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Rural poverty approaches, policies & strategies in Azerbaijan

With the assistance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Government of Azerbaijan issued a poverty reduction strategy paper in 2002. The State Programme for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development (SPPRSD) 2006 to 2015 builds on this document and represents the long-term government strategy for poverty reduction in the country. Its goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and food insecurity and reduce overall poverty by 10 per cent by 2015, by fostering macroeconomic stability and growth in non-oil-based sectors.

The government recognizes the importance of developing the agricultural sector as a counterbalance to the rapidly growing oil and gas sector, and as a means of reducing differences in living standards between urban and rural areas. It will allocate a growing portion of oil revenues to develop rural areas and encourage the private sector to invest in rural development. The government has the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in major food items by 2015. Development priorities include:

• continuing land reforms

• legalizing property rights and developing land markets
• rehabilitating irrigation and drainage systems
• introducing participatory irrigation management through water users’ associations
• improving access to rural financial services
• developing marketing channels and processing industries
• building the capacity of farmers’ organizations
• promoting non-agricultural employment-generating enterprises

• improving infrastructure for agriculture and introducing new farming technologies

Azerbaijan state programme for poverty reduction and economic development, 2003-2005

Source: IFAD