IFAD social reporting blog

This year, the Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) for Ethiopia, covering the period from 2017 to 2021, reached its mid-term. IFAD conducted a review of implementation progress and the results achieved so far, providing an opportunity to update the strategic document to align with the current political, economic, and social context of the country and IFAD's agenda. Hence, a COSOP Results Review (CRR) was prepared and further validated by key stakeholders in a workshop held on 20 December 2019 in Addis Ababa.

The main objectives of the CRR are to assess whether: (a) there have been major changes to the country; (b) any risks have materialized and/or new risks emerged; (iii) the country development goals, supported by the COSOP, are still relevant; (iv) the COSOP objectives are still relevant and likely to contribute to the country development goals; (v) the combination of lending and non-lending activities, presented at the COSOP approval up-to-date likely to deliver the expected outcomes; (vi) the identified strategic partnerships delivering results and outcomes that support the delivery of the country programme; (vii) implementation is on-track; (ix) there are changes to be made to the results framework; and (x) whether the COSOP needs to be extended or a new COSOP developed.

The workshop was opened with remarks by high level government official HE Dr Kaba Urgessa, State Minister of Ministry of Agriculture, followed by a presentation on the CRR and the formation of a Country Programme Management Team (CPMT). A CPMT team was formed from government Ministries, partner organisations, CG centers, Private Sector, Civil Service Organisations, Associations, and Micro Finance Institutions. This CPMT will be used by IFAD to enhance country programme planning, implementation and impact, as well as ownership of programmes and projects by borrower.

The CRR presentation was mainly focused on the country context, risks, relevance of COSOP strategic objectives, policy engagement, private sector linkage, knowledge and research, coordination and alignment, implementation, results, and lessons learnt. Furthermore, a discussion was led by HE Dr Kaba, State Minister of Ministry of Agriculture, Kaydaki Gezahegn, Advisor to the Minister of Peace and Mr. Ulaç Demirag, IFAD's Head of African Union, South-South and Triangular Cooperation, and Knowledge Center Hub on the draft CRR document and a round strategic questions, comments and suggestions were received leading to a vibrant discussion and enriching the review document.

Participants raised different questions during the discussion session, including: (i) how we capture lessons learned and facilitate key learning across all IFAD projects; (ii) what led to high success for IFAD’s projects performance measured against the COSOP under review; (iii) how does IFAD intend to intervene in emerging regions of Ethiopia; (iv) how the projects are supporting capacity building activities at community level (Development Agents); (v) if the COSOP is aligned with SDGs; (vi); does IFAD have a strategy in supporting the government with its mandate to enhance the education sector.

There were also comments provided by the participants on the CRR like: the need to give more attention to nutrition as this area was given less focus considering the exigencies on food security, IFAD to give more attention for climate risk financing; IFAD to work closely with the World Bank’s Gender Innovation Lab; and it could be good to consider nominating dedicating an IFAD focal person for REDFS technical committees and task forces.

IFAD's Head of AU, SSTC, and Knowledge Center Hub, State Minister of Ministry of Agriculture, and IFAD’s Country Programme Officer responded to some of the issues and took some of the comments as an input to enrich the CRR.

Finally, HE Dr Kaba, State Minister of Ministry of Agriculture, made closing remarks acknowledging IFAD’s financial and technical support to improve the livelihood of rural communities. He commend the performances of the programmes supported by IFAD and appreciated the proactive engagement of IFAD Country Office to support the programmes deliver their plans. He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to strengthen its partnership with IFAD to serve the rural community better.

By Tapologo Radithipa, Antonio Rota, Ivonald Da Cruz and Philipp Baumgartner

The Kingdom of Lesotho’s, Quthing sheep stud, recently played host to a significant event – the first public auction of quality Merino ewes and rams. With the backing of the IFAD funded Wool and Mohair Promotion Project (WAMPP), a number of farmers descended upon the stud where a total amount of 482,790 Maloti (US$33,635) was spent on 63 ewes and 75 rams. The significance of the event lies in the fact that this auction provides a pathway for Basotho farmers to purchase quality breeding stock that previously could only be accessed in neighbouring South Africa.

This dependence on South Africa forced Basotho farmers to incur a number of costs, for instance paying high prices for quality-breeding stock, transporting the animals into Lesotho and subsequently paying taxes at the border. This first attempt to auction quality breeding stock in Lesotho represents a key milestone for the wool and mohair industry and the country more generally. An estimated 70 per cent of the population live in rural areas, the bulk of which reside in the mountain regions where the main source of income for the rural poor is derived from the rearing of sheep and goat.

The auction was attended by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Litšoane Litšoane, high-ranking government officials, the chairperson of Lesotho’s national Wool and Mohair Growers Association, the project management unit of WAMPP and IFAD representatives. In his speech, the Honourable Minister expressed his heartfelt appreciation and acknowledged all the strides that stakeholders had embarked upon in order to ensure the project is a success.

Zooming out:

The auctioning of quality breeding stock is the last step of a broader strategy that WAMPP is supporting and the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers Association, the private sector representative remains a key partner in this endeavour. As part of the project, a comprehensive National Breeding Plan which provides the framework for registering and genetically selecting Merino sheep and Angora goats in Lesotho has been developed with the contribution of local and South African experts and it is currently being implemented.

Further activities being driven by the project include the refurbishing of facilities in Quthing; the recruitment of technical staff and the acquisition of equipment and quality breeding stock from South Africa. Commercial sheep and goat stockbreeders are also being certified and registered, this is to ensure that they act as multipliers of quality animals in order to make them available in each district of the country. This will ensure that smallholder farmers are able to purchase sheep and goats at an affordable price. The programme is completed by an “incentive scheme” which provides smallholder farmers with the opportunity to exchange four low quality animals for culling against a top-quality ram to reduce inbreeding and therefore, boost productivity.

Back to the auction:

Although the auction proved to be a success, it forms part of a broader puzzle that aims to transform the quality and quantity of breeding stock in Lesotho and ultimately lead to improved incomes for the country’s smallholder producers.

IFAD is proud to have supported Lesotho in this step towards the transformation of the wool and mohair sector at national scale. The Grower’s Association managing the breeding centres is congratulated, as well as the government and project management unit for this achievement.

Youth took centre stage during a lull in the discussions of the forty-third session of IFAD’s Governing Council on Thursday 12th February in the plenary room of FAO’s headquarters in Rome, Italy. Featuring a keynote address from Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of NEPAD, and a panel discussion featuring three young beneficiaries of IFAD projects that was enthusiastically facilitated by superstar duo and IFAD youth ambassadors Mr Eazi and Sherrie Silver, the interactive session sparked much interest and discussion among delegates regarding how best to include youth in food system transformation.

Nearly 1 billion of the world’s 1.2 billion youth aged 15-24 reside in developing countries, with numbers growing far more rapidly in lower income countries than in higher income countries, particularly in rural areas. In fact, rural youth make up around half of all youth in developing countries, and these young people have enormous potential. In a nutshell, the world is undergoing a seismic transition. According to Dr Mayaki, this is particularly the case in Africa, where a rapidly changing population profile, the proliferation of ICTs, environmental challenges and steady economic growth that often coincides with persisting inequality all combine to pose a grand development challenge for the continent. When all factors are combined, there is one constant-agriculture. However, if these challenges are to be adequately addressed, youth must be successfully engaged with and empowered. Only then can they become the game changers we need them to be.

This message was exemplified by the three young beneficiaries of IFAD projects who made up the panel.

Elly Matende is a beneficiary of the Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP) and is 35 years old. Following an unsuccessful foray into the transport industry, Elly now runs the successful Matende Holstein farm in Kenya, where, thanks to IFAD’s support, he employs seven young people and has been able to train 3000 farmers over an eight year period.

Mirna Ortiz, a 34-year-old university graduate from the Dominican Republic, is a prime example of the opportunities available for youth willing returning to rural areas. Mirna is the financial manager of the Association of Young Producers of Monte Plata Pineapple, a group that benefited greatly from the IFAD-funded project Rural Economic Development Project in the Central and Eastern Provinces (PRORUAL). With 317 partners, 93 employees and 200 hectares sown, the organisation has gone from strength to strength and looks set to fulfil its objective of contributing to the development and improvement of the living conditions of the members of the community.

An IFAD-supported project enabled the final panellist, Zeinorin Angkang, to establish her company Hill Wild Chocolate, which is based in Ukhrul district, in 2017. In addition to manufacturing and marketing six different varieties of chocolate infused with local flavours, the entrepreneur also established a café called Yazun Sinshim in the heart of Ukhrul, providing employment for as many as 12 young people who also receive training in chocolate making.

During the ensuing interactive discussion, it became clear that if these success stories are to be widely replicated support must be provided to prospective young agripreneurs. Technology is a must-it provides an array of benefits ranging from the latest weather information to reducing the physical drudgery of agriculture to opening up new marketing opportunities. Young people also need to work together to get enterprises up and running, share experiences and foster a sense of motivation and responsibility.

However, despite the apparent opportunities, young people still face a number of challenges, including a lack of funding, collateral, access to land and markets, and a dearth of training opportunities. Attitudes also need to change-that of youth to agriculture and of the older generation towards youth. Trust is crucial in this regard. Youth need to be trusted and empowered through the training, resources and technology. This in turn will result in an increase in agricultural productivity and job opportunities. All actors have a role to play, including IFAD. In the words of youth ambassador Mr Eazi, “It is not the responsibility of governments to create jobs. That is the role entrepreneurs should play. What we need from governments is policy that creates the environment for young entrepreneurs to thrive”.

The Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (the Lab) was established in 2014 thanks to the joint efforts of the UK, Germany and the US. In all, the Lab is supported by 9 key funders (including IFAD) and over 60 members, including some large philanthropic foundations. The Lab’s work is divided into eight main work streams that address an array of climate-related themes, including renewable energy, climate risk and sustainable agriculture, which IFAD is proud to support.

Since its inception, the Lab has worked hand in hand with finance institutions, governments and the private sector to launch 41 solutions to drive investment in climate action and sustainable development. Collectively, these solutions have mobilized $2.07 billion in sustainable investment to date, including over $800 million from the private sector and $370 million in original investment by Lab Member institutions. Notably, sustainable agriculture features prominently in the Lab’s suite of solutions, with 10 of the 41 instruments related to agriculture, forestry and nature based solutions.

The Lab works on the principle of championing and supporting high quality ideas with the greatest potential to be scaled up, all while leveraging the expertise of the global Lab as well as regional labs in Brazil, India and from the 2020 cycle, Southern Africa. Solutions are only backed following a rigorous appraisal process. The process begins with a call for ideas. Once all submissions have been made, they are judged according to their eligibility. Subsequently, the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal are identified and analysed before a shortlist of finalists is drawn up. Submissions are assessed against four key criteria, namely how actionable they are, their ability to catalyse investment, innovation and financial sustainability. During the 2020 cycle, there were 195 submissions in total, with 8 selected at the end of the process as the winning proposals.

Thanks to the second phase of the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP2), IFAD has funded the sustainable agriculture for smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa work stream for the past two years. This year’s winning proposal within this stream was the land accelerator: rural prosperity bond, which has the overarching goal of bridging the finance gap for small and medium enterprises specialising in selling inputs for land restoration, many of which are underserved by microfinance. It is anticipated that the proposal will reduce emissions from land degradation while simultaneously building smallholders’ resilience to climate change. The bond provides funding to small and medium enterprises that graduate from the World Resource Institute’s Land Accelerator programme to sell inputs for land restoration to farmer groups on credit. Farmers in turn repay in produce which is then aggregated and sold by the cooperative to large-scale buyers.

IFAD is very proud to be involved in the Lab as one of the key funding partners. However, the Fund’s involvement goes beyond providing funding. IFAD has been intimately involved in technically supporting the 2020 cycle of submissions.

For example, Oliver Page, IFAD’s regional climate and environmental specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean, was involved in the screening of the proposals received by the Brazil hub during this cycle. One such submission was the Conexus Impact Fund, which seeks to unlock available credit lines for community-led-enterprises that foster forest conservation practices by smallholders and forest dwellers. Conexus consists of a blended finance structured socio-environmental impact fund that will operate in a business platform offering tailored financial products to community enterprises across Brazil.

To find out more visit https://www.climatefinancelab.org/ or contact Sebastien Subsol (s.subsol@ifad.org) or Amath Pathe Sene (amath.sene@ifad.org).

Highlights from the e-High Level Dialogue on the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Rural Livelihoods in the NEN region

If there is something we know for sure about this virus, is that it does not know borders, and neither limits for its tremendous impact on the world economy. COVID-19 is inducing a fast-evolving global economic recession, and country-centred solutions are not enough to contain the socio-economic spill overs of this crisis. A global problem needs a global solution, and a quickly evolving crisis requires quick counteractions.

In this spirit, NEN organized an online high-level dialogue, bringing together 80 participants from 19 countries, including 20 ministers and deputy ministers, high-ranking UN representatives, and officials from partner organisations. The e-dialogue called upon participants to foster exchange and solidarity, and to identify common actions in addressing the impacts of the pandemic on rural livelihoods, smallholder agriculture and food security.

We had the honour of having our President, Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, introducing the dialogue. In his remarks, the President highlighted how the high dependency of the NEN region from food imports – $110 billion in the last year – poses serious threats to food security. He explained how IFAD is mostly concerned about the socio-economic consequences of the crisis, and built its response around three main pillars: repurposing of existing projects, coordination with the UN System at the Country level, and a new financial tool, the Rural Poor Stimulus Facility, worth $40 million. In the region with the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, the Rural Poor Stimulus Facility wants to protect rural youth from joblessness and poverty, concluded the President.

“This is not a financial crisis”, said Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), “it is a people crisis.” In a region already counting 93 million poor people, and with an unemployment rate of 25%, COVID-19 will add 8 million more people to the ranks of the poor, and an additional 1.6 million jobs will be lost, without counting those working in the informal economy. In fact, a big number of agricultural workers are employed in the informal sector, exacerbating the impact of the recession on rural livelihoods and food security. ESCWA estimates that COVID-19 will add 2 million people to the 15 million currently undernourished across the region. It is then essential to intervene in a flexible and agile way, supporting the recovery of the small-scale businesses at the heart of the rural sector. Financial support will help them in getting out of poverty, with positive repercussions on food security and employment.

Our panellists confirmed it is not food supplies, but rather supply chains to face major disruptions due to lockdown measures. “In times of crisis people want to know that they can have enough food at their disposal”, stated Mr. Bekir Pakdemirli, Minister of Agriculture of Turkey. Mr. Pakdemirli highlighted how government coordination in Turkey is ensuring that supply chains are effective as in normal times. This is possible because agricultural workers can reach their fields in total safety; and thanks to financial and social support measures for farmers and agri-SMEs. “The Anatolian land has been farmed for more than 10.000 years.” added the minister. “We don’t have only a big food supply, but also a wide know-how in terms of agriculture. We’re ready to serve our neighbours by sharing both.”

Similar measures have also been put in place in Jordan, as highlighted by Mr. Saleh Kharabsheh, Minister of Environment and Agriculture. The most vulnerable groups, such as isolated communities and refugees, are those most at risk of sliding into poverty and hunger, and Jordan is providing 20.000 vulnerable households with emergency food packages. In the NEN region, 55 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, of which 24 million are either refugees or internally displaced people (IDPs). They will likely pay the highest toll of the recession, and it is essential to act in solidarity in order not to leave them behind.

All panellists agreed that international cooperation is key to tackle this enormous challenge ahead of us. “There is no better time to bring everyone together, this is the time for coordinated action,” said Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation of Egypt. She added that, to properly respond to this crisis, each national policy needs to be designed keeping into consideration a bigger global picture, especially when tackling key areas like food security and rural livelihoods. She called on international institutions and on IFAD to play an important role in providing financial and technical assistance, as well as a vision on how to move forward as we navigate through the implications of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has deregulated the world” added Mohamed Sadiki, Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture. “The world will have changed its face after this crisis, and we will clearly see a pre-pandemic and a post-pandemic reality”. For Mr Sadiki, action to respond to this crisis must be taken today, but with tomorrow in mind. This is the time to be quick and forward-looking at the same time, since embracing this global radical paradigm shift is an effort that must be done in cooperation and solidarity. Over the past years, thanks to IFAD’s role as a South-South and Triangular Cooperation broker, Morocco has been able to share relevant knowledge on areas such as value chain development and targeting of isolated and vulnerable communities with many countries and partners, especially in Africa. Mr Sadiki suggested the establishment of an IFAD-led online platform for knowledge exchange, to carry forward much-needed South-South and Triangular Cooperation efforts in such an uncertain moment as the one we are living.

The Near East, North Africa, Europe, and Central Asia is a very diverse region, with Upper-Middle Income Countries as well as some of the most fragile Countries in the world, each of them with its own challenges. “They say we have stay at home, when the majority of our rural population is nomadic. They say we need to wash our hands, but we have no water.” Strongly affirmed Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh, Minister of Agriculture of Djibouti. Somalia, with its 2.6 million displaced people and its devastating desert locust outbreak, also looks with concern at the development of the COVID-19 crisis but sees regional cooperation as a big hope. “We appreciate NEN’s diversity both in terms of economic development and political stability,” said Mr. Said Hussein Iid, Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, “as it gives us important learning and partnership opportunities.”

As of today, IFAD received 36 requests of assistance. We have been capable to revise our internal processes with unprecedented speed, and $20 million have already been re-directed to finance immediate crisis response activities. We support countries in improving and enhancing agricultural inputs, access to markets, and rural finance. We capitalize on our technical expertise to support governments in COVID-related economic analyses, especially on the impact of the virus on the supply and value chains, and on the most vulnerable segments of rural communities.

IFAD’s ability to quickly repurpose ongoing projects to respond to the COVID-19 crisis has been praised by Mr. Boris Pasalic, Minister of Agriculture of the Republika Sprska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The IFAD-financed Rural Competitiveness Development Project (RCDP) has been the first programme to pilot such restructuring, re-allocating €1 million towards the purchase of seeds and fertilizers, then distributed in emergency packages to the most vulnerable rural households. This measure will contribute to increase food insecure households’ self-sufficiency, crucially important in a country that is highly dependent on food imports and that could suffer major shortages due to supply chain disruptions.

Only by working closely together we can find a way to serve the rural poor in such an unprecedented context. The world might be slowing down, but poverty and hunger are on the rise, with vulnerable populations and conflict-ridden countries paying the highest price. We must not let hunger and poverty take more lives than the virus. We need to avoid inaction: time has come for solidarity, and that time is now. The e-Dialogue organized by NEN highlighted the great challenges countries are facing during these difficult times, but also allowed them to capitalize on the region’s diversity, sharing their experiences and learning from each other. Solidarity is not always only about money, but it is also very much about experience. The virtual exchange platform that IFAD provided allows cross-fertilization among countries, since such a global challenge must be tackled by a shared solution. The commitment to cooperation and solidarity shown during the dialogue makes us hope that together we will be able to transform this enormous challenge into an even greater opportunity to lay foundations for a better world, for the sake of the new generations.

