 |
|
|
|
 |
|||
| Project ID: 1227
Rural Finance Sector Programme The proposed Rural Finance Sector Programme corresponds to one of IFAD's strategic objectives: enabling the rural poor to escape poverty by increasing their access to financial services and markets. The programme will help to strengthen IFAD's catalytic impact through the establishment of institutional and policy frameworks in support of the poor. This is in line with the Fund's regional strategy for the Asia and the Pacific region, under which greater efforts are to be made to identify projects and programmes with potential for influencing policies and generating a 'ripple effect'. The COSOP emphasized the need for support to the rural finance sector to turn RCCs into sustainable microfinance institutions with a poverty- and gender-sensitive approach to facilitating the access of poor rural people to credit and other financial services. The COSOP also recommended that a policy dialogue should be undertaken with the PBC, now CBRC, and RCCs with a view to better supporting the RCC reform process. The rationale of the programme is based on two major considerations. First, RCCs play an important role in the provision of financial services in rural areas in view of their extensive network and outreach capacity, with credit officers providing services at the farm gate. However, both past operations and present policies have put RCCs into situations where their sustainability was at risk. To address this problem, the Government is currently in the process of defining a programme of policy reforms for RCCs, some of which are already being tested on a pilot basis. Second, the aforementioned Thematic Study on Rural Finance confirmed the validity of IFAD's strategy to provide loan funds to poor households through RCCs. Once a proper policy environment is in place, the RCCs will be able to play an important role in future IFAD projects. The CBRC and RCCs have already launched a reform process which will create an enabling environment for the programme to provide support in defining RCC policies so as to improve their impact on both poverty reduction and institutional sustainability. Another programme objective is to provide loan funds for implementation of the new policies, especially in microfinance. In supporting such policy reforms, emphasis will be placed on lending policies to provide better access to RCC loans, especially for poor households and women, and on institutional and operational policies that increase the efficiency of the institutions and contribute to their financial sustainability. Loan Amount: SDR 9.95 million (equivalent to approximately USD 14.7 million) Total programme cost:USD 21.3 million Cooperating Institution: United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) 
Project ID: 1223
Environment Conservation and Poverty-Reduction Programme in Ningxia and Shanxi Who are the beneficiaries? The target group comprises 300 000 households in the 126 poorest townships of 12 of the poorest counties in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and in Shanxi Province in western China. In Ningxia, the Hui population forms a clear majority in most parts, while Shanxi is inhabited almost exclusively by Han people. At least 90% of the households are poor, with almost 10% classified as very poor. Many of the latter are physically unable to undertake any type of labour. Women make up most of the target group, since they contribute most to farm production and household tasks. They have less than average access to education and training, and hence to incomeearning opportunities. Average income per capita is USD 82. It is derived from an average arable area of 0.26 hectares (4 mu) and little off-farm income. Many girls drop out of primary school for lack of resources. Why are they poor? Most villages are in isolated upland areas with inadequate access roads, obsolete and underperforming health and education facilities, low-yielding arable land and weak extension services. Living conditions are harsh, drinking water is lacking in many locations, and the cost of education prevents many children from attending school. Almost all arable land is rainfed, and most is on slopes. Rainfall is unreliable, and droughts and floods occur regularly. Farmers cannot take advantage of improved technology for lack of funds and training. As a result, most households experience a food deficit for two to four months a year. Farmers have developed complex cropping systems that make the most of local conditions and minimize the inherent risks. Some sloping land can be improved with simple but still substantial investments in terms of resources and family labour. Other sloping land needs to be retired from annual cropping and returned to permanent vegetation cover such as grazing area and economic shrub or tree cropping. This may only be possible, however, if the productivity of the better land is improved, in particular with irrigation. Some outmigration exists but does not affect the labour availability in most areas. What do they expect from the programme? The priority needs expressed by the households as determined by a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) are the following: (a) more food in order to bridge the hunger season, and immediate access to safe drinking water; (b) more income; and (c) improved education and health facilities. Findings from the field visits also indicate strong expectations of improved health, education and extension services. In general, the households consulted requested assistance for investments in production activities to raise their incomes and improve food security. They are aware of the opportunities available with perennial cash crops, but lack the resources and sometimes the know-how to take advantage of them. How will they participate? PRA workshops were conducted in the counties to train management officers in the use of participatory planning and implementation methodologies. Implementation calls for fully participatory village development plans (VDPs) and the carrying out of programme activities, resulting in the election of village implementation groups (VIGs) and the drafting of overall and annual VDPs. Prior to loan effectiveness, the programme will hold pilot village- and townshipdevelopment planning exercises to test appropriate and cost-effective methodologies. A vast functional literacy and training programme, mainly for women, will build capacity for participation in technical skills training and related productive activities. The target group will provide labour for community-based civil works, assess programme services and prepare semi-annual reports. Poor farmers will conduct demonstrations in their fields, assisted by technical support services that have been strengthened and reformed for this purpose. The VIGs will monitor the VDPs, evaluate achievements, and organize maintenance and user groups, especially for common irrigation and domestic water supply. Loan Amount: SDR 21.95 million (equivalent to approximately USD 28.97 million) at highly concessional terms Total programme cost:USD 90.30 million Cooperating Institution: United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) |
