I FA D and G C C
Working together
to fight rural poverty
Enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty
GCC
The Cooperation Council for the Arab
States of the Gulf (the Gulf Cooperation
Council, or GCC) is a political, economic
and social organization and a regional
cooperation system among six Arab States
of the Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Established on 4 February 1981, the GCC
coordinates integration among its Member
States and strengthens cooperation among
its members. The GCC formulates common
regulations in areas such as economic and
financial affairs, commerce, customs,
communication, education, culture, social
affairs, health, information, tourism, and
legislative and administrative affairs. It
stimulates scientific and technological
progress in industry, mining, agriculture,
water and animal resources. It also
supports scientific research, establishes
joint ventures and encourages privatesector cooperation.
All GCC Members, except Bahrain, are
founding members of IFAD. Together with
other members of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
these GCC Members helped to establish
IFAD in 1977.
In August 1989, IFAD and the GCC
(through the GCC Secretariat-General)
signed a cooperation agreement and began
to jointly pursue shared development goals.
Through this agreement, IFAD and the GCC
Secretariat-General cooperate on
agricultural and rural development,
nutrition and related research. Their
collaboration includes intercountry studies
and projects that benefit from IFAD
assistance in eligible recipient countries.
Working
IFAD
IFAD is the United Nations agency
dedicated to eradicating hunger and poverty
in the rural areas of developing countries.
Through low-interest loans and grants,
IFAD develops and finances programmes
and projects that enable poor rural people
to overcome poverty themselves. IFAD
focuses on the poorest and most margi
nalized small farmers: poor rural women,
rural landless people, nomadic pastoralists,
artisanal fishers and indigenous peoples.
Working with national governments, IFAD
helps poor rural people increase their food
production, raise their incomes and
improve their living conditions, sustainably,
without diminishing their natural resource
base. IFAD tackles poverty not only as a
lender but also as an advocate for poor
rural people. Its multilateral orientation
provides a global platform for discussing
important policy issues and increasing
awareness of the importance of agriculture
and rural development to meeting the
Millennium Development Goals.
From 1978 to 2006, IFAD invested
US$9.5 billion in 732 programmes and
projects worth more than US$25 billion,
with cofinancing from partner institutions.
These investments helped more than
300 million poor rural people take steps
to improve their lives.
together to fight rural poverty
Message from His Excellency
Abdul Rahman H. Al-Attiyah
Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the
Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
The countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf are working with vigour
to implement the vision and directives of their majesties and highnesses, the leaders of the GCC
Member States. Our highest goal is to achieve economic and social integration among the
Member States. To realize this goal, the Cooperation Council seeks to promote integration among
its members in different spheres so as to secure social and economic benefits as well as prosperity
for its citizens. The Council also strives to maximize benefits for its citizens, including the right to
participate, freedom and social justice.
The GCC Member States have been active participants in the development of Arab countries
and other regions. They have provided development assistance and funded programmes and
projects in friendly countries, either bilaterally or through multilateral donor agencies and
institutions, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). These
programmes and projects have promoted economic development and stimulated growth through
the funding and implementation of development activities, such as improving access to roads and
schools, water and electricity services, and social development. They have also contributed to
alleviating poverty in developing countries. In particular, members of the Cooperation Council
have contributed generously to poverty alleviation programmes in countries experiencing
economic decline, facing resource constraints or affected by wars or natural disasters.
We, members of the GCC, are committed to providing aid and assistance to support
development programmes, including but not limited to social and rural development, and
enabling the integration of low-income groups into the economy. Recent figures from the Arab
Monetary Fund indicate that countries of the Council have provided US$116.8 billion in official
development assistance. This amount accounts for 94.3 per cent of the total contributions made
by the GCC during the period 1970-2004. In addition, GCC Member States have contributed
significant resources bilaterally. These contributions are extended in a spirit of kinship and
solidarity and reflect the Council’s Member countries’ commitment to promoting growth,
improving the living conditions of all people and strengthening international cooperation.
The Cooperation Council and IFAD recognize the challenges that many developing countries
are facing, including the sharp decline in standards of living, increases in poverty rates, high
inflation and income disparities. These challenges have rekindled the GCC Member States’
determination to come together and develop a common position to address these challenges.
It was indeed this unity of purpose that brought the member countries of the Council to play a
leading role in the establishment of IFAD in 1977. The Cooperation Council believes deeply in
the noble development goals adopted by IFAD in its development programmes and projects.
IFAD’s programmes have contributed appreciably in the efforts to combat poverty and strengthen
development in developing countries. They were also instrumental in strengthening the
framework for cooperation between IFAD and the Council, as represented in the memorandum
of understanding signed between IFAD and the Council in 1989. This memorandum established
the institutional and legal framework for developing an effective mechanism to promote joint
initiatives and enhance development coordination between our two institutions for the benefit of
developing countries.
The GCC Member States will continue to provide aid and development assistance. Their
commitment is underscored by their combined efforts with IFAD and other international
organizations to eliminate hunger and rural poverty through direct contributions to IFAD’s
resources and joint parallel financing of IFAD projects. We appreciate IFAD’s efforts to highlight
the information on the contributions of the GCC Member countries to international
development. We also greatly appreciate IFAD’s efforts throughout the years to ensure that its
development programmes and activities help build capacities in the Near East and North Africa
so as to meet the challenge of poverty and eliminate the suffering of millions of people by
ensuring decent livelihoods in these countries, particularly in rural areas.
We look forward to strengthening our partnership and enhancing cooperation with IFAD.
By working together in a spirit of solidarity, we can contribute effectively to improving the
livelihoods and well-being of all people living in developing countries.
2
Message from Lennart Båge
President of IFAD
When IFAD was founded nearly 30 years ago, overcoming hunger and food scarcity lay at the
heart of the development challenge. Ensuring the day-to-day survival of millions of children,
women and men was a top priority that inspired an outpouring of development aid and
galvanized efforts worldwide to increase local food production and reduce the risk of famine
among the world’s poorest people.
The creation of IFAD was a concrete expression of the will of high-income oil-exporting
countries and industrialized nations to work together to help low-income developing countries
face this challenge. The Gulf countries took the lead in making this a reality and a defining
moment in the history of North-South cooperation. They played a crucial role in establishing
IFAD and shaping its mission.
Under the leadership of my predecessors, Abdelmuhsin M. Al-Sudeary of Saudi Arabia, Idriss
Jazairy of Algeria and Fawzi Al-Sultan of Kuwait, IFAD distinguished itself as an innovator in
addressing the root causes of hunger, food insecurity and rural poverty. Reaching out to the most
remote and destitute communities, IFAD helped to develop and share success models for
agricultural development and poverty eradication.
Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have been instrumental in these
successes. They are major contributors to IFAD regular resources. In addition, bilateral and
multilateral financial institutions supported by GCC Member States are important development
partners and cofinanciers of IFAD-supported projects.
These partnerships, based on complementary roles and mutual support, have contributed to
agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in recipient Arab countries as well as
developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.
These contributions are enriched and multiplied by IFAD’s support for regional research and
capacity-building programmes in the Near East and North Africa, which bring direct and indirect
benefits to the Gulf countries.
Our collective efforts have helped to increase global understanding of who poor people are,
what constitutes their livelihoods, and the root causes of poverty – particularly in rural areas of
the developing world where most poverty is concentrated. In this way, IFAD and the GCC have
contributed to shaping the development agenda with an ever greater focus on rural poverty
reduction. Today, poverty is at the centre of the human development challenge as we aim to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the target to halve the proportion of
people living in extreme poverty by 2015.
IFAD is responding to this challenge by increasing its capacity to deliver poverty eradication
programmes and projects and by improving its effectiveness and efficiency. We are supporting
national ownership, moving to results-based investments and improving inter-agency
coordination and harmonization. Most importantly, we are focusing on identifying and
addressing the specific obstacles poor rural people face in overcoming poverty themselves.
This requires new and strengthened partnerships among many actors – governments, poor
people and their organizations, the private sector, civil society, and international development
organizations. IFAD’s successful partnership with the GCC and GCC-supported financial
institutions is crucial to meeting this challenge.
3
The role of Gulf
countries in establishing
and shaping IFAD
Ever since the increase in oil revenues in the early 1960s, the Arab States of the
Gulf have demonstrated a great spirit of solidarity with less fortunate developing
nations through generous humanitarian support and development aid. Their
systematic approach helped to establish several institutions for development
finance. For example, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Saudi
Fund for Development (SFD) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development were
established by their respective countries soon after their independence in order to
channel bilateral assistance to other Arab and developing nations.
ODA provided by the Arab States of the Gulf
grows to exceed UN-endorsed levels
By the mid-1970s, financial flows from the region had grown to become an
important component of global official development assistance (ODA). From 1975 to
1979, ODA provided by the Arab States of the Gulf reached US$29.1 billion. Their
combined development assistance represented 2.62 per cent of their aggregate gross
national product (GNP) during the period 1976-1978, by far exceeding the 0.7 per cent
ODA-GNP ratio endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1970.
The largest share of the assistance provided by the Arab Gulf countries during
the 1970s was bilateral and took the form of grants, which represented 77 per cent
of the net assistance disbursements of the countries from 1973 to 1981.