IFAD promotes the use of Household Methodologies (HHM) in its interventions in order to create gender transformative changes and improve intra-household gender relations. HHMs enable individuals to build agency, negotiate their relationships individually and collectively, and influence negative social norms. Using HHMs, promoting gender equality can be integrated as part of other technical project interventions such as value chain development.

Since 2009, IFAD has been piloting the integration of HHMs in its operations across regions and in total; over 50 IFAD projects have included some HHM-related activities. However, the inclusion and implementation of HHMs has greatly varied across countries in the terms of quality and scope.

Background

In order to link the isolated HHM initiatives in projects and to scale up, IFAD is supporting the Empower@Scale grant projectimplemented by Oxfam Novib together with Hivos. The objective of the grant project is to create a network of local/national Empowerment Learning Centres (ELC) for quality assured capacity development services on HHM as well as two Regional Hubs for networking, knowledge sharing and monitoring the use of HHMs. The grant is especially focused on the Gender Action Learning System (GALS), which is a type of household methodology that uses participatory processes, visual materials and diagram tools to encourage people to start thinking about their current life situations and to start planning and visualising their future.

The grant project has the goal of reaching 20,500 rural households in marginalised communities. These include women, men and youth living in poverty, who are involved in micro or small-scale economic activities. Moreover, it is expected that around 400 staff and project stakeholders of approximately 20 IFAD-supported projects from at least 15 countries will be provided access to HHM information/guidelines through Regional Hubs and access to HHM services by the ELCs.

The Empower@Scale grant project is an important component in the efforts of meeting IFAD 11 commitments related to fostering gender transformative results and so far it has engaged with 14 IFAD projects in 11 countries. Concrete activities have started for example in Kenya with the UTaNRMP project and in Uganda with PRELNOR and PROFIRA projects.

Facilitating Change at Scale

On the last week of January, Oxfam and Hivos organized a workshop titled Facilitating Change at Scale for GALS facilitators and IFAD project staff. The main purpose of the workshop was to i) identify best practices and common principles for facilitating the scaling up of the GALS methodology in communities and more specifically in IFAD-supported projects and other actors and ii) to agree on ways of working with facilitators in the Empower@scale project while the scaling up mechanisms (ELCs, regional hubs, platform, new approaches) are work in progress.

IFAD was represented by four project gender focal points from Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda as well as by the ESA regional social inclusion officer from Nairobi and technical gender and social inclusion analyst from Rome. During the workshop, the IFAD projects were able to focus on identification of lessons learned from the use of GALS facilitation principles and note down some of the best practices and challenges on the use of GALS in different contexts, themes and target groups.

The project representatives mentioned especially the positive ways that GALS tools help them with targeting everyone in the households even when the overall project is working on a cooperative level. Another practice appreciated by IFAD projects was the use of peer-to-peer learning trough cross-project visits. In addition to exploring the positive cases of project integration, five GALS principles were identified and agreed to by the participants as non-negotiable elements of a GALS roll-out. This means that, while GALS can be adapted to different institutional and local contexts and demands, there are certain core principles related to gender, human rights, leadership and participation which need to be safeguarded.

Some of the bad practices that the IFAD projects identified were related to the insufficient use of the GALS tools. For instance not fully employing gender-related tools and simply utilizing the GALS planning tools resulting the methodology losing its gender justice dimension. Moreover, lack of a proper monitoring and evaluation framework for GALS and insufficient budgeting were mentioned as some of the key constrains for effective implementation. The workshop participants agreed that in order for GALS to be successfully scaled up in sustainable matter, it has to go beyond a top-down dissemination process. For monitoring impacts, decisions on indicators, outreach, planning and required technical content should be defined together with communities and GALS champions themselves that have benefited from the methodology, rather than paid extension workers, should become GALS trainers.

The workshop participants also visited a potential ELC located in Muranga county. The proposed ELC is formed around an existing self-help group called Junction. After an enthusiastic welcoming, the self-help group members took the participants through their Vision Journey and their Gender Action Tree. After the presentation, GALS champions from Uganda presented their Achievement Road Journey. This was an important peer-to-peer learning opportunity for both groups and provided great insights to the other workshop participants.

The workshop was a valuable opportunity for enhancing the common understanding of GALS facilitation principles among Empower@Scale grant project partners and IFAD. Furthermore, the workshop served as an important venue for strengthening the support that is available for IFAD projects wishing to implement or are already in the process of implementing HHMs. The selection of technical assistance for IFAD operations include for example the training through ELCs, advice on GALS specific budgeting and TOR development as well as the development of new HHM approaches.

Through Empower@Scale, IFAD will be able to empower millions of marginalised women and men, by connecting communities, practitioners, experts and supporters worldwide for capacity development, knowledge management, monitoring, evidence building, and methodological innovation with HHM.

Valorando y uniendo conocimientos
Movimientos como Slow Food, MIGA Bolivia y la Sociedad Peruana de Gastronomía (APEGA) se centran en la revalorización de los productos agrícolas tradicionales de la región y han trabajado mucho para establecer esta conexión entre la gastronomía y la agricultura familiar en los distintos eslabones de la cadena que conecta a pequeños productores y consumidores. Se ha conseguido así que los primeros, además de actuar como proveedores de restaurantes famosos, también estén presentes en agroferias y cadenas de supermercados de prestigio.

En toda la región, especialmente en los países andinos, se han generado muchas experiencias, en cuanto al uso de la gastronomía nacional para generar o recuperar identidades nacionales, regionales o locales; proteger, revalorizar y utilizar la biodiversidad local y regional; desarrollar la conciencia acerca de la necesidad de una alimentación saludable y desarrollar un turismo rural que gira en torno a la gastronomía y que genera oportunidades económicas para los pequeños agricultores.

Innovando desde las raíces
Ahora es el momento de aprovechar toda esa riqueza intercambiando y compartiendo con los diferentes países de la región. Es por ello que el FIDA desarrolló el proyecto Back to the Roots, (Volver a las raíces); una plataforma regional que muestra que cuando los restaurantes, los supermercados y los pequeños agricultores trabajan en conjunto se pueden generar nuevas oportunidades económicas y contribuir al desarrollo rural.

Back to the Roots ha centrado su trabajo en 14 experiencias innovadoras en Chile, Perú y Bolivia. El proyecto cuenta con asociados locales en cada uno de estos tres países.

Experiencias que motivan
Cuando hablamos de experiencias, nos referimos a El Bodegón, el restaurante limeño del grupo Acurio, que se inspiró en recetarios familiares de los años 80 y que compra el 70% de la su materia prima a pequeños agricultores y pescadores artesanales. Este restaurante se abastece al 100 % de la pequeña agricultura en lo que insumos perecibles respecta.

Las Escuelas MANQ’A en Bolivia han proporcionado formación en restauración y gastronomía a más de 3.000 jóvenes rurales y en situación de riesgo social. Tienen el compromiso de reconocer, valorizar e integrar los productos de la pequeña agricultura, a través de propuestas gastronómicas innovadoras en su propio restaurante en la ciudad de La Paz y a través de emprendimientos propios en áreas periurbanas.

La Cooperativa Punta Chilén, en la isla de Chiloé, en la bellísima región chilena de Los Lagos, compuesta por 16 asociados pequeños agricultoresy que lleva años promoviendo el valor de productos locales como el ajo chilote mediante el Festival del Brote del Ajo, que se ha transformado en un espacio de consumo, difusión, promoción y comercialización de sus productos.

Brindando nuevas oportunidades
En base a las14 experiencias, Back to the Roots elaboró una “Caja de Herramientas” que describe de manera detallada el éxito de estas experiencias, así como la manera en la que estas experiencias pueden replicarse. Este proceso de reproducción es posible a través de procesos de asistencia técnica, promoción de liderazgos, comunicación, desarrollo de políticas y estrategias públicas y privados, generación de espacios de encuentro entre productores y consumidores finales y financiamiento.

Además, el proyecto se ha convertido en una plataforma de innovación y una comunidad de aprendizaje en la que están representados la industria gastronómica, organizaciones internacionales y nacionales de desarrollo rural, centros de abastecimiento como supermercados y agroferias urbanas y pequeños productores. Esta comunidad de aprendizaje facilita el diseño de líneas de acción y políticas públicas que permita esa articulación entre la industria gastronómica y la agricultura familiar, invitando a gobiernos, empresas, universidades y entidades de la sociedad civil a reflexionar de forma conjunta sobre el tema.

Los siguientes pasos
Como primera acción, Back to the Roots está promoviendo el Curso “Cocina PAR: Gastronomía y Desarrollo Rural” con el objetivo de fortalecer las capacidades de los participantes para diseñar intervenciones de desarrollo rural para conectar la pequeña agricultura y la pesca artesanal con los mercados especializados y la gastronomía.

Este curso es tan solo un primer paso en ese camino de vuelta a las raíces que el FIDA tiene el propósito de promover en América Latina y el Caribe con el único objeto de cumplir con su mandato de aliviar la pobreza rural e incorporar a los agricultores familiares a una sociedad inclusiva y sostenible. Una sociedad que, como promete la Agenda 2030, no deja a nadie atrás.

Los asociados de Back to the Roots
Volver a las raíces no hubiera sido posible con la colaboración de nuestros socios estratégicos. La Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú a través del Centro de Innovación y Desarrollo Emprendedor (CIDE PUCP) en el Perú; el Movimiento de Integración Gastronómico Alimentario de Bolivia (MIGA), el Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (HIVOS) e ICCO Cooperación, en Bolivia; y la Fundación Rondó en Chile.

