Tunis — The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Wednesday in Tunis approved A loan and a grant with a combined value of 9.5 million Units of Account (UA*) , about US $14.933 million, to finance the Manombo Irrigation Area Rehabilitation Project (PRPIM). The UA 9.202 million loan and UA 298,000 grant will cover the projects' entire foreign exchange expenses and 60.7% of expenditure in local currency.
The objective of the project is to improve agricultural production in the area through the rehabilitation of infrastructure and support to farmers and their organisations in order to help reduce rural poverty in the South West region of the country.
The Project involves the management of the irrigated area and flood plain protection, agricultural development and project coordination and management.
The project outputs include:
* Management of the irrigated area and flood plain protection by constructing 2.7m high sill from the bottom of the river; rehabilitating the 25 km main canal and the 16-Km adjacent track, construction of the network by plot; construction of 15 water points for drinking water supply and protection of the flood plain.
* Agricultural development by supporting water users' associations for efficient water management; technical support services to farmers in the area of production and support for the setting up of a Centre for Agricultural Services (CSA); land tenure security, institutional support to the government for the financing of microfinance institutions to enable them provide services to the project beneficiaries; and special support to women for the promotion of income-generating activities such as livestock breeding.
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* Project coordination and management with technical support to the Regional Directorate for Rural Development in charge of project implementation; procurement of equipment as well as monitoring-evaluation and project auditing.
The Project aims at reducing rural poverty in the South West region where poverty levels in rural areas stand at 73.5%, as against 52% in urban areas; in line with the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Madagascar Action Plan.
The project will be implemented in a rural agricultural area located 50 km from the city of Toliary to Morombe in the Northern part of the Atsimo Andrefana region. The area is divided between two rural communities, the Ankilimalinike in the south, and the Tsianisiha in the north. It includes the entire area irrigated by the Manombo river, covering a surface area of 5 420 hectares. The identified area covers a surface area of about 450 km' which does not receive significant rainfall. The total population in the area is 48,000 with a population density of 106 inhabitants per km'.
The cost of the project is estimated at UA 10.764 million (US $16.920 million). The ADF loan and grant will finance 88.3% of the project. The Malagasy government and local beneficiaries will provide the remaining UA 1.16 million or 11.7% of the entire cost.
The Bank Group commenced operations in Madagascar in 1977. To date, its commitments in the country stand at US$905.5 in 77 operations.
