Press Release - Department for International Development:
Tackling rural poverty in developing countries
14 March 2007
The Department for International Development’s aid programmes
have helped the rural poor in developing countries. But poverty in
rural areas must be substantially reduced if DFID is to meet its
targets, according to a report out today by the National Audit
Office.
More than 1.1 billion people worldwide are living in extreme
poverty. Around 75 per cent of the world’s poor live in rural
areas. The rural poor tend to be significantly poorer than the poor
in non-rural areas, and have lower rates of access to services such
as education and health.
The Department for International Development has performance
targets designed to contribute to the United Nations’ Millennium
Development Goals, to halve poverty by 2015. Despite trends towards
urbanisation, two-thirds of the world’s poor will still live in
rural areas in 2015 so tackling rural poverty is vital if DFID is
to meet these targets. Under its performance targets DFID already
gives priority to countries which have a higher than average
proportion of rural poverty.
Today’s report looks at how DFID is addressing rural poverty
through its projects and programmes, through its funding of
multilateral institutions and through funding of research.
Over the past two decades, DFID and other donors have
significantly reduced the proportion of funding to traditionally
rural sectors such as agriculture, while increasing the proportion
of funding to economic and governance sectors and to social sectors
such as education and health which benefit both urban and rural
poor. The report highlights that DFID’s expenditure on livelihoods
has remained almost the same in real terms over the past five years
despite an upward trend in country budgets over the same
period.
The report found that DFID is delivering real benefits to the
rural poor. DFID staff reported that three-quarters of its rural
projects and programmes were either ‘completely’ or ‘largely’
achieving their objectives. Nevertheless, the lack of reliable data
at sub-national level in many developing countries means that it is
hard to assess whether rural areas are receiving their fair share
of investment. DFID does not systematically analyse how much of its
aid is reaching rural areas. It estimates, however, that two thirds
of its support benefits the rural poor.
An in-depth understanding of country circumstances is essential
in tackling rural poverty and requires DFID staff to have first
hand experience of the situation in rural areas. The report found a
decrease in the number of staff with explicit expertise in rural
issues and wide variations in the time spent by DFID overseas staff
in rural areas.
DFID also reaches the rural poor through funding multilateral
organisations. Although several bodies did have a clear focus on
rural development, the European Union, the largest recipient of
DFID funding, spends a significantly lower proportion of its
funding on the poorest countries and those with the highest rural
populations. Some multilaterals which do put strong emphasis on
rural development attracted low DFID ratings for effectiveness,
limiting the benefits of DFID’s funding.
The Department spends significant sums on research to help
reduce rural poverty, for example it recently committed £200
million over five years to research into sustainable agriculture.
DFID research aims to reach a wide range of audiences but many
country teams reported that they did not make use of research
either for their own programmes or to influence recipient
government policy.
Among its recommendations, the NAO says that DFID should:
- have a more explicit recognition of the rural poor in its
analysis, planning and monitoring of country assistance to allow
better assessment and adjustment of programmes
- work with development partners to obtain better data while
making full use of existing data to verify the appropriateness of
its plans and give early warning of emerging problems
- employ sufficient expertise on rural development issues within
its advisory groups at the centre and in country offices to ensure
that its programmes are effectively addressing the needs of the
rural poor
- seek closer engagement with country teams on the use of
research, as well as building better dissemination arrangements for
future research projects.
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said
today:
“The rural poor do not always receive as much aid and
assistance as their numbers warrant. Despite urbanisation, the
majority of the world’s poorest people still live in rural settings
and by 2015 two thirds of the poor will still be
there.
“We acknowledge the difficulties in reaching the rural poor. DFID
must continue its good work providing much needed aid to developing
countries, but with a stronger focus on the most vulnerable people
in rural areas.”
Notes for Editors
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 16/07
All enquiries to Donna Watson,
NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7038
Mobile: 07917 555 388