IFAD - LED SOLUTION EXCHENGE
FORUM
Presentation by:
Abdelkarim Sma
Regional Economist,
Near East, North Africa and Europe
Division, IFAD
Solution 1: Jordan, Initiating and maintaining income
generating activities for Jordanian women.
Goal and objectives: The initiative targeting women in southern Jordan is tapping traditional
knowledge and the sustainable use of local resources to initiate small scale enterprises capable
of generating monthly incomes of 250 USD. These activities have the potential to raise
household incomes, improve livelihoods, and strengthen the independence of women.
Institutions involved: Agriculture Credit Cooperative (ACC) and Mu’tah University
Outputs:
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Number of women receiving training: 1300
Number of women establishing enterprises: 400
Total investment in enterprises: 1.5 million USD
Cost of each enterprise: 500 – 5000 JD
Participatory approaches: including women in the project design helps to effectively identify
needs, the availability of resources, and existing expertise and knowledge.
Initial assessments: household economic surveys help to prioritize target beneficiaries;
marketing assessments help to identify potential customers and markets.
Solution 2: Jordan, Rehabilitating irrigation canals and
olive orchards boosts farmers income in Jordan
Goal and objectives: to promote widespread improvement of water delivery systems and
rejuvenation of old olive trees in spring-fed irrigation systems in Jordan and in other
environments with similar conditions, so to increase the amount of water available to
farmers.
Outputs:
• 500 hectares of olive orchards rehabilitated
• 65 kilometers of cement canals and plastic pipes installed to deliver water from 115 springs
• Water losses reduced by up to 75%
• Olive yields increased by up to 100%
• Farmers income from olives increased by up to US$1800 per hectare per year US$450,000
for rehabilitating and establishing canals and plastic pipes
• US$290,000 for rejuvenating old olive trees
Replicability in involving farmers in identifying and prioritizing the problems they face. Identify and engage
with key innovative farmers to demonstrate interventions and encourage others to follow suit.
Solution 3: Shifting to Conservation Agriculture to build
resilience to climate change
Conservation Agriculture is a concept for resource-saving agricultural production that strives to
achieve acceptable profits and high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving
the environment. It is based on enhancing natural biological processes above and below the ground.
Goal: to enable the poor rural people to raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience
Objectives:
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to provide innovation around climate change, through the promotion of climate smart agriculture that
will enhance adaptive capacity of especially small-scale farmers in locations that are increasingly
susceptible to climate shocks. The objectives consequently aim at increasing investments in the rural
economy and strengthening climate adaptive capacity for the poorer sections of society, leveraging the
experiences of past interventions and introducing innovations where appropriate.
to increase the capacity of all beneficiaries and partners concerned with agriculture and agro-forestry
(agriculture producers, agriculture associations, extension organizations, research/academic, forest
managers, governmental agencies, and NGOs) to address climate change impacts and implement
adaptation measures.
In addition, the climate change component triggers a policy process that boosts conservation
agricultural adoption, mainstream conservation agriculture into rural development and planning, and
supports small-scale private agro-forestry investments.
Implementing Organizations and Partners and
outputs
Countries involved: the Government of Moldova
Outputs:
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Sustainable Agricultural has been proven to be a solution that reduces the effects of hazards on
agriculture and also feasible in various climate, relief and soil conditions.
Conservation Soil Tillage is a relatively new system which provides a solution to farmers thanks to
the following advantages: it preserves the soil moisture, reduces soil loss from water and wind
erosion, reduces production costs, provides food and cover for wildlife and soil organisms and
finally yields are rather stable under the climate stress. In addition, the system supports the
diversification of crops and reduce farmers’ dependence on monocultures that are more
sensitive to climate change.
The adaptive capacity of farmers and other practitioners to cope with CC risks is enhanced
The institutional capacity and policy environment for climate resilient agriculture and soil
protection are enhanced
Information on the CC adaptation and mitigation benefits of sustainable agriculture and agroforestry is generated to increase awareness, mobilise public support for conservation agriculture,
foster policy dialogue and disseminate results.
Solution 4: Lebanon, Small hill lakes: Innovative approach
for sustainable water harvesting
Goal and objectives: Increased quantity of reliable water supply through construction of
reservoirs and water harvesting structures, irrigation facilities and improved water
management. This is considered the key factor contributing to increased productivity.
Country involved: Lebanon
Institutions involved:
• The Ministry of Agriculture
• The Green Plan
• Farmer groups and Water Users Associations
• Municipalities
Implementing Organizations and Partners and
outputs
Outputs:
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Small hill lakes (reservoirs) were constructed, ranging in size from 20 000 to 50 000 cubic meters, and medium
size hill lakes between 50 000 to 100 000 cubic meters, on a pilot basis, for storing water from springs, runoffs
and harvested water for irrigation by small groups of farms.
