Études et dossiers

Aujourd’hui, plus de 30 millions d’Africains vivent loin de leur pays d’origine. En 2012, les migrants issus du continent africain ont fait parvenir chez eux plus de 50 milliards d’USD, par le biais d’envois de fonds internationaux. Ces flux revêtent une importance vitale pour le continent puisqu’on trouve en Afrique près d’un quart des 40 pays du monde dans lesquels les transferts des migrants contribuent à 10% ou plus du PIB.

Higher temperatures, wildlife extinction, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, heat-related diseases and economic losses are among the consequences of climate change. Climate change disproportionally affects the poorest and most marginalized communities living in vulnerable regions, among them indigenous peoples, whose livelihoods depend on natural resources. 

Territorial approaches can enable governments to better address geographical or rural-urban inequalities to more effectively integrate the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development with regard to populations and sectors in a given geographical area.
They can help coordinate and concentrate efforts to address the spatial concentration of poverty and food insecurity in some less developed areas, reflecting vast spatial inequalities.

There are three major poverty divides in Ghana: rural-urban, northsouth, and between women and men. To meet these challenges, IFAD, the African Development Bank and the Government of Ghana are investing in rural northern Ghana to create viable economic opportunities – particularly for women – while improving market linkages with the south and neighbouring countries. The Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) is spurring agricultural and rural growth and poverty reduction with innovative approaches like District Value Chain Committees (DVCCs). IFAD-supported NRGP worked in partnership, for example, with the Association of Church Based Development (ACDEP), a local NGO in northern Ghana to establish the DVCCs. Today, DVCCs are responsible for the effective planning, implementation, coordination and monitoring of activities in the maize, soya and sorghum value chains. The committees include buyers, input providers (seeds and fertilizers), service providers (extension and tractor services), financial institutions like rural banks, and farmer-based organizations (FBOs). 

[FRENCH] When the seasonal rains came to some regions of south-eastern Senegal, the flooding used to cut off the inhabitants from the rest of the country. But that has changed with the IFAD-supported project known as PADAER – Projet d’Appui au Développement Agricole et à l’Entreprenariat Rural. Thanks to the projects’ work on rebuilding roads, rural people have new possibilities to make a living, they can access health services and education, and bring their products to markets.

A new lifeline; a new way of life

For poor rural people, lack of infrastructure often translates into lack of options and alternatives. The project is changing that.

In 2016, around 200 million migrants worldwide sent home an estimated US$ 445 billion to their families in developing countries. These remittances provide for basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter that are essential to lifting millions of people out of poverty. The truly transformative potential of these funds, however, lies in their investment in education, healthcare and asset building. To meet these needs, the us$36 million multi-donor Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) has been working since 2006 with the goal of increasing the development impact of remittances and enabling poor households to advance on the road to financial independence and rural transformation. The FFR is administered by IFAD, a specialized agency of the united nations with the mandate to invest in rural people to eradicate poverty in developing countries.

The origins of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stretch back to the food crisis of the early 1970s, which sparked the World Food Conference of 1974. Three years later, with support from donors, including Japan, IFAD was created as both a specialized agency of the United Nations and an international financial institution. 

Since 1978, IFAD has empowered about 453 million people to grow more food, manage their land and other natural resources more productively, learn new skills, start businesses, build strong organizations and gain a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. 

L’objectif de développement n’est pas de créer de la richesse en tant que telle, ou au profit de quelques-uns, mais plutôt de bâtir des sociétés mieux à même de favoriser la cohésion. Pour ouvrir aux populations la voie de la prospérité – ou de la survie après une catastrophe –, il faut planifier et investir, tant dans la sphère publique que privée.