Since 1981, IFAD has financed 14 rural development programmes and projects in Rwanda for a total amount of US$189.8 million. The financing provided by IFAD consisted initially of loans on highly concessional terms. In 2008, it was provided as full grant funding, and since 2009 it is a 50/50 mix of grants and highly concessional loans based on the Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF). IFAD-funded grants have financed the activities of two projects supporting post-conflict reconstruction efforts and refugee rehabilitation. Through a grant totalling US$3.8 million the IFAD/Belgian Survival Fund Joint Programme financed a programme to re-establish public health services in war-torn districts.

There are currently two generations of IFAD-financed programmes and projects. The first, designed during the 1980s and 1990s, included integrated rural development programmes and projects. These programmes and projects aimed to develop the agricultural sector in specific parts of the country by identifying all related elements and linking them together. The last project of this generation that is still active is the Umutara Community Resource and Infrastructure Development Project (PDRCIU). Projects of the second generation, in place since the mid-1990s, call for activities that have an impact beyond the local level. They focus on a single aspect of rural development, such as market access or agricultural production and its relation to government policy-setting or other national initiatives already in place, to favour their replication in the rural environment. They include four ongoing projects.

IFAD’s strategy in Rwanda, as documented in its country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) of 2007, is built upon the Vision 2020 and the national EDPRS, which address poverty by promoting equitable economic growth, modernizing agriculture, encouraging exports and promoting employment. The strategy places particular emphasis on the agricultural sector, and it foresees strengthened synergies with other development partners, including those in the framework of the One UN Pilot Initiative.

The overall objective of IFAD’s country programme is to empower poor rural people to participate in transforming the agricultural sector. The programme has three strategic objectives:

• to increase economic opportunities for the rural poor and to raise their incomes in a sustainable manner; IFAD helps farmers increase their agricultural productivity through sustainable agricultural intensification practices such as irrigation, soil and water conservation and economic support services
• to strengthen organizations and institutions of the rural poor and decentralized entities; in line with the PSTA, IFAD supports the organization of small-scale producers along commodity chains, promotes the establishment of farmers’ organizations, and strengthens the capacity of local governments and community development committees 
• to support the participation of vulnerable groups in the social and economic transformation; IFAD supports the community-based identification of vulnerable groups and facilitates their inclusion in social and economic development processes

IFAD-assisted projects will be mutually supportive and form part of a coherent country programme, and the agricultural elements of the programme will gradually be integrated into the emerging agricultural SWAp.
 

Source: IFAD