Rural Poverty Report 2011 - New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow's generation

Thank you, and good morning, Excellencies and distinguished guests

• I am delighted to be here, to present some of findings of IFAD RPR 2011: “New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow’s generation”

• RPR launched London and Rome Dec.2010, and it’s received considerable worldwide attention

• At IFAD we feel that what RPR says is vital for SSA; we wanted to organize this event as an opportunity for dialogue with stakeholders in region, on how rural economies can be catalysed to reduce poverty and contribute to national growth processes

• IFAD has historically been an organization that invests in people – to build their skills, and help them better access the services they need to improve their lives. People are the starting point…

• So this is a report about people. Because it’s going to be them to make it all work; them to invest in their agric. production; them to start new businesses; + them to organize and lead their communities out of poverty

Bernadette Mukamazimpaka

Abibatou Goudiaby

In preparing the RPR we interviewed many rural people in countries across all developing regions. We learnt much from what they said. Let me give you 3 examples

• 1st - Bernadette Mukamazimpaka– Tea farmer in Rwanda– Importance of tea growers cooperative that she’s a member of: helping

them to market their tea and negotiate the price for it; also for rebuilding people’s lives after genocide, achieving a unity and reconciliation

• 2nd - Abibatou Goudiaby– Lives in Casamance province in Senegal– How soil fertility is declining, climate is changing, rains shorter, less

reliable; need change - to improve soil quality with organic fertilizers, need for new varieties, technologies

– Importance of education – and particularly of girls – not only as a way to better jobs, but also for improved farming

Randriamahefa

• 3rd – Randriamahefa– From Androy, in S. Madagascar– Example of how people in poverty don’t just accept their fate– Started as a cowherd, slowly built up his own small herd– Migrated, security guard; bought plough, ox-cart– Worked in sapphire mine; bought more cattle– Cattle died in a drought, and he turned to fishing– Then he migrated again to work as share-cropper; – Eventually with profits, build a stone house and bought land; now

farms 10 fields, growing paprika +tomatoes, and sorghum – but rains unreliable and soil fertility low

• Now let’s turn to the Report and its findings

• What want to do is highlight 5 key findings

• then finish by touching on its principle recommendations

1. The context for rural poverty reduction is changing+ve• Democracy spreading – civil soc., decentralis’n, accountability• African economies performing better than ever before (7/10 fasted

growing economies to 2015 in Africa)• Cities and towns growing fast – higher incomes, new markets• Urban and rural economies becoming more integrated• Investment / trade with transforming econs. – China, Brazil, India

-ve• Africa’s pop. to double to 2050, from 800m to 1700m – major

implications for food needs, for need to create employment• Food price crisis 2008 – shown vulnerability of African econs. to global

food markets – new era of high and volatile food prices• NR degradation – declining soil fertility, water competition / shortages,

deforestation + climate change and its impact• Growth benefits not evenly spread; inequalities, unemployment

2. Poverty in SSA is still large a rural problem

• Population: First, still largely rural – 500m people, or 64% of total population. Will remain majority rural for 20 years more

• Second, population growth rates in rural areas slowing, and before 2050 will peak and start to decline

• Poverty: While 64% of total pop’n rural, of those living on <$1.25 a day 75% – 3 out of 4 - are rural

• That’s over 300 million rural people in extreme poverty. That number increased, from 270 million over 2000s

• Good news is that the rate of poverty in rural areas starting to decline – from 65 to 62 % in the last decade

• Typically, those particularly disadvantaged include:o Women: fewer assets (land), less access to education, services;

less control over income; lower wages; weak representationo Youth: often >50% of rural poor; many lack nutrition, care, educ’n

to escape poverty; limited access to land, off-farm opportunities

3. Rural people’s livelihoods not constant, unvaried

• Over past 10-20 years rural people’s livelihoods changing • Everywhere, rural people deriving greater % of incomes off the farm

– labour, SMEs, migration/remittances• Diversification the future• But in SSA more than anywhere, agriculture remains critical to

livelihoods: in most countries, over half the rural pop’n derives most of their income from agric.

• And poorest households depend most on agriculture

• The second way in which people’s livelihoods vary is the way in which people move out of poverty and fall into it – sometimes repeatedly (move slide)

Moving in and out of poverty (% of rural households)

(cf. next slide)

Note: The data are not comparable

• So there isn’t a distinct group of rural poor – large numbers of people move out and fall into poverty, sometimes repeatedly

• People typically • Take initiatives and work their way out poverty, slowly• Fall into poverty rapidly, as a result of shocks – illnesses,

failed harvest, etc

Moving in and out of poverty(Percentage of rural households)

Egypt, 1997-99 Ethiopia, 1994-97 South Africa, 1993-2004

Tanzania, 1991-2004 Uganda, 1992-99

5919

616

4019

1823

10 33

535

4324

14 19

3911

3218

Never in poverty

Always in poverty

Moved out of poverty

Fell into poverty

4. Smallholder agriculture can be a route out of poverty for some – though not all – rural people

• But in order to do so, it must change, to become – – More commercial, better linked to markets (“farming as a business”)– More productive – higher returns to land and labour– More sustainable in its use of land – soil fert.; and water – competition– More resilient to shocks of climate change

• Priorities for policies and investments are to – Help agric. value chains develop, help farmers engage on better terms– Help smallholder farmers intensify in sustainable manner

• Focus today on latter - SAI:– Not an alternative to conventional approaches to intensification, but a

complements them with more holistic / systemic approach– Agro-ecolog. processes for managing soil fertility; more frugal input use– Conservation tillage, SWM, crop rot’n; crop-livestock integr’n, IPM– Importance of adaptation and innovation – knowledge intensive– Policies: incentives/prices; research, extension, education/training

5. Growing importance of RNFE: for poverty red’n, as source of growth, employment creation

• Agriculture won’t be way out of poverty for all rural people • The RNFE – from micro-enterprise to large agribusiness – is important

for risk management and for escaping poverty, for large number of rural people.

• As economies grow, so RNFE expands; its importance growing

• Historically, agric sector main driver of RNFE • Other drivers increasingly important: dispersed urbanis’n; globalisation;

communications / infrastructure; decentralised renewable energy generation

• So opportunity to promote RNFE at different levels, as well as need• Importance of policy and investment agenda by governments – cutting

across sectors; with private sector

6. Conclusions: what needs to be done, and how?

• Challenge of rural poverty reduction immediate, substantial and profoundly different to even a decade ago

– A large proportion of poor rural people are children and youth. How to make them want to stay in the rural areas and fulfil their ambitions there?

– How to promote growth in a way that creates better opportunities and reduces risks for today and tomorrow’s generations?

• Smallholder agriculture and RNFE both important

• There are no blueprints • Countries vary, different areas within countries vary – growth ‘drivers’

unevenly distributed. – Opportunities – in smallholder agriculture and RNFE – are highly

context-specific.

What needs to be done, and how?

Attention and investment needed in 4 overarching areas:

• The rural areas must become a place where people want to live and do business: need to invest in the rural areas in infrastructure – roads in partic., utilities, services, and improve governance. New political narrative around rural areas needed.

• World becoming riskier, and managing risk prevents poor rural people from taking advantage of opportunities: need to make the rural environment less risky, and help people to better manage risk

• New opportunities in agriculture and RNFE require innovation, built on individual skills and capacities: expand access to education, technical and vocational skills development, all adapted to agricultural / rural needs

• Organizations of poor rural people give them confidence, power and security: strengthened collective capacities for reducing risk, managing assets, marketing produce, representing and negotiating interests