In May 2008 a strong earthquake caused large-scale destruction in large parts of Sichuan Province. With the loss of their physical assets, the population suddenly became vulnerable to poverty. Poor rural people, who generally had more fragile homes and fewer assets to begin with, suffered the most.

As an integrated part of the government-led National Reconstruction Programme, IFAD is financing a recovery project to provide support to rural people. The aims of the national programme and the IFAD-funded project are to re-establish rural people’s physical assets and ensure the rapid and well-balanced recovery of rural living standards and the agricultural sector. The project will provide opportunities for vulnerable households to access development opportunities to keep them from slipping into, or deeper into, poverty.

The project’s aims are to:

• re-establish the basic level of living standards of affected households
• provide vulnerable households with access to environmentally friendly rural energy, specifically biogas
• enhance people’s access to rural services
• rehabilitate and develop crop and livestock production and related income-generating activities

The project will work to strengthen support services to make investments in biogas sustainable. It will also assist farmers’ cooperatives in recovering and fostering agricultural production and marketing.

Project activities will include:

• constructing biogas systems, renovating toilets, providing kitchen stoves and building pigsties
• establishing biogas service stations and providing training to staff and villagers for maintaining the systems and ensuring safety
• supporting crop and livestock services
• providing training to and strengthening cooperatives

Village committees will help identify eligible recipients and implement project activities. About half of the participants will be women, and all participants are expected to benefit directly from construction of the biogas systems, improved sanitation, kitchen stoves and pigsties, and from crop and livestock support activities. Improved incomes from pig breeding and marketing will empower women economically and socially.

Innovative features of the project include:

• promoting rural renewable energy to improve living conditions
• forging a sustainable link between agricultural production and rural energy
• establishing a village-based service support system and fostering the development of cooperatives 

Source: IFAD