Although the semi-arid region of Piauí State is poor and environmentally fragile and degraded, it has good potential for economic development. The project’s goal is to reduce extreme poverty among rural people by improving incomes, increasing employment opportunities and strengthening the capacity of rural institutions.

Most of the 23,000 poor rural families who will participate are small-scale farmers whose livelihoods depend on farm and off-farm activities such as honey and cashew production, raising goats and sheep, rural tourism and handicrafts. The project will help boost incomes by increasing skills and access to markets. Activities will include:

• promoting training and technical assistance in the management of agroforestry systems, small irrigated orchards and improved water conservation systems, including dams
• facilitating access to financial services and short-term credit
• strengthening producer organizations for added bargaining power and access to goods and services
• providing small grants for investments at farm level, such as small dams, small processing plants and irrigation systems

In addition, approximately 5,740 young people will receive technical and entrepreneurial training, 12,000 children will benefit from the “contextualized learning” programme aimed to increase their awareness of the conditions of the semi-arid region and about 1,500 teachers will be trained in the same approach. Rural institutions will also receive support from the project to strengthen their capacity to implement rural development policies in the region.
 

Source: IFAD