Opening remarks by the Director of the Near East and North Africa Division

Several major events related to food security took place in 2009, all with potentially significant impacts on our region: the Arab Economic, Development and Social Summit in Kuwait in January; the Group of Eight summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in July; and the World Summit on Food Security in Rome in November. These events underscored the urgent need for much greater investments in agriculture.

The Kuwait Summit approved an ambitious US$26 billion Arab food security programme; L’Aquila committed US$20 billion to address the food crisis; and the Rome Summit implicitly endorsed the estimate made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that some US$44 billion in official development assistance will be needed annually to eliminate hunger in the world.

Whether all these global resources will ultimately be mobilized is, of course, unsure. But what is sure is that IFAD has always dedicated its efforts to ending rural poverty through agricultural development, and will continue to seek out partnerships to attain this objective. Some ongoing partnerships are highlighted in this issue of Rural Echoes, including those related to water scarcity in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, the signing of a grant agreement with the Sudan in support of impoverished gum arabic producers, success stories from Egypt and the Syrian Arab Republic, and the Doha training workshop.

The “triple scourge” of the food crisis, the soaring energy prices and the financial crisis has resulted in an upsurge in the numbers of hungry and malnourished people, and has also meant that the food security of many more people is under threat. Resolving the global food crisis and achieving food security at the regional level, especially in arid regions such as NENA, are not easy tasks. They require concerted efforts by a multitude of partners including the governments of developing countries and their civil societies, donor governments, development agencies, NGOs and research institutions. Building such partnerships is one of IFAD’s comparative advantages, and today the Fund can count on a large number of result-oriented partnerships developed over the past three decades.

Focusing on its regional priorities and results on the ground, IFAD endeavours to realize the huge potential of such partnerships in order to meet the many challenges facing developing countries, including challenges posed by climate change, such as water scarcity and floods, and those related to poor farmers’ access to national and international markets. In this context, IFAD is helping to strengthen the role of international and national research centres in order to ensure a greater flow of knowledge and technology transfer while at the same time building the capacities and skills needed to innovate and scale up workable and innovative solutions.

In support of these aims, at the end of October, the Near East and North Africa Division and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) held a joint workshop in Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic, on knowledge and technology exchange for the enhanced quality of IFAD/ICARDA operations in the NENA region. The event concluded with a “retreat” to discuss the division’s medium-term management plan 2010-2012 and to identify ways to improve the division’s outreach and effectiveness. The results of the retreat, summarized in this issue of Rural Echoes, will guide the division’s work over the next three years.

Nadim Khouri
Director, Near East and North Africa Division

On the margins of the World Summit on Food Security, IFAD holds bilateral talks with heads of delegation from the NENA region to boost cooperation and joint activities


	His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar receives Kanayo Nwanze, President of IFAD.

During the World Summit on Food Security, held in Rome from 16 to18 November 2009, IFAD’s President, Kanayo Nwanze, and other senior IFAD officials met with the heads of many participating delegations from the NENA region. His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, received President Nwanze on 16 November. Discussions during the meeting focused on ways to further bilateral cooperation. President Nwanze invited His Highness the Emir to participate as a guest of honour at the next annual session of IFAD’s Governing Council on 17 and 18 February 2010.

The meeting also offered an opportunity to review the progress made on a number of joint activities since President Nwanze last visited Qatar on 24 May 2009. During that visit, President Nwanze had briefed His Highness the Emir on IFAD’s preparations for forthcoming activities, such as the IFAD Training Workshop on Project Design and Supervision in Doha, the Regional Conference on Achieving Food Security in the Arab World, and the IFAD-supported capacity-building programme of the Regional Centre for Plant Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Doha.


	FAD President, Kanayo Nwanze (right) meeting HE Dr Fahad Bin Abdulrahman Balghunaim, Minister of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia (centre) who was accompanied by Walid Al-Khereiji, General Manager of Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO) of Saudi Arabia (left).

	President Nwanze meeting with HE Saeed Al Masri, Minister of Agriculture of Jordan (left) in the presence of Nadim Khouri, Director of the Near East and North Africa Division (right).

	President Nwanze receiving Dr Ahmed Mohammad Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank (right) in the presence of Mohammed Beavogui, Director of West and Central Africa Division (centre).

	President Nwanze during discussions with Dr Ahmed Mohammad Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank (left) in the presence of Ghassan El Baba, Senior Advisor for Relations with the Arab OPEC Countries (centre).

	President Nwanze meeting Dr Tariq Moosa Al-Zadjali, Director General, Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (right).

During the Summit, President Nwanze also met with Dr Fahad Bin Abdulrahman Balghunaim, Minister of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, to discuss bilateral cooperation between IFAD and Saudi Arabia. They reviewed the progress made since President Nwanze’s last visit to the Kingdom, on 17-18 May 2009, in identifying areas where IFAD might support Saudi Arabian agricultural development through knowledge-sharing and capacity-building activities. The Minister expressed satisfaction that three staff members of his ministry had participated in the IFAD Training Workshop on Project Design and Supervision held in Doha, Qatar, from 27 September to 1 October 2009. Opportunities for IFAD and the Saudi Fund for Development to jointly finance rural development and poverty reduction projects in a number of developing countries were also explored.

