INTRODUCTION
The Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme is an integrated agriculture and rural development Programme, aimed at the improvement of the livelihoods and living condition of the rural poor, with emphasis on women and other vulnerable groups (such as Children, Youth, Disabled and the Old) jointly funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), seven (7) participating States of Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, sixty-nine (69) Local Government Councils (within the 7 States) comprising of two hundred and seven (207) Village Areas selected from the participating Local Government Councils.
The Federal Ministry of Finance isthe borrower on behalf of FGN, while the National Planning Commission is to be participatingin monitoring and evaluation of Programme implementation so as to develop and refine nationalpoverty reduction policies. A specialized office – Programme Support Office (PSO) of the National Programme on Agriculture and Food Security (NPAFS) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR) that is headed by the Programme Coordinator is charged with the coordination, supervision and the overall implementation of the IFAD-CBARDP across the participating States. At the State level, there is the State Support Office (SSO) with similar components as the PSO and headed by the State Programme Officer.
At the LGC level, there is Planningand Evaluation Unit (PEU) headedby a Planning Officer under the office of the LGC chairperson forcoordinating CBARDP activities at the LGA and community levels of the targeted Village Areas.
The Programme consists of two main components, namely, the Awareness and Capacity Buildingand Community Development fund. There are eight (8) implementing components viz: Sustainable Agric. Development (SAD), Rural Enterprise Development and Financial Linkage Support Services (REDFLS), Community Infrastructure (CI), Community-Driven Development (CDD), Gender and Vulnerable Group Development (GVGD), Capacity Building Management and Training (CBM&T), Monitoring andEvaluation (M&E) and Finance.
PROGRAMME OBJECTIVE.
The main objective of the CBARDP is to promote the adoption of a community-based approach (Community Driven Development Approach – CDD Approach) in addressing the lingering problems of poverty, land degradation and low agricultural output within the seven states, thereby leading to improvement in the livelihoods and upgrading the living standard of the rural poor, with special consideration onwomen and other vulnerable groups.
TARGET GROUPS.
The primary target of the new approach is the vulnerable rural poor including householdsheaded by not only old men and women but also young couples with inadequate or landless holdings as well as poor economic base Women and children are also primary targets.
PROGRAMME PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Programme is to harness the resources contributed by the stakeholders and channel such resources to the target beneficiaries in the communities in order to: -
*. Empower poor rural womenand men (including youth, disabled and the old) so as to examine and analyze their constraints, prospects and support requirements so as to effectively and efficiently manage their own development in a sustainable manner,
*. Promoting institutionalization of Programme policies and processes on one hand and the creation of awareness and developing capacity of public and private sector service providers to become more relevant and responsive to the needs and requirements of the rural poor women and men on the other hand and
*. Supporting balanced and sustainable social, agricultural and economic development interventions for women and men mainly on groups, based on guiding principles of the Programme.
It is in this line that the CBARDP Programme was formulated with the following strategic approach for the implementation of the Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP): -
*. that the Programme approach follows a series of processes of development;
*. full community participation is adhered to with a bottom-up approach.
*. specific targeting is made for vulnerable groups especially women and men who are poorer than any group in the community (poorest of the poor);
*. Local Government Areas with the poorest groups and the most degraded land areas are targeted; and
*. Communities (Village Areas within participating Local Government Areas) with the poorest groups and most degraded land areas are targeted.
The expected impact is Community Based, Owned, Maintained and Sustained Agricultural and Rural Development activities almost independent of Governments continuous Support.
ABU YUSUF KANKIA
NATIONAL PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
IFAD-CBARDP
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