PRESS RELEASE

IFAD signs US$ 7.6 million loan and US$ 7.6 million grant for High-Value Agriculture project in Nepal Rome, 5 July 2010 With the goal of reducing poverty and vulnerability of women and men in hill and mountain areas in Nepal, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed a new loan agreement of US$7.6 million as well as a grant agreement of $7.6 million. The loan agreement was signed today in Kathmandu by Lal Shankar Ghimire, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal and Ron Hartman, IFAD Country Programme Manager. The new project aims to reduce poverty and social disharmony in the hill and mountain areas of the Mid-Western Development Region and address the issue of economic isolation. Poverty persists in these areas because of conflict, poor infrastructure, and lack of access to services and markets. An increase in agricultural diversification can be achieved through initiatives that focus on high-value crops, non-timber forest products, medicinal and aromatic plants, and livestock. This will help to integrate rural poor people, especially women and marginal groups into high-value agriculture, value chains and markets, and employment opportunities that lead to improved incomes. This IFAD project is expected to benefit about 52,000 households (285,000 people). The target group consists of members of poor and vulnerable households that lack access to resources and opportunities. The most vulnerable among this group are women and members of socially disadvantaged groups such as dalits and indigenous groups (janajatis). The project will have an innovative approach to market-led value chain development, using the entrepreneur as the starting point rather than the producer. In addition, it will generate a range of benefits both from the value chain development itself and from supporting activities. Expected results include: more efficient and profitable value chain systems for high-value commodities for producers; improved status and incomes for women and enhanced gender balance in rural households; and increased employment opportunities for the landless and quasi-landless through project vocational training and job placement.

The project will be implemented under the responsibility of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Government of Nepal. The Netherlands Development Organisation, SNV, is a key partner and co financier of the project.

Contacts: Jessica Thomas Tel: +39 0654592215 j.thomas@ifad.org Press release No.: IFAD/44/2010 The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$12 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 350 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome the UNs food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).