The overall goal of the project is to reduce poverty and vulnerability in mountain zones of the pre-Rif area in Taza Province.

The development objective is to sustainably increase the income of rural households involved in almond, fig, olive and honey value chains in Aknoul and Tainast.

The intervention area consists of the Aknoul and Tainast areas, which are not covered by the current IFAD project. The rationale for selecting this area is:

(i) the communes’ high rates of poverty and vulnerability;

(ii) the high motivation of their populations and elected officials;

(iii) the degradation of natural resources and impact of climate change; and

(iv) the development of orchard-product value chains that can reduce the poverty of households and create jobs.

The project area has a population of 114,059. The poverty rate in the Tainast area is 11.4 per cent, and in the Aknoul area, 4.8 per cent. The target population consists of vulnerable farmers, the majority of whom are women and youth. The project will benefit a total of 11,200 households, or 50 per cent of the target area’s total population.