Announcement of Peru’s Agrarian University to be Rehabilitated with World Bank Assistance on November 11, 1982

FOR IMMIDIA TE RELEASE ii • World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/17 Contact: Sundaram Sankaran November 11, 1982 ( 202) 47 7-3962 PERU'S AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY TO BE REHABILITATED WITH WORLD BANK ASSISTANCE Rehabilitation and strengthening of Peru's National Agrarian University will be assisted with a $17.3 million loan, the World Bank announced today. The university, located at La Molina near Lima, was partially destroyed by a severe earthquake in 1974. The rehabilitation of the central campus of the National Agrarian University will account for about 75% of the costs of the Higher Agricultural Education Project assisted by the Bank loan. The total cost of the project is estimated at $35.1 million. The project will improve the university's facilities and quality of instruction. It will thus enable the university to contribute more to the Peruvian government's efforts to accelerate agricultural development. • The National Agrarian University is the main source of high quality agricultural professionals required for revitalizing Peru's agricultural sector. It has an enrollment of 3,600 students, including about 200 in the graduate program, the only one in the country. Since the earthquake, teachers and students have had to use inadequate accommodatio~s. This in turn has iffected the quality of instruction and research. Four farms within the university's Regional Development Institute system will be provided with buildings and equipment to improve field teaching and research facilities. These farms are in the country's three main ecological zones (Costa, Sierra, and Selva). The research farms will provide final-year undergraduate students with a "real world environment." Professors from the university will benefit from the research facilities, and the surrounding professional and farming communities will be provided with extension services. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including four years of grace, at a variable interest rate. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances, and includes a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. The Bank's participation in Peru's education sector began in 1974 with a $24 million loan to help finance the construction of 12 post secondary and 26 basic education centers. The project was completed in June 1982. • For developing Peru's agricultural sector, the Bank has made 13 loans totaling $219 million. In May 1982, a $40.6 million Agricultural Research and Extension project was approved to help 445,000 farm families in the northern part of the country. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.