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Land and natural resources in Swaziland
IFAD and UN-Habitat, through the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), have entered into a partnership to implement the „Land and Natural Resources Learning Initiative for Eastern and Southern Africa (TSLI-ESA)‟.
The initiative aims to improve knowledge management strategies and approaches towards pro-poor and gender-sensitive land and natural resource tenure rights in selected East and Southern African countries.
Scaling up Microirrigation Systems - Outcome Report
Land and Natural Resources Tenure Security Learning Initiative for East and Southern Africa
This report provides an overview of the achievements and learning from the Phase 1 of the Tenure Security Learning Initiative - East & Southern Africa (TSLI-ESA) Project.
It also looks ahead to strategies for scaling up initiatives, and to the second phase of the TSLI-ESA project.
Tanzania: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples Issues
The United Republic of Tanzania (URT) has a multi-ethnic population with more than 125 different ethnic communities. Four of these—the Hadzabe, the Akie, the Maasai and the Barabaig—identify themselves as indigenous peoples.
Mapping land and natural resource rights, use and management
Participatory mapping uses a range of tools including data collection tools, such as mental mapping, ground mapping, participatory sketch mapping, transect mapping and participatory 3-dimensional modelling.
Recently participatory mapping initiatives have begun to use more technically advanced geographic information technologies, including Global Positioning Systems (GPS), aerial photos and use of remote-sensing images, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other digital computer-based technologies.
IFAD supported projects and programmes are increasingly making use of these technologies for mapping land and natural resource rights, use and management.
Caso de Estudio Proyecto de Desarrollo Corredor Central Ecuador
Este es un documento sobre las Buenas Prácticas del proyecto de Desarrollo Corredor Central (PDCC) implementado en Ecuador y financiado por el Gobierno Nacional y por el Préstamo 650/EC proveniente del Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), a través de la ejecución de sub-Proyectos de Turismo Comunitario con Pueblos y Nacionalidades Indígenas.
Los tres segmentos geográficos que conforman el corredor central, desde la región de la costa a la región amazónica: (i) Portoviejo y La Maná; (ii) Pujilí y Pelileo; (iii) Baños y Puyo.
Enabling poor people to overcome poverty in Guatemal
IFAD has supported rural poverty reduction and agricultural development initiatives in the Republic of Guatemala since 1986. During its first decade in the country, IFAD’s work was oriented towards supporting the government in consolidating the peace process and rebuilding the social fabric in zones that were affected by Guatemala’s 36-year armed conflict.
It also focused on constructing an economic and institutional platform for the development of marginalized rural and indigenous communities.
Over the years, IFAD operations have evolved from localized rural development.
Experiencias del FIDA sobre escalonamiento en Perú, Estudio de caso y esquema analítico
The future of world food security
economic, financial and food crises that have slowed down,
and at times reversed, global efforts to reduce poverty and
hunger. Today, price volatility and weather shocks – such as the
recent devastating drought in the Horn of Africa – continue to
severely undermine such efforts.
In this context, promoting livelihood resilience and food and
nutrition security has become central to the policy agendas of
governments. Smallholder farmers need to be at the centre
of this agenda, and to play a leading role in the investment
efforts needed to achieve it.
Kenya: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples Issues
The Republic of Kenya has a multi-ethnic population, among which more than 25 communities identify as indigenous.
Climate-smart smallholder agriculture: What is different?
Investing in rural people in Burundi
IFAD has funded nine programmes and projects in Burundi for a total investment of US$141 million. IFAD’s experience in the country confirms that even under adverse circumstances programmes and projects conceived and designed on the basis of adequate consultations with incentives to rural communities can help improve household food security.
During more than a decade of open conflict in Burundi, IFAD continued to implement programme and project activities. In keeping with its mandate for rural and agricultural development, the organization supported participation in social development and the cohesion of rural communities that were directly or indirectly affected by massacres and combat. By continuing activities in the face of insecurity and within the constraints of an international embargo on Burundi, IFAD helped communities maintain a sense of normalcy.
Facilitating access of rural youth to agricultural activities
This paper serves as a working document for the youth session of the 2012 Farmers’ Forum and provides an overview of the findings of the MIJARC/IFAD/FAO joint project on ‘Facilitating access of rural youth to agricultural activities’.
These findings will be completed and inserted into a final report that will be published after the Farmers’ Forum.
Good Practices in Building Innovative Rural Institutions to Increase Food Security
Evidence from the ground shows that when strong rural organizations such as producer groups and cooperatives provide a full range of services to small producers, they are able to play a greater role in meeting a growing food demand on local, national and international markets. Indeed, a myriad of such institutional innovations from around the world are documented in this FAO case-study-based publication.
