Rural poverty in the Asia and the Pacific region In recent years the Asia and the Pacific region has experienced a period of considerable economic growth, which has been led by China and India, the two rising giants of the region. Now many of the region’s developing countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Viet Nam, are following confidently in their wake. The year 2006 was one of unprecedented expansion for many developing countries in the region, and the trend is predicted to continue. Many countries are reaping the benefits of a steady increase in global production and trade, coupled with low inflation and low interest rates, and the benefits of reforms affecting productivity. Economic progress has, in turn, helped large portions of the population of the region rise out of poverty. Thanks to this major growth spurt, the region as a whole is likely to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people living in poverty by 2015. Between 1990 and 2003 the number of people living on less than US$1 a day dropped by nearly a third across the region. Poverty rates have declined steadily throughout much of South and East Asia, and the absolute number of poor people also declined in East Asia despite continued rapid population growth. In many countries, and especially in East Asia, reductions in poverty have been dramatic. But behind these overall successes lies a more complex reality. Several of the least developed countries in the region are not expected to meet the MDG of halving poverty by 2015. And trends within subregions and individual countries mask vast and often growing differences between rich and poor. With increased growth have come accelerated industrialization, deforestation and intensified farming, which present major challenges such as:
While some areas are leaping ahead economically, others are slipping further back into poverty. South Asia remains the subregion with the highest poverty rates. But parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands are also showing signs of falling deeper into poverty. Southeast Asia’s poorest people, who include women, ethnic minorities, landless and marginal farmers in upland areas and coastal fishers in remote islands, lack access to essential services, safe drinking water and sanitation. Tuberculosis and HIV rates are on the rise. Living conditions of large sections of the populations of poor people in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Philippines, in particular, still lag far behind those in neighbouring countries. In the Pacific Islands the degradation of coastal and marine environments threatens island ecosystems and economies. Many islanders are unable to feed their families adequately, and the number of undernourished people is increasing. Throughout the region poverty remains largely a rural phenomenon and is often directly linked to low agricultural productivity. Characteristics of rural poverty in the Asia and Pacific region Across the region hundreds of millions of rural people in less favoured environments struggle to eke out a living and to feed their families. The poorest and most vulnerable communities live in areas with uncertain rainfall, steep slopes and poor soils, where land is marginal, low in natural resources and difficult to farm. Typically these are mountainous and highland areas, or semi-arid zones with acute problems of water scarcity. They are often remote with very limited access to markets, infrastructure and services. Land ownership in many of the region’s countries is concentrated in the hands of a few. Widespread poverty is often the direct result of inequitable property rights and unequal distribution of assets. The majority of poor rural households survive by cultivating a small parcel of land. The poorest of them are either landless, dependent on piecemeal work as labourers, or else farm tiny plots that are inadequate for feeding a family. Poverty is more severe in areas where agricultural productivity is declining. Where the competition for land is fierce, natural resources are exhausted and degraded and productivity decreases. In areas that are already environmentally fragile, subsistence farming puts pressure on limited resources. The consequences of deforestation, overgrazing of livestock and increased production on marginal soils can be devastating in terms of soil erosion and soil fertility depletion. In the worst cases, communities are forced to migrate or enter into conflict over limited resources. Land degradation, desertification and depleted marine resources are major concerns in many parts of Asia, and they inevitably lead to greater poverty. About 70 per cent of the world's more than 250 million indigenous peoples live in Asia and the Pacific. Indigenous groups form a small proportion of the general population but constitute concentrations of extreme poverty and marginalization. These peoples are isolated in many ways. They often live in remote upland and mountain areas, and their languages, culture and religions set them apart from mainstream societies and economies. The violation of their civil rights, particularly their rights to access land and other resources, has transformed many areas into seats of long-standing rebellion. In addition, in countries like India and Nepal, other socially marginalized groups such as the Dalits are among the poorest. Women are still one of the single most disadvantaged groups in the region. In many Asian countries, particularly in South Asia, women and girls are consistently discriminated against regarding their access to health, nutrition and education. In some areas gender disparities are even on the increase, as in parts of China where women are taking over a larger share of agricultural tasks as men migrate to work elsewhere. Poverty is always more severe for women, who face greater hardships in providing for themselves and their children. Women generally have fewer employment opportunities, weaker skills and less access to training. They lack control of and ownership of assets. They are also vulnerable to gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. The Asia and the Pacific region is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. The devastation caused in recent years by major earthquakes and the December 2004 tsunami have drawn the world’s attention to the impact of such disasters on people who are already vulnerable. The proliferation of infectious diseases, such as avian flu, also poses important challenges to many countries in the region. IFAD's strategy in the Asia and Pacific region IFAD's strategy for development interventions in the region moves in three main directions:
Sustainable land and water management is the underpinning of any poverty reduction strategy in the region. It includes:
