Issue no.16 - May 2010
Investing in people, transforming lives
| Wisdom corner | ||
| “Do not look where you fell but where you slipped.“ An African proverb that is a lesson in learning and improvement. | ||
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Farmer at the counter of the UBD agency of Rosso, Mauritania, dealing with the cashier. | |
Dear friends,
Welcome to the first issue of FIDAction for 2010. This newsletter is an important forum for sharing the latest news from our programmes and projects in Western and Central Africa.
Included in this issue is a summary of results for the period of June 2008 to July 2009, which were provided by IFAD’s Annual Portfolio Performance Review. The review assesses how well our projects have performed during the year, how effective we have been in addressing agricultural development in the region, and what the prospects are for achieving future development objectives.
Also in this issue you will read about how rural banks in Sierra Leone are learning from Ghana’s long experience in the rural finance sector and how yam varieties from Benin are having an impact in The Congo, as well as results from IFAD’s support to drip irrigation in Senegal and cowpea research in Central Africa. We also include a wonderful letter from elders in the village of Kondogola in Mali, who explain how IFAD programmes and projects have helped them to overcome poverty on their own.
We look forward to working with you through the challenging times ahead to help poor rural people in the region realize their potential.
Enjoy this issue, and please send us your comments. We would love to hear from you.
Mohamed Beavogui
Director
Western and Central Africa Division
Portfolio Review: Investing in people, transforming lives
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Sao Tome and Principe. Beneficiary Manuela Tavares in her home. She received funds to build a house through the programme. | |
IFAD’s Western and Central Africa (WCA) division is large and diverse. It covers the Sahel as well as coastal and forest zones, encompassing 24 member countries with an estimated population of about 400 million people. It is also one of the most vulnerable regions of the world – more than one third of the population lives on less than US$2 per day.
One of five regions in IFAD’s portfolio, WCA accounts for 17 per cent of IFAD’s total ongoing programme and project expenditure of US$3.5 billion.
“IFAD’s presence in the region continues to be a vital response to the persistent challenges of rural poverty, food security, agricultural development and post-conflict recovery,” said Perin Saint-Ange, Portfolio Advisor. “We are extremely pleased to report that agricultural development and food security are now firmly on the political agenda at regional level, which has resulted in steady improvement in these areas. And despite a number of major constraints, we are making concrete progress to improve the living conditions of poor rural men, women and children in the region. The Portfolio Review is an extremely helpful tool for helping us determine what is working and where we need to increase our efforts.”
Some highlights of the review:
Increasing food security: In Sierra Leone the Community-based Poverty Reduction Project began in 2009 with a food security component that aims to increase production of staple and cash crops such as rice, cocoa, cassava and oil palm. In Niger, more than 150 grain banks have been built by the Project for the Promotion of Local Initiative for Development in Aguié. By April 2009 they were storing more than 3,000 tons of cereals, providing 50,000 households with an additional month of food security during the hungry season. In Chad, about 130 grain banks and 30 warehouses have been established by the Pastoral Water and Resource Management Project in Sahelian Areas.
In Cote d’Ivoire, communities continue to benefit from the Small Horticultural Producer Support Project and the Marketing and Local Initiatives Support Project, both of which have survived the war and are functioning without external support. Cassava yields have increased from 15 tons per hectare to 26 tons and yam yields have more than doubled, rising from 8-10 tons per hectare to 17-25 tons. In The Gambia (Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project) and Mali (Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme) project participants are reporting improved food security and marketable grain surpluses.
Building skills: Training and capacity building are important components of a high percentage of IFAD’s programmes and projects.
“Many of the projects we support build people’s skills and knowledge and help them develop and strengthen their organizations and communities,” said Steven Schonberger, Regional Economist. “This enables them to take advantage of economic opportunities and to achieve higher incomes and better food security for themselves and their families.”
In Benin, 776 producers, 218 of them women, from 23 villages received training on improved production technologies. Projects in Senegal have supported capacity building in several producers’ and entrepreneurs’ organizations. The Community Investment Programme for Agricultural Fertility in Burkina Faso reported that 9,300 men were trained in crop production practices and technologies.
And in Nigeria, about 300,000 families have benefited from the successful Community-based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme. The programme was launched in eight northern states and is now being replicated by other local governments across the country, and by the African Development Bank and the World Bank. Participants have reported multiple benefits, including improved food security, increased family incomes, and better access to health, education and transport services.
