Strengthening Rural Institutions

Striving for a world where rural institutions are vibrant and inclusive, and where people are empowered to access equal opportunities... +MORE

Key facts

Kenya
Producer organizations hold 70% of the coffee market, 76% dairy, 90% pyrethrum, and 95% of cotton

Canada
Maple sugar POs produce 35% of the world's maple sugar production

Poland
Dairy POs are responsible for 75% of dairy production

India
Dairy coops collect 16.5 million litres of milk from 12 million farmer members daily

Egypt
4 million farmers earned income from membership in agricultural cooperatives 

FAO and rural institutions

FAO's work on Rural Institutions, Services and Empowerment (RISE) strives to unlock the development potential of rural areas, reduce inequalities and contribute to the socio-economic empowerment of rural women and men, through four major areas of work:

Territorial approach

Pluralistic service systems

Rural finance

Community mobilization

Guiding framework

  • Anchored in territorial and place-based approaches to national policies and planning that address the spatial dimension of rural poverty and hunger.

  • Development of conducive policies and institutional frameworks for inclusive rural services and finance systems.

  • Social mobilization and empowerment to ensure the active participation of rural women and men in development processes.

Latest documents

Newsletter: Issue #8 | August - October 2018
10/01/2019
This bi-monthly Newsletter serves to communicate about FAO's work on Rural Institutions, Services and Empowerment (RISE) and highlight the importance of institutions (both informal and formal) in reducing hunger and poverty in developing countries. Highlights about the work RISE carries out [...]
The role of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in providing financial services to rural women
20/12/2018
The Partnership note aims at providing readers with an overview of the work carried out by the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – one of the largest organizations of informal workers in the world– in bolstering financial inclusion for poor [...]

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