The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development was set to support a project to improve market access for the rural poor and a natural resource management intervention in Mongolia. IFAD intended to shell out an estimated US$10 million for the two projects.
Frits Jepsen, IFAD program manager for Mongolia, told Devex Early Intelligence that the government has requested for the two projects to be combined into one. The agency is now in the process of redesigning and redefining project details. Jepsen said more information should be available in early 2010.
He added that the government plans to exhaust all of IFAD's performance-based allocation to the country for 2010-2012. As such, project cost may be more than the indicative US$10 million.
Apart from the pending initiative, IFAD is currently funding a rural poverty reduction program in Mongolia, which will run until 2011.
Since 1996, the agency has helped the rural poor in Mongolia by funding development projects in the livestock sector. Its strategy focuses on helping poor herders maximize the market-oriented economy, and support technical services, participatory rangeland management and rural finance services.
