| Agriculture |
 |
Egypt: Smallholder contract farming for
high-value and organic agricultural exports
English |
|
The role of high-value crops
in rural poverty reduction
in the Near East and North Africa
Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty
IFAD has been strongly engaged in agriculture and rural development support since 1977. As of
the end of 2007, IFAD is funding 33 programme loans and 34 regional and country research
grants in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region1, with a total commitment of about
US$520 million.
Arabic | English |
| Climate change |
 |
ODI-IFAD project briefing: Closing the gap between climate adaptation and poverty reduction frameworks |
|
Climate change
Climate change is one of the most serious threats the world faces. It will affect all of us, but will have a disproportionate impact on millions of poor rural people.
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Climate change: building the resilience of poor rural communities
“Climate change has a
special significance for
IFAD. Agriculture is the
main source of livelihood
for most poor rural people,
and it is also the human
activity most directly
affected by climate change.
“Dealing with the inevitable
impact of climate change
is now high on the
development agenda.
By listening to the voices
of poor rural people while
planning adaptation and
mitigation efforts, we
can reduce the risks of
climate change while
accelerating progress
towards food security and
a world without poverty.”
English |
|
IFAD: a key player in adaptation
to climate change
The impacts of climate change are already tangible in many regions and they are projected
to become even more severe in coming years. This will have environmental, social and
economic consequences.
English |
| Food security |
|
Improving food security in Arab countries, a joint FAO, IFAD and World Bank publication
English |
| Gender |
|
International migration,
remittances and rural development
Globalization and migration are rapidly transforming
traditional spheres of human activity. The work of
rural families is no longer confined to farming
activities, and livelihoods are increasingly being
diversified through rural-to-urban and international
migration. Age-old boundaries are breaking down.
Formerly isolated towns and villages in Latin
America and the Caribbean have come closer to
New York and Los Angeles than to the capitals of
their own nations. The same is true of the
relationship of certain areas of Africa and Asia to
metropolises such as Berlin, Johannesburg,
London, Paris, Singapore and Sydney. Development
organizations that support rural poor families in
overcoming poverty are realizing that essential
members of these families are making their living
abroad, far away from their dependants. The ‘global
village’ has become a reality. However, the poverty
that forced rural inhabitants to migrate still exists in
their places of origin and continues to influence their
lives and prospects in their ‘adopted countries’, as
well as those of the people they left behind.
English |
|
Gender in agriculture sourcebook
The sourcebook provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned. The sourcebook is aimed at the practitioner both in international and regional development agencies and national governments. More specifically, it speaks to the needs of operational staff who design and implement lending projects and technical officers who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. It is intended to provide guidance on how to integrate gender into agricultural projects and programs.
English |
|
Gender and non-timber
forest products: Promoting food security and economic empowerment
This publication takes stock of past experience and demonstrates that there are many opportunities to invest in non-timber forest products in support of rural livelihoods and to promote better methods of enabling poor rural people, and especially women, to benefit from the sector. It highlights approaches used by IFAD and other agencies and emphasizes the multiple dimension of the challenges – in terms of division of labour, differences in access to credit and market information, and environmental issues. It also illustrated the role of women as agents of change in this sector in knowledge of natural resources, biodiversity and conservation.
English |
|
Gender and water
Gender and water examines the impact of water-related projects on women, women's role in managing water resources and the constraints women face in gaining access to water.It presents lessons learned in promoting women's participation in decision-making for water management using experiences from several IFAD-supported water programmes and projects. It highlights the innovative activities and catalysts that have helped to address gender issues in water programmes and projects. And it offers recommendations on how to improve women's access to water resources through equitable development and gender mainstreaming.
English |
|
Polishing the stone
Polishing the stone, that shares some of IFAD's knowledge and experience in promoting gender equity in rural development projects.
English | Spanish |
|
Gender and desertification:
Making ends
meet in drylands
Desertification is the process of land degradation that affects
dryland areas and is caused by poverty, unsustainable land
management and climate change. Drylands lose their
productive capacity in a spiral of destruction that twins
increased land degradation with increased poverty and food
insecurity. Drought and desertification threaten the livelihoods
of more than 1.2 billion people in 110 countries. The problem
is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia
English |
|
Gender and desertification: Expanding roles for women to restore drylands
In addition to caring for their families, women
across the developing world spend
considerable proportions of their time and
energy using and preserving land for the
production of food and fuel and to generate
income for their families and communities.
