R.D.I-RIO GRANDE NOR

closed

The Rio Grande do Norte Rural Development Project includes: (a) an expansion and improvement of extension services through the addition of agricultural advisors especially trained to deal with small farmers' problems; the provision of logistical support; and an increase in the number of social extension workers; (b) the provision of additional credit to small farmers for on-farm investment and seasonal production purposes; the testing of alternative, simplified lending procedures for small loans; and the application of a parallel program of crop insurance for farmers; (c) experimentation and farm trials to improve technical packages for cotton and other crops; (d) the expansion of rural health services and the strengthening of supervision and referral systems; (e) the training of project staff and development of training materials for farmers; (f) organization support for project administration, monitoring and evaluation, and a project special fund for miscellaneous project activities; and (g) the preparation of future rural development projects in other areas of the state.