1,689 savings and credit groups with 21,762 members, 91.3 percent of which female.
access to income-generating opportunities and social ser- vices not previously accessible in the project areas. The canals provided a total of 9,342 acres of additional irrigat- ed land, increasing crop variety, yields per acre, income, food security and self-sufficiency for households. The environmental conservation subprojects contributed to mitigating climate change and soil erosion, increased soil fertility, and reduced water pollution, the need for costly water purchases, and the risks of droughts. The provision of livestock and other assets enabled 618 poor and vulner- able groups of women, youth and elderly to improve their income generation opportunities. The supported savings and credit groups extended loans for US$193,900 to mostly female members for small-scale investments.
In addition to the temporary employment generated by the construction works, an impact assessment conducted in 2020 showed that the supported projects have had a sig- nificant and lasting impact on the benefiting communities. In the assessed communities the improved school infra- structure improved learning environments for students and their educational outcomes and encouraged 480 teachers to stay and work in remote areas. Healthcare facilities benefited 423,780 patients and in- creased the availability of healthcare personnel in remote areas. In the 134 communities benefiting from water pro- jects, women no longer need to walk long distances to fetch water, and livestock has gained secure access to water. The new or rehabilitated roads improved connectivity and
By 2020 already, implemented subprojects were estimat- ed to have contributed overall to improving the lives of 200,000 direct and 1.3 million indirect project beneficiaries.
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