IFAD Supported Program to Boost Farmers' Income in Gabon

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced a US$ 6 million livelihood support program in the Woleu-Ntem province of Gabon that intends to help small farmers and their organization to diversify their incomes by developing and marketing new products from staples like cassava, peanut and banana. Signed by IFAD's Vice-President, Kanayo F. Nwanze and Noël Baïot, Gabon’s Ambassador to Italy, the program will be funded partially by IFAD together with a grant from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development.

“The project will help small farmers and their organizations get better access to value chains for products with significant market potential,” said Abdoul Barry, IFAD’s country program manager for Gabon. A value chain is the full range of activities that are needed to bring a product from its conception to its end use. This includes buying inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, production, processing and distribution. It is estimated that the project will benefit 28,000 small farmers, half of whom are women and a third young people.

Read the IFAD press release at http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2007/45.htm