A significant part was channelled through their specialized development finance
institutions. Nearly 14 per cent of the total assistance was delivered through
multilateral institutions created or principally supported by these countries, such as the
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Islamic Development Bank
(IsDB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
Two other important features characterized the official development assistance
provided by the Arab Gulf countries, mainly the GCC Members, during the 1970s:
the largest part was destined to other Arab countries, and most of the assistance
5
went towards financing infrastructure, energy and transportation and large
social projects relating to education and health. Assistance to agriculture
averaged 10 per cent during 1976-1981.
Famine in Ethiopia pushes governments to find
lasting solutions to hunger and poverty
The proportion of aid to developing countries began to increase in the mid1970s in the form of humanitarian assistance, especially in response to natural
disasters or other emergencies that raised worldwide concern. This was also the
case when famine, brought on by drought, afflicted millions of poor people in
the Horn of Africa and the Sahel in the early 1970s. The enormity of lives lost
and suffering caused by the Ethiopian famine led to numerous international
efforts to find lasting solutions to the problems of chronic hunger and poverty.
This globalization of the famine crisis in the early 1970s had an enduring
effect on Arab official development assistance. It highlighted the geographical
and sectoral limits of Arab Gulf assistance and underscored the need for a new
multilateral mechanism dedicated to addressing the problem of hunger and its
root cause – rural poverty – throughout the world.
The Gulf countries emerged as key advocates and supporters of a concerted
international response and strongly backed the organization of the first World
Partners in development:
OPEC, OECD and developing countries
IFAD’s 165 Member States are organized into three groups:
• List A (primarily members of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD))
• List B (primarily members of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC))
• List C (developing countries)
The Governing Council is IFAD's highest decision-making authority.
Each Member State is represented on the Governing Council by a
Governor. The Executive Board, comprising 36 members elected
by the Governing Council, is responsible for overseeing the general
operations of IFAD and for approving IFAD’s programme of work.
At present, membership on the Executive Board includes eight
members and eight alternate members from List A countries, four
members and four alternate members from List B countries and six
members and six alternate members from List C countries.
6
Food Conference, held in Rome in 1974. The conference resolved that “an
International Fund for Agricultural Development should be established
immediately to finance agricultural development projects primarily for food
production in the developing countries.” The conference concluded that the
causes of hunger and food insecurity lay as much in failures in food production
as in structural problems related to rural poverty, preventing the majority of rural
people from realizing their potential to produce or purchase food on a
sustainable basis.
Gulf countries become instrumental in establishing IFAD
The international community sought to implement the conference resolution
through a series of consultations on the establishment of IFAD. The Gulf
countries played a pivotal role in the intergovernmental negotiations that led to
the signing of the agreement establishing IFAD in 1977 and the launching of
operations in 1978.
The leadership of the Arab States of the Gulf during the establishment of
IFAD reflected the region’s commitment to bridging gaps and addressing
pressing human needs beyond the limits of the region’s own assistance delivery
systems. Indeed, IFAD’s mandate and structure reflected a common vision
shared by all negotiating parties: they believed that a triangular partnership
Focusing on the Millennium Development Goals
GCC support for IFAD reflects the commitment of OPEC Members to eradicating poverty,
so well articulated in a resolution of the Second Summit of Heads of State and
Government of OPEC Member Countries, held in Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela, in September 2000:
To emphasize that economic and social development and the eradication of poverty
should be the overriding global priority. To this end, OPEC will continue its historic record
of taking the issues of the developing countries into full consideration, inter alia, through
their individual aid programmes as well as through the OPEC Fund for International
Development and the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and urges the
industrialized countries to recognize that the biggest environmental tragedy facing the
globe is human poverty.
The intent of OPEC’s resolution was inspired by the Millennium Summit and the Millennium
Development Goals. IFAD shares the same vision and is committed to working closely with
the GCC Member States to realize OPEC’s Caracas resolution and to achieve the
Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of extreme poverty by 2015.
The GCC-IFAD partnership has already contributed to the formulation, in 2002, of
IFAD’s regional strategy for fighting rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa region
and to increasing the effectiveness and impact of IFAD’s programmes in all regions,
including in the countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
7
Table 1
Approved loans and grants in Member States of the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and cumulative pledges by OIC
Member States to IFAD resources (as of December 2006)
Country
Number
of projects
IFAD loans/grants
(approved amounts,
millions of US$)
Cumulative pledges
to IFAD, 1978-2006
(millions of US$)*
—
4
6
3
—
23
9
—
10
7
5
4
7
4
9
1
8
3
11
2
2
12
—
—
7
—
—
2
3
—
—
4
10
11
9
9
7
8
—
21
—
—
13
5
4
15
1
6
—
5
10
7
—
11
—
—
18
—
42.290
77.357
30.855
—
388.493
99.312
—
130.978
83.752
54.478
11.807
66.672
7.957
190.147
9.001
45.574
13.763
131.356
13.480
16.500
264.934
—
—
71.393
—
—
11.447
31.810
—
—
12.216
128.911
85.236
146.330
143.939
94.792
144.327
—
387.552
—
—
133.357
47.323
30.300
211.832
3.600
106.030
—
40.888
130.207
123.459
—
178.544
—
—
174.320
—
0.040
52.430
0.100
—
3.650
0.200
—
0.266
1.683
0.060
0.025
3.004
0.031
17.000
5.595
0.045
—
0.310
0.055
0.635
46.959
167.995
55.099
0.840
—
158.041
—
0.195
88.099
1.125
0.051
0.161
0.135
6.100
0.400
0.245
106.459
0.200
13.600
39.980
389.778
0.373
0.018
0.020
1.027
0.150
1.050
—
0.081
3.182
16.208
—
0.490
52.180
—
1.900
316
732
43.2
4,116.519
9,477.990
43.4
1,237.269
5,187.719
23.8
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Benin
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chad
Comoros
Côte d’Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Gabon
Gambia, The
Gaza and the West Bank
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Mozambique
Niger
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Suriname
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Total OIC
Total IFAD
OIC, % of total
* Pledges inclusive of complementary contributions.
based on North-South cooperation and South-South solidarity was the way to
bring an end to hunger and rural poverty. IFAD’s three partners in development,
OPEC, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
and developing countries, also shared the view that success depends on
empowering poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves.
Forging a unique partnership
IFAD was the first international organization founded on a three-sided partnership
in which OECD, OPEC and developing countries share decision-making. The Gulf
countries played a key role in the development of IFAD’s early vision and policies
and, in the intervening years, have continued to provide guidance and support for
its activities. In fact, two of IFAD’s four Presidents have been from Gulf countries.
The first President, Abdelmuhsin M. Al-Sudeary (1977-1984), is a national of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Agreement Establishing IFAD was negotiated under
his leadership. The third President, Fawzi Al-Sultan (1993-2001), is a national of the
State of Kuwait.
Using indigenous knowledge to improve soil and water
conservation knowledge in the Niger
The Special Country Programme in the Niger, financed by IFAD, worked to reduce the
vulnerability of the country’s agriculture to drought and desertification. Improved soil and
water conservation techniques were among some of the programme’s activities aimed to
increase crop yields.
The programme succeeded in improving water harvesting and soil moisture retention by
building upon indigenous microcatchment techniques, including semicircular hoops or
demi-lunes (half moons) and small planting pits for fertilizer, manure, or seeds that act as
microcatchment areas. The improvements on these traditional techniques are simple,
efficient and replicable and, thereby, offer good prospects for sustainability.
Through discussions with participating farmers, a decision was taken to enlarge the
areas between contour ridges, which saved both land and labour, especially in terms of the
stone bund construction. The process of discussion and exchange between programme
managers and participating farmers not only clarified the technical innovations to be carried
out but also helped programme managers better understand the farmers’ perceptions and
apprehensions regarding these improved techniques. The farmers agreed that the
conservation techniques should be tested first. The increase in sorghum and millet yields
during the first year of the programme was well beyond the expectations of the farmers.
During the second year, the farmers extended their use of the improved soil and water
conservation techniques on 1,000 hectares of crop land, a larger area than originally
foreseen. The programme’s participative approach also led to the rapid dissemination and
adoption of these improved techniques throughout the country, resulting in visible increases
in the production of cereal crops.
9
Complementary roles
IFAD has developed a comparative advantage in working with small farmers and
poor rural people at the local level. In particular, it has developed expertise in
building and strengthening the capacities of rural organizations and facilitating
decentralization. The Gulf region’s own bilateral financial institutions, as well as
multilateral financial institutions in which the region has the bulk of leadership
responsibilities, have contributed significantly to financing large-scale
programmes to support infrastructure and the energy, transport, education and
health sectors. In this way, IFAD’s mission complements those of GCCsupported financial institutions. The cofinancing of IFAD-supported projects by
the Abu Dhabi Fund, Arab Fund, IsDB, Kuwait Fund, OFID and SFD apply the
strengths of all the partners. These financial institutions, together with the Arab
Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID), are IFAD’s
second largest cofinancing partners today.
