Rural Development Project in the South-Western Region

The Rural Development Project in the South-Western Region (PROSOC)

PROSOC is carried out in the south-west of Honduras, in an area bordering that of the IFAD-financed Agricultural Development Programme for the Western Region. When this project was implemented, IFAD's portfolio included the six poorest of the country's 19 departments. The population here is mainly of the Lenca ethnic group, and about 80 per cent of the people live in extreme poverty. They survive mainly by producing basic grains at a subsistence level and by working as wage labourers on coffee plantations.

The project aims to:

• increase food security through improved production, local storage of basic foods and access to financial resources and market
• increase family income through diversified activities and access to technology, markets and training
• recover and preserve natural resources
• reduce existing social inequities within poor communities and families
• strengthen the capacity of the private and public sectors to provide communities with social and productive services

To achieve these objectives, the project focuses on:

• community development: Project participants receive training to improve their knowledge and entrepreneurial management skills. The project provides training to local institutions, producers' organizations and representatives of poor workers. Women and men are trained equally.
• investments and services: The project has set up a rural investment fund and a municipal infrastructure rehabilitation fund to assure that project participants (at the community and municipal levels) have access to technical services and community infrastructure investments.
• community financial services: Families in the project area need access to financial services, in the form of both savings and credit, to plan for their future. The project is setting up a sustainable credit system based on local savings, qualified management and non-subsidized interest rates.