Development Project for Rural Poor Economic Organizations of the Border Region

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The aim of the project is to help reduce poverty and extremely poverty among the numerous poor small-scale farmers in 11 western provinces on the border with Haiti. Building on the farmers' productive and organizational capacity and knowledge, the project will:

• provide them with the means to benefit from niche market opportunities in domestic and international markets
• improve consistency in project quality
• increase volume on a sustainable basis
• ensure food security

The objective is to increase the income and assets of men, women and youth who are members of rural economic organizations, through a participatory, equitable and environmentally sustainable development process. The project is designed to benefit directly small farmers who are members of local and community-level economic organizations, and actual and potential microentrepreneurs linked to selected value chains.

There will be a focus on reaching the poorest groups, particularly poor people living in mountain areas, and on addressing social, ethnic and gender diversity. In this context, there will also be a focus on the Haitian immigrants who represent the majority of agricultural wage labourers in the border provinces.

The specific objectives are to:

• achieve improved, effective and systematic linkages between participants' agricultural and non-agricultural organizations and local, regional, national and external markets
• develop and consolidate the planning, management and marketing capacities of the participants' formal and informal economic organizations
• improve the competitiveness of participating farmers and their economic organizations in response to the demand and requirements of value chains and markets
• capitalize economic organizations and facilitate their access to sustainable financial markets

Decentralization is a key feature of project implementation, and there will be a strong emphasis on strengthening institutions and building the capacities of the farmers and their organizations to endure sustainability.

Innovative features include:

• a shift in focus that targets farmers' economic organizations rather than individuals or households
• a gender-sensitive and inclusive economic development process based on market-driven productive activities and strong partnerships with the private sector at various stages of the value chains
• a comprehensive rural finance strategy based on a combination of loans, matching grants and pilot risk-sharing mechanisms, to build the organizations' own assets and facilitate their access to local, natonial and international sources of financing

Source: IFAD