1. INTERIM REPORT Prepared and presented by Mohammed Ahmed

2. Introduction The West and Central Africa Division views effective project implementation as the foundation of its efforts to achieve impact and sustainability. the 5 th Regional Project Implementation Workshop in was organised in Dakar, Senegal, from 8 to 11 November 2010

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. ; 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.

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. An evolving role for IFAD in WCA Moving 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Parallel Sessions to discuss linkages between Value Chain and Rural Enterprises, Professionalization of organisations, Financing modules and modalities and Good Governance

21. 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.

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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:

26. ASRP -Liberia Inadequate community Involvement Problem of staff recruitment Delay in disbursement – missed the main farming season Logistical problems

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

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

31. Key Accomplishments Stand Out Two supervision / implementation support missions per project per year Taking over of 96% of the portfolio under Direct Supervision More than USD 340 million (43%) disbursed out of USD 800 million 540 withdrawal applications processed Significant reduction in the disbursement lag from 47% to 12% 31 out of 55 projects moderately satisfactory or satisfactory Sustainable impact, results and continuity Sustainability of the portfolio stands at over 86% Reduced from USD 51.9 million to USD 39.3 million Resumption in Liberia, Central African Republic and Togo Total arrears in WCA reduced by more than 24%41 Projects are “Not-at-Risk” and therefore 85%

32. Overall Best Implementation Progress CountryProject Name PBAS Project Rating 2010 Scores 2009 Scores % Change Senegal MATAM 2Not at risk1059411% Niger PPILDANot at risk100991% Cape Verde PLPRNot at risk99936% Gambia, The Rural Finance ProjectNot at risk97101-4% Ghana Rural Enterprise Project IINot at risk96915% Mauritania Oasis Sustainable Dev.Not at risk96 0%

33. Remaining Challenges 38% considered unsatisfactory M & E 35% considered unsatisfactory Disbursement Rates 35% not received on time Audit Reports 20% with major financial issues Qualified Audit Report 15% poor financial management Actual Problem Project

34. Key Actions being taken to Improve Performance Simple Design simpler projects (fewer components), minimising risks in civil strife countries; and Simpler coordinated implementation arrangements. 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.

35. 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:

36. 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

37. Scaling up – Develop a methodological guide for Successful practices – Need for political will and existence of Institutional capacity

38. 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