Creating jobs, supporting women: “Job creation is one of the most tangible conventional indicators of poverty reduction,” said Mohamed Manssouri, Outgoing Country Portfolio manger for Ghana. Thanks to successful and efficient collaboration with local institutions, the Rural Enterprises Project in Ghana enjoys strong support and interest from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. IFAD helped develop 160,000 micro-enterprises and a rural banking network. Programmes and projects in Burkina Faso worked with more than 2,500 rural microenterprises and created more than 5,000 in the rural areas.
“Projects in the region (Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, etc.) demonstrated significant success in increasing women’s participation in village meetings, and in improving their freedom of speech, social position, decision-making skills and economic power,” said Cristiana Sparacino, Country Portfolio manger for Mauritania and Gender Focal Point for Western and Central Africa Division. “The evaluation also highlighted that many projects had a positive impact on project staff and national partners by improving their understanding of, and capacity for, participatory gender-sensitive approaches.”
Sharing knowledge: Financial resources alone are not enough to reduce poverty in a sustainable manner. A major focus of IFAD’s approach is to equip poor rural people with the right knowledge to make development initiatives work.
The online knowledge network FIDAFRIQUE-IFADAFRICA enables people working in the programmes and projects we support to share best practices and innovations. In 2009, the network was broadened to include the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
“We also support learning events and knowledge fairs, which enable a wide range of people in the region to come together face-to-face and share experiences,” said Zoumana Bamba, Knowledge management Officer. In March 2009, a knowledge-sharing and learning event was organized in Mauritania. Another fair, this time on community-driven development, was held at IFAD headquarters in July 2009.
Promoting policy dialogue and partnerships: “Policy dialogue and partnership are other areas in which IFAD has proven expertise,” said Mohamed Béavogui, Director Western and Central Africa Division. “We are actively engaged with regional, international and civil society organizations to address issues of food security and nutrition, particularly for vulnerable populations. “We are also working to strengthen ongoing strategic partnerships with the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the OPEC Fund for International Development and the World Bank.”
Sixty-two per cent, or 29 out of 47, of the ongoing programmes and projects IFAD supports in the region are cofinanced by other organizations. Major partners include the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, the Economic Community of West African States, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, the Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa.
Useful links
Cameroon: providing farmers with up-to-date marketing information
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Women participating at the local fair | |
The Roots and Tubers Market-Driven Development Programme (PNDRT) and the Directorate of Investigation and Agricultural Statistics (DESA) are using modern information and communication technology and rural radio to test methods for providing farmers with up-to-date market information. In March 2010, 25 new programme investigators received training by the international NGO Open Market Foundation.
The agents collect daily information about market prices and availability, which is then disseminated through rural radio. The programme is also establishing warehouses to support marketing activities.
Ten markets will offer platforms for dialogue between different local actors in the sector, including traders, transporters, producers, and representatives of the Commune, police, and traditional and religious administrative authorities.
The PNDRT also identified market opportunities for 250 micro-enterprises in urban and rural areas. The programme supported a study conducted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture on opportunities for marketing of seeds and yams. It also held two training courses, facilitated by FAO, on quality management in the production of cassava derivatives.
For more information, please contact:
Sylvie Marzin
Country Portfolio Manager
[email protected]
Useful links:
Knowledge Sharing: Sierra Leone learning from Ghana’s rural banks
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Participants in a workshop on rural finance in Sierra Leone | |
The Rural Finance and Community Initiatives Project (RFCIP) in Sierra Leone held a study tour from to learn from Ghana’s many years of experience in rural community banking.
Ghana’s ARB (Association of Rural Banks) Apex Bank is a ‘mini central bank’ that provides banking and non-banking services to rural and community banks to enhance monitoring, supervision and control of their operations. The Apex Bank has received global recognition and has become a model for those now used in other countries in the Western and central Africa region.
“The Sierra Leone government wants to create rural financial institutions that will ensure that rural people have access to financial services and are able to participate in and take ownership of in the process,” said Hubert Boirard, Country Portfolio Manager for Sierra Leone. “It has been recommended the creation of an Apex structure for monitoring, supervision and management of community banks.”
Eight study tour participants from Sierra Leone met with officials from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Ghana, the Apex Bank, the Agricultural Development Bank and microfinance institutions.
For more information, please contact:
Hubert Boirard
Country Portfolio Manager
[email protected]
Useful links:
The Congo: new Benin yams produce abundant yields
Yams from Benin are out-performing the local variety in northern Congo, delighting many farmers in the region.
