AID grant no. 518-0092-G-00-0087-00 with CARE International for the sustainable land-use management project

The Ministry of Agriculture"s Soils Department and the Peace Corps will assist in project implementation. CARE will hire and train local extension agents who share the same cultural background with project beneficiaries. Extension services will be provided on a routine basis and will involve the maximum level of individual and community participation. Some 5,700 training seminars and field trips will be conducted to persuade farmers to accept new techniques related to soil conservation, ecological agriculture/crop management, agroforestry (including, inter alia, the planting of 5.6 million trees), irrigation, and complementary production activities. Extensionists will also promote these techniques on the community level by supervising and assisting on the traditional village minga, or communal workday. Interested farmers (especially women) who participate in the minga will not only share in the harvest, but also learn conservation techniques firsthand. Participants making progress in land use management will receive TA and training for income-generating activities. An estimated 9,000 marginal farmers in 160 rural communities will benefit from the project. Yields are expected to increase by an average of 20% a year during the first three years, while incomes should increase by about 22.5% annually for five principal crops (barley, broad beans, potatoes, garlic, and onions).