Press release number: IFAD 06/05

Rome, 2 February 2004 - A US$41.8 million project will help improve the lives of more than 130,000 rural poor people in the southern highlands of Jordan.

The Agricultural Resource Management Project – Phase II is largely funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with a loan of US$11.4 million, and a grant of about US$400,000. The project will be co-financed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund, which will provide a loan of US$10.3 million, and by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which will make a grant of US$6.5 million.

The project financing agreement was signed today by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Ambassador of Jordan to Italy, Ramez Goussous, at IFAD’s headquarters in Rome.

The first phase of the Agricultural Resource Management Project targeted small-scale farmers, landless men and women and other disadvantaged households in highland districts of the governorates of Karak and Tafila. In the second phase, the project will be extended to take in three districts of the Ma’an governorate. It is a measure of the poverty prevailing that the target group represents about 75 per cent of rural households, and 50 per cent of the total population in the project area.

The second phase of the project will build on the progress and experience gained from the first. Among a package of measures, it will finance soil and water conservation, and water resource development. Jordan is one of the world’s driest countries, with the lowest per capita availability of renewable water resources. The project will also fund agricultural development in the area, support the building of roads and promote rural financial services.

Agriculture contributes about 3 per cent to Jordan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But although the sector is small in relation to the overall economy, it is important: it provides a livelihood for 20 per cent of the population, and an estimated 28 per cent of GDP is considered agriculture-dependent.

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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 - 900 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 close to 200 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totaling US$ 6.5 billion. IFAD has invested about US$ 3 billion in these initiatives. Co-financing 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 US$ 8.5 billion in 677 projects and programmes that have helped more than 250 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families.