Études et dossiers

IFAD’s efforts to promote the innovations launched by its programmes are illustrated here with an analysis of activities to strengthen non-agricultural rural apprenticeships under the Support Programme for Rural Microenterprise Poles and Regional Economies (PROSPERER) and the future Vocational Training and Agricultural Productivity Improvement Programme (FORMAPROD)1 in Madagascar.

This paper reports on the major findings of a study on innovations in training and capacity building developed within the Rural Opportunities Programme of Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Brochure highlighting explaining the content and functions of the RemittancesGateway.org portal - a one-stop shop providing the latest news, information, documents and statistical data from a broad range of institutions and stakeholders on the subject of remittance flows. 

El programa de encadenamientos empresariales de AGEXPORT tiene como objectivo principal la generación de empleo e ingresos en comunidades en condiciones  de pobreza de Guatemala por medio de la creación de negocios exitosos basados en la asistencia técnica especializada, inteligencia de mercados, promoción comercial, capacitación e inovación tecnológica, una visión de manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales.

Sur les terres jadis arides du désert égyptien, Ahmad Abdelmunem Al-Far explique, avec d’autres agriculteurs, comment une agriculture axée sur le marché peut transformer la vie et libérer les gens de la pauvreté.

Les jeunes d’aujourd’hui – dont la génération est définie par l’ONU comme étant celle des 15 à 24 ans – a atteint un nombre sans précédent dans l’histoire. Dans l’ensemble du monde en développement, les jeunes représentent en moyenne 20% de la population. Les jeunes sont dynamiques et obstinés. Lorsque les conditions sont réunies, une génération substantielle de jeunes constitue pour un pays une ressource inestimable sur le plan du développement économique et du progrès social. Toutefois, dans le contexte actuel et pour des raisons diverses, de nombreux pays développés et en développement éprouvent des difficultés à assurer l’avenir de leur jeunesse, tant dans les villes que dans les campagnes.

Depuis de nombreuses années, le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) fait de l'innovation, des savoirs et de leur transposition à plus grande échelle des éléments essentiels de sa stratégie de lutte contre la pauvreté rurale dans les pays en développement. Le présent examen au niveau de l'institution de la stratégie adoptée par le FIDA pour promouvoir des changements à plus grande échelle est le premier du genre. Une équipe d'experts en matière de développement, financée par un don de faible entité octroyé par le FIDA, a été chargée d'évaluer le parcours suivi par le Fonds pour promouvoir la transposition à plus grande échelle des opérations couronnées de succès et la diffusion de ses politiques et processus opérationnels, instruments, ressources et mesures d'incitation. Elle devait ainsi formuler, à l'intention de la direction, des recommandations quant aux mesures à prendre afin que le FIDA devienne une institution promotrice de changements à plus grande échelle. Au-delà du FIDA, cette étude menée à l'échelle d'une institution est un exercice pilote qui pourra servir d'exemple pour d'autres organismes de développement.

Conformément à sa mission, à savoir étendre la portée des services financiers aux zones rurales, le Mécanisme de financement pour l’envoi de fonds (MFEF) montre la voie en testant des produits qui sont destinés à acheminer de manière rapide, sécurisée et pratique, pour le coût le plus bas possible, les envois de fonds des migrants à leur famille.

This publication looks back at three decades of experiences in introducing labour-saving technologies and practices to rural women and persisting gender discrimination in access and control. It also takes into account major developments in science, technology and innovation over the last several years and shows they can benefi t women.

Drawing on a literature review, this report examines a range of business models that can be used to structure agricultural investments in lower- and middle-income countries, and that provide an alternative to large-scale land acquisitions. A business model is the way in which a company structures its resources, partnerships and customer relationships in order to create and capture value – in other words, a business model is what enables a company to make money. Business models are considered as more inclusive if they involve close working partnerships with local landholders and operators, and if they share value among the partners.

IFAD’s goal is that rural women and men in developing countries are empowered to achieve higher incomes and improved food security at the household level. In this way it will contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal #1: “The eradication of extreme poverty”. (IFAD, Strategic Framework 2007-2010)

Since IFAD began operations in 1978, it has supported, as part of its mandate to reduce poverty, many rural development programmes in which indigenous peoples have played an important role as stakeholders. 

Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in public and private-sector investment in agriculture. Concerns about longer-term food and energy security and expectations of increasing returns from agriculture underpin much recent agricultural investment. Some have welcomed this trend as a bearer of new livelihood opportunities in lower- and middle-income countries. Others have raised concerns about the possible social impacts, including loss of local rights to land, water and other natural resources; threats to local food security; and, more generally, the risk that large-scale investments may marginalise family farmers. The recent debates about “land grabbing” – the media characterisation of large-scale farmland acquisitions in lower- and middle-income countries – illustrate these trends and positions. 

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.

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.

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.  

In addition to caring for their families, women across the developing world spend considerable proportions of their time and energy using and preserving land for the production of food and fuel and to generate income for their families and communities.

These activities include crop production, growing fruits and vegetables, raising small livestock, tending trees, processing products for food and markets, and managing and collecting water and fuel. Women are usually responsible for the plots in which food crops are grown, while men are responsible for the plots on which cash crops are grown. The latter account for a major part of the threat of soil nutrient depletion and desertification.

Le présent rapport se fonde sur les résultats d’une étude commandée par le FIDA et réalisée par Manuel Orozco, d’Inter-American Dialogue.

Factsheet illustrating how IFAD is exploring more innovative ways of working with remittances.