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| Project ID: 1197
Rural Finance Services Programme Taking into consideration ongoing and planned activities in the microfinance industry in Uganda and available resources, the programme will support and complement the effort of the Government and the donor community to create an extensive, strong rural finance system. The goal is to offer rural poor populations the opportunity for higher, more stable income, thus alleviating poverty. The programme will fill gaps existing in the countrys microfinance subsector, facilitate expansion of sustainable financial services and extend services to areas that have been poorly served. Activities will be implemented over seven years in four components: (a) expanding the outreach and services of the rural finance system (involving the promotion of product innovations and rural area penetration); (b) building the capacity of rural MFIs and clients (by strengthening of the training and business-development service market, MFI capacity-building and promotion of a rural business culture); (c) strengthening and upgrading the rural finance system (through support to key microfinance apex/umbrella institutions and MFI upgrading); and (d) supporting programme administration, monitoring and evaluation. With respect to the promotion of a rural business culture, the programme will support smallholders and entrepreneurs in moving from subsistence farming/enterprises to the level of operating within the market economy. Because the programme is essentially aimed at institutional development, direct beneficiaries will include active microfinance institutions (MFIs), MFI apex organizations, MFI capacity-building and related training institutions, as well as commercial banks and other providers of rural financial services. Beneficiaries will comprise any type of rural finance agency that meets stipulated eligibility criteria and serves the rural poor, including especially rural women. Specific to the component on the promotion of a rural business culture, direct beneficiaries will include the poorest sections of the rural population active men and women largely illiterate and involved in subsistence farming. Because of the demand-driven approach to be used in implementing programme activities, under the promotion of a rural business culture beneficiary smallholders and rural residents will formulate their detailed plans and activities. Under the other sub-components, MFIs will develop their own proposals as a basis for their applications to source programme funds, satisfying the stipulated criteria and conditions. A publicity campaign will ensure that potential MFIs, communities and other beneficiaries are aware of the opportunities offered by the programme, as well as the ways in which they can participate. Loan amount: SDR 13.90 million (equivalent to approximately USD 18.43 million) on highly concessional terms Total programme costs:USD 24.51 million Cooperating Institutions: International Development Association (IDA)  |
| Project ID: 1158
National Agricultural Advisory Services Programme This World Bank-initiated programme, a joint effort of the Government and the donor group, is the first national manifestation of the Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture, itself part of the strategy of the Governments Poverty Eradication Action Plan. The initial programme period will be seven years, to be followed by four subsequent phases, each lasting five years, in order to achieve a minimum 50% shift from public to private financing of agricultural advisory services. The IFAD loan will be provided for the first se ven years and will support all programme activities through a budget-support mechanism. The goal of the programme is to increase the security of rural livelihoods through sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity and household income. Primary objectives are to: (i) engender a change in the approach to agricultural service provision; (ii) initiate processes of farmer and community empowerment and enhanced local fiscal and operational viability; and (iii) ultimately reduce the share of government funding to direct agricultural extension services. The programme is national in scope and will be implemented in phases to eventually cover all 45 districts and 540 subcounties of the country. The target group consists of the three million households that comprise the national farming base. A total of 75% of these are primarily subsistence smallholder farmers, including women and youth. Some 450 000 farming families (about 2.7 million people) are expected to benefit directly from the programme. In addition, 300 000 families will benefit indirectly from programme interventions. Participants will include farmers, farmer groups/organizations and forums, subcounty and district authorities, farm advisory service providers and specialist contractors. Innovative features: Like the new project in the United Republic of Tanzania, this programme will focus on building national-level strategic partnerships to support poverty alleviation and growth. The programme in Uganda brings together elements of decentralization and commercialization to support the provision of agricultural services to smallholders, and it is pioneering mechanisms for multiple-donor funding and shared responsibility for programme supervision and progress monitoring. Loan amount: SDR 13.7 million (approximately USD 17.5 million) on highly concessional terms. Total programme costs: Estimated at USD 107.9 million, of which USD 23.9 million will be provided b y the European Commission (EC), Ireland Aid, The Netherlands Development Assistance, the Danish Development Assistance (DANIDA) and DFID, USD 45.0 million by IDA, USD 8.6 million by the central Government, USD 5.4 million by district Governments, USD 5.4 million by Sub-County Governments and USD 2.2 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: IDA. |
| Project ID: 1122
