Target group. The target group consists of resource-poor smallholder farmers, landless households (including unemployed young people) and woman-headed households living in about 21 woreda (districts) that constitute the Lake Tana watersheds. At least 25 per cent of the beneficiaries will be woman-headed households; and about 10 per cent will be landless households and unemployed young people who will be encouraged to engage in off- and on-farm income-generating activities. Project objectives. The project's development goal is to reduce rural poverty through improved livelihoods and ecosystem integrity. Its objective is to increase rural households’ incomes by promoting the adoption of sustainable land management practices that will also mitigate climate change. Project description. The project is expected to have three components, which will be further developed during project design:
Potential cofinanciers and domestic contribution. The project will be cofinanced by IFAD, GEF and other development partners. Interested cofinanciers are invited to contact IFAD. The domestic contribution (government and beneficiary households) is to be determined. Photo caption 1: IFAD photo by Alberto Conti - Ethiopia - rehabilitation programme for drought-affected areas - an example of soil erosion Photo caption 2: IFAD photo by Fabrizio Felloni - Stone bunds to prevent soil erosion at Irza scheme (Amhara region). |
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Project area. The project will be implemented in the Amhara National Regional State, where the Lake Tana basin is located. Soil loss is registering alarming levels and contributing to the adverse effects of climate change. In turn, climate change further increases the vulnerability of rural households to food insecurity, drought and famine.
Important features. The proposed project will enhance access by poor rural households to productive natural resources as is consistent with both the Government’s Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty and the IFAD Strategic Framework 2007-2010. The project will promote a community-based participatory approach. To this end, it will strengthen and establish community-based organizations in order to increasingly enable rural communities to manage their own productive resources effectively and efficiently. It will also help strengthen IFAD’s partnership with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), a main project cofinancier, at a critical point in time when the issue of climate change is high on national and international agendas. Through the project, IFAD will proactively seek to influence the shape of emerging public strategies, policies and investments in the area of sustainable land management, one of the main thrusts of IFAD's results-based country strategic opportunities programme for Ethiopia currently under preparation. In accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, arrangements for project coordination, management and implementation will be integrated into the decentralized regional administration of the Amhara National Regional State Government. Overall, the project will provide a unique opportunity for IFAD to demonstrate the strong linkages between rural poverty, land degradation and climate change, and the lessons learned will be instructive in scaling up sustainable land management practices.