OPEC Member States provide 40 per cent
of IFAD’s initial resources
The GCC Member States, like the rest of the OPEC Member States and the
OECD Member States, have played a major part in building a strong financial
base for IFAD. OPEC Member States provided over 40 per cent of IFAD’s initial
resources (US$942 million). Most of these OPEC contributions – about
US$167 million – were given by four GCC Members: Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Despite lower oil revenues in the mid1980s and the 1990s, these four GCC Members continued to secure a
substantial flow of resources to IFAD.
When GCC Member contributions to IFAD’s initial resources are combined
with those they provided in the six successive replenishments, they have
provided more than US$614 million. This is half of all resources supplied by
OPEC Members, and 14 percent of total contributions paid by all members.
In addition, GCC Members have pledged a total of US$26 million under the
Seventh Replenishment of IFAD’s resources, which covers the three-year period
from 2007 to 2009. These contributions are fundamental bricks in the financial
structure that has enabled IFAD to finance more than 730 loan-supported
projects and more than 1,360 grant-supported programmes until the end of
2006. These activities are making a difference in the lives of more than
300 million of the poorest rural people in 115 countries. Among these people,
millions of poor rural families in the Arab and Islamic countries have been
enabled to take steps to improve their lives and those of their children.
GCC leadership helps to focus IFAD investment
in OIC Member States
Working in partnership with governments and other financial institutions, IFAD
has played an important role in helping poor rural people in most of the
57 Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC),
including the 22 members of the League of Arab States. As of the end of 2006,
IFAD has invested about US$4 billion in some 300 projects in OIC Member
10
countries, worth a total of US$12 billion, to benefit over 100 million poor rural
people (see Table 1). This represents 43 per cent of IFAD’s total investment
(US$9.5 billion) in rural poverty eradication throughout the world.
In many OIC countries, rural poverty is a growing phenomenon. With a
fragile natural resource base, limited physical infrastructure and a high rate of
demographic growth, rural areas suffer from deteriorating socio-economic
conditions and generate labour migration to urban areas. Poor rural
communities have limited access to productive assets, including land, water and
other natural resources, know-how and appropriate technologies, markets for
their produce and credit and other financing services. Poor rural women often
have little say in decision-making processes on issues that affect their lives and
are marginalized and isolated. The scarcity of arable land and water and the harsh
climate in many OIC countries, particularly in the Near East and North Africa,
present significant barriers to overcoming poverty. In these areas it is difficult to
break the cycle of poverty that occurs when rural dwellers are forced to adopt
extreme measures for survival, including deforestation, overgrazing and
overcultivation. These extreme measures ultimately degrade the land making it
harder and harder to survive.
Breaking a vicious cycle in Morocco
Nowhere is the link between poverty and the environment more pronounced than in the
fragile ecosystems where inhabitants are often forced to degrade their natural resources in
their struggle for survival. IFAD’s efforts to break this vicious cycle have often led to the
development of innovative, replicable models.
A striking example is the Livestock and Pasture Development Project in the Eastern
Region of Morocco, which was established in 1991 after a long period of drought. Finding a
balance between reducing rural poverty and achieving the sustainable management and
conservation of natural resources, on the one hand, and intensifying livestock production to
meet Morocco’s demand for red meat production, on the other, were major challenges.
At a total cost of US$47.7 million, including an IFAD loan of US$14 million, the project has
had a positive impact on the livelihoods of thousands of poor rural households.
Despite five years of drought between 1997 and 2001, more than 460,000 hectares of
pastureland were rehabilitated, and over 60 watering points were repaired or installed.
Thanks to better veterinary services, reaching over 800,000 sheep and goats a year, ovine
mortality decreased from 6 to 2 per cent. Project achievements include organizing herders into
44 range users’ associations, introducing improved local herding practices, including range
control, and increasing awareness of the need to use pastoral resources rationally and adopt
conservation practices.
The second phase of the project began in November 2004 with a greater focus on
diversifying herders’ incomes and improving marketing capacities, particularly those of
female herders.
11
Halting sand dune encroachment on farms in Yemen
Yemen is one of the world’s poorest countries. Poverty affects more than 30 per cent of the
population. It is mainly a rural phenomenon; over 80 per cent of Yemen’s poorest people live
in rural areas.
The arid Tihama plain is the country’s most important agricultural area. In the early 1990s,
IFAD concluded that wind erosion, sand dune encroachment and the overextraction of
groundwater were jeopardizing previous agricultural investments in the Tihama plain and
threatening the livelihoods of thousands of poor rural people. Among these investments was
IFAD’s Tihama Development Project III (Wadi Mawr), funded by an IFAD loan of US$11.4 million
and US$12.7 million in cofinancing from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
In April 1993, IFAD approved a loan to finance the Tihama Environment Protection Project to
prevent further encroachment of sand dunes on farm land, to increase efficient water use for
cropping and livestock in the areas most threatened by sand dune encroachment, to boost
livestock productivity, to enhance the local capacity for environmental protection and
management and to improve women’s literacy, family health and nutrition standards. The total
cost of this seven-year project – US$11.7 million – was partially financed by a highly
concessional IFAD loan of US$9.8 million.
A total of 20,600 households in 47 villages with a high concentration of sharecroppers and
farm labourers have benefited from the project. The project has established sand dune
stabilization belts, as well as on-farm “shelter belts” – trees or shrubs that act as wind barriers –
and associated infrastructure, such as wells, irrigation systems and access roads. In villages
under the immediate threat of sand dune encroachment, the benefits of protection are clear: these
communities still exist, while others that were not protected from the dunes have been buried
under sand. Village communities now manage the shelter belts and derive additional income from
the sale of wood and other products. The on-farm shelter belts have managed to reduce the
damaging effects of wind on crop cultivation, while the water used to irrigate the fields sustains
the crops. Several environmental protection and development associations have been established
at the village level to manage and finance the sand dune stabilization belts in the future.
12
Dynamic approaches to addressing rural poverty
As land and water become scarcer, many among these poor populations become
environmental refugees, migrating to neighbouring lands and urban centres.
Projects designed and supported by IFAD in Member States share the same basic
approaches: they address the needs of the most vulnerable poor rural people,
strongly encourage their participation in decision-making processes and focus
on building the foundations for sustainable development. Fundamental to this
approach is the belief that poor rural people must direct their own development
if poverty is to be eradicated.
IFAD invests in solving problems that are defined by the farmers themselves.
Farmer participation is the basis not only for defining the problems needing
attention, including non-agronomic problems, but for the selection, application
and evaluation of solutions. IFAD introduces sustainable patterns of land and
water use, helping farmers attain incremental production growth, while reversing
land degradation. IFAD’s gradual evolution away from large-scale irrigation projects
towards the promotion of small-scale water control and water harvesting activities
is based on lessons learned through the participatory methodologies that
characterize its interventions. These lessons show that poor farmers are better able
to manage, maintain and benefit from water schemes that fit the pattern of their
local organizations. Thus, in many countries, water users’ associations are
important in mobilizing farming communities to increase productivity.
IFAD places resource-poor farmers at the centre of its research and extension
systems. It invests in the development of more effective research and extension
services that involve farmers in dynamic learning processes. Two-way linkages
between research results and extension application are also provided by the
farmers themselves, who join in participative, on-farm research and share their
findings with other farmers. This approach combines the traditional knowledge
of farmers with new technologies and practices developed by scientists.
Improved pastoral-management and rangeland-conservation practices have
helped herders restore the regenerative capacity of rangelands and improve the
quality of natural animal feeds. Several IFAD-supported projects have enhanced
pastoral management and rangeland conservation, fostering sustainable land and
water use, combating environmental degradation, assisting people displaced by
drought, and building infrastructure. Local conditions and needs determine the
focus of each project, as well as the means to achieve project objectives. These
means may include credit for investing in productive enterprises both on- and
off-farm; microenterprise development; better access to improved technologies;
services and training in more effective farm, off-farm and rangeland practices; and
strengthening the capacity of national and local institutions to serve poor rural people.
13
Generating knowledge,
innovating and supporting
the replication and scaling up
of solutions
Knowledge is critical to the level of empowerment acquired by poor rural people.
Knowledge is essential to poor rural people in improving access to natural
resources, technology, markets and financial services, as well as influencing
policies that affect their livelihoods and their future.
In partnership with GCC Member States, IFAD has evolved from supporting
mostly area-based projects delivering physical outputs to designing and financing
programmes that revolve around “system-building” operations. These operations
focus on organizational and institutional development and related linkages,
including the broader institutional and policy reform processes (for example, rural
financial services, microenterprise development, community-driven development
and commodity chain development).
IFAD’s new generation of programmes are more knowledge intensive. They are
designed to generate knowledge and innovation and to support the replication and
scaling up of successful approaches. In fact, IFAD’s grant-financed regional
programmes are designed to spur socio-economic progress far beyond the local
boundaries of IFAD-supported activities. These programmes adapt specific skills,
focus on strategic knowledge areas and support systematic knowledge management
within IFAD and among its development partners, including GCC-supported
international financial institutions and other development institutions operating
in the Arab and Islamic countries.
From microcredit to rural financial services
IFAD’s early path-breaking efforts in microcredit included support for the Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh in the late 1970s, replication of the Grameen Bank’s
methodology in Asia and the development of village funds in Mali that were
replicated elsewhere in Africa in the early 1980s. These early innovations helped
the international development community to understand the potential of financial
services for unleashing the power of poor rural people.
