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Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation to achieve results - Proceedings of the IFAD Roundtable Discussion
July 2015
On 7 July 2015, IFAD’s Strategy and Knowledge Department convened a roundtable discussion entitled “Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Achieve Results”. The event benefited from contributions made by more than 50 participants, including both IFAD stakeholders (management, staff and Member State representatives) and participants representing IFAD grantees, sister institutions and partners, including: the African Development Bank, CIRAD, Embrapa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, PROCASUR, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, the World Bank Group and the World Food Programme. The roundtable focused on four areas of discussion: (i) the evolving context – the ‘utility’, demand, supply, risks and opportunities – associated with delivering South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) activities; (ii) incorporating technical assistance exchanges, study tours, learning routes and similar activities into countries’ development strategies; (iii) using grant mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of development solutions through SSTC; (iv) developing knowledge hubs and other models. A number of observations, experiences and good practices were shared over the course of the day, and much of the richness of the discussion has been recorded in the following pages of this report. The most salient messages are presented in the Conclusions section and are summarized briefly below.
Delivering public, private and semi-private goods: Institutional issues and implementation arrangements
June 2015
IFAD uses several approaches to deliver a mix of public, private and semi-private goods to poor people living in rural areas. These approaches include: community-driven development (CDD), which targets communities and empowers them to improve their livelihoods; value chain development, which links poor producers to markets through farmers’ organizations; and territorial development, where the focus is a specific geographic territory or area.
Annual report on investigative and anti-corruption activities 2014
June 2015
In line with its mandate, the Office of Audit and Oversight (AUO) and its Investigation Section (IS) played a critical role in upholding IFAD’s zero-tolerance stance towards corruption, fraud and misconduct in 2014. It also supported effectively IFAD’s risk management efforts by focusing on areas of increased relevance to the Fund’s evolving operational and financial model and by ensuring a timely and effective response to alleged wrongdoing.
Getting to work: financing a new agenda for rural transformation
June 2015
This paper offers IFAD’s perspective on some of the key issues on the current debate on financing for development.
Brokering Development - Summary of Indonesia Case Study
June 2015
This report forms part of a series of case studies that seek to identify key success factors for public–private partnerships (PPPs) in rural development, based on learning from IFAD’s experiences with PPPs in four countries (Ghana, Indonesia, Rwanda and Uganda). The Indonesian study aimed to identify the key factors driving the effectiveness of the cocoa value chain PPP in Sulawesi Tengah province. This was part of a larger five-year investment programme (2009-14) called Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development (READ), implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. The PPP was developed as a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture (represented by READ) and a private sector partner, Mars.
The Republic of Turkey and IFAD - Partnership for smallholder investments and opportunities
June 2015
This publication is the result of a fruitful and close partnership between the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MFAL), both at state and provincial levels, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Additional languages:
English,
Turkish
Sending Money Home: European flows and markets
June 2015
The findings in this report are based on a series of studies and surveys commissioned by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and on analyses undertaken by IFAD on World Bank data. Financial contributions in support of the report were made by members of the IFAD-administered Financing Facility for Remittances, including the European Commission, the Government of Luxembourg, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund.
Brokering Development - Summary of Rwanda Case Study
June 2015
The aim of this series is to support policy and decision-makers in government, business, donor agencies and farmers’ organisations to build more effective PPPs that bring about positive development outcomes sustainably and at scale.This study focuses on two established PPPs (at Nshili and Mushubi, in Southern province), both facilitated and funded by IFAD
Brokering Development - Summary of Uganda Case Study
June 2015
A case study of the Oil Palm PPP in Kalangala, Uganda. The PPP aimed to establish oil palm production (a new cash crop in Uganda) through private sector-led agro-industrial evelopment on Bugala Island, Lake Victoria. The study is mainly based on qualitative data collection through semi-structured key informant interviews and focus group discussions, and a document review. Researchers interviewed representatives of the main partners involved.
Brokering Development-Summary of Ghana Case Studies
June 2015
This is a summary of the Ghana Country Report, based on research carried out in 2014 in association with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) as part of an IFAD-funded programme on the role of PPPs in agriculture. It is one of the four IFAD project-supported Public-Private-Producer Partnerships analysed for the research report ‘Brokering Development: Enabling Factors for Public-Private-Producer Partnerships in Agricultural Value Chains’. The report syntheses the four case studies and discuss the findings on how PPPPs in agricultural value chains can be designed and implemented to achieve more sustained increases in income for smallholder farmers and broader rural development.
Brokering development - Enabling factors for public-private-producer partnerships in agricultural value chains
June 2015
This research seeks to understand how public-private-producer partnerships (PPPPs) in agricultural value chains can be designed and implemented to achieve more sustained increases in income for smallholder farmers and broader rural development.