President Nwanze also met with Saeed Al Masri, Jordan’s Minister of Agriculture, on 17 November to discuss bilateral cooperation, including progress made by IFAD-supported operations in the country in support of poor rural men and women. IFAD has so far invested US$71.4 million in seven projects in Jordan, worth a total of US$190 million and benefiting about 70,000 rural poor households. The Minister highlighted Jordan’s need, in the medium-term, for investment and technical support to increase water harvesting, given the scarcity of water in the country and the looming water crisis. He said that he was looking forward to continuing partnership and support from IFAD in addressing this problem. The Fund will continue to provide support for implementation of the ongoing Agricultural Resource Management Project – Phase II. In addition, IFAD has mobilized about US$10 million grant funding from the Global Environment Facility to help Jordan acquire technical capacities and increase investment to meet the challenges of land degradation, water scarcity and climate change. IFAD will also continue to work with Jordan on knowledge-sharing and innovations through regional programmes and technical assistance.

President Nwanze also met with Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on the eve of the World Summit on Food Security. The two leaders reached a groundbreaking US$1.5 billion framework cofinancing agreement, which will strengthen the 30-year collaboration between their respective institutions in supporting the world’s poorest people in common member countries. The agreement comes at a critical time, when the international community has formally recognized that agricultural development is fundamental to feeding the world’s population. Today sustained investment in agriculture – especially smallholder agriculture – is acknowledged as the key to food security.

IFAD and IsDB will jointly finance priority projects in most of the 52 common member countries under their respective three-year lending programmes for 2010-2012. The two institutions hope that this cofinancing arrangement will attract additional funding from other development partners for joint interventions. With their shared objectives in the agriculture and rural development sector, the two institutions will focus their efforts on increasing productivity, yields, processing capacities and access to markets. Microfinance, combined with capacity-building and technology transfer, will enable hundreds of thousands of project beneficiaries to undertake a multitude of microenterprise and other income-generating activities. IFAD and IsDB are committed to working together to improve rural infrastructure, promote local economic development and enhance food security.

Increasing cooperation with another key partner in the region, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), was at the centre of discussions during a meeting between its Director General, Dr Tariq Moosa Al-Zadjali, and President Nwanze on 20 November 2009. Dr Al-Zadjali outlined AOAD’s new vision, which puts greater emphasis on small farmers and poor rural people, especially women, and focuses on small-scale interventions rather than large infrastructural projects in rural areas.
Welcoming the similarities between AOAD’s and IFAD’s mandates, President Nwanze emphasized the importance of promoting synergy and complementarity between the two institutions. Both leaders agreed to explore the possibilities not only of extending some of their joint programmes, such as the Red Palm Weevil Integrated Pest Management Programme in the Near East, but also of launching other grant programmes, including joint interventions in conflict areas such as Gaza and the West Bank and Iraq.

Regional themes

Tackling water scarcity through an integrated approach to the management of water resources


	A ground water stream in the north of the Sudan.

The Arab region continues to suffer the worst effects of climate change in terms of water availability. While global projections for climate change indicate a drop in rainfall precipitation of 20 to 40 per cent, recent media reports warn that the region is likely to see most of its ground aquifers completely depleted by 2060.

But, for the driest region on earth – which has less than 1 per cent of the world’s water resources – this is not breaking news. Arabs have mastered the art of coping with water scarcity and have, over many centuries of resilience, built unique survival capacities in their harsh environment. Yet, the region has more than one reason to fear the threat of water scarcity as it never has before.

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	(Water chart)

Arab countries now face the complex challenge of satisfying the consumption needs of their fast-growing populations, which represent about 5 per cent of the world’s inhabitants, under global warming conditions. With food self-sufficiency rates dropping below 50 per cent, the region’s food import bill exceeded US$30 billion in 2007 and continues to grow. Ever larger quantities of water will have to be diverted from meeting the requirements of agricultural production to satisfying domestic consumption needs. And, based on available indicators, the region will be seeing a lot more people trying to manage with a lot less water.

The survival of the region’s new generations now depends on their ability to build on their traditional knowledge, acquire new skills, engage in innovative endeavours and refine their survival tactics and strategies. In this context, management of both water supply and water demand is equally critical. Moreover, to ensure long-term adaptation to climate change and scarcer water availability, new approaches and policy frameworks and innovative and replicable solutions are essential.

IFAD has accumulated a vast experience in battling water scarcity in the Arab region over the past 30 years. It has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in sustaining research, testing solutions and funding rural community projects. Together with its many partners in the region – including, for example, the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development, the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) – IFAD has helped develop some of the most interesting solutions to addressing water scarcity in the region and has fostered innovations in this field that can be replicated and scaled up. Examples of these solutions were showcased by senior experts during an IFAD side event of the Fifth World Water Forum (WWF5) held in Istanbul on 18 March 2009.


	Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President of the Arab Water Council (former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt) delivering his opening statement.