En las últimas décadas, se han observado notables avances económicos y sociales en América Latina; sin embargo, las brechas entre quienes consiguen disfrutar de estas mejoras y quienes aún permanecen en desventaja, marginadas y excluidas, persisten en el tiempo y recorre todos sus territorios.

Así lo demuestra una vez más el Informe Latinoamericano sobre Pobreza y Desigualdad del Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural (RIMISP) el cual aborda la importancia de las personas jóvenes en el desarrollo de América Latina, y los desafíos que este grupo enfrenta en sus procesos de inclusión económica y social. El informe constata el avance de México, El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia y Chile, en el cumplimiento de la Agenda 2030 de las Naciones Unidas para el desarrollo sostenible; discute los aspectos que inciden en el crecimiento de los territorios con mayores dificultades y destaca experiencias innovadoras en la generación de oportunidades para la población joven.

El Informe revela que, dentro de cada país, algunos territorios siguen quedando rezagados; es decir, avanzan por detrás del promedio, y algunos de ellos incluso retroceden, esto en el cumplimiento de siete de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) ofreciendo menos oportunidades en educación, salud y empleo para sus poblaciones y especialmente, jóvenes hombre y mujeres rurales.

“Los territorios más rezagados comparten ciertas características: son más rurales, poblacionalmente pequeños y, en algunos casos, también muestran mayor proporción de población indígena. No se trata de un fenómeno aleatorio” dice Miguel Albacete, investigador de Rimisp y uno de los autores del informe.

Además, en estos territorios, la juventud enfrenta mayores obstáculos a la hora de perseguir sus proyectos de vida.

A partir de un análisis econométrico con datos de Perú y Colombia, el informe da cuenta de las variables demográficas y territoriales que inciden en la inclusión económica de los jóvenes como el género, el nivel educativo, la especialización productiva del territorio, y su nivel de conectividad vial. Se observa que en territorios donde existe una buena conexión con las zonas más pobres presentan una menor proporción de jóvenes que no estudian ni trabajan.

Asimismo, el Informe Latinoamericano expone seis casos de éxito, de territorios rurales y rural-urbanos en México, El Salvador y Perú, que sí consiguen ofrecer mayores oportunidades de desarrollo a su población joven.

¿Cómo lo hacen? En dichos territorios, “existe una alta capacidad de agencia y coaliciones sociales, diversidad de oportunidades económicas en la estructura productiva, vínculos con las ciudades pequeñas, medianas y mercados dinámicos, y, finalmente, políticas públicas que promueven la educación, emprendimiento y empleabilidad de los y las jóvenes”, explica Daniela Castillo, asistente de investigación de Rimisp y coautora del Informe.

Si bien no existe una fórmula mágica para incluirlos en las economías locales, la investigación de Rimisp expone que las últimas transformaciones de dichos territorios han redundado en más oportunidades laborales y productivas para las y los jóvenes. “En general, los jóvenes tienden a emplearse en mayor medida en las nuevas actividades, ya sean agrícolas o de servicios. Por otra parte, con una sola excepción, todos los territorios analizados se vinculan fuertemente con zonas urbanas, en mediana o gran medida; esto ofrece a los jóvenes las posibilidades de estudiar y trabajar sin necesariamente tener que migrar”, señala la investigadora.

Otro factor que podría explicar este éxito es que, en tres de los seis territorios analizados (Allende en México, Santiago Nonualco en El Salvador, y Carumas en Perú) las políticas municipales, en alianza con organizaciones públicas y privadas, promueven la continuidad de los estudios, la empleabilidad, el emprendimiento, el empoderamiento y la participación de los jóvenes rurales.

De este modo, para diversificar el tipo de actividad económica que predomina en el territorio, e incluir a los jóvenes en las economías locales, se necesitaría abordar las dinámicas particulares de cada territorio, pero también “cambios institucionales tendientes a implementar políticas públicas de educación, promover inversiones en bienes públicos y poner en valor la diversidad e identidades territoriales”, así lo indica María Ignacia Fernández, directora ejecutiva de Rimisp, y coordinadora de la publicación.

Finalmente, resultaría clave “promover y fortalecer la capacidad de agencia de los propios jóvenes y sus organizaciones, así como lo demuestran varios de los casos estudiados en el Informe, donde los jóvenes mujeres y hombre se organizan y dialogan con las autoridades locales y otros actores del territorio”, acota la doctora en Sociología.

Para leer el Informe Latinoamericano sobre Pobreza y Desigualdad completo aquí

The women leaders of the Backyard Poultry Project in Rambewa village, Sri Lanka, are ready to do what it takes to protect their business in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project, part of the IFAD-funded Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme (SAPP), works with more than 57,000 Sri Lankan households, facilitating business activities with the goal of sustainably increasing incomes and improving nutrition.

Before COVID-19 hit, business was thriving. The project was supplying eggs to other Sri Lankan communities and even taking orders from the Hilton Hotels chain. They were also able to sell their free-range eggs for twice the price of normal eggs, creating additional value.

The arrival of the pandemic has brought not only risks to health, but enormous challenges and risks for the project, too – but the women leaders of Rambewa are not ready to give up. They plan to keep running their business throughout the pandemic just as before, while following all safety measures as instructed by the government.

So far, their typical flow of sales has not stopped – and the women have come up with ways to deliver their product. They’ve received special permission from the town council to set up retail points in different areas of nearby towns.

They’ve been prepared for other situations too. The Government of Sri Lanka has imposed a strict curfew as part of their efforts to contain the spread of the virus. This limits the hours when customers can come to pick up eggs – and could have restricted the project’s business, if the women leaders hadn’t been prepared. In April, when the curfew was lifted for six hours, the Backyard Poultry Project was ready. Their collection center loaded 3,128 eggs in under three hours, registering a record-breaking number of sales.

Tal vez por su condición de isla, Cuba es y ha sido muy a menudo una excepción dentro de la región de América Latina y el Caribe. En esta época en que la realidad mundial está dominada por las noticias sobre la pandemia causada por la COVID-19, el país caribeño registraba a finales de mayo menos de 2.000 casos confirmados y el número de fallecidos no alcanzaba el centenar.

Estas cifras no han llevado a las autoridades cubanas a confiarse. De hecho, el estricto programa de vigilancia epidemiológica puesto en marcha por el Gobierno desde el primer momento de la crisis tiene mucho que ver con lo reducido de esas cifras de casos y muertes.

Un reportaje de la BBC contaba a principios de mayo como, pese a tener tan solo 800 casos activos en la isla, unas 10.000 personas estaban aisladas en sus casas y en centros sanitarios hasta confirmar si estaban o no contagiadas.

La seriedad con la que Cuba ha abordado la cuestión sanitaria es la misma con la que ha abordado otros problemas colaterales. Para evitar que la crisis sanitaria pudiera derivar en crisis alimentaria, los esfuerzos del país para mejorar su sistema productivo agrícola se han intensificado, como se puede observar en las fotos que acompañan este blog y que nos ha hecho llegar los equipos del Proyecto de Desarrollo Cooperativo en la Región Oriental de Cuba (Prodecor) y del Proyecto de Desarrollo Cooperativo Ganadero en la Región Centro-Oriental (Prodegan), ambos con financiamiento del Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA).

El objetivo final de todo esta intensa actividad es asegurar que los agricultores familiares aumentan su nivel de resiliencia antes posibles crisis. La resiliencia, concepto muy de moda en estos días, es algo muy necesario en cualquier lugar del mundo, pero especialmente en Cuba, un país caribeño en el que el impacto del cambio climático se hace sentir poderosamente.

El Prodecor comenzó sus actividades en 2014, convirtiéndose en el primer proyecto del FIDA en la isla desde los años ochenta del pasado siglo. Hoy el FIDA ha puesto un segundo proyecto en marcha, el Prodegan, y acaba de firmar el acuerdo para desarrollar un tercero, el Proyecto de Desarrollo Cooperativo Agroforestal (Prodecafe).

Las inversiones de Prodecor en la modernización de cooperativas productivas y empresas prestadoras de servicios (sistemas de riego, mecanización, plantas de procesamiento de granos, control biológico de plagas, semillas mejoradas, servicios de sanidad vegetal, capacitación y asistencia técnica) han contribuido enormemente a la autosuficiencia de la isla en granos básicos (maíz y frijol) y han tenido un amplio impacto en la producción de otros alimentos (tubérculos, frutas y hortalizas), reforzando la seguridad alimentaria a nivel familiar y comunitario.

La labor desarrollada por el proyecto ha aumentado enormemente la resiliencia de los agricultores cubanos, dándoles la oportunidad de realizar siembras y cosechas más oportunas teniendo en cuenta las condiciones climáticas cambiantes gracias a la instalación de sistemas de riego y la adquisición de cosechadoras que hacen posible una rápida recogida del grano, incrementando así la calidad del mismo. La puesta en marcha de plantas de secado y procesamiento del grano están disminuyendo las pérdidas postcosecha, actualmente estimadas en un 20%.

El Prodecor ha impulsado no solo el uso de maquinaria, sino la puesta en marcha de modelos agroecológicos que fortalecen la sostenibilidad de la producción agrícola. Este logro ha sido posible gracias a la sustitución de agroquímicos que a largo plazo empobrecen y contaminan la tierra por un paquete tecnológico basado en los recursos propios de cada unidad de producción, semillas mejoradas resistentes a sequías y métodos de control biológico de plagas.

