Études et dossiers

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.

La volatilité des cours constatée dernièrement sur les marchés internationaux fait peser une menace sur la sécurité alimentaire mondiale. Pour les deux milliards de personnes qui vivent et travaillent sur de petites exploitations dans les pays en développement, l’existence est devenue plus précaire.
Cependant, des investissements, des politiques et des programmes de développement adaptés offrent une immense possibilité aux petits agriculteurs qui souhaitent accroître leur production vivrière et améliorer ainsi leurs conditions de vie tout en contribuant à assurer la sécurité alimentaire pour tous.

Over the past 12 months, large-scale acquisitions of farmland in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia have made headlines in a flurry of
media reports across the world. Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors to the tune of
hundreds of thousands of hectares. And while a failed attempt to lease 1.3 million ha in Madagascar has attracted much media attention, deals
reported in the international press constitute the tip of the iceberg. This is rightly a hot issue because land is so central to identity, livelihoods and food security.

Poverty poses a constant threat to economic growth, trade reform, private sector development, knowledge, governance and gender equality.
Poverty among the 22 members of the League of Arab States (LAS) is primarily a rural phenomenon. A quarter of the region’s population, or about 80 million people, live below national poverty lines. Between 60 and 70 percent of these poor people live in rural areas.

One of the most pressing challenges in the region is the high rate of unemployment, particularly among young people. Official unemployment rates average 13 per cent, and in some countries the jobless rate among young people is twice as high.

Working to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty, IFAD operates in the MERCOSUR countries at two levels:

• at the subregional level, within the institutional framework of MERCOSUR, it promotes a platform for dialogue between governments and smallholder farmers’ associations, with the aim of increasing public investment in family farming
• at the national level, it provides funding and technical assistance to governments for the implementation of rural development programmes and projects that translate into action the agreements reached at subregional level.

The objective of this study was to provide an overall and a country analysis of the needs of indigenous peoples and the solutions they propose to tackle rural poverty.

L’agriculture est devenue une activité rentable pour les petits agriculteurs vivant dans les régions arides du Sri Lanka depuis que des puits agricoles de grande dimension et bien construits ont été aménagés.

Le Projet régional de promotion économique (REAP), mis en oeuvre dans le district de Matale de 1999 à 2007, en est un exemple. Le projet a été financé en grande partie par un prêt du FIDA, d’un montant de 11,7 millions d’USD, au Gouvernement sri lankais. Assorti d’une enveloppe budgétaire de 14,5 millions d’USD au total, environ 30 000 ménages en ont bénéficié.

L’une des activités majeures de la sous-composante du projet consacrée à la conservation des sols et à la gestion de l’eau concernait la fourniture d’une assistance technique aux agriculteurs défavorisés pour les aider à construire des puits agricoles destinés à l’irrigation. Cette activité a démarré en 2001.

This report on remitance flows to developing and transition countries is based on a data research study commissioned by IFAD from Dr Manuel Orozco of the Inter-American Dialogue, in collaboration with the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank. 

Le potentiel irrigable du Haut Bassin du Mandrare est connu depuis très longtemps. 

La zone du Haut Bassin du Mandrare divisée en six sous-bassins versants qui alimentent le Mandrare bénéficie d’une bonne pluviométrie (normalement comprise entre 800 et 1100 mm) par rapport aux autres zones de l’extrême Sud de Madagascar. 

Les sols des vallées sont fertiles et se prêtent à la riziculture irriguée, activité agricole pratiquée par 60 % des habitants de la zone. 

IFAD’s work in the region is guided by the organization’s Strategic Framework, its four thematic priorities for the region and by individual country strategic opportunities papers (COSOPs), reflecting governments’ own priorities in rural development and prepared in consultation with governments, donors and other partners.

Le présent document esquisse dans leurs grandes lignes les raisons sociales et environnementales pour lesquelles la communauté internationale du développement devrait accorder une priorité plus élevée à l’aide aux pauvres, spécialement ceux qui vivent dans des régions matériellement marginales ou laissées en marge du progrès socioéconomique. Pour assurer un développement rural durable, il faut résoudre le double problème de la pauvreté et de la dégradation de l’environnement. Il existe dans le monde 1,2 milliard d’êtres humains qui vivent dans une pauvreté extrême, 900 millions d’entre eux dans des régions rurales où leur subsistance dépend directement ou indirectement de l’agriculture. L’on trouvera ci-après un bref aperçu du développement rural dans le contexte des objectifs de développement visés dans la Déclaration du millénaire et dans ACTION 21, qui prévoient la mise en oeuvre d’une action concertée pour s’attaquer aux problèmes des ruraux pauvres et des limitations de leurs bases de ressources naturelles.