Project ID: 1285
Executive Board Document: EB-2004-83-R-25

Leasehold Forestry and Livestock Programme

The overall goal of the eight-year LFLP is a sustained reduction in the poverty of the 44 300 poor households that are allocated leasehold forestry plots in 22 districts through increased production of forest products and livestock. The programme has four components: leasehold forestry and group formation; livestock development; rural financial services; and programme management and coordination. The objectives of the programme components are: (i) improved household forage and tree crop production from secure and sustainable management of leasehold plots; (ii) improved household production of small livestock (goats); (iii) viable microfinance institutions providing services to leaseholders; and (iv) the Government's capacity to implement leasehold forestry as a national poverty reduction programme in a gender-sensitive way.

The programme area districts comprise approximately one million households with a total population of approximately 5.3 million (of which 48% or 480 000 households constitute IFAD target groups). It is expected that by the end of the programme period, some 44 300 households (man- and woman-headed) will have benefited. The programme's target group will consist of poor and food-insecure households living in the hills in areas adjacent to degraded forest. A Department for International Development-financed Sustainable Livelihood Analysis has identified three subgroups within this group, all of which include woman-headed households. In summary: (i) the "poorest" are food-secure for two to three months a year; (ii) the "poorer" are food-secure for four to five months a year; and (iii) the "poor" are food-secure for six to eight months a year. In view of the overall poverty of the programme area, the programme will adopt an inclusive approach to targeting.

To address the above livelihood constraints, the programme will seek to mitigate vulnerability; improve access to essential services and resources; support livelihood components (livestock and forestry); and support empowerment through mainstreaming gender. The target group will be reached through the following design approach: (i) to mitigate vulnerability, the programme has been designed to address the root causes of the insurgency (i.e. high social inequality and poverty) through enhancing access and control over natural resources for the poorest; (ii) to focus on the promotion of livestock products with market potential, the programme will provide access to savings and credit services at the village level; (iii) to supplement the poor outreach of formal extension services, the programme will recruit and train women group promoters and village livestock assistants to provide services to the target group; and (iv) to address strategic gender needs such as access to knowledge and technology, control over productive resources and generation of leadership and management skills.

Loan Amount

SDR 7.15 million (equivalent to approximately USD 10.49 million) on highly concessional terms

Total programme cost: USD 12.77 million

Cooperating Institution:

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Project ID: 1119
Executive Board Document: EB-2001-74-R-19-Rev-1

The Western Uplands Poverty Alleviation Project

In addressing these livelihood constraints, the project will seek to mitigate the target groups vulnerability; improve access to essential services and resources; promote diverse livelihood components (livestock, forestry and crops); and support empowerment through mainstreaming gender and human rights activities. The target group will be reached through the following design approach: (i) in focusing on the promotion of high-value products with market potential, the project will provide access to savings and credit services at the village level, and support microenterprise development; (ii) with a view to enhancing access to and control of natural resources for the poorest (women, dalits and the landless), the project will support the transfer of forest and pasture management rights to beneficiaries; (iii) to provide access to markets, the project will join up with other donor programmes in building access roads and liasing with the private sector to assist in marketing; (iv) to increase the employment opportunities of the hard-core poor, and in particular women, the project will support labour-intensive community infrastructure development on a demand-driven basis; and (v) in seeking to address social justice issues, the project will promote rights-awareness activities, policy advocacy and training. Finally, to reduce womens vulnerability, project activities will be aimed at increasing their access to knowledge and technology, and control of productive resources, and at enhancing their leadership and management skills.

Project-area districts account for approximately 226 000 households, for a total of some 1.2 million people, most of whom are food-insecure because they are unable to grow sufficient food on their small and marginal holdings to feed the family for the entire year. By the end of the project period, it is expected that some 115 000 households (man and woman-headed) will have benefited from the project. The priority target group consists of the most disadvantaged members of the community (women, dalits (disadvantaged castes), youth, landless or semi-landless households and other minority groups). However, in view of the overall poverty prevailing in the project area, an inclusive approach to targeting will be adopted.

Participatory development will be ensured as follows. Building on the success of the United Nations Development Programme-financed Participatory District Development Programme in Nepal, the project will support the creation of cmmunity organizations (COs) and build them up as financial intermediaries to service the poor. This will include the training of CO managers and presidents to administer savings and loan operations, and village-level specialists to provide technical support to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are expected to participate in CO savings and credit groups; leasehold forest-user groups; forest rehabilitation and management; demonstration programmes; training by village extension workers in crops, livestock and forestry; construction of rural infrastructure works and maintenance groups; and in the self- monitoring and impact assessment process.

Loan amount:

SDR 15.6 million (equivalent to approximately USD 20.0 million) on highly concessional terms

Total programme costs are estimated at USD 32.6 million

Project ID: 1030
Executive Board Document:

Poverty Alleviation Project in Western Terai

The objectives of this six-year project are to increase the incomes and improve the welfare of small farmers, the landless and rural women in the project area. Building on the experience of previous IFAD-financed projects, this project will mobilize the poor in small groups to promote sustainable development and will improve the financial viability and sustainability of selected credit-service providers. Project components are:

- credit services;

- group shallow tubewells;

- extension and skills training;

- community development; and

- institutional strengthening.

Approximately 28 800 poor women are expected to benefit from the credit services, and 5 875 families will benefit from shallow tubewells provided under the project. Extension services and skills training in crop and livestock production and off-farm income-generating activities will be offered to 23 000 families. About 51 000 villagers in the area will benefit from improved rural infrastructure and community-development activities.

Loan amount:

SDR 6.6 million (approximately USD 8.9 million) on highly concessional terms.

Total project costs are estimated at USD 9.7 million, of which USD 440 000 will be provided by the borrower, USD 80 000 by the Agricultural Development Bank of Nepal and USD 340 000 by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).