This event, entitled “Addressing Water Scarcity in Rural and Marginal Areas of Arab Countries: Innovative Solutions”, was chaired by Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President of the Arab Water Council (formerly Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation) and moderated by Kevin Cleaver, IFAD’s Assistant President, Programme Management Department. The event was attended by more than 140 participants, including several WWF5 delegates and government representatives, development practitioners, water experts and media reporters. Interesting discussions followed the presentation of a number of case studies, including a presentation on “Community-based optimization of the use of scarce water resources in the marginal rangelands” by Dr Theib Oweis of ICARDA, a presentation on “Saving fresh water resources with salt-tolerant forage production in the marginal areas of West Asia and North Africa” by Dr Faisal Taha of ICBA and “Lessons from community-based grey water treatment and re-use in three countries: Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon” by Dr Hammou Laamrani, project coordinator of the multi-donor Regional Water Demand Initiative (WaDImena) supported by both IDRC and IFAD.


	Kevin Cleaver, Assistant President, Project Management Department of IFAD speaking to participants at the side event.

IFAD’s integrated approach to fighting water scarcity in the region was outlined by Assistant President Cleaver, who stressed the importance of operational partnerships in addressing this complex problem in the Arab region. In this approach, better governance of water resources, rather than the availability of water, is the key to resolving the growing water crisis. This involves putting in place the political, social, economic and administrative systems needed to develop and manage water resources and to ensure equitable delivery of water-related services. It also entails recognition of the links between secure access to land and water, improvement of management practices, investment in small farmer technologies and infrastructure, and development of enabling policy frameworks and legislative processes.

FAD also believes that, with the help of greater water efficiency, land and crop productivity, and integration of non-conventional water resources (brackish water and recycled grey water), in addition to the currently available water resources (146 km3/yr), the region’s agricultural sector has considerable potential to sustain a steady increase in production. Progress in these areas would therefore put the sector in a position to help reduce dependency on food imports, generating additional rural employment opportunities, boosting local economies and contributing to rural poverty reduction.


	Turkish school children and their teacher visiting IFAD's stand at the World Water Fair in Istanbul.

Serving as a public awareness-raising exercise, the Istanbul side event, which was transmitted live in its entirety by Al Jazeera, concluded by screening a short documentary film entitled “Fighting Water Scarcity in the Arab Countries”. The film, jointly produced by IFAD and Arca-Med, an Italian film company, highlighted a number of IFAD interventions that have improved the management of water resources in the region. These interventions were also summarized in a regional fact sheet on water scarcity and illustrated in greater depth at an IFAD exhibit in the World Water Expo and Fair zone of WWF5. An Al Jazeera live transmission dedicated to WWF5 opened with images of IFAD’s regional fact sheet quoting the facts and figures it carries and included a live interview with Dr Laamrani of WaDiMena on the issues raised. IFAD’s exhibition booth attracted thousands of visitors, from the general public, schools and the NGO community, and was highly appreciated for its rich illustrative displays, films and publications on regional water scarcity issues and innovations in this field.

Country programme features

IFAD extends a US$3 million grant to help small gum producers in the Sudan increase their production and incomes


	Mustafa Yousif Hoali Yousif, Director General of the Budget Directorate of the Sudan's Ministry of Finance and National Economy (left) and Jessie Rose Mabutas, Assistant President, Finance and Administration Department of IFAD (right) signing the grant agreement.

The Government of the Sudan and IFAD signed a grant agreement on 3 November 2009, under which the Fund extended US$3 million to help finance the Revitalizing the Sudan Gum Arabic Production and Marketing Project. The agreement was signed by Jessie Rose Mabutas, IFAD’s Assistant President, Finance and Administration Department, and Mustafa Yousif Hoali Yousif, Director General of the Budget Directorate of the Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy.

The new IFAD-supported project is expected to benefit the country’s poor small producers by empowering gum arabic producer associations (GAPAs) through the provision of knowledge, skills training and access to financial resources and markets. Worth a total of US$10 million, including US$7 million in cofinancing from the Sudan Multi-Donor Trust Fund in the North, the project will strengthen GAPA organization and the capacity of these associations to improve their bargaining positions. Identified as a priority project for rural poverty reduction by the joint assessment mission undertaken by the United Nations, World Bank, Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, it provides a framework for sustained peace, development and poverty eradication in general.


	An Acacia-senegal tree yielding gum arabica.

Gum arabic, a sap from the branches of Acacia senegal trees, is a natural emulsifier, which means that it can keep together substances that normally would not mix well. It is mostly used as a thickening agent and stabilizer in gum drops and soft jelly gums and as an adhesive on postage stamps. It is also used to prevent crystallization in sugar confectionery and to blend and stabilize foods such as candy, ice cream and sweet syrups. The Acacia senegal tree grows all over Africa and also on the Indian subcontinent.

The Sudan is the world largest producer of gum arabic and exporter of raw gum. Around one million poor Sudanese households depend on revenue from gum arabic production, and gum arabic is generally their main source of income in the lean season. Many of these smallholders saw their earnings fall in the past because of a monopoly on the trade of raw gum. The Government has now introduced market reforms, which the new IFAD-funded project will build on. The project will directly help about 15,000 small-scale gum producers increase their production and income by improving the performance of production and marketing systems. It will also assist producers in adapting to and benefiting from the newly liberalized market.