“After just six months, some of the imported varieties were already mature, while the local variety was still in the middle if its 12-month growing cycle,” IFAD consultant M Adako Moudiongui. “Many seasoned growers were surprised that they could harvest yams at six months and that they were so plentiful. One woman was seen dancing and jumping for joy in her field. ‘I've never seen yams this big,’ she said. ‘Now, this will be known as the yam of our community.’”
Introduced to The Congo in 2008 by the Rural Development Project (PRODER north), the 13 varieties were tested on-farm in Ngoko, Ewo, and Gamboma Mbandza, and at the Regional Reference Centre for Agricultural and Forestry Oyo (CRRAFO).
The new introductions include two early-maturing crops and six late-maturing varieties of the complex varietal Kokoro.
The PRODER north project also held several training sessions for farmers on techniques for rapid multiplication, called mini-set propagation. Tubers with about three to five germination points or eyes are planted closely together in a seedbed. When they have produced shoots and roots, the new plants from the mother tubers are carefully separated by cutting off a portion of the tuber to which each is attached. Compared to using whole tubers, mini-sets enable faster multiplication and require less planting material.
“I put into practice all the techniques I learned in the training,” said Ngantsui Felix, a producer from Ngoko. “From 10 yams, I was able to harvest 50. From 50, I got 250. Now I can reach over 600. As I master the technique of mini-set, I will be able to plant a large field and become a great producer.”
For more information, please contact:
- Mohamed Manssouri
Country Portfolio Manager
[email protected] - Arielle Teddy BOUHOYI
Bureau de liaison des Projets FIDA
Responsable de la Communication,
Gestion des Connaissances et Innovation.
242 596 01 48/ 242 995 23 44
[email protected]
Useful links:
Senegal: drip irrigation for market gardens boost incomes and food security
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Farmer using drip irrigation system that uses every drop of water to directly irrigate one seedling or plant. | |
The rural population of Matam, located along the Senegalese frontier with Mauritania, depends on agriculture, livestock production and, to a lesser extent, fishing. Over the last four decades, a dramatic decline in rainfall and changes in the flood pattern of the Senegal River caused by the Manantali Dam has resulted in increasing economic insecurity and poverty for families in the area.
Matam Diéri is also characterized by high emigration of men and youth who leave home in search of jobs. This repositions women as heads of households responsible for producing food and earning income to support their families.
The Agricultural Development Project in Matam (PRODAM) includes an irrigated agriculture component to help address these problems. The project has established market gardens using drip irrigation to benefit women and youth, is an important strategy against poverty in the area. The market gardens increase food and nutritional security and increase women’s incomes. With a sustainable family income, more men and youth are able to stay at home, which adds to family and community stability.
The project provides support for technical training, organization and management of women’s groups. “Beneficiaries contribute money directly to the project,” said Ghachem Kadari, IFAD’s Country Portfolio Manager. “This is an important aspect for the sustainability of the operation. It provides evidence that these communities are committed to taking charge of their own development.
“Before the project, women had very few opportunities to grow food or earn money for their families during the nine-month dry season,” Kadari adds. “Now they can grow and sell produce throughout the year. The drip irrigation systems allow two to three crops to be planted each year. Women’s groups are now bringing in a regular 2 to 3 million CFA (about 4500 and 5000) per production cycle.”
The success of the project has opened the door to private operators who are currently developing similar programmes for production and seeking to intensify the network of horticultural producers and their negotiating capacity in marketing.
For more information, please contact:
- Ghachem Kadari
Country Portfolio Manager, a.i.
[email protected]
Useful links:
PRONAF-GIL: IITA and IFAD work together to improve cowpea production
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Farmers undertaking an agrosystem analysis (Photo IITA) | |
Cowpeas are a key crop for resource-poor farmers and rural women in subsistence farming systems in Western and Central Africa. Performing well under poor conditions, cowpeas are often the only cash crop with good marketing opportunities in remote areas because they do not perish quickly. Cowpea residues are a major fodder resource for the small ruminants that are important sources of food and income in poor households. Farmers in the savannahs of West Africa are eager to adopt improved cowpea technologies such as high-yielding, disease- and drought-tolerant and short-cycle varieties, integrated pest management options and improved storage techniques.
Since 1999, IFAD and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have been collaborating on developing and disseminating cowpea innovations through a research grant called Projet Niébé pour l’Afrique (PRONAF). The first grant, which ended in 2006, worked with farmers to test new technologies and varieties in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. During that time, PRONAF trained 235 national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) scientists, IFAD project staff, public extension experts and private-sector stakeholders in the monitoring and impact assessment of research and development activities in food security and poverty reduction.