15
Successive IFAD innovations have moved on to supporting the development of
entire financial systems that work for the poor in remote areas. Some of these
innovations are at work in Asia where the evolution of microfinance services is
boosting rural economies and contributing to wider economic growth. IFAD is also
contributing to a wider replication of microfinance solutions in the Arab region.
Microfinance in the Arab region
In the Near East and North Africa, where the microfinance sector is relatively
young, financial services are today reaching out to poor rural people. In the past,
IFAD has worked mainly with state-owned agricultural banks in the region and
engaged in capacity-building in the area of microfinance, in collaboration with the
Near East and North Africa Regional Agricultural Credit Association. But, more
recently, IFAD has been working with some of these banks to extend their outreach
to poor rural people. It has also established partnerships with institutions such as
the Social Fund for Development in Egypt and has supported locally-based
multilateral financial institutions and savings and credit associations.
The region is poised for an expansion in financial services for poor people, and
IFAD is working to grasp this opportunity by building institutional capacity to
provide these services. IFAD is working with leading international organizations,
such as the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and ACCION
International (a non-profit global network in microfinance), to support the
development of a rural financial sector that is responsive to the needs of poor rural
people in the region. IFAD’s pilot programme with ACCION supports assessment
and preparatory efforts to engage commercial banks in rural microfinance in
several countries in the region.
IFAD is joining with CGAP in a regional partnership programme to support the
development of a pro-poor rural financial sector in the Near East and North Africa.
Under this programme, in which IFAD is investing US$1.2 million, the newly
established regional technical hub of CGAP, in Amman, Jordan, will support
IFAD’s interventions in rural finance in the region through technical backstopping,
capacity-building, knowledge management, policy advocacy, and networking.
Through CGAP, IFAD will also promote relations with organizations specialized in
facilitating the development of rural financial services for poor rural people.
In many Islamic developing countries, local financial institutions are now operating
in remote and disadvantaged areas. Yet, many poor rural people still lack access to an
array of financial services, including credit for enterprises, safe ways to save, the ability to
transfer funds to family members, insurance against sickness or other household
disasters, and other ways to reduce their vulnerability to risk. The challenge today is to
engage more types of distribution systems, more technologies and more talent to create
financial systems that work for poor rural people and boost their contribution to
economic growth. IFAD has defined innovation in remittances services as one area with
immense potential for contributing to the fight against rural poverty.
The role of remittances
The World Bank estimates that the value of migrant remittances sent home by formal
financial mechanisms totalled more than US$160 billion in 2005. The actual size of
remittance flows may be as much as 50 per cent higher if unrecorded flows through
16
informal channels are also included. Today, remittances represent the second largest
inflow of foreign capital to developing countries, just behind foreign direct
investment. The Gulf area is one of the most important sources of remittances from
migrant workers.
The impact of remittance services is enhanced when the services are linked to
other financial services such as savings, insurance and lending. Promoting inclusive
financial systems and innovative partnerships between rural financial institutions
and remittance operators has important benefits for poor rural people, including
the reduced cost of sending and receiving remittances. IFAD's new Financing
Facility for Remittances, established with support from the European Commission,
aims to bring remittance services into the rural development arena. Extending the
coverage of this Facility into the Gulf region could offer migrant workers from
rural areas of developing countries an opportunity to enhance the effect of their
remittances back in their country of origin.
Pro-poor research without frontiers
IFAD-funded research has helped resource-poor farmers increase crop quality and
yields and prevent environmental degradation in the dry areas. Funded primarily
through grants, it is often conducted in partnership with leading international and
regional agricultural research centres affiliated with the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), as well as non-CGIAR research
partners. These investments promote the generation, validation and dissemination
of growth-enhancing and environment-preserving technologies. They focus on
unleashing development in less-favoured areas by addressing the key technical,
socio-economic and policy constraints faced by poor rural people. The benefits of
IFAD-funded research often reach beyond IFAD’s target group to other groups,
communities and sectors across entire regions.
Improving the management of marine resources
in the Red Sea
The overall goal of the US$4.8 million Marine Resources Management Programme in the Red
Sea is to improve the management of fisheries and other marine resources in the Red Sea by
institutionalizing comprehensive improvements at the national and regional levels. The
programme will benefit about 30,000 households in artisanal fishing communities who
struggle with encroachment in their fishing zones by industrial fishing because of the
absence of appropriate management policies related to marine resources.
With an IFAD grant of US$1 million and US$600,000 from OFID, the programme seeks to
develop a regional coordination mechanism for the effective governance of Red Sea marine
resources, enabling artisanal fishers and small fishing entrepreneurs in poor local
communities to boost their incomes in an environmentally sustainable way. By establishing a
regional coordination forum for seven countries on the Red Sea – Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan and Yemen – the programme will support sustainable fishing
activities as well as help meet the demand for marine resources created by growing markets.
17
IFAD-supported research
benefits GCC countries
Over the past three decades, IFAD has invested more than US$110 million in
agricultural research and technology transfer in the Near East and North Africa.
Some 167 grants worth US$98 million and representing 89 per cent of the total
value of the grants extended for research and capacity-building in the region have
directly or indirectly benefited GCC countries. Financing for applied research
accounts for over 66.3 per cent of all grants, while training and capacity-building
represent about 22.5 per cent.
IFAD’s grant investment in research and capacity-building contributes to the
successful implementation of IFAD’s loan-supported projects in the region. As a
result, there have been significant achievements in agricultural productivity,
environmental stability and food security that have enabled IFAD to contribute to
development in the entire region. The spillover effect of IFAD-funded pro-poor
research has contributed to the ongoing evolution of the agricultural and food
processing sectors in the entire region, including the GCC countries. The generation
and validation of improved technologies have significantly increased the range of
options open not only to smallholders but to the entire agro-food private sector
throughout the Near East and North Africa.
These results were made possible by partnerships among IFAD and CGIAR and
non-CGIAR research institutions and development organizations in the region.
These include the research programmes of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid
Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), the Arab Organization for Agricultural
Development (AOAD), the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean
Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the International Center for Agricultural Research in
the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA),
the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC), the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
(CIMMYT) and the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARSs).
19
Pro-poor research benefits the entire region
Major research programmes funded by IFAD and conducted by ACSAD and
ICARDA, in close collaboration with the regional NARS, have improved the
productivity and incomes of small farmers who rely on rainfed crop and livestock
production systems. In addition, the wide application of the research results and the
spread of knowledge have contributed to agricultural development throughout the
Near East and North Africa, including GCC Member States.
New varieties generate higher yields
Most of IFAD’s early grants focused on commodities, developing new varieties and
technology transfers. They achieved significant improvements, including the release
of many new varieties with higher and stable yields and higher levels of pest
resistance and pest tolerance. For example, between 1980 and 1999, in
collaboration with ACSAD and the NARS in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, the Syrian
Arab Republic and Tunisia, the IFAD-supported research programme generated
151 new improved varieties of cereals. Later varieties demonstrate improvements in
performance under moisture and thermal stress and against disese and insects. The
programme’s high-yielding improved varieties of wheat developed by ACSAD were
introduced in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s and contributed to a substantial
increase in the country’s wheat output in the mid-1980s.
Another wheat research programme that has had far reaching effects on the entire
region, including Saudi Arabia, is IFAD’s West Asia and North Africa Dryland
Durum Wheat Improvement Network. Implemented through ICARDA, the
programme increased the productivity of durum wheat in dry areas. This effort was
expanded through a second grant programme, the Programme to Foster Wider
Adoption of Low-cost Durum Technologies for Increased Income and Improved
Household Food Security of Smallholders in Less-Favoured Areas of West Asia and
North Africa.
Since 1995, IFAD, along with Arab Fund, has supported a regional adaptive
research project for the development of integrated crop and livestock production in
West Asia and North Africa, the Mashreq-Maghreb project.* This multi-component
project seeks to improve small ruminant (sheep and goats) production systems and
build the integration of crop and livestock production on a sustainable basis.
Bedouin farmers adopt new technologies
A generation ago, natural pastures and rangelands satisfied a large proportion of
the feed needs of the small ruminant population. Today, cultivated grains like
barley, crop residues and the supplemental feeding of concentrates have to meet a
far greater proportion of these demands. Feed resources have been reduced because
of overgrazing, the cultivation of rangelands for crop and tree production and the
* The Mashreq region comprises
Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and
the Syrian Arab Republic and
extends eastward into Iraq. The
Maghreb region includes Algeria,
the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
Morocco and Tunisia.
