Roots in Kordofan and Sinnar, Sudan – Improving women’s access to financial services and markets

Sudan has faced substantial changes in recent years. With important human, oil and land resources lost, growth has faltered, and poverty and undernourishment have worsened. The main challenges for rural livelihoods are low agricultural and livestock productivity, erratic climate conditions, inadequate water availability, and limited access to markets and financial services. In this episode, Roots spoke with Um Durein and Thaya Al Gasim, two women from the rural communities supported by the Western Sudan Resource Management Programme. The project helped smallholder farmers to improve their management of natural resources and provided rural communities, particularly women, with access to economic opportunities, productive services and markets.

Om Podcasten

Welcome to Roots, the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) podcast for rural communities. Personal stories of people who participate in IFAD-funded projects evaluated independently allow us to stop, reflect and see what is working well, what is not, why, and what needs to be corrected. Beneficiaries' voices are references to improve projects intended to promote an inclusive and sustainable rural development. IOE listens to these voices and disseminates them through Roots, a podcast produced for a broader audience to share knowledge and learning amongst rural communities around the world. Roots travels with evaluators to IFAD-supported projects that help to change the lives of rural people and communities, bringing you a new voice from a different place on our planet once a month. IOE invites radio broadcasters to use our podcasts in their schedules of programmes. Learn more at: www.ifad.org/evaluation