Nevertheless, to be able to provide a broad array of services to their members, organizations have to develop a dense network of relationships among small producers, between small-producer organizations and with markets actors and policy-makers.
Syrian Arab Republic: Thematic study on participatory rangeland management in the Badia - Badia Rangelands Development Project
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples Issues
The DRC is a multi-ethnic country with some 250 ethnic groups, including several indigenous Pygmy groups.
Annual report on investigative and anti-corruption activities 2011
In its efforts to help poor rural people overcome poverty, IFAD aims to ensure that development funds reach them in the most efficient, effective and transparent manner possible. Fraud and corruption divert resources away from the people who need them most. The goal of IFAD’s Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities and Operations (EB 2005/85/R.5/Rev.1 - “the anticorruption policy”), is the prevention of fraud and corruption within the Fund itself and in activities financed by IFAD at local, national, regional and international levels.
Enabling poor rural to overcome poverty in Yemen
IFAD is currently one of the two largest donors supporting Yemen’s rural agricultural sector. IFAD has worked in Yemen since the Fund’s creation, and has acquired a wealth of experience and knowledge of the economy and society, and developed a wide network of partners in the country. IFAD’s goal in Yemen is to achieve improved, diversified and sustainable livelihoods for poor rural women, men and young people, especially those who depend on rainfed agriculture and livestock production systems in the poorest areas.
IFAD has three main strategic objectives in Yemen:
• empowering rural communities by strengthening partnerships with civil society organizations and using community-driven approaches so that poor rural people can manage local community development activities;
• promoting sustainable rural financial services and pro-poor rural enterprises by developing savings and credit associations for disadvantaged groups in remote rural areas and developing rural enterprises that provide jobs for the unemployed, especially young people and women;
• enhancing food security for poor households by restoring the productive agricultural base and improving productivity so that poor households can produce enough for household needs and a surplus that can be sold.
Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty in Honduras
IFAD loans and grants have supported the government’s investments in poverty reduction programmes since 1979. Before 1998, when Hurricane Mitch devastated the country,IFAD was almost the only institution investing in rural development and poverty alleviation in Honduras.
IFAD also designed one of the first projects to be implemented after the disastrous hurricane: the National Fund for Sustainable Rural Development Project (FONADERS).
Performance of IPAF small projects: Desk review 2011
In June 2006, the World Bank and IFAD agreed to transfer the World Bank’s Grants Facility for Indigenous Peoples to IFAD. In September, the transfer was approved by IFAD’s Executive Board. This marked the beginning of the IFAD Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF), which issues public calls for proposals and makes small grants to support indigenous and tribal peoples throughout the world. Development projects financed through IPAF aim to improve indigenous peoples’ access to key decision-making processes, empower indigenous peoples to find solutions to the challenges they face, and respond to indigenous peoples’ holistic perspectives. The projects build on indigenous culture, identity, knowledge, natural resources, intellectual property and human rights.
This report, prepared by an independent consultant, provides an overview of the performance of 53 small IPAF-funded projects in delivering results and improving the lives of their target groups. About 45,000 people directly benefited from these projects, and more than half of them were women. Project services reached about 1,200 communities. Primary project activities were training and individual capacity-building in such topics as security of tenure, natural resource management, agricultural technologies, traditional medicine, indigenous peoples’ rights, community programming, literacy and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Weather Index-based Insurance in agricultural development: a technical guide
Poor rural people in developing countries are vulnerable to a range of risks and constraints that impede their socio-economic development. Weather risk, in particular, is pervasive in agriculture.
Enhancing market transparency
Addressing climate change in East and Southern Africa
Trail Blazers: Stories of Women Champions from IFAD Projects
Water User Associations in the context of small holder agriculture
This report is the fruit of that endeavour and builds on efforts by IWMI, IFAD and many others to document and understand the impacts of PIM.
Through the systematic review of 24 IFAD-funded PIM interventions and field observations from 5 project sites in the Asian region this study sheds new light on what works, where and why.
Our study examines WUAs that have been created by IFAD projects and those which pre-date it’s interventions but are the main focus of capacity building or restructuring.
Fragile states: working to build resilience
strong policies, skilled personnel, functional infrastructure and services, educated citizens, an active civil society and a competitive private sector. Civil and border conflict is an all-too frequent reality.
Poor people living in rural areas of fragile states are particularly vulnerable as they have very limited means to cope with the situation created by fragility.
IFAD and Togo
The country’s challenge now is to create the conditions for economic growth – and the Government of Togo believes that the best way to achieve lasting growth is through increased production and productivity in the agriculture sector.
