How can poverty be reduced in rural areas?
Reducing poverty in rural areas will be very central to improving food security in MENA because it will give poor people the resources they need to buy food. The challenge is for governments to find new ways to channel financial resources to the rural sector without distorting markets or trapping people in low-income occupations. One interesting example to consider is linking support in the agriculture sector to use of health and education services. One can envision a system where farmers receive cash payments to manage their land and they are required to keep their children in school or give them health care. This would help break the cycle of rural poverty. Global experience confirms that conditional cash transfer is worth exploring as an alternative to improve the livelihoods of farmers and children in rural areas. The case for such success to be realized in MENA is not difficult to make given the strong call for education that Arab leaders made at the Arab Summit for Social and Eco
