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Three-quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas.
Even as some rural populations have started to enjoy a widening choice of livelihoods during the last decades, grinding poverty remains.
The inherent problems of under-investment in rural areas, illiteracy and lack of infrastructure loom larger than ever. Urgent new threats have arisen in the form of changes in agro-ecological conditions due to climate change, the relentless spread of desertification and the resulting drop in agricultural yields. No development challenge ranks higher on the global agenda than the eradication of poverty and hunger.
During the last decades, international development assistance was often marked by overlaps, duplication of efforts and rivalry between a multitude of donor organisations, resulting in substantial burdens on our partner-countries and impeding a greater integration of donor assistance with country-led sector strategies.
Responding to this situation, the  OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) drew up detailed recommendations for an improved harmonisation and alignment of development assistance which were endorsed by donors and partner countries alike in the  Rome Declaration on Harmonisation of February 2003, and the  Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of March 2005.
Within agriculture and rural development (A&RD), the aid effectiveness agenda is especially important: Based on the understanding that addressing the needs of rural people is crucial if the  Millennium Development Goals are to be met, joint and effectively coordinated approaches to support development in rural areas are essential. Given the complexity of A&RD with its close links to e.g. infrastructure, social protection, education, research, ecology, trade and the central role of private actors as the main driving force for growth in the agricultural sector, the development of joint approaches in A&RD demands an intensive and continuous dialogue, not only between donors and partner countries but also with the private sector.
It is recognised within the development community that no single agency can address all the needs of the rural poor in a world of competing development agendas and limited financial resources. A new way of doing business is required, within the donor organisations as well as in the partner countries and their institutions. We have to “get the rural development agenda right”.
Therefore, in 2004, in line with the recommendations on harmonisation and alignment by the Development Advisory Committee (DAC) of the OECD, like-minded donor nations, development agencies and international finance institutions agreed to establish a strategic alliance to increase overall aid effectiveness in agriculture and rural development – the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development.
The Platform now unites 39 multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, development banks, international agencies, research institutions and networks, representing about 80% of international ODA and substantial knowledge and expertise in the field of A&RD. The members and associate memberss of the Platform have joined forces to translate the principles of the Paris Declaration into practice — in the partner countries as well as at headquarter level — thus paving the way for harnessing the full potential of coordinated aid delivery.
For a brief overview of the Platform, please also refer to the  Global Donor Platform Flyer. |