For these reasons, after more than a decade out of the country, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is working closely with the Republic of Togo to put agricultural and rural development on track.
Smallholder conservation agriculture - Rationale for IFAD involvement and relevance to the East and Southern Africa region
Regreening the Sahel: Developing agriculture in the context of climate change in Burkina Faso
of severity occur in two out of every five years, making harvests of the major food and cash crops highly uncertain. The recurrent droughts of the 1970s and 1980s caused huge losses of agricultural production and livestock, the loss of human lives to hunger and malnutrition, and the massive displacement of people and
shattered economies. Most climate models predict that the Sahel region will become even drier during this century.
Building and operating a mini-hatchery - sand method
• How to collect and select fertile eggs;
• How to place the eggs in the incubator;
• The day-to-day operation of the hatchery; and
• How to handle chicks or ducklings as they hatch.
The issue of land in Argentina
territorial development. In addition, a series of policy options are put forward to address the most conflictridden situations, keeping in mind the goals of equity
and development.
Madagascar - Étude de cas Le potentiel des jeunes AUE à participer au développement durable
IFAD Annual Report 2010
Lessons learned in the development of smallholder private irrigation for high-value crops in West Africa
The objective of this report is to identify, characterize, and evaluate best practices in smallholder private irrigation in West Africa. The report presents a comparative assessment of the smallholder private irrigation initiatives in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.
Issues discussed include: the potential and impacts of new technologies; the successes and challenges of different approaches to develop smallholder private irrigation (promotion of technologies, institutional arrangements, advisory and financial services, and environmental impact mitigation); and the lessons learned.
Higher and volatile food prices and poor rural people
at both household and country levels. Many of the world’s
poorest people spend more than half their income on food.
Price hikes for cereals and other staples can force them
to cut back on the quantity or quality of their food.
This may result in food insecurity and malnutrition,
with tragic implications in both the short and long term.
Undernourishment increases disease and mortality, lowers
productivity and can have severe lifelong effects, particularly
for children. Price spikes can also limit the ability of poor
households to meet important non-food expenses, such
as education and health care. When they occur globally,
price hikes can affect low-income, food importing
countries, putting pressure on their limited financial
resources. Higher food prices have a particularly negative
impact on food security when prices spike suddenly or
reach extremely high levels.
Climate change - Building smallholder resilience
Higher and volatile food prices and poor rural people
Undernourishment increases disease and mortality, lowers productivity and can have severe lifelong effects, particularly for children. Price spikes can also limit the ability of poor households to meet important non-food expenses, such as education and health care. When they occur globally, price hikes can affect low-income, food importing countries, putting pressure on their limited financial resources. Higher food prices have a particularly negative impact on food security when prices spike suddenly or reach extremely high levels.
Madagascar - Étude de cas Le rôle des femmes dans la gouvernance locale de l’eau agricole
Plus de 35 ans sont passés depuis la première conférence mondiale de la femme des Nations Unies au Mexique en 1975, et de nombreuses autres conférences et événements se sont succédés, avec comme résultats des engagements politiques, des documents d’action et des
recommandations.
Malgré cela, nous sommes loin de pouvoir affirmer que l’objectif d’égalité entre les sexes ait été atteint. En ce qui concerne les pays en voie du développement, le Sommet mondial du développement social, en 1995 a été déterminant. C’est alors que le monde a pris conscience de la nécessité d’établir des indicateurs pour pouvoir analyser la situation des femmes dans le monde à diverses échelles.
Remittances and Postal Networks
Sudan - Training and skills development within the Gash Sustainable Livelihoods Regeneration Project (GSLRP)
The case study in Sudan, undertaken in the framework of the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI), analyzed training and skills development activities in the IFAD-supported Gash Sustainable Livelihoods Regeneration Project (GSLRP).
The study is an assessment of the type of capacity building and training that can be implemented in an area of great poverty using innovative approaches in community development and training. It illustrates the kind of impact that is possible at individual and community level.
Rwanda: The Rural Apprenticeship Training Programme
(i) Targeting and transition to employment or business creation; (ii) Types of training and providers; (iii) Transfer of knowledge and sustainability. The objective of this study is to present the experience of IFAD in technical vocational and skills development in the context of Rwanda and by doing so, highlight the innovative features and lessons learnt for further replication.
