Press release number: IFAD 46/05

Rome, 16 December 2005 – A new development programme will benefit more than 300,000 poor rural households in China’s South Gansu Province. The US$81.0 million programme will be financed partly by a US$29.2 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Government of China will contribute US$31.9 million. An additional US$4.7 million grant will be provided by the World Food Programme.

The loan agreement was signed today by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Deputy Director General of the International Department of China’s Ministry of Finance, Ju Kuilin, at IFAD headquarters in Rome.

Many small farmers live in the remote mountain areas of the South Gansu Province where arable land yields are low, with deteriorating natural resources. They have limited access to drinking water and water for irrigation is scarce in the area. Living conditions are harsh and droughts occur regularly. Women carry much of the workload for agricultural production, because male members of the households often leave the mountains for seasonal work in the cities.

The programme will create the basis for economic production by promoting irrigation, terracing and tree planting to arrest soil degradation and increase agricultural output. It will also improve infrastructure, ensuring better access to clean drinking water, health services, education and financial services. Through training and capacity building, the programme will help rural poor people increase production of both on and off-farm activities, and increase their food security. Literacy classes and skills training will enable women and girls to become active decision-makers and confident borrowers, helping them generate more income.

“The programme is located in China’s remote and mountainous regions, where there are high numbers of poor people,” says Thomas Rath, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for China. “IFAD supports the Chinese Government’s objective to create a more affluent and balanced society by helping the poor to raise their minimum standard of living as soon as possible. By providing people with basic health services, clean water and improved infrastructure, the programme will improve their living conditions and help reduce the growing regional and local disparities.”

With this loan IFAD will have financed 19 programmes and projects for a total of US$473.1 million dollars.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. Seventy-five per cent of the world's poorest people - 800 million women, children and men - live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD works with governments to develop and finance programmes and projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves.

There are 192 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.5 billion. IFAD has invested about US$2.8 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help more than 100 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested almost US$8.7 billion in 690 projects and programmes that have helped more than 250 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Governments and other financing sources in the recipient countries, including project beneficiaries, have contributed about US$8.4 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided about US$6.9 billion in cofinancing.