The goal of IFAD's Rural Diversification Programme in Mauritius was to (i) broaden the income and resource base of the target population of small and marginal planters, fishermen, unemployed, landless and female-headed households and (ii) improve their technical and entrepreneurial capacity through training and the strengthening of grass-roots groups and organizations.

While the programme was found to have contributed to increased income levels and food security through higher agricultural production and fish catches, and some community projects have supported poor women to overcome social and economic exclusion, the overall achievement of the development objectives was deemed moderately unsatisfactory. The programme came short of meeting its objectives of decreased farmer dependency on sugar cane, the environmental impact remained  high, and there was a failure to address critical issues such as human resources constraints and not internalizing previous learning due to weak monitoring and learning. For future projects, the report recommends more attention being paid to support value chains and market linkages, improved access to credit and methods to increase community ownership.