Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper is a national multi-sectoral strategy paper of Sudan. Its main objective is the reduction of poverty in Sudan and providing the road map for the elaboration and implementation of the full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
The Paper covers the area of environmental protection aiming for (1) providing poor peoples who depend on land, water, forests and biodiversity for livelihoods secure access to these assets and creating circumstances in which they can manage these resources sustainably; (2) changing behaviors on the environment by increasing public awareness and ensuring individual and community participation in environmental improvement decision-making and activities; (3) assembling comprehensive information of the status of the environment in Sudan; (4) integrating environmental concerns in all development policies, planning and activities at all levels and improving awareness among potential users and decision makers on climatic and atmospheric information; (5) strengthening the institutional and technical capacities for environmental management, enhancing cross-sectoral institutional coordination on environmental issues, and strengthening the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations; and (6) developing a strategy for protecting natural resources and the environment, to be reflected in the full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
Further, for agricultural development, the document plans to (1) assist smallholder farming to become more productive, competitive and sustainable. Actions here could include strengthening land rights, improving access to markets through developing rural infrastructure and providing access to financial services; (2) improve productivity of rain-fed semi-mechanized farming with improved seeds, modern irrigation technologies and the provision of fertilizers and other farm inputs; (3) improve access to markets and establish efficient value chains by enhancing local infrastructure, improve commodity trading and risk management; link producers to modern supply chains for higher-value urban markets; and adopt product standards for higher-value exports; (4) increase access to water and irrigation as a major determinant of land productivity and the stability of yields; (5) enhance agricultural research and extension by increasing the allocation of research share in the budget and by fostering of public-private research partnership; (6) improve livestock marketing through the regulation of stocking rates in Sudan’s most vulnerable grazing environments; (7) improve the quality of stock routes and a few strategic highways and rail tracks to facilitate efficient transport of livestock over long distances; (8) improve livestock traders’ access to credit facilities to all commercial banks in Sudan; (9) improve the quality of livestock handling facilities at veterinary inspection and vaccination points to reduce weight loss for animals awaiting inspection; (10) make agricultural systems more environmentally sustainable through the identification of the main drivers of resource degradation to reverse degradation in less-favored areas; improvements in agricultural water management; promotion of better management of intensive livestock systems; and maintaining payments for environmental services; (11) resolve the land tenure issues which discourage optimal use of large areas in the irrigated and rain-fed sectors; and protect consumers and promote exports, by implementing the laws and procedures which ensure food safety and control of the quality of plant and livestock products whether processed locally or imported in accordance with the accredited international standards; and (12) establish strategic partnerships with a view to realizing the economies of scale, benefiting from new technologies, and getting access to international markets and financial institutions.
The monitoring of the Paper implementation will involve following up with line ministries and other implementing agencies to find out the extent that the strategic directions and operational recommendations of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and being fed into the government’s policy, planning and budgeting systems and the related implementation and results. The Technical Committee will be responsible for the monitoring, and will need to liase with thematic teams established for the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.