Today, IFAD President released The Rural Poverty Report 2011 at Chatham House in London, #rpr2011

Here is our big day. We are launching the Rural Poverty Report 2011. The report is the result of two years of extensive work.

To make sure that nothing would go wrong, I went down early to the plenary hall of Chatham House to get myself organized to find out to the my biggest chagrin that there was no internet access in the plenary hall. PANIC, total PANIC. I pulled out my Blackberry, more PANIC, no signal!!

Deep breath, think and think fast. Rushed upstairs to do as much as I could do  before the meeting started. After putting in place the contingency plan and coming to terms with my constraint, I headed back downstairs.

At 9:33, David Nabarro welcomed the participants and opened the “Food Security 2010 – Making Food Security work: Matching supply to demand.

In introducing Dr Nwanze, IFAD President, to take the floor to deliver the keynote address, he mentioned that “IFAD is now a leader and advocate for food security". Nabarro compliment IFAD taking "actions to ensure that food security will be experienced by everyone and not just a few”.

With that introduction, the President, holding the report in his hand  and later in the session, Edward Heinemann, the Rural Poverty Report, team leader,  proceeded to unveil the findings of the Rural Poverty Report 2011.

"The report is a comprehensive review of rural poverty, which accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s extremely poor people – about 1 billion children, women and men", said Dr Nwanze.

"The report provides an in-depth evaluation of the state of rural poverty and its consequences for people all over the world. It also makes important recommendations on policies and investments that will help rural women and men move out of poverty and, in the process, become part of the solution for the global food security challenges of the next
several decades".

"One of unique characteristics of the Rural Poverty Report 2011 is that it goes beyond cold facts and figures and includes the stories, hopes, challenges and aspirations of poor rural women and men from around the world who are struggling to overcome poverty. Their thoughts and perspectives were influential in the preparation of the report", said Nwanze.


During the meeting both Dr Nwanze and Heinemann reminded the audience that as we embark in the new decade of the 21st century, global poverty still remains a massive and predominantly rural phenomenon - and this is absolutely unacceptable.

The Rural Poverty Report outlines four steps to eliminate hunger and poverty

• Help rural people better manage the risks they face
• Sustainably increase agricultural production
• Facilitate equitable access to new and changing marketplaces by viewing smallholder farmers first and foremost as businesses
• Encourage the growth of non-farm rural jobs

Managing risk
"Smallholder farmers have always been vulnerable to risk, and now these risks are growing. Today, they face less secure access to land, increasing pressure on common property resources, climate change and food price volatility. We need to find ways of reducing risk and giving poor rural people access to the tools they need to deal with it", explained Nwanze.

The Report argues that for some, this will mean improving their skills, while for others, it will mean access to micro insurance, and for others still it will mean social protection. What is crucial is to create the right environment to make it easier for more rural people to be more entrepreneurial, creating the conditions for a vibrant rural sector which generates locally produced goods and spurs sustainable non-farm employment in services, in agro-processing and in small-scale manufacturing.

Sustainably increase agricultural production
The report makes the case that we need to ensure that the world’s 500 million smallholder farms are able to realise their potential as small-scale businesses and at the same time increase food production but in a sustainable way.

In Africa, for example, only 6 per cent of the land is irrigated. Only one tenth of the average amount of fertilizer is used on farm land. But we also know that 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa. Imagine the potential that this land holds for the approximately 300 million poor people who live in rural Africa. Imagine the potential of the 2 billion people who live or work on small farms the world over.

This means we need to get higher yields from existing land, and we need to do so in an environmentally sustainable way that does not pollute, diminish the land over time or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions - in other words, we must have sustainable intensification.

The report highlights that sustainable farming practices have improved yields by an average of nearly 80 per cent over four years. It argues that what we need is a systemic approach that uses a variety of innovations – derived from the latest scientific discoveries and from local practices and knowledge – to bring agriculture into the forefront of efforts to protect and preserve land, air and water for generations to come.

The report concludes that this means complementing conventional approaches to increasing productivity with a much stronger focus on soil and water management, integrated approaches to soil fertility management and overall farm production systems.

At the same time, the report recognizes that there is no blueprint for sustainable agricultural  intensification. The best practices will be determined by the local context. The challenge is to develop policies and institutions that can make it happen on a massive scale.

Facilitate equitable access to new and changing marketplaces by viewing smallholder farmers first and foremost as businesses
"One of the other challenges highlighted in the report is the lack of access to markets which is one of the determinants of poverty", explains Heinemann".

Smallholder farmers and poor rural people must have opportunities to be entrepreneurs, rather than bystanders. To realize their business potential there should be a concerted effort to reduce risk and transaction costs along value chains, supporting rural producers’ organizations, expanding financial services into rural areas and ensuring that small farmers have access to the infrastructure, the utilities and information. Investing in good governance is another key ingredient".

Encourage the growth of non-farm rural jobs
"There is no question that agriculture is and will continue to be the key economic driver in rural areas. Agricultural success is a route out of poverty for millions", said Nwanze.

