High-level representatives from AECID, IFAD, IICA and the Brazilian government come together for program launch in Brasilia

Brasilia, 26 May 2011 – In an effort to provide the traditionally disenfranchised poor rural people of Brazil’s semi-arid northeast with the information and tools they need to break the cycle of poverty, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is teaming up with the government of Brazil, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to launch an innovative new knowledge-management programme.

In the May 30 programme launch in Brasilia, high-level representatives from the Brazilian and Spanish Embassy, IFAD AECID, IICA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will gather to discuss the programme’s goals and objectives.

The Knowledge Management in the Northeastern Semi-Arid Region of Brazil Programme will provide poor rural people living in the area with more power to control their own destinies, more freedom to share innovations, best practices and experiences, and more opportunities to develop new businesses and enterprises. In the end, knowledge is power; knowledge is freedom; knowledge is opportunity.

The US$4 million three-year programme is an initiative of IFAD, and has been made possible thanks to the generous financial contribution of the Spanish Agency for International Development. It will be executed in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture - Brazil.

“There is plenty of information out there. The various actors involved in rural development in the semi-arid northeast have generated new technologies and innovations that have served to increase production, sustainably manage natural resources and enhance rural livelihoods,” said Dr. Manuel Otero, IICA’s representative in Brasil. “However, the potential of these initiatives has not been fully realized, and most of the knowledge generated is not easily accessible to the poor rural people who need it most.”

Brazil’s semi-arid northeast is one of the poorest parts of the country, and with dry conditions and changing climatic patterns, small-scale producers are particularly at risk.

“With this in mind, the programme will focus on sharing new technologies to sustainably manage natural resources in the region,” said Josefina Stubbs, Director of IFAD’s Latin America and the Caribbean Division. “It also focuses on the introduction of new productive and technological innovations, and the creation of knowledge networks that will allow poor rural people ­– both farming and non-farming – to share information on best sustainable practices and new business opportunities.” 

“We’ll achieve these goals by working with the local communities to create learning activities in the field, including exchange visits, learning routes, local contests, knowledge fairs and individual field training, focusing in particular on rural women and youth,” said Jesus Molina, AECID Coordinator for Brazil. “Also key will be sharing these new techniques and technologies through the programme’s new web portal, thematic workshops and specialized studies and publications.”

While AECID, IFAD, IICA, state governments from Northeast Brazil and the Brazilian national government will play a central role in this new programme, in order to carry out these activities, the programme will enter into partnerships with a wide range of organizations, institutions and experts, including public and private institutions, small farmers’ associations, non-governmental organizations, government bodies, academic and research centres, rural education networks, and Embrapa’s research centres, among others.

Note to Editors
Journalists are invited to the program launch event in Brasilia, May 30, 19 to 21hrs at the “Strategic Studies and Training Centre (Cecat)” in EMBRAPA’s headquarters, Parque Estação Biológica - PqEB s/n°.Brasília, DF – Brasil. A cocktail reception follows the event. Representatives from AECID, IFAD and IICA will be available for interviews. For accreditation, please provide your name, media organization and press badge (if available) to Rodrigo Germano Rodrigues.

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Press release No.: IFAD/38/2011

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested about US$12.9 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 370 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nation’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 167 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).