Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
Press release number: IFAD 01/06
Rome, 17 January 2006
– More than 15,000 rural households will benefit from a new development
programme in Tunisia’s Governorate of Siliana.
The US$38.9 million project will be financed by a US$15.5 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). An additional US$5 million grant will be provided by the Global Environment Facility and the Government of Tunisia will contribute US$18.5 million. The loan agreement was signed today by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge and Tunisia’s Ambassador to Italy, Habib Mansour, at IFAD headquarters in Rome.
The Integrated Agricultural Development Project in the Governorate of Siliana – Phase II will assist rural households covered under the first phase of the project and extend to all of the southern districts of the Governorate and eight subdistricts in the north. It will support the development of small and medium size agricultural and non-agricultural businesses by decentralizing and strengthening the three main regional institutions involved in agricultural, microenterprise and private sector development.
Women and youth will gain better access to the labour market through vocational training and support services that provide assistance in accounting, business management and marketing. Privately operated agricultural advisory services will be established in order to boost agricultural productivity and improve the livelihoods of rural poor people.
Siliana’s mountainous terrain is vulnerable to erosion and water supply is limited. The project will also support the creation of a system to monitor sustainable land management and to oversee soil and water conservation initiatives.
Local institutions will be encouraged to adopt a participatory and gender sensitive planning approach in order to ensure that all members of the community participate in the development process.
“This project builds upon work begun during the first phase and will continue to improve the living conditions of Tunisia’s rural poor by ensuring their participation in the development process,” says Rasha Omar, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Tunisia.
With this loan IFAD will have financed nine programmes and projects for
a total of US$281.5 million dollars in Tunisia.
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.
Hot links
- Rural poverty in Tunisia
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Contact information
Farhana Haque-Rahman,Chief, Media Relations, Special Events and Programmes
Tel: +390654592485 /2215
f.haquerahman@ifad.org
