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Poor rural people manage vast areas of land and forest. They have the potential to be important players in protecting natural resources and providing important environmental services. An IFAD-supported project has helped build momentum and public interest in rewards for environmental services and has developed ways to offer incentives to poor farmers who protect ecosystems at the national level in China, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines and Viet Nam.

In Indonesia of the mid-1980s, nearly 37 million people lived in absolute poverty with incomes below the equivalent of 320 kg of rice per year. Millions of smallholders, farmers, farm workers and fishermen were materially and financially unable to tap into the opportunities offered by 20 years of economic growth in the country and, with no collateral, there was no hope of obtaining a bank loan

Australian Volunteers International (AVI) is Australia's largest international volunteer sending agency. This non-profit organisation receives funds from the Australian Government's Agency for International Development (AusAID), besides other support from the wider Australian community through fundraising, donations and sponsorships. Every year, AVI recruits, prepares and supports hundreds of Australians who volunteer to live, work and learn alongside people of other cultures in developing countries

“Assalamu'alaikum, in the name of God most gracious and most merciful, this is Nila Megasari and you are listening to 97 FM, MBS radio. Here are today's stories about the adventures of the pink elephant and his friends the cats, for the students at Kalisari elementary school.”

The mothers of Banjar Sari in Indonesia beam with pride as they watch their children performing in the primary school play. But the mothers are more than entertained by the young actors, they are also learning valuable lessons about the importance of boiling water, washing their hands before preparing food or eating and disposing of refuse properly.

Like most of the women in the village of Asolo in Southeast Sulawesi, Budiarthi used to spend two to three hours fetching water several times a day from the nearby river. Besides the fact that it was time-consuming, the river water was unsafe and caused many health problems for the villagers, such as diarrhea, skin diseases and hepatitis

Gender Equality Policy Principle: Achieving gender equality requires the recognition that every policy, program and project affects women and men differently.

In Indonesia, the Ministry for the Role of Women is making great strides in integrating gender equality into government-wide decision making. The Ministry coordinates policies, plans and programs involving women, and this CIDA project helps support them in that role with training, technical support and resources. In the 6th Five-Year Development Plan, Indonesia incorporated a gender policy that moved beyond the focus on women's family and community/volunteer roles to address their roles in decision-making, science and technology, economic development and environmental management and conservation.

Ever greater numbers of farmers across Asia are working together in specially organised Farmer Field Schools (FFS) to learn about the ecology of their fields, enabling them to make and implement decisions that are safe, productive and sustainable. This knowledge allows farmers to free themselves from a dependency on agrochemicals .

This parable is based on Oxfam's experience of working with small-scale rice farmers in Indonesia.

Here we investigate how a network of Indonesian rice producers developed a secure market for their product