Announcement of IDA-Assisted Cotton Project to Benefit Sixty-One Thousand Farm Families in Central African Republic on June 2, 1983

· FOR IMMEDIA Tl: RELEA~E ~World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 4/77-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/92 Contact: Pam Brennan June 2, 1982 (202) 477-3293 IDA-ASSISTED COTTON PROJECT TO BENEFIT 61,000 FARM FAMILIES IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC '\ Some 61,000 farm farr.ilies iri the Central African Republic'~ cotton zone will benefit from a project that aims to increase cotton and food crop production,. The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending, is providing a credit of SDR 9. 7 million ($10.4 million) for the project. The rehabilitation of cotton and food crop production is a critical factor in increasing the Central African Republic's foreign exchange revenues, as well as in raising the standard of living of the rural population. The cotton zone covers a:bout 30% of the country's total land area and supports close to 900,000 people, who comprise about 40% of trri- 1 • country's population. The project's direct beneficiaries represent 2q~ of the rural population and belong to the country's absolute poor. · The project aims at reversing past trends of declining agricultural production and incomes in the cotton zone. It will strengthen the country's agricultural extension service; provide fertilizers, pesticides, 0 nd farm implements; reorganize existing applied research and seed multiplication programs; and establish a project monitoring and evaluation system, and a project coordination unit. Another major objective of the project is to help the Societe Centraficaine de Developpement Agricole (SOCADA), the project's implementing organization, to become a more effective rural development agency. A total of 3,250 kilometers of feeder roads, vital to the production and marketing of cotton, will be rehabilitated or maintained; five cotton ginneries will be improved; and about 150 village wells will be constructed. The project will also provide short-term consultant services for specialized studies and for preparing a follow-up project. IDA has previously assisted eight projects in the Central African Republic, with total commitments of $68. 7 million. These projects were in the transport, education, and livestock sectors and for technical assistance. IDA credits are for 50 years, including 10 years of grace; they carry no interest but have a small annual charge (0.5% on the undisbursed • balances and 0.75% on the disbursed balances) • NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dollar equivalent of the SDR amount of the IDA credit re- flects the exchang,~ rates existing: .it the time of the negotiation of the credit.