The project, which will involve 125 GAPAs located in five states (Blue Nile, North Kordofan, Sennar, South Kordofan and White Nile), will support the Government’s reform process in close collaboration with the Forest National Corporation in order to liberalize the production, processing and trade of gum arabic, allowing equal opportunity and competition to all market actors.
With this new grant, the total number of projects cofinanced by IFAD in the Sudan has reached 17, for a total investment of about US$ 228,371 million.

Voices from the field

IFAD-funded projects bring life to the desert in north-western Egypt


	Graduate farmer, Ahmad Abdelmunem Al-Far, stands proudly in the middle of his wheat field, which is also used as a demonstration plot by the project.

The combination of credit, a small plot of land reclaimed from the desert and water can make a world of difference in launching a poor, young and unemployed couple into a more prosperous life. A scheme initiated by the Egyptian Government in the early 1990s, and subsequently supported by two IFAD-financed projects, continues to enable previously unemployed university graduates and other couples to transform the desert into productive farms, while transforming their own lives in the process.

Ahmad Abdelmunem Al-Far, a 45-year-old farmer of the West Noubaria country, is one of the thousands of unemployed graduates who have benefited from two successive IFAD-supported projects on reclaimed desert land in north-western Egypt: the Newlands Agricultural Services Project and the West Noubaria Agricultural Development Project. After he graduated with a degree in agricultural engineering from Cairo University in 1989, Ahmad was unemployed for various years except for occasional work in a car repair garage or as a waiter. Finally, in 1997, his response to a Ministry of Agriculture announcement offering opportunities on reclaimed land for unemployed graduates yielded a life-changing opportunity. Thanks to this initiative – known as the Mubarak National Project for Young Graduates and supported by the Newlands project – Ahmad received not only a plot of five feddans of reclaimed land, but also a small shelter. With this, he was able to marry and start a family.


	Al-Far explaining the outcome of his investment in production of summer oranges.

Ahmad’s newly acquired assets were provided as a loan, on soft repayment terms – a 30-year repayment period with a grace period of five years. “I had five years of time to plant, harvest, sell – and make a profit from – my produce before starting to settle the loan,” Ahmad said. “Annual instalments were only 367 Egyptian pounds (EGP) each [about US$67 at current exchange rates].” Initially he cultivated cereals, legumes and vegetables. When the West Noubaria project was launched in 2002, he took the initiative and planted half of his plot, 2.5 feddans, with summer oranges. “Oranges sell very well in the summer because of the high demand from hotels and restaurants,” Ahmad explained, adding that the project had provided him with technical assistance to ensure that his crops grew well and gave the maximum yield possible. “The project staff accompanied us from the very beginning, from seeding to harvest, providing technical advice, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and market information,” he said. “Thanks to project support, I was able to produce 16,000 tons of oranges in the first harvest four years ago and reached a record of 40,000 tons last summer [2008].”


	Al-Far feeding his cows

Ahmad told a reporter of Rural Echoes in April 2009 that he expected the 2009 summer harvest of oranges to be his biggest ever. He planned to use seasonal workers for harvesting to ensure that the oranges reached local and export markets when prices were highest. His sales in 2008 had pushed his gross income to EGP 42,000 [slightly more than US$7,700]. Deducting half for expenses, including farm inputs, workers’ wages, power, water and transportation, he was able to net about EGP 21,000 a year [US$3,850, or about US$321 per month] from this activity.

On the other half of his farm, Ahmad diversifies his crops (cultivating, for example, fava beans, onions, green peppers, tomatoes and potatoes) in order to maintain soil nutrients and quality and to meet market demand. He and his wife have also developed a dairy production facility for the production of meat, cheese, butter, ghee, yogurt and fresh milk for both home consumption and market supply. They started this activity with three calves purchased with a loan of EGP 10,000 [US$1,834] in 2005, which, he was proud to say, they would finish repaying in August 2009. The couple now have 10 cows. They could have an even larger stock, but had recently fattened and slaughtered several male calves, selling the meat at the local market. Given their growing enterprise, Ahmad has now obtained a permit from the government authorities to construct a new house with cowsheds and animal stables.


	West Noubaria farmers at work.

Like Ahmad, over 36,000 young settlers have benefited from the IFAD-supported project in West Noubaria. The project has provided social and economic infrastructure, such as roads, housing, health centres, schools, youth centres and veterinary facilities. It has also ensured that the settlers have the productive assets and knowledge they need to increase their agricultural production and incomes.

These now successful settlers of the “newlands” were chosen as project beneficiaries because of their poverty and landlessness. Most were among the hundreds of thousands of graduates in Egypt who were unemployed because of a lack of suitable opportunities for them in the country.
At a total project cost of US$ 54.75 million, the seven-year project has provided training to familiarize new settlers with desert agriculture and the desert farming technologies that have been developed and adapted by Egypt’s agricultural research system during the past 50 years. IFAD financing amounts to US$18.48 million, or 33.8 per cent of the total project cost, while US$30.13 million is provided through the Italian Debt Swap Initiative, under which part of Egypt’s debt to Italy is converted into cofinancing of development projects in Egypt.

