INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT

SCF will implement the project with the help of Government of El Salvador (GOES) development agencies. Eight community committees will be formed and meetings conducted by community members will be held regularly in major hamlets and cantons in the northeast. These committees will assist GOES planners in identifying community development needs and prospective projects. They will also provide logistical and material support for these projects. Some 360 GOES field promoters, selected by GOES" Rural Community Development Organization will receive training in community-based integrated rural development and will be appointed to work in the target region. Utilizing SCF resources, at least ten specific productivity or social, economic, and physical infrastructure projects to provide increased access to improved services will be undertaken and completed through joint community and GOES participation. Development subprojects will be aimed at the most urgent needs of the target region, namely, poor agricultural and livestock productivity (resulting in low incomes), poor utilization of water resources (resulting in health and nutritional problems), and depletion of natural resources. A Demonstration Center will be made functional and demonstrations will be conducted throughout the target region which will provide easily replicable models of appropriate technological improvements. Finally, personnel from SCF will be trained in providing education and assistance to other agencies in project identification, development and implementation. SCF will also provide administrative services to the community groups. Some 20,000 inhabitants of the El Sauce and Concepcion de Oriente regions are expected to benefit directly from this project.