Rural Azerbaijanis to receive boost from UN loan agreement

The United Nations agency tasked with helping efforts to overcome rural poverty announced today that it will give a loan of almost $20 million to Azerbaijan to fund a project aimed at generating income for farmers and boosting the country’s food security.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which signed an agreement at its Rome headquarters for the $19.35-million loan, said it was part of a total investment of $87 million by the UN agency in Azerbaijan.

The project is designed to assist more than 50,000 households in four districts in the country’s northern and central regions – Agdash, Yevlakh, Sheki and Oguz – to increase their agricultural productivity and raise their incomes.

The lowland areas of the districts are expected to particularly benefit from the project through improved irrigation water delivery, IFAD said in a press statement.

Under the project, farmer support teams will be set up to encourage farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchanges, rural producers will have better access to credit, and the rural poor will gain a chance to improve their skills in crop production and livestock husbandry.