Rural poverty reduction: IFAD’s role and focus

1. Rural poverty reduction: IFAD’s role and focus Consultation on the 7th replenishment of IFAD’s resources

2. IFAD: a specific instrument of the international community • Objectives • rural poverty reduction • food security • improved livelihoods • Governance and financial structure • Shared role & influence by OECD, OPEC and developing member states • Ownership of • the institution • its programmes • Partnership • a multi-tier engagement • Special approach • rural poor people oriented and participatory • demand driven and bottom up • focused on building capacities and assets • grassroots • An Evolving institution: in response to need and demand

3. Today’s development context • Unequal progress in reducing global poverty • Globalization bringing new and urgent challenges and opportunities • Rural poverty reduction crucial for MDG achievement • Need for new & effective solutions tailored to country/local realities • Country leadership in development effort • Capacity building for country leadership • Harmonization and coordination

4. IFAD in today’s development context • Continued validity of mandate, approach and institutional specificity (IEE) • Rural poverty reduction as contribution to effective collective response to global poverty • Country capacity building for country specific solutions to rural/overall poverty • Strengthening the global assistance framework for national solutions

5. IFAD specific contributionsto development effectiveness • Specialization in an area where collective capacity and knowledge in the international assistance system have waned • Innovation • new solutions to old and new challenges in rural areas • promotion of tested solutions to rural poverty in national policy and programme processes • leverage of resources for rural and agricultural development • Empowerment of poor rural people through asset and capacity building • Economic (increased production and income from agriculture and agriculture-based activities) • Social (increased organizational capacity and knowledge) • Special focus on women and indigenous populations • Complementarity with others’ investments

6. Supporting national efforts and capacity: IFAD’s role • directly invest and help mobilize international and national resources in support of rural development programmes • explore innovative and more effective approaches and activities through investment projects and programmes • promote learning from experience • promote inclusion of rural poverty and agricultural development in national development priorities and foster policy processes which address the needs of rural poor people • enhance the capacity of rural people and their organizations to engage in these processes

7. Focus of activities at country level • Increase access of rural poor people to: • Land and water (and sustainable management of) • Efficient and equitable markets • Financial services and capital • Information and technology • Develop/strengthen organizations of the rural poor for: • Social and economic inclusion and outreach (with special focus on women and indigenous peoples) • For adequate and sustainable services to their members – poor rural women and men • For policy engagement and influence • Invest in key partners and relationships in rural change • Governments • Private sector • Civil society

8. IFAD’s role at regional and global levels • Strengthen capacity of key knowledge networks and organizations to address rural poverty and development issues (IEE) • Advocate for material and policy support for rural and agricultural development • Increase awareness of implications of global/regional processes and policies for rural poverty reduction • Build capacity of rural poor people’s organizations to engage in policy processes and policy dialogue at regional/global levels

9. Policy dialogue at all levels • A more conscious and coordinated use of projects and programmes for catalytic impact on rural poverty • Experience- and evidence-based contributions to policy processes for rural poverty reduction

10. Targeting in IFAD operations A strategy for: focus, inclusion, relevance, value-addition People poor rural people in their specific activities (small/landless farmers, herders, small entrepreneurs, fishermen, landless agricultural workers) with special focus on women and indigenous peoples Problems Processes (such as isolation, marginalization and exclusion due to gender, ethnicity, location) Policies

11. IFAD’s “Target Group” • Exclusively rural people who live in poverty and have a potential to increase their food security and income if they secure access to key productive resources and equitable relations with other players

12. Summary: IFAD’s focus and comparative advantage • empowering rural poor people, governments, civil society organizations and private sector to raise production, income and food security through: • investments to address rural poor people’s rural and agricultural issues (land, water, sustainable use of natural resources, markets, etc) • partnerships with rural poor people in innovation for new answers to local and global challenges • policy dialogue for inclusion of views and solutions of poor rural people in national rural and agricultural policies and programmes • influencing harmonization processes to strengthen approach to the rural poverty issue • knowledge and policy development for a global enabling aid, trade and investment framework for rural poverty reduction and agricultural development