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afrol.com, 27 July - The Internet can empower the world’s poorest populations to attain their socio-economic potential, as shown by networks financed by the international Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). After 20 years of combating rural hunger and poverty, IFAD – a Rome-based specialized agency of the United Nations – has learned that the experience of poverty in today’s knowledge-based global economy means more than lacking access to productive resources and capital but also information. Known for its use of innovative approaches to rural development, IFAD is linking poor communities to the Internet in order to cultivate grassroots information exchange and e-commerce opportunities. IFAD has created three regional networks in this effort: FIDAmerica in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Electronic Networking for Rural Asia/Pacific (ENRAP) in Asia, and FIDAfrique in Western and Central Africa. Operating through and connecting the beneficiaries of 76 ongoing IFAD programs, the networks will soon reach over 1.2 million households. These initiatives will be showcased by IFAD at a conference on information technology hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, 5-7 July. These networks operate through IFAD’s partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and localized private volunteer organizastions (PVOs), like farmers’ associations. Financed by IFAD and managed by NGOs, these networks provide peasant leaders with computer skills training, hardware, and a means to access the Internet. With nearly 1 billion rural people living on less than the equivalent of one dollar a day, often in areas without "old" economy infrastructure like running water or electricity, fostering their empowerment through access to tools of the "new" economy seems counter-intuitive. However, the success of these pioneering networks lies in enabling the rural poor to create partnerships among themselves as never before possible. Linking approximately 550,000 poor rural households reached by 34 IFAD projects in 16 countries, FIDAmerica has been online at www.fidamerica.cl since 1995. Participants in FIDAmerica share lessons learned from their experiences through chat rooms and/or online conferences. They can also market and sell their products at premium prices via a virtual farmer’s market. Benefits of the project are clear to Pykati-re, Chief of Pucany, a small village deep in the Amazon rainforest. "It was good to participate in the FIDAmerica…because we were able to learn about other communities who are struggling to improve their living conditions," he said. As a result of FIDAmerica, his community was able to negotiate a contract to sell essential oils to The Body Shop. ENRAP has linked nearly 250,000 poor rural households reached by 12 IFAD projects in 6 countries at www.enrap.org since 1998. It focuses largely on information exchange to assist rural communities identify strategies to improve their quality of life based on the lessons learned from the experience of other communities. This is achieved largely through issue-specific chat-room discussions, and the circulation of a monthly e-newsletter that is distributed on paper to remote communities. "ENRAP has made a tremendous change in bringing faster, accurate and comprehensive information to the NGO and PVO communities in Mindanao as well as enhanced our partnerships and networking with other organizations here and abroad," says Enrico Montano, director of an NGO working with ENRAP in the Philippines. "Thank you for helping in bringing development to the grassroots." With the development of FIDAfrique, IFAD is expanding its Internet-based outreach. Currently in its initial stages, FIDAfrique shall soon be online at www.fidafrique.org. FIDAfrique is planned to reach approximately 500,000 households reached by 30 IFAD projects. IFAD has also developed an online database of lessons learned from its projects undertaken since 1990, the Evaluation Knowledge System (EKSYST). Covering a range of issues such as microcredit, women in development and farm technologies, EKSYST is accessible to the public at
www.ifad.org. Source: IFAD
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