INTERIM REPORT Prepared and presented by

Mohammed Ahmed

Introduction

• The West and Central Africa Division views effective project implementation as the foundation of its efforts to achieve impact and sustainability.

• the 5th Regional Project Implementation Workshop in was organised in Dakar, Senegal, from 8 to 11 November 2010

PARTICIPANTS

• A cross-section of stakeholders (285)–loan and grant project staff, –government officials, –farmers’ organization and NGO leaders,

private sector,– cooperating institutions, and IFAD staff.

MAIN THEME

• “Value Chains for Opportunities and Growth: What Role for IFAD funded Projects?” •was decided by the projects

following a survey in July 2010.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

• To clarify the evolution of IFAD’s strategic focus and operational approaches to its projects and to other partners;

• To develop shared understanding and approaches amongst IFAD project staff, IFAD staff and other stakeholders regarding the value chain approach

• ; and • review progress in achieving the targets laid

out in the Accra Action Plan of December 2010 and utilizing lessons learnt, develop measurable follow-up 2011 Action, and Supervision Plans for improving project implementation.

WORKSHOP APPROACHVaried methods including lectures, panel discussions, small group discussions culminating in plenary sessions and field visits related to value chain

Welcome and Introduction of workshop objectives

• The Director of the host project, PRODAM gave the welcome address in which he expressed his satisfaction to the fact that the workshop theme emerge from the projects themselves

• The UNDP resident representative indicated that the outputs of the IFAD projects in Senegal are very satisfactory and there deserved to be amplified to better responded to the Government policy for food security

• The IFAD Director for West and Central Africa indicated that the main lesson drawn by IFAD projects in the region shows that rural population are capable of reversing the negative tenders such as food security, unemployment and urban emigration oif the youth and developing sustainable economic alternatives where favorable establishments are put in place

• The Senegalese Minister of Agriculture who chaired the opening ceremony praised the cooperation between IFAD and Senegal which has been developed in the 1990s with 14 approved projects to the tune of 235 millions US dollars

• West Africa Rural Foundation Executive Director took participants through the programme dynamics and the logistical arrangements

OVERVIEW OF CONTEXT, POLICIES AND STRATEGIES (Director WCA)

• The West and Central region has great potentials for growth such as :– Improve political stability – less conflict– Existence of Large urban market– Reduction in dependency on food imports– Processing of crops on the increase– Increasing support for Agric by all partners

• But it faces challenges such as:–Under utilization of the irrigation area

potential (only 5% under irrigation)–Less than 5% save or borrow from RFI–Bureaucracy and high unofficial cost

An evolving role for IFAD in WCAMoving from (but not away from)

strengthening collective action in poor rural areas through CDD to…

helping smallholders and rural poor to sustainably escape poverty by becoming competitive providers of goods and services in supply chains

while…ensuring stability and sustainability of production systems in

context of climate change – particularly in Sahara-Sahel zone

This is reflected in what IFAD do• Strengthening farmer organizations, financial

services, seeds and fertilizer access, and infrastructure to support value chains – for staple crops for local markets and and cash crops for export and biofuels

• Continuing to support community-based organizations to ensure voice and participation of poor and vulnerable in economic opportunities

• Innovating and scaling up NRM and climate adaptation through re-greening, better livestock management, micro-irrigation, local renewable energy

And how IFAD work• Decentralizing to better serve projects and support

sector policies (CAADP investment plans)– 4 subregional hubs with CPMs and CPOs – Dakar, Yaounde,

Accra, Brazzaville– In addition, 6 country offices with CPOs – Nigeria, Burkina

Faso, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo– Regional services – WCA Regional Gender Specialist in

Dakar and financial assistants in all four hubs• Strengthened regional team to support CPMTs with

COSOPs, lending, supervision and implementation support and grants

Immediate challenges for IFAD and project

• Rapid mobilization of financing and co-financing

• Increasing disbursements but ensuring that we:– Disburse with integrity (proct and fin. Mgmt)– Disburse with quality (technical partners and

participation)– Disburse with results (M&E)

Some Key Challenges Going Forward…

• Assessing markets – better quality identification of opportunities and constraints using value chain and other tools

• Balancing market opportunities with support to the poorest

• Public-Private Partnerships – expanding role of private sector in projects (financing, inputs, technical support) while ensuring benefits for IFAD target group

• Building the future of agriculture – farming as an attractive business for young people

Vision of IFAD in WCA in 2020

• IFAD staff based in every country in WCA with decentralized regional support in hubs

• Broader range of financing options to work with both public and private sector

• Key agency linking farmer organizations and governments with local and international investors

• Preferred partner for those who care about smallholder- gender-, youth- and environmental friendly approaches to agricultural development

VALUE CHAIN• Panel Discussion- Learning and exchanges on the challenges,

successes and modalities for integrating value chains into operations– Innovation to increase productivity or improve quality of a

commodity or service to satisfy end users demand. (technology or institutional)

– Governance- decrease transaction cost and improve on conducive institutional environment for private public partnership

– Beside the price, buyers in value chain approach consider factors like supply, packaging , quality of the items

– Capacity building of the actors of the value chain will lead to increase the negotiation capacity of the rural producers and will to lead to a win-win situation between the buyers and the sellers

• Parallel Sessions to discuss linkages between Value Chain and

• Rural Enterprises, Professionalization of organisations, Financing modules and modalities and Good Governance

Financing modes and modalities Group

Lessons learnt: Challenges facing microfinance• Limited range of financial products and services to support agri-

business• Low profit margin in some agricultural enterprises • Huge financial requirement associated with value chain

infrastructure – often beyond the scope of microfinance institutions and their capital base.

