Sericulture Development Project

Sericulture Development Project

The project area included 28 of the least advanced cooperative farms in the poorest areas of five provinces in the west and north-west of the country. The project also provided support for six state sericulture farms, two sericulture base-seed farms and two sericulture research institutes. The farms, located on sloping lands, had a good potential for mulberry development and sericulture, a sector that was disadvantaged as a result of the government’s priority of investing in food crop development.

The project had the objectives of modernizing sericulture, improving the quantity and quality of cocoon production and increasing the country’s production and export of raw silk. The aim was to improve the incomes of the workers in the cooperatives, many of whom were women. In the selected cooperatives, the project provided and improved silkworm rearing houses and equipment, it provided fertilizer and improved irrigation systems for mulberry cultivation, and it provided cocoon driers. It also strengthened sericulture support services, providing financing, training and technical assistance to the cooperatives.

Source: IFAD