© IFAD	Going organic to revitalize dying cocoa industry in São Tomé and Príncipe Just nine short years ago, cocoa producers in São Tomé and Príncipe were suffering badly under falling global prices for their precious crop. Many of them simply abandoned their cocoa plantations, while others cut down the trees to grow maize or other crops. Thanks to IFAD and its partners, nearly 1200 of them are now growing organic cocoa for the international  organic chocolate industry. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Tanzanian warehouse receipt scheme Rising food prices are having a devastating effect on the poorest people, particularly smallholder farmers in developing countries. A short video being screened during the Second Consultation Session on the Eighth Replenishment illustrates what can happen when smallholder farmers get access to both credit and storage facilities for their grains and what impact that can have on rural incomes and food security. The video features the IFAD-supported Agricultural Marketing Systems Development Programme (AMSDP) in Tanzania and a warehouse receipt component that enables smallholder farmers to store their harvest and then sell it when prices improve. While waiting to sell their grain, farmers can also use it as collateral to borrow cash from a credit cooperative. Watch video: Quicktime | Realplayer | Windows Media Player
© IFAD	Recharging Mount Kenya, the country’s largest water tower Mount Kenya is a vital source of water for the area’s agriculture, fisheries and livestock production and is strategic to the country’s economic development. But environmental degradation and changes in climate are threatening the mountain that is the country’s ‘largest water tower’. Protecting the environment has become a priority for the government and for local communities. An IFAD-funded project is supporting their efforts to restore vegetation cover, conserve water catchments and sources, and improve farming practices. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Turning the tide on poverty for Mozambique’s artisanal fishers Fighting rural poverty is a multifaceted challenge. It is about increasing the incomes of poor rural people, and providing them with access to safe water, health and education. It is about transferring knowledge and know-how. And equally important, it is about implementing policies that empower people to overcome poverty themselves. An IFAD-funded project is making headway on all these fronts in Mozambique. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Small-scale farmers become entrepreneurs Have you ever wondered where the cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes and green beans sitting on supermarket shelves come from? In Mozambique if you shop at Shoprite, Africa's largest food retailer, which has operations in 16 countries, you'll be buying vegetables produced locally by small-scale farmers. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Restoring peace and improving lives in Mali’s northern regions Living conditions are precarious in the northern regions of Mali, where social instability and rebellion are a threat to peace. In a difficult environment, the IFAD-funded Zone Lacustre Development Project improved the living conditions of poor people in the northern regions, including many nomadic households, and helped restore peace in the area. Source: IFAD Read full story...
© IFAD	Boosting farmers’ profits through better links to markets Poor farmers in Tanzania are using mobile phones, e-mail and the Internet to access market information in real time. Market ’spies,’ known locally as shu shu shus, investigate prices and the details of what is selling at local markets, and use their mobile phones to report back to their villages. Soon they might be able to use their phone to access more market information from the Internet. The technology is helping the farmers build better and more collaborative market chains from producer to consumer. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Villagers and aid workers alike benefit from census project in Niger Poor villagers in the Aguié area of Niger are discovering the many, unexpected benefits of keeping detailed records of their households and assets. As part of a new databank system introduced by IFAD in 2005, local people are developing a detailed census drawn from 27,000 individuals in 22 villages. Source: IFAD  Read full story
© IFAD	Training helps octopus fisher build a better life Lima Casimir is a 52 year old and a "piqueuse ourite" - an octopus fisher - who lives on the island of Rodrigues 640 kilometres off the island of Mauritius. Lima's day starts at 5.30 am when she takes her son's boat to go to her breath-taking 'office' - a vast lagoon that opens onto the Indian Ocean. Her office furniture includes a boat and the magnificent coral reefs. To catch the octopus, she uses an iron rod which she wears around her shoulder. The IFAD-funded Rural Diversification Programme trained Lima in how to catch octopus without damaging the coral reefs. Source: IFAD Read full story
© Deutsche Welle TV	Deutsche Welle reports on IFAD project A report on Deutsche Welle TV broadcast Christmas day featured IFAD’s Programme for the Promotion of Rural Revenue (PPRR). Every November the East Coast of Madagascar sees the harvest of lychees, most of which are bound for export to Europe and America for the Festive Season. As stated in the DW-TV report, the programme has helped poor rural farmers to double their incomes by building a commodity chain based around the fruit. Other developed commodity chains include capiscum, honey, rice, maize, fish and rice. After a 2008 evaluation the programme is due to expand to neighbouring regions. Deutsche Welle reaches 240 million households around the world. Watch video: Quicktime | Realtime | Windows MediaPlayer
© IFAD	Tree domestication programme in Africa helps families out of poverty Planting indigenous fruit and medicinal trees has changed the lives of tens of thousands of poor people in rural Africa.  Women are feeding their families, sending their children to school and improving their status at home thanks to a successful IFAD-supported programme. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	Irrigation project transforms Madagascar’s Mandraré region A project supported by IFAD to rehabilitate rice production and develop more efficient farming methods in southern Madagascar has transformed the Mandrare basin from a famine-stricken region into a rice-exporting area. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	How a poor islander became a local leader Maryline Legoff is a rural entrepreneur. She is 35 years old and a single mother with a 5-year-old son. Maryline lives on the island of Rodrigues, 640 kilometers off the island of Mauritius. For Maryline and the 38,000 people who live on Rodrigues, fishing is a way of life. But their livelihoods are threatened by declining fish stocks. Source: IFAD Read full story
© IFAD	How the Kenya Women Finance Trust became a model lender Sometimes, numbers speak louder than words. Six years ago, the Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) was losing around US$290,000 a year. By 2006, it was posting annual profits of US$1.87 million and changing the lives of more than 100,000 poor women. By any standard, this is a remarkable turnaround. But behind the numbers lies an even more remarkable story. Source: IFAD Read full story
© PANOS	Voices from the desert: living with desertification Diramo is 70. She lives in the village of Siminto in Ethiopia where she was born. She grew up as a herder, moving with her family’s animals to find water and food, feeding her children with the milk and meat. But now the abundant grasslands that the cattle fed on are gone and the people are no longer able to migrate in search of pasture. They grow what crops they can but droughts are frequent. Source: IFAD Read full story