"Today, around 80 per cent of rural people are involved in farming to some degree. We must continue to support those who see agricultural production as their main livelihood in every way we can. But we must also recognize that rural economies are becoming more diverse. If we succeed in creating more profitable farms, we will also succeed in creating associated non-farm enterprises. Some people will leave the farm for new jobs with large enterprises in rural areas, while others will choose to become entrepreneurs in non-farming pursuits".

The Rural Poverty Report suggests that in order to meet the growing needs of a hungry world, agriculture must be a viable and rewarding activity for the large number of people who choose it. But increasingly, it will be one of many choices, not the only choice. This is not a threat to agriculture, but rather a chance to develop a more modern, diversified economy.

Call for action
"Our report is not one that should sit on a shelf to collect dust. I hope that we all join hands to implement the four steps outlined above to eliminate poverty and hunger", exclaimed Nwanze.

"The challenge now is for governments to follow through on their promises and for players in all areas of rural development to take action. Developing countries must be the drivers of rural development. Where countries have shown the commitment, development agencies and others should support their efforts".

IFAD is meeting the challenge by working closely with partners to scale up our support to rural development on the ground. We are also championing a new and more dynamic vision of rural development.

Dr Nwanze concluded: "And as we look at today’s rural poverty report, we must also look to the future, and that means focusing on the young people who live and work in rural areas. Give them the skills and confidence they need to run profitable farms or start businesses, and they hold the potential to become the community leaders of tomorrow. Ignore them, and they will have little option but to leave their homes and families to search for work in the cities".

Sir Gordon Conway who took the floor after the President's keynote address complimented and congratulated IFAD for a great multidisciplinary report which is totally grounded in reality and comprehensively reflects the stories, challenges and aspirations of poor rural people!

Others commended IFAD for putting out a strong practical report showing how to unlock the potential smallholder agriculture, for seeing farmers as business people and for depicting "their business" being embedded in social, economic and political relationships and showing how when these relationships do not work that is when food security fails.

Sitting in the room and hearing rural development leaders citing and referring to the report just minutes after it was launched was indeed a gratifying moment. Undoubtedly we'll be hearing more and more people citing and quoting the report. Well done to all those who were involved in this two year effort. Well done to Ed and Bettina.

The panelists echoing the President's  message of hope and call for action urged the participants to read the Rural Poverty Report. Make sure you download the report.

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Also, please mark your calendars: on 9 and10 December from 9:00-10:00 and from 14:00-15:00 December, Edward Heinemann and his team will answer your questions and comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Please send us your questions and comments by 16:00GMT 8 December.

Follow @ifadnews on Twitter and become join us on our Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/ifad/107399332627995).

See you on-line.

Listen to Edward Heinemann who shares some of the findings of the Rural Poverty Report 2011

Rural Poverty Report 2011: Mixed progress but also new hope in reducing rural poverty #rpr2011

by Kanayo F. Nwanze

On 6 December 2010, at 11:00GMT at the opening of a major international conference on food security convened by Chatham House IFAD will launch the Rural Poverty Report 2011.

Just think, what would your life be like if you were one of the 1.4 billion women, men and children who live in extreme poverty? Chances are you would live in a rural area, as 70 per cent of the world’s extremely poor people do.

Like Pascaline Bampoky from Senegal, you wouldn’t have had much of an opportunity to study, you would be farming rice, raising pigs, selling ice cream and cleaning houses – all in a day’s work to feed your family.

Like Shazia Bibi from Pakistan, you might wonder if your garlic will compete at the market with lower priced imports and whether your profits will cover the costs of your children’s education and treatment for your heart condition.

And if you are a young man like Williams Novoa Lizardo in Peru, you might lose hope of making a living where you were born and consider migrating to a city to find work.

The good news, according to the Rural Poverty Report 2011 issued by IFAD, is that over the last ten years more than 350 million rural people have pulled themselves out of extreme poverty. During this time, the percentage of the world’s rural inhabitants living on less than US$1.25 a day has dropped from nearly half to about one-third.

Accounting for much of the progress has been East Asia, and particularly China, where the number of extremely poor people in rural areas fell by two-thirds – from 365 million to 117 million – as did the rate of extreme poverty, which went from 44 to 15 per cent.

There was also good progress in both Latin America and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, where extreme poverty rates in rural areas fell by about half over the past decade.

But, this progress notwithstanding, the problem remains a pervasive one, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the rate of rural poverty has fallen slightly in the last decade but is still above 60 per cent, and in South Asia, which is home to half of the world’s one billion extremely poor rural people.



Just as these statistics tell a story of uneven progress in reducing rural poverty, changes that are underway in rural areas are giving rise to both challenges and new hope for rural people in their struggle for a better life.

The challenges include increasingly volatile food prices, which complicate life for rural people both as producers and buyers of food. And there are other emerging threats such as the deterioration of the natural resource base, growing competition for land and water, and the potential harm that climate change can cause to the rural landscape.

But good things are happening, as well. As cities expand and the world becomes more urbanized, there is a growing demand for high value food, and accordingly agricultural markets are expanding and becoming better organized. Supermarkets, for example, have grown rapidly across much of the developing world, and in some parts of Latin America they typically account for 60 per cent or more of retail food sales. To be sure, modern markets and value chains bring with them their own challenges for some smallholder farmers in terms of higher entry costs, but the potential opportunities they also bring cannot be overlooked.

