Why does IFAD need rural finance guidelines? With its exclusive emphasis on rural poverty alleviation, IFAD enjoys a competitive advantage over other development agencies, and should strengthen its role by providing support for the development of rural finance as an important instrument. The...

Due to the overall failure of donor-driven subsidized directed credit administered by government-owned development finance institutions, the emphasis in development policy has shifted to (rural) financial systems development and the building of self-reliant, sustainable institutions. While...