Nukualofa, 3 October – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a US$3 million grant to the Kingdom of Tonga to improve sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable rural communities. The Tonga Rural Innovation Project was launched today by the Honourable Lord Tu’ivakano, Prime Minister of Tonga, at an event in Nukualofa.

The country’s economy is vulnerable, particularly in rural areas where employment opportunities are few, access to markets are limited and transportation costs are high. In addition, there is a constant flow of outward migration. About 70 per cent of Tonga’s  population lives in rural areas, with  agriculture and fisheries as the main source of their  livelihoods. Generally, rural poverty is concentrated among smallholder farmers and small-scale fishers who practice a mixed subsistence and cash-crop production. A typical rural farming household produces coconut and root crops, such as  taro, yam and sweet potato, which are sometimes supplemented by plantains and bananas.

The Rural Innovation Project will scale up the successful Mainstreaming of Rural Innovation Programme (MORDI) implemented in Tonga by the local non-governmental organization MORDI Tonga Trust. The project will strengthen the capacity of targeted communities and businesses to plan, finance and manage their development priorities in order to  improve sustainable livelihoods. The main focus of the programme  will be on supporting the implementation of community development plans, and providing grants for community infrastructure for rehabilitation, or construction and maintenance. Links will be established with commercial banks to provide critical financing to agriculture enterprises and rural businesses to stimulate investment in rural economies.

The new project will be implemented within all regions of Tonga in 29 communities in the “outer islands” (beyond the main islands of Tongatapu, Vav’u and Ha’apai) and 31 communities in the “main islands” of Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’api the Niuas and ‘Eau. Approximately 16,900 poor  households  will be targeted, with special  attention to poor rural women and youth.

Press release No.: IFAD/54/2012

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 almost US$14 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering about 400 million people to break out of poverty, thereby helping to create vibrant rural communities. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nations’ food and agriculture hub. It is a unique partnership of 168 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).