Ensayos y Síntesis

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.

Investing in inclusive and sustainable rural transformation is strategically important for the 2030 Agenda. This has been broadly recognized in debates about the SDGs, particularly the roles of sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition in relation to SDG2, the eradication of hunger. It is important to recognize that the eradication of hunger is inseparable from the eradication of poverty in all its forms (SDG1). 

While poverty is often the main driver of food insecurity and malnutrition, hunger and malnutrition also result in the inability to escape poverty. Investments targeted at rural people are needed not only to ensure no one is left behind, but also to unlock the catalytic role that inclusive rural transformation has been shown to play in reducing and eradicating poverty and hunger, as well as promoting wider prosperity. 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) emerged from the food crisis of the early 1970s and the World Food Conference of 1974. With financial support from Korea and other development partners, IFAD was created as both a specialized agency of the United Nations and an international financial institution. IFAD supports measures that help people in rural areas to overcome poverty and build better lives. Since its creation, FAD has helped about 464 million people to grow more food, better manage their land and other natural resources, learn new skills, start businesses, build strong organizations, and gain a voice in decisions that affect their lives.

Despite much progress – extreme poverty has been halved since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted in 1990 – there are still 767 million extremely poor people in the world, and more than 75 per cent of them live in the rural areas of developing countries. Population increases and rising incomes are creating a growing demand for food, which creates both opportunities and challenges for people working in rural areas, including in smallholder agriculture and in the non-farm economy. Rising agricultural productivity, more jobs off the farm and migration are reshaping rural lives, but so too are climate change, environmental degradation, conflict and forced displacement.

IFAD’s experience in developing countries over the past 40 years clearly shows that investing in rural people leads to poverty reduction and economic growth that go beyond agriculture and rural areas. IFAD’s 2016 Rural Development Report presented evidence that inclusive and sustainable rural transformation is fundamental to economic and social growth, and to poverty reduction at the national level.

It is well recognized that with higher incomes and urbanization, patterns of demand for food change and expand – potentially creating new opportunities for food producers in many of today’s developing countries. It is not always equally well recognized that much of the urban expansion involves the growth of (often previously rural) towns, with these settlements retaining many of their rural characteristics. 

The continued prevalence of small-scale farming in local livelihoods – albeit increasingly buttressed by increasingly dynamic non-farm sectors – remains a feature of many of these so-called “urban” settlements. Notably, small towns and cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants now represent the largest share of the global urban population, with the majority of the projected urban growth in the decades ahead to be absorbed by these centres.

It is well recognized that with higher incomes and urbanization, patterns of demand for food change and expand – potentially creating new opportunities for food producers in many of today’s developing countries. It is not always equally well recognized that much of the urban expansion involves the growth of (often previously rural) towns, with these settlements retaining many of their rural characteristics.

Hambrunas, conflictos, migración forzada, pobreza, hambre, desigualdades, sequías y cambio climático.

Para resolver los mayores problemas que afronta la humanidad, es necesario comenzar por las raíces: por las causas fundamentales, que son las más difíciles de modificar, y por las personas más desfavorecidas, que corren los mayores riesgos y a quienes resulta más difícil llegar.
Estas personas son los hombres y las mujeres que, a pesar de cultivar alimentos, pasan hambre: los pequeños agricultores familiares, los comerciantes, los jornaleros, los pescadores, los cazadores y los recolectores que, con demasiada frecuencia, permanecen al margen de las cadenas de valor modernas.

Durante cuatro decenios, solo una organización se ha especializado en llegar a esas personas. El Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA) es esa organización; un organismo de las Naciones Unidas y una institución financiera internacional, y la única organización dedicada exclusivamente a las zonas rurales.

Una organización centrada en las personas que lucha contra la pobreza y el hambre codo a codo con las familias y las comunidades. Un fondo que no solo ofrece asesoramiento y recomendaciones, sino que también cuenta con asociados, inversiones y planes a largo plazo dirigidos a alcanzar la sostenibilidad.
 

En 2015, los Estados Miembros de las Naciones Unidas hicieron un llamamiento a la acción para erradicar la pobreza a nivel mundial, reducir la desigualdad económica y poner el planeta en una senda más sostenible: la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible.

