Executive Board concludes two-day meeting in Rome
Rome, 15 September - Poor farmers seeking to better their lives against the backdrop of climate change received a boost this week. During its two-day meeting here, the Executive Board of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) approved more than US$161.56 million in loans and $56.26 million in grants - many of them for projects helping smallholder farmers adapt to a changing climate and contributing to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
These include projects to: enable Chad's water network to support the seasonal movement of shepherds and livestock, encourage small-scale water resources management to increase yields in Bangladesh and strengthen water harvesting and soil conservation measures in Lebanon.
The Board also approved $3.35 million in grants to international research centres and intergovernmental organizations.
IFAD's Executive Board oversees the organization's general operations and approves its programme of work. It consists of 18 members and 18 alternate members who hold three-year terms. The Board meets three times a year.
Projects approved by the 97th Executive Board session:
Western and Central Africa - two project loans - $31.5 million
Chad - Pastoral Water and Resource Management Project in Sahelian Areas - Total cost: $39.5 million; IFAD Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) grant: $19.5 million
Mauritania - Value Chains Development Programme for Poverty Reduction - Total cost: $17.8 million; IFAD loan: $6 million; IFAD DSF grant: $6 million
Eastern and Southern Africa - two project loans- two project grants: $96.0 million
Ethiopia - Pastoral Community
Development Project II -
Total cost: $139 million; IFAD loan: $19.5 million; IFAD DSF grant: $19.5
million
Uganda - Supplementary loan and grant for the District Livelihoods Support Programme - Total cost: $58.93 million; IFAD suppl. loan: $18.00 million; IFAD supplementary grant: $2 million
Uganda - Supplementary loan for the Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement Programme - Total cost: $81.9 million; IFAD supplementary loan: $17.0 million
Zambia - Smallholder Agribusiness Promotion Programme - Total cost: $23.5 million; IFAD loan:$20.0 million
Asia and Pacific - two project loans - $40.33 million
Bangladesh - Participatory Small-scale Water Resources Sector Project - Total cost:$107.3 million; IFAD loan:$22.0 million
Pakistan - Crop Maximization Support Project - Total cost: $20.3 million; IFAD loan:$18.33 million
Latin America and Caribbean - four project loans - one project grant - $42.39 million
Brazil - Semi-arid Sustainable Development Project in the State of Piaui - Total cost: $39.14 million; IFAD loan: $20.0 million
Ecuador - Ibarra-San Lorenzo Development Project - Total cost: $13.68 million; IFAD loan: 8.63 million
Haiti - Small-scale Irrigation Development Project - Total cost:$ 34.1 million; IFAD DSF grant: $5.66 million
Mexico - Community-based Forestry Development Project in Southern States - Total cost: $18.53; IFAD loan: $5 million
Paraguay - Supplementary financing for the Empowerment of Rural Poor Organizations and Harmonization of Investments Project - Total cost: $17.8 million; IFAD suppl. loan: $3.1 million
Near East and North Africa Division - two project loans- $7.61 - million
Lebanon - Hilly Areas Sustainable Agricultural Development Project - Total project cost: $16.64 million; IFAD loan: $4 million; IFAD grant: $0.60 million
Sudan - Revitalizing the Sudan Gum Arabic Production and Marketing Project; Total cost: $10.88 million; IFAD DSF grant: $3 million
Grants approved by the Executive Board:
CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) institutions - $1 million
Bioversity International: Programme for Impact Evaluation Approaches for Agricultural Research for Development; IFAD grant: $1 million
Other institutions - $2.35 million
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): Development Marketplace 2009: Climate Adaptation (DM2009); IFAD grant: $1.1 million
Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification: Programme for Designing Integrated Financing Strategies for UNCCD Implementation in Selected Countries of Asia and the Pacific, and Latin American and the Caribbean - Second instalment; IFAD grant: $1.25 million
Press release No.: IFAD/40/09
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes, and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$11 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering some 349 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome - the UN's food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).