A grant for a second phase of the programme – PRONAF-GIL – began in 2008 and ends early next year. The aim of the second phase was to develop and disseminate cowpea innovations, strengthen local institutions, build public/private partnerships, and increase awareness and information exchanges among target groups on important technological, social, economic and environmental issues.
“There have been many benefits to PRONAF-GIL’s dissemination of cowpea production and protection technologies,” said Ousmane Coulibaly, scientist at IITA. “Survey results from sample households show that there is a demand for improved varieties of cowpea that produce greater quantities and are more nutritious. Farmers want to learn about better soil fertility improvement practices and new crop-livestock integration systems.”
Specific innovations developed by PRONAF-GIL include improved varieties and seed production practices, plant-based insecticides, and improved storage techniques such as solar drying, double and triple bagging and hermetic drums. All of these innovations are being diffused in target countries and within the Western and Central Africa region.
For more information, please contact:
- Ousmane Coulibaly
Agricultural Economist, IITA, Benin
[email protected] - Norman Messer
[email protected]
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Two members of the project staff discussing project success with members of the village committee. | |
The 3,000 inhabitants in the village of Kondogola, near Segou, are among the first generation of people who have benefitted from IFAD-funded programmes and projects in Mali.
“Since 1984, villagers have been enthusiastic partners in a wide variety of interventions that have improved living conditions for their families and community,” said Leopold Sarr, IFAD’s Country Portfolio Manager in Mali. “This collaboration is based on cohesion, harmony and community mobilization. IFAD’s initial support laid the foundation that encouraged the hardworking people in this village to take their future in their own hands and to manage their livelihoods sustainably. The village of Kondogola, through values, organization and skills, is now a focal point of many partners whose actions are directed and managed by the people” said Leopold Sarr, IFAD’s Country Portfolio Manager for Mali
Two village leaders, Harouna Traore and Mamadou Coulibaly, expressed their appreciation in the following letter to IFAD staff in the region:
Through IFAD projects, whose interventions emphasized the need to organize people around key activities, our village has created a literacy centre, a warehouse, a track linking our village to the village of Cinzana, large diameter wells, savings and credit banks, a multifunctional platform [a low-cost, simple diesel generator that provides electricity for refrigeration, lighting and other appliances, pumping water and grinding cereal] and an area for a group of women vegetable sellers. All these facilities are still functioning thanks to the training that accompanied their implementation.
The IFAD interventions have helped to attract other partners such as Japan Cooperation, the Sasakawa Global 2000 PRECAD, and Faso Jigi Amader. Amader, the partner that helped us to electrify our village, used the generator of our multifunctional platform for the production and supply current. All of the partners that worked with us are resource persons from the village, thanks to operations financed by IFAD.
Today, all of our investments are doing well, thanks to our Village Development Committee, which is responsible for planning, organizing, implementing and monitoring of all actions initiated on behalf of the village. Under this committee, there are specialized groups for each activity. For example, the multifunctional platform and perimeter garden are headed by women's groups. Managing the electricity and facilities for threshing millet and sorghum are the responsibility of youth groups. The contribution of different groups is determined by the General Assembly of the village.
Since 1984, our village has not experienced food shortages. Our excess grain is collected at harvest time by the management team of the store and then resold when prices are attractive. The profits, as well as the operating surpluses of the multifunctional platform, are intended to strengthen the financial capacity of the Savings and Credit facility.
Men and women of Kondogola who became qualified by IFAD as facilitators also provide people in other villages with technical assistance and literacy training.
We remain convinced that all of the progress we have made was possible because we are united. We focus on in-depth exchanges in order to avoid differences between us in the future. Once a decision is taken by the Village Development Committee, it becomes binding on all. We believe that nothing beats the union, and without it our village would not realize all of the gains we have made. We believe that whatever the event, cohesion, consensus and mobilization will not be in vain.”
- For more information, please contact:
Leopold Sarr
Country Portfolio Manager
[email protected]
Useful links:
Africa Rice Center honours IFAD President
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IFAD President receiving his award (Photo G. Mpoulogmo). | |
IFAD’s President Kanayo F. Nwanze has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Africa Rice Center.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Mali, H.E. Modibo Sidibe, presented the award during the opening ceremony of the second Africa Rice Congress, held in Bamako, Mali from 22 – 26 March 2010.
