This is the fourth phase of WFP's assistance to the agriculture sector; the original phase came into effect in 1984. This project is for a period of three years (2000 - 2003) with food and other assistance valued at US$1,286,775 for 106,250 beneficiaries countrywide.

The objective is to complement national development programme for poverty alleviation, food security and enhancing the access of rural communities to productive assets, basic social infrastructure and services. The beneficiaries are women and children who are prone to poverty, malnutrition and unemployment. The project is implemented by the Department of State for Local Government & Lands in partnership with national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In accordance with decision 1999/EB.A/2 (The Enabling Development Policy (Full text can be found on the WFP web site) of the Executive Board, WFP focuses its development activities on five objectives. This project addresses objectives 3 and 5, namely

Make it possible for poor families to gain and preserve assets;

Enable households, which depend on degraded natural resources for their food security to make a shift to more sustainable livelihoods. Some 80% of the project participants are women who will have direct access to project's resources, outputs and benefits.

• Swampland development, upland soil and water conservation
• Rural Infrastructure development

• Development and upgrading of new and existing swamp rice fields
• Conservation of degraded upland through construction of contour bunds, and rehabilitation of gullies in upland fields
• Construction of new dikes and rehabilitation of existing dikes and secondary canals in swamp rice fields
• Construction of new causeways and small wooden foot bridges in swamp rice fields

The above activities are implemented by the Government's Soil and Water Management Unit in collaboration with the Lowland Agricultural Development Project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (LADEP), The Agency for Advancement of Women and Children (ADWAC) and the European Development Fund. LADEP has the mandate to reclaim and develop swamps. It will be supervised by the SWMU, which has a corps of well-trained and experienced engineers, agronomists, and extension agents.

• Construction of new village access roads, in collaboration with Department of State for works, with funding from the European Development Fund (EDF)
• Construction of 300 classrooms, kitchens and latrines, in collaboration with the Swedish NGO Future-In-Our Hands (FIOH) and Christian Children's Fund (CCF/YSA)
• Construction of stores in collaboration with EDF; and
• Construction of large diameter concrete lined water wells.

• To serve as an incentive for food insecure households to participate in and spend adequate time on self-help activities aimed at creating assets for increasing food production, income generation and enhancing access to socio-economic services;

• To provide dietary support to poor households, resulting in increased food consumption at critical times of the year.

Maize Meal 450

Peas/Beans 40

Vegetable oil 15

Maize and beans are common food crops, and vegetable oil is an integral part of the diet of the population. A daily family ration consisting of five individual rations will be distributed and served partly as wet-meals on-site and the remaining (four individual rations) will be distributed to participants as take home rations.

• An increasing number of women rice farmers will have access to more developed swamps, improved seed, and technical advice and consequently increase rice production and food availability
• The burden and time constraints encountered by women in accessing swamp farmlands and in search of water for household use will be significantly reduced through construction of causeways, foot bridges, feeder roads and wells;
• Increased availability of water will create opportunities for more women to grow vegetables and keep small ruminants and thereby improve their access to food and income;
• Construction of classrooms, kitchens and toilets will enable more girls to enroll in schools and thereby build their capacity for more active participation in the society;
• By being active members of committees, women are granted the opportunity to fully participate in power structures and decision -making processes at community level.

• Contour bunds and gully rehabilitation will conserve for a more vigorous vegetative cover, reduce soil erosion from upland ecosystems, and reduce pollution and sedimentation in the lowlands;
• Dikes and causeways will impound fresh water and curb saline intrusion and diversify lowland ecologies;
• Pit latrines will reduce the rate of environmental pollution through efficient waste management;
• The construction of kitchens will improve stoves will reduce the amount of fuel wood used for food preparation.

The project document can be found at the WFP Headquarters Website.