New realities, new challenges:
new opportunities for tomorrow's generation

The Rural Poverty Report 2011 is a comprehensive resource for policymakers and practitioners, especially those in developing countries.  The report looks at who poor rural people are, what they do and how their livelihoods are changing.  It explores the challenges that make it so difficult for rural people to overcome poverty, and identifies the opportunities and pathways that could lead towards greater prosperity for them and their communities.  And it highlights the policies and actions that governments and development practitioners can take to support the efforts of rural people themselves, both today and in the years to come.

Among the topics covered in the Rural Poverty Report 2011 are:

• the size, scope and consequences of rural poverty on a global scale, and particularly its impact on young people and their prospects for the future.

• linkages between the goals of eradicating rural poverty and ensuring food security for a growing population.

• the challenges to rural people posed by the effects of escalating natural resources constraints and climate change, and how they can be effectively addressed.

• how poor people’s inability to access agricultural markets contributes to their poverty, and what can be done to expand their access. 

• the role of sustainable agriculture and other modern farming practices in enabling smallholder farmers to increase yields, cope with (and indeed help resolve) critical environmental challenges, and be a part of the solution to the challenge of feeding the world’s rapidly growing population.

• the need to improve the overall environment of rural areas – better infrastructure, better governance, and better education, health and financial services – to make them places where people can find greater opportunities and face fewer risks.

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