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This paper examines the transformation and diversification of the rural economy in Asia, focusing on the role and importance of the rural non-farm economy and employment in economic transformation and related diversification of employment and income opportunities for rural communities.

Agriculture and fisheries, the backbone of food security and nutrition for coastal communities and globally, are under threat. Climate change and environmental
degradation in coastal areas, including Small Island Developing States, are already affecting the natural resource base on which smallholders depend for their food
security and livelihoods. Future projections outline an increasingly urgent need to help communities adapt to these changes and protect these fragile resources.

This issue presents and analyses experiences from the following IFAD-funded projects and programmes:
Ethiopia: Pastoral Community Development Project; Nepal: Leasehold Forestry and Livestock Programme; Palestine: Participatory Natural Resource Management Programme; Peru: Project for Strengthening Assets, Markets and Rural Development in the Northern Highlands (Sierra Norte); Sierra Leone: Rehabilitation and Community-based Poverty Reduction Project