Rome, 2 April 2013 - The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia signed a financing agreement in March 2013 in an endeavour to eradicate rural poverty in areas with high levels of poverty and food vulnerability including in the departments of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Tarija, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando.

The Economic Inclusion Programme for Families and Rural Communities in the Territory of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (ACCESOS) will receive funding of US$45.6 million over a duration of five years. IFAD will contribute $18 million, with cofinancing of $15 million from the Spanish Food Security Cofinancing Facility Trust Fund, $6.8 million from the Bolivian Government and $5.8 million from the beneficiaries. An additional contribution to ACCESSOS in the form of a grant for climate change adaptation is now in the design phase. 

The Bolivian Ministry of Rural Development and Land will implement the programme, through an executing agency and local operating units.
The aim of the programme is to improve the quality of life for rural communities by building capacity for sustainable management of renewable natural resources, supporting on- and off-farm economic initiatives, and promoting financial inclusion by encouraging savings and micro-life insurance for rural families.
The programme’s main target is poor rural indigenous families living in 52 municipalities in Bolivia with poverty rates more than 50 per cent.

“ACCESOS will work with people living in Indigenous Native Campesino Territories who have received awards of communal property and small-scale property, and with rural communities or families not yet titled, regardless of their form of ownership,” said Jaana Keitaanranta, IFAD’s country programme manager in Bolivia. “The strategy for implementing the programme will reflect social, cultural and environmental diversity in the territories. This will ensure coordinated execution of both programme components and, crucially, the economic and financial viability of the proposed income-generating initiatives without depending on future transfers – as well as consolidate the territories and family enterprises.”

With this new programme, IFAD will have funded 12 programmes and projects in Bolivia, with a total investment of $114.5 million.

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Press release No.: IFAD/15/2013

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 about US$14.8 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering over 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 172 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD).