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Guinea
>> Regional Overview >> Guinea Overview Program Data Sheet
675-001
USAID MISSION: Guinea
PROGRAM TITLE: Improved Natural Resource Management and Economic Growth (Pillar: Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Increased Use of Sustainable Natural Resource Management Practices, 675-001
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $5,979,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $7,880,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1998 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2005Summary: USAID/Guinea's environmental and agricultural program integrates local capacity building, sustainable agricultural production, and off-farm income-generating activities to support economic growth in the target communities. It offers appropriate social and economic incentives to encourage conservation of the country's natural resource base. Training and technical assistance are provided in order to:
- empower local communities to sustainably manage their own natural resources;
- enable small-scale farmers to practice environmentally sound practices and technologies;
- create opportunities for establishing and expanding rural off-farm enterprises; and
- foster a policy environment that supports community-based natural resource management and encourages long-term investment in sustainable agricultural production.
Small-scale farmers, small and micro entrepreneurs, and traders are the primary beneficiaries. Strong emphasis is placed on the participation of women in the program as they play a key role in the rural economy and in ensuring household food security.
Inputs, Outputs and Activities: FY 2002 Program: In FY 2002, USAID will provide training and technical assistance for approximately 10,000 small-scale landholders to increase production of food and cash crops through the application of environmentally sound farming practices and the introduction of improved seeds on about 8,000 hectares of land. The simultaneous transfer of skills in farm management, post-harvest technologies, and marketing ensures that economic benefits accrue to program participants in exchange for their investments. Resource-poor households will be assisted to expand off-farm small enterprise activities, reducing the demand for farmland and relieving pressure on the fragile natural resource base. Communities will receive training and technical support to sustainably manage a cumulative total of 79,000 hectares of natural forests (an increase of 27,000 hectares in FY 2002) so that they can generate a sustainable stream of economic benefits. Finally, resources will be used to influence changes at the policy level so that local populations are legally empowered to manage their community's natural resources and encouraged to make the long-term investments required to conserve the natural resource base for future generations. U.S. private voluntary organizations will continue to work with local non-governmental organizations and the Government of Guinea's (GOG) technical services to implement program activities.
More than 52,000 hectares of conservation-worthy tropical forests have been put under sustainable management plans since 1999, reaching over 50% of the target set for the life of the Strategic Objective. Planned FY 2003 Program: USAID plans to use FY 2003 resources to support the continued geographic expansion of the activities implemented under the Expanded Natural Resource Management Project. Greater emphasis will be placed on stimulating economic growth through the intensification and diversification of agricultural production, the continued transformation from subsistence to commercial agriculture, expansion of agricultural marketing opportunities, development of rural enterprises, and promotion of sustainable forest management.
SUBMISSION OF THIS PROGRAM DATA SHEET CONSTITUTES FORMAL RENOTIFICATION OF USAID'S INTENT TO OBLIGATE FY 2002 RESOURCES FOR THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED ABOVE. Performance and Results: Over the life of the Strategic Objective, 100,000 hectares of tropical forests will be managed by local communities in a sustainable manner. By the end of the program, at least 20,000 small-scale farmers will have increased farm revenues by investing in environmentally sound practices and technologies on 30,000 hectares of farmland. Off-farm income generating opportunities will be created as 27,000 small entrepreneurs expand their businesses.
As a result of USAID's forest co-management activities, threatened chimpanzee habitat and migration corridors are now managed according to sound environmental principles by local communities and with full support of the GOG. By the end of FY 2001, over 52,000 hectares of forests were under sustainable management. With USAID's assistance, the Government of Guinea (GOG) devolved control over three state-owned forests totaling 50,374 hectares. These are now co-managed by local communities and the GOG's Forest Service according to mutually agreed management plans. With the backing of the GOG and the promise of future economic benefits, villagers are now restoring the forest cover, protecting watersheds, rehabilitating degraded areas, instituting agro-forestry practices, and implementing fire control measures. For the first time, communities are legally empowered to prevent the unlawful exploitation of the state's reserved forests. Local NGOs assisted 30 community-based organizations in developing village NRM plans, which lay out an implementation calendar for a wide variety of natural resource-related communal activities. Currently, 24 of these newly developed NRM plans are being implemented with success. More than 4,400 farmers applied sustainable agricultural practices on 1,455 hectares of farmland with many of them selling surplus production for a total value of $667,700. USAID also supported the signing of 59 long-term land-use contracts between landowners and landusers to underpin the conversion to market-oriented production. By improving security of tenure over land, land users are given an important incentive to invest in sustainable practices. About 6,350 small and micro-entrepreneurs increased their business assets, workforce, or revenues as a result of training in business development, management techniques, bookkeeping, and savings. Just under 18,000 loans (73% to women) for a total disbursement of $2,770,000 were made to establish or expand micro-enterprises. The overall portfolio recovery rate is 98%.
In FY 2001, women participating in the Expanded Natural Resource Management project accounted for 67% of the farmers applying sustainable practices. Women operated 54% of the newly created enterprises and 69% of the expanded enterprises. Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Activities will be implemented by Winrock International (prime), Volunteers In Service To America (VITA) (sub) and Land O' Lakes (sub) in the Expanded Natural Resource Management project; Opportunities Industrialization Centers International, Inc., Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and Africare in the P.L. 480 Title II-funded projects; VITA in the micro-credit program; and through an inter-agency agreement with Peace Corps for agro-forestry and environmental education activities.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
675-001 Increased use of sustainable natural resource management practices DA DFA ESF Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 17,630 33,819 500 Expenditures 9,892 33,773 434 Unliquidated 7,738 46 66 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 5,638 0 0 Expenditures 5,025 0 10 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 23,268 33,819 500 Expenditures 14,917 33,773 444 Unliquidated 8,351 46 56 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 0 0 0 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 5,979 0 0 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 5,979 0 0 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 7,880 0 0 Future Obligations 7,000 0 0 Est. Total Cost 44,127 33,819 500
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
