Rural Community Infrastructure

Rural Community Infrastructure is one of the major programme components of PAF. PAF promotes access to the target communities empowering and helping them to develop social and economic community infrastructures. Such infrastructures are implemented, managed and maintained by the beneficiaries themselves. Community infrastructure are linked with target communities' livelihood improvement, and include rural roads, trails, mule tracks, culverts, suspension bridges, truss bridges, short distance gravity cable ways, river bed land reclamation, drinking water systems including sanitation, water management - plastic tanks, sprinkler/drip systems, and farmer-managed small irrigation systems, collection centers and market including rural energy systems.

Proposals of the community infrastructure sub-project prepared by the Community Organization (CO) with the help of Partner Organization (PO) are submitted to PAF for funding and implementation.

The proposals include:

    Infrastructures which contribute to improving basic health conditions especially of women, children and vulnerable groups such as drinking water, sanitation facilities, alternative source of energy like micro-hydro, improved stoves etc.

    Infrastructures that increase agriculture production, cropping pattern and intensity such as community-based irrigation etc.

    Infrastructures that ensure access to the market centre for local products such as agriculture roads, trails, culverts, bridges and community buildings etc.

    Infrastructures that enhance human capital such as primary schools, health posts, conference halls etc.

    Infrastructures with innovative ideas and technology

Community themselves identify, demand, take part in planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of community infrastructures. Infrastructure sub-project has linkage with IG activities so that after intervention it may generate employment and income, increase productivity to secure sustainable livelihoods.

Before approval of proposals for implementation of sub-projects, technical and social appraisal is carried out to verify eligibility criteria and requirements through site visits and checking of technical reports of the sub-projects. Similarly, environmental and social assessment of all subprojects are carried out through environmental and social screening by completing environmental and social check-list format and mitigation measures are suggested with management action plan for adverse environmental and social impacts. If environmental and social impacts are significant, further environmental and social assessment is carried out in the form of Initial Environmental and Social Examination (IESE).