Following the presentation on Rural finance during the retreat, a few lessons can be drawn and evaluated from IFAD's investments in Armenia, discusses Henning Pedersen.  During the initial stages of setting up Rural finance services in country interventions for instance, one ought to invest in simple financial set-ups that address the basic and immediate needs of rural people, including building up their institutional and managerial capacities . As these latter elements develop, there is room for up-scaling and the inclusion of various approaches and schemes in terms of concepts and implementation modalities in Rural finance. 

In the case of Armenia, we went from simple credit lines to Re-financing funds and are currently engaged in providing Equity investments. Henning highlights the importance of staying focused and consistent to the true needs of a given country. For instance, the engagement of IFAD in the financial sector have  remained  a central theme during the last 15 years in Armenia, although the financial instruments for these engagements  have become more sophisticated.  IFAD strategies has to be built on proven approaches that have strong impact on rural poverty reduction.