Project ID: 1366
Executive Board Document: EB-2007-92-R-36-Rev-1

Programme for the Mobilization of Surface Water and Sustainable Land Management

The programme’s overall goal is to improve the living conditions of pastoral communities by promoting integrated management of natural resources. The two specific objectives are:

• to implement a programme for the mobilization of surface water to improve access to water for the pastoral communities and their livestock and to increase agricultural production; and
• to strengthen organization and management capacity at the institutional, technical and community levels.

The programme will benefit, either directly or indirectly, 6,000 pastoral households living in the regions of Tadjourah, Dikhil and Arta. The targeted communities are located in the Day Forest and its environs in Tadjourah, the Gobaad and As Eyla zones in Dikhil, and Petit Bara and Grand Bara in Arta. These mainly pastoral households rely on herding, non-agricultural income-generating activities (especially the sale of salt and charcoal) and remittances from relatives in urban areas. About a third of the households depend on food aid from the World Food Programme (WFP)
in the form of general food distribution and food-for-work programmes.

The Government has reaffirmed access to water and combating water shortage as critical elements for improving livelihoods and reducing poverty in rural areas, in its poverty reduction strategy paper, the national initiative for social development and the three-year action plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Marine Resources, in charge of Water Resources. The programme will serve as an instrument to implement this strategic orientation, will develop the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and of local communities for integrated management of
natural resources and will make available tested technical guidelines to replicate investments in the mobilization of surface water and sustainable land management in other geographical areas.

Project ID: 1236
Executive Board Document: EB-2002-77-R-25-REV-1

Microfinance and Microenterprise Development Project

Who are the beneficiaries? The target group consists of approximately 200 000 persons, corresponding to about one third of the national population or roughly 30 000 households. This includes approximately 150 000 people living in rural areas and an additional 50 000 in the peri-urban and urban areas of the capital city. About 8 000 Djiboutian households will benefit directly from the project through access to improved and reliable financial services, either as members of savings and credit associations (SCAs) or through the provision of non-financial assistance to microenterprises.

Why are they poor? Poverty among potential beneficiary households is attributable to: (i) the effects of the protracted political and social unrest that has affected the country; (ii) limited assets base; (iii) lack of access to reliable financial services that are essential for scaling up and diversifying income-generating opportunities; (iv) frequent and severe periods of drought in predominantly lowinput, low-output rainfed farming systems; (v) restricted opportunities for marketing and commercialization of agricultural and locally produced goods; and (vi) lack of access to essential rural and social infrastructure. This situation is further aggravated by falling employment levels in the capital since, up to now, urban employment and remittances to rural areas had always been a fundamental coping strategy for rural households. The worsening national economy has been hit even further by the reduced size of the French military base and the challenging structural adjustment programme negotiated with the International Monetary Fund and currently under implementation.

What will the project do for them? The project will improve beneficiaries’ access to regular, reliable financial resources so that they may, inter alia, adopt improved technologies and undertake a wider range of income-generating activities in rural, peri-urban and urban areas, thereby improving their household incomes. At the present time, beneficiaries have no access whatsoever to any type of financial service owing to their inability to meet the conditions set by the formal financial sector. Women will be able to participate in SCAs, which will allow them to take up and/or scale up trading and commercial activities that would be otherwise beyond their reach due to lack of working capital. Increased incomes and the provision of savings services will enable beneficiaries to cope better with external shocks and help them to engage in sustainable economic activities as a means of coping with and reducing poverty. This will be enhanced by project assistance in the development and adoption of a national microfinance strategy and related legal framework, which will be the first of its kind in the country.

How will the beneficiaries participate in the project? Beneficiaries will form into groups as a prerequisite to accessing financial services through membership of SCAs. The project will support the establishment and development, with necessary technical and financial assistance, of a network of SCAs managed by local communities with a view to building up confidence and creating/reinforcing a culture of credit discipline. The very structure of self-reliant, member-owned and -managed community-based SCAs, as proposed under the project, will empower beneficiaries to participate in the selection and approval of credit applications.

Loan Amount:

SDR 2.75 million (equivalent to approximately USD 3.59 million) on highly concessional terms

Total project cost: USD 3.94 million

Cooperating Institution:

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)