IDB resources to promote rural businesses

22 Nov '07

2 min read

A $27.1 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank will support a program to promote rural businesses in areas with high levels of poverty in Honduras.

The program, which will provide resources to develop rural value chains and microenterprises, will start in the departments of Olancho, El Paraiso, Colon and Gracias a Dios. These regions were selected for both their productive potential and their high rates of poverty and extreme poverty.

The rural business development program will serve as a jobs- and income-generating complement to the activities of Red Solidaria, the Honduran government's network of poverty reduction programs.

The program, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture's National Office for Sustainable Rural Development (DINADERS), builds on lessons learned from previous projects in Honduras and other Latin American countries.

The IDB resources will help finance business development services to help rural value chains and microenterprises prepare business plans for projects. Information on the program will be disseminated in indigenous languages to ensure broader participation by minorities.

The program will cover up to half the cost of eligible investments for projects proposed by rural enterprises organized in value chains. These projects, which will have to submit purchase orders and proof of participation of poor families in their business plans, may receive between $50,000 and $500,000 under the program.

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