Release number IFAD/14/07

Rome, 16 February – Over 20,000 people in the Kidal region of Mali will participate in a new programme to promote agropastoral activities and improve living conditions.

The US$22.83 million Kidal Integrated Rural Development Programme will be partly financed by a US$11.34 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by Ibrahim Bocar Daga, Ambassador of Mali to Italy and Lennart Båge, President of IFAD.

The Government of Mali will contribute US$2.7 million to finance the programme. The balance of the funding will be provided by the West African Development Bank (US$5.03 million), the Belgian Survival Fund (US$3.5 million) and programme participants (US$26,000).

“In 2005, the Government of Mali requested that IFAD be the lead agency for the development of Northern Mali,” says Nadine Gbossa, IFAD country programme manager for Mali. “This new programme confirms our commitment to meet this mandate. Over the last two years, IFAD has mobilized over US$45 million to help the people of Northern Mali overcome isolation, limited access to water, lack of basic infrastructure, and degraded natural resources.”

There is potential to develop Kidal’s agropastoral activities and the programme is designed to boost incomes and living conditions for the region’s most vulnerable households, many of whom are nomadic herders.

Particular attention will be given to improving the living conditions of rural women by enhancing their access to basic social services and infrastructure.  

“Ultimately, by investing in agropastoral activities and basic infrastructure, we hope that the programme will contribute to the development and the stability of the country’s northern regions,” says Gbossa.

With this loan, IFAD will have provided funds for ten programmes in Mali since 1983, totalling US$128.9 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 poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 185 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.1 billion. IFAD has invested 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 77 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.5 billion in 732 programmes and projects that have helped more than 300 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 US$9.1 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.1 billion in cofinancing.