Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty

Looking up on Mount Kenya – naturally!

The IFAD-funded Post-crisis Programme for Participatory Integrated Development of Rainfed Areas (PIDRA) closed in 2009, but the benefits for participating communities in eastern Java are still very much being felt.

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Sustainability and more: how building local institutions keeps communities thriving

The IFAD-funded Post-crisis Programme for Participatory Integrated Development of Rainfed Areas (PIDRA) closed in 2009, but the benefits for participating communities in eastern Java are still very much being felt.

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The power of partnering: Holistic watershed rehabilitation in Haiti

In the valley of Nan Carré in the north-west department of Haiti, water flows rapidly through concrete channels and can be quickly diverted into adjacent plots. Everywhere the eye travels, healthy plants are pushing up in neat rows. Here Derelus Clercilien farms a small plot of about an eighth of a hectare and helps run the association that manages the new irrigation system. His enthusiasm is contagious. "Once the irrigation system was in place I planted carrots," he says. "The project staff kept telling me to keep watering. I made 10,000 gourdes (about US$236). I had never seen that much money before, I had never even seen 5,000 gourdes."

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Empowering the Papuan women of Indonesia

Indonesia has become the largest economy in Southeast Asia, and steady economic growth has translated into significant poverty reduction. Growth has been uneven, however, with remote areas like the provinces of Papua and West Papua lagging behind. The process of democratization and decentralization continues, but social and cultural issues remain intertwined with the country's development.

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Over 400 million poor rural people have participated in programmes and projects supported by IFAD and partners around the world, and they all have stories to tell. Here are some of those stories, featuring women and men who are working to overcome poverty and determine the direction of their own lives. These ground-level accounts of hope and empowerment reside on the Rural Poverty Portal, powered by IFAD.

 

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