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IFAD Research Series 94: Engaging women in microfinance - a qualitative study of the Programme de Microfinance Rural in Mali
This paper outlines the results of a study on the Programme de Microfinance Rural in Mali. It explores the impacts on agency and use of resources in households, with a focus on the role of gender in addressing these issues.
IFAD Research Series 93: New methods to define and measure rurality in Latin America and their impact on public policies: the cases of Mexico and Panama
This paper outlines two index proposals for defining and measuring rurality: the relative rurality index and the contiguity of areas of similar densities.
The IFAD-GEF Advantage III: An integrated approach for food systems, climate and nature
This third edition of the GEF-IFAD Advantage highlights the partnership's advantages in various domains, including food systems, biodiversity, climate change adaptation and land degradation.
IFAD Research Series 92: Climate Change Mitigation in the East and Southern Africa Region: An Economic Case for the Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use Sector
This report is a guide to shape investments by IFAD and other international donors in climate change mitigation actions in the East and Southern Africa region.
IFAD Research Series - Issue 91: Addressing overweight and obesity in LMICs in the realm of rural development and food systems
This paper presents the findings of a literature review of the main drivers of overweight and obesity, described using a food systems framework and illustrated with examples from five countries.
IFAD Research Series No. 90: Rural Transformation, Income Growth and Poverty Reduction by Province in China in the Past Four Decades
China has experienced rapid rural transformation in the past four decades, accompanied by a rise in rural household income and a fall in rural poverty. This paper examines provincial rural transformation and its major outcomes.
IFAD Research Series No. 89: Incorporating the Impact of Climate and Weather Variables in Impact Assessments: An Application to an IFAD Climate Change Adaptation Project in Viet Nam
This paper discusses which climate variables to collect, and from which sources, when incorporating them into an impact assessment.
IFAD Research Series No. 88: The Impact of Climate Change on Livestock Production in Mozambique
This paper focuses on activities targeting improved pasture management, supplemental feed sources and livestock value chain development.
Research Series 87: Incorporating the Impact of Climate and Weather Variables in Impact Assessments
This paper outlines a methodological strategy for incorporating weather and long-term climate conditions into impact assessments, based on an IFAD-supported project that invested in grain storage in Chad.
Research Series 86: Incorporating the Impact of Climate and Weather Variables into Impact Assessments
This paper applies a methodological framework for incorporating current period weather and long-term climate conditions into impact assessments.
IFAD Strategy and Knowledge Department Learning Note #2
This Learning Note showcases the methodology used for assessing the impacts of IFAD's investments on the livelihoods and lives of its project participants.
IFAD11 Impact Assessment Report
IFAD measures the impact of its investments by systematically conducting impact assessments on a sample of projects closing during each replenishment period.
The Free, Prior and Informed Consent Advantage: Action for empowerment in Latin America
This publication explores how FPIC is solicited through consultation and the participation of communities and local institutions at specific stages of the project cycle.
Research Series 85: Financing climate adaptation and resilient agricultural livelihoods
Moving to a process that contributes to improving rather than endangering livelihoods is the challenge that climate change adaptation and resilience-building efforts currently face.
Research Series 84: Farmed animal production in tropical circular food systems
In this review, the role of farmed animals in circular food systems in the tropics is presented in four case studies.
Research Series 83: The future of farming: who will produce our food?
In this report, we highlight past trends and explore possible future trajectories of smallholder farming to predict who the farmers of the future are.
Research Series 82: Contributions of information and communication technologies to food systems transformation
Using a food systems approach, this paper reviews existing evidence and discusses the conditions, rural population segments, and timelines needed to achieve desired outcomes.
Research Series 81: Food and water systems in semi-arid regions – case study: Egypt
This paper explores the role of water in Egypt’s food system and the dilemma the country faces: raise food self-sufficiency by allocating freshwater resources from the Nile to food production, or rely on food imports from water-abundant regions worldwide.
Research Series 80: How can different types of smallholder commodity farmers be supported to achieve a living income?
The paper finds that short- to medium-term interventions are most effective for improving the livelihoods of poor farmers, including food security and health, off-farm employment, and social assistance.
