FAO’s
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
Contribution to Poverty Alleviation And Community Participation Of Rural Persons With Disabilities
By Ms Johanne Hanko and Mr Wim Polman
Rural Development Officers
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Introduction
It is estimated that three quarters of the poor live in rural areas where the majority of rural poor are small or marginal farmers, fisherfolk, landless individuals, hilltribe people, and forest dwellers are dependent on agriculture for food security, employment and income generation.
Seventy five per cent of all disabled persons are located in the Asia and Pacific region, and 70 – 80 % are farmers, rural workers or disabled soldiers. This creates a major burden and challenge for governments who need to take responsibility for improving and implementing adapted laws and appropriate legislation to ensure its people’s livelihood. Moreover, persons with disabilities must have access to education, social services and information. They must be full participants in agriculture and rural development at community and other levels of society if they are to become independent and self-reliant. Organizations such as the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) have recognized this need and have taken action towards poverty reduction among disadvantaged groups such as persons with disabilities living in rural areas.
Role of FAO’s Rural Development Division in the Asia and Pacific Region
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) mandate is to the raise levels of nutrition and the standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity and to better the condition of rural populations.
FAO is the largest international organization and the lead agency within the United Nations for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. For over 55 years, FAO has been working to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and food security for all people towards an active and healthy life.
FAO’s priority is to encourage sustainable agriculture and rural development towards increasing food production and food security while conserving and managing natural resources, offering practical support to developing countries through technical assistance projects so as to ensure sustainable rural livelihoods.
The majority of poor people in this region live in rural areas. Working with the knowledge that the majority of poor people depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihood, the growth in food production primarily through sustainable gains in productivity will surely contribute to universal food security.
Persons with disabilities in rural areas represent the poorest of the poor; they lack access to the most basic social services, including education, health services, access to production resources and opportunities for income generation, and employment. They are often excluded from active participation within their community. Recognizing these constraints for improving the livelihoods of the rural poor, FAO has adopted a strong commitment to ensure full participation of rural disabled persons in its food security and poverty alleviation programmes and activities to promote agriculture, livestock, fisheries and other rural non-farm based income and employment opportunities.
FAO’s Promotion of inclusion of rural disabled in local communities in agriculture and rural development, through agro-and rural enterprise development
FAO promotes local institution building for skills development of persons with disabilities, as well as for networking and collaboration among government agencies, UN agencies and NGO’s, strengthening the self-help capacities of disabled persons, improving their access to productive resources (land, water, forests, livestock, savings and credit) and enhanced opportunities for self-employment, through viable agro-based and other rural enterprise development. FAO initiated pilot activities are technically adapted to specific working conditions of rural disabled as farmers. FAO’s capacity building approach involves technical skills development and technology. It also involves other pre-conditions such as physical rehabilitation, enhanced emotional stability, self-esteem and overall happiness of disabled farmers. FAO's support to small farmers with disabilities, both men and women, enhancing their economic self-reliance as agro-based and other rural entrepreneurs, will in turn facilitate their full and equal participation within their local communities.
Prevention remains the best strategy towards avoidable disabilities. As such, one of FAO’s main objective is to promote improved livelihood of rural poor through prevention of disability among small farmers, rural workers and other rural poor through their full inclusion in local institutional capacity building by enhancing participation of disabled persons in the planning and implementation of agricultural and rural development programmes; by improved access of rural poor to social and production support services; by strengthening self-help organisation and small scale enterprise development; by the reduction of accidents; by improved water supplies.
During the past decade, FAO has given special attention to poverty alleviation for persons with disabilities. With a focus on the 107 objectives within the 12 categories of the action plan for the Decade of the Disabled in the Asia Pacific Region, many positive results have shown that the decade is merely the beginning. The following will not only review the achievements in relation to the objectives but will also show how FAO tackled the problems related to poverty and the various projects implemented during the decade, which aim not only towards poverty alleviation for persons with disabilities but also to their physical and mental rehabilitation, their capacity building for employment and enterprise development towards income generation, and for sustainable rural livelihood.
