FAO acknowledges RUTA and Central America as a good example on the promotion and use of RURALINVEST

RURALINVEST is organized in modules that address specific needs. Modules are independent and do not need to be sequential. Modulo 1: Participatory assessment and identification of local investment priorities Modulo 2: Formulation and application of investment project profiles Modulo 3: Formulation and analysis of rural investment projects Modulo 4 (in preparation): Monitoring and evaluation of rural investment implementations The RURALINVEST handbook is available at RUTA’s website: www.ruta.org

Prior to launching a new version of the application, FAO and RUTA undertake an assessment on RURALINVEST training in Central America

The RURALINVEST Training and Technical Assistance Program consists of a methodology and tools to facilitate and improve the identification, formulation, execution and evaluation of small rural community and family investment projects. It includes manuals, guidelines, software and training exercises developed by FAO’s Investment Center. Its main goal is to support the formulation of rural investment proposals, offering a methodology and instruments to facilitate community participation as a means to improve productivity and profitability of projects, enabling them to compete in better conditions with other countries in the region.

This initiative promotes the transformation of the rural sector taking advantage of the opportunities and minimizing the risks of trade liberalization. Although this methodology requires a greater effort owing to the training needed by technicians and the support needed by proponents during project formulation and evaluation, its main advantage is to develop genuine local capacity to formulate and evaluate all kinds of investment projects, while assessing their relevance and facilitating their execution and sustainability.

Modules I and II

Two training events on Modules I and II including theory and practice were recently held to strengthen knowledge and skills of community-based technicians, local organizations and institutions. As part of the program strategy to involve country engagement in the methodology, participants will be accredited to provide training in their own countries. The course on Modules I and II entitled “Participatory territorial planning, identification and formulation of local investment priorities” was held in Honduras (December 2006) and Costa Rica (May 2007), with a total of seven accredited trainers: four from Zamorano, one from MIDA in Panama and two from Costa Rica.

Module III

Module III was designed to assist the formulation and evaluation of small investment projects. The accompanying software makes this module a bit more complex than the other modules. The RURALINVEST program has already been widely diffused throughout the region. In fact, since July 2005 a total of eleven training courses on Module III have been organized: one in Honduras, three in Nicaragua, three for regional organizations (IICA; CATIE and ICAP), one regional course for trainers, one in Panama and two in Costa Rica for productive sector organizations. In addition, four trainers from the region have been accredited and three other are currently undergoing the accreditation process.

Videoconference

FAO has released a new version of Module III aimed at addressing several limitations found with the previous version. On this occasion, RUTA in collaboration with the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) held in Costa Rica (May 9) a videoconference on “The experience of RURALINVEST implementation in Central America”.

The main objective of the event was to facilitate the exchange of experience among FAO’s headquarters in Rome, its country offices in the region and RUTA’s regional and national technical units, seeking to define key inputs for a regional strategy to advance the appropriation of RURALINVEST in Central America and the dissemination of its results.

In collaboration with FAO/CP, IFAD’s team at RUTA’s Regional Unit has led the RURALINVEST training strategy and activity planning as well as the dissemination and evaluation of results in the region.