Research Series 79: The position of export crops banana and cocoa in food systems analysis with special reference to the role of certification schemes
In this paper, the certification requirements and schemes of two export commodities—banana and cocoa—are discussed using food system analysis.
Research Series 78: The Small and Medium Enterprises’ quiet revolution in the hidden middle of food systems in developing regions
This paper explores the rise of SMEs in transforming food systems—from traditional, to transitional, to modern.
Research Series 77: The role of trade and policies in improving food security
Developing competitive and inclusive food value chains requires domestic macroeconomic policies to improve the agricultural sector’s business environment and create outside opportunities, and sector-specific targeted measures to promote smallholder participation in competitive value chains by reducing market access costs.
Research Series Issue 76: Upscaling of traditional fermented foods to build value chains and to promote women entrepreneurship
This paper explores how traditional processing of fermented foods can be scaled up while enhancing functional food properties and strengthening local value chains.
Research Series Issue 75: Reverse thinking: taking a healthy diet perspective towards food systems transformations
This paper argues that food systems transformation should incorporate a dietary perspective that is guided by information on diets, dietary trends, consumer motives, and the food environment characteristics.
Research Series 74: Women’s empowerment, food systems, and nutrition
This background paper examines the linkages and interactions between women’s empowerment, food systems, and nutrition.
Research Series 73: Food systems and rural wellbeing: challenges and opportunities
This paper provides a framework for assessing the dynamics of rural wellbeing and food systems change.
Research Series 72: Climate change and food system activities - a review of emission trends, climate impacts and the effects of dietary change
This article reviews how food system activities contribute to climate change and how dietary changes affect food systems. It shows that while emissions from food production are increasing in most regions, emissions from land use change are decreasing.
Research Series 71: Urbanizing food systems: exploring opportunities for rural transformation
This paper shows that while anticipated increases in food demand by 2050 can largely be met regionally, potential yield increases or diversification will not contribute automatically to inclusive rural transformation. Instead, urbanization may potentially increase rural inequality and poverty.
Research Series 70: Do not transform food systems on the backs of the rural poor
Although the importance of inclusion in food system transformation is gaining traction, this paper argues that recent research and discourse on the topic is insufficient and that specific actions are needed to ensure that this transformation does not take place on the backs of the rural poor.
Research Series 69: Structural and rural transformation and food systems: a quantitative synthesis for LMICs
Using country-level data from 85 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), this paper outlines a food systems index (FSI) and analyses the linkages between food systems and structural and rural transformation, as well as population distributions.
Research Series 68: Exploring a food system index for understanding food system transformation processes
This paper explores the prospects for a food system index (FSI) capturing several key components that influence differences in food system performance at the country level.
Research Series 67: Towards food systems transformation – five paradigm shifts for healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems
This paper highlights five fundamental paradigm shifts that are required to overcome trade-offs and build synergies between health and nutrition, inclusive livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and food system resilience.
How to do note: Integrating the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) in IFAD operations
This note provides practical guidance on how to roll out the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) for IFAD-funded projects.
Understanding market demand: How to use focus group discussions in the development of inclusive insurance
Understanding market demand is a critical step in the process of developing solutions to meet the risk management needs of rural poor people, particularly with regard to insurance.
How to do note: Seeking, free, prior and informed consent in IFAD investment projects
This note offers practical guidance for IFAD staff, consultants and in-country partners for seeking FPIC in the design and implementation of IFAD-funded projects and programmes, in compliance with IFAD policies and procedures.
The Biodiversity Advantage: Thriving with nature - biodiversity for sustainable livelihoods and food systems
IFAD’s second Biodiversity Advantage report showcases five IFAD projects which highlight the integral importance of biodiversity in agriculture.
Making agricultural and climate risk insurance gender inclusive: How to improve access to insurance for rural women
IFAD’s technical assistance programme INSURED (Insurance for rural resilience and economic development) has been building knowledge about how to strengthen women producers’ access to climate risk insurance.
