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Scaling up note: Mauritania
December 2015
In recent years, Mauritania has enjoyed political stability, with the June 2014 presidential elections taking place peacefully. In addition, the country registered a robust growth rate of 6.7 per cent in 2013 and continues to be characterized by macroeconomic stability. The country, however, remains exposed to vulnerabilities related to lack of diversification, international price volatility and reliance on foreign inflows. While it has succeeded in increasing per capita income in recent years, income distribution has remained relatively unchanged for the last two decades, and the challenges of unemployment remain daunting. Sound management of natural resources is essential to foster inclusive and long-term growth.
Scaling up note: Indonesia
December 2015
Indonesia is the largest economy in South-East Asia and has developed rapidly over the past decade into a competitive and decentralized electoral democracy with a fast growing middle class. Despite the country's positive progress in reducing poverty, vulnerability and inequality remain high. Nearly 40 per cent of Indonesians are highly vulnerable to shocks, which can push them back below the poverty line.
Changing lives through IFAD water investments: a gender perspective
December 2015
The following study was designed by IFAD in order to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between gender, water investment and time saving. It is also intended to contribute to gender mainstreaming in IFAD’s water projects. The focus of the study is to see how much time women and men gain when they have improved access to sources of water and to establish what individuals, particularly women, do with the time they save by not having to walk long distances in search of water. The study further aims to discover to what extent the projects/investments contribute to reducing drudgery and to achieving equitable workloads between men and women. The survey targeted ongoing projects from the five regions in which IFAD operates that were either in their second phase or a mature stage of operation. In each project, one community was covered and 24 households were targeted. The survey successfully covered seven communities and 140 households and was mainly conducted through project officers facilitated by country programme managers or country programme officers.
Executive summary, final report on the participatory impact evaluation of the Root & Tuber Improvement & Marketing Programme in Ghana
November 2015
This document presents the findings from the impact evaluation of the Root & Tuber Improvement and Marketing Program (RTIMP) in Ghana. The program was executed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Government of Ghana (GoG) from 2007 until end of 2014, and co-financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for a total amount of US$ 18.83 million.
Climate change and food security - Innovations for smallholder agriculture
November 2015
Climate change is the most compelling challenge facing the world today. It affects rural smallholders across the developing world, with effects that pose a grave threat to their own, and to the world’s food security.
A new generation of rural transformation: IFAD in Latin America and the Caribbean
November 2015
The Latin America and the Caribbean region is a different place than it was 25 years ago. Today, every nation except Haiti is categorized as middle income. The region has reduced poverty by half, and the prevalence of hunger has declined by almost two thirds. More than half the adult population has attended secondary school. Rural areas are changing too. They are no longer narrowly defined by their food production role, and key issues encompass many non-agricultural topics – including non-farm employment opportunities, especially for young people and women; migration and remittances; social protection; and the role of secondary cities.
Toolkit: Integrated homestead food production
November 2015
Since its founding, IFAD has focused on enabling smallholder farmers to increase agricultural production and productivity as a means for reducing poverty. However, experience shows that increased productivity and incomes do not automatically translate into improved nutritional status of poor rural people, especially women, young people and children.
Strengthening Country-Level Agricultural Advisory Services in the target countries of Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Uganda
November 2015
The African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) goal is to increase use of improved knowledge and technologies by agricultural value chain actors through efficient, effective and synergistic linkages and partnerships between Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) of member Countries to improve the delivery of these services to farmers.
Enabling rural transformation and grassroots institutional building for sustainable land management and increased incomes and food security
November 2015
The enabling rural transformation and grassroots institutional building for sustainable land management and increased incomes and food security, referred to as the Strengthening Rural Institutions (SRI) project was undertaken by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Eastern and Southern Africa Region since 2011.
Investing in rural people in El Salvador
November 2015
IFAD has acquired considerable experience during its three decades of partnership with the country. It has contributed directly and indirectly to the mobilization of resources aimed at removing structural obstacles to the development of rural poor people. This has been achieved through the active involvement of, and coordination with, family farmers, indigenous peoples, rural youth organizations, government, international cooperation agencies, civil society and, more recently, the private sector. IFAD-funded projects mainly support family farmers and entrepreneurs in municipalities in which poverty is prevalent. Activities have also helped to address needs arising after the end of the 12-year internal armed conflict and the 2001 post-earthquake reconstruction process.
Development of innovative site-specific integrated animal health packages
November 2015
Livestock contribute to the livelihoods of roughly 70 per cent of the world’s poor, supporting farmers, consumers, traders and laborers throughout the developing world. The increasing demand for livestock products for the growing populations of developing countries, particularly in Africa, offers new market opportunities for poor farmers in rural areas. Success in raising small-farmer productivity leads to improvements in household food security, nutrition and income, leading to poverty reduction. However, in vast areas of sub-Saharan Africa, increased and sustained animal production by small farmers is greatly hampered by livestock diseases. Animal diseases severely constrain livestock enterprises of smallholder livestock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa but are not given the attention they deserve by the global community
Jordan - Irrigation Technology Pilot Project to Face Climate Change
November 2015
The IFAD-GEF supported project aims to increase the resilience to climate change of agriculture in Jordan, focusing on water as a key natural resource for agricultural production in the country. The proposed project will promote technically reliable, economically competitive, clean and sustainable irrigation technology for the agricultural sector in different agro climatic production regions in Jordan.
