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Rural poverty approaches, policies & strategies in Guatemala

The peace accords in 1996 marked a turning point in Guatemala's development, opening up a new era of political and social stability, and laying the foundation for the establishment of an adequate framework for economic development. The Government of Guatemala is working to accelerate the modernization of the economy and ensure that poor people also benefit from economic growth. Its top priorities are the reduction of poverty, recognition of the rights of indigenous people and women, and the social and economic development of rural areas. Under the peace accords, the government agreed to increase social investments in rural areas, with measures that include implementing a land redistribution programme and modernizing the democratic state, with an emphasis on decentralization and civil society participation.

The national development plan presented by the newly elected government that was inaugurated in 2008 incudes a commitment to sustainable economic development, poverty reduction and the development of rural communities and indigenous peoples. Building a country strategy for rural development and strengthening the government’s partnership with IFAD are key elements of the plan.

The government plan is based on solidarity, governance, productivity and regionalism. Through renewed rural development and poverty reduction policies and strategies the government will meet the challenges presented by:

• changing socio-economic conditions in Guatemala and the Central American subregion in the context of trade liberalization and international agreements
• the increased vulnerablility of some regions to natural disasters, as a consequence of degraded natural resources
• the impact of external economic shocks and climate change on the production capacities of smallholders and landless farmers

Under the National Rural Development Programme, the ProRural programme will expand its coverage to 125 municipalities in 2009. It will:

• operate seven national programmes for development in the agriculture, energy, tourism and handicrafts sectors
• coordinate the execution of ongoing and forthcoming IFAD-financed programmes in the northern, north-western, western and central/eastern regions

Source: IFAD