Todo ello ha conseguido aumentar la inclusión de mujeres y jóvenes en las actividades productivas, especialmente gracias a la creación de pequeñas agroindustrias procesadoras de frutas y hortalizas y a la introducción de nueva teconología agrícola. Los mayores ingresos de las cooperativas, debidos a una mayor producción de granos, han favorecido este tipo de proyectos.

La labor del proyecto ha aumentado enormemente la seguridad alimentaria de la población de la región oriental de Cuba, propiciando una mayor disponibilidad de alimentos gracias al aprovechamiento de frutas y hortalizas que antes se perdían por su perecibilidad.

Más allá de los logros estrictamente agrícolas, el fortalecimiento económico de las cooperativas ha aumentado su capacidad para prestar servicios a la comunidad en áreas como obras de rehabilitación de espacios públicos y mejora de las instalaciones de puestos de salud en la región. Algo que, de nuevo, redunda en una mayor capacidad de resiliencia de la población rural.

Además, el modelo de organización de las cooperativas prestadoras de servicios ha calado en la población, trascendiendo las fronteras de las 152 cooperativas inicialmente apoyadas por el Prodecor. Ahora, el número de cooperativas que se benefician de los procesos de inversión y formación puestos en marcha por el proyecto suman más de 300.

Sin duda, estamos hablando de un notable éxito conseguido gracias al gran esfuerzo de los técnicos del Prodecor, de los y las cooperativistas y de las entidades prestadoras de servicios, que se han beneficiado de este proyecto conjunto del Gobierno de Cuba y del FIDA.

Francisco Pichón

By Julia Guimaraes

Mardonova Mehrubon, from the Sayyora village in Tajikistan, is one of the beneficiaries of IFAD’s Livestock and Pasture Development Project (LDPD-II). LDPD-II aims at reducing poverty in the Khatlon region as well as enhancing the local population’s nutrition levels through livestock productivity. Mardonova is a mother of three and one of the recipients of LDPD’s milk processing equipment. The distribution of this income generation machine is part of the second phase of LDPD, entirely dedicated to the promotion of women’s economic independence. Women Income Generation Groups (WIGG) have also been established as part of the effort.

Passionate about raising livestock, Mardonova was provided with a purebred dairy cow and is steadily expanding her business. Alongside other WIGG members, she learned how to properly manage livestock and income from livestock products by participating in trainings conducted by project staff. Local communities also have access to regular technical support and veterinary services for the livestock provided by staff. Mardonova currently sells milk products at her village’s milk collection point and plans to start selling calves herself in the future to increase income and quality of life.

“One of the main problems that is being solved through this activity in my family is shortage of income to provide my children with the schoolbooks. Also, I have been actively involved in all community-level activities since WIGG was established and have found my position in the community. I did not participate in any activities before the establishing of Pastor User Unions and WIGG, and after the support provided by IFAD, I have realized that our participation in community activities is not only in the best interests of the village but also plays a good role to make appropriate decision for the entire village and for the rural women” – says Mardonova.

Tajikistan’s rural population accounts for 74% of the entire country, and although women outnumber their male counterparts in the farming sector, the country is the lowest ranked in Central Asia in terms of gender equality. Since 1991, their education, wages, and formal employment levels dropped significantly. In farming, they are appointed to the jobs that pay the least and that depend on seasonal demand. Through phase two of IFAD-funded Livestock and Pasture Development Project, hopes are that women will gain increased economic independence, a better and stable income, and practical knowledge on livestock productivity and management. In the long run, the project results will hopefully be multiplied within local communities and passed onto future generations for a more secure and independent life for Tajik women.

Montenegro, in all its beauty in Northern mountainous areas can be a very hard place to live, especially for women. Gender inequality in this region is a result of deeply rooted social norms and believes.

Women bear a significant amount of the workload in rural areas often without remuneration. In rural areas, households typically are quite large. In addition to regular household activities such as preparing meals, taking care of the children and cleaning the house, commitments to farming activities are equally important. Women's days begin well before sunrise and end late after the sundown. The difference in the distribution of family and household responsibilities between men and women largely cause all the other differences between them: different opportunities in the labor market, different positions in society, discrimination of power, work in managerial positions and the possibility of self- promotion. On top of that, there is an uneven power distribution of women and men when it comes to owning a property. In fact, land ownership is usually controlled by men and most women relinquish their share of inheritance in favor of a male offspring.

Women are increasingly becoming aware of that something should change. Improving the position of women in rural areas is gaining more and attention from relevant state institutions and the non-governmental sector. Recently, there have been many initiatives in Montenegro to empower women in rural areas.

In this context, the IFAD funded Rural Clustering and Transformation Project (RCTP) uses a gender transformative approach to empower women economically, reduce their workloads and to encourage equality in decision-making processes in political and public life.

Anka Popović’ lives in Šavnik municipality, in a rural area of Montenegro. The main activity of all family members and their sole source of income is agriculture. While her husband was alive, she was mostly doing household and family work, as well as easier field work. After his death, she had to take on all the responsibilities, as well as take care of her three sons. Anka does many physical jobs that few women would be able to endure, she has to feed cows and poultry, clean barns, milk cows and makes cheese. In the meantime she is also responsible for the housework such as washing, cleaning, preparing food. She usually goes into the woods and picks blueberries, of which she produces juice and jam. Together with homemade cheeses, she sells them at the main road which is 30 minutes from her home. She physically carries the products there. Although the sons plow and fertilize the land, Anka plants, weeds and harvests the produce. The family purchases supplies that they cannot produce, such as flour, oil, salt, sugar on the market. This requires a great deal of physical effort as well as good planning.

In addition to that, her sons are not permanently employed, so depending on the time of year and opportunity, they go and work for the day-to-day wages, which puts Mrs. Anka in extra work.

For exmple, Anka's sons are in charge of cutting grass, preparing wood and bringing it home. When they are working this activity also falls on Anka's shoulder. To cut grass, the family uses an old –second hand- mower. Working with this outdated piece of equipment is time consuming and physically demanding. Rain can delay the work and spoil the quality of the hay. Climate changes exacerbates the situation as it become more difficult to predict the weather forecast and plans the harvest accordingly. Given this, it is evident that reducing Anka’s workload is a priority.

RCTP deployed the GALS methodology in the household. The project organised multiple workshops where Anka was asked to clearly summarize what she was doing on a daily basis. Also, the project asked Anka about her aspirations and what were the constrains not allowing her to achieve her life objectives. The various workshops, allowed her to reflect deeper on what she wants to achieve in her life. But also, the workshops provided her with convincing tools and other methods in order to start a dialogue with other household members about workload distribution. Anka's sons were suprised to see how much physically work Anka is involved in. After the workshop, Anka felt confident and she and her sons talked about the distribution of work in the household. As Anka also indicated that she wanted to take a bit more time to herself, they started to redistribute some tasks. For example, Anka's sons indicated that they will support her with selling the jams and cheeses she produced. Namely, they will strive to schedule appointments so that at the time Anka carries the products on the road to customers, they will be there and take over the activity. They will also help Anka feed the cows and clean the barns, so that Anka can take more time to herself. The sons will also help to collect vegetable products.

An additional benefit was that with support from the RCTP public call, the family was able to procure a grass collecting machine, which had a significant impact on their lives. First, Instead of spending hours on mowing and collecting grass, the now they manage to cut and collect the grass within a couple of hours. Consequently, the family members have way more time to spent on other activities. Second, as the household has plenty of meadonws and there is less spoilage, the family is able to produce surplus which is sold to third parties. Third, Anka's sons plan to rent out the machinery to their village neighbors. This will provide them with additional resources to then rent machinary to faciliate the work in other farming activities such as the collection of vegetables.

The plan for monitoring the realization of the above is planned through a continuous visiting of the household with the help of partners from the Agribusiness Center, Municipality of Savnik, with whom we are in daily contact. We will also talk to household members in order to see if things have really changed and whether her sons "keep their word" to what has been said and to what extent.

In fact, thanks to the Rural Clustering and Transformation Project (RCTP) project, other opportunities were provided to Anka, between them the possibility of strengthen her voice and participation in decision-making processes. For example, although she has always been involved in agriculture, Anka did not have a registered agricultural holding with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Montenegro. Attending workshops held by RCTP implementation unit in the municipality of Šavnik, she learned about the benefits and opportunities that RCTP project gives to semi-substance farmers. Through the project activities, she was supported to procure machinery for collecting grass, , which significantly reduces her workload, saved her time, money and made her climate resilient, which allows Anka to have more free time to devote to herself.

Finally, she decided to register the household and to be the head of it. So far, Anka had never had the opportunity to be the beneficiary of this kind of help and support, and she is immensely grateful for the support she has been given. She improved her agricultural skills through trainings conducted by the RCTP team in collaboration with experts. The project’s dairy experts were primarily concerned with the quality and hygiene of milk. Hence, RCTP learned how to apply hygiene standards when using traditional milk processing techniques.

In 2020, Anka took initiative and applied for the support to purchase one more cow. Her plan is to expand and increase production. Now her workload has been significantly reduced due to machinery, and acquiring one more cow would not change much, as household work is very well distributed now. Her two out of three sons plan to stay in the countryside and farm.

The benefits are great - they plan their time for themselves, work for themselves and their family, and they have no stress. They plan to follow their mother’s example and improve their family production, keeping on to the traditional processing and customs, with respect to a newly built household work distribution.

