I left my land here for twenty years. It was rocky and barren, but when I heard about the de-rocking process, I applied to have my land reclaimed. I came back to cultivation and now the land is very good. More than a hundred farmers have come back from working in Damascus to this village. I want my children to settle on the land in the future.
Women are too often victims of poverty.
They have less access to and control over land, credit, technology, education and health services in rural areas. An IFAD project mobilized women into self-help groups and gave them access to microfinance. When I was 20 years' old my husband left me with three children to take care of. I joined a group of women who were pooling their earnings together in a common fund to provide loans for emergencies. La Negrita is one of the many initiatives that arose from an IFAD project in the semi-desert Ixtlera Region.