Announcement of One Million Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars Credit for the Terres Neuves Resettlement Project, Senegal on May 13, 1971

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 71/18 Subject: $1.35 million credit for the May 13, 1971 "Terres Neuves" resettlement project, Senegal The International Development Association (IDA) has approved a credit equivalent to $1.35 million to assist agricultural development in Senegal through the establishment of the first phase of a migration and resettle- ment program .. A major problem of agricultural development in Senegal is the con- centration of the farming population in the so-called Groundnut Basin, • where population pressure is very high and increasing rapidly. Because of the increasing de~and for food, land used for the production of Senegalvs major export crop -- groundnuts -- is increasingly being taken over for foodcrop production and consequently groundnut exports are declining. In the east and south of Senegal there are. areas of good agricultural potential -- including the "Terres Neuves" -- which in the past have not been settled for a number of reasons, particularly the lack of water. The project is the first phase of a program for the development and settlement of land in the Terres Neuves. It is designed to serve as a model tor a major program of land development and settlement whereby the participants will benefit from diversified cropping patterns and improved cultivation methods. • /more  IDA P.Ro No. 71/18 - Senegal - resettlement - 2 - The project provides for the creation, staffing and equipping of a • statutory state-owned company, "Societe des Terres Neuvesn (STN), which has been created to carry out the project. The operation includes a survey of the project area, construction of wells, construction and improvement of feeder and access roads, and the recruitment and transporting of some 300 farm families to the project site and for their settlement in six project villages. Project participants will be provided with extension, supervised credit and marketing services. Provision has also been made for studies to determine the scope and size of the second phase of development of the • T.e rres Ne uves • Three hundred families will be settled over a three-year period, starting in 1972 and STN will also be responsible· for helping 250 families already established in the area.· Full development of the project area is expected to reach about 4,500 people. The credit is being made to the Republic of Senegal and is for a period of 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It is interest free, but carries a service charge of 3/4 of 1% to meet IDA's administrative expenses. - 0 - I •