20
removal of vegetation for fuel wood, which results in soil erosion. Recent prolonged
droughts in many countries have also had a severe effect on agro-pastoral
communities, which have limited coping strategies and few sources of alternative
income. Research through this programme has identified available and potential
technologies and management strategies for developing improved crop-livestock
Fighting a deadly threat to traditional Arab date production
To save hundreds of thousands of trees at risk, the Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Programme for the Control of the Date Palm Red Weevil, Stem Borer and Grubs in the Near
East and South Asia developed new biocontrol technologies that use lethal insect parasites
such as entomopathogenic nematodes, pheromones and other micro-organisms that
naturally fight off insects but have limited or no adverse effects on the environment as part of
a holistic approach to integrated pest management. With an IFAD grant of US$1.0 million and
US$3.2 million in cofinancing from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Arab
Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), the programme developed and applied
cost-effective and environmentally sustainable technologies to combat the devastating
impact that pests like red palm weevils, borers and grubs have had on date palm production
in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Building on the achievements of the Date Palm Research and Development Network
programme, an earlier IFAD-supported intervention, the IPM programme, capitalized on key
biocontrol technologies, including the trapping of weevils and the release of local “killer”
fungi to manage the weevil population. Working with national extension officers, the
programme was able to test, validate and share area-specific IPM systems with participating
farmers. The programme also launched an important capacity-building component that
involved training regional and national staff in applied research. The programme led to the
establishment of well-trained national teams to undertake research and develop nematode
production facilities and strengthen links between national programmes and advanced
international institutions, such as the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
and CAB International.
The Date Palm Research and Development Network programme was also cofinanced by
IsDB and IFAD and launched in 1991 to bridge knowledge gaps and strengthen regional
scientific capacity in traditional tree crops. In particular, the programme focused on four major
research topics: the selection and mass-propagation of high-yield varieties, led by the
National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in Morocco; improved production techniques
and integrated pest management, led by NARS in Egypt; post-harvest technologies and
marketing, led by King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia; and socio economic research and
information exchanges that cut across the entire programme network, led by the Arab Centre
for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands.
The second phase of the programme, the Red Palm Weevil Integrated Pest Management
Programme in the Gulf Countries, is currently being implemented to further develop the
tested biotechnologies and focus on the eradication of the red palm weevil in the GCC
countries, as well as Yemen.
21
production systems based on the integration of local, on-farm feed production, the
more efficient use of alternative feed sources and the improvement of livestock
management, health, nutrition and reproduction. The project has successfully
achieved its goals, and governments have shown a growing interest and enthusiasm
in the approach and its applied strategy. They have been particularly encouraged by
the wide acceptability of the approach and the adoption by Bedouin farmers of the
technological packages developed under the project.
Private sector brings lower cost feeds to poor rural farmers
One of the main components of this project has been the development and
dissemination of feed-block technology. Feed blocks are multinutrient feed products
made using local agro-industrial by-products and other ingredients that may be
easily manufactured at the farm level or at the industrial level. Because it is a
pro-poor and valuable alternative source of feed, feed-block technology has the
potential to improve the livelihoods of communities that depend on livestock
production. It also represents a cost-effective option for combating rangeland
degradation and the loss of biodiversity due to overgrazing. Feed-block technology
has rapidly spread throughout the Near East and North Africa.
Controlling the Date Palm Red Weevil
The IFAD-supported Date Palm Research and Development Network was aimed at
strengthening the scientific capacity in pest management and the mass propagation
of high-yield varieties of traditional date palm trees. The US$3.5 million programme
run by ACSAD, included an IFAD grant of US$1 million. Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal
University was involved in the development of improved post-harvest technologies
and marketing. The resulting know-how and skills have benefited both the
traditional palm tree growers and private-sector investors, especially where improved
post-harvest techniques, packaging and marketing are concerned.
The programme has provided a strong base for the development and
implementation of another IFAD-supported programme, the Integrated Pest
Management Programme for the Control of the Date Palm Red Weevil, Stem Borer
and Grubs in the Near East and South Asia.
Network multiplies economic benefits from camels
Another example of IFAD-supported programmes that have benefited the GCC
countries is the Camel Applied Research and Development Network (CARDIN).
The US$4 million programme, including an IFAD grant of US$1.5 million,
integrated national and international research on camels into a single research
network with a well-defined focus on the problems confronting poor camel herders
in the entire region. Among the scientists from cooperating national agricultural
research systems, Saudi Arabian scientists also participated in the research, which
has had a broad socio-economic, as well as bio-physical focus on improving the
efficiency of camel production systems in the region. The programme has
strengthened the national and regional capacity to draw greater economic advantage
from this important animal.
22
Introducing new technologies to boost forage
crop production
The four-year Programme for Saving Freshwater Resources with Salt-tolerant Forage
Production in Marginal Areas of the West Asia and North Africa Region, launched in
collaboration with the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in
early 2005, seeks to increase local forage and animal feed production to replace forage
imports. The programme is introducing improved technologies for the use of saline water in
the mass cultivation of salt-tolerant forage crops and horticulture in West Asia and North
Africa. Saving freshwater resources through salt-tolerant forage production in marginal areas
of West Asia and North Africa represents a new frontier in agricultural research and a
substantial contribution to food security in the region.
The programme is based on previous ICBA research that has shown that forage produced
by irrigation with saline water can lead to sustainable agriculture on marginal land and
rangelands and provide an important opportunity to boost the incomes of poor rural herders
and small livestock entrepreneurs. At the same time, saline-water irrigation can help increase
the production of meat and dairy products by increasing the feed availability for livestock.
The programme, at a total cost of US$4.1 million, including an IFAD grant of US$1.35 million,
is cofinanced by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, OFID and the
Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture undertaken by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research through the International Water
Management Institute. In addition, the National Agricultural Research Systems in seven
countries – Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic and
Tunisia – and ICBA are providing in-kind contributions, mainly human resources and
facilities. The expected increase in the use of salt-tolerant plant cultivation in the arid and
semi-arid regions facing scarce water resources will reduce the demand for much of the
fresh water needed for human consumption.
23
Supporting the agricultural sector in the Arabian
Peninsula through ICARDA research and human
development activities
From 1995 to 2000, IFAD and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development jointly
financed a programme of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA): Strengthening Agricultural Research and Human Resource Development in the
Arabian Peninsula. The programme aimed to increase food security in the region by
optimizing the efficient use of water, conserving natural vegetation, preventing soil
degradation and strengthening the cooperation between participating countries and regional
and international organizations. The programme addressed three priority areas that were
identified by seven Arabian Peninsula countries: rangelands, water and protected agriculture.
Human resource capacity-building was another major activity of the programme, and this has
contributed greatly to improved capacity for research in the region.
• IFAD, the Arab Fund and OFID provided financial support for another ICARDA
programme, the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Improvement of
Major Production Systems of the Arabian Peninsula – Phase II. The programme was
designed to develop more productive and sustainable rangeland and irrigation
production systems and to encourage the efficient use of water, energy and indigenous
plant species in the Arabian Peninsula. Priority indigenous grass species have been
identified in most countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Shrub species have also been
identified in the northern part of Saudi Arabia. Seed multiplication fields for indigenous
grasses are now established in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Yemen.
• With the support of IFAD, the Integrated Production and Protection Management
Programme was developed and implemented by ICARDA in all the Arabian Peninsula
countries to provide greenhouse growers with simple techniques for crop production,
thereby reducing the use of hazardous chemicals. A newly developed soilless vertical
growing system for strawberry production was adopted in Kuwait, Oman and Saudi
Arabia. In this new system, strawberry production per square metre was doubled, and
the production season was extended. The new system provides higher returns on
investment, as well as major savings in water, fertilizers and labour.
The programme also developed new techniques to protect cucumber crops and to manage
irrigation and “fertigation” – fertilization through irrigation – for greenhouse crops and made
them available on the Internet in Arabic. To enhance the incomes of farmers living on the
mountain terraces of Yemen, the programme introduced the cultivation of cash crops in
greenhouses. The use of drip irrigation was a new intervention that was of particular interest
to farmers working on terraced land because of the scarcity of water.
With the support of IFAD, ICARDA has trained around 420 individuals from various
countries in the Arabian Peninsula from 1996 to 2002. A successful seed technology unit was
established in the United Arab Emirates in 2002, and another one is being established in
Oman to promote the seed production of indigenous forages.
24
Fighting animal diseases
The Programme for the Establishment of a Regional Animal Disease Surveillance
and Control Network (RADISCON) in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arab
Peninsula is contributing to the development of livestock products to satisfy a
growing market demand. As a follow-up to the IFAD-initiated Regional Large-scale
Biological Control Programme for the New World Screwworm in North Africa,
which was successfully completed in June 1992, RADISCON aimed at eradicating at
least three animal diseases of major economic importance in the region: foot-andmouth disease, which concerns the whole region and is a threat to Europe, the
rinderpest in the Middle East, including Egypt and the Sudan, and brucellosis, a
disease shared by animals and human beings that is endemic in the region.
These animal diseases take a significant toll on the potential benefits of
livestock production. With an IFAD grant of US$1.25 million, the programme has
increased livestock productivity by reducing disease prevalence and promoting
trade in healthy animals and safe animal products. The scientific findings of both
CARDIN and RADISCON programmes were reviewed by the International
Workshop on the Sustainable Use of Rangelands and Desertification Control
organized by IFAD, in collaboration with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Agriculture
and the Meteorology and Environmental Protection Administration, in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, in November 1996.
The findings of RADISCON have contributed to the development of the
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Improvement of Major
Production Systems of the Arabian Peninsula – Phase II programme. This
programme was completed in June 2006 and benefited Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. It applied an integrated technologydevelopment and transfer approach that focused on two production systems:
open-field irrigated production systems and range-forage-livestock-based systems.
