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Women and pastoralism
October 2012
The paper highlights the issues arising from the Global Gathering of Women Pastoralists (2010) which brought together over 100 women from herding communities across 32 different countries to discuss the challenges faced by pastoralist women and girls, and their potential opportunities. It aims to support development practitioners in planning specific interventions and mainstreaming issues that potentially affect pastoralist women into the implementation stages of development initiatives. The paper is part of the IFAD Livestock Thematic Papers on Livestock and Pastoralists and Gender and Livestock, which offer an in-depth view of the broader context.
Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. Policy brief
September 2012
What does gender equality look like? Gender equality exists where women and men have equal access to opportunities and services, equal control over resources, and an equal say in decisions at all levels. Evidence demonstrates that where gender equality is greater, there is higher economic growth and a better quality of life for all.
Les petits barrages de décrue en Mauritanie: Recommandations pour la conception et la construction
July 2012
Ce manuel est un complément au “Manuel de suivi et d’entretien des petits barrages en Mauritanie” publié dans la même série.
Caso de Estudio Programa de Desarrollo Rural en la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua, NICARIBE
June 2012
El presente estudio se basa en el análisis sobre la incorporación de los principios de actuación por los que ha de guiarse el Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), en su labor con Pueblos Indígenas y Afrodescendientes. El Programa de Desarrollo Rural en la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua, NICARIBE, fue el proyecto de referencia para el análisis. NICARIBE es un programa que se implementa en siete territorios de Pueblos Indígenas y Afrodescendientes de la Costa Caribe, y tiene como meta mejorar los niveles de ingreso de 10,580 familias que viven en estos territorios, enfocando en el apoyo en el incremento de la producción, el manejo y aprovechamiento sostenible de los recursos naturales y fortalecimiento de sus organizaciones (territoriales y comunales) locales.
Scaling up Microirrigation Systems - Outcome Report
June 2012
This factsheet presents the main outcomes of the Scampis project that aimed to improve the food security of 30,000 vulnerable smallholders in three countries through the use of micro-irrigation systems (MIS) and natural fertilizers and pesticides.
Caso de Estudio Proyecto de Desarrollo Corredor Central Ecuador
June 2012
Este es un documento sobre las Buenas Prácticas del proyecto de Desarrollo Corredor Central (PDCC) implementado en Ecuador y financiado por el Gobierno Nacional y por el Préstamo 650/EC proveniente del Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), a través de la ejecución de sub-Proyectos de Turismo Comunitario con Pueblos y Nacionalidades Indígenas. Los tres segmentos geográficos que conforman el corredor central, desde la región de la costa a la región amazónica: (i) Portoviejo y La Maná; (ii) Pujilí y Pelileo; (iii) Baños y Puyo.
Climate-smart smallholder agriculture: What is different?
April 2012
There is a growing consensus that climate change is transforming the context for rural development, changing physical and socio-economic landscapes and makingsmallholder development more expensive. But there is less consensus on how smallholder agriculture practices should change as a result. The question is often asked: what really is different about ‘climate-smart’ smallholder agriculture that goes beyond regular best practice in development?
Facilitating access of rural youth to agricultural activities
February 2012
This paper serves as a working document for the youth session of the 2012 Farmers’ Forum and provides an overview of the findings of the MIJARC/IFAD/FAO joint project on ‘Facilitating access of rural youth to agricultural activities’. These findings will be completed and inserted into a final report that will be published after the Farmers’ Forum.
Good Practices in Building Innovative Rural Institutions to Increase Food Security
February 2012
Evidence from the ground shows that when strong rural organizations such as producer groups and cooperatives provide a full range of services to small producers, they are able to play a greater role in meeting a growing food demand on local, national and international markets. Indeed, a myriad of such institutional innovations from around the world are documented in this FAO case-study-based publication. Nevertheless, to be able to provide a broad array of services to their members, organizations have to develop a dense network of relationships among small producers, between small-producer organizations and with markets actors and policy-makers.
Syrian Arab Republic: Thematic study on participatory rangeland management in the Badia - Badia Rangelands Development Project
February 2012
The Syrian Arab Republic, like other countries of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, is a dry country that is prone to drought, with large areas of desert or semi-desert that are too fragile to be cultivated but will support grazing for a restricted number of livestock. These areas of ecological fragility, if overgrazed and poorly managed, can quickly become degraded and desertified and, in the worst case scenario, can eventually become biologically sterile. Good management of these resources is therefore critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
Water User Associations in the context of small holder agriculture
October 2011
This report is the fruit of that endeavour and builds on efforts by IWMI, IFAD and many others to document and understand the impacts of PIM. Through the systematic review of 24 IFAD-funded PIM interventions and field observations from 5 project sites in the Asian region this study sheds new light on what works, where and why. Our study examines WUAs that have been created by IFAD projects and those which pre-date it’s interventions but are the main focus of capacity building or restructuring.
