Asia and the Pacific region
apr banner
Asia and the Pacific
資產出版器
Asia and the Pacific
Overview
The Asia and the Pacific region is a rural development paradox: it is has seen some of the most dramatic economic transformations, but bears some of the most enduring challenges.
Vast and densely populated, the region remains home to two thirds of the world’s poorest people. As income inequality widens, poverty is becoming a more rural and acute phenomenon.
Social deprivation and high rates of malnutrition and stunting are reducing the physical and mental capacity of vulnerable groups across the region, at a significant human and economic cost. Across the region, 30 per cent of children under five are stunted.
Vulnerability to climate change, natural disasters and a gradual degradation of the productive resource base are growing problems. In some cases, climate change is already posing an existential threat, with a number of Pacific islands severely threatened by rising sea levels.
Inequality between urban and rural areas
Small farm businesses across the region are struggling in the face of rural-urban migration, land and water degradation, and economic, institutional and political constraints.
Much of the region lacks the basic infrastructure to ensuring integration with the global economy through efficient market linkages. Such integration is vital for strengthening intra- and interregional trade through emerging common markets such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
These are all formidable challenges which the region must overcome to continue to be a powerful engine for global prosperity and growth.
Partnering against poverty
IFAD is empowering smallholders through its loan and grant programmes, policy engagement, and pro-poor partnerships across the policy spectrum, working with local people, governments, donors and the private sector.
By the end of 2019, IFAD had invested US$2.6 billion in the region’s ongoing portfolio for 59 projects in 20 countries.
IFAD is especially active where problems are most acute. We work in Pacific island nations, such as Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, where ongoing projects are combating the impact of climate change, and supporting community-led development processes.
In the fight against climate change and the struggle for the enhancement of rural productivity, prosperity and quality of life, collaboration is key.
LEARN MORE
China and India are the world’s most populous nations, together accounting for some 37 per cent of the global population in 2019.
Across the Asia and Pacific region, 560 million people live on less than $1.25 a day, with about 260 million of those people living in India.
In spite of rapid urbanization, more than half of the population in the region still lives in rural areas, and most are engaged in agriculture.
Reehana Rifat Raza
regional-director
Spotlight
Spotlight
Investing in a better future: Asia and the Pacific
The Asia Pacific region is one of dizzying contrasts and incredible scale. We caught up with Regional Director, Reehana Rifat Raza, to find out the challenges faced by rural people in this dynamic region and how investment can make all the difference for their futures.
Where we work
Projects and programmes
Projects and programmes
Bangladesh
Promoting the Resilience of the Vulnerable through Access to Infrastructure, Improved Skills and Information (PROVATI³)
Related news
資產出版器
Atteindre l'objectif de la faim zéro signifie investir dans les petits agriculteurs
Call for tender: Asia and the Pacific Implementation partner for the Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions Project
IFAD intends to allocate grant funds from the resources under the Supplementary Fund Grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Republic of Korea for the implementation of the grant Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions (SEEDs).
Climate change adaptation programme can help an additional 10 million vulnerable people in Asia and Pacific says new IFAD report
Climate-related hazards are intensifying in the Asia Pacific region, disproportionately affecting vulnerable rural communities. Policymakers must prioritise climate resilience and adaptation measures in order to protect rural communities from losing economic advancements according to a new report released today by IFAD.
Stories and blogs
資產出版器
Self-sufficient farming for better health in the remote Pacific
Rural people in Kiribati are leading the way in sustainable farming, making nutritious foods available and creating a foundation for better health in the years to come.
Integrated farming strengthens climate resilience in Cambodia
Integrated farming provides ecosystem benefits and builds climate resilience. Find out how this system is strengthening Cambodia’s small-scale farmers and their communities.
Investing in a better future: Asia and the Pacific
The Asia Pacific region is one of dizzying contrasts and incredible scale. We caught up with Regional Director, Reehana Rifat Raza, to find out the challenges faced by rural people in this dynamic region and how investment can make all the difference for their futures.
Related publications
資產出版器
Access to Finance for Farmers’ Organizations: Evidence from a multi-country survey
This report offers new evidence to inform the design of suitable and timely financial products for farmer organizations, based on a survey of 220 farmers’ organizations in West Africa and Asia and the Pacific.
An outlook on Asia’s agricultural and rural transformation: Prospects and options for making it an inclusive and sustainable one
If the success of Asian countries in transforming their rural economy is measured by the extent to which poverty has declined over the past 20 years, there is no question that their transformation can be regarded as one of the major achievements in human history. However, new problems are overtaking the older ones and Asia is now entering a critical part of its history.
ASAP Technical Series: Building climate resilience in the Asia Pacific region
This study examines six projects, in three principal ecosystems of the region: a mountainous region, wetlands and a river delta.