Trade liberalization, agricultural commercialization and market forces are impacting significantly on rural livelihoods. In this context, the diversification of rural livelihoods into market-oriented enterprises is increasingly viewed as a path to improving both livelihoods and food security. The key issue is how to support this trend while ensuring social equity and sustainability: in other words, the issue is not whether to participate in the market economy, but how to do so in a way that provides for sustainable and equitable income growth and decent work.

The ILO and FAO, along with other agencies, collaborate on the small and medium enterprise development under the auspices of the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED), which provides a forum for member agencies to exchange information on programmes and projects.

Within the Committee’s Working Group on Linkages and Value Chains, which is co-chaired by FAO, the ILO and FAO work closely on value chain topic , seen as an efficient way to reducing poverty by linking small farmers to higher value markets. The Working Group recently published a study on Donor Approaches to Supporting Pro-Poor Value Chains, January 2007, and held a workshop on Engaging the Private Sector, April 2007, to exchange information on ways to engage the private business in pro-poor market linkage initiatives.

The ILO also collaborates with IFAD work on rural enterprise development as a way to reduce poverty through: innovation and technology transfer; jobs creation at the local level; strengthening of social cohesion and regenerating the rural economy; promoting of diverse engagement in different types of markets and reducing poor people’s vulnerability.

Contacts

FAO Focal Point: Doyle Baker, AGSF (Doyle.Baker@fao.org)