Research Series Issue 66: Can perceptions of reduction in physical water availability affect irrigation behaviour? Evidence from Jordan
We investigate how perceptions of physical water availability in the past are related to farmers’ current irrigation behaviour.
Rapid prototyping for inclusive insurance: Testing customer challenges and gaining early insights on feasibility
Prototyping aims to gather direct feedback on the solution and the wider insurance scheme, incorporate changes before pilot testing, and make any additional adjustments before the official roll-out.
Research Series Issue 65: Impacts of agricultural value chain development in a mountainous region: Evidence from Nepal
This analysis investigates the potential mechanism and the practical significance of the impacts of agricultural value chain development in a geographically challenging rural area of a developing country.
How to do note: Crop selection for diet quality and resilience
This How to Do Note is part of a series of five Notes that accompany the NUS Operational Framework.
How to do note: Market needs and emerging opportunities assessment in NUS value chains
This How to Do Note is part of a series of five Notes that accompany the NUS Operational Framework.
How to do note: Promote neglected and underutilized species for domestic markets
This How to Do Note is part of a series of five Notes that accompany the NUS Operational Framework.
How to do note: Interventions in support of NUS export markets
This How to Do Note is part of a series of five Notes that accompany the NUS Operational Framework.
How to do note: Mainstreaming NUS in national policy for nutrition outcomes
This How to Do Note is part of a series of five Notes that accompany the NUS Operational Framework.
The small livestock advantage: A sustainable entry point for addressing SDGs in rural areas
This report presents selected achievements and lessons learned from the growing portfolio of small livestock investments supported by IFAD.
Research Series Issue 64: How the adoption of drought-tolerant rice varieties impacts households in a non-drought year: Evidence from Nepal
Stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) are bred to be high yielding and tolerant to climate shocks such as drought.
Impact Assessment: Strengthening Local Development in the Highlands and High Rainforest Areas Project (PSSA)
Research Series Issue 63: The adoption of improved agricultural technologies - A meta-analysis for Africa
The Land Tenure Security Advantage: A catalytic asset for sustainable and inclusive rural transformation
The Land Tenure Security Advantage presents an overview of IFAD’s engagement in securing land tenure for the rural poor.
Research Series Issue 62: The spillover effects of seed producer groups on non-member farmers in mid-hill communities of Nepal
Impact Assessment: Gente de Valor – Rural Communities Development Project in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia
The Rural Communities Development in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia (Project Gente de Valor) was designed to strengthen the capacity of rural communities to thrive in the drought-prone environment of Brazil's north-east region through improved access to water, increased productive capacity, and empowerment of participating communities.
Uganda: Impact Assessment of the Small and Medium Agribusiness Development Fund (SMADF), Baseline Report No. 1: Sesaco Ltd.
This is a baseline report for the impact assessment of the Yield Uganda Investment Fund (YUIF), an investment fund that provides targeted financing to small and medium agribusinesses (SMAs) to help them overcome barriers to accessing capital.
Uganda: Impact Assessment of the Small and Medium Agribusiness Development Fund (SMADF), Baseline Report No. 2: Central Coffee Farmers Association (CECOFA)
Research Series Issue 61: The narrative on rural youth and economic opportunities in Africa: facts, myths and gaps
This paper reviews the narrative on rural youth and economic opportunities in Africa, using a set of policy documents from various African countries and regional and international organizations.
Research Series Issue 60: Investing in rural youth in the Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia
This study reviews the opportunities and challenges facing rural youth in the Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia region.
Research Series Issue 59: The rural youth situation in Latin America and the Caribbean
This study offers a general picture of the situation of rural youth in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Research Series Issue 58: Investing in rural youth in the Asia and the Pacific region
This study characterizes the structural and rural transformation of the Asia and the Pacific region.
Research Series Issue 57: Unlocking the potential of rural youth: the role of policies and institutions
This study presents a framework to analyse the political economy of rural youth policy and institutions’ opportunity space with a quadrant that measures the extent to which rural youth are a priority in policies and institutions versus the extent that governments have to effectively implement rural youth policies.
