Rome, 13 March 2017 – Improving sustainable integration of small-scale producers into emerging value chains is the aim of a financial agreement signed here today between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Argentina.

Some 8,000 rural families (around 37,600 people) will benefit from the programme, that will focus particularly on vulnerable groups, especially indigenous peoples, women and youth.

The total cost of the programme, on the economic integration of family producers of northern Argentina, known as PROCANOR, is US$38.9 million, including a $24 million IFAD loan and a $330,000 grant for research and knowledge management. The project is co-financed by the Government of Argentina ($11.4 million) and by the beneficiaries themselves ($3.2 million).

The agreement was signed by IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze and Claudio Javier Rozencwaig, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the Rome-based UN agencies.

"IFAD can play a significant role in supporting development of public policies to reduce rural poverty by integrating family farming into value chains and producers' organizations," said Claus Reiner, IFAD Country Programme Manager for Argentina.

Argentina is one of the largest economies in Latin America and one of the world's major producers of agricultural commodities, especially soybeans and maize. There are some 251,000 family farms in the country, many of which are run by poor families, most of them living in the Greater North region where the programme will be implemented. In 2010, 18 per cent of the rural population and 22 per cent of rural households in the country had unmet basic needs. Poverty is especially severe in farming families, indigenous communities, rural working families and large families without fixed incomes.

PROCANOR aims to reverse this situation by engaging family farmers in emerging and dynamic value chains, such as quinoa, Andean potatoes, chia or llama meat and wool, among others. It will also create opportunities for building partnerships among agribusinesses, commercial enterprises and farmers' organizations.

The programme will be implemented in the 10 provinces of Argentina's Greater North: Catamarca, Chaco, Corrientes, Jujuy, Salta, Misiones, Formosa, La Rioja, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán, with activities concentrated in the first six provinces.

Since 1988, IFAD has financed eight rural development programmes and projects in Argentina for a total amount of $372.3 million with an IFAD investment of $128.4 million. 

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Press release No.: IFAD/21/2017

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided about US$18.5 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached some 464 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.