Factsheets

What can information and communication technologies (ICTs) do for the world's 900 million extremely poor people who live in rural area? The question is crucial to the fight to enable rural poor people to overcome poverty.

Méthodes innovantes d’amélioration sylvo-pastorale: Le cas du projet de lutte participative contre la désertification et de réduction de la pauvreté dans les écosystèmes arides et semi-arides des hauts plateaux de l’Oriental au Maroc.

IFAD’s experience shows that, with the right support, rural communities can transform their existence in a sustainable way. Supporting the development and ownership of a viable private sector in rural areas plays a fundamental part.

We have always supported the rural private sector, providing primarily small- scale operators with financial and technical assistance to help them
improve their livelihoods.

IFAD and the Government of Mauritius are moving towards a new form of partnership that differs from the standard model for low-income countries, which was followed in Mauritius until 2005. 

IFAD recognizes that the country now has sufficient national resources to address rural poverty, so the focus of interventions has shifted from financing projects towards developing a collaborative approach with the government to reduce the incidence of poverty.

This approach includes policy dialogue, knowledge management and sharing, and partnership-building.

IFAD first worked in Seychelles in 1991, when it began financing the Employment Generation Project, which was completed six years later.
More recently, stakeholders from Seychelles have participated in activities funded by an ongoing IFAD grant, which supports the Regional Initiative for Smallholder Agriculture Adaptation to Climate Change in the Indian Ocean Islands. This initiative is creating a regional knowledge-management platform on adaptation strategies for small-scale farmers.

The platform actively disseminates information on conservation agriculture practices such as farming with low or zero tillage, as well as composting, integrating livestock and farming activities, and other environmentally sustainable measures.

Indigenous peoples have rich and ancient cultures and view their social, economic, environmental and spiritual systems as interdependent. They make valuable contributions to the world’s heritage thanks to their traditional knowledge and their understanding of ecosystem management. But indigenous peoples are also among the world’s most vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged groups. We must ensure that their voices are heard, their rights respected, and their well-being improved.