Secano Agricultural Development Project

closed

The project will address rural poverty and natural resource degradation, mutually reinforcing problems, through the development and validation of comprehensive strategies which achieve sustainable rural poverty and economic growth through increased family income and improved natural resource management. The Secano's diverse and fragile resource base, along with a lack of effective regional poverty alleviation strategies, argues for a project which can validate alternative development approaches. The heterogeneity of Secano conditions call for a micro-regional approach starting with pilot-scale sub-projects in representative areas to test the technological, social and institutional actions considered to be most likely to succeed. The project will develop viable strategies which will: a) improve natural resource management to reverse soil degradation and establish sustainable production systems; and b) expand off-farm economic activities and improve economic infrastructure to diversify income sources and boost regional development. The results of the micro-regional endeavors will serve as economically viable and environmentally sound models for possible eventual larger government-funded programs, covering a greater area of Secano. Project components will be: a) natural resource management and sustainable development; b) off-farm poverty alleviation; c) support services; d) technical assistance; e) land title regularization; and f) studies.