Area-Based Agricultural Modernization Programme This six-year IFAD-initiated programme is designed to increase incomes among poor rural households in south-western Uganda through the stimulation of economic activity and through contributions to the modernization of smallholder agriculture. It will consolidate the achievements made under the closed Southwest Region Agricultural Rehabilitation Project, which was financed under the Special Programme for Sub-Saharan African Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification. Specifically, the programme seeks to: - increase the involvement of the private sector in f urther commercialization of small-holder agriculture; - help economically active smallholders organize themselves so that they can gain better access to rural services (technical, financial and marketing); - improve rural infrastructure (especially community access road networks); and - increase the public sector's ability to respond to production needs identified by rural households. The programme covers ten districts with a total population of approximately 5.26 million people. Over 90% of the area's inhabitants are rural, with smallholders constituting the overwhelming majority of the population. The target group is comprised of economically active smallholders who derive their livelihood from agricultural production, as well as existing or potential small-scale entrepreneurs and business associations that provide services to these rural households. Within the target group, women play a major role in crop and livestock production, processing and small enterprise operations. It is estimated that over 1.6 million people will directly benefit from the programme intervention. Innovative Features: Programme design differs from those of earlier IFAD investments in Uganda in a number of key ways: - the programme adopts a flexible programme approach and the design introduces a series of processes and procedures so that districts can access funds for development and identify broad categories for investment; - funds will flow to the districts and, eventually, to the subcounty level as conditional grant "pools", under the control of the District Council, to finance eligible programmes and activities identified by interest groups and/or communities and included in the annual work programme and budget; and - the programme will promote links for the supply of services between smallholder farmers and their economic interest groups within the private sector. The programme has strong links to IFAD's corporate thrusts and to the regional lending strategy for East and Southern Africa , with its focus on linking smallholders to private-sector suppliers of goods and services, mobilizing smallholders to resolve their problems with investments that they themselves can maintain, and supporting the decentralization of government service-provision and collaboration with other donors on programme financing (for example, AfDB). Loan Amount: SDR 9.6 million (approximately USD 13.2 million) on highly concessional terms. Total Programme Costs: Estimated at USD 16.1 million, of which USD 1.5 million will be provided by the Government and USD 1.4 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating Institution: UNOPS. |
| Project ID: 1060
District Development Support Programme This six-year IFAD-initiated programme, to be supervised directly by the Fund, is a follow-up to the ongoing Hoima District Integrated Community Development Project financed by a grant from BSF.JP, which aims primarily to address the socio-economic problems of an extremely poor population in a post-civil-war situation. The overall objective of the programme, to be expanded to cover the Kabarole District, will be to raise the standard of living of the target group while continuing with key socio-economic support measures. More specifically, the emphasis of the programme will be to: (i) raise household and rural incomes through support to traditional cash crops (coffee and banana) and other income-generating activities; (ii) improve the overall health status of the population through the provision of clean water, sanitary facilities and primary health care; (iii) improve food security through an assessment of household nutritional needs and suitable crop production support; and (iv) improve revenue collection and local gover nance in order to enhance the long-term sustainability of public services. In addition to poor smallholders, who will be the focus of agricultural support activities, the rural poor, particularly women (through women's groups) and children, will constitute the target group for programme activities. Programme interventions are expected to reach 255 000 households in the three districts, involving approximately 1.1million people. About 80% of the 1103 villages in Hoima and Kibaale will benefit from better primary health care; about 70 000 people are expected to benefit from the water supply and sanitation component; and an estimated 30 000, notably women, will benefit from the programme's rural finance component. Innovative Features: The crucial role of home-grown local NGOs, such as Uganda Women's Finance Trust and Sub-County Integrated Development Association, and other community groups will enable the optimal utilization of existing knowledge resources, expertise and skills in programme implementation. From the outset, the programme has been formulated within an intensely consultati ve and participatory process, involving the central Government, line departments of district administrations, local council officials, NGOs, beneficiary communities and other donor agencies and stakeholders. Loan amount: SDR 9.5 million (approximately USD 12.6 million) on highly concessional terms. Total programme costs: Estimated at USD 20.6 million, of which a grant of USD 5.5 million will be provided by BSF.JP, USD 1.6 million by the Government and USD 1.0 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: The project will be supervised directly by IFAD. |
| Project ID: 1021
Vegetable Oil Development Project This eight-year project will support the Go vernment's growth strategy by revitalizing and increasing the production of domestic vegetable oils, thereby lessening dependence on imports and opening opportunities for smallholders to increase their cash income. Project activities will be implemented at two locations: Bugala Island in the Kalangala District and Bwamba County in the Bundibugyo District. Project components are: - oil-palm development; - institutional support; and - establishment of a Vegetable Oil Development Fund to support increased vegetable-oil production and processing at the village and rural level. The project will develop an oil-palm industry chiefly involving smallholder growers and private-sector processors; introduce industrial-size mills that are energy-efficient and environmentally sound; develop appropriate technologies to optimize production and processing, especially at the rural/homestead level; and support government efforts to define an enabling framework and set up a consultative body to facilitate interaction among farmers, trade associations, processors, financial institutions and other key actors involved in shaping the development of the vegetable-oil subsector. It is estimated that 7 000 smallholder farm families (a total of 42 000 people) will directly benefit from the project. Particular attention will be given to youth, the landless, the unemployed and women in the selection of oil-palm outgrowers and access to credit. Loan amount: SDR 14.4 million (approximately USD 20.0 million) on highly concessional terms. Total project costs are estimated at USD 60.0 million, of which USD 33.1 million will be provided by private-sector investors (through direct equity investments and commercial borrowing), USD 3.8 million by the borrower and USD 3.1 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: International Development Association (IDA). |
