IFAD has approved loans for a total of US$69.3 million for seven programmes and projects in the country amounting to a total cost of US$229.1 million. Five IFAD operations have been completed. The most recent was the Social and Economic Development Programme for Vulnerable Populations in the Border Provinces, which addressed the high incidence of poverty in the border areas and broadened the target group to include Dominican-Haitian households. The Development Project for Rural Poor Economic Organizations of the Border Region, approved in 2009, would target the same areas, which are the country’s poorest.

IFAD’s operations in the Dominican Republic have the objective of improving the incomes and living conditions of poor small-scale producers by:

• strengthening farmer’s organizations and social capital
• expanding farmers access to credit, extension and marketing services
• financing investments in productive assets such as processing and packaging plants and irrigation and drainage infrastructure
• financing investments in social infrastructure such as schools and health centers)

For IFAD, the government’s declaration of the priority of addressing poverty among the poorest and socially excluded people presented an opportunity for the organization to broaden its target groups in the country. IFAD responded by assisting the government in designing policies and programmes to benefit the poorest of the poor, particularly in the border provinces.

IFAD's strategy

IFAD’s strategy, as outlined in the 2002 Country Strategic Opportunities Programme, works to improve the well-being of the country’s poor and extremely poor rural people by improving their income-earning capacity. The aim is to empower rural people’s organizations in the border areas in order to improve poor people’s living conditions and strengthen their socio-political role. The strategy is programme-oriented and it has two main objectives:
 

• to support the development of social capital and community development, with the goal of empowering rural poor people and their grass-roots organizations, and strengthening their participation in the government’s decentralization programme and in local rural development committees
• to promote income generation, particularly through agricultural and non-agricultural production and off-farm labour opportunities, to improve poor people’s incomes, living conditions and access to social services such as health and education, and to encourage poor producers’ participation in local, national and regional markets
   

The strategy aims at further consolidating efforts to promote gender equity and at helping poor rural people manage the environment in a sustainable way and adapt to climate change.

IFAD works in partnership in the country with the government and with multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society organizations. The selection and design of future projects will be based on consultations with the government, participants and the communities. Grass-roots groups, NGOs and municipal and local governments will contribute to the planning and implementation of project activities. Through its regional division IFAD provides training and technical support for activities.

FIDAMERICA, the Internet network that links IFAD’s projects in the region, provides a forum for exchange of experiences through its on-line seminars. PROGENDER, the region’s gender strengthening network, supports projects through workshops and training events.
 

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FIDAMERICA


Source: IFAD