Project to Support Food Security in the Region of Maradi (PASADEM)
June 2015
The project objective is to improve food and nutrition security of rural people around 5 centers of economic development (Tessaoua, Tchadoua, Sabon Machi, Guidan Roumdji and Djirataoua) in 18 communes in the Maradi region.
Enhancing Resilience of Agriculture Sector in Georgia (ERASIG)
June 2015
The project aims to demonstrate the adaptation potential of climate-resilient crop production systems and technologies – especially efficient irrigation technologies and conservation agriculture – combined with the rehabilitation and climateproofing of irrigation schemes and value chain infrastructures (e.g. improved storage and processing facilities, and greenhouses) in ten selected crop value chains.
GEF Niger factsheet
June 2015
The project objective is to improve food and nutrition security of rural people around 5 centers of economic development (Tessaoua, Tchadoua, Sabon Machi, Guidan Roumdji and Djirataoua) in 18 communes in the Maradi region.
Participatory Coastal Zone Restoration and Sustainable Management in the Eastern Province of Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka
June 2015
The project design focuses on overcoming three key barriers to the restoration of coastal ecosystems: i) the gap in technical knowledge for low-cost restoration methods; ii) low priority assigned to environmental issues during the tsunami relief and reconstruction programme; and iii) continuation of ecosystem and land degradation processes.
Mainstreaming Food Loss Reduction Initiatives for Smallholders in Food-Deficit Areas
June 2015
For the first time, the three Rome-based agencies of the United Nations have joined forces to raise awareness on the importance of food losses and to stimulate change and action in member countries to reduce them.
The state of food insecurity in the world 2015
June 2015
This year´s annual State of Food Insecurity in the World report takes stock of progress made towards achieving the internationally established hunger targets, and reflects on what needs to be done, as we transition to the new post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda. United Nations member states have made two major commitments to tackle world hunger. The first was at the World Food Summit (WFS), in Rome in 1996, when 182 governments committed “... to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015”. The second was the formulation of the First Millennium Development Goal (MDG 1), established in 2000 by the United Nations members, which includes among its targets “cutting by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015”. In this report, we review progress made since 1990 for every country and region as well as for the world as a whole. First, the good news: overall, the commitment to halve the percentage of hungry people, that is, to reach the MDG 1c target, has been almost met at the global level. More importantly, 72 of the 129 countries monitored for progress have reached the MDG target, 29 of which have also reached the more ambitious WFS goal by at least halving the number of undernourished people in their populations.
Achieving zero hunger
June 2015
FAO, IFAD and WFP welcome this global commitment to end poverty, hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Our proposal on how to achieve zero hunger by 2030 is in the context of the proposed Sustainable Development Goal to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by 2030, which, in turn, goes hand-in-hand with the proposed Sustainable Development Goal 1 to eliminate poverty at the same time. With almost 800 million people suffering from hunger and almost four-fifths of the extreme poor living in rural areas, it is necessary to raise agricultural and rural incomes to achieve those two priority Sustainable Development Goals.
How to do note: Mainstreaming portable biogas systems into IFAD-supported projects
June 2015
Access to modern renewable energy services is a key factor in eradicating poverty and ensuring food security.
IFAD Annual Report 2014
June 2015
Learn about IFAD's work and results in the 2014 Annual Report. This includes stories about the rural people we invest in, and covers our advocacy to keep the needs of rural communities at the top of the international development agenda. The Report also provides the facts and figures we regularly share with our Member States and partners.
Toolkit: Youth Access to Rural Finance
May 2015
With the mounting awareness of the unmet demand for youth financial services and the growing evidence that serving young people is viable, there is also a need to assess and document the implications for rural areas. This toolkit on Youth Access to Rural Finance aims to contribute to filling that gap. The Lessons Learned and How To Do Note on this topic provide IFAD country programme managers, project design teams and implementing partners with insights and key guidance on designing and offering appropriate financial services for rural youth. The toolkit on Youth Access to Rural Finance synthesizes best practices and offers examples from around the world.
Lessons learned: Youth Access to Rural Finance
May 2015
Although there have been improvements in YFS access, youth are still lagging significantly behind adults in being able to access financial tools. Across high- and low-income countries, young people are less likely than adults to have a formal account. There are even starker differences related to a country’s income level, with 21 per cent of youth in low-income economies having a formal account compared with 61 per cent in upper-middle-income economies (Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2013). Even with this data, determining the exact extent of youth access to financial services can be complicated because there is a lack of consistent data and definitions on youth (see Box 3). The lack of data is more limited for rural areas. While there is some analysis of the urban-rural gap in access to financial services, with those living in cities significantly more likely to have an account than rural residents (Klapper, 2012), there are currently no comprehensive studies with disaggregated data for rural youth.