• Complexities in the lending industry and sustainability• Monitoring and evaluation of programmes effort for those

working through capacity building of MFIs institutions could be challenging while gender mainstreaming could pose a challenge a well.

Professional organizations• Professional organization emanated from rural farmers• Capacity building is a important dimension of farmer organization

development • State governments should provide an abiling environment who

would recognize farming as a profession• Contracting is a key factor of the professionalization• Farmers organization should obey the biding rules and

regulations • The development of professional organizations of women and

youth specialized in processing and marketing of produces is the key to professionalization

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Integration of value chain approach in national and regional agricultural policy

• Creation of policy dialogue mechanism where different actors will discuss and exchange their views on how to operationnalise the value chain approach

• Importance of standards for marketing of agriculture produce

• Establishment of a fund to promote the small rural entrepreneurship

GOOD GOVERNANCE• Establishment of regional projects to promote

some commidities with vigourous action plans• The projects and programmes should

implement market information in their intervention area for information dissemination using telephone, TV, radio

• Governments should play a regulatory role rather then been a actor

LESSONS AND CHALLENGES OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IN WCA

• 5 projects in Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Thome, Guinea and Congo at different levels of project implementation outlined some of the challenges they are encountering

• Key among them are as follows:

ASRP -Liberia• Inadequate community Involvement• Problem of staff recruitment• Delay in disbursement – missed the

main farming season• Logistical problems

CBNRM-ND Nigeria• Challenges in original design- assumption of

25% funding by the states (Killer assumption)• Complex institutional Arrangements, too many

agencies involved eg 13 monitoring per year by different agencies

• Counterpart funding- contribution of states linked to IFAD release of funds

• Challenges in WA preparation

PAPAFPA - Sao Tomé• Delays due to stringent procurement

procedures• Island nature of the country, no ground link

only by sea• High cost of materials due to limited suppliers• Low level of human resource• Lack of salary policy - no incentive, not

attractive to the youth

PNAAFA -Guinea

• No involvement of peasant farmers in policy design/ formulation (COSOP)

• Problems of counterpart funding• No sustainability

South PRODER – Congo• Frequent changes in the project Team• Difficulty in getting to the field

MAIN CONCLUSIONS OF PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE REVIEW ( June 2009- July 2010)

Key Accomplishments Stand OutTaking over of 96% of the portfolio under Direct Supervision

• Two supervision / implementation support missions per project per year

Significant reduction in the disbursement lag from 47% to 12%

• More than USD 340 million (43%) disbursed out of USD 800 million• 540 withdrawal applications processed

Sustainability of the portfolio stands at over 86%

• 31 out of 55 projects moderately satisfactory or satisfactory• Sustainable impact, results and continuity

Total arrears in WCA reduced by more than 24%

• Reduced from USD 51.9 million to USD 39.3 million• Resumption in Liberia, Central African Republic and Togo

41 Projects are “Not-at-Risk” and therefore 85%

Overall Best Implementation Progress

Country Project Name PBAS Project Rating

2010 Scores

2009 Scores

% Change

Senegal MATAM 2 Not at risk 105 94 11%

Niger PPILDA Not at risk 100 99 1%

Cape Verde PLPR Not at risk 99 93 6%

Gambia, The Rural Finance Project Not at risk 97 101 -4%

Ghana Rural Enterprise Project II Not at risk 96 91 5%

Mauritania Oasis Sustainable Dev. Not at risk 96 96 0%

Remaining Challenges

• 38% considered unsatisfactoryM & E

• 35% considered unsatisfactoryDisbursement Rates

• 35% not received on timeAudit Reports

• 20% with major financial issuesQualified Audit Report

• 15% poor financial managementActual Problem Project

Key Actions being taken to Improve Performance

Simple

• Design simpler projects (fewer components), minimising risks in civil strife countries; and

• Simpler coordinated implementation arrangements.

Rigorous• More rigorous supervision and implementation support including

customized training program for IFAD staff and projects.

Aggressive• More aggressive restructuring and closing of projects which do

not take actions to improve.

Increase• Increased partnerships with local and bilateral institutions with

demonstrated ability to obtain results in difficult countries.

To Conclude…

Dynamic and proactive management at country level: strengthening and using CPMT; better management of country teams; capacity building (at IFAD and project level); coordinated approach with partners.

Direct supervision and systematic implementation support and continuous follow-up of project activities with one main outcome: achieving RI (results and impact)!

Implementation is as key as design: good COSOP and design, with monitored implementation and support – assurance of implementation readiness for successful project. Priority now: good work planning and budgeting, procurement planning.

Continued pro-activity in the following:

METHODOLOGY AND TOOLS FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

• M&E– Set up M&E Teams and manuals before

commencement of projects– Capitalise on Existing data to avoid re-inventing

the wheel– WCA to or anise forum and training sessions for

Project management

• Scaling up–Develop a methodological guide

for Successful practices–Need for political will and existence

of Institutional capacity

• Disbursement– Procurement Plan should be related to AWP

• Decentralisation– Create financial autonomy–Much Support from the hub and not from

the centre– Legal service aagreement to describe the

relationship between IFAD offices and UNDP