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Bolivia
Project loan
Sector: Multi-sectoral
Project: Participatory Rural Investment
Amount: US$5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1.5% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agency: Small Farmer Development Fund
Cofinanciers: IDA, Government of Bolivia, local authorities and beneficiary communities
Loan administrator: IDA
Total cost: US$94.4 million
In Bolivia, most of the extremely poor are subsistence farmers living in isolated rural areas where basic social and economic infrastructure is seriously lacking. This loan is in support of a rural investment project designed to generate economic activity, raise incomes and, ultimately, living standards in some of the poorest areas, especially in predominantly indigenous communities. Under the project, a wide range of small-scale infrastructure projects will be identified and implemented in close cooperation with local beneficiary communities. As bad roads and insufficient irrigation are two of the main impediments to economic activity in these poor rural areas, the majority of the sub-projects will deal with the rehabilitation and construction of access roads and bridges, or with the repair or provision of small-scale, communal irrigation systems. The project will also finance the creation of community and municipal markets, the construction of storage facilities for agricultural produce and the installation of small hydroelectric plants. To ensure the successful and sustainable implementation of the sub-projects, a capacity-building component will provide technical assistance, training and support at all levels of participation. Specifically, this loan will help finance 75 sub-projects concerned with the construction or rehabilitation of access roads, bridges, irrigation schemes, community and municipal markets, storage facilities, river embankment improvements and the maintenance of municipal infrastructure. Technical assistance, training and support to local governments, communities and NGOs will also be supplied.
Haiti
Project loan
Sector: Education
Project: Basic Education
Amount: US$5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: Ministry of Health, Youth and Sports
Cofinanciers: IDA, IDB, and Government of Haiti
Loan administrator: IDA
Total cost: US$58.12 million
In Haiti, only 63% of children ages 6-12 are enrolled in school,
and fewer than 30% of those entering the first grade ever reach the sixth.
The drop-out and repetition rates are extremely high with only 38 out
of 1,000 elementary pupils eventually finishing secondary school. The
situation is particularly bad in rural areas, which are home to 70% of
the population but receive only 20% of public spending on education. In
the mid-1990s, the Government developed a National Education and Training
Plan for 1996-2005, which aims at raising the quality of education
in both the country's public and private schools by improving the learning
environment, upgrading teachers' qualifications, revising the curricula,
reforming the national examination system, and providing new textbooks
and other materials. Access to a basic, public education is to be expanded,
especially in under-served rural areas. Literacy programs for adults are
also to be strengthened.
This project, which is identified as an investment priority, is designed to implement the goals of the national plan for 1999-2001. Under the project, 1,280 classrooms in both public and private schools will be renovated and 400 new ones (in public schools) will be constructed. There are also components for reforming pedagogical training and strengthening institutional management and evaluation and planning skills among school and education personnel. Specifically, this loan will help finance the rehabilitation of 350 classrooms and the construction of 130 new ones. Approximately 90,000 pupils and 6,100 teachers are expected to benefit from the project.
Honduras
Project loan
Sector: Multi-sectoral
Project: Honduran Social Investment Fund (HSIF): Social Infrastructure III
Amount: US$5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1.25% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: September 22, 1998
Executing agency: HSIF
Cofinancier: Government of Honduras
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$5.5 million
The loan will help support the development activities of the HSIF, a temporary agency established in 1990 to help mitigate the impact of economic adjustment measures on the poor through the implementation of small-scale social and economic infrastructure projects and the development of special assistance programs for particularly vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.
Social indicators in Honduras are alarming, reflecting the widespread poverty. To combat this situation, the Government is implementing a poverty alleviation program, which will increase investment in basic health, sanitation and education services, while financing improvements in the economic infrastructure with a view towards raising employment and creating marketing opportunities. The HSIF plays a crucial role in the achievement of these objectives, by responding rapidly and efficiently to the needs identified by ministries, municipalities and community groups. Over 9,000 sub-projects have been carried out since 1990, and the HSIF plans to implement 225 additional ones, designed to benefit more than 70,000 people, with the proceeds from this loan. These sub-projects involve the construction or rehabilitation of a large number of health centers, schools, water and sewerage systems, irrigation schemes, access roads and markets, as well as other basic community facilities in small towns and villages throughout the country. Two special HSIF sub-programs will also receive assistance. The first concentrates on the priority needs of under-served groups and includes child-care centers, care for the elderly and disabled, shelters for street children, and midwife training. The second sub-program will respond to the special social and economic needs of indigenous communities.
Digging a sewer line in Honduras. The loan to the HSIF will also help communities affected by Hurricane Mitch rebuild essential infrastructure.
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Nicaragua
Project loan
Sector: Agriculture and agro-industry
Project: Food and Agricultural Production Revitalization
Amount: US$5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agencies: National Rural Development Program and the Ministry of Agriculture
Cofinanciers: IDB and Government of Nicaragua
Loan administrator: IDB
Total cost: US$50 million
The primary goal of the project is to boost agricultural output in 11 rural departments in Nicaragua's Pacific and Central regions. By providing support in the form of resources, facilities and technical know-how to small and medium-sized farmers, the project aims to increase production levels while helping improve incomes and employment opportunities in beneficiary communities.
Agriculture is the country's most important economic activity, both in terms of job creation and export earnings, and is the sector with the greatest potential for short to medium-term growth. Investment in agriculture has therefore been accorded top priority in the Government's strategy for poverty alleviation. With smallholders working two-thirds of all cultivated land, the focus is on providing these peasants with the means to increase their yields and facilitate the sale of their produce. The project calls for the construction of small irrigation systems, marketing facilities, collection centers and slaughterhouses, as well as the rehabilitation of rural roads and soil conservation works. Herds will be upgraded, and agro-forestry systems developed. Numerous sub-projects will be identified and implemented in close cooperation with the beneficiary communities, who will form marketing cooperatives and receive technical assistance on farm business management. Around 1.3 million people are expected to benefit from the various sub-projects, 30 of which will be directly supported by this loan.
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A school girl in Nicaragua. In 1998, the OPEC Fund approved
$25 million for education projects and over $31.5 million for multi-sectoral schemes which included small-scale school improvement projects.
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