Les défis que présente la réduction de la pauvreté dans les pays en voie de développement en général, et dans les pays de l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre en particulier, ne sont plus à démontrer. Les initiatives qui permettront à ces derniers de sortir des difficultés économiques ne se limitent pas à la seule bonne gouvernance politique des États, ni à leur seule volonté économique solitaire, mais passent par l’effort conjugué des gouvernements et des Institutions Financières Internationales en vue de financer la stabilité économique par des investissements massifs dans le secteur agricole, secteur très prometteur pour une croissance diversifiée, la sécurité alimentaire, et la nutrition. Dès lors les institutions financières internationales comme le Fonds International de développement agricole (FIDA) jouent un rôle crucial dans la mise en œuvre de cette politique de croissance économique en se basant sur les Objectifs de de Développement Durable (ODD).

L’Afrique possède une riche variété de zones agro-écologiques, qui vont des forêts ombrophiles marquées par deux saisons des pluies à une végétation relativement clairsemée, sèche et aride, arrosée une fois l’an. Avec sa forte proportion de jeunes, la population africaine estimée à 1 308 064 195 d´habitants en 2019, par la World Population Review, d’un côté, et la disponibilité de terres cultivables de qualité, de l’autre, sont des atouts majeurs qui constituent, pour le continent, un avantage considérable par rapport aux autres. «L’Afrique est en passe de devenir un continent stratégique pour l’industrie agro-alimentaire mondiale, avec 60% des terres non cultivées au monde» a déclaré dans son discours lors du forum de l’agribusiness à Kinshasa en 2015, Priya GAJRAJ, ancienne Directrice du Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD) en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Si cette diversité constitue un énorme atout, elle représente tout de même un défi majeur pour le développement agricole de l’Afrique dans la mesure où le secteur agricole africain est constitué à 90% d’une population dont la plupart des membres sont analphabètes.

De plus avec le manque d'infrastructures de base, l'insuffisance du crédit et de l'assurance, et les disparités ethniques et entre les sexes, on a l´ensemble des maux qui minent le développement de ce secteur. Cependant, depuis ces trente dernières années dans la majorité des pays de l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre, on peut noter une amélioration, une évolution, voire une transition d´une agriculture de subsistance vers une agriculture de rente. C´est justement pourquoi l´économiste Philippe Hugon lors d´une interview affirme: «L’agriculture de rente procure 40% des recettes d’exportation de l’Afrique; elle est la principale source de revenus pour l’État».

Comment les investissements du FIDA à travers sa division de l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre (WCA) contribuent-ils à la sécurité alimentaire dans cette partie de l´Afrique?

De prime abord, les enjeux de développement en Afrique sont énormes et nécessitent beaucoup d´investissements, mais aussi un fort d´appui technique. Travaillant dans cette perspective, le FIDA avec sa division WCA œuvre incessamment pour l´amélioration de l´agriculture en l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre. Ainsi, depuis sa création en 1977, il s´est donné pour mission de combattre la faim, la malnutrition et la pauvreté par l'amélioration des moyens et des techniques agricoles et par la création et la modernisation d'activités agricoles ou commerciales en milieu rural, notamment moyennant des projets de micro finance gérés au niveau local. La mise en application de ces objectifs passe inéluctablement par le financement des projets de développement agricole gage d´une stabilité alimentaire régionale.

Selon le Rapport annuel du FIDA 2018, les investissements dans la zone WCA sont passés de 129,4 millions d’USD en 2014 à 153,5 millions d’USD en 2018. Nous pouvons aussi y ajouter le financement de 372,6 millions d’USD la même année pour l´approbation de nouveaux projets, et plus de 1 321,7 millions d’USD investis par le FIDA dans le portefeuille régional en cours dans la zone WCA. L´exemple du Cap-Vert est représentatif avec une formation aux bonnes pratiques et techniques dispensée à 4 000 agriculteurs et éleveurs. Sans oublier le fait que plus de 100 installations de commercialisation et de transformation ont été construites, améliorant ainsi l’accès aux marchés. L´ensemble de ces résultats a pour conséquence immédiate l´amélioration des conditions des agriculteurs, et, par ricochet, la réduction de la pauvreté.

Enfin, il conviendrait également de souligner que la mise en œuvre de ces objectifs passe également par la réalisation d´un certain nombre de projets phares dans la sous-région. Au nombre de ces projets, nous pouvons citer, entre autres :

- Le Programme de développement de l’agriculture familiale dans les régions de Maradi, Tahoua et Zinder, ProDAF (Niger), le ProDAF-Zinder avec un financement total de 205 369 462 USD poursuit l´objectif de contribuer à assurer durablement la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle et de renforcer les capacités de résilience aux crises des ménages ruraux des régions de Maradi, Tahoua et Zinder. Selon le Rapport d´évaluation du 30 décembre 2019, à mi-parcours le ProDAF a déjà touché 172 537 ménages soit 58% des 290 000 ménages bénéficiaires initialement prévus, aboutissant à des résultats comme l´augmentation des rendements et de la production agro-pastorale, la reprise de biomasse sur les terres pastorales, l´augmentation de revenus notamment pour les femmes et les jeunes, l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et de l’état nutritionnel des ménages. Il faut aussi noter que les rapports d´évaluation ont été concluants à cet égard, ce qui a permis la mise en œuvre du ProDAF-Diffa financé à hauteur de 12,5 millions d’USD par le FIDA, afin de contribuer à assurer durablement la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle ainsi que la résilience des ménages ruraux de la région de Diffa.

- Le Programme de développement des filières, ou VCDP (Nigéria) est un projet ambitieux ayant pour objectif la réduction de la pauvreté rurale, l’augmentation de la sécurité alimentaire et l’accélération de la croissance économique réalisée de manière durable. Financé à hauteur de 302 434 081 USD, le projet a obtenu des résultats spectaculaires comme l´indique le Rapport d´évaluation du 2 octobre 2019: «Le VCDP, qui est entré en vigueur en octobre 2013, en est à ses 6 années de mise en œuvre avec un décaissement d'environ 89%». Cette performance positive dans la réalisation de l'objectif de conception, a permis au FIDA d’accorder un financement supplémentaire de 89,1 millions d’USD à la demande du gouvernement fédéral du Nigéria. On peut aussi noter qu’un total de 5373 emplois permanents et 26 827 emplois temporaires ont été générés grâce à l'intervention du programme.

Nonobstant les résultats obtenus, il n´en demeure pas moins que la croissance économique a été lente ces dernières années. Le PIB n'a progressé que de 1,6% en moyenne dans la région WCA en 2015, bien que l'agriculture représente 30% de l'activité économique de la région et 60% des emplois. Qui plus est, l’insécurité alimentaire a augmenté dans la sous-région en raison du caractère imprévisible du climat et de la diminution des précipitations. Les augmentations prévues de la fréquence et de la gravité des inondations et des sécheresses ont soulevé des préoccupations sur la capacité des pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre à maintenir leur production agricole. Sans oublier la crise sanitaire liée à la COVID-19 qui vient compresser plus encore la précarité déjà très accentuée. L´ensemble de ces éléments est un signal fort qui doit inciter à pérenniser les financements et les investissements des institutions financières internationales, ceux du FIDA en particulier, dans leur action pour la sécurité alimentaire des pays de l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre. C´est précisément dans cette optique que le Président Gilbert Houngbo, au cours d´une de ses visites sur le terrain, déclarait: «Le développement économique des pays africains passe par une agriculture efficace (...) si la situation s'améliore petit à petit, il reste beaucoup à faire».

Plus engagés, les pays de l´Afrique de l´Ouest et du Centre, sont ainsi accompagnés dans leur marche résolue vers une économie prospère et maitrisée. L´apport de toutes les institutions financières internationales, et celui du FIDA en particulier semble être déterminant dans cette quête de la réduction de la pauvreté, qui s’efforcer de toucher toutes les couches de la société et d’intégrer les femmes et des jeunes, deux catégories que l´institution a inscrit au nombre de ses priorités.

Par Amos AGOSSOU

The livelihoods of hundreds of Bakarwals, the indigenous community of AJK-Pakistan, have been affected by the spread of COVID-19. Physical distancing, movement restrictions, and illness of animals are reducing the efficiency of their livestock farming business. The supply of inputs and services is also affected by the pandemic. The disruption of animal health extension services combined with interrupted delivery and use of vaccines and medicines is increasing the chances of new epidemics, including those involving animal diseases that cause major livestock losses.

To face the situation, the action is underway by Sukhi Development Foundation through the funding of IPAF-IFAD to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic. The organization has managed training sessions for Bakarwals youth to help improve their skill and knowledge about animal diseases, vaccination, use of medicines, improvement in wool quality and marketing skills.

Ghulam Murtaza, 22, is living in village Taobut, District Neelam-AJK with his parents, two younger sisters and a brother. The sole responsibility to rear the sheep and goats rests upon his shoulders as his father is very old and ill and unable to perform anymore duty related to livestock rearing. Murtaza is very hardworking and determined to support his family members by improving his farming business. He acknowledges the support provided by IFAD in the form of capacity building and awareness related to animal diseases and vaccinations.

“During the lockdown period when most of the people were out of work and struggling to make ends meet, the income he earned by the sale of extra sheep and goat brought a welcome relief for his family” said Murtaza. He further revealed that “IFAD and Sukhi have provided valuable training, awareness and market links which saved their animal from mortality and helped enhance the profit”.

Autora: Elvira Gutiérrez Barrón

El Chaco boliviano es una vasta región semiárida y con baja densidad de población. Es también una de las zonas de América Latina que más sufre los impactos del cambio climático. Las cambiantes condiciones climáticas se ven reflejadas en una cada vez más escasa cantidad de lluvia y en época de sequía cada vez más prolongadas, lo que afecta muy negativamente a la agricultura y, en consecuencia, a la seguridad alimentaria de las familias.