And while agriculture continues to be a key driver of rural growth – four-fifths of rural households worldwide are engaged in farming at some level – technological advancements and changes in the global economy are also creating non-farm jobs and development in rural areas. The potential for growth is further enhanced by the search for renewable energy sources that is ramping up around the world.

All of this means opportunity for greater numbers of poor rural women and men to lift themselves out of poverty and create a better life and a future for themselves and their children. But making the most of it requires an overall policy and investment approach that is, at the same time, both market-oriented and environmentally sustainable.

For starters, national governments and the international community need to reverse the longstanding neglect of rural development. We need to improve governance in rural areas and create a better economic environment for smallholder farmers to succeed and grow not only food but their businesses as well.

We need to invest in rural infrastructure and in the education and skills of rural people so that they themselves can make the most of new opportunities to engage in agricultural markets or work in non-farm industries. We need to strengthen their collective capabilities so that they can support each other in managing the risks they face, learn new techniques for improving their productivity, and market their products.

Above all, we need to stop treating the rural poor as charity cases and truly recognize that they are people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work will ultimately lead the way out of poverty’s darkness and into the bright sunshine of growth, development and prosperity.

Nothing less than global food security hangs in the balance. The experts say that agricultural production will have to increase 70 per cent by 2050 – and output in developing countries will have to double – in order to feed the world’s growing global population, expected to reach nine billion by then.

I have no doubt that Pascaline, Shazia and Williams are up to the challenge. Are the rest of us?

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On 6 December at 11:00GMT you may download the English version of the Rural Poverty Report 2011 at http://www.ifad.org/rpr2011/report

Meet the women and men from rural areas whose thoughts and perspectives were influential in the preparation of theRural Poverty Report 2011 Read testimonies and watch the video testimonials

Africa can feed the world: it needs solid institutions and sound policies #wca2010

This morning, there was a certain buzz in the venue hosting IFAD's fifth West and Central regional implementation workshop. It was like a big family reunion with all the West and Central Africa IFAD-funded projects coming together for this annual event. Everyone was happy to see each other and to catch up.

Despite our fear of holding an "internet-less" meeting - because of a cable being cut in the neighbourhood - thanks to all the internet Gods and angels, we were blessed with connectivity!!! You can follow us on this blog, on IFAD's Facebook page and also on IFAD's twitter channel. If you tweet, please use hastag #wca2010

We were honoured to have H.E. Khadim Gueye, Senegal's Minister of Agriculture who officially opened IFAD's fifth West and Central regional implementation workshop and welcomed the over 170 participants coming from 24 West and Central African countries.

The minister highlighted that Senegal and IFAD's partnership goes back to more than 30 years ago. His Excellency mentioned that thanks to this excellent partnership Senegal is making big strides in achieving food security and reducing rural poverty. In his remarks, Minister Gueye said: " IFAD-funded projects and programmes in Senegal are deemed among some of the best rural development projects in West and Central Africa".

His Excellency also commended IFAD's participatory approach in developing Senegal's 2011-2015 Country Strategic Opportunities Programme. He congratulated participants for designing a demand-driven workshop, where for the first time, the project themselves had taken ownership of the process - a workshop by IFAD-funded projects and programmes for IFAD-funded projects and programmes.

Minister Gueye concluded his remarks by saying: "We're looking forward to the outcome of your workshop so that we can transform and diversify African agriculture make it both modern and efficient".

Mr Beavogui, director of West and Central Africa division in welcoming participants underscored the purpose of annual regional implementation workshop, namely to:

• exchange, discuss, share and learn from each other
• improve project implementation
• discuss the challenges and opportunities for implementing sound value chain projects and programmes

In his welcoming speech, recognizing the important role women and young people play in agriculture and especially in African agriculture  Beavogui said: "We need to build the future of agriculture and make farming an attractive business both for women and young people."

"We will use the outcome of this workshop to inform future  IFAD interventions in the region".

Later during the day, at the press conference attended by almost 30 journalists, Beavogui  said: "We need to communicate to bring about change and to change means to learn". He then made a strong case for investing in African agriculture by saying: "Africa has 52% of world's arable land and has the potential to feed the world in 2050, what it needs, are solid institutions and sound policies"

We used the press conference opportunity to inform the journalists present that on 6 December, IFAD will be launching The Rural Poverty Report 2011: New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow's generation.

During the inaugural session, in her statment, Ms Bintou Djibo, UN resident coordinator said: "The fact that IFAD has recently opened an office in Senegal is a testimony to IFAD's commitment to eradicate poverty".  Djibo reminded the audience that both the international development community and developing countries still need to overcome a number of challenges to achieve the MDGs.

"The recent economic down-turn and the looming population growth are posing new challenges for the development world in general", said Djibo. "This means to achieve results, we need to not only mobilize additional resources but continue using our resources in the most efficient and effective manner".

