Project ID: 1283
Executive Board document: EB-2005-84-R-10-Rev-1

Batha Rural Development Project

Who are the beneficiaries? Project beneficiaries are the rural poor of the Batha region living in areas with serious problems of soil degradation and with limited access to resources (land in particular). Vulnerable groups comprise small subsistence farmers who depend for their livelihoods on rainfed farming activities. Women and youth are particularly vulnerable as they are traditionally excluded from decision-making processes and, compared with men, face greater difficulties in accessing resources and information.

Why are they poor? Low agricultural productivity, few income-generating activities and lack of access to financial services are the main causes of poverty in the project area. Local communities are rarely involved in decision-making. They also face other important constraints such as the lack of resources and weaknesses in the service delivery system.

What will the project do for them? The project will help strengthen the capacity of the rural poor in the project area (in particular, women, young people and farmers’ groups, unions and communities). Once empowered, the rural poor will be able to analyse and identify their own development constraints, prioritize their problems and formulate and implement their own projects. The project will provide financial assistance to support microprojects that will be prepared and owned by the beneficiaries and will aim at improving agricultural productivity and protecting the environment. It will promote the development of a distribution system for agricultural inputs, in particular seeds.

Furthermore, it will provide financial assistance so that communities can construct waterholes and boreholes, set up water-harvesting schemes for berbéré (lowland millet) and home-garden production, and rehabilitate a few key rural and feeder roads to allow access to high-potential production zones. The project will also support the development of an appropriate and sustainable rural financial system capable of providing financial services to the rural poor.

How will the beneficiaries participate in the project? Participatory diagnostic and planning processes will ensure that target beneficiaries, particularly women and youth, effectively participate in determining which microprojects should obtain project financing. Target communities and
beneficiaries will plan and prioritize their needs and manage the resources received from the project. The managerial and technical capacities of farmers’ groups, unions and communities will be strengthened and their negotiating skills reinforced.

Loan and grant amount:
SDR 8.4 million (equivalent to approximately USD 12.8 million) Grant: SDR 270 000 (equivalent to approximately USD 400 000)

Total project cost: USD 15.0 million

Kanem Rural Development Project

Who are the beneficiaries? The target group comprises vulnerable rural poor communities living in the structurally food insecure Kanem region of Chad, who have limited access to resources (particularly land in the ouadis), social infrastructure and information. The beneficiaries constitute almost the entire rural population of the Kanem region and are typically smallholders engaged in subsistence cultivation and livestock on marginal land. This land is characterized by low productivity sand dunes and ouadis, and therefore dry farming activities form the mainstay of their livelihood. Within this target group, women and young people are particularly vulnerable, as they are traditionally excluded from decision-making and have greater difficulty in accessing resources and information.

Why are they poor? Low agricultural productivity, few wage-earning opportunities, lack of access to financial services and limited rural infrastructure are the foremost causes of poverty in the project area. Poor people in the Kanem region are rarely involved in decision-making, in analysing the constraints they face and identifying possible solutions, or in prioritizing their needs. Weak community organization, combined with ineffective service delivery and lack of resources, further contributes to poverty in the area.

What will the project do for them?The project aims to improve the incomes and food security of poor households in the Kanem region in a sustainable manner. Farmers groups and rural organizations (including women and young people) in the target area will be empowered to analyse their constraints, prioritize their development needs and participate in implementing appropriate interventions. The project will provide technical and financial assistance for microfinance institution development and economic group formation, in addition to microprojects aimed at increasing incomes and agricultural productivity, and protecting the environment. The project will also support the development of a distribution system for agricultural inputs, the provision of financial services for the rural poor and financing for agricultural advice and research.

How will the beneficiaries participate in the project? Participatory planning at the village and inter-village level will ensure that target beneficiaries, particularly women and young people, effectively participate in determining development priorities and in project implementation. Beneficiaries will plan and prioritize their needs and manage resources received under the project. Each village will design its own development action plan with assistance from the project and these will be compiled into an annual work plan and budget (AWP/B). The participation of the poor, in particular of women and young people, in the self-managed savings and credit schemes will facilitate their access to financial resources and services. The negotiating capacity of farmers groups and rural organizations will also be reinforced.

Loan Amount:

SDR 9.5 million (equivalent to approximately USD 13.0 million)

Total project cost: USD 14.3 million

Project ID: 1144
Executive Board Document: EB-2000-69-R-18-Rev-1

Food Security Project in the Northern Gura Region Phase II

The overall goal of this eight-year IFAD-initiated project is to build upon the achievements and lessons learned during the first phase, which was the first operation financed by IFAD under the Special Programme for Sub-Saharan African Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification. It will promote rural grass-roots institutions, enabling members to improve their own well-being, food security and nutritional status and to undertake their own development. More specifically, the project seeks to improve food security through increased and more stable production and the diversification of incomes; empower grass-roots institutions and wome n; and improve health and sanitation, in line with the strategy set out by the BSF. To meet these objectives, the project includes four components:

(i) rural organizational development;

(ii) a rural development fund to finance food-security-related activities or rural infrastructure;

(iii) promotion of microfinance services; and

(iv) project management. Approximately 400 villages will be covered by the project, with about 15 000 families (approximately 90 000 persons) or 35% of the total population of the areas, benefiting directly from project activities.

As in the first phase of the project, sedentary farmers, agropastoralists and, to a lesser extent, nomads will be included in the target group composed of the poorest and most vulnerable of the rural population in terms of food insecurity. Particular attention will be paid to food-insecure villages, women 's groups, other particularly vulnerable groups including woman-headed households, families headed by disabled or unemployed persons, and children.

Innovative features:

The project will apply approaches already incorporated in other IFAD projects but that are innovations in the context of Chad. These include:

(i) a participatory approach, which will allow vulnerable persons and women to be fully involved in decision-making, resource allocation and management, as well as a demand-driven approach in which no activities will be undertaken unless initiated by the stakeholders themselves;

(ii) a project objective that women constitute 55% of all beneficiaries; and

(iii) project management by a decentralized body an autonomous association representing the interests of the stakeholders. These are essential elements of IFADs strategy towards further empowerment of the poor and the improvement of governance through decentralized institutional mechanisms.

Loan amount:

SDR 8.2 million (approximately USD 11.0 million) on highly concessional terms.

Total project costs:

Estimated at USD 17.6 million, of which USD 3.7 million will be provided by BSF, USD 334 000 by WFP, USD 650 000 by an IFAD grant, USD 1.2 million by the Government and USD 784 000 by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

UNOPS.