The project also helps settlers adopt better on-farm water management practices and develop small and medium enterprises in agricultural production and marketing. It has financed many of the commercial services and facilities that the emerging communities have needed to become viable and self-reliant. It provides marketing extension and information and has improved the marketing infrastructure. It also facilitates the long-term development of a viable financial system, while addressing the immediate need for agricultural production and financing of small and medium enterprises.


	A West Numbaria farmer marketing her products

Communities are also assisted in using the Shorouk methodology – a participatory approach initiated by the Shorouk programme of the Government of Egypt – to articulate and prioritize their needs for social investments and income-generating activities. As a result of this methodology, settlers actively participate in the implementation, operation and maintenance of the services they themselves have chosen. The project has provided training and capacity-building support to village-based representative associations. This has helped them to interact more effectively with service providers and consequently obtain better deals for their members in terms of financial services and access to markets.

Project extension officers encourage the use of compost by teaching farmers how to make it from crop waste. Some settlers who like Ahmad have agriculture-related degrees participate in the training of new arrivals, showing them, for instance, how to choose the best cropping patterns for the new lands, providing more general information and helping them overcome the various difficulties they encounter.
Despite their initial inexperience in desert farming and the harsh climatic conditions, settlers have realized good results in terms of a constant increase in production. Overall, most have significantly improved their farming abilities and are successfully marketing their products, including organic products, some of which are being exported to European supermarkets.

Voices from the field:

The “sanduq”, a rural microfinance innovation, makes a significant difference to vulnerable people, especially women, in the Syrian Arab Republic


	Abbas Kharzoum and his wife Mariam Al-Zarraq standing by their herd

“Sanduq Al Qarya” or simply “sanduq”, meaning the village fund, is proving to be one of the most successful methodologies of pro-poor microfinance for rural development in Arab-speaking countries. Under an IFAD-supported project in the north-western Syrian province of Idleb, some 22 sanadiq (plural of sanduq in Arabic) have been set up in 22 villages. The microenterprises and income-generating activities supported by these village funds are securing regular incomes for thousands of poor rural families and making a visible difference in the socio-economic status of women in the project area.

Rural Echoes visited Hezarin, one the 22 villages targeted, where people who had received loans from the local sanduq were eager to explain how their lives were changing. Abbas Abdulhamid Kharzoum, 45, started his explanation by saying: “This is a mattress I made using the wool of our sheep. All our new mattresses are homemade. We could not have made them without the sheep we bought with a loan from our village sanduq eight months ago.” When asked for details, he explained that he and his wife had bought ten sheep and goats with two loans of 50,000 Syrian pounds (about US$1,136) each.


	Mariam milking one of her goats.

The couple, who have three daughters and four sons, are traditional small farmers with a small plot of land. For years they had eked out a meager living by cultivating olive trees and horticultural crops. They knew it was essential to find other sources of income if they were to improve their family’s living standard and gradually climb out of poverty. Their newly purchased livestock quickly provided the family with more milk, meat and wool than they could consume. The couple therefore decided to take advantage of training provided by the IFAD-financed Idleb Rural Development Project to learn how to process dairy products, shear sheep and treat wool.


	Mariam showing her home made diary products.

Kharzoum’s wife, Mariam Al-Zarraq, 38, joined the conversation: “The sheep and goats have made a big change in our lives. Now instead of buying milk and dairy products, we sell these products to others in the village.” She continued: “I also make cheese, yogurt for normal consumption and concentrated yogurt balls for long-term conservation. These are very important for the family diet, especially in the winter.”

Mariam said the family was enjoying the benefits of the project. She had already noted an improvement in her seven children’s health because of their greater consumption of milk and dairy products.

Repaying the loan was, however, a heavy burden. Abbas agreed: “The main problem is the short period allowed for loan repayment – only one year. At the moment, the monthly instalments (about US$113 per loan) weigh heavily on our balance sheet. So far we’ve managed to repay regularly. Luckily, there are only a few months to go.” He was, nonetheless, glad that he took out the loan, particularly when he did. “

Livestock prices have increased, perhaps almost doubled,” he said. “The livestock we have now are worth much more than what we paid with our two loans.” He added: “Our family is happy to have the opportunity to realize a better future. We are confident that we will have a more comfortable living when we finish repaying the loan. Our livestock rearing activity will continue to grow and generate income, and we will even start saving money.”


	Ayman Al-Abboud, Secretary and Accountant of the Sanduq of Hezarin village (left) standing next to Abbas and Mariam.

Ayman Al-Abboud, secretary and accountant of Hezarin’s sanduq and president of its development committee, gave his views on the sanduq: “People here in Hezarin work hard to ensure that they make the best use of the money they’re lent so that they can make a profit and repay their loans. We have a 100 per cent loan repayment rate.” He specified that, although the sanduq loans were not secured by collateral, there were nonetheless protected: “Each applicant has to obtain the signature of two guarantors from the village. That is enough to ensure that borrowers respect their payment schedule and pay their instalments on time.”