In his opening remarks, Mr Thierno Ba, director of IFAD-funded PRODAM project in Senegal, asked the gathering and especially his fellow project coordinator to focus more on results and to systematically show impact of development projects. "Let's put all our experience and innovations to ensure food security for our country and Africa", concluded Ba.

After the inaugural session everyone came together for the customary "family photo". These mementos are highly cherished and in a way also they mark certain milestones both in our professional and personal lives. For one thing, we can see how much we've aged or how much we have not changed!!!!

My take away messages from this morning's session which finished with a chat show on challenges and opportunities for integrating value changes into operations, are the following:

• Women in Africa constitute the majority of farmers, yet they receive less than 10 percent of small farm credit and own only 1 percent of land. Yet they are the ones that make sure there is food on the table and only if they had the same level of education and experience as men they could increase the yield of their crop by 22 percent
• Africa can feed the world. It has 52% of arable land. What it needs solid institutions and sound policies

I am now sitting in a working group where participants are discussing the linkages between value chains and  rural entrepreneurship. Looking around the room and listening to the experiences of colleagues from Senegal, Ghana and other countries it is obvious that this continent has so many good experiences that it can use to build a better future not only for itself, but as Mohamed Beavogui mentioned also feed the world.

When there is a will there is a way!!!

IFAD President's visit to Zambia

On 23 July 2010, in Lusaka, IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze, met with President of the Republic of Zambia, Rupiah Banda.

The two officials praised the excellent collaboration between IFAD and the Government of Zambia. “We are proud with IFAD support” said President Banda. President Banda requested IFAD to continue assisting his government’s efforts in agriculture conservation agriculture and irrigation schemes.

IFAD President commended the Head of State and the Government of Zambia for their sustained commitment to agricultural and for being a leader within the region in agriculture conservation. Having noted the country’s bumper harvest in maize, Nwanze and Banda discussed crop diversification to ensure food security and to increase smallholder farmers’ revenues. He also assures President Banda that IFAD will continue to work with smallholder farmers.

The day before his meeting with President Banda, Nwanze travelled to Livingstone, Choma and Kalomo to visit some IFAD-supported projects. IFAD President noticed with great satisfaction that closed IFAD-funded projects were fully sustained by project beneficiaries who had managed to expand their businesses.

In Mukuni village where the Smallholder Livestock Investment project operates, he was received by Chief Mukuni with the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Hon. Peter Daka and was provided a demonstration of tagging and branding of local cattle. In Kalomo District, Nwanze met the beneficiaries of the Nabuyani irrigation project.

During his visit, Nwanze signed the host country agreement for the IFAD country office.

by Geraldine Mpouma Logmo

Dr Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator, meets IFAD President, Dr Kanayo Nwanze

On 7 June IFAD President, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze and USAID Administrator, Dr Rajiv Shah met at IFAD headquarters. The two leaders recognized the strategic alignment between IFAD and USAID in the area of food security with a focus on smallholder agriculture. To achieve sustainable global food security, IFAD and USAID will look at specific areas and countries where they can further cooperate to scale-up existing initiatives and embark on new ones.

• Rajiv Shah, USAID director, on tackling global hunger and why women lead the way, Washington Post, June 2010
  
• Remarks by Dr. Rajiv Shah Administrator, USAID to the Chicago Council Symposium on Agriculture and Food Security, May 2010

IFAD's Governing Council, an occasion for many debuts

For the first time in IFAD's history we are holding our annual Governing Council at our headquarters. Like any debut, the making of the GC is an exciting and unique experience. For the first time, all of us, and not only those closely involved in the preparations are experiencing the making of the Governing Council. Many colleagues have commented that "now that we are seeing it all happening under our nose, we feel part of it".

On Monday morning, when we came to the office we saw a tent erected in our outside parking space. This was the first visible sign of the GC preparations. Everyone was amazed how in just less than 48 hours the workers had managed to put up the tent. The tent will be the heart of the event serving as the plenary hall.

For safety reasons, administrative services declared the whole area off-limits. But your social reporting team was granted special access to visit the construction site on regular intervals to share with you the making of the GC.

Over the last couple of days, we've seen the tent come life and I must admit both the outside and inside the tent looks absolutely fabulous. My colleague who provided the creative inspiration and my administrative services colleagues were telling me that they been receiving so many compliments.

This whole undertaking is another testimony of the commitment, inventiveness and passion of IFAD staff. Everyone is doing their bit to make this debut a smashing success.

In another debut, this year the IFAD social reporting team will use social media to report live from the Third Global Meeting of Farmers' Forum and the Thirty-third session of the Governing Council. We'll be using Twitter and this social reporting blog to share the highlights of the Farmers' Forum and the Governing Council. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @ifadnews and you can use the blog and Twitter to pose your questions and comments.

Looking forward to "hearing from you".



Watch the making of the GC tent

Basement blues

Saturday, 23 January 2010. The final day to wrap it all up. We spend the full and only day in the hotel basement, a kind of behaviour that has probably not yet been seen in Cusco, the tourism capital of Peru. Maria is back with us, having overcome the altitude sickness.

