Agribusiness

Our Work

PPAF's work in agribusiness is mainly in the areas of:

Fresh avocados on the ground with leaves.
Man standing in sugarcane field with stalks.

Background

There is broad agreement that growth in agriculture usually generates the greatest improvements for the poorest people – particularly in poor, agriculture-based economies. Agricultural and rural sectors have suffered from neglect and underinvestment over the past many years. Entrepreneurship is a key element in assisting and improving rural income opportunities and economic growth.

There remains an urgent need to invest more and better in agriculture and rural areas, based on a new approach to smallholder agriculture that is both market-oriented and sustainable. It is time to look at poor smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs in a completely new way – not as charity cases, but as people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work will bring prosperity to their communities and greater food security to the world in the decades ahead.

-- from IFAD Rural Poverty Report, 2011