Within the framework of the mission’s agenda, work groups and field visits were made to define the objectives and activities of the four project components.
Santo Domingo, Rep. Dom., October 31, 2017 (IICA). From October 23 to 31, 2017, a mission of World Bank specialists visited the Dominican Republic to support progress in the formulation of the Project for Resilient Agriculture and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in Yaque del Norte Basins and Ozama-Isabela, which aims to promote the sustainable management of productive agroecosystems, improve the resilience of hydraulic infrastructures and increase the quality and access to water-related services.
The first phase of this visit consisted of working groups to define the guidelines, activities and budget of the four components that make up the project, namely: Sustainable management of Agro-ecosystems, Increased resilience and efficiency of the hydraulic infrastructures, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Strengthening of the Governance and Management of the Project. The IICA Dominican Republic Representation actively participated in the working discussions of component one where the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources participated as institutions that will implement this component.
In the work discussions of component one, three sub-components were defined, which will include subprojects that support the sustainable productive use of natural resources, the institutional strengthening of the National Soil Conservation System and the conservation of protected areas. As a result of the work discussions carried out in the framework of this visit, the total estimated cost of the project has risen from US $ 135 million to US $ 175 million, of which the French Agency for Development expressed its interest in co-financing specific activities. of component one and two.
by Plan Yaque, Inc.
In a second stage, the support mission made a field visit to the Yaque del Norte basin to inspect specific areas of project intervention. Meetings were held with Plan Yaque Inc. and the Association for Development Inc. (APEDI), which execute projects for the management of the
Yaque del Norte basin to establish possible partnerships for the implementation of the project. Likewise, the support mission visited a community project where Plan Yaque Inc. installed a purification station for the treatment of domestic wastewater from the community of Buenos Aires in Jarabacoa. The mission also visited two demonstration agroforestry and productive farms where Plan Yaque promotes soil and water conservation practices with a basin approach
Within the agenda of the field visit, the World Bank mission also paid a visit to the Monsieur Bogaert irrigation canal in Santiago which allows irrigation for agriculture in the region and presents a high sanitation problem, so it will be intervened in the framework of the project. There was also a meeting with the board of irrigators of Monsieur Bogaert to know their mode of operation, areas of intervention and needs for better management of water resources in the irrigation channel.
farm intervened by Plan Yaque, Inc.
During the closing of the mission, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Isidoro Santana expressed his satisfaction with the progress made during the World Bank’s visit to support the technical formulation of the project, while emphasizing the role of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development to facilitate inter-institutional coordination in the execution of the project. In that order, the Representative of IICA in the Dominican Republic, Mr. Frank Lam, reiterated the support offered by IICA to ensure the successful execution of this project.
It is expected that the technical formulation of the project will finish in March 2018.
More information: Gina Rosario, Specialist in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Climate Change, gina.rosario@iica.int
