All men and women are subject to risk: illness, accident, death. Some shocks affect their ability to feed and support themselves properly, either temporarily: unemployment, crop failure, and loss of property; or permanently: disability, and skill obsolescence.This report summarises what is known and also what is not known about the sources of risk faced by the rural poor and their coping strategies. It examines the impact of risk and risk-coping strategies on development and the way in which governments and international organisations can assist in dealing with risk and overcoming poverty.

Throughout their lifetime, men and women are subject to a wide variety of risks, such as illness, accident, death, or less directly, unemployment, crop failure, loss of property, disability, business failre and skill obsolescence. development. Building upon the author's work in the area, it summarizes the contributions of recent theoretical and empirical work to our understanding of how risk affects rural poverty levels in developing countries. In particular the book examines what we do and do ot know about risk coping strategies among modern poor rural societies. Ways in which these strategies may be re-examined and improved by governments and international organizations are proposed.

Despite almost four decades and billions of dollars in development activities, we are barely in a position to track the changing dynamics of poverty or to define with conviction the processes that entrap the poor in their misery. Accounting for about 90% of global poverty, rural poverty, through transmigration, is also a main contributor to urban poverty. It is in the rural areas of the world where poverty is most severe in human terms, where the hunger, hopelessness, hardship, and despair commonly associated with entrenched poverty are most pronounced, where basic health services, sanitation, educational opportunities, and other common amenities are most lacking. The alleviation of rural poverty is therefore tantamount to the alleviation of global poverty in its entirety. The State of World Rural Poverty offers the first comprehensive look at the economic conditions and prospects of the world's rural poor.

Despite the fact that three quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas, the level of international development aid directed at rural areas has continued to decline over the last decade, particularly in terms of the agricultural sector. In 2001, lending for agricultural projects was the lowest in the World Bank's history. This publication presents the World Bank's new rural development strategy based upon a results oriented approach which stresses practice, implementation, monitoring and empowerment aspects. The strategy seeks to highlight rural development efforts, focusing on the needs of the rural poor, fostering a broad-based economic growth and addressing the impact of global developments on client countries.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an independent body set up in 1978 to promote the increase of food production in the poorest food deficit countries. The Rural Poverty Report reassesses the nature and causes of world wide rural poverty and outlines policies designed to promote its alleviation.

Reviews causes of poverty in rural areas and presents a policy framework for reducing rural poverty, including through land reform, public works programs, access to credit, physical and social infrastructure, subsidies, and transfer of technology. Identifies key elements for drafting a policy to reduce rural poverty.

In most developing countries, poverty is more widespread and severe in rural than in urban areas. The author reviews some important aspects of rural poverty and draws key implications for public policy. He presents a policy framework for reducing poverty, taking into account the functional differences and overlap between the rural poor. Several policy options are delineated and explained, including stable management of the macroeconomic environment, transfer of assets, investment in and access to the physical and social infrastructure, access to credit and jobs, and provision of safety nets. Finally, some guideposts are identified for assessing strategies to reduce rural poverty.