Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

Strengthening the Impact of Aid

The Platforms Medium-Term Work Programme 2009-2011
national > International development partners agree thatpoverty isand global hunger and povertygo reduction targets will not be met unless rural reduced. With only 6 years to until the 2015 MDG target date, 1.4 billion individuals still live on less than $1.25 a day. The 2008 food price crisis brought additional international attention to the underlying problem of food insecurity in which millions of people suffer food deficits and pushed an additional one hundred million people into poverty. FAO estimates that currently over 950 million individuals are undernourished. It also highlighted the impact of decades of under-investment in developing country agriculture. In 2009 food prices remain volatile and there is every likelihood that price volatility will continue.

The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (The Platform) is a network of bilateral and multilateral donors and international financing institutions that share a common vision of the role that agriculture and rural development (ARD) plays in reducing poverty. They are committed to achieving increased and more effective aid for agriculture and rural development. Within the next three years, the Platform wants to achieve: an increase in the share of members ODA going to ARD; tangible progress in the implementation of Paris Declaration (PD) and Accra Action Agenda (AAA) commitments at country level; an increase in the use of Programme-Based and Sector-Wide Approaches in ARD programmes; and a rationalisation of ARD support by member agencies in selected countries. The Platform will develop KNOWLEDGE capture and exchange initiatives in order to effectively ADVOCATE for improved agricultural and rural development assistance, through strengthening existing and creating new networks. It will seek to influence all donors engaged in developing country rural development programmes at political and technical levels, and seek to enhance its influence by an expanding membership. The Platforms work is achieved through implementing twin pillars of advocacy and knowledge sharing.

Output 1:
Coherent and evidence-based advocacy in support of increased and more effective aid in ARD
Even though agriculture is presently back on the agenda, the Platforms longstanding advocacy for ARD remains a priority to support increased and more effective aid. The Platform will renew its efforts to influence international debate on sustainable agriculture issues within the rapidly changing context of international aid architecture. The PD and the AAA have strengthened the resolve of donors to provide more coherent assistance to partner governments. The Platform will focus on achieving this goal within ARD. In particular, it will target improving results-focused and mutually accountable national development strategies at country level and supporting major new initiatives such as the Common Framework for Action (CFA) and the proposed Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food Security (GPAFS). Activities: Within the next 3 years, the Platform will: > Support the implementation of the CFA and the GPAFS to fight food insecurity through coordination of, and advocacy with, ARD donors; > Advocate ARD issues into the 4th HLF on Aid Effectiveness (AE) in 2011 and other fora; > Provide a forum for the discussion of critical and/or contentious issues in ARD; > Strengthen outreach to CSOs, the private sector, foundations and non-traditional donors in the ARD sector; > Contribute to organising relevant high-level global and regional conferences and dialogues.

Output 2:
Enhanced capacity of member agencies to deliver more effective support for agriculture and rural development
Increasingly volatile food and commodity prices, the economic and financial crisis, climate change and water scarcity are among the major emerging global challenges influencing development today. The Platform will assist agriculture and rural development practitioners to enhance and extend expertise and capacity through knowledge management initiatives focused on both external environmental challenges and the implementation of aid effectiveness measures. Activities: Within 3 years, the Platform will: > Facilitate the exchange of information between donors on country-level donor coordination; > Support regional initiatives such as CAADP as a means of enhancing national and regional African agricultural programmes, as well as exploring the possibility of collaboration with other regional entities in Asia & Latin America; > Prepare technical and good practice briefs and interactive discussions on critical issues; > Deliver/support training and e-learning events with member agencies on key AE and ARD issues; > Host knowledge events on key ARD issues; > Establish a data gathering system of Platform members agriculture portfolios.

Fotos: Gaby Huckelmann; Katharina Hoyer; Manfred Schtze; Hartmut 910 / pixelio; cameraw / fotolia

Publication date: January 2009

Contact: Secretariat of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, c/o Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Dahlmannstrasse 4, 53113 Bonn, Germany Phone: +49 (0) 228 24934 166 Fax: +49 (0) 228 24934 155 Email: secretariat@donorplatform.org Website: www.donorplatform.org

PLATFORM Members: Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (DGDC), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Department for International Development UK (DFID), European Commission (EC-DG DEV), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Germany (BMZ), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), French Development Agency (AFD), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Global Mechanism of UNCCD (GM), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Irish Aid (IA), KfW Development Bank (KfW), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD);Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank (WB).