1. National coordination
FAO regional office promotes close cooperation among national governments, UN agencies, international non-government organizations, and self-help groups of persons with disabilities to respond to specific needs of persons with disabilities at the country level.
Ø National Workshop on Promoting Participatory Approach in Rural Development through Training for Capacity Building of Persons with Disabilities in Income Generation, May 16 – 18 2001 (Cambodia):
The FAO Rural Development Section sponsored this national workshop organized by the Disability Action Council (DAC) a semi-governmental coordinating body for disability-related concerns in Cambodia. The aim of the workshop was to exchange information, knowledge and experiences among representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Rural Development, Women’s and Veteran Affairs, UN agencies including UNICEF, FAO, international donor agencies and NGOs, in the promotion of policies, programmes and activities in support of persons with disabilities in Cambodia. The workshop adopted a national action plan for strengthening coordination and mainstreaming programmes, aimed at enhancing income and employment opportunities for the rural disabled, with a focus on disabled farmers and rural enterprise development. Policies ensure the inclusion of disabled persons from rural areas in national development programmes and support to national partnership-building in participatory planning of capacity building.
Ø TCP/THA/8821 project on Mushroom Production Training Programme for Disabled Persons (Thailand).
FAO sponsored this pilot project to promote coordination between the Thai Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and the Thai Ministry of Agriculture in support to disabled rural farmers. The pilot project resulted in improved facilities within the district training center of the Ministry in Ubon Ratchathani province for disabled farmers as small entrepreneurs in mushroom production. Both mentally and physically disabled farmers started their own mushroom enterprise within their own community following the three months training.
Ø Integrated Pest Management (Cambodia):
In Cambodia FAO through a project on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Team promoted collaboration between Handicap International (HI) PRES (Social and Economic Rehabilitation Programme) in the integration of disabled farmers in on-going training programmes by the Ministry of Agriculture aimed at capacity building for integrated pest management.
2. Legislation
FAO actively supports United Nations General Assembly and ESCAP level resolutions, and related regional and national action plans aimed at improved legislation which facilitates integration of persons with disabilities in agriculture and rural development and at community level.
Ø FAO actively supports the Economic and Social Council/United Nations General Assembly and the ESCAP resolutions and action plans on the adoption or modification of national legislation aimed at the successful integration of rural disabled in development at all levels enhancing their participation in decision-making, improving their self-help reliance and livelihoods.
3. Information
FAO regional and international office promotes web-based information about FAO’s activities in support of persons with disabilities in rural areas and networking among FAO and national, regional and international self-help organizations of disabled persons, government and United Nations agencies and relevant NGOs.
Ø The regional FAO office for Asian and the Pacific, established a focal point within the Rural Development Section on Disability Matters.
Ø Information on FAO publications and meetings is available on the FAO RAP website: http://rapfao.org
Ø At the international level, an inter-active web database on rural disabled persons which provides basic information for accessing resource persons, organizations, and projects either involved in, or concerned with, the improvement of the livelihood conditions of rural disabled persons, particularly in developing countries is available at: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/PPdirect/rurald
Ø A list of publications is provided and some are available electronically in full-text version. Photographs and useful links are also included. In addition, the database provides some statistics on the number of disabled persons in FAO member countries. The HTTP Address of the database is: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/PPdirect/rurald/default.htm
Ø Summarized country case study versions of reports published via FAO Internet Web site "Sustainable Development Dimension" is available at: http://www.fao.org/sd.
Ø Establishment of an Associate Professional Officer at FAO Regional Office Bangkok, funded by Japan Government (from 1999 to 2001) on “Disability Matters Liaison", to strengthen professional technical support in the fields of Internet information management and programme development.