| Project ID: 1153
West Guangxi Poverty-Alleviation Project This six-year IFAD/WFP-initiated project seeks to address these problems through a multisectoral approach that provides improved rural infrastructure, better facilities for social development, capacity-building and training, and opportunities for income-generating activities. The projects overall goal is to achieve sustainable and equitable poverty reduction in the project area by: (i) securing a sustainable increase in productive capacity, both on and off-farm; and (ii) offering increased access to economic and social services, including rural finance, agricultural extension, education, health and social networks. The target group will comprise 260 000 households (representing about 1.3 million persons) in the 74 poorest townships of ten of the poorest counties in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The population consists of several ethnic minorities, with the Zhuang people forming the vast majority in most counties. At least 80% of all households are poor-to-very-poor; almost 10% are classified poorest, and many individuals are physically unable to undertake any type of labour. Average annual per capita income is USD 140, which is derived from an average arable area of 0.09 ha and off-farm income, the major source of income in many households. Women, who will constitute a significant part of the target group since they contribute most to farm production, livestock-raising and household tasks, will benefit from rural water supply, credit, and technical and lite racy training. Innovative features: The project was designed by a national team of consultants with limited international support. During a preparatory phase, the project area and target group were pre-identified using the vulnerability analysis and mapping (VAM) method, and the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology was introduced through a training course of county and township project management officers (PMOs). Active involvement of the target group will be guaranteed through further use of PRA methods for preparing and implementing village development plans. A beneficiary-initiated self-monitoring and impact-assessment programme will also be introduced. The large-scale introduction of forest closure under a system of assisted village responsibility aims to regenerate the badly degraded forests in the project area. Professional farmer associations will be created to represent both crop-specific and common interests of producers of crops with good market potential. Associations will benefit from detailed market and marketing studies. Project investments in non-timber forestry production increase the profitability of the related credit packages, while simultaneously reducing environmental hazards by planting perennial trees on some of the most erosion-prone land, in order to replace a large part of low-yielding land used for food crops. The project will strengthen and refocus crop-extension and animal-health services so they will better serve the poor and women. Finally, the project will carry out numerous small demonstrations of recommended packages on the fields of poor farmers, particularly those of women. Loan amount: SDR 23.8 million (approximately USD 30.4 million) on highly concessional terms. Total project costs: Estimated at USD 107.3 million, of which USD 11.2 million will be provided by WFP, USD 54.0 million by the Government and USD 11.7 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: UNOPS. |
| Project ID: 1123
Qinling Mountain Area Poverty Alleviation Project China has an impressive record in terms of reducing absolute poverty over the last four decades. This record is mainly the result of overall economic growth and China's strong commitment to improving the standards of education, health and nutrition for the entire population. Nevertheless, poverty is still acute in many rural areas, and there remains a need for sustainability in any poverty-eradication strategy and a continuous effort over an extended period of time. The goal of this six-year IFAD and WFP-initiated project is to ensure food and income security for vulnerable rural households living in a mountainous environment with limited and degraded natural resources. Specifically, the project seeks to: - empower beneficiaries to attain a sustainable increase in productive capacity, both on- and off-farm; and - ensure beneficiaries increased access to economic and social services, including education, health, sanitation and social networks. The project area covers the 128 poorest townships (with a population of about 1.5 million) within nine contiguous counties in the north-west of Hubei Province and south-east of Shaanxi Province. The five counties of Shaanxi are part of the Shangluo Prefecture, a nationally designated flood-prone area strongly affected by the August 1998 floods that devastated large parts of the Yangtze Basin and surroundings. Typically, farm sizes are extremely small, production systems are subsistence-oriented, and the production of cash crops is very limited. Almost all households are very poor and live in extremely harsh conditions with limited food availability. The annual per capita income in the project area is about half that in the rest of rural China. The project targets 310 000 households, but it is expected that the entire project area will be positively affected. Women constitute a significant part of the target group, and project activities have been designed in full recognition of their important productive role. Innovative Features: - In this project, a strong emphasis has been placed on utilizing all methodologies available for project analysis/control. For example, during