Abda Plain Rural Development Project

Abda Plain Rural Development Project

This rural development project was the first to bring assistance to a region with low rainfall. Although agriculture was the main source of income, the region was characterized by fragmented smallholdings, low agricultural output, degraded infrastructure and significant migration towards urban centres.

The project’s aims were to improve living conditions for rural poor people, reduce poverty, increase agricultural production, upgrade infrastructure, strengthen existing institutions and organizations, and offer  better prospects for income security and social and economic stability in order to check the migration from rural areas. Smallholders also benefited from credit and support services.

In general, the project’s physical objectives (road infrastructure, rehabilitation and construction of health care centres, water supply conveyance and plantations) were achieved. However, outreach and farm credit posed a number of problems: fewer farmers than planned received training, and the demand for farm credit, which was to be the project’s main instrument, decreased rather than increased.

Source: IFAD