Understanding rural poverty

This course is the first in the Rural Poverty Reduction series, and provides an overview of rural poverty, and why it is so important to overcome it in rural contexts. The course describes the key concepts and definitions of rural poverty and how it can be measured, its drivers and cross-cutting themes. Finally, it considers the connection with gender issues and the way that gender shapes the way poverty is experienced by rural people.

Audience

The course aims to improve knowledge and capacities to support an integrated multisectoral approach, so that policies, investments and programmes have a greater impact on rural poverty reduction. The course mainly targets a range of professionals who play a role in reducing rural poverty. These include policy-makers, policy administrators and officers, researchers, practitioners and members of civil society organizations, including experts from partner organizations.

You will learn about

• Key concepts of rural poverty and the linkages between urban and rural context
• Monetary and non-monetary poverty measurements and indicators
• Drivers of rural poverty: assets, productivity and technology, social and human capital, environment and infrastructure
• The connections between rural poverty and cross-cutting themes: climate change, governance, migration, youth, nutrition and statistics
• The connections between gender and poverty

Course structure

The course consists of 5 lessons, ranging from approximately 35 to 60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 - What is rural poverty?
• Lesson 2 - Rural poverty measurements and indicators
• Lesson 3 - Drivers of rural poverty
• Lesson 4 - Cross-cutting themes in rural poverty
• Lesson 5 - Gender equality and rural poverty

Access the online version: https://elearning.fao.org/login/index.php

Download course: https://elearning.fao.org/login/index.php