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A new Rural Finance Project (REFP), which will badist more than 287,700 rural people active in agriculture, fisheries and small and medium-sized enterprises in 10 provinces to improve their access to national and regional markets, has was launched on July 15 in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.
The project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Mozambique, was launched at a start-up workshop bringing together project participants, government officials and IFAD officials, including Adriano Ubisse. , National Director of the Treasury of Mozambique, and Robson Mutandi, IFAD Representative and Country Director in Mozambique.
Despite the opportunities created by the growing demand for food, rural people are often hampered by lack of resources, services and market access. In addition, the main constraint is credit and banking services.
"IFAD is a historical and strategic partner of the Government of Mozambique with interventions in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, rural finance and rural development," said Ubisse. "The PSER is a new intervention with an innovative implementation approach that will add value to all IFAD-supported projects in my country."
The total cost of the program is $ 72.5 million, including a grant of $ 62.1 million from IFAD. The program will be co-financed by the Government of Mozambique ($ 4.3 million), the beneficiaries themselves ($ 1.1 million) and the private sector ($ 5.0 million).
In Mozambique, lack of access to financial services and technical resources is becoming an increasingly critical constraint for smallholder farmers seeking to expand and intensify their activities. The goal of the PSER is to increase the availability and use of appropriate, affordable and innovative financial and technical support services, and to help raise the very poor rural population to a level of solvency by improving their literacy and financial capabilities.
"This new IFAD-supported project will focus on the poor and the disadvantaged to ensure that rural finance services reach under-served and financially excluded groups," said Mutandi. "We are here to stay and work with the Government of Mozambique on the financial inclusion strategy, leaving no one behind."
Digital financial services will be developed for agricultural and rural financial products, while training will be provided to rural agricultural and non-farm entrepreneurs and support will be provided to institutions working with the rural population.
Since 1983, IFAD has financed 15 rural development projects and programs in Mozambique for a total cost of $ 664.3 million, with an investment of $ 428.0 million. These projects directly benefited more than 2 million rural households.
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