Agriculture and Rural Development

Rural development is defined in a broad, territorial and multisectorial sense, and it includes many complementary activities such as: an increase in the competitiveness of food production systems, rural social development, sustainable natural resource management, institutional reform and regional and subregional economic integration. Rural development can contribute to consolidate economic growth and to obtain a greater equity. For that, it is of vital importance to modernize the food and agriculture sectors, as part of a regional effort to increase rural competitiveness. It is also essential to recognize numerous alternatives to reduce rural poverty, like the promotion of agricultural and non-agricultural rural activities, and the creation of social networks for those segments of the population that are not able to migrate. In addition to this, is important to recognize the significance of pluriactivity, by which rural inhabitants use these and other alternatives in a dynamic way.

Some of the areas of particular importance to the Bank, in the agenda of rural development are: the consolidation of the reforms of public policies; modernization of the state; the development of land and financial markets; the sustainable use of natural resources; and the strengthening of human resources along with the development of infrastructure.

The Rural Development Unit goal is to assist in the preparation, execution and evaluation of rural development programs; to perform technical studies following-up the implementation of the IDB's Rural Poverty Reduction, Agricultural Development and Rural Finance strategies; and to consolidate a regional interagency agenda for rural development.