The first session, a left-over from yesterday, draws conclusions from the rural financial services in the project. The overall feeling is that the savings-based approach is very sound and sustainable, and that the combination of savings with micro-insurance, especially life insurance, is very powerful in assisting the rural poor to acquire assets while making sure no calamity throws them back to square one. It was suggested to limit the savings subsidies in time, and to include an insurance package in the savings products similarly to the credit products.

Lunch is spent preparing the innovation plans with which we hope to put the learned bits and pieces to practice in our own work, without which the entire tour is useless, as Ariel reminds us.

Making sense of it all

The Rwanda team kicks of with a joint proposal to integrate CLARs and competitions to provide capacity building grants through 2 IFAD-financed projects and one financed by Belgium. The plan would use local structures already being set up, but with a new focus on popular presentations of the proposals and results to be assessed by CLARs. An innovation would be the strong involvement of community innovation centres (CCIs) as secretariat to the CLARs supported by project staff, thereby supporting sustainability. The plan is explicit in its implementation plan, aiming at organising the first community competitions in December 2010.

Next is Venezuela. Their innovation plans promoting rural financial services, especially a savings culture, starting with a few pilot MFIs (cajas rurales), by providing subsidies to savers and additionally using competitions between savers (especially women) to allocate credit to the most performing savers that request credit. This sounds like a very interesting combination of elements of the SSDP. Marcela suggests undertaking exchange visits with Colombia.

The Colombians themselves, true ambassadors of their country, start their presentation with a publicity movie on Colombia. They continue with a talking map, evidently having learned something on the trip. It proposes:

• a pilot activity on including cultural identity in the business promotion, also to respond to the cultural diversity of the clients;
• the inclusion of micro-insurance with small subsidies; and
• the promotion of local talents. Finally, Marcela from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Colombia, plans to orient the local authorities in its development efforts, carry out exchange visits and to promote rural savings strategies.

The Irrigation and Rural Livelihoods Development Project (IRLDP) in Malawi wants to pilot some activities in 3 districts. The project team wants to move from project-driven grants for inputs and materials to CLAR-type allocation systems, include services by talents through direct sourcing in the these grants, link farmers to microfinance institutions and improve community-level marketing, and use PRAs to develop talking maps for natural resource management. Ariel suggests that convincing the authorities of the changes will be a challenge, and we propose that the project look for allies to support the cause.

Elizabeth Farmosi’s proposal is called Alliance Sierra Sur – Mother Earth. It is targeted at the Sierra Sur project, with new mechanisms for the population to access resources, alliances with public and private institutions, and improvements to the conditions of the competitions in favour of the poorer members of the participating communities. Good stuff, but possibly the recommendations are a little late for the project and can rather flow into the next design.

Maria Hartl proposes a Learning Route on rural financial services in Peru, targeted at IFAD-financed projects, IFAD staff (especially field staff) and other partners, covering savings, credit, insurance and leasing. Recommendations to Maria were to include remittances, and to match well the innovation needs and experiences available. I wonder how many of us are considering whether this should be their next route.

The final stretch is the auto-evaluation of the Learning Route, which I find really embarrassing: how can you just praise everything. In desperation, I propose organizing the background material so that it’s a little easier to work with. But honestly, the organization and contents was terrific, and now it’s on us to implement the learning plan, as otherwise Ariel will come back some day and tell us that it was all futile. I hope we can count on some ongoing support from PROCASUR and the project for that.

The last night we spend at Chicha, a restaurant specialising in refined traditional dishes. The tour ends with a fun round of surprise awards of certificates between routeros, at which it becomes clear to us that we’ve become a close group of friends that has shared a very intense experience.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that this tour was the best thing I did this year.

Claus Reiner, Country Programme Manager, IFAD

Maps that can talk

Friday, 21 January 2010. After a long wait for the bus in front of our rather basic hotel on the unpaved roads of Yauri, a town that should be rich with mining revenues, we all meet for breakfast at the Katamaran restaurant with its peacocks running around outside. Bellies filled, we’re off to the Comunidad Campesina de Antaccollana, which presents its development plans that include many elements of natural resource management. A number of sub-committees manage different aspects: tractor management, irrigation, mirocredit, playschool, etc.

After this brief introduction that included not only traditional music but collective dancing, we jump in the buses to have a look at one of the small hand-dug reservoirs. Now in the rainy season, it's hard to imagine how crucial its water will be during the 9-month dry season.

As we discuss water and pasture management, our drivers turn the buses around and get them both stuck in the mud. Immediately they get different and even contradicting proposals, it seems in Africa and Latin America the approaches to this quite common situation are rather different. As the former throw stones under the wheels, the latter take them out again and replace them with grass. But somehow we push the two busses out, and continue to different families that demonstrate sound natural resource management at household level. I join the group visiting Lorenza, a lady whose exemplary improvements to her cattle, pasture, silage, compost, weaving, cooking and cheese making activities leave us all well-impressed. You name it, she's improved it.

What’s more, she goes around encouraging and teaching others all the various skills she learned from the local trainers contracted by the community. And to top it, her personal development plan, skilfully painted by her nephew, illustrates so well what she's already done and what's still up. We leave her thoroughly impressed.

