Agriculture & Rural Development

Providing support to improve resilience and economic development

The most important tool to directly influence poverty and fight hunger is to improve livelihoods through increased agricultural efficiency. Most of the poor and undernourished live in rural areas and rely solely on agriculture for both income and food resources. If we aim to achieve economic growth, improving agricultural performance is paramount. The ever growing world population is putting an increasing strain on agricultural production. This, in combination with the fact that this sector is more vulnerable to climate change, makes investment in rural development and capacity building in this field the highest priority on the list of many of the world’s aid organisations.

Agricultural production is at the nexus of sectors such as those of environment, water and energy, which are all tightly interconnected. MWH contributes to rural development through our commitment to addressing environmental management in the context of climate change. Indeed, managing natural resources in a sustainable way and improving climate change resilience is at the core of addressing the challenges of livelihoods in rural areas. MWH has recently supported countries all over Africa in tackling climate change through developing their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) for submission to the UNFCCC-COP21 in Paris. Since 2008, MWH managed the Global Climate Change Alliance programme (GCCA), supporting programmes that have enhanced the capacity of some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to tackle climate change. GCCA initiatives in developing countries across the world are making a difference in key sectors affected by climate change, including contributing to overall development and poverty reduction, agriculture and food security. GCCA has already channelled €316.5 million in support of more than 51 programmes in 38 countries and eight regions and sub-regions, specifically targeting Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.

Water is a key element of food security, as water and agriculture are intimately linked, and MWH supports rural livelihoods and rural development through its engagement with the water sector. In Mali, MWH supported the enhancement of agricultural productivity within a large irrigation project and provided support to an irrigation and agriculture project in Djibouti as part of the GCCA. Likewise, MWH implemented a project in Tajikistan specifically supporting farming in relation to climate resilience, for instance through increasing the use of improved water use technologies.