“Let me express my heartfelt gratitude for honouring me with the Distinguished Service Award,” said Nwanze at the ceremony. “The Africa Rice Center is a fine institution, and one which I am immensely proud to be associated with. Having worked for 10 years with Africa Rice, this is very special indeed. It is therefore with great honour and humility that I accept this Distinguished Service Award.”
Hundred of scientists, researchers, development practitioners and farmers from Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America attended the congress. Journalists from all over the globe were also on hand to report on the process and progress.
“We know from the work of both the Africa Rice Center and IFAD, innovation and partnerships are fundamental to realizing Africa’s potential,” said Nwanze. “And, as we also know, there is much untapped potential on this continent to be realized. Whether here at Africa Rice or in Rome at IFAD, I say that we owe it to Africa’s people to ensure that we achieve this goal. Working together, I am confident that we will.”
While in Mali, Nwanze visited the Sabougnouma women’s cooperative, which is supported by the Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme (FODESA) The cooperative has established a micro-project that processes agricultural products such as cereals, peanuts, shea butter and condiments. It also provides services such as welding, battery charging, and distribution of electricity for lighting the village. The visit provided an opportunity for cooperative members to talk with Nwanze and other IFAD staff about their future needs, with promises of increased FODESA support.
33rd session of IFADs Governing Council
The 33rd session of the Governing Council , IFAD’s annual meeting, was held 17-18 February 2010 in Rome. Agenda items included the Eighth Replenishment of IFAD’s resources, IFAD’s budget, revisions to IFAD’s lending policies and criteria, progress on the performance-based allocation system, progress on the Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and a synthesis of the global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum 2010.
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A special panel discussion – “From summit resolutions to farmers’ fields: climate change, food security and smallholder agriculture” – featured internationally known experts who discussed ways to transform promises into realities for the two billion people whose lives depend on smallholder agriculture.
Read more about the 33rd Session
Creating a more climate-smart IFAD
IFAD has consolidated all environment, climate change and Global Environment Facility functions into a new entity called the Environment and Climate Change Division, under the existing Director, Elwyn Grainger-Jones. The Division’s mission is ‘To integrate climate change and environment across IFAD’s operations and policies so that they are climate smart and environmentally sound.’
The new Division will work in close collaboration with Regional Divisions to integrate environment and climate change issues into IFAD’s operations and activities. It will focus on promoting sustainable natural resource management in the areas of biodiversity, land, forest and water, as well as on adaptation and mitigation programmes and activities that generate global and local benefits relevant to the IFAD’s target groups. The Division’s goal is to make IFAD’s portfolio and loans and grants more climate and environmentally sensitive. Lessons learned and innovations generated will enhance IFAD’s work on knowledge management.
IFAD has also developed a new strategy to ensure that climate change – alongside other risks, opportunities and themes – is systematically integrated into core programmes, policies and activities.
The new strategy supports innovative approaches that will help smallholder producers build their resilience to climate change and take advantage of available mitigation incentives and funding. It also creates a platform for more coherent global dialogue on climate change, rural development, and agriculture and food security.
Strengthening performance and sharing success: IFAD and partners meet in Ghana
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Accra Regional Implementation Workshop group photo | |
Representatives of government, civil society and farmer organizations, the private sector, development partners, project staff and IFAD staff met in Accra from 1-4 December 2009 to discuss lifting performance to achieve greater results and impact of IFAD-supported country programmes in Western and Central Africa.
The workshop, organized by IFAD in conjunction with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Ghana, was held at the ORCHID Hospitality Management Services (Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons).
Over 200 participants attended. Working groups discussed respective country action plans to strengthen project performance and results. Thematic learning working groups discussed rural and agricultural finance and rural enterprise, agricultural value chains development, and support to capacity building.
IFAD has 50 on-going rural development projects and programmes in Western and Central Africa, for a total commitment of US$ 1.3 billion, making the region one of the largest users of IFAD resources.
“IFAD-supported projects are the main vehicle for improving the lives of the rural poor and effective project implementation is the foundation of enabling the rural poor to overcome poverty,” said Mohamed Béavogui, Director of Western and Central Africa Division in IFAD. “Sharing experiences and learning between farmers, NGOs, the private sector and government is vital to the impact of projects.”
The regional project implementation workshop was opened by the Honorable Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture of the Republic of Ghana, and Mohamed Béavogui, Director of Western and Central Africa Division in IFAD.