Heaps of alpaca for lunch back at the Katamaran. Thereafter, it's not exactly easy to continue with a 4-person working session on the Rwanda innovation plan, with which we want to adopt the CLARs. But it's well productive, and we continue in the entire group with an analytical round on the territorial development, the talking maps and business plans. All well-appreciated tools, effectively applied by the project. Of course the group also has recommendations to make to the project team, although the heavy rain on the roof makes communication rather difficult. A particularly tough time for the interpreters.

Just before dark we board the buses for Cusco. The rid takes ages, partly due to the heavy rain, partly as the accompanying pickup has a double puncture and we stay together. I happen to be on the bus without heating, and it feels more like a mobile fridge. By midnight, we pull into Cusco, and are more than glad to be back to warmth and wireless.

Claus Reiner, Country Programme Manager, IFAD

Learning across continents: Latin America sharing knowledge with Africa

Tuesday, 19 January 2010. Today we start with the real thing. A CLAR in action, this is what we came for, so it’s difficult to hide the collective excitement. Plus it’s a warm sunny day, much in contrast to yesterday’s cold rain. But first we go off to the project office, strangely by bus, as we could have easily walked the 300 m.
A casual chat with project staff. Maria Hartl enquires about the definition of communities, and it turns out that the ancestral laws have found their way into modern Peruvian legislation. These extended families have legal status, and are dealt with by the project just as other registered groups and companies. Mary from Rwanda asks about the collaboration with local government, which is promoted in the SSDP by facilitators in each municipality. Staff fluctuations in the municipalities are a problem. For communication with communities, the project’s events in the main squares are the best advertisement for its initiatives. Benson, the vice mayor of Kirehe in Rwanda, really likes the idea of using the CLAR competitions to build up local support, after all this can be very helpful in local elections.

We move back to the main square, where the CLAR session is already in full swing, together with the rural enterprise fair. The fair has been built up across the street from the municipality, a row of colourful booths offering mainly handicraft and cheese, in front of which a tent has been pitched to accommodate the members of the CLAR. Behind them the local project office has set up a mobile office to provide administrative support. In front of this tent, one group after another does not only a presentation of what they’d like to do (and for ongoing ones, what they’ve achieved so far), but full-blown shows with dancing, singing, flower-clad bodies and – the absolute killer – a complete play with several stages and an array of actors including human houses and real tourists. Only the development worker was missing! The groups further show that they manage the project by showing maps and accounts, and by answering questions from CLAR members. Once all are through, the CLAR will declare its verdict on each request for funds. As clouds and some raindrops come over the surrounding peaks, the plaza clears conspicuously and the day’s results get announced: most projects are approved; the group representatives receive the announcements with relief. We flee for lunch, and I guess our groups are not indulging in such a lavish meal, with causas, trout and alpaca.

But no time to relax, Ariel rushes us on to the discussion round with CLAR and group members. We learn how dead easy the voting works, that the community groups hire local TA to prepare their progress reports, that they receive occasional unannounced visits by CLAR members, and how small the CLAR members’ allowances are. Véridianne declares she is deeply impressed with the competitions with judges from different interest groups and client groups that present their own plans and reports.

After a short preparatory break we run the first analytical workshop, at which we jointly analyse the overall project. Our praise is so comprehensive, it almost feels awkward to keep repeating it. There is a genuine feeling that it is amongst the project types of the future. Luckily, to keep things somewhat balanced, we also found some weaknesses, including some targeting aspects, the strong involvement by the project unit, the credit gap for successful enterprises and the low involvement of the communities in preparing and revising their business plans. Nonetheless, the overall feeling is that the Southern Highlands project is too good to be true, and having reached 20h00 again we decide our communal nackerdness has reached a level that doesn’t allow us to launch the final item of the day, an analytical round of the CLARs and the enterprise fair we witnessed today. We keep that for tomorrow, and a group of cold Africans forms around the mobile gas heater as we wait for dinner.

Claus Reiner, Country Programme Manager, Rwanda

Africa meets the New World

Sunday, 17 January. Today, our long-awaited Learning Route to Peru finally started. Having flown into Lima from Rome the night before seemed like a long haul, but when I met the 6 Rwandan participants in Amsterdam they had already spent more than a night flying. In Lima, they would have had every right to look like zombies, but surprisingly they didn’t. As we kicked off, there was some excitement in the air in getting to know the project staff from the New World. It’s not the fault of the Malawians that to “us Africans” Colombia and Venezuela are more exotic than they are. Anyway, I had the impression that we did the introductions with more curiosity than normally on such occasions.

Soon it became technical, and more participative than some had thought. As Rwandans, we were to come clear on not only our objectives from the route, but also what action points we would put in practice upon return. Very refreshing to move quickly beyond presenting project objectives and activities, and to do some actual thinking about what we had come here for. Janvier, the project coordinator, knows all too well that the concept of community competitions had been integrated in the Kirehe Community-based Watershed Management Project (KWAMP) on the basis of the experience in Peru. This is what we wanted to see in action. The core phrase in his presentation brings out what we believe to be the key to making it happen in Rwanda: to assist the communities in developing confidence for their own initiatives. Confidence, of course, has many facets, but I’m not going into any of that now.