Research Series Issue 56: The impact of migrants’ remittances and investment on rural youth
This study analyses how migrants positively contribute to the sustainable economic development of rural youth in their countries of origin.
Research Series Issue 55: Rural youth: determinants of migration throughout the world
This study takes a unique look at the determinants of youth migration across seven different countries using recently collected data.
Research Series Issue 54: Rural youth in the context of fragility and conflict
While conflicts are often defined as “development in reverse”, there is a general lack of research focusing specifically on young people living in rural areas.
Research Series Issue 53: Youth access to land, migration and employment opportunities: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
This study examines the intersections between youth access to land, migration decisions and employment opportunities in various African countries.
Research Series Issue 52: Information and communication technologies and rural youth
This analysis reviews existing research on the impact of digital initiatives on youth in the education, agriculture, financial and employment sectors.
Research Series Issue 51: Inclusive finance and rural youth
This study analyses inclusive finance and rural youth through cutting-age research with new insights and approaches that have emerged over the years in the field.
Research Series Issue 50: Rural transformation and the double burden of malnutrition among rural youth in developing countries
In this study, we show that rural transformation processes are associated with improvements in rural youth nutrition – malnutrition and underweight – in nearly all regions, although the pace of change varies considerably across countries.
Research Series Issue 49: Climate and jobs for rural young people
Climate change matters for all young people, especially for those whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. This study shows that adaptation to climate change is feasible and options increase as new technologies and management approaches come on-stream.
Research Series Issue 48: Rural youth, today and tomorrow
Research on rural youth aspirations suggests that many young people are not averse to agriculture as such, but to agriculture’s current neglected condition
Research Series Issue 47: Landscapes of rural youth opportunity
This study is motivated by the consistent portrayal of agriculture and the broader rural economy in Africa as domains of opportunity for rural youth.
Research Series Issue 46: Economic participation of rural youth: what matters?
A key lesson is that lack of technical skills does not seem to be the biggest obstacle youth face in entering the labour force. Evidence on agricultural extension programmes suggests that peer-to-peer learning works best.
Research Series Issue 45: Rural youth inclusion, empowerment and participation
This exploratory study focuses on participation in decision-making processes and how rural youth could benefit from its findings in development projects and initiatives.
Research Series Issue 44: Gender, rural youth and structural transformation: evidence to inform innovative youth programming
This study analyses sex-disaggregated data from various countries to characterize rural youths’ transition to adulthood by gender.
Research Series Issue 43: Youth agrifood system employment in developing countries: a gender-differentiated spatial approach
Little is known about the economic activities of rural youth. This study provides empirical evidence on this gap in literature.
Research Series Issue 42: What drives rural youth welfare? The role of spatial, economic, and household factors
This study uses the concept of the Rural Opportunity Space from economic geography literature to shed light on these questions.
Research Series Issue 41: The demography of rural youth in developing countries
Building on United Nations data, this study analyses how past growth of the youth population was dramatic in Asia and the Pacific, while projections suggest a sharp rise in the youth population of sub-Saharan Africa until 2050.
IFAD10 Impact Assessment: An Overview
To hold itself accountable on progress made in achieving this goal and these three strategic objectives, IFAD has adopted a unique approach to reporting impact at the corporate level, building on rigorous project-level evaluations. This report provides the results of these efforts to assess the corporate impact of IFAD investments for the Tenth Replenishment of IFAD’s Resources (IFAD10) period of 2016-2018.
The Latin America and Caribbean Advantage: Family farming – a critical success factor for resilient food security and nutrition
The West and Central Africa Advantage: Fighting fragility for smallholder resilience
A new report from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) shows that by working with women, men, young people and indigenous peoples as change agents we are best placed to beat back the impact of climate change on rural communities in West and Central Africa (WCA).
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Advantage: Fostering food security and nutrition, increasing
This report presents selected achievements and lessons from the growing portfolio of fisheries and aquaculture investments supported by IFAD.
How to do note: Mainstreaming nutrition into COSOPs and investment projects
This How-to-do Note is a practical step by step operational guidance on mainstreaming nutrition in IFAD-supported country strategies and investment projects for use by IFAD staff, consultants and partners.