Bangladesh - Field study on Innovative forms of training and capacity-building
Apprenticeship learning and the inclusion of young people in nonagricultural rural activities under a national agricultural and rural training strategy - Reflections on scaling up a pilot experience in Madagascar
IFAD Supported Training and Apprenticeship within the Rural Enterprises Project Phase II in Ghana - A Field Study of Training Approaches and Outcomes
Colombia - A practical approach to building peer-to-peer knowledge
RemittancesGateway.org
IFAD and OIC Member States - Working together to eradicate poverty
The long-term partnership between IFAD and OIC Member States and institutions has, in recent years, taken on greater significance than ever before. The challenges are greater than they were three decades ago when IFAD was first established. But the opportunities for making an even bigger impact on the lives of the poor rural people are well within our grasp.
Women and rural development
contributions to agricultural production. But the inequalities that exist between women and men make it difficult for women to fulfil their potential.
Agritrade 2011 - Programa de encadenamientos empresariales
Smallholders can feed the world
Putting young people first
Young people have power and persistence. In the right conditions, a substantial young generation offers countries a priceless resource for economic development and social progress. However, in the current climate and for differing reasons, many developed and developing countries are struggling to provide their young people with a future, either in cities or in rural areas.
Full proceedings - Feeding future generations - Young rural people today – prosperous, productive farmers tomorrow
Managing weather risk for agricultural development and disaster risk reduction
Nearly 1.4 billion people live on less than US$1.25 a day. Seventy per cent live in rural areas where they depend on agriculture, but where they are also at risk from recurrent natural disasters such as drought and flooding. Natural disasters have a devastating impact on the food security and overall social and economic development of poor rural households.
According to data from Munich Re’s NatCatSERVICE, natural disasters account for losses, on average, of US$51 billion in developing countries every year. Unless well managed, weather risks in agriculture slow development and hinder poverty reduction, ultimately resulting in humanitarian crises. Poor farmers have few options for coping with significant losses, and in order to reduce their exposure to risk, they often forgo opportunities to increase their productivity.
Annual report on investigative and anti-corruption activities 2010
Pursuant to the adoption by the Executive Board in December 2005 of the IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities and Operations (EB 2005/85/R.5/Rev.1, paragraph 26) (the anticorruption policy), the Investigation Section of the Office of Audit and Oversight (AUO/IS) has a mandate to investigate alleged irregular practices, namely: (i) fraud and corruption, in relation to entities, contractors and non-staff individuals applying for or participating in an IFAD-financed project or headquarters-related contract; and (ii) staff misconduct. Implementation of this policy and the subsequent establishment of a Sanctions Committee have aligned IFAD with best practices applied by other United Nations agencies and the major multilateral development banks in this area.
In 2010 there were some indicators that the proactive anticorruption awarenessraising activities undertaken by AUO/IS in past years were bearing fruit. An increase in complaints received by AUO/IS in 2010, discussed in more detail below, could reasonably be attributed, at least in part, to training and anticorruption presentations given by staff of the Investigation Section. AUO/IS also noted the excellent response in 2010 from Programme Management Department (PMD) staff with regard to reporting allegations and in terms of cooperation afforded to the Section.
Feeding future generations - Young rural people today – prosperous, productive farmers tomorrow - Concept note
Rural Poverty Report 2011
“The problem today is that no matter how hard you work, it’s never enough to feed the family…” “For about a year, perhaps more, there have been no rains… That is why people are suffering…” “Without education a person can do nothing…” “The men have left to work outside the village. The main labour force here is women…” These are first-hand accounts of just a few of the men, women and young people who were interviewed for this report. Their stories give us vital insight into what it is like to live in today’s changing reality of rural poverty. Listening to their experiences – and learning from them – is essential if we are to comprehend that reality. And it is the first step in identifying appropriate and effective solutions to turn rural areas from backwaters into places where the young people of today can find opportunities to work their way out of poverty, and where they will want to live and to raise their own children. We need a clear understanding of what the face of poverty looks like now, a basket of practical solutions to today’s myriad challenges and a coherent approach for tackling the evolving challenges of the future. This report provides all three. IFAD’s Rural Poverty Report 2011 – New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow’s generation, is an in-depth study of rural poverty. The findings in the report come from a collaboration among dozens of experts in the field of poverty reduction – both inside and outside IFAD. They also come from the poor rural people themselves.
Enabling poor rural to overcome poverty in Viet Nam
IFAD works for and with the poorest people in Viet Nam, including ethnic minorities, small-scale farmers and households headed by women. Strategies to reduce poverty and improve living conditions include building partnerships, strengthening institutional capacity and promoting participation. IFAD works with the government and other partners to empower poor rural people so they can have a role in decisionmaking.