Scaling up note: Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and rural development
May 2015
In 1977, IFAD made improving “the nutritional level of the poorest populations in developing countries” one of the principal objectives of its founding agreement. Since then, governments, civil society and development organizations also have come to recognize the central importance of nutrition – which comprises undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight – to development.
PARM Result Factsheet May 2015
May 2015
Since its inception in December 2013, PARM has worked for a better management of risks in agriculture in developing countries, considered as a main constraint to improve farmers’ livelihoods.
How to do note: Youth access to rural finance
May 2015
IFAD’s mission is to invest in rural people, with the objective of overcoming poverty. Young people have increasingly become a priority target for IFAD as part of the agency’s fight against rural poverty (IFAD, 2014a).
ASAP Chad factsheet
May 2015
Climate change is exacerbating natural resource degradation and reducing the potential of productive lands. For example, rural farmers have to contend with climate shocks such as drought, rainfall deficits, floods and locust invasions. These shocks are reducing yields and making the cropping seasons hard to predict for traditional farmers. Traditional resilience strategies are no longer as effective as they were and the lean season is becoming more challenging to smallholder farmers.
ASAP Lesotho factsheet
May 2015
Lesotho ranks 158 out of 186 in the UNDP Human Development Index. Poverty is rife, and it is concentrated in the rural areas of the country, with the greatest incidence in the mountain areas. Lesotho's rural economy is dominated by livestock production. Lesotho's chief export is directly related to this livestock, that of wool and mohair production. Lesotho is the second largest global producer of mohair, and this counts towards a large percentage of the country 's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Only high quality wool and mohair can be exported, and this is dependent on the quality and health of the livestock. The main factor in raising high quality livestock is maintaining healthy rangelands.
Scaling up note: Agricultural water management
May 2015
Water is of fundamental importance to human development, the environment and the economy. Access to water and water security is paramount to improving food security, incomes and livelihoods of rural communities. Reliable access to water remains a major constraint for millions of poor farmers, mostly those in rainfed areas, but also those involved in irrigated agriculture. Climate change and the resulting changing rainfall patterns pose a threat to many more farmers, who risk losing water security and slipping back into the poverty trap.The need, therefore, to strengthen the communities’ capacity to adopt and disseminate agricultural water management technologies cannot be overemphasized.
Investing in rural people in Cuba
April 2015
IFAD recently resumed operations in Cuba after more than 20 years. The official launch of the Cooperative Rural Development Project in the Oriental Region (PRODECOR) took place on 30 October 2014. Given the challenges the agricultural sector faces, IFAD is in a position to serve as one of the country’s strategic partners, contributing to the ongoing modernization process. Cooperatives in Cuba are key actors in ensuring food security, as they represent 80 per cent of the country’s agricultural production. The Government of Cuba has expressed interest in re-establishing the partnership with IFAD with a view to modernizing agriculture. This will be achieved mainly through developing non-state smallholder farmer business cooperatives. In this respect, IFAD is well placed to provide technical assistance through its projects to increase the physical, human, social and environmental assets of cooperatives.
Remittances and mobile banking: The potential to leapfrog traditional challenges
April 2015
With mobile phone coverage generally surpassing 90 per cent of the population, even in developing countries, the potential to leapfrog to mobile banking holds the promise of addressing many of the challenges currently faced by rural remittance recipients.
Viewpoint 5: The human face of development: Investing in people
April 2015
When we look at the world today, we see impressive gains as well as daunting challenges. The Millennium Development Goal target of halving extreme poverty rates was met at the global level five years ahead of the 2015 deadline. There are now more than 100 middle-income countries, as diverse as Brazil, Lesotho and Vanuatu. It is estimated that developing countries’ share of the global middle-class population will rise from 55 per cent today to 78 per cent by 2025. However, amid rising affluence in some countries and regions, there is also growing inequality. In 2015, there will still be 970 million people living in poverty – the vast majority of them in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. And there remain 842 million chronically undernourished people in the world. Volatile commodity prices bring hunger to the poorest, and instability to markets and societies. Climate change and environmental degradation throw long shadows over all of humanity’s gains. Against this background, we must confront the question of how humankind is going to continue to feed and sustain itself in the future.
Private-Sector Strategy: Deepening IFADs engagement with the private sector
April 2015
This new IFAD strategy responds to these global developments and calls for IFAD to be more systematic and proactive in engaging with the private sector. The new strategy specifies how IFAD intends to deepen its engagement with the private sector (be it small, medium, or large; domestic, regional, or international companies) with the aim of creating markets for its target groups; improving their access to inputs, services, knowledge and technology; and increasing income-generating or job-creating opportunities for its target populations.
Why IFAD?
