Poverty in Latin America increased in 2015, according to the Social Panorama report released in March. And while the region is composed mainly of middle-income economies, inequality persists, especially in rural areas. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean is now asking countries to “protect the progress achieved in recent years and prevent social rollbacks amid a scenario of lower economic growth.”
How can the international community address the challenges and safeguard social welfare gains? The International Fund for Agricultural Development believes it is vital to invest in rural communities and respond in a holistic and inclusive way.
“We not only develop programs that address nutrition or social protection, but we go further and we invest in people to become productive,” Joaquín Lozano, director for Latin America and the Caribbean at IFAD, told Devex in Rome.