The goal is to rationalize and sustain use of the limited water resources and the
fragile rangelands of the Arabian Peninsula.
Other IFAD-supported programmes, of which Saudi Arabia and the other
GCC Members have been major participants, include the programme on Technical
Information Services for Fisheries Development in the Arab States, the IFADsponsored Review of the Fisheries Sector in the Gulf and the Programme for
Strengthening Agricultural Research and Human Resource Development in the
Arabian Peninsula.
Ongoing regional research programmes
As of the end of 2006, 61 research and capacity-building grants with direct or
indirect benefits to GCC Member countries worth a total of US$39.8 million are
ongoing or have been approved for implementation in the Near East and North
Africa. Programmes supported by these grants are under implementation, mostly
through the CGIAR regional centres and Arab research organizations such as
25
ACSAD, ICBA and AOAD. Among these, the following ongoing programmes
reflect a growing focus on overcoming problems of particular interest to the
GCC subregion:
• Red Palm Weevil Integrated Pest Management Programme in the Gulf
Countries – Phase II
Under implementation by AOAD, the programme aims to eradicate, through
integrated pest management, the pests and diseases that are devastating date
palm trees in the Arabian Gulf countries. It is working to control red palm
weevils, borers and grubs through safe and environmentally friendly biocontrol methods. The goal is to halt the sharp decline of date palm production
over the past decade in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
• Marine Resources Management Programme in the Red Sea
Developed with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
the programme brings together seven countries on the Red Sea in a regional
coordination forum to address the need for assessment and management of
fisheries. It will ensure effective governance and conservation of marine
resources and secure economically sustainable fishing activities for some
30,000 artisanal fishers and about 7,500 local owners of fishing vessels in
Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan and Yemen.
• Community-based Optimization of the Management of Scarce Water
Resources in Agriculture in West Asia and North Africa
Implemented by ICARDA, the programme benefits Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon,
the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab
Republic. It seeks the adoption by farming communities of strategies, tested
technologies and water harvesting techniques for the optimal joint use of
rainwater and scarce water resources in supplemental irrigation systems for
improved and sustainable water productivity in rainfed areas.
• Rational Water Use in the Gulf Countries, a component of the Regional
Water Demand Initiative
Carried out by AOAD, in partnership with the International Development
Research Centre (Canada), the programme focuses on increasing public
awareness about the rational and efficient use of fresh water resources and on
promoting effective water governance in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf countries also benefit from the
other components of the programme, including institutional capacity-building
and support for research on communities and water policy issues.
• Programme for Saving Freshwater Resources with Salt-tolerant Forage
Production in Marginal Areas of the West Asia and North Africa Region
The programme, which is being implemented by ICBA, will develop
improved technologies for using brackish saline water in salt-tolerant forage
production in Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian
Arab Republic and Tunisia.
26
Regional capacity-building benefits GCC countries
IFAD’s institutional capacity-building efforts help to ensure that its programmes and
projects meet their objectives by ensuring that the right skills and knowledge are
available and that enabling environments are present. IFAD has conducted many
capacity-building initiatives in the Near East and North Africa. Non-recipient
countries such as the GCC Member States have sometimes benefited from
programmes that match their own. Recently, for example, nationals from
GCC countries participated in training courses under the Near East and North Africa
Management Training in Agriculture Programme. GCC trainees have participated in
two pilot training courses held in the Sudan on effective practices in the
management of rural development projects and monitoring and evaluation.
GCC trainees have also participated in training courses held in Amman, Beirut and
Damascus in 2006.
Under IFAD’s Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Programme in
the Arabian Peninsula – Phase III, the results of research in the Arabian
Peninsula are being disseminated and scaled up in cooperation with the
ministries of agriculture in the GCC countries. A new grant to the Qatari Ministry
of Agriculture will support capacity-building at the Regional Center of Plant
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. The objective is to improve institutional
capacity to support an incremental increase in food production in the GCC
countries and in the Arab region.
These kinds of programmes are contributing to the comprehensive development
of the agricultural sector and the socio-economic advancement of rural
communities in the region. More know-how and strengthened capacities for the
development of agricultural economies, in turn, create more favourable conditions
for greater private investment in these sectors.
Repairing farm land and livelihoods
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
A war from 1992 to 1995 left the largely rural country of Bosnia and Herzegovina in tatters.
The country’s infrastructure and economy were devastated and millions of people were
displaced. When people did finally return to their homes, many discovered that their land
and livestock had been destroyed or stolen.
IFAD and the Saudi Fund for Development jointly supported the US$51 million Small
Farm Reconstruction and Development Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina to build as
rapidly as possible a sustainable foundation for livelihoods and food security among the
country’s most vulnerable people. The primary goals of the project were to support smallscale, private, market-oriented agriculture and to boost agricultural production. More than
4,300 poor rural households participated in the project and benefited from the restoration
of farms, the provision of equipment, livestock, seeds and fertilizers, new employment
opportunities and repaired rural infrastructure. The project specifically targeted returning
refugees and farmers who had suffered significant damage to their farms.
27
Cooperation with
GCC-supported financial
institutions
IFAD has strong operational partnerships with the bilateral financial institutions
of GCC Member States, as well as multilateral financial institutions in which GCC
Members have a prominent leadership role. Activities include cofinancing projects,
joint programme development, the supervision of IFAD-supported projects and
policy dialogue.
Cofinancing partners include the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Arab
Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) and the Arab Bank
for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), as well as the Arab Fund for Economic
and Social Development, the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development
Organizations (AGFUND), the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the OPEC Fund for International Development
(OFID) and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). Together, these partners have
provided US$879.1 million in cofinancing for 106 IFAD-supported projects.
Collectively, these partners represent 12 per cent of the total cofinancing of IFAD
projects and are IFAD’s second largest source of cofinancing after the World Bank
(see chart on page 30).
Table 2
Cofinanciers of IFAD-supported activities
IFAD cofinancing (US$ millions)a
Arab multilateral financial institutions
721.7
Arab bilateral financial institutions
167.4
b
World Bank
2,802.9
Asian Development Bank
554.4
African Development Bank
107.6
Inter-American Development Bank
400.3
Other cofinancing c
2,305.6
Total
7,059.8
a Discrepancies in totals are
due to rounding.
b Arab bilateral financial institutions
include the Libya Fund.
c Other cofinancing includes
multilateral organizations, bilateral
institutions, NGOs and the private sector.
29
Chart
IFAD cofinancing
African Development Bank
2%
Asian Development Bank
8%
Inter-American
Development Bank
6%
Other Cofinancing *
World Bank
33%
39%
Arab bilateral
financial institutions
Arab multilateral
financial institutions
2%
10%
* Other cofinancing includes multilateral organizations, bilateral institutions, NGOs and private sector.
As of the end of 2006, the partnership activities and contributions of these
institutions to projects cofinanced with IFAD are as follows.
GCC bilateral financial institutions
IFAD and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
As the oldest Arab development financing institution, the Kuwait Fund was among
the first to cofinance rural development projects with IFAD. Established in 1961 as
the State of Kuwait’s agency for providing financial and technical assistance to
developing countries, the Kuwait Fund loans focus on agriculture, transportation,
energy, industry, water and sewers, and communications. The Kuwait Fund’s
operations of direct relevance to IFAD’s assistance programmes in the Arab region
and beyond cover agriculture and irrigation, water resources and transportation. The
Kuwait Fund provides advisory services on the technical, financial, economic and
legal aspects of projects, programmes, development policies and institutionbuilding, and identifies opportunities for cofinancing.
The Kuwait Fund has provided US$53 million in cofinancing for three IFAD
projects, worth a total of US$537 million, including IFAD’s investment of
US$31 million, in Burundi, Morocco and Yemen. The Tihama Development Project
III (Wadi Mawr) in Yemen, which fought sand dune encroachment on farms,
successfully focused the partners’ strengths to deliver results. Following the
resolution adopted by the 26th GCC Summit, held in Abu Dhabi in December
2005, to establish a Special Fund for Yemen, the formulation of a new partnership
between IFAD and the Kuwait Fund has been underpinned by the completion of a
joint country programme review in Yemen, followed by a new country strategic
opportunities paper.
30
Using soil and water conservation measures to fight
poverty in Jordan
The Yarmouk Agricultural Resources Development Project was launched in Jordan in 2000
to improve food security and rural incomes by combating degradation and restoring soil
fertility, thus allowing poor rural people to use land and water resources more sustainably.
IFAD, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and OFID each provided cofinancing for the
US$28.2 million project.
To realize its objectives, the six-year project provided technical and financial support to
poor rural people – most of whom are farmers – living in the country’s Yarmouk Valley. The
project enabled participating farmers to adopt soil and water conservation measures and
to improve their agricultural production practices. It also promoted improved access to
credit for on- and off-farm enterprises and strengthened the capacities of agricultural
directorates in the project area to provide better technical support and extension services.
As a result, some 2,480 households in the area have been able to increase their incomes
and improve their quality of life. The project’s innovative participatory approach to
managing and conserving soil and water resources has ensured the sustainability of
agricultural production in the area and empowered the poorest people by improving their
access to productive resources and directly involving them in decision-making processes.