Con el Día Internacional de las Remesas Familiares se reconocen los esfuerzos de millones de migrantes por mejorar las vidas de sus familias y construir un futuro con esperanza para sus hijos. Las remesas –el dinero que envían los migrantes a sus familias en sus lugares de origen– ayudan al sustento de 800 millones de personas y constituyen un importante factor de desarrollo. Aproximadamente el 40% de las remesas se envían a zonas rurales, donde se concentran la pobreza y el hambre.

To grow and lead productive lives we need good nutrition, and good nutrition starts from what we eat. Food systems have great potential to make diverse and nutritious food available and affordable to all. To do that, however, there is a need to strengthen the focus not only on how food is produced, but also how it is processed, distributed, marketed and delivered to consumers, the series of activities that together comprise a value chain (VC).

Investing in inclusive and sustainable rural transformation is strategically important for the 2030 Agenda. This has been broadly recognized in debates about the SDGs, particularly the roles of sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition in relation to SDG2, the eradication of hunger. It is important to recognize that the eradication of hunger is inseparable from the eradication of poverty in all its forms (SDG1). While poverty is often the main driver of food insecurity and malnutrition, hunger and malnutrition also result in the inability to escape poverty. Investments targeted at rural people are needed not only to ensure no one is left behind, but also to unlock the catalytic role that inclusive rural transformation has been shown to play in reducing and eradicating poverty and hunger, as well as promoting wider prosperity.

En este informe se aportan datos y análisis relativos a la evolución de las remesas y la migración en los países en desarrollo durante el último decenio, además de la posible contribución de las familias que hacen uso de remesas al cumplimiento de los ODS de aquí a 2030.

The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) is part of a series of ground-breaking and inclusive international forums hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations and an international financing institution (IFI), in collaboration with key development organizations and other IFIs. Over the last decade, these Forums have brought together stakeholders across all sectors and from around the world involved in the field of remittances, migration  and development.

Con motivo del Día Internacional de las Remesas Familiares,los días 15 y 16 de junio de 2017, se reunieron más de 350 especialistas de los sectores público y privado en la Sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York para el quinto Foro Mundial sobre Remesas, Inversión y Desarrollo2. Los participantes tuvieron la ocasión de debatir sobre los desafíos y oportunidades en el mercado de las remesas, presentar enfoques innovadores y modelos empresariales eficaces. Los debates se estructuraron en torno a la importancia de las remesas y la inversión de los migrantes para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de ahora a 2030.

The Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) has a mandate to increase economic and physical access to food for low-income Africans by providing technical assistance to the portfolio companies of the African Agriculture Fund (AAF). 

The AAF is a private equity fund created in response to the food security challenge across the continent, financed by African, European and US development finance institutions, and private investors. It is comprised of two funds; the AAF and a subsidiary Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Fund. As TAF enters its fifth year, this report reflects on the progress of 42 projects implemented to date through technical assistance to ten AAF portfolio companies. 

The participation of rural stakeholders is central to promoting inclusive, mutually beneficial and sustainable urbanization. Globally, most of the world’s poor and food-insecure people are still located in rural areas. Undernourishment continues to be concentrated among populations based in rural areas, although a growing number of poor people living in urban areas are affected. It is thus critical that rural people and their organizations participate in designing and implementing development policies and programmes that have an impact on rural-urban linkages − for example in food
security, territorial development, urban food planning, natural resource management or infrastructure.

Approaches and experiences in five countries from East and Southern Africa.

Gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls is a pre-condition for the eradication of poverty and essential to achieve progress across all goals and targets set by the Sustainable Development Agenda. The JP RWEE facilitates transformation through rural women’s leadership, making gender equality and women’s empowerment a reality. Support to women's economic empowerment allows for increased influence, education and information for women to decide the use of their income, savings and loans, and the ability to make decisions about their life. 

This publication presents IFAD’s first glossary of terms related to gender issues.

The purpose of this guide is to provide some generic steps and principles to be followed when setting up institutional arrangements for the management and implementation of IFAD projects.