DUSHANBE, June 9, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has supported the Livestock and Pasture Development Project.

Narzullo Dadaboyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), says issues related to implementation of the project were discussed here Tuesday at a meeting of Minister of Agriculture Qosim Qosimov with Ms. Zaynab Kenjayeva, IFAD country program manager for Tajikistan.

During the meeting, the sides reportedly noted that such a large project aimed at supporting development of livestock and pastures was being implemented in the country for the first time.  The project is designed for 2011-2016.

A grant agreement for 14.5 million U.S. dollars was recently signed in Rome between the Tajik delegation and the IFAD leadership, the spokesman said.

The project’s development objective is to increase the nutritional status and incomes of targeted households by enhancing livestock productivity.  The project is expected to provide support for community organization.  This will entail setting up village development groups and pasture users’ associations, and organizing smallholder households interested in participating in livestock development activities into common interest groups for the project’s interventions in this field.  Women’s common interest groups will also be formed to identify and implement income-generating activities for women.  Project activities to strengthen public services will include: 1) pasture management policy strengthening; 2) training and international study tours to build pasture management capacity; and 3) support to locust management.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference.  IFAD is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.  Seventy-five per cent of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries, yet only 4% of official development assistance goes to agriculture.