Hunan Agricultural and Rural Infrastructure Improvement Project

In line with IFAD's 2011-2015 Country Strategic Opportunities Programme for China – as well as the government's Five-Year Plan and 2011-2020 rural poverty reduction and development programme – the objective of this project is to increase incomes and improve food security for 182,000 rural households in Hunan Province. To that end, the project aims to improve rural community infrastructure and support sustainable agricultural development and marketing.

The project is being implemented in nine Hunan counties that comprise the poorest, least fertile, least accessible and least developed areas of the province. Almost 600 target villages with the province's highest incidence of poverty have been identified as prime recipients of project support.

IFAD-supported activities will:

• Provide the rural poor with productive assets and community facilities
• Develop commercial agriculture through improved value chains and market access
• Support farmers' cooperatives.