In a country where almost half of the population barely survives on less than a dollar a day, microcredit offers poor people a unique opportunity to engage in small businesses or improve their agricultural production. With the support of IFAD, microfinance institutions such as the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) extend small loans to poor people in rural areas to help them improve their incomes and overcome poverty.
In the mountainous, sparsely populated Amhara region, rural people struggle to make a living. Displaced by famine or by the lack of economic opportunities, most of them have relocated into areas as poor as the ones they left, where they have no assets and no land to cultivate. The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI), a microfinance institution, was established in 1995 to help the most destitute but active members of rural communities invest in a better future. With support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), ACSI provides much-needed financial services to poor rural people, enabling them to invest small sums of money in productive activities.
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President's corner

Opinion editorial by IFAD President, Correio Braziliense, 16 June 2009 | Portuguese version

Statement by IFAD President at OFID Ministerial Council meeting, Vienna, Austria, 16 June 2009

Intervention by IFAD’s President at the G8 Finance Ministers Meeting, Lecce, Italy, 13 June 2009

South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) interviews IFAD's President, 9 June 2009

Statement by the IFAD President to the joint AU and ECA conference: Implications of the global financial and economic crisis for Africa’s long-term development

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How farmers’ field schools transform the lives of farmers in Zanzibar
Teaching poor farmers better ways to produce poultry and vegetables helps them increase their incomes and improve their families’ living conditions. Through farmers’ field schools, small-scale producers learn new methods and share useful experiences, joining in groups to make the most of their agricultural potential. Two IFAD-funded programmes support more than 200 farmers’ field schools in Zanzibar, working to empower small-scale farmers to overcome poverty.
Over centuries, the Zanzibar Archipelago, also known as the Spice Islands, has been an important trading centre, where many types of commodities such as ivory and gold, mainly from the Tanzanian mainland, were traded on the flourishing local market and also found their way to foreign markets. 
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Liquid gold helps Eritrean farmers defy the looming threat of drought
Bee-keeping is an alternative source of income for rural families, especially in times of drought, when food security is at risk. Luul, an Eritrean farmer, has learned how to keep bees and avoid their sting, and now he is content with his livelihood of producing honey, or liquid gold. IFAD funded operations in Eritrea encourage farmers to diversify their income-generating activities — producing honey, dairy products or livestock to sell — and provide the financing, training and support they need.
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