IFAD Strategy for Rural Poverty Reduction in Asia and the Pacific Asia Division Project Management Department February 2002

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IFAD Strategy for Rural Poverty Reductionin
Asia and the Pacific Asia DivisionProject
Management DepartmentFebruary 2002
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The Context

• Millennium Development Goal
• Rural Poverty Report 2001
• Strategic Framework 2002-2005
• Regional Poverty Assessment

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• 1990 20 in East/South East Asia and 42 in
  South Asia lived on lt US 1 a day
• 2015 targets 10 in East/South East Asia and 21
  in South Asia

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Economic Trends

• Impressive economic growth and poverty
• reduction in last 3 decades
• Per capita income growth
• between 1970 and 1995 ()
• South East Asia 192.6
• China 419.8
• India 82.2
• Other South Asia 60.0
• Asia 189.3

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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Economic Trends
Poverty persons below
1/day (millions) (percent)
1975 1990s 1975 1990s South East Asia
108.1 40.2 52.8 11.5 China
568.9 269.3 59.5 22.2 South Asia
472.2 514.7 59.1 43.1 Asia
1149.2 824.2 58.7 29.9

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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What Contributed to this Economic Transformation?
Broad-based agricultural growth Land
reform Stable macroeconomic policies Investments
in education, health and infrastructure

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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• Nonetheless two-thirds of worlds poor live in
  Asia
• South Asia alone has about half of worlds total
  poor

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

Sub-Saharan Africa 24.3
South Asia 43.5
East Asia and Pacific23.2
Middle East 0.5
Europe and Central Asia 2.0
Latin America and the Caribbean 6.5
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Rural Poverty Situation

• Today, the emerging issues in the Region are

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Growing income inequality
• Vulnerability
• Persistence of poverty

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Who are the Poor?

• Rural poor include the landless, marginal
  farmers, indigenous peoples (IPs), pastoralists
  and coastal fishermen
• Large part of chronic poor concentrated in Less
  Favoured Areas

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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Who are the Poor?

• IPs are subject to exploitation, human rights
  violation, and abject poverty
• Women are particularly prone to poverty suffer
  from lack of access to resources, decision-making
  power, and deprivation

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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Major Strengths of the Region

• Democracy and decentralization
• Prudent macro policies and investments in
  education and infrastructure
• Vibrant civil society

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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IFADs Experience in Promoting Access to
Productive Resources and Technology

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Access to common property resources (Bangladesh,
  Nepal)
• Security of land tenure (China, India)
• Conventional technology(IRRI, ICRISAT)
• Regenerative or sustainable technology (Nepal)

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Asian Experience in Non-farm Employment and
Markets

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Rural industrialization (China)
• Micro-finance
• Rural public works (India)
• Asian financial crisis coping with economic
  vulnerability

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IFADs Experience in Building Coalitions of the
Poor

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Facilitating collective action by the poor (Oxbow
  Lakes, Leasehold Forestry)
• Participation in local self-governing
  institutions - SHGs

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IFADs Strategy to Enhance Womens Capability

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Household level - access to resources, tackling
  discrimination
• Community level - representation in village
  institutions

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IFADs Strategy for the Development of
Less-favoured Areas

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

• Regenerative agriculture
• Tenurial security
• Decentralised, participatory programme design and
  implementation

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IFADs Strategy for Enhancing Capability of
Indigenous People

• Tackling political and economic marginalization
• Rewarding IPs for environmental services
• Peace making through development

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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The Way Ahead

• New implementation focus
• Partnership building
• Policy dialogue
• Knowledge management
• Impact assessment

• Introduction
• Regional Overview
• Rural Poverty
• Lessons from Experience
• IFAD Strategy

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