To do this, IFAD finances programmes and projects that focus on developing and testing innovative approaches to poverty reduction that can be replicated and scaled up by the government and other agencies. Interventions are area-based and multisectoral. They target regions where poverty reduction is a priority.
Scaling up the fight against rural poverty - An institutional review of IFAD’s approach
of its strategy to combat rural poverty in developing countries. This institutional review of IFAD’s approach to scaling up is the fi rst of its kind: A team
of development experts were funded by a small grant from IFAD to assess IFAD’s track record in scaling up successful interventions, its operational policies and
processes, instruments, resources and incentives, and to provide recommendations to management for how to turn IFAD into a scaling-up institution. Beyond IFAD,
this institutional scaling up review is a pilot exercise that can serve as an example for other development institutions.
Desertification factsheet
Desertification occurs when the tree and plant cover that binds the soil is removed. It occurs when trees and bushes are stripped away for fuelwood and timber, or to clear land for cultivation. It occurs when animals eat away grasses and erode topsoil with their hooves. It occurs when intensive farming depletes the nutrients in the soil.
Wind and water erosion aggravate the damage, carrying away topsoil and leaving behind a highly infertile mix of dust and sand. It is the combination of these factors
that transforms degraded land into desert.
IFAD Annual Report 2009
IFAD, GEF Factsheet
country, give attention to an integrated approach to improving livelihoods through better access to natural resources and their sustainable management.
Remittances and Financial Literacy
Lightening the load - Labour saving technologies for rural women
Making the most of agricultural investment: A survey of business models that provide opportunities for smallholders
Comprehensive environment and climate change assessment in Viet Nam
This report was prepared for informing IFAD‘s Country Strategic Opportunities Program (COSOP) 2012 – 2017 for Viet Nam. In preparation of this report a brainstorming workshop was held on 9 May 2011 in Hanoi bringing together key national research institutes working on climate change (CC) and environment related issues, ministries of agriculture and environment and bilateral and multilateral donors.
Change Africa from within
IFAD's livestock position paper
Learning by working together - Microprojects financed through the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF)
Alternatives to land acquisitions: Agricultural investment and collaborative business models
IFAD Decision Tools for Rural Finance
The potential for scale and sustainability in weather index insurance for agriculture and rural livelihoods
The difference we make, 2010
Nearly 2 billion rural people live on less than US$2 a day. Most are smallholder farmers and their families, who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Today, they must cope with rapid and unprecedented changes. Climate change, a growing world population, and volatile food and energy prices are pushing more people into extreme poverty and hunger. For the first time in human history, the number of hungry people has passed 1 billion. On top of this, tens of millions more people are expected to go hungry by 2020 as a result of climate change.
Gender and livestock: tools for design
This Thematic Paper is part of a Toolkit for Project Design (Livestock Thematic Papers: Tools for Project Design) which reflects IFAD’s commitment to developing a sustainable livestock sector in which poor farmers and herders might have higher incomes, and better access to assets, services, technologies and markets.
The paper indents to be a practical tool for development practitioners, project designers and policymakers to define appropriate livestock development interventions. It also provides recommendations on critical issues for rural development and also possible responses and actions to encourage the socio-economic empowerment of poor livestock keepers.
Promoting women's leadership in farmers' and rural producers' organizations
This paper presents the outcomes of the Special Session of the 2010 Farmers’ Forum, Promoting Women’s Leadership in Farmers’ Organizations and Rural Producers’ Organizations, that was convened on 12 and 13 February in conjunction with the Thirty-third Session of IFAD’s Governing Council. The session was co-organized by IFAD and the non-governmental organization Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources (WOCAN).
In plenary session and working groups, over 60 participants – including 35 women farmer representatives, members of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee, observers from NGOs and FAO, and many IFAD staff – had a rich discussion that generated important recommendations.
IFAD will follow up on those recommendations not only as a matter of equity, given women’s enormous contribution to agriculture, but also because a stronger women’s voice and leadership in agriculture are essential to making smallholder agriculture more productive and sustainable.
Gender and desertification: Making ends meet in drylands
Desertification is the process of land degradation that affects dryland areas and is caused by poverty, unsustainable land management and climate change. Drylands lose their productive capacity in a spiral of destruction that twins increased land degradation with increased poverty and food insecurity. Drought and desertification threaten the livelihoods of more than 1.2 billion people in 110 countries.
The problem is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia Desertification is the process of land degradation that affects dryland areas and is caused by poverty, unsustainable land management and climate change. Drylands lose their productive capacity in a spiral of destruction that twins increased land degradation with increased poverty and food insecurity. Drought and desertification threaten the livelihoods of more than 1.2 billion people in 110 countries. The problem is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.