First Eastern Zone Agricultural Project

The eastern zone is the most remote and poorest part of the country. The average farm size is smaller and agricultural resources are more limited than elsewhere.

The project’s objectives were to:

• provide farmers, especially smallholders, with the technology they need to increase household food security and cash incomes in a sustainable manner
• introduce a whole farm approach to adaptive research and extension agencies, and strengthen their capacity to implement the approach
• foster the participation of the people who benefit from activities, with the aim of ensuring sustainability
• build the capacity of local institutions to coordinate development of the renewable natural resources sector

Project activities had a focus on: 

• developing renewable natural resources through support to research, extension and management
• rehabilitating small-scale irrigation schemes and completing larger-scale irrigation systems
• supporting community participation with investments in the staff and operations of community development committees
• financing credit and measures to make credit accessible for rural communities
• providing institutional support to local administrations and the Ministry of Agriculture

Source: IFAD