IFAD's $60 mn post-tsunami programme in TN

The Int'l Fund for Agricultural Development would be taking up a 60 mn USD 'long-term post-tsunami sustainable livelihood programme' for TN's coastal communities.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, a specialised UN agency working for combating rural poverty across the world, would be taking up a 60 million USD 'long-term post-tsunami sustainable livelihood programme' for the coastal communities in Tamil Nadu.

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"We will be funding about 30 million USD and the remaining 30 million USD will flow from other sources like governments and other donor institutions," Lennart Barge, President, IFAD, told reporters at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai.

"This funding is part of the 100 million USD assistance approved by the IFAD Board for post tsunami livelihood programmes in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives and the project in Tamil Nadu will be implemented over a period of eight years," he added.

"We are currently in the planning stage. The project needs lot of planning, since we don't want to duplicate the works, which are already being carried out by the governments and NGOs," he said, adding, "What we add will be complementary."

The objective of this project is to build self-reliant coastal communities, resilient to shock and be able to manage their livelihood base in a sustainable manner. The emphasis will be on safety, linkages to market through self-help groups and funding to develop new activity, he said.

A survey for project implementation has already been done by a Chennai-based NGO in association with South Indian Federation of Fishermen Society.