National Programme for Local Development

National programme for local development (PRONADEL)

PRONADEL is the first IFAD-funded programme that extends beyond the 81 municipalities covered by the country's National Fund for Sustainable Rural Development Project. It forms a complementary component to the national programme.

The programme helps people whose incomes are below the poverty line, assisting some 15,000 families and 1,000 rural microentrepreneurs in 54 new municipalities, where at least 30 per cent of the people benefiting directly from the programme are women. In addition, the programme is working with indigenous peoples from four distinct ethnic groups. It enables these poor rural communities to gain access to rural investments, local development institutions and technical services, to help them increase their food security and income and employment levels.

The programme focuses on four elements:

• strengthening local institutions: The programme helps local institutions strengthen their technical, organizational and managerial capacity to formulate small projects and supervise small businesses, and to facilitate access to programme resources and services offered by public and private sectors
• creation of a Rural Development Fund: The Rural Development Fund serves as a tool to give rural poor people access to technical services and community infrastructure investments. The fund finances activities that strengthen the productive capacity of rural communities and farmers' groups
• improvement of the implementation process: Activities aim to improve processes required for programme implementation, including programme management, fieldwork methods, financing through rural investment funds, and rural financial services. The aim is to streamline these processes
• enhancement of programme management: To achieve desired results and targets, the programme also focuses on management and administration of its activities, including budgeting and planning, monitoring, implementation, follow-up and administration of programme funds

Source: IFAD