Where possible, IFAD promotes land reform policies and more equitable property rights to gain greater access to productive natural resources for poor rural people. A sense of ownership is the best incentive for good management of key resources. IFAD has a key role to play in enhancing agricultural productivity and improving the ability of poor rural people to make a living from the land. It helps farmers by understanding their specific needs, tailoring technologies to suit those needs and strengthening grass-roots organizations so that they can continue to make their needs known. The organization promotes alternative technological approaches as appropriate, including sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture and biotechnology. It helps producers and processors learn to negotiate value chains and market linkages. Smallholders need help adapting to and integrating into new market conditions such asthe proliferation of supermarkets in the region. IFAD intervenes to rehabilitate areas where disasters have already occurred. It also invests in risk management and prevention to address the region’s vulnerability to major threats, including natural disasters, financial crisis, conflicts and health epidemics. In zones that are prone to recurrent flooding, drought or earthquakes it designs interventions to manage risks and reduce vulnerability to shocks. Damage from natural disasters such as the Kashmir earthquake in December 2005 can be enormous and very costly, and can push large groups of already vulnerable people deeper into poverty. IFAD Member States in Asia and the Pacific IFAD has been funding loan initiatives in the Asia and the Pacific region since 1978. In June 2007 there were 33 eligible borrowing member countries in the Asia and the Pacific region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, DPR Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Niue, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga and Viet Nam. Target groups in Asia and the Pacific Since 1978, IFAD has financed 185 loan initiatives in 21 countries in the Asia and the Pacific region, for a total of US$3.0 billion. The introduction of the Performance-based Allocation System (PBAS) and the Debt Sustainability Framework ensures a broader distribution of resources based on performance and a wider selection of instruments tailored to local contexts. IFAD’s interventions particularly target areas inhabited by ethnic groups, indigenous peoples and other marginalized social groups, Projects and programmes are designed to give voice to their needs, especially regarding land rights issues, and to enhance their income-earning capacities by improving their access to productive resources and promoting alternative incomes through microfinance schemes. Women and households headed by women are a primary target group. Each project or programme has a gender focus, with strategies that encourage women to participate equally in project activities and contribute to local decision-making processes, as well as to gain greater access to economic and social resources. IFAD-funded projects and programmes in the region tend to focus on piloting interventions in selected villages within a larger designated area where poverty and vulnerability to food insecurity are extreme. Working with indigenous and tribal peoples in Asia and the Pacific The needs of indigenous and tribal peoples and ethnic minorities are high among IFAD’s priorities in its development work in Asia and the Pacific. India, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and the Philippines are some of the countries in the region where IFAD has worked and continues working, to empower indigenous peoples, champion their rights and improve their living conditions and economic standing. Since 1978 IFAD has provided about US$1.0 billion in loans to support indigenous peoples in Asia and Latin America. Over the years the organization has gained experience in addressing the most pressing problems faced by these marginalized groups. It helps them secure access to ancestral lands and revitalize their cultural traditions and knowledge, recognizing that indigenous culture often harbours the best approaches to the conservation of resources, and that indigenous peoples are custodians of assets that are of value to all humanity. It helps stimulate better livelihoods through sustainable natural resource management and promotes cross-cultural education. The Andhra Pradesh Tribal Development Project in India is among the best-known tribal development initiatives in India. This very successful US$46.5 million project, the first of its kind in the region, has helped pioneer new approaches to tribal development. Its lessons in fostering community participation and empowering tribal peoples have been incorporated into similar IFAD-funded projects in India and elsewhere. Community coordination teams lived in tribal villages for up to three years to encourage villagers to take an active part in guiding the design of development activities according to their needs and values. The project helped create village-level institutions to strengthen traditional institutions, and create new ones such as self-help groups. At its close it had formed 1,029 village tribal development associations, 1,231 self-help groups, 1,231 thrift and credit groups, and 467 grain banks with nearly 9,000 members. In Bangladesh, the ongoing Smallholder Agricultural Improvement Project is improving livelihoods for tribal communities living in the central part of the country. The 13,000 or so Adivasi, or tribal, households living there have long been marginalized and excluded from mainstream society. They depend on agriculture for survival, but their livelihoods are highly insecure. By providing technical training, access to financial services and demonstrations in new farming technologies to more than 15,000 Adivasi households, the project has succeeded in revitalizing local livelihoods. The 13 million indigenous peoples in the Philippines represent about 17 per cent of the total population. Comprising an estimated 110 ethnolinguistic groups, they embody an immense cultural wealth. Yet they are constantly threatened with the loss of their ancestral lands, and assets such as water and forest resources that they depend on for their survival. The IFAD-funded Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project boasts three major achievements related to its target indigenous population. First, there has been a significant reduction in poverty in the target area. Second, the project played a major role in helping the government provide certificates of access rights to more than 100,000 hectares of ancestral land for indigenous tribes. Third, the project successfully integrated the lapat local knowledge system for forest management into its reforestation activities. This system, practised by the Tingguians' Masadiit tribe in Abra, effectively regulates the harvesting and utilization of forest products, thereby protecting natural resources. As a result of this pilot exercise the lapatsystem will become integrated into national policy. Source: IFAD |
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