Credit for Small Farmers on the Highlands Project

Credit for Small Farmers on the Highlands

The first IFAD project in Peru was a pioneer effort in modernizing credit in the country. It showed that the combined use of credit and technical assistance can help farm families increase their productivity and, in turn, increase their income and food consumption.

The project provided more than 12,000 loans and technical support services to farm families, enabling small farmers in one of the most economically depressed areas of Peru to learn new agricultural practices and better technologies.

Credit helped finance agricultural development - including land improvement and irrigation works - and acquisition of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and equipment such as tractors and water pumps.

The project also provided funds for the establishment and management of agricultural services, and for administrative expenses for smallholders associations, which were able to reinforce and improve their managerial organization.

By the close of the project, potato production had increased three to fivefold and family income rose, depending on the activity, from US$ 100 to US$ 300, and from US$ 400 to US$ 1 000.