UNDP-supported athletes finish their run across the Sahara
Exhausted, sore, sun-scorched, dehydrated, satisfied and proud, ultrarunners Charlie Engle of the USA, Ray Zahab of Canada, and Kevin Lin of Taiwan completed their remarkable journey across the Sahara Desert on Wednesday at the Egyptian Red Sea coast, 20 miles from Cairo, finishing a grueling 7300 km (4580 mile) campaign to raise awareness of the world water crisis and broader poverty.
Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
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Monica has clean water
As one of 15 wives of a Masai Chief, Monica Mhadi's life has always been better off than other women in her village in rural Tanzania. Even so, she lost four of her seven children because of poor sanitary conditions. Luckily,such tragedies are no longer an inevitable part of Monica's world.
Source: IFAD/UN Works
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Most of the cocoa beans grown in Ghana are sent to the UK and other countries in Europe where they are made into chocolate. The price farmers receive for their cocoa beans is often very low and few of them can afford to buy chocolate.
Source: Oxfam UK
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Sanem de l'avenir (Gold of the future) - Helping small businesses

Modeste Ouédraogo’s career path has had many twists and obstacles along the way; however he is now clearly forging ahead in his career as a dairy farmer. The son of a farmer, Modeste decided in 1997 to buy four locally bred cows, using some money he had saved. After putting his small herd of cattle into production, he realized he needed to modernize and become more efficient.
Source: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
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Creating opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs in Ghana

When it started in 1997, the Nsawkaw Cashew Nut Processing Company was a small enterprise that bought cashews from farmers in the central Brong Ahafo region of Ghana and sold them to larger markets. Now with a loan from the Government of Ghana, the company is adding a warehouse to its operations and teaming up with other small-scale cashew firms in the area, allowing it to operate with a workforce of 40 women and bringing more local farmers into cashew growing.
Source: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
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Local approaches work best in poverty reduction

Those closest to the ground know their communities the best. This is the philosophy underpinning the successful partnership between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Government of Ghana to support local poverty reduction efforts.
Source: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
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Fertilizer trees: an innovative way to boost food production

In Southern Africa, inorganic fertilizers are often too costly for the rural poor.

Without access to fertilizers, farmers struggle to grow food for a growing population. At the same time, a host of related issues such as deforestation, land degradation, soil erosion, local climate change, and loss of biodiversity all hasten the decline of soil fertility.
Source: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
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