Project ID: 1282
Executive Board Document:EB-2003-80-R-24-REV-1

Support to Rural Development in North Lower Guinea Project

The general objective of the project is to sustainably improve the incomes, food security and living conditions of poor rural households in the North Lower Guinea region. Specific objectives are to: (a) strengthen the capacity of the target population and their organizations; and (b) increase agricultural (crops and livestock) productivity and diversify income sources in a sustainable manner. The project will provide financial assistance to support the development of agricultural, forestry and livestock microprojects prepared and owned by the beneficiaries, aimed at improving agricultural productivity, increasing incomes and protecting the environment. It will assist poor rural people to identify appropriate technology, and support research-action development and the multiplication/ diffusion of improved seed (in particular rice and peanut). The project will also support the development of a sustainable rural financial system capable of providing financial services to the rural poor.

Loan Amount:

SDR 9.95 million (approximately USD 14.2 million) on highly concessional terms

Total project cost::estimated at USD 17.7 million, of which beneficiaries will provide USD 1.4 million, and national Government USD 2.1 million.

Cooperating Institution:

UNOPS

Project ID: 1206
Executive Board Document: EB-2002-76-R-13-REV-1

Sustainable Agricultural Development Project in the Forest Region

The aim of the project is to empower local communities, including women and young people, in the poorest villages, to identify and analyse their constraints, prioritize their development needs and participate in implementing related interventions. To that end, the project will provide technical and financial assistance for, inter alia, community restructuring; microprojects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and environmental protection; rehabilitating wells and feeder roads; developing a system for distributing agricultural inputs and for providing financial services to poor rural people; and financing agricultural advice and research-action.

The target group comprises poor, vulnerable rural communities living in the forest region of Guinea, with limited access to resources (land in particular), social infrastructure and information. The typical beneficiaries constituting the majority of the rural population of the forest region are smallholders engaged in subsistence agriculture on marginal land characterized by high levels of soil degradation and low productivity and depending mostly on dry farming activities for their livelihood. Women and young people are particularly vulnerable, as they are traditionally excluded from decision-making and have greater difficulties in accessing resources and information.

Participatory planning at the community level (terroirs) will ensure that target beneficiaries, particularly women and young people, effectively participate in determining community development priorities and in project implementation. The targeted communities and beneficiaries will plan and prioritize their needs and manage resources received under the project. Each village will design its own development action plan with assistance from the project, and will be responsible for implementation. The capacity of communities will be strengthened, the aim, among other things, being to reinforce their negotiating capacity.

Loan amount:

SDR 9.4 million (equivalent to approximately USD 12.5 million) at highly concessional terms

Total project costsUSD 15.5 million

Cooperating Institution:

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Project ID: 1135
Executive Board Document: EB-99-68-R-15-Rev-1

Programme for Participatory Rural Development in Haute-Guine

The goal of this ten-year IFAD-initiated programme is to improve the incomes and living conditions of poor rural households in the Haute-Guine region and achieve sustainable development to be managed by the beneficiaries themselves. The immediate objectives of the programme are to:

- strengthen the capacity of grass-roots institutions to initiate and manage their own development, with strong emphasis on women, who will constitute 50% of the beneficiaries;

- establish viable rural financial institutions along the lines of financial service associations;

- improve the on- and off-farm income-earning potential of poor households; and

- strengthen the regional monitoring and evaluation system for rural development.

The programme partly covers three prefectures of Haute-Guine, one of the country's poorest regions. The target population is comprised of approximately 320 000 people (34 000 households), situated in the income of the region and twide disparity between the income of the region and the rest of the country; female literacy is about 20%, undernourishment is endemic, and malaria is the main cause of death. Programme interventions involve 200 of the poorest villages in the area, accounting for approximately 17 000 households. The programme's focus on women will help in their empowerment and in the effective management of household and external resources.

Innovative Features:

- The programme applies a participatory approach and maintains a strategic focus on women.

- Village stakeholders are being empowered to manage their own development and to take an increasingly leading role in decision-making and programme management activities.

- The programme also utilizes the FLM as well as an approach to programming and implementation based on demand among village stakeholders.

- In addition, implementation activities are being contracted out under tripartite contracts.

- A coordination mechanism has been established, in the form of an observatoire.

The programme closely cooperates with the Village Communities Support Project, which was jointly developed by the World Bank and IFAD in 1998.

Loan Amount:

SDR 10.2 million (approximately USD 14.0 million) on highly concessional terms.

Total programme costs:

Estimated at USD 19.8 million, of which USD 1.7 million will be provided by the Government and USD 4.1 million by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

UNOPS.

Project ID: 1117
Executive Board Document: EB-98-65-R-12-Rev-1

Village Communities Support Project

This World Bank-initiated national project seeks to reduce poverty and improve rural welfare by promoting a decentralized and cross-sectoral approach to rural development and by empowering local communities to:

(i) manage their own affairs, and identify and address their rural infrastructure/development needs; and

(ii) contribute to the improvement of social services (especially education and basic health).

In so doing, the project will stimulate synergy among the various actors of civil society, government services and the private sector and therefore contribute to political stability and democratization. The project will be implemented over 12 years in three four-year phases, of which only the first, called "the project", will be financed initially. About 60 communaut s rurales de dveloppement (CRDs), with a population of about 700000, will benefit directly from funding through the establishment of a village investment fund; while a total of about 100 CRDs, with a population of about 1.4 million, or 30% of the rural population, will benefit from the broader project initiatives (introduction of participatory processes, improvement of communities' self-development capacity, strengthening of local government systems' capacity and responsiveness). The Ministry of Planning will be responsible for overall planning and coordination through a project advisory group , which will combine participation from the implementing ministries with representation from civil society. Responsibility for implementing individual components will, however, remain with the respective institutions involved (Ministry of Decentralization, Ministry of Agriculture, local community institutions and NGOs).

Innovative Features:

For the first time in Guinea, and in partnership with the World Bank, IFAD is participating at the national level, both in the very definition of the Government's policy towards decentralized rural development and in the design of its main implementation instrument. The decentralized rural development policy letter, drafted with IFAD support, spells out the Government's long-term strategy for reducing rural poverty. Working through permanent local government, rather than through ad hoc project-created entities, is new for IFAD in Africa. To ensure overall coherence and promote synergies within IFA D 's portfolio in Guinea, direct linking between the national programme and the ongoing regional operations will be secured through IFAD's pilot initiative for productive community investments. By involving NGOs and placing local communities' experience and initiatives at the fore front, project design has proved to be a truly dynamic and participatory exercise .

Loan amount:

SDR 5.0 million (approximately USD 7.0 million) on highly concessional terms.

Total project costs:

Estimated at USD 38.7 million, of which USD 22.0 million will be provided by IDA, USD 3.8 million by France, USD 1.9 million by the African Development Foundation, USD 2.0 million by the Government and USD 2.0 million by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

IDA.