IFAD 12/07

Bangkok, 31 October – 3 November 2007

Rural finance CEOs, managers and experts from 120 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will meet on the strategic role of rural finance in fighting poverty

Bangkok – 30 October - Top decision-makers from rural finance institutions in 120 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will meet in Bangkok from 31 October to 3 November 2007 to share experiences on the use of rural credit as a strategic way to fight poverty.

Over 1.000 rural finance professionals and experts from the public and private sectors will take part in the 2nd World Congress on Agricultural and Rural Finance, jointly hosted by the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) of Thailand and the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA).

Co-sponsored by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the congress is being organized in collaboration with four other regional rural credit associations – the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association, Asociación Latinoamericana de Instituciones Financieras para el Desarrollo, the Confédération Internationale du Crédit Agricole and the Near East-North Africa Regional Agricultural Credit Association.

More than two-thirds of the world's income-poor people live in Asia, a predominantly rural region which hosts more than half the global population on less than a fifth of the planet's surface. Together with record levels of natural resources-consuming economic growth in recent decades the benefits of which have increasingly bypassed the rural majority, means that poverty reduction can be sustainable only if development is both environment-friendly and socially balanced. 

Accordingly, the congress examines the theme: "The contribution of agricultural and rural economies to sustainable and equitable development", focusing on food security, empowering rural poor through access to financial services and appropriate technologies, climate change and environmental issues, and public-private sector partnership in the provision of rural services.

Three quarters of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas of developiong countries and depend on farming and related activities for their livelihoods. The majority are landless people, marginal rural farmers and tenants, indigenous people and internally displaced persons. Women are often the most disadvantaged. Many poor people live on ecologically fragile land: mountains, coastal areas and deserts. They depend on vulnerable sectors: agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry. Hundreds of millions of small farmers depend on rainfall to grow crops or raise animals.

In collaboration with local communities, non-governmental organizations, governments and other public and private partners, IFAD interventions aim to ensure that poor rural people have access to the credit, skills, technologies and markets they need to be able to farm productively and achieve economic self-reliance.

Microfinance is a low-cost and highly effective poverty reduction tool that develops self-reliance and social solidarity. Its benefits are even greater when rural women have access to microfinance. Evidence from around the world shows the positive effect on development when women’s economic and social status is improved.

In the Asia-Pacific region, IFAD projects are improving agricultural and rural livelihoods in environmentally and geographically disadvantaged areas by promoting self-reliance and cooperative endeavour, focusing on rural women and indigenous communities.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.