Ibarra-San Lorenzo Development Project to boost economic corridor and benefit 16,000 families

Rome, 4 March 2011 – In an effort to improve the lives and livelihoods of poor rural people living along Ecuador’s Ibarra-San Lorenzo corridor, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed a loan agreement 4 March for approximately US$12.7 million.

“The project’s main goal is to contribute towards the Government of Ecuador’s efforts to improve the livelihoods of Afro-Ecuadorian, indigenous peoples and mestizo settlers living along this commercial corridor,” said Francisco Pichón, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Ecuador. “It will do this by boosting income-generating activities and strengthening the natural, social and cultural assets of the families living there.”

The northern region of Ecuador has high levels of poverty with poor services and limited social infrastructure, like hospitals, schools and community organizations. The border area has also been affected by the displacement of people stemming from the conflict in neighbouring Columbia.

The US$19.8 million project will also benefit from approximately US$2,2 million in cofinancing from the Government of Ecuador, US$200,000 from local government, and US$1.9 million from the beneficiaries themselves.

“Natural resource management is also an issue in this region,” said Pichón. “In order to promote the sustainable management of these resources, we are working with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to include a US$2.7 million grant within this project.”

The project aligns itself with the goals of Plan Ecuador, the government’s integrated development strategy for the northern region, following the governmental policies of the National Development Plan for Good Living (2009-2013).  

“This project will provide local communities and organizations with the training and tools they need to build successful rural enterprises, promote non-farm activities like tourism and handicrafts, and better manage their natural resources,” said Pichón. “By doing this, we hope to support the government’s efforts to promote peace in the region, recover ancestral knowledge and reaffirm the cultural identities of the people living in this rich and complex corner of Ecuador.”

Press release No.: IFAD/17/2011

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$12.5 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 370 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 167 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).