The IFAD-funded Rural Diversification Programme has a strong focus on community-driven development, in which communities take on increasing responsibility for managing their own development. This includes responsibility for the design and implementation of projects. The success of community-driven development requires that the communities build their capacity to take on responsibility. It also requires a culture of public administration that views communities as development partners in their own right rather than simply as recipients of benefits through public expenditure.

Overfishing in the lagoons of Mauritius and Rodrigues has a destructive effect on the coral reef and the marine life it harbours. To increase the incomes of small-scale fishers and relieve pressure on depleted marine resources, the IFAD-funded Rural Diversification Programme has encouraged fishers to give up lagoon fishing.

Located in the Mascarene Islands, the Republic of Mauritius includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues. The islands are known for their natural beauty: white beaches, crystal-clear turquoise-colored water and spectacular lagoons with magnificent coral reefs. These natural attractions have made the islands a tourist destination and the hub of a thriving tourist industry. Since Mauritius gained independence in 1968, it has adopted sound economic policies and has risen from the rank of a low-income country to occupy a place among the middle-income countries. The government has a policy of medium-term expenditure budgeting and is implementing a programme-based budget.

The fish stock in the spectacular lagoon of the island of Rodrigues is becoming depleted. As a result, octopus fishers like Lima Casmir need to find alternative sources of income.

In the decades since Mauritius gained independence in 1968, it has joined the ranks of the middle-income countries. Severe poverty is rare in comparison to other parts of Africa, but there are pockets of poverty in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Mauritius and on Rodrigues Island, which is substantially poorer. An IFAD-funded programme, started in April 2000, is helping more than 15,000 poor smallholder farmers, artisanal fishers and microentrepreneurs diversify their incomes and improve their way of life.

Maryline Legoff is a rural entrepreneur. She is 35 years old and a single mother with a 5-year-old son. Maryline lives on the island of Rodrigues, 640 kilometers off the island of Mauritius. For Maryline and the 38,000 people who live on Rodrigues, fishing is a way of life. But their livelihoods are threatened by declining fish stocks.