Small Irrigation and Market Access Development Project in the Nippes and Goavienne Region

This project supports local organizations working on irrigation schemes and watershed management in the Nippes and Goavienne region of Haiti. The project area has been identified jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture on the basis of technical, agronomic, organizational and economic criteria, as well as factors such as land tenure and road access.

The project's development objective is to achieve sustainable improvement in the livelihoods and incomes of rural poor households, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable groups. Its specific objectives include: 

• Increasing agricultural production sustainably through efficient water management and the consolidation of both collective and individual irrigated agriculture
• Improving the value of irrigated agriculture production, and increasing farmers' access to markets and financial services
• Strengthening the planning, organizational and management capacities of grassroots organizations to increase their access to markets and financial services.

In total, the project is expected to directly benefit some 28,000 poor and extremely poor rural households comprising approximately 130,000 people, 50 per cent of whom are women. The target group includes small organized producers, water users' associations, women's organizations, youth associations and other grassroots groups. Also targeted are highly vulnerable households, such as producers with small plots, those with little or no access to irrigation and those headed by women, who have limited access to agricultural inputs, training and information.

Source: IFAD