Project ID: 1297
Executive Board Document: EB-2004-83-R-30-Rev-1

Development of the Central Corridor Project

The project is structured around five main components, with the objective of increasing community participation and empowerment; building up social capital through training and exchanges of experience; strengthening and expanding TA services; increasing beneficiaries' physical assets; addressing gender issues and providing opportunities for womanheaded households to engage in income-generating activities; and helping rural people to diversify their sources of income.

The project will directly benefit 36 000 rural families and microentrepreneurs living in territories along a road network running from Puyo in the Amazonian region to Portoviejo on the coast. The area of intervention covers five provinces, 17 cantons and 63 parishes, for a total of nearly 10 214 square kilometres, and the rural population is estimated at 355 173 inhabitants, equivalent to 79 257 rural families. Based on the Unmet Basic Needs approach, it has been estimated that 66 437 families are to be considered poor. Project beneficiaries have been grouped into three main categories: subsistence farmers whose agricultural units are of less that one hectare (ha); small-scale producers who own 1-5 ha; and micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs living in small towns and villages along the road network.

The project is consistent with the demand-driven development approach inasmuch as the beneficiaries will identify, formulate, contract for, implement and monitor sub-projects funded by the project. It will also introduce to Ecuador IFAD's approach to the management of natural resources, which has proved successful in other Andean countries. This approach, which consists of rewarding families and communities for improving their physical assets, is highly participatory: the beneficiaries identify the type of competition they wish to participate in and hire TA to support them during the period involved. Local organizations will be represented on juries that select the winners. In the same manner, farmers' groups, artisans and other cultural groups will be rewarded for their products and services. Under its participatory planning and capacity-building component, the project will work with local communities and civil-society organizations and help them to plan territorial development initiatives in cooperation with local government officials.

Loan Amount

SDR 9.9 million (equivalent to approximately USD 14.8 million) on highly concessional terms

Total programme cost: USD 24.3 million

Cooperating Institution:

Andean Development Corporation (CAF)

Project ID: 1043
Executive Board Document:

Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian People's Development Project

This four-year World Bank-initiated project represents a response to the Government's commitment to include the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian population in the socio-economic development process and aims to improve the quality of life of these communities. The specific objectives of the project are to:

strengthen the capacities of local, regional and national indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian organizations;

systematize and improve the access of project beneficiaries to land and water resources;

support local capacity-building;

ensure the provision of financial resources for the target group; and

strengthen government institutions' capacity.

Project components are:

- institutional strengthening of local membership organizations;

- support for the regularization of land and water rights;

- rural investment and credit; and

- institutional strengthening of the Planning Commission for Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Affairs.

The project will benefit 850 000 people in 48 districts. Some 54 500 people (of whom 28 000 will be rural women) will benefit from the rural investment component financed by IFAD.

Loan amount:

SDR 10.9 million (approximately USD 15.0 million) on intermediate terms.

Total project costs are estimated at USD 50.0 million, of which USD 25.0 million will be provided by the World Bank, USD 5.9 million by the borrower and USD 4.1 million by private institutions and the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

World Bank.