FCG has a strong focus on developing rural livelihoods. Rural development is an enormous challenge in many countries worldwide, as the highest indicators of poverty are usually found in rural areas and the poor are predominantly dependent on agriculture.
Poverty is mainly a question of access – access to resources, land, markets, education, training, basic human rights, etc. Agriculture is the most critical sector in poverty alleviation in general.. The government of any country has a fundamental role to play in improving marketing conditions, information, infrastructure, research and agriculture.
Rural development covers a broad range of activities, including rural infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, rural industrialisation, credit and financial services, land-use rights, community development and training. The challenges include how to achieve a balance between income generation and poverty reduction, balanced rural development without environmental degradation, and decentralisation of decision-making to local levels while still maintaining a cohesive central government and functional government support services.
Areas of Expertise
Rural development is a broad topic, and FCG provides expertise in many areas, including:
- agricultural production, processing and marketing
- diversification of rural economies
- livelihoods development and poverty reduction
- rural entrepreneurship and enterprise development
- community development
- agriculture and livestock training and extension
- local planning, construction and management of rural infrastructure
- agriculture and livestock training and extension
Services
With our comprehensive resource network, we are able to provide a range of services, covering aspects that are currently among the most significant issues for rural development.
We cover all stages of the project cycle, from planning and implementation to monitoring and evaluation (including the development of participatory M&E systems). Our staff plan and deliver training, and support local stakeholders to manage their own development. This includes giving access to technology, new ideas and information, and providing on-the-job mentoring and facilitation.
As a tool for sustainable development, we specialise in participatory development processes, both at the grassroots and decision-making levels. Participatory approaches encourage the inclusion of the project beneficiaries in all the processes of the programme development, increasing ownership and empowering project beneficiaries. Our mission is to provide capacity building and human resources development services world-wide, and in this way to contribute to economic, social and environmental development.
Resources
Our resource strategy provides specialised expertise and flexibility in collaboration with a number of national and international expert organisations, as well using staff and independent experts.
In the rural sector, co-operation between Finnish Consulting Group companies brings added value to our customers. FCG International and its daughter companies ANZDEC and LI have a particularly close and fruitful relationship, sharing staff and resources for improved project management. There is also considerable synergy with the work of FCG's Finnish based company – rural water supply and sanitation, as well as irrigation and drainage, are key elements for rural development. FCG's Finnish company has also brought valuable experiences in municipal and local development.
