Rural Poverty Reduction Project - Bahia

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The Second Rural Poverty Reduction Project in Bahia, aims at reducing the State's current high levels of rural poverty, by improving the well-being, and incomes of the rural poor, through better access to basic social, and infrastructure services, and, at supporting productive activities through community-driven development techniques, to organize collectively, and enhance local governance. The components will: 1) identify, and implement subprojects, under the responsibility of the beneficiary rural communities, through State Community Schemes (investment proposals submitted directly to the State Technical Unit - STU), Municipal Community Schemes (investment proposals approved by Municipal Councils - MC), and Pilot Municipal Community Funds (a decentralized variant of the Municipal Community Funds, with high-performing MCs). Beneficiaries will be the poorest rural communities, assisted through the institutional development component, to expand mobilization assistance through nongovernmental organizations' services; 2) provide technical assistance (TA), and training to support institutional development, assisting the STU in monitoring, and evaluation tasks, as well as the State in its modernization, and reform policies. Moreover, the component will pilot the use of information technology by community associations, and MCs, for direct access to both domestic, and international markets; and, 3) support project administration, monitoring and evaluation, including incremental costs of the STU, and, will also finance a management information system.