Research Series Issue 40: Local-economy impacts of cash crop promotion
The Food Loss Reduction Advantage: Building sustainable food systems
Research Series Issue 39: Smallholder farming, growth linkages, structural transformation and poverty reduction
Impact assessment: The Coastal Community Development (CCDP)
Research Series Issue 38: Meta-evidence review on the impacts of investments in agricultural and rural development on Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2
Research Series Issue 37: Determinants of cofinancing in IFAD-funded projects - A call to rethink development interventions
Impact assessment: PAPAFPA and PAPAC
Research Series Issue 36: Who works in agriculture?
Impact assessment: Coastal Climate Resilient Infrastructure Project (CCRIP)
Impact assessment: Plan VIDA-PEEP to Eradicate Extreme Poverty – Phase I
Research Series Issue 35: Climate change mitigation potential of agricultural practices supported by IFAD investments An ex ante analysis
This study estimates the mitigation potential of agricultural practices supported by IFAD’s current investments in order to provide guidance for the design of future investments.
Research Series Issue 34: Farm size and productivity - Lessons from recent literature
IFAD Results Series Issue 3
Impact assessment: Agricultural Sector Development Programme–Livestock (ASDP-L) and Agriculture Service Support Programme (ASSP)
Research Series Issue 33 - The impact of the adoption of CGIAR's improved varieties on poverty and welfare outcomes: A systematic review
Impact assessment: Guangxi Integrated Agricultural Development Project
Impact assessment: Rural Development Support Programme in Guéra
Impact assessment: Project for Rural Income through Exports in Rwanda
Impact assessment: Irrigated Rice Production Enhancement Project
Impact assessment: High-Value Agriculture Project in Hill and Mountain Areas
Impact Assessment: Community-based Forestry Development Project in Southern States (DECOFOS)
Impact Assessment: Livestock and Pasture Development Project
Impact assessment: Participatory Small-Scale Irrigation Development Programme
Impact assessment: Agricultural Value Chains Support Project (PAFA)
Research Series Issue 32 - Developing country-wide farming system typologies: An analysis of Ethiopian smallholders’ income and food security
The Youth Advantage: Engaging young people in green growth
In 2030, young people will make up around 15 per cent of the world’s population, and rural youth about 6 per cent. Some regions are even expected to see a “youth bulge” or a significantly higher proportion of young people.
Research Series Issue 31 - Impact of modern irrigation on household production and welfare outcomes
Nutrition-sensitive value chains: A guide for project design – Volume I
The Nutrition-sensitive value chains: A guide for project design has been produced to fill a key knowledge gap in the emerging field of value chains for nutrition by providing guidance on how to design nutrition-sensitive value chain (NSVC) projects, with a particular focus on smallholder producers.
Research Series Issue 30 - Nutrition-sensitive value chains from a smallholder perspective: A framework for project design
Research Series Issue 29 - Empowering through collective action
This paper explores the conditions for collective action to generate inclusion when agriculture transforms.
Research Series Issue 28 - Understanding the dynamics of adoption decisions and their poverty impacts. The case of improved maize seeds in Uganda
Effective rural development: IFAD’s evidence-based approach to managing for results
This report reflects IFAD’s ongoing efforts to generate evidence to inform decision-making at the corporate and project level.
Research Series Issue 27 - Asia’s rural-urban disparity in the context of growing inequality
The IFAD-GEF Advantage II: Linking smallholders and global environmental benefits
In 2014, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) released a report celebrating achievements through its partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Since then, the world has been responding to critical environmental and climate challenges.
The Business Advantage: Mobilizing private sector-led climate actions in agriculture
Toolkit: Engaging with pastoralists – a holistic development approach
Research Series Issue 26 - Exploration of a methodology for assessing the impact of policy engagement. What impact and how to assess it?
