Rural Communities Development Project in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia
Rural Communities Development Project in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia
Rural Communities Development Project in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia
This project is the second phase of the Community Development Project for the Rio Gaviao Region. The target area includes the poorest rural municipalities in the semi-arid area of Bahia state. Agricultural productivity is very limited in the area, and incomes from agriculture are low. Most smallholder farmers struggle to cultivate the land at a subsistence level and are forced to migrate to urban areas during the dry season.
The project’s overall objective is to improve living conditions and raise incomes for rural poor people through an environmentally sustainable development strategy. The project will empower poor people and their organizations to develop the local economy and improve income-generating capabilities, in order to transform subsistence farms into profitable rural businesses, and support other rural enterprises. Specific objectives include:
- empowering poor rural people and their grass-roots organizations
- providing training and skills learning
- improving the storage and management of water resources
- intensifying productivity by other interventions such as construction of earth dams and reforestation of slopes
- ensuring that women have equal access to resources
As part of this project IFAD approved a grant to finance a castor bean oil pilot project. Castor bean oil has a growing international market, and its derivatives are used in the manufacture of over 700 products from medicines and cosmetics to plastics and lubricants. Its by-product can also be used both as a fertilizer and as animal feed. But the major market for castor oil is beginning to open in the energy field with the growth of bio-diesel. Castor oil has proved an excellent substance for the production of bio-diesel, an alternative source of fuel that reduces air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases. There is potential for the development of castor bean production in arid and impoverished areas such as north-east Brazil. But there are aspects of castor bean harvesting and processing that remain to be perfected.
The IFAD-funded grant finances a pilot programme to test innovative technologies and management schemes for the integrated production and transformation of castor beans into crude oil. It will be run by small rural producer organizations to supply the country’s bio-diesel market.
Source: IFAD
