IFAD, 60 Projects for the Latin American Rural Producer

Havana, November 26, 2014 (PL).- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) implements today 60 projects in 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, for the benefit of small rural producers, according to its vice-president Josefina Stubb.

We invest in the countryside for the poor, supporting the small farmer and his family to produce more, to transfer them technologies in order to have better access to markets, financial resources and expertise of all kinds, she said in official dialogue with Prensa Latina.

We support this sector because today 80 percent of food in the world is provided by small farmers, said Stubb, who noted that the IFAD, which headquarters is in Rome, is present in 190 countries.

The most important thing is that the projects we support have a strong financial and technical contribution of nations. These monetary resources are lent so they can invest and return them with an interest in order to feed the organization, she added.

Such programs in the region cover from Mexico to the Southern Cone, and now Cuba with Cooperative Rural Development Project in the Eastern Region (Prodecor), running on the island for several months and should benefit 18 municipalities in the provinces of Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma and Santiago de Cuba.

At the official launch of this project, recently held in Havana attended by Stubb, it was explained that the Ministry of Agriculture is the lead entity responsible for implementation, through Agroindustrial Grain Group (GAIG).

According to the Agriculture Minister Gustavo Rodriguez, the existence in this area of 6,000 cooperatives, as well as many college who work in the field and a high school for farm workers, among others, are benefits available to for conducting this program, representing an investment of 45 million dollars.

Created in 1977, IFAD is an UN specialized agency and its only goal is to serve exclusively to poor people in rural areas of developing countries.