April 2015
This coming year could determine not only whether the world rises to the considerable challenges now facing it—climate change, persistent hunger, increasing inequality, stubborn poverty—but also affecting the fate of generations to come. With a growing population that will exceed 9 billion by 2050, the increasing effects of climate change, a widening gap between rich and poor, and growing competition for resources, the major issues facing humanity cannot wait. Deliberation must give way to deliberate action. But the global political will to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition within a generation, and the conviction that this is achievable, are growing. An ambitious agenda is emerging in the process of identifying post-2015 development goals. It aims to end poverty everywhere in all its forms, and to end hunger and achieve food security. And it plans to do so sustainably. This would perhaps be one of the greatest steps ever taken to secure the future of humanity and the life of the planet.
Scaling up note: Gender equality and women’s empowerment
April 2015
IFAD has achieved significant results in promoting innovative gender mainstreaming and pro-poor approaches and processes in its operations, making this an area of IFAD’s comparative advantage.
Gender and rural development brief: West and Central Africa
March 2015
Three quarters of the poor population in West and Central Africa – about 90 million people – live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. More than 60 per cent of the active population work in the agriculture sector. Women’s share – estimated at 70 per cent in the region as a whole and 89 per cent in the Sahel – continues to rise. Socio-politically, West and Central Africa is still very fragile, with the highest concentration of countries with IFAD operations. Despite this fragility and the poverty that affects over half the population, virtually all countries in the region have made considerable progress over the past decade, particularly in education, health and income redistribution.
Reviving Tradition, Boosting Employment
March 2015
In Tunisia, young women managed to set up their own small enterprises that produce and sell Al margoum, a traditional embroidery of Berber origin that was on the verge of disappearing.
Managing natural resources comprehensively and sustainably to combat poverty in pastoral communities
March 2015
In Djibouti, pastoral communities have made a clearimprovement in their living conditions with better access to water and strengthened capacity in natural resources conservationa and management.
Starting Rural Businesses after the War
March 2015
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a project co-sponsored by IFAD helped the war-ravaged country make the transition from immediate relief and rehabilitation to long-term sustainable development.
A gender-balanced model for community development
March 2015
In Yemen, a community-led project for fostering women's empowerment has imporoved the food security of thousands of landless and smallholder famers living in the poorest areas of the country. From 2004 to late 2012, the Dhamar Participatory Rural Development Project, cofunded by IFAD and the Government of Yemen, addressed the needs of the rural population in the Dhamar Governorate. By ensuring the participation of rural people in the decision-making processes and income-generating activities, the project improved the food security of substience farmers and their families in the villages of Dhamar.
Reclaiming Land through De-Rocking
March 2015
In Syria, large areas of degraded land have been turned into arable land thanks to several IFAD projects that managed to combine the sheer power of bulldozers with the long-term commitment of farmers.
Sanduq: A Rural Microfinance Innovation
March 2015
In Syria, a sanduq – a local microfinance institution owned and managed by its members – provides much needed loans to poor rural people, with particular attention to women.
New Techniques Help Locate Groundwater
March 2015
In Somalia, much-needed sources of underground water were identified by using advanced geophysical surveys in those same areas where previous trial-and-error drilling had delivered no results.
Refinancing Connects Banks to Rural Clients
March 2015
In Armenia, Macedonia and Moldova, low-cost refinancing capital makes rural investments attractive and profitable for local banks, and reduces rural poverty by stimulating economic growth.
Supporting Private Agricultural Consulting
March 2015
In Macedonia, IFAD trained individuals to become agricultural advisors and assisted them in establishing private companies that today operate in the market for agricultural development services.
Financing microenterprises led by women
March 2015
In Jordan, the success of a project co-funded by IFAD largely rested on how quickly rural women were able to learn about borrowing money and setting up and running their own small enterprises.
A Holistic Approach to Farming Research
March 2015
A Holistic Approach to Farming Research In Egypt, land productivity was improved by an IFAD project that created strong links between farmers, research and extension, and raised resource-use efficiency by integrating crops and livestock. The governorates of Fayoum, Beni Sueif and Minia in Upper Egypt extend for about 200 km along the Nile. In this area, land productivity is low and the potential for bringing additional land into production is limited. The only options available to raise the incomes of rural people living in the area are to improve land productivity and intensify land use. This is what an IFAD project has done through a project consisting of three main elements: 1) agricultural research; 2) the dissemination of research findings through extension activity; and 3) the provision of credit necessary to adopt new technologies. The project established an innovative Farming System Research Unit (FSRU), which operated with a holistic approach. That is to say, the FSRU carried out research activities that were adapted to farmers’ real needs and closely linked to extension delivery, and broadened its focus to include livestock – a relatively neglected area in Egypt.
Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
March 2015
The primary objective of the project was to promote innovative approaches and ICT-based technologies for timely transfer of weather, water-and crop related information and advice to relevant end users in Africa for informed decision-making and enhanced negotiation capacity with water and farm-related service providers.
