Most of the world’s poor live in rural areas
In recent decades some rural populations have started to enjoy a widening choice of livelihoods. However, for most people grinding poverty remains a reality faced with every day. In fact, the inherent problems of underinvestment in rural areas, illiteracy and lacking infrastructure loom larger than ever. Now, new threats emerged in form of changes in agro-ecological conditions due to climate change, desertification and the drop in agricultural yields. No development challenge ranks higher on the global agenda than the eradication of poverty and hunger.
In recent decades international development assistance was often diluted by overlaps, duplication and rivalry between donor organisations - to the detriment of partner countries, impeding a greater integration of donor assistance with country-led sector strategies.
In response to this 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 (ARD), 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 ARD 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 ARD 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 41 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 ARD. The Full Members and Associate Members 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. |