Since 1980 IFAD has supported 16 programmes and projects in Ghana, with total financing of $184.45 million, making it the second largest user of IFAD resources in the region. IFAD's investments seek to enable rural poor people to improve and diversify their livelihoods in a sustainable manner. Through its operations, IFAD supports the key development objectives of Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II).
For more information
Senegal: Rural Entrepreneurship Conference on Financing for Youth
A forum on rural entrepreneurship for youth was held in Matam, Senegal on 25 - 27 January 2010. The forum was attended by about 60 representatives from the PRODAM project, the IMF, local authorities and development organizations. The programme included visits to exhibition stands, and panels provided an opportunity for people to discuss the potential of the region.
The event showcased business opportunities and support mechanisms available for young people and facilitated the establishment of a partnership for socioeconomic development region.
The conference was sponsored by Mrs Fatou Gueye Sarr, Minister of Agriculture, Mrs Khady Ndeye Diop, Minister of State, the Minister of Family, Food Security of Women Entrepreneurs of Micro Finance. It was organized by the PRODAM and the Gender Observatory, with the support of FIDAFRIQUE,
For more information:
Republic of Congo: IFAD Board approves second COSOP
IFAD’s Executive Board approved the second country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) for the Republic of Congo for 2010-2014. The COSOP will help the country meet the objectives of its second poverty reduction strategy paper and its National Food Security Programme. The main goal is to sustainably improve the income and food security of poor rural people by developing agricultural commodities chains. It will introduce appropriate and effective agricultural and fishery technologies for production, processing, storage and preservation; create transparent markets for agricultural and fishery inputs and products for the targeted chains; and help rural and producers’ organizations become more involved in local and national planning and policy-making processes.
IFAD has approved three new projects:
Republic of Côte d’Ivoire: Agricultural Rehabilitation and Poverty Reduction Project. The main goal is to improve food security and livelihoods of small farmers in the central and north-eastern regions Following the 2001 – 2007 civil war. The post-crisis project aims to strengthen rice, cassava and yam production of destitute farmers and their groups and rehabilitate or build essential community infrastructures to support production and marketing for local food value chains. | Read more
Republic of the Gambia: Livestock and Horticulture Development Project. The IFAD grant will help reduce rural poverty sustainably by improving the production and marketability of livestock and horticultural products. It will boost profits for group-organized horticulture and livestock production and build capacities at the grassroots level. | Read more
Republic of Liberia: Agriculture Sector Rehabilitation Project. The project’s overarching goal is to reduce post-conflict poverty and food insecurity and to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of rural communities. It will restore capital to households by channelling direct benefits to vulnerable beneficiary groups and provide short-term support for the recovery of rural communities and their farming systems. | Read more
New grant to benefit African farmers’ organizations
IFAD has approved a US$1.5 million grant to four African farmers’ organizations, representing about 19 per cent of the total programme financing of US$8.1 million.
The Support to Farmers’ Organizations in Africa Programme is a joint European Commission-IFAD capacity-building programme aimed at strengthening the institutional capacities of farmers’ organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. It will also develop their abilities to represent the interests of smallholder farmers and to influence relevant policy processes at national, regional and continental levels.
The programme will support four regional networks of farmers’ organizations and their member farmers’ organizations at national level. It will also support the set-up and initial operation of a pan-African farmers’ platform. The four regional networks are the Eastern Africa Farmers’ Federation (EAFF), Subregional Platform for Farmers’ Organizations of Central Africa (PROPAC), Network of Farmers’ Organizations and Agricultural Producers in West Africa (ROPPA) and Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU).
The programme is already financed by the European Commission for a total of EUR 5 million, or US$6.6 million, over three years (2009-2011). The four grants will provide cofinancing to the programme over the 2010–2012 periods.
For more information:
Publications, networking and information services
Notes d’orientations relatives à l’analyse institutionnelle dans les programmes de développement rural. 42p. IFAD.2009.
Three information sheets have been published: Regreening the Sahel; Fostering access to technological innovation; Supporting farmers’ organizations to give small-scale farmers a voice.
Electronic copies are available on FIDAFRIQUE website
Inside de farm, a newsletter published by the Community-Based Poverty Reduction Project (RCPRB), showcases IFAD’s activities in Sierra Leone.
For more information:
George Williams Nyambe
Editor: [email protected]
PRODER News, published by the projects in Congo, reports on the activities of PRODER and on the projects of all of its partners and the public centre. The newsletter will be published every three months.
To obtain a copy:
Arielle Teddy BOUHOYI
Head of Communication, Knowledge Management and Innovation
IFAD / Congo Brazzaville
[email protected]