(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
TUNIS, 17th March, 2017 (WAM) -- The World Bank announced a US$100 million project to support better management of forests, rangelands and agricultural landscapes for more jobs and increased incomes in the North-West and Center-West regions of Tunisia, where almost half of the poorest segment of the population are concentrated, said the World Bank in a press release Wednesday.
While addressing the impacts of climate change and preserving the landscape's natural resources, which are essential for protecting local livelihoods that are heavily dependent on agriculture, forests and rangelands, integrated management of the region's forests and rangelands alone has the potential of raising the value of their output from the current US$16 million to US$75 million, and creating around 25,000 jobs.
The Integrated Landscapes Management in Lagging Regions Project will finance the key ingredients of improved management of natural resources; including more accurate data for well informed decisions, laws that promote better and integrated management, and strengthening the technical and managerial skills of the many stakeholders in agriculture at the national, regional and local levels. The project will also support the introduction of climate-smart agriculture, while fostering economic growth through productive alliances and value chain development at the community level, according to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) news agency.
"Sustainable and integrated management of landscapes has an important role to play in improving the lives of people in rural regions that have been left behind," said Eileen Murray, World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia, "there is significant potential for growth if local communities are provided the support to reorient towards higher value added products and growing global markets. This would especially benefit women, who make up over half of the rural labor force and up to 80 percent in the North-West and Center-West."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fisheries will implement the project, guided by a cross ministerial steering committee and regional councils in each governorate, as well as local development councils that will lead the consultative process to identify the sub-projects that will be funded by the project. The local development councils will be broadly representative of the local population, offering women and young people in particular the chance to participate in local decision making.
MENAFN1703201700610000ID1095325696
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.