UN News Centre • www.un.org/news
Broad educational programme vital to lift
rural
people out of poverty –
UN paper
10 November - With non-farm sources accounting for up
to 50 per cent of household incomes in rural areas of
some developing countries, a broad educational
programme that goes beyond agriculture is crucial to
improving livelihoods and combating hunger and
poverty, according to a United Nations paper released today.
“If teaching programmes are too narrowly
oriented to agriculture, they may restrict rural people’s
opportunities for enterprise, and thus limit their
possibilities for social and economic progress,” UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) expert in rural
development Marcelino Avila told an international
meeting in
“A broad perspective on livelihoods is
required when it comes to education for rural people. Education, including
skills
development, should be a critical aspect of support
interventions aiming at boosting economic activities and growth,” he
said on the opening day of the annual session
of the Working Group for International Cooperation in Skills Development.
The achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to slash a host
of socio-economic ills such as
extreme poverty and hunger, maternal and infant
mortality and lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015, will
depend on ensuring the basic skills of rural
people, keeping in mind the links between skills development and livelihoods,
the FAO paper says.
It highlights the role of the non-farm
rural economy. “Available data shows that non-farm employment and income are
significant in rural areas. Non-farm sources of
income are estimated to average around 50 per cent of household incomes in
sub-Saharan
“This trend suggests some re-thinking
about the relevance and role of education and training in promoting and
enhancing
rural livelihoods.”
The two-day meeting was organized by the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the UN International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the Network for
Policy Review, Research and Advice on Education and Training (NORRAG), in
collaboration with FAO and the International Institute
for Education Planning (IIEP) of the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
(UNESCO).
It brings together education, economics
and social experts from FAO, UNESCO, the World Bank, the Association for the
Development of Education
in Africa (ADEA) and several other development agencies. FAO is the lead agency for the
global education for rural people initiative
launched in
basic learning needs of rural people.