Productive Initiatives Support Programme in Rural Areas

The programme has national scope in terms of policy and institutional dialogue with the government, but the financing of community initiatives focuses on selected remote rural areas in the country's poorest departments. The aim is to reduce rural poverty by empowering poor rural people to increase their household incomes and improve food security. The target group comprises the most disadvantaged poor people, including landless or almost landless agricultural workers, women and young people, as well as microentrepreneurs.

The specific objectives of the programme are to:

• strengthen capacity at the local and national level for grass-roots planning and for social and economic development management, including rural finance
• support communities' productive initiatives, as well as activities that add value to them, such as reducing transportation costs, improving access to market information and developing rural micro-enterprises
• facilitate sustainable access to rural financial services, especially for women, landless people and young people