DAMASCUS - The rural woman projects carried out by the Agriculture Ministry in cooperation with several bodies contribute to empowering women economically through establishing small productive projects that ensure income for women and their families and help them improve their living conditions.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), the Aga Khan Network and the UN World Food Program (WFP) are implementing a number of projects that support rural families in several areas in Syria.
Director of the Rural Women Development Department at the Agriculture Ministry, Raeda Ayoub, told SANA that the rural women empowerment program has targeted the poorest areas according to the living conditions map set by the Planning and International Cooperation Commission.
She added that the program provides loans of SYP 150,000 to purchase the tools for the project. The loan should be paid back in three years in semiannual installments.
Ayoub noted that 77 % of the loans are agricultural, 20 % of them are service-related, 2 % are for manual projects and 1 % for industrial projects.
She clarified that the total number of offered loans has reached 17,850 loans valued at SYP 1 billion, which targeted 605 villages.
For his part, Assistant of FAO Representative in Syria, Salim Zahwa, said the organization presented an imitative last year to enable rural families achieve food security through securing production requirements and income-generating models in the agricultural field.
Zahwa added that about 1,690 sheep and 169 tons of animal food have been distributed this year to 338 rural families whose breadwinners are women.
Meanwhile, ACSAD is implementing a project in cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry to improve the living conditions of rural families in a number of villages in Raqqa province.
Director of Agriculture Guidance Department at ACSAD, Mohammad al-Abdullah, said that over 1500 sheep and 152 tons of animal food were distrusted to the targeted women in these villages.
Aga Khan Network also played a significant role in rural women empowerment projects in the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Lattakia, Tartous and Sweida through the Microfinance Institution.
Ali al-Zein, The Programs Department Director at the Network, said the percentage of loans granted to women reached 25 % out of 29,000 loans. The loans for women included land reclamation and diary projects.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2012
