Upload
sebastian-mcmanus
View
214
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Programme priorities for Near East and North Africa
Mona Bishay Director of Near East and North Africa Division, PMD
22-23 April 2008
8th Replenishment
Two sub-regions: NENA and CEN
NENA RegionPopulation: 360 million14 IFAD eligible borrowing member countries
CEN RegionPopulation: 30 million7 IFAD eligible borrowing member countries
16 middle-income countries (MICs)5 low-income countries
Current IFAD operations in the two sub-regions43 ongoing IFAD programmes Total on-going IFAD investment: USD 630 millionNumber of beneficiaries: 12 million
80% of IFAD lending is in NENA
Overview of the NENA region
High economic growth (5%)
Social indicators improved but did not catch up
Overall poverty declined but not rural poverty - Decline in poverty rate from to 31% to 25% (10 years)- 60% of the poor live in rural areas- 54 million poor rural people- Mostly in rainfed and mountain areas- Smallholders, herders, landless, women and youth
High agriculture potential in some countries and skilled labour force
Overview of the NENA region
MAJOR CHALLENGES -The driest region in the world (80% of arable land
in low rainfalls areas)
- Desertification and land degradation
- Low rainfed productivity (wheat yields 50% of world average)
- High population growth (2.3%)
- Region is a net importer of food crops and inputs
- High rates of rural youth unemployment
Vulnerability to climate change
Vulnerability to recent price increases
Achievements of MDGs in NENA
Group I: countries with good progress, in line with MDG targets: Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey
Group II: some progress, but below MDG targets: Algeria, Jordan and Lebanon
Group III: very little progress: Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Iraq and West Bank and Gaza (LDCs)
The poorest countries are those with the least achievements
All countries have been affected by increasing food prices in 07-08
Thematic priorities in the NENA region
Managing land and water resources more effectively - community-based natural resource management- adaptation to climate change: conservation measures
and targeted services
Increasing small farmers’ ability to respond to higher agricultural prices
- better access to agricultural technology (with CGIAR/NARS) - increased investments in rural infrastructure- linking small growers to commodity supply chains
Expanding rural financial services for the poor (women)
Moving beyond the farm: addressing rural youth unemployment particularly among women (off-farm SMEs)
Thematic priorities in the CEN region
Overview
- Declining poverty rates in the last decade
- Wide rural-urban divide
- Some countries have become EU members and others will join soon
Focus of IFAD interventions
- Supporting delivery of rural financial services and small and medium enterprises
- Linking farmers to markets
- Supporting private sector development
Expected results of a higher work programme 2010-2012
USD 250 million 2007-2009 to 400 million in 2010-2012
- Stronger focus on increased agricultural productivity and adaptation measures
- Stronger support to Group III countries in NENA
- Strengthen partnerships with Arab IFIs and private sector
- Focus on knowledge management and scaling up innovations
- Improved sustainability of the programmes through direct supervision/better implementation support
- Achieving larger outreach to the poor: 7 million (15% of the rural poor) estimated beneficiaries
- Deeper impact on household food/nutritional security