A subsistence farmer who cultivates beans and maize on llha de Paratinga, a small island of the Sâ%o Francisco river. Maize stalks in the background grow on the edge of a lagoon created inside the small island by flood waters. - - Integrated Rural Development of Islands in the Sâ%o Francisco River. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO) is helping the Government of Brazil through FAO's Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) in an integrated rural development project in the interior of the country. FAO is providing the services for one year, of an expert in integrated rural development to assist CODEVASF, the Brazilian agency responsible for the development of the Sâ%o Francisco river, in establishing an integrated rural development programme in selected islands of the river in the State of Bahia. The Sâ%o Francisco Valley is located in NE Brazil and its watershed covers 64,000 km2. The river runs through one of the country's driest regions, whose population is migrating because of economic conditions and serious periodic droughts. Several UNDP/FAO projects for the development of the Valley date back to 1961. Currently, an integrated rural development of the lower Sâ%o Francisco project is being executed by FAO with a contribution of over $1.5 million by UNDP.