Todo ello tiene un profundo impacto sobre las comunidades indígenas guaraníes que habitan en esta zona, cuya vulnerabilidad se ve agravada por la escasez de agua tanto para consumo humano como para riego. La insuficiencia de agua es el principal problema de las familias indígenas de la región.

“Algunas comunidades hacen cosecha de agua, pero esto solo es para el consumo familiar y no alcanza para el riego, a veces fracasamos en nuestros cultivos por falta de agua…”, explica Fermín Carvajal, mbuvuricha (líder, en lengua guaraní) de la comunidad Timboy Tiguasu en Bolivia.

Aplicación de buenas prácticas agrícolas (BPA) en preparación de suelos, parcelas familiares. Comunidad Pozo del Anta ©CERDET/FIMI

La agricultura familiar y comunal dedicada al cultivo de maíz y la actividad ganadera de traspatio son la base del sostén de las comunidades indígenas. Sin embargo, los problemas de escasez de agua, la falta de tecnología y de los recursos debilitan los sistemas alimentarios.

Pero todos estos problemas han aminorado gracias a un proyecto financiado por el Fondo de Apoyo a los Pueblos Indígenas (IPAF), un innovador instrumento financiado por el Fondo International de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA) y gestionado por el Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indígenas (FIMI) que tiene como objetivo fortalecer las comunidades y organizaciones indígenas.

El proyecto en el Chaco boliviano es ejecutado por la ONG CERDET. Por medio de esta iniciativa, alrededor de 50 familias de las comunidades guaraníes Timboy Tiguasu, Pozo del Anta y Yacuagua lograron aumentar y fortalecer sus capacidades de resiliencia, en especial la seguridad alimentaria; con la disponibilidad de alimentos, el acceso de las personas a estos alimentos y el aprovechamiento biológico de los mismos, los principales componentes para mejorar los medios de vida de estas comunidades.

Gracias al proyecto, parcelas familiares y terrenos comunales han sido habilitados para cultivo y están siendo adaptados para riego con técnicas de bajo costo que pueden ser recreadas por las mismas familias con poco material y un conjunto de mejores prácticas que van desde el semillero hasta la cosecha, pasando por la organización y el trabajo cooperativo y de ayuda mutua entre las familias.

El proyecto también contribuye a facilitar y promover el dialogo intergeneracional y la transmisión de conocimientos a través de la recuperación de prácticas agroecológicas inspiradas en el conocimiento ancestral sobre las propiedades de las plantas que se utilizan en la preparación de bioinsumos para el control de enfermedades y plagas.

“A las familias nos gusta sembrar en nuestras chacras hortalizas, flores, yuca, cítricos, todo lo que necesitamos para nuestra alimentación. Mientras que en los terrenos comunales cultivamos maíz, yuca. Gracias al riego y a otras prácticas, así como recordar buenas prácticas para curar las plagas, ya no perderemos nuestras chacras”, nos cuenta Mirtha Vallejos, mbuvuricha de la comunidad Pozo del Anta.

Si bien el proyecto aún está en ejecución, se vislumbra que sus resultados serán exitosos y altamente replicables. Ahora que el riego mejora los rendimientos, se minimiza el riesgo de pérdida de cultivos por falta de agua y esto a su vez permite diversificar la chacra familiar con nuevos cultivos como hortalizas que mejoran su alimentación y proporcionan la posibilidad de generar un ingreso extra para las familias gracias a sus ventas en los centros urbanos.

Las comunidades indígenas han contribuido enormemente para lograr los resultados con su alta capacidad de organización y gestión. El fuerte liderazgo de las autoridades comunales, los capitanes o los Mburuvicha guasu o Mburuvicha comunal (líder en lengua guaraní),promueven los valores comunitarios del dialogo y la reciprocidad entre las familias para encarar los desafíos de la comunidad. Hay que destacar el empoderamiento y liderazgo de las mujeres para velar por el bienestar de la comunidad y de las familias.

Además, los factores de logro de esta iniciativa radican en las capacidades de resiliencia indígenas y en el concepto de la comunidad como un sistema de vida holístico y multidimensional.

Así, las comunidades guaraníes del Chaco boliviano tienen una dimensión socio-cultural –son un sistema de conocimientos, prácticas y saberes que mantienen viva la memoria y la praxis comunitaria–, político-institucional –patente en la gobernanza de su territorio para sostener el equilibrio de la Madre Tierra, una pieza clave en el actuar de las comunidades indígenas–, económica –orientada al aprovechamiento del entorno natural– y, finalmente, una dimensión natural: la conservación, restauración y regeneración de la Madre Tierra.

Esta dimensionalidad multiple permite que los pueblos indígenas sostengan, recreen y reproduzcan sus sistemas de vida y se hagan resilientes en un proceso que abarca la integridad de la comunidad.

The Butana Integrated Rural Development Project (BIRDP) in Sudan has enabled local communities to establish natural resources governance and management arrangements by networks of communities. Through the inclusive organizational structures of the networks, including women and youth committees and their representation in governing bodies as well as representatives of mobile communities, these networks of communities are now able to manage broad landscapes and increase the sustainability of and production and revenues derived from their natural resources. With the resulting empowerment and awareness on their opportunities provided in national regulations, local communities have also decided to take on the complex process of registering their range and forest reserves as a measure to secure their land tenure. Further, they are now able to speak with one common and stronger voice, requesting and achieving access to public and private services. Building on the empowerment and natural resources governance capacities of the networks, BIRDP facilitated a series of fora in a bottom-up approach with the objective to put the different natural resources governance and tenure issues encountered by the networks at the right level of governance and resolution. This process started with NR fora between the Localities and the community networks dealing with issues the networks cannot solve on their own. Subsequently, issues also out of the capacities of the Localities were brought to NR fora at the state level with participation of the different sector administrations. This NR fora process has been an attempt to push the government administrations at the different levels to play their role in creating integrated solutions for NR governance that work for local communities and vulnerable groups.

The Western Sudan Resources Management Programme (WSRMP) in Sudan demonstrated how violent conflicts may be avoided by establishing co-governance and management arrangements of stock routes between various communities and ethnic groups in an area where pressure on resources is driven by climate change and by the displacement of people due to armed conflicts. In addition to demarcation of the routes, providing social and economic services along the routes and improving pastoralists value addition and access to markets, one key element in the project has been the establishment of conflict resolution centers. These centers are managed by the communities and backed by the Localities and have been able to solve more than 80% of the disputes along the routes and increased the peaceful co-existence of the different communities using the same landscapes.

The GLTN Tenure Security Learning Initiative developed tools like the Social Tenure Domain Model. The application of this instrument, together with the registration of land-use and tenure in a database, in the development of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kenya demonstrated the importance of community participation in mainstreaming land and water tenure aspects in water infrastructure planning. By building communities' capacities in using models for managing optimal crop water requirements and building these requirements into water allocations as part of the water tenure governance, it has been possible to minimizes water waste.

The Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) were endorsed in 2012 and represent a major stepping stone. However, water governance was left out of the VGGT. FAO initiated a project together with the Governments of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Rwanda to establish national water tenure governance frameworks. Since water is a resource with varying availability, the project has started with building capacities for establishing water balances and auditing. This allows for establishing the amount of water resources available for allocation between the different sectors and users through tenure arrangements. These tools also facilitate decision making on water infrastructures to increase the access to water resources.

Women’s participation in community governance and local development is often limited by patriarchal discourses, biases and norms that define gender roles. Given pastoralist women’s role as resource managers, agents of change and development actors, securing their place in decision making processes and enhancing their access to services and market opportunities represent strategic investments in pastoral societies. Investing in pastoralist women is also important to reverse certain practices that have an unfavourable impact on them, such as limited recognition of inheritance rights.

However how to do this in order to fully benefit women, and without damaging the collective nature of pastoral societies of which both women and men are a part, continues to be a significant challenge for development actors. A new IFAD How To Do Note (HTDN) on Gender and Pastoralism developed by the IFAD Land Tenure and Livestock desks of the Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions (PMI) division in collaboration with CGIAR centres, namely the Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) Collaborative Research Program(CRP) and the Livestock CRP, provides guidance in this regard including background on key issues to consider, and tools and processes to use in project design and implementation. This builds on the mor general How to Do Note on Engaging with Pastoralists.

This includes the importance of undertaking a gender analysis of the current pastoral system prior to project design. Through a gender analysis it is possible to obtain qualitative information for understanding the different roles of women and men, to identify what resources they have access to and/or they control, to understand what their priorities are, and to uncover the reasons for any gender differences. A gender analysis can also help identify where adverse gender issues are impacting women’s empowerment for example. With this information available, projects can be better designed towards ensuring pastoralist women can play more acknowledged and empowered roles supporting the sustainability of the overall pastoral production system. Though explicitly a project may want to address gender imbalances by targeting women, it is still important to understand what men are doing as well i.e. the gender analysis must be directed to both men and women.

Another area that the HTD Note provides guidance on is the identification of interventions to address gender disparities including the empowerment of women. Examples of good practice in this regard from IFAD country interventions are provided. The importance of establishing a strong monitoring and evaluation plan is also highlighted. For quantitative data collection the Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) developed by IFPRI is recommended. And for measuring women’s empowerment in more specifically a livestock-based livelihood context we suggest the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index.

For more information on the HTDN Gender and Pastoralism please contact Fiona Flintan ILRI seconded to IFAD f.flintan@ifad.org or f.flintan@cgiar.org

India is in a nationwide lockdown, as a preventive measure to check the spread of COVID-19. Various projects in the country are responding to the situation in different ways to ease the lives of the common people.