These activities include crop production,
growing fruits and vegetables, raising small
livestock, tending trees, processing products
for food and markets, and managing and
collecting water and fuel. Women are usually
responsible for the plots in which food crops
are grown, while men are responsible for the
plots on which cash crops are grown. The
latter account for a major part of the threat of
soil nutrient depletion and desertification
English |
|
Working for change: Implementing the Beijing Platform for action:
IFAD's approach
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Women as agents of change
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Memory
checks for programme and project design - household food security
and gender
Intended as a support to design teams and project
planners in diagnosing and focusing on critical issues relevant
to gender and household food security
English | French | Spanish |
|
An IFAD approach to gender mainstreaming:
The experience of Latin America and the Caribbean
The purpose of this publication is document what the
Latin America and the Caribbean Division (LAC) has achieved in terms
of gender mainstreaming in its projects and regional programmes
English | French | Spanish |
|
IFAD's
gender strenghtening programme in Eastern and Southern Africa
This publication is intended to inform IFAD-supported
project management units (PMUs), other donors and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) working in Eastern and Southern Africa about
IFAD’s Gender Strengthening Programme in the region
English | French |
|
Gender perspective – Focus
on the rural poor
An overview of gender issues in IFAD-assisted projects
This 24-page brochure,
presents the evolution of IFAD’s approach to gender, together
with some examples of sector-specific approaches selected from IFAD’s
project portfolio. The publication highlights some of the challenges
that were identified in the Progress Report on the Project Portfolio,
which was presented to the May session of the Executive Board
English | French | Spanish |
|
Seminario-Taller para el fortalecimiento
de los apsectos de género en los proyectos FIDA asociados al PROCASUR
informe
This report presents a brief description
of the Programme for Strengthening of Gender Issues in IFAD Projects
(PROSIGIP); the experience of this programme with projects associated
to Procasur
Spanish |
|
Women factsheet
Arabic | English | French | Italian | Spanish |
|
Visit the Rural Poverty Portal section on Gender and rural poverty
Read more about IFAD's contribution to MDG 3 – Gender equality and women’s empowerment
|
| Indigenous peoples |
|
Indigenous
peoples and sustainable development
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Giving
people a chance: the value of opportunity - Experience with
Organization in the Andean Countries
English | French | Spanish |
|
Indigenous peoples factsheet
Arabic | English | French | Italian | Spanish |
|
Visit the Rural Poverty Portal section on Indigenous peoples and rural poverty
Read more about IFAD and indigenous peoples
|
| Land |
|
Land grab or development opportunity? - Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa
English |
|
IFAD Thematic priorities
for the Near East and North Africa
In recent years, economic performance in the NENA region has been uneven. The
structural reforms initiated in the 1990s – albeit slow – have resulted in a significant
reduction of state involvement in the economy and have boosted private-sector
investment and overall economic growth. Countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and
Tunisia have seen considerable economic benefits from these reforms.
Arabic | English
|
| Market access and trade |
|
Trade and rural development
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Promoting market access for the rural poor in order to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
IFAD Thematic priorities
for the Near East and North Africa
In recent years, economic performance in the NENA region has been uneven. The
structural reforms initiated in the 1990s – albeit slow – have resulted in a significant
reduction of state involvement in the economy and have boosted private-sector
investment and overall economic growth. Countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and
Tunisia have seen considerable economic benefits from these reforms.
Arabic | English |
|
Impact of Trade Liberalization on Agriculture in the Near East and North Africa - Joint IFAD and IFPRI publication
In the past two decades, many countries in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region have reformed the agricultural sector by lowering agricultural tariffs, liberalizing domestic prices and reducing consumer food subsidies. However, trade restrictions and domestic price support mechanisms are still prevalent for a few “strategic” commodities (such as wheat), and there is wide divergence among the countries in terms of the extent and depth of liberalization.