IFAD Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
March 2015
This policy reinforces IFAD’s position as a leader in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in agricultural and rural development. It builds on IFAD’s experience and achievements in field operations and in the broader policy arena in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. The policy will provide IFAD with strategic guidance in systematizing, intensifying and scaling up its efforts to close gender gaps and improve the economic and social status of rural women in rapidly changing rural environments.
Investing in rural people in Ghana
March 2015
Ghana has the third largest IFAD country programme in the West and Central Africa region. The programme contributes to building inclusive and sustainable institutions, backed by pro-poor investments and policies as well as relevant innovation and learning. IFAD supports the main thrusts of the government’s Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda – including accelerated agricultural modernization, sustainable natural resource management and enhanced private-sector competitiveness. Its work also aligns with Ghana’s Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan on food security, income growth and other programme areas related to rural poverty reduction.
Investing in rural people in Somalia
March 2015
Somalia’s poverty and food security situation remains critical after years of conflict and natural disasters. Since the 1980s, IFAD has supported nine programmes in the country for a total of US$140 million. There is currently no country strategic opportunities programme for Somalia. However, the strategic objectives of IFAD interventions in Somalia can be summarized as follows: • Increase incomes and food security by supporting agriculture and related activities, improving access to water, sanitation and health care, strengthening the natural resource base and building rural financial services; • Identify and promote pro-poor investment mechanisms in rural areas for dissemination, replication and scaling up; and • Build the capacity of the diaspora and promote the transformation of people in the diaspora into agents of development through remittances – the portion of their earnings that migrants outside the country send home.
Enabling Land Management, Resilient Pastoral Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction in Africa
March 2015
The World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) is a global knowledge and advocacy network that promotes understanding of sustainable pastoral development for both poverty reduction and sustainable environmental management. WISP was executed by the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN). The Programme built the capacity of pastoral institutions to engage in advocacy based on state-of-the-art global learning on sustainable pastoralism, enabling pastoralist institutions around the world to network and shared experiences and opportunities, and ensured that the voice of pastoralists remained central to policy discourse and learning.
Land tenure security and poverty reduction
March 2015
Land is fundamental to the lives of poor rural people. It is a source of food, shelter, income and social identity. Secure access to land reduces vulnerability to hunger and poverty. But for many of the world’s poor rural people in developing countries, access is becoming more tenuous than ever.
Effective project management arrangements for agricultural projects: A synthesis of selected case studies and quantitative analysis
March 2015
In 2013, IFAD commissioned a study to analyse project management arrangements for market‑oriented smallholder agriculture. As IFAD adapts to the changing development discourse, the organization has focused increasingly on improving Project Management Unit (PMU) arrangements in order to provide more effective and expanded management and technical skills. This review was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of PMUs and their alignment with the Paris Declaration principles, as well as to identify lessons or frameworks to guide future project management and implementation arrangements. It investigated five case studies drawn from different regions and types of projects.
IFAD in the Pacific - Partnering for rural development
February 2015
IFAD has been working in small island developing states (SIDS) for 35 years, financing investments for smallholder farmers and fishers. IFAD recognizes that small island developing states are different than other developing countries. They face constraints that are quite particular to their size, remoteness, insularity and ocean resource base. In the light of a changing world and new challenges faced by rural people living in SIDS, IFAD recently took the opportunity of the Global Conference on Small Island Developing States held in Samoa in 2014 to articulate its lessons learned and current approach to financing investment in rural people in its paper presented at the Conference, IFAD’s approach in Small Island Developing States.
Performance of IPAF small projects Desk review 2015
February 2015
The objective of the IFAD Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) is to strengthen indigenous peoples’ communities and their organizations by financing small projects that foster their self-driven development in the framework of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to generate lessons learned and approaches for replication and up-scaling.
Seeds of innovation: Tapping into the knowledge of indigenous peoples
February 2015
The Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF)1 finances small projects designed and implemented directly by indigenous peoples’ communities and their organizations. The projects are selected through global calls for proposals, based on a competitive process. In managing the IPAF when it was established in 2007, IFAD realized that the Facility was not only a grant-making mechanism, but it also contained a wealth of knowledge derived from the project proposals themselves. With its limited funding, the IPAF can support only a small number of these proposals. Thus, a knowledge-harvesting mechanism was set up with funding from the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI).
Scaling up note: Land tenure security
February 2015
Equitable access to land and tenure security for IFAD’s target groups are essential for rural development and poverty eradication. Tenure security influences the extent to which farmers are prepared to invest in improvements in production and land management. Interventions to be scaled-up are in this note are: (i) Recognition and recording of multiple and sometimes overlapping rights in community-level land use, watershed management, territorial, rangeland and forest management planning processes; (ii) Registration of land ownership and use rights; (iii) Equitable land access; (iv) Land conflict resolution and access to judiciary and legal aid and; (v) Civic education and public awareness-raising.
