''…women are the most significant suppliers of family labour and efficient managers of household food security''
(IFAD Lending Policies and Criteria)

Of the world's population living in extreme poverty about 75%, or 900 million people, live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related rural crafts, trade and services for their livelihoods. Among the poor, women and households headed by women are often the most vulnerable. Although women play a major role in food production and processing, they seldom have direct access to natural resources or to crucial inputs such as credit, agricultural inputs, training or extension services. However, when rural women can overcome these barriers, results can be very positive.

Another important element of poverty is the social dimension. Confidence and recognition in the community can be catalysts for change, encouraging women to seek more control over their own development, despite the additional work that development activities may entail.

For example, IFAD is working with the Government of Cambodia to reduce poverty in the country's poorest regions through community-based development projects. In a village in Kampot province, 19-year-old Deng Sina has been elected to the village committee. Her normal day begins at 5.00 hours. After breakfast, she goes to the rice fields, and works there until around 11.00. Then she returns home to cook lunch for her family. Depending on the season, she will either work around the house in the afternoon, or if it is time for transplanting or harvesting, she will return to the rice fields. ''I was encouraged by other people to stand for election, and I have accepted the nomination'', says Deng. ''In this meeting, we have decided that the most important thing our village needs is an improved road so that people can get to the market more easily and the children can go to school. After the road, our next priority is a well.''

IFAD recognizes that women are primary agents of change. As IFAD President Lennart Båge summarized recently, ''…improving women's access to land, income, technologies and knowledge, as well as their ability to influence decisions that have a bearing on their lives, are essential conditions for reductions in hunger and food insecurity'' (UN Chronicle No. 3, 2001, p. 31). More development projects need to recognize the central role of women in rural areas in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day by 2015.