Previous and on-going domestic agricultural reform, bilateral and regional trade agreements, as well as any future trade liberalization that may result from further multilateral trade negotiations under the WTO, will have significant impact on the agricultural sector of the NENA region. Some studies have tried to analyze the expected impact of these changes on the region’s agricultural sector - with divergent results depending on the assumptions and methodologies used, and no analysis has been done relating these changes to small farmers and poor rural households. Given its focus on improving the livelihoods of the rural poor in the region, the NENA Division of IFAD, in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute, has undertaken this study to examine the expected impact of agricultural domestic and international trade liberalization on this target group.
The results of the study are very useful to identify the measures that could be used to either mitigate the potential negative impacts of trade liberalization on small rural producers or to help them in seizing new domestic and international market opportunities. The study concludes that trade policy by itself is an imprecise and costly instrument to address poverty. There is a need, however, for complementary policies to enhance the positive effects of trade liberalization (or reduce its negative impact), and these include flexible factor markets (especially for labour), trade facilitation measures, support to “public goods”, direct income support to farmers, and safety net programs.
English |
|
Visit the Rural Poverty Portal sections on:
Read more about:
|
| Millennium Development Goals |
|
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Rural investment and enabling policy
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals by enabling the rural
poor to overcome their poverty
Arabic | English | French | Spanish
|
| Natural resource management |
|
Community-based natural resource management
How knowledge is managed, disseminated and used
Natural resources are the foundation from which rural poor people can overcome poverty. However, planners and implementers of natural resource development projects do not always profit from the lessons learned – either information is lost or it is not easily accessible or changing circumstances may limit its value. Whatever the reason, learning from the past still makes sense. Knowledge does not wear out – although it is sometimes difficult to find, synthesize and use. It is against this challenging background that IFAD has targeted learning as one of its key products
English |
|
Gender and water
Gender and water examines the impact of water-related projects on women, women's role in managing water resources and the constraints women face in gaining access to water.It presents lessons learned in promoting women's participation in decision-making for water management using experiences from several IFAD-supported water programmes and projects. It highlights the innovative activities and catalysts that have helped to address gender issues in water programmes and projects. And it offers recommendations on how to improve women's access to water resources through equitable development and gender mainstreaming.
English |
|
Desertification as a global problem |
|
The Rural poor - Survival or a better life?
The choice between destruction of resources and sustainable
development
English | HTML version
French | HTML version
Spanish | HTML version |
|
Livestock services and the poor: A global initiative. Collecting, coordinating and sharing experiences
English | French | Spanish |
|
The Land Poor: Essential
Partners for the Sustainable Management of Land Resources
English | French | Spanish |
|
Environment and natural Resource management: IFAD's
growing commitment
English | French | Spanish |
|
Tackling
land degradation and desertification GEF- IFAD Partnership
English | French | Spanish
Read more... |
|
Mishqui-Yacu, Sweet water
This book is about the struggle for and peace brought
by water to the Cañari indigenous population in Ecuador. It is a
simple and open account of the difficulties that the Upper Basin
of the Cañar River Rural Development Project went through. It started
out as a highly technical project, ignoring the history and concerns
of communities that should have been the leading actors in project
formulation. It is also the story of the great efforts made to remedy
the shortcomings of the initial formulation by helping people organize
themselves, gain a voice and obtain methods, tools and instruments
useful in providing a living for themselves and their families
English | French | Spanish |
|
|
|
Visit the Rural Poverty Portal sections on:
Read more about:
|
| Nutrition |
|
Guidelines for estimating
the month and year of
birth of young children (Joint European Union, FAO and IFAD publication) |
| Participatory planning |
|
Good practices in participatory mapping
English |
|
Comprehensive
participatory planning evaluation by Lefevre P., Kolsteren
P., De Wael M., Byekwaso F., and I. Beghin (IFAD/Belgian Survival
Fund, 2001)
This paper documents a participatory approach intended to ensure that
relevant interventions are developed based on the needs and perceived
problems of beneficiaries; local capacities; and lessons learned from
previous experience
English |
|
Participatory approaches for
an impact-oriented project cycle
This publication reports on the findings of the working
groups and main messages of plenary presentations of a workshop
held at IFAD in November 2000. The objective of the workshop was to analyse project management methods and approaches that support
the planning, monitoring and achievement of impact. Prepared by
PD, OE and the working group on Impact Achievement throughout the
Project Cycle
English | French | Spanish
|
| Remittances |
|
International migration,
remittances and rural development
Globalization and migration are rapidly transforming
traditional spheres of human activity. The work of
rural families is no longer confined to farming
activities, and livelihoods are increasingly being
diversified through rural-to-urban and international
migration. Age-old boundaries are breaking down.