Ayman also explained that borrowing from the sanduq was economically convenient because the interest rates of commercial banks and the profit rates of Islamic lending institutions were double the profit rates charged by the sanduq. “Here in our village, the profit rate is only 12 per cent for annual repayment,” he said. He admitted, however, that the sanduq was not authorized to extend loans larger than 50,000 Syrian pounds and that this sum was too small to attract greater participation and business opportunities. “Now, given today’s high market prices, with such a loan you can only buy three sheep,” Ayman said. “Should the ceiling for loans be lifted, doubled for example to 100,000 Syrian pounds [about US$2,272], life would be easier for the borrowers, production would increase, and the economic development in the village would be much greater.”


	Borrower women with their cows.

Ayman also explained that before the sanduq was set up, many young women had to go outside the village to find work: “Now, the problem has diminished with sanduq loans, but more could still be done,” he explained. “For example, with a sanduq loan of 100,000 Syrian pounds, a young woman could buy herself a cow because a cow costs that much. But with a maximum loan of half that, it would take two women to buy a cow, and probably the profits from one cow would not be enough to satisfy the needs of both women and their dependants.

Despite these problems, a large number of the village’s young women are benefiting from opportunities offered by the sanduq. Of the 34 borrowers in Hezarin, about 70 per cent are women. Some of them have taken group loans. One of these borrower groups, consisting of four young women, has opened an embroidery workshop where 60 village girls are now employed. The continuing growth of Hezarin’s sanduq, which already has 155 shareholders, will inevitably lead to greater flexibility in this microfinance mechanism, helping to promote entrepreneurship and multiply the number of microenterprises.

For rural areas in the Syrian Arab Republic, the establishment of sanadiq in villages where no financial institutions exist is very innovative not only in terms of introducing financial services in remote rural areas but also in terms of promoting microcredit as a way out of poverty for hundreds of thousands of very poor rural people. The sanadiq are part of the community development component of the IFAD-funded Idleb project, which was launched in 2003 and includes two other important components focusing on agricultural development and water resources management. At a total cost of US$46.1 million, including a highly concessional IFAD loan of US$17.5 million, the project is reaching about 42,000 people in 140 of the country’s poorest villages helping them improve their food production and incomes.

Knowledge management and capacity-building

IFAD and ICARDA hold a regional knowledge and technology transfer workshop in the Syrian Arab Republic

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	Workshop participants in a group photo

A unique regional knowledge-sharing event organized by the Near East and North Africa Division of IFAD and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) was held in Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic, from 27 to 29 October 2009. With emphasis on rainfed agriculture, the “Workshop on Knowledge and Technology Exchange for the Enhanced Quality of IFAD/ICARDA Operations in the NENA Region” aimed to strengthen the division’s capacity to incorporate the latest research-generated agricultural science and technology packages and other innovations into its ongoing and future operations in the region. The event, which concluded with a divisional “retreat”, was attended by some 70 staff members of IFAD, ICARDA and IFAD-supported projects in the NENA region.


	Mahmoud El-Solh, Director General of ICARDA, delivering his opening statement.

The workshop was inaugurated by Mahmoud El-Solh, Director General of ICARDA, and Nadim Khouri, Director of IFAD’s Near East and North Africa Division. In his opening statement, El-Solh pointed out that the workshop was an opportunity to deepen the strategic partnership between ICARDA and IFAD: “This is our opportunity to learn from IFAD colleagues about the sustainable agricultural development aspects because our research agenda should target such aspects.” He added: “At the same time, I am happy to see so many country programme managers who can understand what ICARDA has to offer in terms of technologies that may facilitate their work in development.” He affirmed that there were many “ground-winning” technologies while some other technologies were still very new, and still others needed more fine-tuning to meet the needs of the ultimate target group, which are resource-poor farmers.


	Nadim Khouri, Director of PN, delivering his opening statement.

On his part, Khouri thanked the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and ICARDA for hosting and organizing the workshop. “The objective of this learning event,” he said, “is to update our knowledge on enhanced rainfed agricultural production systems. … About 80 per cent of cultivated land in the world is rainfed while about 60 per cent of the food produced is produced by systems that do not rely on irrigation.” He added: “We understand that poor people have their own strategies to move out of poverty, and the best strategy we can have is to understand their strategies and help them realize them and multiply their assets.”

Khouri pointed out that IFAD would direct US$300 million of its funds to the region over the next three years. On the basis of 1:1 dollar cofinancing, IFAD could attract a similar investment from the cofinanciers of its projects, bringing total external funding to US$600 million. “Normally, the largest cofinancing comes from the recipient countries and beneficiaries of the development projects themselves,” he said. “So if our investment starts with US$300 million, by the end we will have about US$1 billion basically entrusted to us and our partners to decide how to allocate in the next three years.”

Khouri emphasized that helping the most vulnerable, IFAD’s target group, requires greater efforts to make the best use of available resources, knowledge and technologies to enhance the quality of the Fund’s interventions in the region. This is particularly pressing because the region is facing increasing challenges as a result of climate change.

