The Institutional context of poverty eradication in rural Africa

In may 1998, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Nordic Africa Institute and the Swedish Foreign Ministry jointly organised a seminar in tribute to the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the International Fund of Agricultural Development, IFAD. The seminar was organised around the theme "The Institutional Context of Poverty Eradication in Sub-Saharan Africa". IFAD has over the years and often in close cooperation with the Swedish government and the governments of the Other Nordic countries been closely involved in activities related to poverty Eradication along with initiatives to capture opportunities for samallholder development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from assessing and discussing IFAD's experiences in these areas, the seminar dealt with various interpretations of the economic and political reforms processes and their implications for poverty eradication and smallholder development. In particular the focus of the presentations and discussions was on the institutional context relating to these issues through assessing the character, role and interconnections between indigenous, local, national and international institutions. Thus IFAD's experiences, strategies and approaches to poverty eradication were linked to those of other institutions and to current knowledge in the Nordic and international research community. Presenters and participants at the seminar included researchers, policy makers and officials from universities, independent research institutions, government ministries and agencies and international institutions, including the World Bank. In addition, representatives from various NGOs took part in the seminar. Participants thus represented a wide range of experiences and were drawn from an array of countries, including the Nordic and other European countries, the USA and several African countries.