instead of packaged fertilisers that are considered too costly for farmers in Africa. These initiatives have been successfully tested and developed in the IFAD- financed Eastern ORD Rural Development Project in Burkina Faso and they were further explored during the implementation of four IFAD-financed projects in Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo. IFAD continues to work with IFDC, with a view to increasing agricultural productivity among resource-poor farming systems in Asia by improving the use of on and off-farm soil nutrients - organic as well as chemical - and increasing farmers' access to inputs, which can lead to improved, more efficient and more environmentally sound production technologies.

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Harnessing Indigenous Innovation Technologies

IFAD research grants have helped develop a number of new technologies, including: the Water Lifting Pulley - used for drawing water from an open well. No major structural changes have been made to the pulley, despite the fact that it has been used for thousands of years in rural India and other parts of the world. Recently, however, Amrutbhai Agrawat, an innovative village artisan, has developed two variations of the traditional pulley. These have the following unique features: they contain bearings to reduce friction: and, they have a self-operating stopper on the rope that prevents it from reversing while drawing up water. Hence villagers, usually women, can take a rest while lifting water. They involve little friction and thus less labour, because they are equipped with a wheel and handle that pull the rope as it rotates. The Mini Kaliyu Groundnut Digger- an innovative groundnut digger with the following features: it requires less draught power because it has two wheels; it uproots groundnuts from a uniform depth without disturbing the pod; it has a unique twin blade that can be sharpened or replaced very easily and the depth of the blade can be adjusted it can be fitted to different coulters for other agricultural operations such as ploughing; transportation from the farmer's house to the farm is made easier due to the incorporation of wheels in the construction; and it is made of iron with a life of more than 25-30 years. The Mangal Water Wheel Turbine Pump - For poor farmers in South Asia, rain is not always dependable, so access to irrigation reduces risk. Lifting water to irrigate crops normally requires the installation of diesel pumps or electric pumps, which are costly and not accessible for the majority of farmers. Mangal Singh, an IFAD Innovative Farmer Awardee from Uttar Pradesh in India, has harnessed the energy of the river flow to lift water for irrigation and other community activities. The fuel-less Mangal Water Wheel Turbine Pump, built from locally-available materials, runs entirely on sound mechanical principles and has no source of energy other than the flow of water. The pump requires low waterheads of up to only 1 meter created by low-cost check dams and the turbine machine consists of a water wheel firmly mounted on a steel shaft fixed on foundation supports. The water wheel turbine's design is simple and it can be made in different sizes to meet varying location-specific requirements anywhere in the developing world. The energy-conversion efficiency is also considerably higher than many alternatives and the operating costs are negligible.

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Pro-poor Natural Products Trade Association in southern Africa

IFAD's grant support is helping to set up a trade association for Natural Products, SANProTA, in southern Africa. This institution is designed to help develop production, processing and marketing of natural products that are of key importance to many poor households, and have the potential to assist many more. SANProTA is assisting poor farmer groups with R&D, business development and trading, through a strategy of creating enduring partnerships between a wide range of stakeholders in natural products. It is helping link primary producers, in often remote and geographically dispersed areas of southern Africa to global product markets, forging innovative partnerships across spatial, cultural, socio-economic and ideological boundaries; and has the potential to make a major contribution to environmentally sustainable poverty reduction in the drier and more marginal areas of southern Africa.

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End Note

The Strategic Framework for IFAD 2002-6 identifies "improving access to productive natural resource and technology" as one of the three strategic objectives to help the poor overcome their poverty, and it states that: "Appropriate technologies to improve farm productivity by boosting returns to both land and labour are essential if the former choice is to be a viable option. As solutions are often context-specific, technologies need to be developed through appropriate research and validated working together with the rural poor - something that is still quite rare. Full appreciation needs to be given to the risk management strategies of small farmers, which often differ for men and women farmers requiring gender differentiated approaches". Likewise these strategies will also differ for farmers with varying access to resources, or degrees of poverty, also demanding a stratified approach to finding solutions. Such considerations now permeate IFADs approach through its grants support for research. These are not only key in the rigorous, competitive selection of proposals for IFAD support but also in developing better participatory research methodolgies in both the conduct and evaluation of the research itself and the subsequent diffusion strategies.

IFAD hopes that this modest exhibition of the content and impact of some of its research grant programmes and loan projects financed over the past two decades will give the viewer an insight into the products of innovative partnerships between the public and private sector, including national research institutions, universities, the private sector, NGOs and Farmer-based Organisations, which IFAD hhas helped develop and finance.

We hope that you have enjoyed this exhibition. Information on IFAD and its operations is available on our website - www.ifad.org.

Ubuntu Village Exhibition

 

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