Formerly isolated towns and villages in Latin
America and the Caribbean have come closer to
New York and Los Angeles than to the capitals of
their own nations. The same is true of the
relationship of certain areas of Africa and Asia to
metropolises such as Berlin, Johannesburg,
London, Paris, Singapore and Sydney. Development
organizations that support rural poor families in
overcoming poverty are realizing that essential
members of these families are making their living
abroad, far away from their dependants. The ‘global
village’ has become a reality. However, the poverty
that forced rural inhabitants to migrate still exists in
their places of origin and continues to influence their
lives and prospects in their ‘adopted countries’, as
well as those of the people they left behind.
English |
|
Sending money home
150 million migrants worldwide sent more than US$300 billion to their families in developing countries during 2006
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
| Rural finance |
|
Refinancing facilities: IFAD introduces an innovation in rural finance development
IFAD uses highly concessional loans in an innovative way in the Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Moldova. Low-cost refinancing capital makes rural investments attractive and profitable for formal financial institutions and reduces rural poverty by stimulating economic growth.
In the past seven years, IFAD has successfully used refinancing facilities in economies in transition to stimulate investments on farms and in rural processing companies. The approach supports the financial system as a whole, allowing it to respond more effectively to the financing needs of rural clients, whether individuals or enterprises. Participating banks and credit institutions assume all the risks, and operations do not weigh down state budgets. Near-perfect loan repayment rates are spurring banks and credit institutions to adopt more flexible collateral requirements for rural lending, a major goal of IFAD’s rural finance policy.
Read more | Download publication |
|
IFAD Thematic priorities
for the Near East and North Africa
In recent years, economic performance in the NENA region has been uneven. The
structural reforms initiated in the 1990s – albeit slow – have resulted in a significant
reduction of state involvement in the economy and have boosted private-sector
investment and overall economic growth. Countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and
Tunisia have seen considerable economic benefits from these reforms.
Arabic |English |
|
Guiding Framework for rural finance in the Near East and North Africa
Over the last thirty years, through its projects and programmes, IFAD has supported the development of rural financial services. The Fund’s strategies and implementation modalities have progressively evolved over the years as greater knowledge of the subject and increased experience has resulted in a better understanding of the nature of poverty and rural finance.
Building on this experience, the Near East and North Africa region has developed a "Guiding Framework for rural finance in the Near East and North Africa". The primary objective of the framework is to guide the staff of the Near East and North Africa Division in designing, implementing and monitoring rural finance interventions and activities at country level by following international good practices in the rural and microfinance sector. The document is also useful in informing IFAD’s partners about the Fund’s medium term approach to rural finance in the region.
Arabic | English |
|
Remittances: strategic and operational considerations
Exceeding USD 230 billion in 2005, remittances are a critical flow of funds for low-income people in both the North and South. Accessing and affording these services, however, can be a challenge, especially in remote, rural areas. This annex to the IFAD Decision Tools for Rural Finance introduces migrant remittances in the wider context of development finance, discussing the key principles of effective service delivery and highlighting potential areas for IFAD support. Designed to give IFAD staff a solid grounding in this topic, this paper includes a review of donor activity on remittances and provides numerous references to research on remittances in specific regions
English |
|
Handbook for the analysis of the governance of microfinance institutions
Beyond financial viability, successful and sustainable microfinance institutions (MFIs) have articulated a clear strategic vision and implemented transparent internal processes acceptable to all stakeholders. This handbook outlines a method to evaluate an MFIs’ approach to its systems and organization according to six fundamental elements of good governance. Written by Cécile Lapenu of the Comité d’échanges, de réflexion et d’information sur les systèmes d’épargne-crédit (CERISE) and Dorothée Pierret, consultant with the Institut de recherches et d’applications des méthodes de développement, this guide is based on the field experience of CERISE and their microfinance partners
English |
|
Assessing and managing social performance in microfinance
Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have a “double bottom line:” they work toward both a social mission and financial sustainability. Assessing and managing social performance details several tools that evaluate how an MFI translates their social mission into practice, encouraging a transition from one-off impact assessments to the continuous monitoring of social performance. This publication was produced with significant input from Anton Simanowitz of Improving the Impact of Microfinance on Poverty, a three-year action-research programme working with 30 rural finance institutions in 20 countries, and Cécile Lapenu of the Comité d’Echanges, de Réflexion et d’Information sur les Systèmes d’Epargne-crédit
English
|
|
Emerging lessons in agricultural microfinance: Selected case studies
Based on desk reviews, consultant site visits and stakeholder consultations, CGAP identified a shortlist of institutions actively engaged in agricultural finance with the potential to achieve scale and sustainability. Selected from this shortlist, Emerging lessons presents several case studies to offer insight, lessons learned and analyses relevant and useful to donors, investors, financial institutions and others engaged in promoting financial services to the many millions of poor people dependant on agriculture.