31
IFAD and the Saudi Fund for Development
SFD was established in 1974 as the external development agency of the Saudi
Arabian Government responsible for supporting social and economic development
in developing countries. It provides untied, concessional loans, giving priority to the
least developed countries. SFD operates within the policy framework of recipient
governments. It has a sectoral focus on development in transportation,
communications, power generation, agriculture and social infrastructure. SFD
considers agriculture in developing countries as a priority sector with the potential
to reduce poverty and contribute to food production and employment. Within the
agricultural sector, SFD emphasizes land and irrigation development and improved
rural infrastructure.
SFD has provided US$50 million in cofinancing towards three IFAD-supported
projects, worth a total of US$570 million, including IFAD’s investment of
US$32 million, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mauritania and Morocco. The Small
Farm Reconstruction and Development Project for Bosnia and Herzegovina
highlights the complementarity of the roles of IFAD and SFD in the parallel
financing of components, whereby tens of thousands of small-scale hill farmers who
lost their cattle in the recent war were able to benefit from much-needed rural
infrastructure and productive assets.
Supporting rural livelihoods in Yemen
The Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND)
provided US$300,000 in cofinancing for the Southern Regional Agricultural Development
Project in Yemen to improve the living conditions of more than 670,000 poor Yemeni
farmers and their families. IFAD also invested US$2.3 million in the project.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. The US$28.6 million project,
which was approved in 1987 and closed in 1996, worked to improve health and
nutrition standards among poor rural families by increasing agricultural productivity
and farm incomes. The project provided support for improved irrigation and tree
nursery development, access to fertilizer supplies and veterinary services for
livestock, monitoring the impact of agriculture on the environment, and technical
assistance and training. The project also worked to improve the participation of poor
landless people in agricultural production, as well as enhance their access to land,
water and other productive resources.
IFAD and other financiers supported the establishment of rural financial services in
the project area by constructing rural branches of the Cooperative and Agricultural
Credit Bank. An important feature of the project was to provide rural women with
extended services to build their capacity to help themselves and their families through
supplementary incomes. The project also supported the establishment of civil society
organizations to involve poor farmers in social and economic decision-making.
32
IFAD and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development
The Abu Dhabi Fund is the agency of the United Arab Emirates responsible for the
disbursement of bilateral development aid through concessional loans and grants
across all social sectors, including housing, health, education and agriculture. The
Abu Dhabi Fund was among the first of the Arab international financial institutions
to cofinance IFAD-supported projects in the late 1970s and continues to engage in
partnership with IFAD through the ongoing Yarmouk Agricultural Resources
Development Project in Jordan.
The Abu Dhabi Fund has contributed a total of US$54 million to cofinance
four projects, worth a total of US$628 million, including IFAD’s investment of
US$50 million, in Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Yemen. IFAD and the
Abu Dhabi Fund have engaged in an operational review of cofinancing
opportunities that would contribute to accelerating efforts to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals, with a primary focus on reducing poverty in the
Near East and North Africa.
Providing relief and development opportunities
for the Palestinian people
In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Palestinian Authority, IFAD initiated a
broad-based agricultural development strategy in the late 1990s. The seven-year
Participatory Natural Resource Management Programme was established under the
strategy. As the first major agricultural investment programme undertaken by the Ministry
of Agriculture, the US$24.9 million programme works to contribute to the peace process
by supporting relief and rural development in the Palestinian Territories. IFAD has helped
finance the programme with a US$7.8 million loan.
The programme works with some 3,600 poor rural households in 146 villages in Gaza
and the West Bank to create new employment opportunities and boost their incomes by
increasing their access to productive resources in the area. The programme is also
empowering rural women to play a more active role in decision-making by ensuring their
participation in programme committees to design and oversee programme implementation
at the village level.
Following a period of suspended activities due to political tensions, programme
implementation has resumed, with local NGOs now playing a greater role. The United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
are also collaborating with programme implementation. The programme has received
cofinancing from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, as well as from the
Palestinian private sector, which has played a key role in developing rural financial
services throughout the area.
33
Fighting poverty and supporting peace prospects in Gaza
and the West Bank
Following the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993, the international donor
community pledged considerable development assistance to the Palestinians living in Gaza
and the West Bank to create an environment conducive to peace and security in the region.
IFAD was one of the first international financial institutions to invest in socio-economic
activities for the local population and to focus on poor rural communities. In 1994, IFAD
launched its first intervention, the Gaza Strip and Jericho Relief and Development
Programme, which was followed by the Participatory Natural Resource Management
Programme and a small grant to the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees to help
establish women’s savings and credit groups. These interventions were cofinanced by
several donors, including Belgium, Italy, Japan, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social
Development, and implemented by American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), with
additional help from various local and international NGOs.
In 2002, following a long period of economic decline due to an exasperating political
situation and border and internal closures, IFAD decided to formulate a new phase of the
project to address the immediate needs of the poorest rural communities, while contributing
to their longer-term development. With support from the Arab Authority for Agricultural
Investment and Development and other cofinanciers, the Rehabilitation and Development
Project in Gaza and the West Bank has fostered a revived rural economy in Gaza and the
West Bank by creating new employment opportunities, improving access to social services
and focusing on institution-building in the area.
The project’s activities have included rebuilding damaged rural infrastructure, such as
village water supplies, access roads and bridges, health clinics, schools and community
centres, consolidating women’s savings and credit associations, providing business
development guidance and entrepreneurship training and extending credit to small farmers
and fishers.
A special fund has also been established to receive and disburse additional cofinancing
from other donors. This additional cofinancing is allocated to core project activities or to
other activities identified by the communities but not included in the project because of a
shortage of resources.
34
Opening up market opportunities for cash crops
in Rwanda
The Smallholder Cash and Export Crops Development Project was launched by IFAD and
the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in 2003 to help increase the
incomes among 28,000 poor rural households in four provinces in Rwanda by improving
tea and coffee yields. At a total cost of US$25.1 million, including US$16.3 million from
IFAD, US$5.7 from BADEA and US$3.1 million from the Government of Rwanda, the project
is assisting coffee and tea growers to set up cooperatives that produce and process
Arabica coffee and high-quality tea. The project is also working to privatize one of the
state-owned industrial plantations and redistribute it to 4,000 poor smallholder
households, about half of which are headed by women.
For marketing purposes, the project makes use of Twin Trading Ltd., a fair trade
organization created to provide small producers with better returns on their production.
Twin Trading performs quality control at its tasting laboratory, manages the project’s
nurseries and provides producers and cooperatives with training, information,
management support and access to specialized niches within the fair trade market.
Cooperative processing associations are expected to be able to raise the prices paid to
producers by 100 per cent for tea and 30 per cent for coffee. From April to June each year,
the Sakara coffee washing station in Rwanda’s province of Kibungo bustles with activity.
Coffee growers in the nine surrounding areas come to weigh their crops. For the
845 members of Iakab, the association that manages the washing station, it is the
beginning of a fruitful season.
The history of Iakab is by no means unique. Many communities have resumed
cultivating crops grown before the genocide, and all communities are trying to heal the still
painful wounds of the past.
35
GCC-supported multilateral financial institutions
IFAD and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development
AAAID was established in 1976 as an independent intergovernmental agricultural
investment institution. Its membership is composed of 19 Arab States. It supports
the development of agricultural resources to maximize food production and
increase the exchange of agricultural products among Arab countries. It finances
and implements projects and other activities necessary for or complementary to its
investment and development activities; and conducts agricultural research and
undertakes studies with the objective of achieving food security in the Arab world.
So far, the authority has provided US$1.4 million in cofinancing for one IFADsupported project, the Rehabilitation and Development Project in Gaza and the
West Bank.
IFAD and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa
BADEA was established by Arab governments in 1973 to promote economic, financial
and technical cooperation between African and Arab countries. GCC countries supply
most of the Bank’s resources. The Bank provides concessional financing mainly for
project feasibility studies and institutional support relating to economic development
projects in African countries. It helps stimulate the contribution of Arab capital to
African development through technical assistance grants.
The bank has provided US$27 million to cofinance three IFAD-supported projects
in Rwanda, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, worth a total of US$261.6 million, including
IFAD’s investment of US$46.2 million. The projects, as evident in the case of Rwanda,
reflect the complementarity of roles and strong collaboration between the two
institutions in support of Africa’s economic recovery and poverty reduction efforts.
IFAD and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
The Arab Fund, an autonomous pan-Arab development finance organization, extends
project loans and grants to governments and to public and private organizations and
institutions on concessional terms, giving preference to projects that are of vital
importance to the Arab world and to joint projects involving Arab cooperation.
The Arab Fund is the largest cofinancier of IFAD-supported projects in the Arab
world. Against an IFAD investment of US$191 million, the Arab Fund has provided
over US$300 million for 16 projects worth a total of over US$1 billion in ten Arab
countries. The operations of the Arab Fund of direct relevance to IFAD’s assistance
programme in the Arab region are in agriculture and irrigation, rural infrastructure,
transportation, water, and social services like education and health care. The Arab
Fund gives higher priority to large-scale investments in national health and
education and in large-scale irrigation projects. IFAD’s focus on community
development complements the Arab Fund’s focus on infrastructure. The
cooperation in rural development programmes through which the two institutions
engage in parallel financing, especially in the above-mentioned sectors, is evident
in IFAD’s Rehabilitation and Development Project in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Arab Fund has supervised a large number of IFAD-supported projects in the
region, including four ongoing projects in three countries: Jordan, the Syrian Arab
Republic and the West Bank and Gaza.
