Paraíba Second Rural Poverty Reduction

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The Paraiba Second Rural Poverty Reduction Projects (COOPERAR II) will support the Government of Paraiba's efforts to reduce the incidence of rural poverty by: (a) improving access to small-scale socioeconomic infrastructure and services; (b) raising incomes and capital assets through investments in productive activities while facilitating linkages between small producers and national and international markets; and (c) strengthening the capacity of Municipal Councils (MCs) and Community Associations (CAs) to raise funding and harmonize policies and institutional arrangements for delivery of public investments intended to benefit the rural poor. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is community subprojects. This component will support through matching grants to CAs the implementation of about 800 sub-projects for small-scale socioeconomic infrastructure and services and productive and market-oriented investments. These investments are intended to address both income and non-income dimensions of rural poverty in Paraiba, improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of about 175,000 people in 900 communities and 222 municipalities. The second component of the project is institutional development. This component is executed by the State Technical Unit (STU), the project will finance: (a) technical assistance and training to support the mobilization and strengthening of CAs in their role of identifying, preparing, operating and maintaining subproject investments; (b) capacity-building for MCs to manage responsibilities defined in the Project Operational Manual, including assessment and supervision of CAs, participatory planning, financial management of community subprojects, and environmental management of small-scale community subprojects; (c) training and technical assistance for the STU's Regional Management Units (RMUs); (d) workshops and seminars for MCs and CAs to exchange experiences in project implementation, and to explain/facilitate integration of other Federal and State programs for poverty reduction. The third and final component of the project is project administration, supervision, monitoring and evaluation. This component will finance operational costs of project administration, supervision, monitoring, and impact evaluation.