A number of workshop presentations dealt with research outputs and approaches to enhance food security and improved livelihoods in dry areas. They also addressed such important issues as the constraints that lead to food insecurity and poverty in dry areas; the appropriate technologies for improved livelihoods; approaches to technology transfer; and ICARDA’s strategic plan 2007-2016 on agricultural research for development in the dry areas. It was underlined that the severest impact of climate change will be in the NENA region. Participants stressed the need for new technologies to face the challenge of coping with ever scarcer water resources. They also emphasized the importance of developing more drought-tolerant crop varieties, improving the management of water resources and developing alternative solutions to traditional irrigation (including the use of supplementary irrigation methodologies in rainfed areas).


	Workshop participants at work.

Working in groups, the participants focused their discussions during the first day on key thematic issues. These included ways to improve crop and livestock productivity; water and natural resource management; and value chains, microfinance and market diagnostics. Several presentations were made by ICARDA scientists, IFAD experts and resource persons. These were followed by open discussions and a summary of findings, recommendations and reports to the plenary. Following these brainstorming events, workshop participants moved their debates to the field, visiting three ICARDA-supported projects.

The second day of the workshop was dedicated to field visits to sites of three IFAD-supported projects in the Syrian Arab Republic: the Jebel al Hoss Agricultural Development Project, now closed; and the Idleb Rural Development Project and the Badia Rangelands Development Project, both ongoing. As a result of these visits, IFAD will be developing a number of success stories like those reported in this issue of Rural Echoes, reflecting the achievements of poor rural women and men in charting a better future for themselves and their families.

The third and last day of workshop included a “retreat”, during which the division’s medium-term management plan 2010-2012 was discussed. Participating staff of IFAD and IFAD-supported projects deliberated on what the operational priorities of the division should be; how to improve the implementation and impact of country programmes; and ways to expand and strengthen IFAD’s lending and grant programmes, while improving efficiency in portfolio and project development. Breaking into separate working groups, the participants focused their discussions on four aspects of the division’s work, namely, the annual work programme and budget, monitoring and evaluation, procurement, and financial management. Participants also discussed the various ways the division had contributed to IFAD-wide results. These included building and leveraging partnerships, expanding cofinancing and intensifying the sharing and dissemination of knowledge.

Besides contributing to cross-fertilization and lifting overall team spirit, the workshop yielded a number of concrete “deliverables”, including learning notes on available technologies and approaches in rainfed agriculture; success stories from the field; validation of the divisional management plan 2010; and a divisional medium-term plan for 2010-2012. The fieldwork provided ample opportunity to demonstrate technological packages for improving agricultural productivity and food security, adapting to climate change, promoting natural resource management and upgrading the pro-poor use of value chains and markets, while also illustrating analytical tools for targeting pro-poor research and development investments.

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IFAD holds a project cycle training workshop in Qatar


	Speaking at the opening of the workshop were Taysir Al-Ghanem, Manger of Regional Communication (left); Waleed Al- Emadi, Director, International Cooperation Department (centre) and Dr Hamad Al-Saad, Senior Advisor of the Director General of Hassad Food public company (right).

The IFAD Training Workshop on Project Design and Supervision was held in Doha from 27 September to 1 October 2009 under the auspices of His Excellency Abdullah bin Mubarak bin Ia’aboud Al-Midhadhi, Minister of Environment of Qatar. The workshop was attended by 25 young agriculture-sector professionals, including 19 from Qatar, three from Saudi Arabia and three from the United Arab Emirates. It received extensive media coverage in Qatar.

The workshop was inaugurated on behalf of the Minister of Environment by Waleed Al- Emadi, Director, International Cooperation Department, who praised IFAD for its continued support and its efforts at training national cadres in projects in the region. “The Ministry of Environment places great importance on developing its human resources, because they are the first engine and prime motivation for the success of a comprehensive and sustainable agricultural development process,” he said.

Al-Emadi further affirmed that the Ministry had been working with international and regional organizations to provide proper training and qualifications for its staff in the field of agriculture and the environment. “This workshop is as a result of our joint efforts and the cooperation between the Ministry and IFAD. It is taking place because we believe that increasing the efficiency of our technical cadre is essential for good planning and the correct design, preparation, implementation and supervision of the process of agricultural production,” Al-Emadi concluded.


	Dr Hamad Al-Saad, Senior Advisor of the Director General of Hassad Food, delivering his presentation.

Dr Hamad Al-Saad, Senior Advisor to the Director General of Hassad Food, a government- owned company, also addressed the workshop on behalf of Dr Fahad Al-Attiya, Chairman of the Qatar National Food Security Programme. In his statement, Dr Al-Saad stressed that the workshop and similar capacity-building efforts were fundamental for helping the country build much-needed national capacities to develop the agricultural sector and contribute to the country’s food security. He outlined various aspects of the national food security strategy, including the development of Qatar’s own food production to satisfy a significant proportion of consumption needs while securing provisions from external sources though strategic investments.

Training at the workshop was conducted by an IFAD team consisting of Abdallah Rahman, senior consultant (formerly Country Portfolio Manager) and expert in project design; Dina Nabil, Portfolio Advisor and expert in project supervision and implementation support; and Taysir Al-Ghanem, Regional Communication Manager and workshop supervisor and facilitator. The team was supported from Rome by Dr Abdullah Gaaya, senior consultant and project cycle training expert.

