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Rural poverty approaches, policies and strategies in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Since 1999 the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been redefining its agricultural, rural development and poverty reduction policies.

Special social programmes, called misiones, are the main instrument of government action for generating new and better ways to achieve sustainable economic integration of poor rural people. A high level of public spending for social purposes (14 per cent of the GDP) reflects the priority the government attaches to addressing the country’s underlying social problems. It also makes the country one of the region’s leaders in social spending. For several years rising oil prices and an overvalued exchange rate have been the basis of the strong growth of the economy, which might mask some underlying deficiencies. With growth now beginning to slow and inflation on the rise, these deficiencies might become more evident. How the government deals with them could have far-reaching economic and political consequences.

As part of its strategy, the government has moved to reinforce state institutions so they can support and work with other members of society in defining and executing policies and programmes for rural development and poverty reduction. The government has moved forward with decentralization, transferring many functions and resources to local governments. Through local communal councils for public planning, grass-roots organizations participate in local planning and budget preparation. The law gives municipalities and communities responsibility for managing their own fiscal resources, allowing them to play a much greater role in identifying their needs and priorities and finding their own solutions. Current IFAD projects are training rural communities to enable them to take an increasingly active and informed part in local communal councils.

The objective of the government's National Agricultural Food Production Plan for the XXI Century is to increase food production substantially to satisfy domestic demand. The plan is designed to promote competitiveness of agricultural products, guarantee food security, generate employment and wealth, improve the living conditions of the rural population, promote socio-economic development of small and medium-size farmers, and improve and expand social programmes targeting poor rural people. The plan includes strengthening the capacities of the Ministry of Popular Power for Agriculture and Land and reaching a favourable balance of trade.

In designing its rural development and poverty reduction policies, the government has worked closely with IFAD, maintaining a constant and systematic dialogue based on the experiences of IFAD-financed projects in the country.

Source: IFAD