Agriculture and Rural Development

The development objective of the Agriculture and Rural Development Project is to assist the Recipient to promote competitiveness and growth in the livestock and horticulture sub-sectors over the next decade through implementation of selected measures of its agricultural strategy and institutional development. There are three components to the project
. The first component of the project is transferring knowledge to the rural sector. This component will serve to strengthen the knowledge of farm operators, commercial and semi-commercial agro-processing enterprises and municipal advisors to effectively plan investments and utilize financial support available under component two of the project, other donor-supported grant schemes as well as future grants schemes supported under the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD). The second component of the project is enhancing investments to promote sustainable rural development. this component will: (i) provide rural development grants to foster growth and competitiveness in the rural sector through the promotion of improved agricultural technologies; and (ii) support capacity building of the Managing Authority (MA) and Paying Unit (PU) within the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) to manage grant programs supported by the government, the proposed project, other donors and eventually future schemes under IPARD. The third component of the project is project management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation. A Project Implementation Unit (PIU) will be established within the MAFRD for the daily management, administration, coordination and public awareness of project activities.