Rural Development Program

Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social
transformation. In order to provide the rural people with better prospects for economic development, increased participation of people in the rural development programmes, decentralization of planning, better enforcement of land reforms and greater access to credit are needed.

The general objective of the foundation is the sustained improvement of the quality of life of the low-income rural population while at the same time seeking to assure an effective and efficient contribution by the rural economy to the national development process. For that purpose, support will be given to the development of low-income sectors in rural areas through various combinations of efforts geared to the specific circumstances of each local community. The focus area of the foundation include (a) Participatory Governance (b) Agriculture And Natural Resources Management (c) Non-Farm Enterprise And Employment (d) Access To Finance and (e) Productive Physical Infrastructure.

The rural development activities include;

• Promoting poverty eradication in rural areas
•  Promoting pro-poor planning and budgeting at the national and local levels
•  Addressing basic needs and enhancing provision of and access to services as a precursor to improve livelihoods and as an enabling factor of people’s engagement in productive activities
• Providing social protection programmes to benefit, inter alia, the vulnerable households, in particular the aged, persons with disabilities and unemployed many of whom are in rural areas
• Build social capital and resilience in rural communities
• Empower women and small-scale farmers, and indigenous peoples, including through securing equitable land tenure supported by appropriate legal frameworks
• Promote equitable access to land, water, financial resources and technologies by women, indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups
• Promote safe and environmentally sound waste management practices;
• Promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in rural areas
• Involve women in decision-making in all activities related to rural development
• Take measures that promote access to and ownership of means of production, including land, capital, entrepreneurship, by women
• Promote gender equality as well as take measures to achieve equal opportunities for women and men in all aspects of rural development
• Carry out extensive education, and awareness-raising on the rights of women and the concept of empowerment and gender equality in rural areas.