IFAD in the Comoros

Since 1984, IFAD has funded five rural poverty reduction programmes and projects in the Comoros, for a total of US$16.5 million spread over four loans and US$450,000 in two grants.

IFAD’s five interventions, four of which have been completed, are as follows:

• The National Programme for Sustainable Human Development (PNDHD) incorporates environmental protection, diversification of agricultural production and increased productivity.
• The goal of the Pilot Agricultural Services Project (PPSA) was to test new extension approaches and build small-scale rural infrastructures with a view to increasing rural inhabitants’ production and improving their living conditions.
• The Support to Economic Grass Roots Initiatives Project (AIEB) had a major impact on the three islands of the Union, due in particular to the establishment of the Comoros Savings and Credit Associations (MECKs), which now form the country’s second largest financial institution. The project also supported many microenterprises with professional training.
• The Nioumakélé Small Producers Support Project (APPN) covered only Nzwani Island and had the aim of developing and popularizing the technique of planting live fences around plots, which incorporates livestock farming on intensive development sites and brings several farmers and their plots together. The results and impact of this project made it a ground-breaking example in the sphere of soil rehabilitation and increased agricultural and dairy production.
• The Rural Services Project (PASR) focused on institution-building and support to small farmers in food-crop production, livestock rearing and soil conservation.

IFAD projects in the Comoros have suffered from the country’s political instability and economic difficulties and the Government’s inability to honour its debt servicing obligations. As a result, disbursements have periodically been suspended and then resumed as repayments, causing numerous problems with continuity on the ground.

IFAD’s strategy in the Comoros
IFAD’s strategy in the Comoros is to support the Government in implementing its growth and poverty reduction strategy, focusing on the poorest inhabitants. In this way, the Fund contributes to the reconciliation process within the country.

IFAD bases itself on communities and their organizations to develop employment- and income-generating activities, agricultural or otherwise. Food crops, dairy production and the search for marketing outlets for these products in the archipelago’s four islands will receive special attention, as will the conservation and local processing of produce. With regard to cash crops, IFAD will make grants to fund initiatives to bring producers into contact with fair markets.

IFAD’s interventions will also encompass the following elements:

• sustainable environmental protection
• marketing of agricultural produce and inter-island trade
• mobilization of microfinance institutions to fund agricultural production and processing, livestock farming and fishing
• improved access to land and productive resources for the poorest
• local capacity-building at all levels (communities, the private sector and government services)

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Voir la version française Ongoing IFAD operations National Programme for Sustainable Human Development (PNDHD) View closed operations map... Facts and figures Programmes and projects: 5 Total cost : US$29.7 millions Total loan amount: US$16.5 million IFAD grant : US$450,000 Directly benefiting: 53 855 households Contact information Mr Hamed Haidara Country programme manager IFAD Via Paolo Di Dono, 44 00142 Rome, Italy Tel: +39 0654592604 Fax: +39 0654593604 h.haidara@ifad.org