Global perspective Human stories

Rural poor worldwide to benefit from over $200 million in UN funding

Rural poor worldwide to benefit from over $200 million in UN funding

media:entermedia_image:a44909a2-9ee4-4353-bab5-3b6f410917c0
Poverty eradication efforts in developing countries are set to receive a cash injection of over $200 million from the United Nations rural development arm this week to help off-set the impact of the global financial crisis.

The new set of grants and loans from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will finance rural micro-finance projects, livestock support initiatives and natural resource management schemes among others.

Some 60 per cent of IFAD’s ongoing programmes already promote rural financial services and institutions that help give the rural poor access to global markets and help them cope with shocks such as unexpected severe weather patterns and commodity price volatility.

“Protecting and increasing the access of poor rural people to financial services is all the more important as the global financial crisis bites and as remittances shrink,” said IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze.

The IFAD executive board has approved more than $131 million in loans and $63 million in grants along with around $9 million in grants to international research centres and intergovernmental organizations.

Projects in Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, China, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, India and Mali will benefit from the funding, as well as institutions, including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Since 1978 IFAD has invested over $11 billion in grants and low-interest loans, helping approximately 340 million poor rural people increase their incomes, build livelihoods and have a voice in decisions affecting their lives.