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The Rural Development Project in the South-Western Region (PROSOC)
PROSOC is carried out in the south-west
of Honduras, in an area bordering that of the IFAD-financed Agricultural
Development Programme for the Western Region. When this project
was implemented, IFAD's portfolio included the six poorest of the
country's 19 departments. The population here is mainly of the Lenca
ethnic group, and about 80 per cent of the people live in extreme
poverty. They survive mainly by producing basic grains at a subsistence
level and by working as wage labourers on coffee plantations.
The project aims to:
- increase food security through improved production, local storage of basic foods and access to financial resources and market
- increase family income through diversified activities and access to technology, markets and training
- recover and preserve natural resources
- reduce existing social inequities within poor communities and families
- strengthen the capacity of the private and public sectors to provide communities with social and productive services
To achieve these objectives, the project focuses on:
- community development: Project participants receive
training to improve their knowledge and entrepreneurial management
skills. The project provides training to local institutions, producers'
organizations and representatives of poor workers. Women and men
are trained equally.
- investments and services: The project has set up a rural investment
fund and a municipal infrastructure rehabilitation fund to assure
that project participants (at the community and municipal levels)
have access to technical services and community infrastructure investments.
- community financial services: Families in the project area need
access to financial services, in the form of both savings and credit,
to plan for their future. The project is setting up a sustainable
credit system based on local savings, qualified management and non-subsidized
interest rates.
Source: IFAD
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| Facts and figures |
Total cost: US$22.5 million
IFAD loan: US$19.3 million
Duration: 1999-2005
Geographical area: 38 municipalities in the departments of La Paz, Intibuca and Valle
Directly benefiting: 11,500 households, predominantly
among the indigenous Lenca ethnic group
Status: completed
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