Knowledge

South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) is a key development instrument that can contribute to achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides unprecedented opportunities for developing countries to leverage their own experience, knowledge and resources in support of social and economic transformation of their, and other, people.

The Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP) aimed to foster market-driven development of the informal dairy sector in Kenya. 

In Madagascar, the Project to Support Development in the Menabe and Melaky Regions (AD2M) aimed to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers by strengthening their tenure security and access to well-functioning irrigation systems.

Index insurance has a role to play in agricultural development and risk management, yet it faces operational and technical challenges to reach scale and sustainability. Data are a key challenge and were the focus of the project “Improving Agricultural Risk Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Remote Sensing for Index Insurance”. Limited availability, accessibility, quantity and poor quality of data on the ground are some of the primary technical constraints preventing scale-up and sustainability of index insurance. Without sufficient quality data, either it is impossible to design products for some areas and countries, or products that are designed can become unreliable, not compensating when they should. These inconsistencies intensify vulnerability, lead to distrust of insurance, and ultimately have an impact on demand. This publication details the project, which investigated overcoming issues with ground data by using remote sensing data for index insurance. It describes the different remote sensing options and opportunities available for index insurance, but it also recommends further investment in research and development, supplementary ground data and capacity-building going forward. 

This study describes the shifting age and sex patterns of populations across rural and urban sectors in sub‑Saharan Africa from 1980 to 2015. It examines the relationship between the slowdown in urbanization and rural and urban age structure gaps, sex composition and dependency ratios. Findings show that rural-urban migration of young adults plays a key role in explaining dependency ratios and sex compositional gaps in rural and urban areas. Results also highlight the value of taking into account local age and sex structures to better prepare for the demographic dividend and other consequences of demographic shifts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Established in 2005 as a permanent feature of the IFAD Governing Council, the Farmers’ Forum (FAFO) is a bottom-up process of consultation and dialogue between IFAD, governments and farmers’ organizations that represent millions of small-scale farmers, fisher folk and pastoralists, both men and women, across the world. The forum aims to strengthen partnership and collaboration between IFAD and farmers’ organizations in country programmes and investment projects and to build capacity within these organizations. In support of the Farmers’ Forum, projects are established to strengthen farmers’ organizations and activities in the field. Thus, IFAD, together with several other donors (EU, SDC, AFD), has engaged into partnership with FOs through continental grants in Asia with the Medium-term Cooperation Programme with Farmers’ Organizations in Asia and
the Pacific (MTCP) as well as in Africa with the Support to Farmers’ Organizations in Africa Programme (SFOAP).

The MilkIT research for development project set out to improve dairy-centred livelihoods in India and Tanzania through intensification of smallholder
production focused on enhancement of feeds and feeding using innovation platforms and value chain approaches.

The project worked in the state of Uttarakhand in India and in Morogoro and Tanga regions in Tanzania. In both countries dairy has considerable potential to improve the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farming families but this potential has been underexploited. MilkIT focused on improving milk productivity through multistakeholder engagement to increase milk marketing and dairy cow feeding.

Over the past 25 years, the Dominican Republic has enjoyed one of the strongest growth rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing and tourism.

Brazil is a major agricultural and industrial power, has the strongest economy in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is the seventh-largest economy in the world. It is the fourth-largest agricultural producing country, the main producer of coffee, sugarcane and citrus, and the second largest soybean, beef and poultry producer.