The PROCASUR team confirms my impression of professionalism in organising this multicultural multilingual tour. They are firmly in control. In fact, the effective air with which Ariel solves the teething problems of the audio system and the relaxed simultaneous translators who go through hours of translating into English and French without a break (little Rwanda can be demanding with its two international languages) were finally topped by the hassle-free departure to the airport despite running half an hour behind schedule. And this first day, which I thought risks being quite boring with a couple of dry presentations, wasn’t that at all. Despite our jetlag, we were riveted by the series of presentation that felt more like erudite university lectures that gave answers to questions it seems we had carried around with us for a long time.

When the head of Agro Rural of the Ministry of Agriculture kicked off, it didn’t take long to dawn that what we’re about to visit is backed by an institutional might we are not used to, at least us Africans are not. The monitoring capacity Agro Rural established to track its investments is simply impressive, and a ministry desperate to give away its spending power to local committees is also not easy to find. Can this work in Rwanda?, I think to myself. But Rome was also not built in a day, what’s important is to start.

The other speakers were not less sure of being on the right track, which is probably the most convincing position a presenter can have: Juan Moreno of PROCASUR outlined his philosophy of development through professional visits. Roberto Haudry, whose PDT recommendation of building community competitions into KWAMP had gotten us here in the first place, gave us the historic context in which the CLARs (Local Resource Allocation Committees) slowly evolved to an approach now fully adopted by government, plus his concept of citizens with democratic and social rights instead of a herd of beneficiaries, and the mistakes they had made of initially not letting the CLARs finance small investments. Finally Ricardo Vergara, a consultant, outlined that the social monitoring by communities is in fact still more valuable than its highly effective allocation of funds. His argument of why a poor farmer is the best decision maker when it comes to investments concerning his livelihood was so clear: because he has a real interest in improving the lives of his family. And that the same farmer is perfectly capable of passing judgement when supervising the implementation: just like anybody can tell whether a doctors’ treatment works or not. It was quite clear, at least in a conference room in Lima, thus no questions for which we also didn’t have any time, honestly, as it was now a quick rush to the airport to catch the flight to Arequipa in the southern highlands. Tomorrow morning it’s breakfast at 6, so we quickly fall into the luxurious beds of the Hotel El Lago.

So far, it couldn’t be more promising. I’m most curious for tomorrow. To be continued.

Claus Reiner, Country Programme Manager for Rwanda

Le FIDA aide les petits exploitants agricoles en Afrique

L'article de Joan Baxter publié dans le Monde Diplomatique de janvier (voir p.18) intitulé: "Un mouvement spéculatif mondial : Ruée sur les terres africaines" cite à deux reprises le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA), faisant référence à sa politique foncière et à ses activités en matière d'investissement. Je tiens à apporter quelques écaircissements permettant, je l'espère, de dissiper d'éventuels malentendus.
Le FIDA est une institution financière internationale de développement et une agence spécialisée des Nations Unies octroyant des prêts et des dons à ses Etats membres et à ses partenaires pour financer des programmes de développement et de lutte contre la pauvreté rurale. Les programmes soutenus par le FIDA visent à faciliter, promouvoir et dynamiser le développement de l’agriculture paysanne et des communautés rurales, souvent dans les régions les plus pauvres.

Ces programmes sont ciblés principalement sur les petits exploitants agricoles, les pasteurs, les peuples autochtones et en particulier les femmes et les jeunes en milieu rural. Un accès sécurisé à la terre – et en particulier aux terres cultivables – pour ces acteurs du développement est donc de première importance pour le FIDA. De fait, améliorer et sécuriser l’accès des ruraux pauvres aux ressources naturelles, terres et eaux, est le premier des six objectifs stratégiques du FIDA retenus dans notre cadre stratégique 2007-2010 facilement accessible sur notre site web. Par ailleurs le Conseil d’Administration du FIDA a approuvé en 2008 un document de politique sur l’amélioration de l’accès à la terre et de la sécurité foncière et en 2009 une politique d’engagement aux côtés des peuples autochtones. J'invite le lecteur à consulter ces documents de politique sur notre site ainsi que les nombreuses informations disponibles concernant les projets financés par le FIDA dans le monde et en Afrique en particulier.
On y peut constater qu’en aucune manière le FIDA n’est « tenant » d’une approche du développement agricole consistant à «installer en Afrique des fermes industrielles géantes pour y produire des denrées alimentaires et des agro-carburants entièrement destinés à l’exportation ». Cette approche n’a jamais été la nôtre, au contraire caractérisée par une préférence stratégique et systématique pour l’investissement dans les petites exploitations familiales et la microfinance rurale. Le dernier paragraphe de l’article de Joan Baxter (« Pourtant des solutions existent… ») décrirait parfaitement le type de programme que finance réellement le FIDA. Nous regrettons qu’un organe de presse de la qualité du Monde Diplomatique publie de telles informations ne correspondant ni au mandat ni aux activités d’une institution des Nations Unies travaillant depuis plus de trente ans pour le développement de l’agriculture paysanne.