ASAP Sudan factsheet
November 2015
IFAD will seek to improve food security, natural resource management, livestock value chains, and climate resilience for the poor rural people of Sudan.
Lessons learned: Integrated homestead food production (IHFP)
November 2015
This note presents lessons learned on integrated homestead food production (IHFP) emerging from projects and programmes implemented by IFAD and other development actors around the world. It aims to complement the How To Do Note (HTDN) on the same subject by illustrating success stories and good practices through case studies.
How to do note: Integrated homestead food production (IHFP)
November 2015
Integrated homestead food production (IHFP) is considered to be a nutrition-sensitive, pro-poor and women-controlled approach to household food production that includes vegetable and fruit gardens, backyard livestock-raising and small fish ponds. It can enhance poor rural people’s access to a variety of nutritious fresh foods, grown in close proximity to their households and requiring relatively limited human, financial and productive resources. The how to do note provides operational guidance on how to design and implement projects that incorporate IHFP.
Transforming rural areas
November 2015
Today more people live in cities than ever before, but we still depend on rural areas for our food. In the developing world, up to 80 per cent of food is produced on small farms that are usually family-run. Yet it’s also true that 70 per cent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas, where the lack of opportunity is forcing many young rural people to leave their homes in search of work in overcrowded cities or abroad.
How to do note: Fisheries, Aquaculture and Climate Change
November 2015
Fisheries and aquaculture are important contributors to food security and livelihoods at household, local, national and global levels. However, while aquaculture production is growing rapidly throughout the world, particularly in Asia and Africa, many of the world’s fisheries are at grave risk from human pressures, including overexploitation, pollution and habitat change. Climate change is compounding these pressures, posing very serious challenges and limiting livelihood opportunities.
Baseline survey on the use of rural post offices for remittances in Africa
October 2015
This survey was commissioned by the Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and undertaken by Taylor Nelson Sofres, TNS-RMS, in the context of the African Postal Financial Services Initiative (APFSI).
Scaling up results: overview
October 2015
Like many development partners, IFAD has found that innovative free- standing development projects alone are not an effective vehicle for eradicating poverty at scale: they must be part of a longer-term process that can sustain learning and scaling up.
The Mitigation Advantage: Maximizing the co-benefits of investing in smallholder adaptation initiatives
October 2015
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted a critical trade-off between agricultural development and climate change mitigation.
Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) brochure
October 2015
The Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) was launched by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2012 to make climate and environmental finance work for smallholder farmers. A multi-year and multi-donor financing window, ASAP provides a new source of cofinancing to scale up and integrate climate change adaptation across IFAD’s approximately US$1billion per year of new investments. The programme is joined up with IFAD’s regular investment processes and benefits from rigorous quality control and supervision systems. ASAP is driving a major scaling up of successful ‘multiple-benefit’ approaches to smallholder agriculture, which improve production while reducing and diversifying climate-related risks. In doing so, ASAP is blending tried-and tested approaches to rural development with relevant adaptation know-how and technologies. This will increase the capacity of at least 8 million smallholder farmers to expand their livelihood options in an uncertain and rapidly changing environment.
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Finance for Food: Investing in Agriculture for a Sustainable Future
October 2015
Agriculture and food are critical areas in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – a global action plan aiming to guide the actions of governments, the private sector and a range of other stakeholders over the next fifteen years. The agrifood sector is a key area of investment for food security and nutrition.
IFAD Policy brief 2: An empowerment agenda for rural livelihoods
October 2015
This policy brief argues that the post-2015 development agenda should be designed to encourage governments and other actors to facilitate the economic and social empowerment of the poor rural people, in particular, marginalized rural groups such as women and indigenous peoples.
The use of remittances and financial inclusion
September 2015
The Use of Remittances and Financial Inclusion A report prepared by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Bank Group to the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion.
Zipping up the Evidence - Dealing with non-counterfactuals in Viet Nam and Ghana
September 2015
Participatory Impact Assessment and Learning Approach (PIALA)
Proceedings of the 2nd Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum at IFAD, 12-13 February 2015
September 2015
Proceedings of the 2nd Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum at IFAD, 12-13 February 2015
Case study: Family life model, Uganda
September 2015
This case study illustrates how the Family Life Model (household methodology) has been used effectively in Uganda, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context.
An Innovative, Scalable, Pro-poor Home Cooking-based Charcoal Production Value Chain For Women
September 2015
With a small grant, INBAR has innovated Household Charcoal (HHC) production from cooking with firewood into a new livelihood opportunity and sustainable value chain for the economic empowerment of poor rural women. Women from poor rural households in Ethiopia, India and Tanzania were trained to put out fires when they had finished cooking to prevent smouldering, collect household charcoal through the clusters and process it into briquettes. INBAR has also developed the NCPP Social Enterprise Model which is an Innovative & Inclusive Institutional system to strengthen the rural development ecosystem and enable safe investment opportunities for rural women.
How to do note: Household Methodologies
September 2015
This How To Do Note provides a step-by-step guide on how to implement Household Methodologies (HHMs). It describes activities at the household level, different approaches for implementing HHMs, service providers and the facilitator system, and the role of the community and the wider environment. The main points to consider when incorporating HHMs in project design and implementation are noted.
How to do note: Climate change risk assessments in value chain projects
September 2015
This HTDN is directed primarily at the design phase of IFAD value chain projects, though it does have some relevance for both pre-design and implementation phases.