Before getting down to write proposals for the funding opportunity under the IFAD’s Finance Facility for Remittances (FFR) 2010 Call for Proposals, it will be interesting to read and analyze the current projects funded under this programme. In fact, IFAD has a number of rural-based remittance development projects which have been addressing poverty and empowering communities across poor and developing countries of Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Here, a brief overview of the projects highlighting the strategies and significant impacts adopted is discussed. Going through these projects can enrich our knowledge about various innovations undertaken for using remittances as a tool of poverty reduction. This information is most useful for gaining knowledge about other practices before we sit down to write our proposals in this context.
In Africa, there are more than half a dozen projects supported by IFAD are implemented in different countries. These projects are implemented by different agencies including international organizations, local NGOs, private entities etc and they have adopted tailor-made strategies integrated with innovation and technology to improve remittance services and reach out the poor.
The Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCul) is targeting rural poor in 24 localities of Cameroon. These people belong to the poor sections of the society and depend on remittances to a large extent, but owing to the long distance they need to travel to access remittances increases their costs. The project is aiming at reducing this cost by one third by innovative use of cell phone services. Remote areas are being equipped with electricity through generators and staff is being trained. MTN mobile company has also collaborated to provide SIM cards for reducing coverage problems in the area.
