Release number IFAD/42/06

Rome, 22 November 2006 – More than 200,000 poor rural people in five districts in eastern Indonesia will participate in a new US$28.33 million development programme designed to boost their farms’ production, improve their access to markets and enhance their participation in civic and local government activities.

The Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development Programme in Central Sulawesi will be partly financed by a loan of US$21.08 million and grant of US$500,000 from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Indonesia’s national government, the provincial government of Central Sulawesi and the five district governments will together contribute US$6.74 million.

The agreement for the loan and grant was signed today by the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Italy, Susanto Sutoyo, and IFAD President Lennart Båge at IFAD’s headquarters.

Local communities will work closely with project staff to plan, manage and monitor their own development priorities. Key activities will include improving roads and irrigation facilities, and building links between farmers’ groups and service providers, such as rural financial institutions.

The programme will focus in particular on poor rural women and marginalised groups to ensure their needs are being addressed.

Central Sulawesi is one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, with 32 per cent of the population living on less than US$1 per day. The area boasts a bounty of natural resources, a favourable climate and active research and knowledge centres, yet poor infrastructure continues to hamper small farm production and marketing activities.

With this loan IFAD will have provided funds for 12 projects and programmes in Indonesia, totalling more than US$251.01 million.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 188 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.3billion. IFAD has invested more than US$2.9 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 nearly 85 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.2 billion in 716 programmes and projects that have helped approximately 301 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 participants, have contributed almost US$8.9 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.0 billion in cofinancing