International Fund for Agricultural Development
Rural Poverty Report 2001 –
The Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty

Most of the world’s poor are rural, and will remain so until at least 2035 states the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s new report Rural Poverty Report 2001 – The Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty. The urban-rural gaps in poverty, health and literacy are large and, on the whole, not narrowing. Now that most donors and developing countries are reorienting their policy towards poverty reduction, one would expect investment and aid to concentrate substantially on the poorest countries, and on support for agriculture and rural activity. Yet this is not the case; for example, in 1988-98, aid to agriculture fell by almost two thirds in real terms.

According to IFAD, the poor themselves report distress that stems not only from low consumption but also from ill health, lack of schooling, vulnerability, lack of assets and disrespect from officials. Those who suffer from one of these conditions tend to suffer from others as well. Disproportionately many are rural women, ethnic minorities in remote areas, landless, casual workers or children: poverty and lack of education are inherited conditions. Breaking the ‘interlocking log-jams of disadvantage may require attacking several barriers.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development – Rural Poverty Report 2001 lays out a number of requirements which need to be met if the poor are to overcome the multiple disadvantages they are facing. Specifically, the poor need:

• Legally secure entitlements to assets especially land and water. There is a “tightening squeeze” on rural water supplies, not least because of pressure to divert water to urban areas and industrial uses. Securing more water to help increase the output of staple foods is a major challenge.
  
• Technology. Above all, technology for increasing the output and yield of food staples is needed. Biotechnology must be both employment-intensive and sustainable. The poor must also have the power to participate in decisions, which determine the technology to be used – if not they are unlikely to benefit from its implementation.
  
• Access to markets. This can involve better roads, especially to isolated areas, and improved marketing institutions.
  
• Opportunities to participate in decentralized resource management.
  
• Access to microfinance.

The report adds that a sustainable reduction in poverty calls for creation of a pro-poor policy environment, and allocation of a greater volume of resources targeted to the poor with greater effectiveness. This needs to be complemented by better partnership among government, civil society and the private sector so that the poor are empowered to take responsibility for their own development.

Contact:
IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development
107, Via del Serafico • Rome 00142, Italy
Tel: 3906-54591 • Fax: 3906-5043463 • Email: ifad@ifad.org

The Rural Poverty Report 2001 is available in PDF format on line at www.ifad.org/poverty/index.htm
Copyright © 2001 International Fund for Agricultural Development

Published for IFAD by Oxford University Press

International Labour Organization
ILO’s World Employment Report 2001: Despite Improved
Employment Outlook, Digital Divide Looms Large

Despite improvements in labour market performance in industrialized countries and the growing potential of information technology to create jobs and spur development, the global employment picture remains “deeply flawed” for workers in many parts of the world, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO).

The ILO’s “World Employment Report 2001: Life at Work in the Information Economy” finds that despite the communications revolution taking place in the world today, increasing numbers of workers are unable to find jobs or gain access to the emerging technological resources needed to ensure productivity in an increasingly digitalized global economy. In addition, the latest World Employment Report also finds that, given its different speed of diffusion in wealthy and poor countries, the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution is resulting in a widening global “digital divide.”

The report says that unless this is addressed urgently, the employment aspirations and productivity potential of millions of workers in scores of developing countries cannot be realized. Access to the technologies and ensuring that workers possess the education and skills to use them are the fundamental policies that developing countries need to consider.
Among key findings of the report are:

• As of 2001, as much as one-third of the world’s workforce of three billion people are unemployed or underemployed. Of these, about 160 million people are openly unemployed, 20 million more than before the onset of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and despite strong signs of economic recovery in most of Asia;
  
• The global economy will at least have to maintain its current pace of expansion in order to generate the 500 million new jobs needed during the next decade just to accommodate new entrants to the labour force and reduce the current number of unemployed;
  
• Throughout the world, the major turnaround in employment fortunes has only been in OECD countries where overall unemployment has declined sharply from the double-digit figures of the mid-1990s and even the incidence of long-term unemployment has dipped in recent years, from 35 to nearly 31 per cent;
  
• Despite the phenomenal growth of ICT in the industrialized world and its increasing penetration into developing countries, vast swathes of the globe remain “technologically disconnected” from the benefits of the electronic marvels revolutionizing life, work and communications in the digital era;
  
• ICT provides an “enabling potential” to improve women’s lives. But the report does find that a “digital gender gap” is apparent within countries, as women often find themselves occupying lower-level ICT jobs while men rise to higher paying, more responsible positions.

Other policy considerations

The report reaches a number of other policy conclusions, perhaps the most fundamental of which is the prediction that countries which fail to get on board the digital revolution, or are late starters, face loss of competitive economic strength and market share, as well as possible decline in national income. International assistance and technical cooperation to developing countries will be of value, but what is most needed are coherent strategies and actions at their own national levels.

Other conclusions of the report relate to:

Trade policies

• Governments should encourage the growth of the domestic ICT sector while making imported inputs available at the right prices.
  The international trade regime needs to be sensitive to policies that encourage the growth of the ICT sector in the developing world.

Migration of skilled workers

• Countries receiving highly skilled workers in the digital economy should not neglect the training of their domestic workforce. At the same time, countries of origin should develop policies that encourage for retaining or repatriating their highly skilled workers.
  

Older workers

• More retraining on the job will be needed for the ageing workforce. Policies need to address the older worker in particular with respect to learning opportunities and to guarding against age discrimination in the workforce.
  

New workplace concerns

• Existing laws and policies may need to be reviewed as new workplace concerns are rising - stress, privacy, intellectual property, right of access to communications media. Existing labour market policies and labour laws may not take adequate account of the fact that ICT affects the life at work of women and men differently.
  

Traditional industries

• Application of ICT to traditional industries, agriculture and fisheries for example, could result in important efficiency gains in developing countries.

Contact: ILO Bureau of Publications
Fax: +41.22.799.6938 • Email: pubvente@ilo.org.
Overview and annex sections of the report: www.ilo.org
World Employment Report 2001: Life at Work in the Information Economy
Copyright © International Labour Organization 2001