Presentation by Atiqur Rahman Lead Strategist and Policy Coordinator IFAD # v1 Experience with rural poverty alleviation: What has worked, what has not?

900 million of the extreme poor live and work in rural areas! Today 1.2 billion live in extreme poverty Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America & Caribbean 67 % 22 % 8 % 3 % Near East & North Africa  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

IFAD’s Rural Poverty Report 2001 Poverty is not just economic deprivation and the poor are highly diversified  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Rainfed farmers Pastoralists Artisanal Fishermen Smallholder farmers  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Wage labourers/ landless Indigenous people/ scheduled casts/ tribes Female-headed households  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

They are disadvantaged in many ways: l lack of nutrition l high mortality l lack of income opportunities l discrimination in pay and in access to land, legal systems and credit Women are often principal earners  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

The rural poor... live in remote areas have few opportunities off the land suffer from hunger and disease Access to food, either through production or exchange, is critical for the rural poor Increasingly the poor are becoming dependent on non-farm incomes  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

GROWTH is important for poverty reduction But growth has to be broad based and accommodate non-farm production and market based exchange Efforts to reach the UN commitment to reduce the proportion of the poor by half by 2015 must focus on AGRICULTURAL and RURAL development  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

§Washington Consensus §Decline in investment in agricultural and rural development §Project approach has produced mixed results §Rural poverty has been too often secondary to urban poverty What has not worked?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

ASSETS... For the majority of the world’s poor, particularly for women, land and water assets are most pressing  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has not worked? Access to land §Top-down, confiscatory land reforms §Land reform without appropriate infrastructure and services §Gender mainstreaming  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has worked? Access to land §Confiscatory land reforms §Support of post-reform farmers §Decentralised, consensual or citizen- driven reform processes More widespread access to farmland assets remain central to poverty reduction.  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has not worked? Access to water §Major dams §Water subsidies §Water charges §Diversion of commercial water  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has worked? Access to water §Small-scale irrigation §Training of women’s groups § Formation of water user associations §User financing of recurrent costs § Hygiene education  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has not worked? Access to human assets §Urban bias §Unfavourable socio-economic conditions §User fees  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has worked? Access to human assets §Human-asset-improving in rural areas §Nutrition improvement §No targeting  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

ASSETS...  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion serve two functions: They generate a flow of income and they provide a means of buffering consumption in the face of income and other shocks

Without secure property rights, farmers lack the incentive to invest in land and water management Pro-poor assets policy: l Legal rights to land l Control over water assets l Improving human assets ASSETS  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

TECHNOLOGY... needs to work for the rural poor  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has not worked? §Large farm focus §High potential area focus §Labour replacing technologies §Neglecting crops of the poor §Labour displacement technology §Privatisation of agricultural research  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has worked? §Green Revolution - public research §Integrated pest management §Improved Land Management Technology §Collaboration between farmers and researchers  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Bio-agricultural research can help the poor through developing crop varieties which are water stress tolerant, high yielding and pest resistant BIO-TECHNOLOGY  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

BUT... Caution needs to be exercised §Redirect technologies from the needs of the ‘rich’ to the ‘poor’ §Environmental effects need to be assessed carefully and taken seriously §And adapt to the environmental conditions of the developing countries §The poor and the CSOs have to participate in deciding, clarifying ‘which technology’ and ‘how’  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

MARKETS... If It’s Fair, It’s Good  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has not worked? §Liberalisation and commercialisation in societies with high inequality §Liberalisation without preparing the people for open markets  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

What has worked? §Farmer groups or associations §Provision of market information §Rural Roads  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Globalisation: If It’s Fair, It’s Good §Access to local markets §Enabling access to global markets l elimination of trade restrictions, l reduction of subsidies, l producer co-operations MARKETS  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Markets... §Markets are central institutions for sustainable rural development §For the poor to gain access to markets, they need organisations Question: How can the poor be supported to create their own organisations to access markets?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

INSTITUTIONS... empowerment  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

§Rules of the game §Mechanisms to structure political, economic and social interaction Central question: How can the poor benefit from institutions? What are institutions?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

§Difficult to answer but institutions which exclude either the rich or the poor have not worked and will not work in the future §More important is the question: How can the poor benefit from institutions? What has, what has not worked?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

DECENTRALISATION... §Redefining the boundary between state and market §Local institutions tend to be more accountable to local people Question: What are the conditions under which decentralisation can work?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

DECENTRALISATION... §Common property resources management for sustainability of resources §Poverty reduction too often a secondary goal Question: Can cooperation emerge when vast inequalities and assymetries between rich and poor exist?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Financial Services... §Credit helps the poor to smooth consumption and acquire assets §Range of financial services: savings, credit and insurance §Poor must devise ways to spread risks Question: How can it be ensured that savings, credit and insurance are treated in a unified way?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Coalition building... §Coherent anti-poverty strategy requires stable partnerships §Putting the poor at the centre of the process: empowering them §Strengthening the coalitions of the poor is essential Question: How can the poor participate as partners in development processes?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

INSTITUTIONS... How can the poor benefit from institutions?  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion

Reaching the 2015 targets will require: §increased ODA; §more allocation towards rural development and agriculture; §increased national effort  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion Conclusion

Conclusion §More questions than solutions §No universal blueprints for poverty reduction §There are many pathways for ending rural poverty  Introduction  Assets  Technology  Markets  Institutions  Conclusion