 |
|
|
|
 |
|||
| Project ID: 1159
Lower Usuthu Smallhoder Irrigation Project - Phase I The design of the eight-year Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP) -Phase I aims to create secure access among poor smallholders to a vital resource previously enjoyed principally by the large-scale private sector - water. The objectives are to integrate the smallholder sub-sector into the commercial economy through the provision of irrigation infrastructure to permit the intensification and diversification of high-value crops, and to arrest negative health impacts and environmental degradation. Project components include: (a) upstream works and a distribution system, involving the construction of a diversion weir, three dams and other heavy engineering civil works; (b) downstream development and agricultural commercialization, involving support for a policy and legal framework (for land, water, resettlement and farmers organizations), participatory planning and irrigated farm development, irrigation management institutions and agricultural commercialization; (c) environmental mitigation comprising finalization of a comprehensive mitigation plan; resettlement planning and compensation; public health; and environmental conservation, monitoring and external review; and (d) project coordination and management. About 2 600 households, out of a total of 3 418 households currently residing in the LUSIP Phase I area, are expected to benefit directly from project activities. Beneficiaries will generally be smallholders, mainly involved in sugar cane production, but with some also cultivating cotton and other high-value crops under irrigation. It is expected that about 30% of the farmer groups will also be involved in commercial livestock activities. Beneficiaries are among the poorest in the country, with average annual per capita income estimated at USD 100. A large secondary group will benefit indirectly from the expansion of wage employment (labour) and small enterprise opportunities arising from a vast expansion in cash turnover in the local economy. IFAD was requested by the Government to participate in the design and implementation of the project to ensure that the investment would have the maximum enduring benefit for the rural poor. Smallholders will form groups/associations, each of about 20 members, who will jointly cultivate crops or undertake livestock enterprises and will share the establishment costs, work and income on an equitable basis. Women and youths will be an integral part of the groups/associations. Beneficiaries will be responsible for the development, preparation and implementation of their workplans; they will receive training, skills upgrading and other capacity-building to enable them to manage their enterprises and take corrective and preventive measures against risks to their health and the health of their family members; and they will participate in the sustained maintenance of flora, fauna, land/soil and other natural resources. Loan amount: SDR 11.90 million (equivalent to approximately USD 14.96 million) on intermediate terms Total project costs are estimated at USD 116.54 million Cooperating Institution: United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) |
