Announcement of Irrigation Project in Colombia Will Assist Small-Scale Farmers on August 3, 1989

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 90/5 Contact: Ciro Gamarra (202) 473-8721 IRRIGATION PROJECT IN COLOMBIA WILL ASSIST SMALL-SCALE FARMERS WASHINGTON, August 3, 1989 -- Colombia is set to start an irrigation project that will help small-scale farmers increase their productivity and incomes. The World Bank has approved a loan of $78.2 million to partially finance the project. Besides increasing agricultural productivity and farmers' incomes, the project is expected to intensify the use of land and reduce seasonal price changes, develop the technological base for future development of the La Mojana Region in the north, and improve the recovery of investment costs that will result in reduced subsidies to water users. The project also aims at encouraging community participation in financing, constructing, operating and managing irrigation facilities. The project will provide supplementary irrigation for about 43,000 farmers on about 60,000 hectares of land over six years. It includes establishing some 850 small-scale irrigation schemes and improvements to technology, field research and extension services. Community training in the operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes and support for strengthening agricultural and irrigation agencies are also part of the project. The area under irrigation--600,000 hectares--in Colombia is only about 17 percent of the land that can be irrigated and 2 percent of the area currently being used for agricultural purposes. About 80 percent of the existing irrigation infrastructure (500,000 hectares) is serving predominantly large, private farms. The project concentrates on assistance to small-scale farmers. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including a five-year grace period, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.73 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.