Scaling up note: Smallholder livestock development
February 2015
Smallholder livestock production is largely based on family farming and is key to poor rural people’s livelihoods, food security and employment creation.
Scaling up note: Inclusive Rural Financial Services
February 2015
With almost four decades of engagement in more than 70 countries and more than US$1.1 billion invested in rural finance (RF) initiatives, IFAD has rich and multifaceted experience, a global network of partners working at the frontier of innovation and hundreds of different types of providers addressing the financial needs of poor rural households as their clients. Most of the 3 billion people in rural areas still live on less than US$2 a day. Challenges such as economic shocks, food shortages and climate change affect poor people disproportionately. Poor rural households are typically excluded from opportunities in the formal financial sector.
Scaling up note: Climate-resilient agricultural development
February 2015
Smallholder farmers are in the front line of climate change impacts. The ecosystems on which they rely are increasingly degraded and their access to suitable agricultural land and to forest resources is declining.
Scaling up note: Smallholder institutions and organizations
December 2014
The initial step in scaling up smallholder organizations is to clarify and examine the elements that work best and decide which of these to scale up. The elements to be considered include the organizational components embedded in projects related to capacity-building, such as the managerial and technical skills and governance systems that enable organizations to fulfil their core functions and achieve their missions more effectively.
Foro de los Pueblos Indígenas en el FIDA
December 2014
Taller regional de América Latina y el Caribe en preparación de la segunda reunión mundial del Foro de Pueblos Indígenas en el FIDA.
Africa Regional Workshop Report
December 2014
Africa Regional Workshop in preparation for the Second Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD.
Case Study: Household approach for gender, HIV and AIDS mainstreaming, Malawi
December 2014
This case study illustrates how the household approach for gender, HIV and AIDS mainstreaming has been used effectively in Malawi, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Men's Campfire Conference, Zambia
December 2014
This case study illustrates how the Men's Campfire Conference (household methodology) has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
European Union Food Facility Programme IFAD-ECOWAS-ICRISAT
November 2014
To address food security problems and soaring prices for basic commodities, in December 2008 the European Union launched a Food Facility totalling €1 billion spread over three years, from 2009 to 2011. Under this initiative, the regional programme IFAD-EU-ECOWAS Food Facility was established with a budget of €20 million. The regional programme covers a number of countries in West Africa. To assure food security and protect the population from recurrent crises, countries dependent on foreign aid for much of their food supply, such as Benin, Mali, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, have designed strategies and programmes to support food security that are intended to increase food production through the intensification of strategic crops such as rice, cassava, yams and ground nuts, and widespread use of selected seeds and mineral fertilizers.
IFAD and Belgian Survival Fund Joint Programm - 25 years of cooperation
November 2014
The Belgian Fund for Food Security (BFFS) was created by the Belgian Parliament in 1983 in response to the more than one million drought- and faminerelated deaths in East Africa. BFFS provides grants to pay for rural development projects, with a focus on food security and nutrition, in some of the poorest countries in Africa, helping extremely poor people to become healthier and more productive and lowering the risk that they will face starvation. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized United Nations agency, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. It is dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves.
The International Year of Family Farming (IYFF)
November 2014
What is the International Year of Family Farming? Small family farms are the key to reducing poverty and improving global food security. The United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) to recognize the importance of family farming in reducing poverty and improving global food security. The IYFF aims to promote new development policies, particularly at the national but also regional levels, that will help smallholder and family farmers eradicate hunger, reduce rural poverty and continue to play a major role in global food security through small-scale, sustainable agricultural production. The IYFF provides a unique opportunity to pave the way towards more inclusive and sustainable approaches to agricultural and rural development that: Recognize the importance of smallholder and family farmers for sustainable development; Place small-scale farming at the centre of national, regional and global agricultural, environmental and social policies; Elevate the role of smallholder farmers as agents for alleviating rural poverty and ensuring food security for all; as stewards who manage and protect natural resources; and as drivers of sustainable development.
Lessons learned: Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations
November 2014
This note highlights the lessons learned in supporting smallholder institutions and organizations.
Burundi: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues
November 2014
The Twa “Pygmy” of the Republic of Burundi are a small minority of around 80,000 people that self-identify as indigenous and are considered as such by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN system.
How to do note: Analyse and strengthen social capital
November 2014
This How To Do Note guides design and country teams in conducting an initial analysis of organizations and their capacity development needs at the project design stage. It provides a conceptual framework and practical suggestions and tools to help practitioners systematically collate and summarize information captured during design missions.