The outcome of the Tejaswini Rural Women’s Empowerment Programme represents an increase in women’s livelihoods and translates into more active spaces for women by training them to organise into self-help groups (SHG). In remote tribal areas of Gadchiroli and Gondia districts of Maharahtra in India, trained SHG women are playing the role of Micro ATMs to help people in local communities access basic financial services.

The Women Development Corporation of Maharashtra project (MAVIM) partnered with Oxigen, a micro ATM company to develop a model of entrepreneurship for Self Help Group (SHG) women, provide access to basic banking facilities to villagers in remote areas where no Banks exist. Each of these women work as a mobile ATM for their village. Fifty women from Gondia and forty from Gadchiroli have been trained by Oxigen and are operational.

The micro ATMs allow people to deposit and withdraw their cash from their bank account and recharge their phones. Villagers can use their Unique Identity Card (Aadhar) or their ATM card to withdraw cash. Currently these machines are being used to deposit cash received by farmers from selling their crops, and to transfer money to other accounts. In the current COVID-19 situation, there are more cash withdrawals than deposits. Cash is being used for healthcare, to but food and to purchase inputs for agriculture production.

Although this model was developed earlier by MAVIM, which has partnered with IFAD under the Tejaswini project, the micro ATMs are proving to be a big help in bridging the last mile. They are particularly useful in the current lockdown as transport is limited to access banks further away. Each transaction also generates commission for the SHG women, who receive a monthly commission of between INR 2000 to 2500. This initiative is enabling the village community to access cash and goods, help them buy and produce goods, as well as generating additional incomes for the 90 ‘’Women-ATMs’’.

Este año 2020 no tiene precedentes. Desde que nuestra vida está dominada en todo el mundo por la pandemia de COVID-19, hemos escuchado una y otra vez hablar la importancia de crear un nuevo orden mundial para organizar la sociedad de otra manera después de esta crisis. De aprovechar el paréntesis que hemos tenido que dar a nuestra economía para reinventarnos.

Este no ha sido un periodo de reflexión no ha sido para todos. En medio de la crisis sanitaria, dos sectores de actividad han seguido funcionando sin parar: los servicios de salud y el sector de la agricultura y la alimentación. Porque salud y alimentación son pilares indispensables de nuestra supervivencia.

Aunque el sector agrícola no haya tenido la posibilidad de una tregua reflexiva, su reinvención es hoy indispensable. Y, de hecho, esa reinvención ya está comenzando a producirse. En ella juegan un papel fundamental los jóvenes. Unos jóvenes que tienen muy claro que hay que repensar el campo para poder permanecer en él. Repensarlo desde un sentimiento de arraigo en los conocimientos tradicionales y de apertura a las innovaciones tecnológicas que permiten adaptarse a las nuevas realidades.

El Premio a la Innovación Juvenil Rural en América Latina y el Caribe

En enero de 2020, el FIDA lanzó el Premio a la Innovación Juvenil Rural en América Latina y el Caribe en busca de esta juventud talentosa y motivada por su empeño en salir adelante y en hacerlo en el lugar en donde han nacido y elegido vivir: el campo.

La respuesta ha sido masiva: alrededor de 600 iniciativas fueron enviadas por jóvenes de 18 países de la región. Estos proyectos –realidades ya, de hecho, en muchos casos– nos han confirmado que la juventud tiene una verdadera visión de su futuro. Toda esta oleada de entusiasmo y compromiso merece nuestra atención. Es por eso que queremos compartir con ustedes algunas de las historias de los galardonados.

La innovación, conjugada con la revalorización y preservación de los espacios rurales, pero también de la cultura y de los conocimientos tradicionales, es el primer elemento que resalta cuando observamos las propuestas que los jóvenes de América Latina y del Caribe remitieron al Premio a la Innovación Juvenil Rural.

En Brasil, por ejemplo, la iniciativa Pé na terra (Pies en la tierra) se enfoca actualmente a la recolección de semillas para contribuir a la conservación de la biodiversidad local. En Colombia, otro grupo de jóvenes llamado Sembrando vida enfoca sus esfuerzos hacia la recuperación de especies nativas mediante campañas de reforestación, que adicionalmente garantizarán el acceso al agua de sus comunidades.

Acción climática – Sembrando Vida (Colombia) @premiorural

En Guatemala, los responsables de Flor de tierra están inventando estrategias de restauración de suelos degradados, resaltando la importancia de una agricultura sin agroquímicos. Porque el riesgo no está solamente en el plato del consumidor sino también en las manos del agricultor. Con el mismo concepto de entrega de productos de calidad, la iniciativa Raíz Capixaba está utilizando nuevas tecnologías para mapear digitalmente su producción y canalizarla a los mercados locales. Esta herramienta de agro-tecnología proporciona un triple beneficio: planificación de la producción en relación a la demanda local, menor desperdicio y mayor visibilidad.

Intercambio de conocimientos

Destaca también, entre las iniciativas innovadoras de los jóvenes de la región, una voluntad de intercambio de conocimientos, como es el caso de la iniciativa Fortalecimento e consolidação de grupos de coletores de sementes do Cerrado (Fortalecimiento y consolidación de recolectores de semillas del Cerrado), mediante talleres organizados por los mismos agricultores, o bien con estudiantes y científicos invitados a publicar acerca de sus productos.

Es decir, a lo que se aspira en muchas ocasiones es a crear una identidad que se pueda valorizar, tal como lo hace la iniciativa mexicana Una mano para Oaxaca, porque para permanecer en el campo se necesita promover el arraigo cultural, comunitario y territorial. Y porque para no migrar, los jóvenes rurales necesitan hoy que se reactive su economía.

En este sentido, el acceso a una educación financiera en las zonas rurales, haciendo énfasis en las cuestiones prácticas y en la potenciación de emprendimientos rurales, está cobrando fuerzas en Colombia con la iniciativa Libertat. Del mismo modo, redes colaborativas de turismo en asociación con familias indígenas en Brasil como Gralha Azul (Urraca Azul), están generando ingresos, preservando al mismo tiempo sus espacios y comprometiendo a habitantes y turistas con la conservación de la biodiversidad local.

Inclusión financiera – Libertat (Colombia) @premiorural

El Premio y los ODS

Las iniciativas recibidas están alineadas con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de la ONU. En Perú, la iniciativa Agrowayu está usando frutas y cultivos locales, como la chía o la quinua, para promover gelatinas saludables en las escuelas rurales. De esta forma, contribuyen a la buena alimentación de los niños de las comunidades, en su mayoría indígenas, y al empoderamiento de las mujeres que preparan los alimentos.

Inclusión grupos vulnerables – Agrowayu (Perú) @premiorural

Abordando la cuestión los residuos alimentarios, la iniciativa mexicana Hexa Biotech propone un manejo integral de los desperdicios orgánicos, transformándolos a través de la incubación de insectos en fertilizantes o alimentos para animales. Todo ello permite la reutilización de los insumos al mismo tiempo que reduce las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero.

Experiencia e innovación en materia de inclusión financiera, generación de ingresos, conservación, comunicación y tecnología, educación, acción climática, seguridad alimentaria y sostenibilidad, con inclusión de grupos vulnerables, son claves de una juventud emprendedora que busca hoy ser protagonistas de una transformación rural inclusiva y sostenible.

El objetivo del premio siempre ha sido dar visibilidad a estas iniciativas que a menudo pasan desapercibidas y que, sin embargo, son ejemplos de buenas prácticas que están dando resultados. Ahora que conocemos a los ganadores, ese objetivo se refuerza todavía más, pues aspiramos a que sirvan de ejemplo y sean replicadas en una región que tiene en la lucha contra la pobreza, y en especial la pobreza rural, uno de sus mayores desafíos.

Un desafío todavía más complicado y apasionante en este año 2020, este “año COVID” sin precedentes en la historia reciente de la humanidad. Un año difícil, sin duda, pero en absoluto un año sin futuro. Un futuro que está en manos de una juventud rural con ideas e ideales, pero también con los pies sobre la tierra. Esta misma tierra que nos alimenta a todos.

Haga clic aquí para más información sobre el Premio a la Innovación Juvenil Rural del FIDA.

Conflicts are relatively common in pastoral and agropastoral areas, and how they are perceived and handled has a strong influence on their outcomes. Many underlying conflicts are latent – unseen to an outsider, lying quietly under the surface, and triggered by an event or action, such as building a badly-situated water point. Asserting rights to resources and seeking to redress injustices or inequalities, conflict can become an inherent feature of pastoralists’ struggle for change. As a result, conflicts are often inevitable and percieved as legitimate by the parties involved. Development actors need to recognise this and be prepared to act appropriately to either prevent conflicts or manage them well when they are unavoidable.

A new note on preventing land use conflicts in pastoral areas, developed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with two CGIAR research programmes - Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) and Livestock - provides guidance to programme and project staff on how the increased levels of conflict over land and natural resources in pastoral areas can be prevented and/or if existing already, transformed into positive outcomes. The note builds on the earlier, more general note on Engaging with Pastoralists.

The note unpacks some of the land-related complexities associated with pastoralism and gives guidance on how to address the different parts of these complexities. The document draws from the FAO guidelines on improving governance of pastoral lands (2016), bringing in experiences from the IFAD-supported country programmes. It identifies why land tenure is a complex issue within pastoralism and discusses the combination of factors that are contributing to more insecure pastoral tenure and triggering pastoral area conflicts. The note also introduces some of the frameworks, tools and approaches that can be used as part of project design to reduce the potential for conflict.

For more information on the note, please contact Fiona Flintan (f.flintan@ifad.org or f.flintan@cgiar.org)

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IFAD/CGIAR note shares insights on how to prevent land use conflicts in pastoral areas