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Using structural equation modelling (SEM), this paper empirically tests the relationships between learning, participation, capacity building, project performance and project sustainability with reference to anti-poverty projects in rural China. The findings show that (a) project stakeholders' learning behaviour has a significant influence on capacity building, which tends to increase during the project lifespan, (b) project stakeholders' learning and participation behaviour exerts significant impacts on project performance with a decreasing tendency, (c) both project performance and capacity building have a significant influence on project sustainability, (d) learning and participation behaviours interact, and (e) both learning and participation behaviours produce indirect influences on project sustainability through mediator variables. The implications for project management are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the economic, social and ecological benefits of projects of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) in China during the past two-and-a-half decades. An investigation was carried out through field visits to Jilin, Anhui, Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces and a comprehensive assessment was made of 12 IFAD projects in 13 provinces. The authors offer a systematic examination of the projects' impact on China's rural poverty reduction in five respects: food security, women and vulnerable groups, government policies on poverty reduction, state policies on rural finance, and institutional and capacity building of the Chinese government and the community. It is concluded that IFAD projects have achieved outstanding results and far-reaching impacts, and have played an important role in rural poverty reduction. Finally, with regard to policy recommendations, the authors propose that the Chinese government should: (a) continue to cooperate with IFAD for rural poverty reduction; (b) play IFAD's demonstrative role in other poor areas of China; and (c) facilitate the institutional reform of China's rural financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]