Small farms, big impacts: mainstreaming climate change for resilience and food security
November 2014
Climate change threatens the natural resource base across much of the developing world. Climate change accelerates ecosystem degradation and makes agriculture more risky. As a result, smallholder farmers, who are so critical to global food security, are facing more extreme weather. Small-scale farmers are impacted more immediately by droughts, floods and storms, at the same time as they suffer the gradual effects of climate change, such as water stress in crops and livestock, coastal erosion from rising sea levels and unpredictable pest infestations.
Insights and lessons learned from the reflections on the PIALA piloting in Vietnam
November 2014
Under the 9th Replenishment, IFAD committed to moving 80 million rural people out of poverty cumulative from 2010 onwards to 2015, and conducting 30 rigorous impact assessments. Hence the urgent need for appropriate methodologies for impact assessment. To respond to this need, a few piloting initiatives have been launched, one of which is the Improved Learning Initiative (ILI) 2. This initiative aims to develop a potentially scalable Participatory Impact Assessment and Learning Approach (PIALA) that can help IFAD and its partners collaboratively assess, explain and debate its contributions to rural poverty impact. The PIALA design and piloting is funded by IFAD’s DFID-financed Innovation Mainstreaming Initiative (IMI) and BMGF’s Measurement, Learning and Evaluation Unit in the Agricultural Development Program; and with important contributions from IFAD’s Country Program Offices and partners in the pilot countries (Vietnam and Ghana), and its Strategy & Knowledge Management and Program Management Departments.
Pacific Regional Workshop Report
November 2014
In February 2013, the First Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum took place at the IFAD headquarters in Rome, in conjunction with the 36th session of the Governing Council. In attendance at this inaugural meeting were 31 indigenous people’s representatives from 25 countries in Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean regions. Of the 19 Asia- Pacific regional representatives, two were from the Pacific; Mr. Anthony Wale, the Executive Director Aoke Langalanga Constituency Apex Association (ALCAA), and Ms Rufina Peter, Senior Research Officer at the PNG Institute of National Affairs. During the meeting the Pacific representatives highlighted the need for the Pacific to have a “separate identity” as per the outcomes of Asia Pacific regional preparatory workshop in Bangkok. The issue was one of visibility for the Pacific Region due to its unique, rich and diverse cultures and traditions, its significant land and sea area and its high biodiversity. The Pacific Regional meeting proposed three action plans, of which the Pacific Regional Workshop in preparation of the Second Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD is a direct result.
GFR 2013 Official Report
November 2014
This report proceeds from the Global Forum on Remittances held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2013.
Case study: Household approach, Zambia
November 2014
This case study illustrates how Household Approach (household methodology) has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Chiefs and traditional leaders, Zambia
November 2014
This case study illustrates how the Chiefs and Traditional Leaders Household Methodology has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
A field practitioner's guide: Institutional and organizational analysis and capacity strengthening
November 2014
The purpose of this Guide is to support institutional and organizational analysis and strengthening (IOA/S) for design and implementation of programmes and projects. The Guide is designed to be a practical, hands-on set of directions to those needing to answer the following questions: “how to go about doing institutional and organizational analysis? And once I’ve done it, how do I go about using this analysis to promote sustainable institutions and organizations?” This is intended as a user-friendly Guide, the use of which could help identify strategic partners and key areas for intervention at COSOP level; to deepen the COSOP analysis at the design stage by generating interventions that support sustainable institutions and organizations, and progress at implementation stage should be easier to monitor and evaluate effectively.
A time of transition: Agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in the Near East and North Africa
November 2014
Since 1978, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has worked with small-scale farmers in 122 countries and territories around the world to help them overcome rural poverty and increase their food and nutrition security. IFAD has invested a total of about US$15.6 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, reaching more than 400 million people. Agricultural development can be a major driver of poverty reduction. IFAD acts as an advocate for poor rural people, helping to create an enabling environment – with appropriate policies, know-how, finance, infrastructure and market access – for them to improve their lives and livelihoods.
Investing in the future: Agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in Europe and Central Asia
November 2014
The International Fund for Agricultural Development works with small-scale farmers in 98 countries and territories around the world to help them overcome rural poverty and increase food security. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$16 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached more than 430 million people. Agricultural development can be a major driver of poverty reduction. IFAD acts as an advocate for poor rural people, helping to create an enabling environment – with appropriate policies, know-how, finance, infrastructure and market access – for them to improve their lives and livelihoods.
Additional languages:
English,
Russian
Toolkit: Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations
November 2014
The “Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations toolkit” provides valuable guidance to help practitioners analyze and address issues related to smallholder institutions and organizations during the devopment of country strategies and in the design and implementation of programmes and projects.
The Smallholder Advantage: A new way to put climate finance to work
November 2014
IFAD sees smallholder farmers as more than just victims of climate change: they are a vital part of the solution to the ‘wicked’ climate change problem.
