IFAD Strategy for Rural Poverty Reduction in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) PN Division Project Management Department February 2002

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IFAD Strategy for Rural Poverty Reductionin the
Near East andNorth Africa (NENA) PN
DivisionProject Management DepartmentFebruary
2002
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The strategy formulation process
Internal IFAD workshops management meetings
Regional poverty assessment
IFAD Strategic Framework 2002-2006
Draft Regional Strategy Paper
IFAD Governing Council February 2002
NENA strategy regional workshop
Beirut, May 2002
Final Regional Strategy Paper
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Strategy outline

• Introduction
• NENA regional overview
• Rural poverty in NENA
• IFAD experience in NENA
• IFAD strategy for poverty reduction

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The NENA countries

• Borrowing and non-borrowing
• 13 countries Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan,
  Lebanon, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia,
  Turkey, West Bank Gaza, Yemen.
• Non-borrowing
• 7 countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar,
  Saudi Arabia, UAE

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Characteristics of the NENA region

• Main economy
• Wide range in GNP per capita
• Mixed economic performance
• Evidence of growing inequalities
• The agricultural sector
• Agricultural value-added 16 of GDP
• 36 of economically active pop. engaged in
  agriculture
• Growing dependency on food imports

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Characteristics of the NENA region

• Main population characteristics
• High growth of pop. labor force
• High dependency ratio

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Main constraints in the agricultural and rural
sectors

• Institutions
• unequal land distribution insecure land tenure
• poor management of common resources
• low public investments in rural areas
• gender imbalances
• Few grass-roots civil society orgn.

• Natural resources
• limited water resources
• fragile land-base declining soil fertility
• frequent climatic shocks

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Poverty estimates in the NENA region
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Differential access to services
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Social indicators in the NENA region
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Who are the rural poor?

• Livelihoods
• Small-scale farmers
• Nomads pastoralists
• Artisanal fishermen
• Wage laborers

• Personal characteristics
• Displaced people
• Women-headed households
• Rural unemployed youth

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What constraints do the rural poor encounter?

• Water
• Land
• Human assets
• Technology
• Financial services
• Institutions
• Political environment

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IFAD portfolio in the NENA region

• Since 1979
• 83 projects in 13 countries agricultural
  development (40) rural development (20)
  credit finance (10) irrigation (9)
  livestock (9) fisheries (6) research (5)
• IFAD investment USD 980 million
• Total co-financing USD 1 260 million
• 14 large TAGs (gt USD 100 000 each)

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IFAD experience in the NENA region

• Achievements
• Promotion of participatory approach and
  decentralization
• Projects used as models for national programs
• Adaptation of services to womens needs
• Support to research programmes

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IFAD experience in the NENA region

• Constraints faced
• Project design complexity rigidity
• Non-sustainability of project outputs
• Weak local institutions
• Problems with counterpart funding
• Limited beneficiary participation
• Limited experience in addressing gender issues
• Slow progress in policy change

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Lessons from experience

• Project design
• Simplicity flexibility
• Programs rather than projects
• Involving community organizations
• Project implementation
• More involvement of IFAD staff
• Involving the private sector
• Involving community organizations
• Link grants w/ project implementation

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Lessons from experience

• Partnerships
• Thematic partnerships with other agencies (other
  donors, NGOs, research institutions)
• Policy dialogue
• Long-term policy dialogue on a few key areas
  (land tenure, pro-poor rural finance schemes,
  community development, gender mainstreaming,
  etc.)

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IFAD strategic objectives in the NENA region

• Empowerment of the rural poor
• Income diversification for the rural poor
• Equitable access to resources for women and men
• Natural resource management (water, watersheds,
  rangelands)

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Areas of intervention

• Community development for management of common
  resources
• Promoting appropriate technologies
• On-farm long-term investment
• Rural infrastructure
• Rural financial institutions
• Micro-enterprise development

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Modalities of implementation

• Program approach instead of projects
• Targeting the poorest groups
• Participatory approach
• Capacity building of local institutions
• Devolution to end-users private sector
• Integrating women in development
• Supporting research capacity building programs
  through TAGs

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Action plan pillars

• Policy dialogue Catalytic role of IFAD in
  several policy areas (land tenure, development of
  community organizations, women in development,
  etc.)
• Strategic partnerships working with govts,
  donors, research instn, NGOs, etc. Knowledge
  management cross-fertilization, workshops
  seminars, dissemination of project findings
• Impact management beneficiary evaluation,
  qualitative quantitative surveys, etc.