The project provided water for lands which were left fallow due to shortages of water.
Interest for re-cultivating the abandoned areas is low except when the introduction of irrigation was possible.
Cropping intensity increased due to project intervention.
Increasing the cultivated land area;
Farmers became more willing in investing in water harvesting techniques such as terracing and small concrete
reservoirs with the support of the project;
The water harvesting techniques and the hill lake design are environmentally sound and thus contributing to
positive environmental impact;
Increasing water harvesting coupled with the use of modern irrigation techniques at the farm level became a
more economical way of increasing water availability, yields, production and income, particularly for the poor
smallholders.
Water conservation measures and modern irrigation are considered as climate change enabling activities
supporting long-term and short-term mitigation measures and adaptation.
Solution 5: Scaling up IFAD Rural Youth Employment
Interventions in the NENA Region
Goal: to increase youth employment in the NENA region by building the capacity of local
institutions to provide financial and non-financial services to rural youth and/or enterprises
that employ them
Objectives:
1. Build the capacity of local financial institutions to develop and deliver five youth-inclusive
financial instruments in rural areas
2. Build the capacity of local financial institutions to develop and deliver five complementary
youth-inclusive non –financial services to support youth employees, entrepreneurs and/or
recipients of financial instruments in rural areas
3. Consolidate and share learning from the project through practical knowledge products and
events that will support the scaling up and replication of youth-inclusive financial and nonfinancial instruments for rural youth
NEN Grant’s Implementing Organizations and Partners
and outputs
Countries involved: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.
Implementing organizations: Making Cents International - Silatech
Local Partners: Morocco: Al Barid Bank
Tunisia: TunInvest or Microcred – Tunisiana/Proinvest
Egypt: Plan Egypt
Yemen: Al- Amal Micorfinance Bank
By the end of the three year project, these services will reach over 15,000 youth, of which 3,750 will
start or grow businesses, and at least 5 SMEs, which will employ over 100 youth.
Outputs:
• Five financial pro-youth instruments tested in NENA countries
• Three models that proved successful in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent
States ("CEN") to be adapted and scaled up in NENA countries
• Capacity-building of beneficiaries in financial services
• Capacity-building of partner financial institutions in risk assessment and upgrading their capacity to
appraise agricultural loans
• Financial instruments piloted in at least two IFAD-supported projects to be designed over the next
lending cycle (2013-2015)
• Knowledge products on the effectiveness of the financial instruments
Solution 6: Decreasing Vulnerability to Conflict in NENA through
Rural Development
Goal: The ultimate goal of the proposed program is to provide policy recommendations on
how policies, investments and, in particular, IFAD-supported rural development programs
can improve the resilience of household and communities to conflict in the NENA region. At
the same time the significant contribution of this effort is that an enhanced understanding of
the various linkages will also contribute towards conflict prevention.
Objectives:
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To identify, test and evaluate the linkages between conflict, rural development and
agriculture;
To identify options on how rural and agricultural interventions can be leveraged to improve
the resilience of the rural poor to conflicts;
To disseminate and mainstream the identified options so that they become solutions in
national and international partners (such as IFAD) strategies and investment programs.
NEN Grant’s Implementing Organizations and
Partners and outputs
Countries involved: NENA region, specifically Egypt, Gaza and West Bank, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia,
Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen
Implementing organizations: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Outputs: The project is starting to influence public opinion and policies: findings have been published by
international media, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, among others.
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The innovative methodological framework developed for this project uses a multi-level framework for
the assessment of the potential links and roles between conflict, food security/poverty and rural
development. The advantage of this multi-level approach is also to explore how policy conclusions
derived at the local level could be reasonably scaled up to deal with national and regional security
concerns.
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The multi-level assessment has also materialized in a multi-layer visualization tool of the data called
“Arab Spatial 2.0”, which aims to improve access to quality information to support decision making and
policymaking in the Arab world. It represent a pioneering interactive tool that allows users to click
through the Arab world–map by map. It provides access data on macroeconomics and governance,
trade, agriculture, water, and energy, poverty, health, nutrition, and access to services; and much more.
Solution 7: KariaNet – Knowledge Access for Rural
Interconnected Areas Network
KariaNet was established as a regional network for the management and sharing of knowledge,
information and experience in agriculture and rural development, so as to enhance the overall
performance and effectiveness of IFAD’s development projects in the NENA region.
Overall Goal: Enhance the effectiveness of development projects and programmes that serve to
enable the rural poor to overcome their poverty.
Primary objective: to develop sustainable mechanisms, using action research and learning, for
sharing knowledge and innovations among rural and agricultural development projects in NENA,
that enable them to improve their performance.
