Project ID: 1161
Executive Board Document: EB-2000-71-R-23

National Smallholder Support Programme Phase II (PRONAPPA II)

The second phase of this six-year IFAD-initiated programme aims to reduce rural poverty, increase rural household incomes and improve the living conditions of the rural poor. In so doing, it will move into a strategic-institutional consolidation phase: creation of a sustainable institutional framework and permanent operational mechanisms at national and municipal levels to combat/prevent rural poverty. More specifically, the programme seeks to:

(i) strengthen beneficiary organizations and sectoral institutions at the municipal level in order to guarantee participation and ownership and the sustainability of policies and project actions;

(ii) provide sustainable access to demand-driven production-support services for small agricultural producers and small and medium enterprises;

(iii) improve access of project beneficiaries to financial resources for productive investment and for the creation of rural small-scale and microenterprises;

(iv) strengthen municipal, institutional mechanisms for decentralized decision-making and coordination of rural development initiatives and investment projects (e.g., rural development round tables); and

(v) institute a participatory M&E system allowing close follow-up of processes/actions and field impact.

The programme will also foster learning processes and innovation in rural devel opment and consolidate the IFAD-financed, subregional thematic networks in rural development and poverty eradication. While national in scope, the programme is expected to benefit directly some 10 000 families of small producers and rural poor (approximately 40 000 beneficiaries). In addition, 5 000 families will benefit from financial services and other support. The targeted beneficiaries will include:

(i) 1 500 rural landless families (particularly young women and men), who are often forced to migrate to cities in search of employment;

(ii) 4 500 rural marginal producer families, for whom agricultural activities represent only a part of their family income and in which one or more family member is forced to work temporarily or permanently off-farm or to undertake other income-generating activities; and

(iii) 4 000 rural families with commercial potential but that depend on family labour to generate farm incomes and are characterized by low levels of farm investment.

Innovative features.

An innovative feature of this programme is its institutional framework. It seeks to consolidate a country-wide, decentralized institutional structure in order to address rural development and poverty-eradication policies and strategies sustainably. The rural development round tables incorporated in the design will be responsible for analysing proposals and allocating resources for technical assistance initiatives. Under the new programme phase, the credit and guarantee funds will receive legal status under national legislation that will ensure their sustainability. With programme support, the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries will strengthen its analytical capacity to formulate rural-development and poverty-eradication policies.

Loan amount:

SDR 10.8 million (approximately USD 14.0 million) on ordinary terms.

Total programme costs:

Estimated at USD 24.5 million, of which USD 8.0 million will be provided by the Government and US D 2.5 million by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

UNOPS.