Par ailleurs, il est vrai que le FIDA collabore actuellement avec la FAO, la Banque Mondiale et d’autres partenaires à la définition de principes directeurs en matière d’investissement dans l’agriculture (non pas d’un « code de bonne conduite ») ainsi que d’un manuel répertoriant les pratiques d’investissements responsables dans ce secteur. Ce faisant notre objectif n’est évidemment pas de promouvoir l’accaparement des terres paysannes par une agriculture industrielle d’exportation, mais de montrer que d’autres pratiques et partenariats mutuellement bénéfiques sont non seulement souhaitables mais aussi possibles entre investisseurs privés responsables, communautés rurales et petites exploitations familiales.

Enfin le FIDA soutient et participe activement à l’initiative de la FAO pour la préparation de Directives volontaires sur la gouvernance responsable de la tenure des terres et des autres ressources naturelles. Ces directives volontaires aideront les pays à améliorer la gouvernance de la tenure foncière dans une perspective de développement agricole durable et de sécurité alimentaire.

Jean-Philippe Audinet
Programme Management Department
Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)
Via Paolo di Dono, 44
00124 Rome, Italie
http://www.ifad.org
http://twitter.com/IFADNews
http://ifad-un.blogspot.com

Arid lands ecosystem and climate change: Livelihoods of more than one billion people are at stake

How can the impact of climate change on arid lands and on the poor people living in such areas be minimized and their sustainable livelihoods protected?

This was the subject of a UNFCCC COP15 side event organized by IFAD on 11 December, within the framework of the IIED Development and Climate Days.

The Dr Byen University setting, only two metro stops from the Bella centre where the Copenhagen Climate Change negotiations were taking place, provided a perfect setting for bringing together a large number of participants, observers from the negotiations and academicians from the University, and foster a constructive discussion on the implications of climate change in arid lands.

The panel consisted of members from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Mechanism (GM). The session was chaired by Rodney Cooke, Director of IFAD's Technical Advisory Division.

The event provided a unique opportunity to share IFAD’s own experience in integrating climate change issues in project portfolio through Country Strategic Opportunities Papers (COSOPs) such as that in Viet Nam and Chad as well as environmental screening of IFAD projects and the development of IFAD’s corporate strategy towards the mainstreaming of the climate change dimension in its project activities. The event also highlighted the relevance of drylands ecosystems with regards to rural development, and addressed the specific impact of climate change on these particularly fragile environments. Panelists discussed how climate change resilience can be promoted in arid lands ecosystems, through investments or otherwise.

Atiqur Rahman, Policy Coordinator, opened the session by providing a detailed overview of the magnitude of the problem, and addressed the adverse impact of climate change on the more than one billion people whose livelihoods largely or totally depend on arid lands ecosystems. He outlined four sets of issues which were then discussed in details by the other four panelists.

Peter Holmgren, Director, Environment Climate Change and Bioenergy Division , FAO, discussed the potential for mitigation in arid areas, notably through sustainable land management, afforestation, and agroforestry.

Ced Hesse, Principal Researcher, Climate Change, IIED, gave a vivid account of the crucial social and economic role played by pastoralists in Africa’s drylands. He emphasized their importance in ensuring economic development, sustainable land management and peace in a changing, increasingly unstable and variable environment.

Nadim Khouri, Director of IFAD’s Near East and North Africa Division, emphasized the need to build on vulnerable people’s own livelihoods strategies to devise efficient investments under harsh climatic conditions. He stressed the urgent need for better models to be developed in order to be able to predict the impact of climate change, specifically for arid areas, and for countries and rural communities to internalize such models in their development strategies.

In the concluding intervention, Alejandro Kilpatrick, GM’s Programme Coordinator for Latin America and for the Climate Change Programme, highlighted the value of drylands, to be seen in its economic, social , and financial dimensions. He gave a detailed overview of the current and anticipated sources of funding available to arid land ecosystems, and their relevance in addressing the adverse impact of climate change in these areas.

The presentations were followed by an interesting discussion with members of the audience. Issues were raised on the possibility of using local and indigenous knowledge and whether large scale investments could crowd out local initiatives which provided the backbone of autonomous adaptation for centuries, the need to adjust to increasing variability of climate both in terms of institutional development as well as using flexible project designs, the use of land rights and access to resources in innovative ways to overcome the ‘tragedy of the commons’, the developing early warning systems, and the reuse of wastes through anaerobic systems.

Most of the populations living in drylands are, in fact, amongst the poorest of the poor: investing in drylands is therefore crucial, and so is the recognition of the value of drylands ecosystems and traditional activities such as pastoralism.

The chairman concluded the session pointing out towards the opportunities to harness financing for climate change in support to drylands, both from the carbon market and from the funding for adaptation to climate change, but there is a need to better position the issues at stake into the development agendas of donors and governments. The UNFCCC COP might identify more opportunities that are emerging, such as REDD, REDD+ and adaptation funding.

Atiqur Rahman