Moreover:
• Build KariaNet II based on the achievements of KariaNet I and expand it to reach more members
in MENA region;
• Implement research projects and community projects to ensure that Knowledge Management
and information products on agricultural development reach a broader audience in MENA;
• Develop and test a business model which will allow to devolve KariaNet II as a sustainable and
viable network.
NEN Grant’s Implementing Organizations and
Partners and outputs
Countries involved: Ten borrowing to IFAD countries in the region: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan,
Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.
Implementing organizations: International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Outputs:
• Knowledge sharing and networking among IFAD and IDRC projects and their partners across MENA
region strengthened
• Thematic and knowledge management networks established and their innovation, research and
learning programs developed and implemented
• Community ICTs platform for knowledge sharing, access and use among small scale farmers’ men and
women is developed tested and validated
• A viable knowledge management network, capacitated in ICT tools and technologies and KariaNet II
devolution successfully accomplished
• In its second phase, this Network embraced ‘open access principles’, and through the use of ICT and
non-ICT tools made knowledge available to its stakeholders, consisting of development practitioners,
government agencies, researchers, private sector as well as national and regional NGOs involved in
rural development. The aim was to link up the knowledge providers and knowledge brokers with
knowledge seekers (two-way knowledge flow) through three thematic networks: a) knowledge
management systems and practices in agriculture and rural development; b) food security; and c) rural
enterprise development.
Solution 8: Promotion of agro-genetic engineering capacities in the
Region and the establishment of the Regional Centre for Plant Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology, Doha, Qatar
The Regional Centre for Plant Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology was established in Doha in
support of Qatar’s efforts to develop the region’s agro-genetic engineering capacities.
Goal: to develop and promote the application of biotechnology in the agricultural sector to address
issues of low productivity and enhance agricultural production and biotech research.
Objectives:
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develop and promote the application of biotechnology in the agricultural sector to address issues of
low productivity and enhance agricultural production and biotech research in Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) and other Arab countries
assist GCC and other Arab countries in strengthening their scientific and technological capabilities in
the field of biotechnology (i.e. Training of biotech Researchers)
serve as a forum of exchange of information, experience and know-how and to act as a focal point of a
network of affiliated (national, sub regional and regional) centers and research institutions in GCC and
other Arab countries (i.e. Information hub)
develop and harmonize biosafety regulations in the GCC countries and eventually other Arab countries
(i.e. Biosafety regulations);
exploit plant genetic resources available in local gene banks and in situ collections using gene markerrelated techniques (i.e. Tissue culture protocols).
NEN Grant’s Implementing Organizations and
Partners and outputs
Countries involved: The Ministry of Environment, Qatar
Outputs:
• Tissue culture protocols were developed for 15 varieties of plant species, consisting of ornamental
plants, endangered desert plants, plants of medicinal value and fruit crops - including those native to
Qatar.
• Technical assistance and capacity building support provided in the area of commercial tissue culture
were crucial for the development of novel plant varieties.
• Strengthen national scientific and technological capabilities in the field of biotechnology.
• The Center will serve as a know-how and information hub for regional centers and research institutions
in Arab countries. By thus helping to increase agricultural production, the Center will contribute to food
security and poverty reduction in the Arab region.
The Centre’s main achievements that can be replicated involve provision of capacity building support
to researchers from GCC and other Arab countries in strengthening their scientific and technological
capabilities in the field of plant genetic engineering and biotechnology. To this effect, the State of
Qatar has played a leading role in the area of commercial tissue culture in the region.
Solution 9: Technology Transfer to Enhance Rural Livelihoods and Natural
Resource Management in the Arabian Peninsula
Goal: to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers through the development and adoption of
sustainable natural resource management technologies focusing on forage production, rangelands
rehabilitation, protected agriculture and related capacity building on water use efficiency.
Objectives:
• improved water use efficiency
• integrated forage, rangelands and livestock based production systems
• intensification and diversification of protected agriculture based production systems
• capacity development.
Institutions involved: The overall cost of the Program, on a grant basis over three phases, amounted
to USD 10.18 million of which 52% was provided by AFESD, 31% by IFAD, 13% by UAE, and 4% by
OFID.
Outputs: (i) substantial water conservation and increased fodder production from the adoption of
water use-efficient indigenous forages, particularly Buffel grass; (ii) reduced use of pesticides; and (iii)
increased yields and income from the adoption of integrated production and protection
management (IPPM) practices and hydroponics
In the context of differentiated agro-ecological conditions and natural resource limitations of the Arabian Peninsula,
all the technologies generated by the Program are either innovative or introduced for the fist time in the region.
Thank you for your attention!