Release number IFAD/17/08

Rome, 15 February 2008 – A new US$27 million project in Morocco will help about 140,000 poor rural people benefit from microfinance services and vocational training to start on- and off-farm microenterprises.

The US$27 million Rural Development Project in the Mountain Zones of Errachidia Province will help boost agricultural production and the local economy. Errachidia, which is part of the Meknès-Tafilalet Region, is among the country’s poorest provinces.

IFAD will provide a loan of US$18.3 million and a grant of US$500,000 to finance the project. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD’s headquarters in Rome by Lennart Båge, President of IFAD, and Tajeddine Baddou, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Italy.

The Government of Morocco will contribute US$7.6 and participants will contribute US$700,000.

“The project’s overall goal is to improve the living conditions and incomes among poor households in the mountain zones of Errachidia Province,” said Mounif Nourallah, IFAD’s country programme manager for Morocco. “It will help tackle the root causes of rural poverty in the region. These include a lack of financial infrustructure, inadequate social and economic services, poor roads, mismanagement of land and water resources, and high illiteracy rates, especially amoung women.”

The small grant provided under the agreement will help women and young people develop microenterprises related to ecotourism, aromatic and medicinal plant cultivation, and crafts and other artisanal products.

“This will further help tackle the marginalization of poor women and young people in this mountainous area and will make an overall impact in the region,” said Nourallah.

The project will focus on three areas: strengthening participatory programming; building capacity of grassroots organizations and provincial and local public administrations; and training in participatory development.

The project will also rehabilitate small-scale irrigation infrastructure, enhance market access and links, improve the supply of clean drinking water, promote soil and water conservation, and intensify and diversify agricultural production.

The project has a strong financial component. It will promote income diversification by providing sustainable access to local financial services and business counseling services. It will also improve the delivery of microcredit and promote the development of new financial and non-financial products adapted to the needs of poor rural people.

With this project, IFAD will have financed 10 projects in Morocco for a total of commitment of USD165.1 million.

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IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$10 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped more than 300 million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports more than 200 programmes and projects in 84 developing countries.