The objective of the project, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) starting in 2015, was to develop recommendations for German official development cooperation (ODA) on which measures can be used to reach poor, vulnerable and food-insecure population groups in order to improve their situation effectively and sustainably. The research project's approach was to analyse examples of good practice, i.e. particularly effective development cooperation projects, in terms of their impact on poverty and food security on the basis of project documents and intensive field research. Both qualitative and quantitative survey methods were applied.

Building on the results of the previous research phases, the third phase of the research project (01/2024 to 10/2025) focused on the topic of "Feminist development cooperation, food security and poverty reduction in rural areas". The focus was on projects that contribute to food security and poverty reduction in rural areas by promoting agriculture and its upstream and downstream activities. This included issues such as access to land and finance as well as the promotion of women and other disadvantaged groups in agricultural production, the processing of crops, their inclusion in value chains and in social security systems.

The core research question was:

How can gender-equitable and inclusive policies be implemented in the field of rural development, agriculture and food security, with a particular focus on (gender) transformative approaches?

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The research results have been published in two publication series. While AVE Studies contain more detailed studies and address cross-sectoral topics, Good Practice Reports provide brief project studies.
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AVE Project Series

Previous Research Phases

In previous research phases, the project focussed on the following topics:

First phase of the research project (10/2015 to 3/2020):

• Access to land and legal security in land ownership and use
• Agricultural value chains
• Social security

Second phase of the research project (10/2020 to 12/2023):

• Rural financial services to promote agriculture and agricultural value chains
• The investigation of market-based models in a more holistic promotion of agriculture by social enterprises and NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa and its impact on poverty reduction
• The need for and provision of micro- and small-scale credits in rural areas and the role of land titles as a guarantee for such credits as well as the resulting impact on land security for small farmers

Socio-cultural aspects of development, participation of the population in decision-making as well as gender justice were always considered as cross-cutting issues.