IFAD provides US$13.9m for food security programme
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday signed a financing agreement with the Ministry of Finance under which a grant of US$13.9 million will be provided for a community based food security and economic opportunities programme (Soum Son Seun Jai).
Ms Viengthong Siphandone (right) shakes hands with Ms Stefania Dina after the signing ceremony.
The programme will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and aims to provide for long term food security and sustainable income generation for the rural poor in Laos, IFAD's Country Programme Manager for Laos Ms Stefania Dina said.
The programme will target 225 villages, where the incidence of poverty is greater than 30 percent, in nine districts in two provinces - four districts in Xayaboury province and five in Oudomxay.
“The programme aims to raise the incomes and quality of life of about 17,000 rural households. It is aiming to do this by integrating farming systems to produce economies of scale and linking village groups with local markets,” she said.
Integrating farming systems involves the formation of farmers' organisations and cooperatives, the introduction of dry season crop options, better intercropping, and agro-forestry and conservation practices. They will also show villagers how to better manage current cropping systems and make them more responsive to climate information, improved animal farming systems and efficient water harvests.
The links-to-markets component will develop pilot approaches in each of the target provinces depending on their individual situation. In Xayaboury province, for example, the construction of the Hongsa lignite mine will require a significant onsite workforce, and local villagers will be able to provide the livestock and fresh fruits and vegetables that the workforce requires.
Villagers expanding their farms into commercial operations will require the capital necessary to do so. One way of meeting increased credit requirements as a result of growing demand for produce will be to link the lending activities of commercial banks with those of existing village financial cooperatives.
Ms Dina said the Soum Son Seun Jai programme will follow a community-based approach and will focus on building the capacity of districts to be self sustainable in terms of income generation and food production. It will work closely with rural communities but at the same time will be involved in policy dialogue at the national level.
“Many challenges are in front of us but we believe that with the speed things are evolving in Laos the Soum Son Seun Jai programme will be able to meet these challenges and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and help Laos shed its status of Least Developed Country by 2020,” she said.
Deputy Minister of Finance Ms Viengthong Siphandone said at the signing ceremony that the Lao government always highly values the contribution of IFAD. Yesterday's signing highlighted a vital milestone for enhancing and strengthening the long history of relationship and cooperation between Laos and IFAD.
To achieve set goals, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and related line agencies, with financial support from IFAD, will implement the programme to facilitate change from self-sufficient agriculture to commercial agricultural production in target areas, she said.