Madagascar - Étude de cas Le potentiel des jeunes AUE à participer au développement durable
July 2011
L’accès qu’ont les agriculteurs aux ressources hydriques est déterminé par de nombreux facteurs. Le cadre politique national et les stratégies adoptées par le gouvernement ont, entre autres, un impact important sur l’accès à l’eau, et sur les projets et programmes qui travaillent dans ce domaine. Au fur et à mesure qu’évolue le contexte politique, il est donc nécessaire de revoir la mise en oeuvre de ces projets, en particulier ceux qui ont trait à la construction d’ouvrages hydrauliques, afin de s’assurer que l’environnement politique et stratégique reste adapté aux besoins locaux et permette la mise en place d’une gestion locale, durable et efficace de l’eau agricole.
Lessons learned in the development of smallholder private irrigation for high-value crops in West Africa
June 2011
The objective of this report is to identify, characterize, and evaluate best practices in smallholder private irrigation in West Africa. The report presents a comparative assessment of the smallholder private irrigation initiatives in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Issues discussed include: the potential and impacts of new technologies; the successes and challenges of different approaches to develop smallholder private irrigation (promotion of technologies, institutional arrangements, advisory and financial services, and environmental impact mitigation); and the lessons learned.
Madagascar - Étude de cas Le rôle des femmes dans la gouvernance locale de l’eau agricole
June 2011
Plus de 35 ans sont passés depuis la première conférence mondiale de la femme des Nations Unies au Mexique en 1975, et de nombreuses autres conférences et événements se sont succédés, avec comme résultats des engagements politiques, des documents d’action et des recommandations. Malgré cela, nous sommes loin de pouvoir affirmer que l’objectif d’égalité entre les sexes ait été atteint. En ce qui concerne les pays en voie du développement, le Sommet mondial du développement social, en 1995 a été déterminant. C’est alors que le monde a pris conscience de la nécessité d’établir des indicateurs pour pouvoir analyser la situation des femmes dans le monde à diverses échelles.
Remittances and Postal Networks
June 2011
The Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) aims to expand the reach of financial services to the world's underserved rural areas. The maintenance of a network of dedicated brick-and-mortar branches throughout vast sparsely populated areas is prohibitively expensive for most forms of financial institutions, with one important exception: post offices.
Sudan - Training and skills development within the Gash Sustainable Livelihoods Regeneration Project (GSLRP)
June 2011
The case study in Sudan, undertaken in the framework of the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI), analyzed training and skills development activities in the IFAD-supported Gash Sustainable Livelihoods Regeneration Project (GSLRP). The study is an assessment of the type of capacity building and training that can be implemented in an area of great poverty using innovative approaches in community development and training. It illustrates the kind of impact that is possible at individual and community level.
Rwanda: The Rural Apprenticeship Training Programme
June 2011
IFAD commissioned this Rwanda case study, through an IMI initiative, to document the diversity of approaches of training and skills development, particularly to assess relevance, effectiveness and efficiency, outcomes and challenges with respect to the following key components: (i) Targeting and transition to employment or business creation; (ii) Types of training and providers; (iii) Transfer of knowledge and sustainability. The objective of this study is to present the experience of IFAD in technical vocational and skills development in the context of Rwanda and by doing so, highlight the innovative features and lessons learnt for further replication.
Bangladesh - Field study on Innovative forms of training and capacity-building
June 2011
This study was commissioned as part of IFAD’s Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI) with the objective of learning lessons from IFAD experience in Bangladesh regarding training and capacity building, and so to improve the effectiveness of training for social development, capacity building, technology dissemination and innovation.
Apprenticeship learning and the inclusion of young people in nonagricultural rural activities under a national agricultural and rural training strategy - Reflections on scaling up a pilot experience in Madagascar
June 2011
IFAD’s efforts to promote the innovations launched by its programmes are illustrated here with an analysis of activities to strengthen non-agricultural rural apprenticeships under the Support Programme for Rural Microenterprise Poles and Regional Economies (PROSPERER) and the future Vocational Training and Agricultural Productivity Improvement Programme (FORMAPROD)1 in Madagascar.
IFAD Supported Training and Apprenticeship within the Rural Enterprises Project Phase II in Ghana - A Field Study of Training Approaches and Outcomes
June 2011
As part of its initiative for mainstreaming innovation, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) explored various types of training and skills development activities in the programmes supported by the Fund and which training results have been achieved including through innovative ways. In Ghana the IFAD supported programme Rural Enterprises Project Phase Two (REP II) has enhanced Business Development Service (BDS), and Technology Promotion and Support to Apprentice Training (TPSAT) in about 53 districts in since 2003. The objective of this Ghana field study is to document the diversity of approaches of training and skills development in IFAD supported programmes. In particular, it aims to assess their relevance, effectiveness and efficiency, outcomes and challenges.