How the United Nations System Supports Ambitious Action on Climate Change
November 2014
Climate change and sustainable development are the central challenges of our time. They are inseparably linked and need to be addressed together. Action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate impacts is essential for ensuring sustainable development. At the same time, only sustainable development can provide the stable political, economic, social and environmental conditions that all countries need to address climate change successfully and build carbon-neutral economies. This is why the UN system is fully committed to supporting the international community as it confronts climate change while working to build a sustainable world for the twenty-first century.
How to do note: Strengthen community-based natural resource management organizations
November 2014
Natural resources (land, water, forests, fisheries) are fundamental to the survival of rural people. The livelihoods of most poor people depend on agriculture, which in turn hinges on the continued productiveness of the land and availability of water resources. Land and water, in addition to forests, offer the compendium of ecological goods and services that smallholders in developing countries need for their economic development; they can also provide a safety net in times of crisis. These resources are also global public goods. Natural resources need to be managed sustainably not only on smallholder farms and in individual sectors (e.g. selected sources of water or forest reserves) but in the totality of ecosystems that support their existence.
Learning from each other: South-South and triangular cooperation in East and Southern Africa
October 2014
South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC) has become an integral part of IFAD’s support to ESA programmes. The transfer of effective approaches and technologies enables countries of the South to join forces in meeting their aims of reducing rural poverty and ensuring food security. By using experts from other countries in project design, for instance, or setting up learning and sharing opportunities in the region, IFAD has helped foster such exchanges.
Congo: Country Technical Notes on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues
October 2014
The indigenous population of the Republic of Congo (RC) include the Baka, Mbendjele, Mikaya, Luma, Gyeli, Twa and Babongo peoples. Depending on sources, these peoples represent a small minority of 1.25 to 10 percent of RC’s estimated population of 4.4 million, primarily of Bantu origin.
Lessons learned: Commodity value chain development projects
October 2014
The purpose of this Lessons Learned note is to provide design teams with observations based on lessons from IFAD and other donors’ projects that may help in the design of value chain projects.
Gender equality and women's empowerment - IFAD's work and results
October 2014
IFAD is committed to gender equality. Women embody half the talent and energy at any country’s disposal. That’s why greater gender equality leads to higher economic growth and better lives.
Toolkit: Lines of credit
October 2014
The LOC is a loan to a participating financial institution (PFI) for on-lending to customers who are expected to repay their loans with interest.
Case study: Transformative Household Methodology, Ethiopia
October 2014
This case study illustrates how the Transformative Household Methodology has been used effectively in Ethiopia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Men’s Travelling Conference, Kenya
October 2014
This case study illustrates how the Men's Travelling Conference (household methodology) has been used effectively in Kenya, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context.
Lines of Credit
October 2014
This note provides an overview on lines of credit illustrating the the key issues and the main challenges, opportunities and benefits.
How to do note: Loan Guarantee Funds
October 2014
This How To Do Note highlights the rationale for using Loan Guarantee Funds, focusing on different types of guarantee arrangements, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It also summarizes global experience with LGFs. The Note provides country programme management teams, programme design teams, implementation teams, and other practitioners and users with evidence-based good practices and guidelines so that they can design and implement more effective and contextually appropriate guarantees.
Toolkit: Key performance indicators and performance-based agreements
October 2014
This note provides an overview on key performance indicators and performance-based agreements highlighting the main issues, challenges, opportunities and benefits.
How to do note - Key performance indicators and performance-based agreements
October 2014
This how to do note addresses KPIs and PBAs at the level of partnering financial institutions. In this context, key performance targets are included in various documents, including strategic plans, business plans and possibly budgets at different levels. Also, they can be used as an important support instrument for results-based management.
How to do note: Lines of credit
October 2014
This How To Do Note highlights the philosophy and rationale for LOCs, focusing on different types of LOC arrangements, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It summarizes global experience with LOCs in order to clearly outline when they should and should not be used. It presents practical aspects of specific approaches, methodologies and models that have been tested and can be recommended for implementation and scaling up.
Lessons Learned: Loan Guarantee Funds
October 2014
This document highlights IFAD’s and other partners’ experiences with products, services, methods and approaches associated with Loan Guarantee Funds. It will assist IFAD’s country programme manager (CPM) to take up evidence-based good practices that can aid IFAD’s thematic focus.
Lessons learned: Community-based financial organizations
October 2014
Community-based financial organizations (CBFOs) are often the only institutions available to provide basic financial services to the rural poor, especially in remote areas with inadequate infrastructure. CBFOs can be organized in many different ways. This knowledge document elaborates on the lessons learned in designing and implementing support for a CBFO.
Toolkit: Loan guarantee funds
October 2014
This note provides an overview on Loan Guarantee Funds highlighting the main issues, challenges, opportunities and benefits.