China-IFAD SSTC Facility funds new projects to promote climate resilience, value chain development and youth empowerment

South-South initiative to promote the sustainable use of bamboo as an innovative strategy for climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil

This project aims at promoting the Bamboo as a Substitute for Plastic (BASP) Initiative and enhancing the livelihoods and climate resilience of smallholder farmers and rural communities in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. Implemented by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR), this project will transfer existing validated models of Climate Resilient Practices with Bamboo (CRPB) from Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru and provide the necessary framework for their replication and upscaling. Chinese specialists will train the trainers and identify suitable bamboo species and products for the regional market. 

Facilitated by the project, locally available bamboo species will be integrated into farming systems and innovative sustainable bamboo planting processes will be introduced. Furthermore, bamboo will be included in national agricultural development programmes as an alternative food and fodder, biomass, and construction material, aiming to diversify incomes and enhance climate resilience. The project duration is set for 2 years with a total funding of US$324,152 by the Facility. 

Support the Adoption and Promotion of Cassava Crop in Eritrea 

In response to the request of the Ministry of Agriculture of Eritrea, this project promotes the improvement of production and processing techniques along the cassava value chain and aims to increasing food and nutrition security and enhancing nutritional diversification for smallholder farmers in Eritrea. Based on the knowledge from China, Nigeria and Cameroon, the project will expand cassava varieties which will be tested to ensure their alignment with the preferences of farmers, markets, and consumers in the country, and improve cassava food recipes with nutritional formula, which will be made available to local consumers economically. The project results will be shared with relevant stakeholders in other countries with an aim to diversify production and processing of cassava. The project duration is 2 years and funded with US$ 319,450.

ICT for Digital Rural Inclusion and Youth Empowerment 

The main objective of this initiative is to identify and promote solutions for digital rural inclusion across Latin America and the Caribbean, helping youth entrepreneurs to introduce innovation in rural areas. The digital solutions are expected to increase farmers’ productivity and incomes, strengthen resilience to climate change and improve access to markets – particularly for youth. 

The implementing team at IFAD’s SSTC and Knowledge Centre in Brasilia will map youth-led and youth- targeted solutions and select the most promising solutions for regional dissemination. Partnerships and networks for up-scaling of the digital solutions will be strengthened to increase their impact. 

The initiative is a follow-up project of the Rural Solution Awards in which 19 solutions were awarded in 2020 and 2021 and awardees received mentoring in areas such as business strategy development, marketing, and sales, helping young rural entrepreneurs to further advance their ventures. Going beyond the previous project, this project will facilitate two small-scale pilots. One pilot facilitates digital technical assistance targeted at smallholder bee-raisers and the other provides digital financial services to local rural communities.

The project receives funding of $US 300,000 and will be implemented over the course of 18 months.