Press release number: IFAD 37/04

Rome, 11 October 2004 –More than 15,000 poor Quechua and Aymara households living in the Southern Highlands of Peru will be supported through an innovative USD 21.7 million development programme aimed to improve the quality of their products and have better access to markets.

The programme will also help indigenous communities of the Sierra region to manage natural resources and use their traditional knowledge.

Of the total programme cost, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide USD 15.9 million. The Government of Peru will contribute USD 1.2 million and the beneficiaries themselves will provide about 13 per cent of the total cost of the programme.

The loan agreement was signed today by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Manuel Rodriguez, at IFAD headquarters in Rome.
One of the programme’s most innovative features is the direct transfer of funds to small farmers and microentrepreneurs. The participants can use this money to improve the quality of their products and boost their businesses.

“By providing incentives to contract technical assistance, the programme will help communities to analyse their own priorities and take decisions. It will also help create a market for local knowledge and expertise,” explains Roberto Haudry, IFAD Country Programme Manager for Peru.

Resources will be available specifically for women farmers, so they can decide what technical services they need most. “A priority for an Aymara woman may be to obtain property rights for her land, legal recognition for her small handcraft business, or to be able to open and manage her own savings account,” says Haudry.

The project will build on successful experiences in natural resources management from other IFAD projects in the Sierra region, such as giving awards for best or innovative practices.
“Awards have proven to be a great mechanism for recognition, preservation and dissemination of traditional knowledge.

Community events like these competitions help to maintain the cohesion of the communities and, obviously to boost their self-esteem”, Haudry added.

With this loan, IFAD will have financed 7 programmes and projects in Peru, totalling approximately USD 100.0 million. IFAD currently supports two other projects in the country, in the Puno-Cusco area and in the Southern Highlands.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to combating rural poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978, IFAD has invested USD 8.2 billion in 660 rural development projects and programmes, about 250 million rural people have been supported in their efforts to overcome poverty.