36
IFAD and the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations
Development Organizations
Established as a regional development institution in 1980 through the initiative of
His Royal Highness Talal bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, with the support of GCC Member
States, the AGFUND provides assistance for sustainable development efforts targeting
the neediest people in developing countries, particularly women and children. The
AGFUND supports initiatives with a strong impact on the development process,
including initiatives aimed at improving educational and health standards, reducing
poverty and building institutional capacities. So far, the AGFUND has provided
US$300,000 in cofinancing for one IFAD project, the Southern Regional Agricultural
Development Project in Yemen.
IFAD and the Islamic Development Bank
IsDB supports social and economic development among its 55 member countries
and Muslim communities in non-member countries by promoting financial services
and poverty reduction. Among its members, the bank promotes cooperation,
capacity-building and the preservation of the environment. Its project cycle is similar
to that of IFAD, and it supervises between 85 and 90 per cent of its own projects,
while the rest are supervised by the other international financial institutions with
which it cofinances projects, such as the African Development Bank, the Asian
Development Bank and the World Bank.
In the agricultural sector, IsDB has been increasing its support for integrated rural
development projects focusing on rural infrastructure, small- and large-scale
irrigation, water conservation and water management; microcredit, rural credit and
rural financial services; and technical assistance at the sectoral level.
Cofinancing of IFAD Projects, 1978-2006 (US$ million)
350
300
302.3
289.3
250
200
150
101.9
100
54.3
50
52.7
50.4
27.0
0.9
0
0.3
Arab Gulf Programme for
United Nations Development
Organizations
Arab Authority for Agricultural
Investment and Development
Arab Bank for Economic
Development in Africa
Saudi Fund
for Development
Kuwait Fund for Arab
Economic Development
Abu Dhabi Fund
for Development
Islamic Development Bank
OPEC Fund for International
Development
Arab Fund for Economic
and Social Development
37
IsDB has provided US$192 million in cofinancing for 15 projects, worth a total
of US$523 million, including IFAD’s investment of US$186 million, in Africa, Asia,
Europe and Latin America. IFAD’s Income-Generating Project for Marginal Farmers
and Landless – Phase III (P4K – Phase III) in Indonesia reflects the synergies
obtained by cooperation microfinance.
IFAD and the OPEC Fund for International Development
OFID is an intergovernmental development finance institution that was established
in 1976 by the then 13 Member countries of OPEC. OFID promotes cooperation
between its Member countries and other developing countries as an expression of
South-South solidarity. It supports the social and economic advancement of lowincome countries.
Over almost three decades, IFAD and OFID have crafted a unique partnership
that transcends financial cooperation. The partnership is rooted in a common goal:
enabling poor people, especially those living in rural areas, to secure a better life.
IFAD and OFID work together to design, finance and implement development
programmes and projects in some of the poorest and most vulnerable rural
communities in developing countries. These joint initiatives benefit from
complementarity: OFID generally supports rural infrastructure development, while
IFAD focuses on agricultural support services and investment.
OFID has provided about US$274 million in cofinancing for 58 IFAD projects,
worth a total of US$1.4 billion, including IFAD’s investment of US$650 million, in
Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. In addition, the two institutions have joined
forces to provide grant financing for research that improves the quantity and quality
of agricultural production by testing new seeds and better breeds and farming
methods that respond to the needs of poor rural people. The jointly financed
Development Project in the Zone Lacustre in Mali shows the complementarity of
this partnership.
38
Bringing prosperity to the countryside in Mali
In Mali, the third poorest country in the world, 63.8 per cent of the population live under
the poverty line, mainly in rural areas. Most poor rural people are not able to fully
participate in the country’s social and economic life because of environmental pollution,
diminishing water resources, limited access to education, malnutrition, and more.
The US$10.95 million Development Project in the Zone Lacustre was implemented
between 1986 and 1996 in the country’s poorest area in northern Mali to ensure food
security and boost rural incomes through improved land and water management.
IFAD cofinanced the project with US$6.7 million, and OFID provided US$2.7 million
in cofinancing.
More than 4,200 households participated in the project, which managed to develop
20,000 hectares of lakes and ponds, as well as several irrigated village vegetable plots.
A number of village associations were also created and supported literacy training among
the members.
39
IFAD’s current and
future investments target
youth unemployment
and water scarcity
The high rate of unemployment, particularly among young people, is one of the
most pressing challenges faced by countries in the Near East and North Africa.
Average official unemployment rates in the region are about 13 per cent. In
some countries, the jobless rates among young people are twice as high as for
the greater population. Recent analyses show that the region is lagging behind
other developing regions in poverty reduction, economic growth, trade reform,
private-sector development, governance and democratization, and gender equity.
This has a direct impact on poverty rates, especially in rural areas.
Over 95 million rural people in the region live on less than US$2 a day, and
about 65 million live in absolute poverty below US$1 a day. Limited natural
resources and socio-economic, policy and institutional constraints all contribute
to rural poverty in the region. In terms of natural resources, the Near East and
North Africa is one of the driest regions in the world: good arable land is
limited, acute water scarcity is widespread, and droughts are frequent. Lack of
water poses a serious challenge to agricultural development and to the potential
of agricultural growth to reduce rural poverty.
These regional constraints are at the heart of the efforts of GCC bilateral and
multilateral development institutions. They also directly and indirectly affect the
Gulf area.
Driven by country strategies developed in consultation with governments,
donors and other partners, IFAD's operations in the region’s recipient countries
address these constraints. They focus on managing land and water in ways that
reduce poverty and empower poor rural communities. IFAD’s current lending
programme in the region amounts to about US$160 million for 2007-2009.
This investment may generate additional cofinancing of about US$400 million
over the same period.
41
IFAD’s experience in the region has shown that, with proper support, local
people are able to manage on a sustainable basis the natural resources on which
they depend. This is a great incentive for increasing its investment in regional
agricultural research and technology transfers that benefit not only poor rural
people, but the entire region, including non-recipient countries of IFAD such as
the GCC Members.
IFAD is increasing the quantity and quality of regional research programmes
and expanding links between the research agenda and the solutions needed to
overcome the region’s constraints over the period 2007-2009. It will complement
this expansion with greater investment in microfinance services and small
enterprise development in rural areas. These efforts will create greater market
opportunities and contribute to the improved performance of local economies,
resulting in more employment for youth and socio-economic progress.
Post-conflict reconstruction helps rebuild lives
in rural Lebanon
In 1993, IFAD approved the Smallholder Livestock Rehabilitation Project in Lebanon to
rehabilitate the country’s livestock sector after 15 years of civil war. The war devastated
the livelihoods of thousands of small livestock herders, including many poor rural women.
An IFAD loan of US$9.96 million helped to partially finance the US$21.9 million project.
About 8,500 households in the Bekaa Valley were able to realize their productive potential,
thanks to the project’s assistance in rebuilding lost herds, replacing existing stock with
improved breeds and strengthening animal health services to increase milk production,
thereby reducing the local area’s dependency on imported milk.
The project focused on the role of women in livestock, especially among households
headed by women, and provided participants with training opportunities, know-how and
access to microcredit to launch income-generating activities. By the end of 2004, the project
had helped to establish 16 rural women’s cooperatives, four milk collection cooperatives,
24 farmers’ cooperatives and a large programme for cooperative credit delivery.
42
Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional
Development Institutions
Founded in 1975, the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional Development
Institutions has eight member bilateral and multilateral development institutions. Its goal is to
provide greater cohesion and effectiveness in the delivery of Arab aid. The group places great
importance on collaboration and partnership in combating poverty and promoting development.
Group members are:
• Abu Dhabi Fund for Development
• Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa
• Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
• Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations
• Islamic Development Bank
• Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
• OPEC Fund for International Development
• Saudi Fund for Development
Collectively, the group has extended more than US$76 billion in development assistance to
130 countries, facilitating the cofinancing of large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams,
water basins, electricity facilities and connecting roads.
Since 1978, the group members and AAAID, which is one of IFAD’s partners in the region,
have cofinanced 104 IFAD-supported projects worth about US$5 billion in 56 developing
countries. IFAD’s investment of US$1.1 billion in these projects has been accompanied by
more than US$865 million supplied by group members and AAAID.
43
Contacts
Vera P. Weill-Hallé
Director
Resource Mobilization Division
IFAD
Via del Serafico, 107
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 5459 2706
Fax: +39 06 5459 3706
E-mail: [email protected]
Fawzi Rihane
Programme Manager
Resource Mobilization Division
IFAD
Via del Serafico, 107
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 5459 2394
Fax: +39 06 5459 3394
E-mail: [email protected]
Printed in January 2007
Via del Serafico 107, 00142 Rome, Italy
Tel.: +39 06 54591, Fax: +39 06 5043463
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ifad.org, http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org