These five case studies—Confianza in Peru, the Bai Tushum Financial Foundation in Kyrgyzstan, Caja Los Andes in Bolivia, Equity Bank Limited in Kenya, and the Cooperative League of the USA in Mozambique—were used by CGAP to finalize Occasional Paper 11 on Managing Risks and Designing Products for Agricultural Microfinance: Features of an Emerging Model
English |
|
Managing risks and designing products for agricultural microfinance: Features of an emerging model
Based on these case studies and their wider research, CGAP also identified the ten cross-cutting features that characterize successful agricultural microfinance portfolios in Managing risks and designing products for agricultural microfinance. Written by Robert Peck Christen of the Boulder Microfinance Institute and Douglas Pearce of the UK Department for International Development, CGAP first issued this publication as Occasional Paper 11 in 2005. IFAD has re-issued this paper here as part of the 2006 IFAD series of rural finance publications
English |
|
Village banks – The new generation: How IFAD helped FINCA set its village banking programmes on the road to commercialization
This shorter, more accessible paper gives an overview of village banking, as well as the fundamental benefits and constraints to commercialization among MFIs. Appropriate for readers new to microfinance, Village banks – the new generation provides an overview of the IFAD grant to FINCA and describes some of the new challenges faced by the FINCA affiliates that have undertaken the process of commercialization
English |
|
Supporting innovation in the field: The role of IFAD’s support in the sustainability and commercial transformation of FINCA’s village banking programmes
Designed for IFAD staff and other donors, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers more familiar with microfinance, Supporting innovation in the field provides more detail than Village banks – the new generation. This longer, more technical paper describes the lessons learned at FINCA on the commercial transformation of their village banks during implementation of the three-year technical assistance grant from IFAD
English |
|
Rural
Finance for the Poor: from unsustainable projects to sustainable
institutions
This 12-page brochure presents concisely the IFAD
rural finance policy approved by the Executive Board in May
2000
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
|
|
Visit the Rural Poverty Portal section on Rural finance and rural poverty
Read more about IFAD and rural finance |
| Rural institutions |
|
Institutional and Organizational Analysis for Pro-Poor Change: Meeting IFAD’s Millennium Challenge: a source book
English |
|
Guidance notes for institutional analysis
in rural development programmes
|
|
Transforming
rural institutions in order to reach the Millennium Development
Goals
Arabic | English | French | Spanish |
|
Institutions the key to development: Building alliances to empower the rural poor
English
|
| Rural poverty |
|
Status of rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa
The "Status of rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa" is the outcome of a joint IFAD-FAO activity. Its main objective is to provide IFAD and its partners with updated knowledge about the status of rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region and to enhance their capacity to design and implement more effective country strategic opportunities programmes (COSOPs) and country projects aimed at rural poverty reduction. The study also aims at informing the work of the NENA division in 2008 and beyond, particularly in formulating its thematic priorities in the region and strategic priorities at country level, and in sharpening its approaches in specific areas.
Arabic | English
|
| Rural youth |
|
IFAD Thematic priorities
for the Near East and North Africa
In recent years, economic performance in the NENA region has been uneven. The
structural reforms initiated in the 1990s – albeit slow – have resulted in a significant
reduction of state involvement in the economy and have boosted private-sector
investment and overall economic growth. Countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and
Tunisia have seen considerable economic benefits from these reforms.
Arabic | English |