Ø Publications and papers
§ FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
· Adaptive techniques for Horticulture Crops Production by Disabled People.Chomchalow, NA[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 1997]
· Blind disabled people and the Thai rural economy.Prayat-Punong-Ong[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Disabled Women in Rural Areas of the Region (Asia and the Pacific).Wahab, F[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 1998]
· Empowering the rural disabled persons in Asia and the Pacific: training people with disabilities in mushroom production.FAO-RAP[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 1999]
· Mentally disabled people in the agricultural industry and rural sector of Thailand. Hanko, J.[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Motor Disabled People in Rural Areas of Vietnam.Ho Nhu Hai[FAO, Viet Nam, 1997]
· Motor and Upper Limb Disabled People in Agricultural Industry in Sri Lanka.Siriwardane, C[FAO, Sri Lanka, 1997]
· Motor and upper limb disabled people in the agricultural industry in Sri Lanka and the Region.Siriwardane, C[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Mushroom cultivation for people with disabilities; A training manual Hanko, J[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 2001]
· Mushroom cultivation for people with disabilities (Video) FAO -RAP, [FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 2001]
· Mushroom production training for disabled people: a progress report.FAO- [FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2001]
· Prevention of disabilities and accidents to people in rural Thailand.Jaruwat-Mongkoltanatas; Thanya-Kiatiwat[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Round Table Meeting on the Integration of Disabled People in Agricultural and Agro-Industry Systems.FAO RAP[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Sensorially disabled people in rural areas of Japan.Takada, E[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
· Strategies for the Rural Disabled- Empowering the Rural Disabled in Asia and the Pacific.Hanko, J[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 1998]
· Summary Report - FAO/RAP Rural Development Support to Disabled Farmers in Campaign 2000 [FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 2001]
· The "Midas" Touch: Food and Agro-industries for Income Generation by Disabled People.Hicks, A[FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, 1998]
· The status of motor disabled people within the agricultural and rural sector in Cambodia.Bonnet, M[FAO, Thailand, 1997]
§ FAO Headquarters
· Country Case Studies on Cambodia, LAO PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam on Strategies for Rural Disabled, with a Focus on Agricultural, Agro-Processing and Natural Resource Management-based Income Generating Activities Natural Resource Management, Hanko, J [FAO, Italy, 1997]
· Case studies on Rural Disability: These case studies were conducted in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, prepared in conjunction with the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons: The first step of the research was initiated in 1996 –1997 with the aforementioned Round Table Meeting in Bangkok. The case studies are available under Special: Empowering the rural disabled in Asia and the Pacific at http://www.fao.org/sd/ppdirect/ppre0035.htm.
· Empowering the Rural Disabled (VIDEO)available in English, French and Spanish, FAO[FAO, Italy, 2001]
· Expert Consultation on Extension Rural Youth Programmes and Sustainable Development.FAO SDRE[FAO, Italy, 1996]
· FAO's role in support of rural youth programmes and possibilities for the future.FAO SDRE[FAO, Italy, 1996]
· Habilitons les paysans porteurs de handicap (Vidéo)FAO[FAO, Italie, 2001]
· Integrating persons with a disability in employment opportunities and income generating activities in the agricultural and agro-industry sectors in Cambodia: a situation analysis of current and future initiatives L. Semple, [March 1999].
· The rural disabled: building a strategy for the future.Jacobson, [FAO, Italy 1997]
4. Public awareness
FAO aims to promote greater public awareness among stakeholders regarding problems and technical assistance needs of rural disabled persons in rural development. FAO has further set out to mobilize regular programmes, extra-budgetary donor funds, and technical resources to strengthen its disability programmes. It also encourages the promotion of information sharing and exchange.
Ø The World Food Day held in November 2001 at the FAO’s Regional Office in Bangkok, FAO, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the event and presented certificates of achievement to several successful farmers with disabilities from various Asian countries who had became successful entrepreneurs within their communities. The event promoted the full participation rural persons with disabilities in capacity building programmes.
Ø Since 2001, 3 December is observed as the FAO Day of the Disabled to promote public awareness.
Ø An Interim Report on the progress made in the first country pilot project in the Asian and pacific region on Training on Mushroom Production for disabled farmers in Ubon Ratchatani Province was submitted to the Royal Family of Thailand and reported on National Television.