Toolkit: Access to finance for renewable energy technologies
Research Series Issue 25 - Structural transformation and poverty in Malawi. Decomposing the effects of occupational and spatial mobility
Research Series Issue 24 - Influence of nutrition-sensitive interventions on dietary profiles of smallholder farming households in East and Southern Africa
This paper aims to explore the influence of nutrition-sensitive interventions on dietary profiles of the beneficiaries of IFAD-funded projects.
Research Series Issue 23 - The Effect of the Sectoral Composition of Economic Growth on Rural and Urban Poverty
Research Series Issue 22 - Poverty reduction during the rural-urban transformation
Toolkit: Supporting smallholder seed systems
Research Series Issue 21 - Does relative deprivation induce migration? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
The Water Advantage: Seeking sustainable solutions for water stress
Among ecosystems services, freshwater is one of the most fundamental for life. For smallholders, water means the difference between a decent life and poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
How to do note: Design of gender transformative smallholder agriculture adaptation programmes
Research Series Issue 20 - Transformation and Diversification of the Rural Economy in Asia
Research Series Issue 19 - Measuring Women's Empowerment in Agriculture: A Streamlined Approach
The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) can be a useful tool to measure the empowerment, agency and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector. However, computing the WEAI in its current form involves large data requirements, resulting in lengthy surveys with several questions on various dimensions and indicators within each dimension. This paper proposes a reduced version of the WEAI, or the R-WEAI, and examines two possible approaches to reduce the data requirements while ensuring comparability to the full WEAI.
The Marine Advantage: Empowering coastal communities, safeguarding marine ecosystems
Agriculture and fisheries, the backbone of food security and nutrition for coastal communities and globally, are under threat.
Research Series Issue 18 - Do agricultural support and cash transfer programmes improve nutritional status?
Cash transfer and agricultural support programmes are both used to improve nutrition outcomes in developing countries. This paper examines previous reviews of the impact of these programmes and compares the evidence between the two. The paper finds that, although there are about the same number of programmes of each type, many more papers have been written about the cash transfer programmes than the agricultural programmes. While evidence suggests that both programme types improved the quality of food consumption, the paper concludes that both types show weak evidence of improvements in anthropometric outcomes.
Impact Assessment: Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP)
The Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP) aimed to foster market-driven development of the informal dairy sector in Kenya.
Impact assessment: Project to Support Development in the Menabe and Melaky Regions
Research Series Issue 17 - Population age structure and sex composition in sub-Saharan Africa: A rural-urban perspective
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.
The Nutrition Advantage: Harnessing nutrition co-benefits of climate-resilient agriculture
Climate change and malnutrition are among the greatest problems in the twentyfirst century; they are “wicked problems”, difficult to describe, with multiple causes, and no single solution.
IFAD Results Series Issue 2
This issue presents and analyses experiences from the following IFAD-funded projects and programmes:
Ethiopia: Pastoral Community Development Project; Nepal: Leasehold Forestry and Livestock Programme; Palestine: Participatory Natural Resource Management Programme; Peru: Project for Strengthening Assets, Markets and Rural Development in the Northern Highlands (Sierra Norte); Sierra Leone: Rehabilitation and Community-based Poverty Reduction Project
Research Series Issue 16 - Getting the most out of impact evaluation for learning, reporting and influence
Research Series Issue 15 - Remittances, growth and poverty reduction in Asia
Remittances have increased in low-income and lower- middle-income countries in recent years, playing an important role as a stable source of finance at the macro-level, and in poverty reduction at the micro-level.
Drawing on a critical review of the literature and econometric analyses based on cross-country panel data, this study examines the relationships among remittances, growth and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific and highlights policy implications to be considered by governments and policy-makers.
Research Series Issue 14 - Disbursement performance of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
This paper investigates the trends and the influencing factors of IFAD’s project disbursement performance over the past 20 years. Based on data from 577 projects in 111 countries, the study finds that disbursement of funds are often delayed and time-consuming.
Using econometric analysis, the study assesses the internal and external factors affecting the amount and timeliness of disbursements, and provides important lessons on how international financial institutions such as IFAD can better monitor and manage this important aspect of their development effectiveness.
