Côte d’Ivoire - Lakes Region Rural Development Support Project

The present project is related to the Lakes (les Lacs) Region Rural Development Support Programme. Its main aim is to lay the foundations of sustainable development, based on the emergence, in the village community, of a process of economic and social self-promotion. Such development is based on the renewed confidence of grassroots economic operators who must feel capable of adapting to the prevailing situation to draw the maximum benefit from the natural resources available to them, provided they are located in a favourable environment with all the necessary services (advisory, credit, commercial) and support (supervision, training, research and development, basic infrastructure). This project aims precisely to fulfil all those conditions. The project should thus permit a thorough sensitization of all the economic operators in the area and the voluntary formation of viable agricultural professional organizations, followed by an overall improvement in agricultural production and productivity. It should thus contribute to self-sufficiency and food security, a reduction in rural-urban migration and poverty in the region. The project should also foster the promotion of young people and women by turning them into viable economic agents through training and access to credit. The principal project components are: A) Support to the Productive Private Sector and Institutional Framework; B) Rural Development Fund; and C) Project Management Unit (PMU).