Agricultural Credit Project

Agricultural Credit Project

The objectives of this nationwide project were to increase agricultural production and reduce dependency on imports, to raise living standards for farming households by 25 per cent — particularly for the poorest households — and to create rural employment by granting short-, medium- and long-term credit.

The project achieved its main objective of increasing food production of smallholder farmers by financing investments in production. The Caisse nationale de credit agricole increased the number of its branches from 120 to 280, modified its lending practices by region and raised the credit limit, enabling the poorest to participate in the project. The project did not meet with success in promoting financing for agrarian reform cooperatives because some of the cooperatives accumulated payment arrears and were unable to make further loans. A monitoring and evaluation system was not established because of its overly ambitious and complex structure.

Source: IFAD