Toolkit: Poverty targeting, gender equality and empowerment
Research Series Issue 13 - Graduation models for rural financial inclusion
Graduation out of chronic poverty has recently been receiving considerable attention by the global development community for its potential synergies with social protection, microfinance and livelihoods development approaches to poverty reduction.
This paper examines the evidence regarding the effectiveness of graduation strategies in reducing extreme poverty, with a focus on rural households, and proposes a new analytical framework to support future work on graduation as a learning and adaptation process in development practice.
Research Series Issue 12 - An evidence-based assessment of IFAD’s end-of-project reporting
Project Completion Reports (PCRs) are a critical tool for development organizations, both for accountability purposes, and as a means of learning from project experience to inform the design of future operations. This paper analyses a sample of PCRs from IFAD to assess the extent to which evidence is used to determine a project's effectiveness in bringing about development.
The report finds that most claims on results are not supported by evidence, and discusses implications for the objective measurement of development effectiveness.
Research Series Issue 11 - Food safety, trade, standards and the integration of smallholders into value chains
This paper analyses how food safety challenges and requirements affect smallholder farmers' access to markets. High food safety standards in destination countries force governments of developing countries to make strategic choices about establishing domestic standards and upgrading the infrastructure and knowledge base of smallholder farmers.
The paper suggests mechanisms that can be used to respond to these challenges, to enable smallholder inclusion in different markets.
IFAD Results Series Issue 1
This issue presents and analyses experiences from the following IFAD-funded projects and programmes:
Brazil: Sustainable Development Project for Agrarian Reform; Settlements in the Semi-arid North-east (Dom Hélder Câmara Project);
China: South Gansu Poverty Reduction Programme;
Ghana: Rural Enterprises Programme; Morocco: Rural Development Project in the Mountain Zones of Al-Haouz Province;
Uganda: Vegetable Oil Development Project.
Research Series Issue 10 - Inclusive finance and inclusive rural transformation
This paper provides an overview of concepts, issues and research on the relationship between financial inclusion and inclusive rural transformation.
It demonstrates how changing demand for financial services, innovations in rural finance, and different investment strategies affect the interplay of supply and demand.
Research Series Issue 9 - Social protection and inclusive rural transformation
This paper analyses how different types of social protection interventions affect rural livelihoods. It examines how these interventions can help rural transformation by increasing productivity and asks how they can influence inclusiveness.
Using country-level evidence, it suggests that the effectiveness of social protection depends upon specific contexts and combinations of interventions, and asks what this means for building policy.
Research Series Issue 8 - Fostering inclusive rural transformation in fragile states and situations
structural and rural transformation? (ii) In three selected case studies of diverse fragile situations (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Haiti and the Republic of the Sudan – drawing on IFAD financed programme and country experience), what have been the key elements of structural and rural transformation and to what extent has rural transformation been inclusive? (iii) In these cases, how does fragility affect the inclusiveness of rural transformation? Which policies and approaches can successfully promote inclusive rural transformation in
fragile situations?
Toolkit: Designing and implementing conservation agriculture of IFAD investments in sub-Saharan Africa
Toolkit: Engaging with farmers’ organizations for more effective smallholder development
Research Series Issue 7 - Measuring IFAD's Impact
This paper examines the impact of IFAD-supported projects so as to learn lessons for future projects. It analyses the different methods used by IFAD to measure a project's impact, finds that IFAD is improving the well-being of rural people, and recommends that impact assessments be built into future projects from their inception.
The Biodiversity Advantage: Global benefits from smallholder actions
Biodiversity is about more than plants, animals, and micro-organisms and their ecosystems – the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) recognizes that it is also very much about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air, shelter, and a clean and healthy environment. Biodiversity is also essential for the maintenance of ecosystem-based services, such as the provision of water and food for human, animal and plant life. When we make an effort to conserve biodiversity, we are helping to maintain critical global biological resources to meet our needs today as well as those of future generations. Biodiversity conservation is therefore central to achieving recent global commitments for sustainable development under “Agenda 2030”, adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recognizes that losing biodiversity means losing opportunities for coping with future challenges, such as those posed by climate change and food insecurity.