Release number IFAD/21/07

Rome, 15 March 2007 – A new US$16.9 million project in Burkina Faso will help poor rural people to process and market different food commodities, increasing incomes of some 20,000 households.

Of the total cost of the new Agricultural Commodity Chain Support Project project amount, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a loan of US$13.8 million. The loan agreement was signed at IFAD headquarters today by the Ambassador of Burkina Faso, Mamadou Sissoko, and IFAD President, Lennart Båge.

The Government of Burkina Faso will contribute US$2.5 million to finance the project and local participants will contribute US$540,000.

The project will focus on activities from production to processing of cowpea, sesame, goats and sheep, poultry and onions in the North, Central North, Boucle du Mouhoun and Sahel regions in the north of the country.

The supply and value chains of these commodities – the range of activities necessary to bring them from production to market – hold significant opportunities for poor rural people to boost their incomes. Farmers, pastoralists, local entrepreneurs and others will learn how to process these commodities into more marketable products that can be sold at a higher price.

The project will develop ways to support individuals and develop links between the people involved at various stages along each chain. It will also improve access to rural financial services. About 1,000 common economic interest groups, 800 farmer groups and 200 trader and processor groups will participate in the project’s activities.

With this loan, IFAD will have funded 10 projects in Burkina Faso with a total investment of US$131 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.