The workshop’s first session was dedicated to general introductions. These included a summary of the workshop’s objectives; an overview of IFAD’s mandate and operations in the Near East and North Africa; a briefing on Qatar’s food security strategy; and an outline of the project cycle.

In his introductory intervention, Al-Ghanem said the workshop had been organized to help strengthen the national technical capacity of Qatar and the Gulf countries, enabling them to boost their food production and increase their food self-sufficiency in a sustainable way. He emphasized that the workshop would ensure that the trainees were capable of designing and implementing high-quality programmes and projects, and that they also would be able to contribute to the development of food-related policies and expertise in their respective countries.


	Dr Abdallah Rahman, IAD senior consultant, lecturing at the workshop.

Addressing the theme of project design and formulation, IFAD trainer Abdalla Rahman engaged the trainees in a lengthy learning process, which included lessons and exercises and a discussion of the inception, planning and appraisal of projects. In the context of these lessons, the training focused on, among other things, ways to identify and understand development challenges, possible options and solutions; the use of logical frameworks; budget assessment; implementation development; technical, financial, institutional, environmental and soci-economic feasibility studies; and the analysis of value chains and markets.


	IFAD's trainer and Supervision Expert, Ms Dina Nabil (left), with a participant form the UAE, Ms Wafa Al-Habsi (right), during the field visit.

Under the implementation and supervision theme, IFAD trainer Dina Nabil “walked” the trainees through a number of lessons. He started with definitions and guiding principles; he then discussed the specifics of starting up, implementing, supervising and closing projects, and issues related to sustainability; and he concluded by exploring special issues related to project implementation and supervision. IFAD’s training team also provided a general overview of the role of monitoring and evaluation, and discussed with trainees some of the projects they had either designed or made substantive contributions to.

The workshop trainees participated in a day-long field visit to the sites of two development projects in Qatar, the Ghadir Dairy Farms and Al-Arabiya Food Production Company, both of which are private-public partnerships with cofinancing from the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development. The field visit provided invaluable opportunities for the trainees to engage in discussions, moderated by the IFAD trainer, with the managers and staff of the two projects on achievements and shortfalls in project design and implementation support. The two projects were also subsequently discussed in the workshop where a number of strengths, weaknesses and gaps in design and implementation support were identified and alternative solutions and options debated.


	Workshop participants during the field visit to Ghadir Dairy Farms, near Doha.

At the end of the workshop, trainees were requested to complete a questionnaire rating the workshop. The majority of trainees found that the workshop had been successful in reaching its objectives to their satisfaction. IFAD completion certificates, signed by IFAD’s Assistant President, Programme Management Department, Kevin Cleaver and the Director of the Near East and North Africa Division, Nadim Khouri, were handed to all participants by His Excellency Dr Rashid Al-Kuwari, Director of the Nuclear-Radiation Protection Department of the Ministry of Environment.


	Dr Rashid Al-Kuwari, Director of the Nuclear-Radiation Protection Department of the Minister of Environment delivering the attendance certificates to participants.

Concluding the workshop, the workshop facilitator, Al-Ghanem, thanked the Ministry of Environment of Qatar for hosting the event, covering on-site costs and organizing the field visit. He also thanked the Ministry of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia for sponsoring the participation of three of its staff members. Al-Ghanem also expressed appreciation for the generosity of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, which sponsored the participation of three trainees from the United Arab Emirates (two from the Ministry of Environment and one from the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi).

In brief

US$4 million soft loan for Lebanon approved by IFAD’s Executive Board

During its ninety-seventh session, held in Rome on 14-15 September 2009, the Executive Board of IFAD approved a US$4 million soft loan to finance the Hilly Areas Sustainable Agricultural Development Project in Lebanon. The Board also approved a grant of US$0.6 million for the same project, which is expected to cost US$16.64 million. Implementation of the project is planned for early 2010, after the loan agreement is signed.

Enhancing monitoring systems in the NENA and CEN regions

Stepping up its efforts to improve the performance of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems of rural development projects in the NENA and Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEN) regions, the Near East and North Africa Division of IFAD will hold a divisional workshop on results-oriented monitoring systems in Rome on 17-18 December 2009. Some 20 workshop participants representing M&E project staff from the NENA and CEN regions will be involved in the division’s drive to strengthen national capacities for improved monitoring and evaluation of projects’ progress and results, while generating deeper knowledge of M&E tools, approaches and tasks.

Doha to host a conference on food security in the Arab World

A conference entitled “Food Security in the Arab World: Partnering for a Sustainable Future” will be held in Doha, Qatar, on 3-4 March 2010. Initiated by IFAD and Qatar University, the conference is organized by the Qatar National Food Security Programme. Taking advantage of the renewed interest in addressing the problems of food insecurity in the Arab region and the region’s dependence on food imports, the conference will raise awareness of the challenges facing Arab countries and shape mechanisms and action plans to help realize food security within a reasonable span of time. IFAD is cofinancing the conference thorough a small grant of US$160,000. In addition, it has also extended an additional small grant of US$100,000 to the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas to commission working papers for this conference. IFAD was also instrumental in mobilizing an additional contribution of US$60,000 from the Islamic Development Bank.