Rural Economic Development Initiative

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The objective of the Rural Economic Development Initiative Project for Jamaica is to improve market access for micro and small-scale rural agricultural producers and tourism product and service providers. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is rural subprojects in agriculture and rural tourism. This component will finance two types of rural subprojects: type A subprojects will support revenue generating activities in agriculture and tourism, and type B subprojects will support provision of critical infrastructure, marketing, and management in the agriculture and tourism sectors. The second component of the project is national technical assistance and capacity building. The main objective of this component is to strengthen relevant national organizations to enhance their capacity to continue assisting the rural enterprises and other project partners and ensure the sustainability of the rural enterprises. Hence, the component will finance technical assistance (TA) and capacity building for key organizations and agencies that deliver support services in agriculture and rural tourism at the local level. The third component of the project is project management. This component will finance project management, technical expertise (tourism and agricultural specialists, monitoring and evaluation) staff training, the annual audit, vehicles, office equipment, and other operating costs. This component will also ensure that effective fiduciary arrangements are in place during implementation.