project inception, both the project area and target group were identified via the vulnerability analysis and mapping (VAM) methodology. The active participation of women and other target groups was then secured through training of the township staff of the Project Management Office in the use of participatory-rural-appraisal (PRA) methods for preparing village development plans. Such training should also increase their understanding of the living conditions and specific needs of the target group. As a result of the VAM findings, project leaders emphasized that credit packages must be both gender-sensitive and tailor-made, based on actual landholding and development plans of the individual borrower or group. - Project monitoring is also a key focus. A beneficiary-initiated self-monitoring programme will require the submission of biannual written reports from the village community outlining the services and inputs received and the impact achieved. The VAM will also be used for processing data regarding the impact of project activities. - In this project, technology is delivered directly to the people. Technologies relating to reducing post-harvest losses, improving soil conservation, increasing the level of organic farming and improving water management will be demonstrated directly on the farms of project beneficiaries. Extension efforts will emphasize non-timber forestry production as a means to generate income while simultaneously reducing erosion. Extension with a poverty and gender focus will be the main instrument. Numerous small demonstrations and trials of selected, recommended packages will be carried out on the fields of poor and very poor farmers, women in particular. The demonstration inputs will be provided free of charge to the beneficiary, allowing some of the poorest to improve their asset-building capacity. - In addition to other activities, savings mobilization and increased beneficiary ownership of rural credit cooperatives will be gradually strengthened and then introduced into ongoing projects. Loan Amount: SDR 21.0 million (approximately USD 29.0 million) on highly concessional terms. Total Project Costs: Estimated at USD 106.3 million, of which USD 10.4 million will be provided by WFP, USD 62.8 million by the Government and USD 4.1 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating Institution: UNOPS. |
| Project ID: 1083
Wulin Mountains Minority-Areas Development Project This five-year IFAD-initiated project aims to reduce chronic poverty and improve the living conditions of the target population in the resource-poor, densely populated minority areas of the Wulin Mountains in East Guizhou and West Hunan Provinces. To this end, the project will seek to: (i) increase household food security through land development and higher productivity; (ii) raise cash income opportunities through crop diversification, livestock production and promotion of small businesses; (iii) improve access to drinking water, health and education facilities, and provide training in health care and functional literacy; and (iv) facilitate access to financial services through development and capacity-building of sustainable financial intermediaries. The project will target about 390 000 households, focusing on ethnic minorities in 92 of the poorest townships of about 16 counties, where living conditions are among the lowest in China and farmers are only food-self-sufficient for eight months of the year. Off-farm employment opportunities are very scarce and are only for short periods; agricultural production resources are limited; health and educational levels are very low, with many areas lacking communication facilities; and most households lack the financial basis to invest in product ive activities. Innovative Features: Special groups will be formed in the target villages to disseminate information and mobilize their communities. These groups will include village leaders, farmers, and at least two women. One of the lessons that IFAD has learned from past experience is that the chronically poor usually use credit funds to buy food. This makes it extremely difficult for this type of project to reach the poor, since the funds provided for the improvement of infrastructure and for agricultural inputs will be spent otherwise. However, with food aid from WFP, subsistence farmers (who normally consume their produce and rarely have any surplus for sale) will be able to use the credit to build up their assets. By supplementing credit with WFP food aid, the poorest farmers will be helped to break out of the poverty cycle. Loan amount: SDR 21.1 million (approximately USD 28.0 million) on highly concessional terms. Total project costs: Estimated at USD 107.3 million, of which USD 18.8 million will be provided by WFP, USD 55.8 million by the Government and USD 4.6 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: UNOPS. |
| Project ID: 1048
Southwest Anhui Integrated Agricultural Development Project The objectives of this five-year project are to alleviate chronic poverty and raise the standard of living of very poor households. The project will increase household food security through land development and higher productivity; facilitate access to financial services through the promotion of grass-roots, rural financial intermediaries; create cash income opportunities through the promotion of cash crops and off-farm activities; and improve living conditions through the provision of social services and related facilities. Pro ject components are: - rural infrastructure; - agricultural production; - support for women and social services; and - institutional support. The target group will comprise some 125 000 households, representing about 500 000 people living in the poorest townships of the five poorest counties in Anhui Province. The project will also promote women's development through literacy training for about 30 000 women and technical training in agriculture and income-generating skills for about 70 000 women. A special credit line will also be reserved for these women. Loan amount: SDR 19.1 million (approximately USD 26.5 million) on highly concessional terms. Total project costs: Estimated at USD 55.7 million, of which USD 2.8 million will be provided by the World Food Programme in the form of a grant, USD 21.6 million by the borrower and USD 4.8 million by the beneficiaries. Cooperating institution: United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). |
