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Service Delivery and Accountability

This article discusses the importance of agricultural services in achieving inclusive growth and overcoming regional income disparities. It explores strategies to provide agricultural services more effectively, including empowering farmer-based organizations, decentralization, and improved accountability. It also highlights the need for better data on agricultural services and the importance of rigorous evaluation of reform approaches.

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Service Delivery and Accountability

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  1. Service Delivery and Accountability Regina Birner Kamiljon Akramov, Felix Asante, Nethra Palaniswamy and Leah Horowitz

  2. Agricultural Services for Inclusive Growth • Agriculture for Development! • To reach Middle Income Status, agriculture has to play a key role in the economy. • To overcome increasing regional income disparities, improving productivity is essential • staple food production in the North • Agricultural services key to reach this goal • How can agricultural services be provided more effectively? • How to reach small-holders and women? • What have we learned from the past?

  3. Outline • Introduction • What is the problem with agricultural services? • Some examples from Upper East • How to solve the problem? • Strategies to improve agricultural service provision • Empowering farmer-based organizations (FBOs) • Decentralization • Questions for debate and further research

  4. What is the problem?Crop yields in the Upper East (87-05)

  5. What is the problem?Crop yields in the Upper East (87-05)

  6. Agricultural Service Provision • What are the bottlenecks to improving staple crop production in the North? • Technology?  Agricultural research and extension • Irrigation?  Increasing access and efficiency • Risk?  Instruments for risk management • Input markets?  Access to inputs and finance • Output markets  Important for food staples • FASDEP II • Addresses all areas – priorities? • Focus on improved accountability and gender-responsiveness

  7. Strategies to Improve Agricultural Service Provision • Demand-side strategies: Improving farmers’ ability to demand better services (feature strong in FASDEP II) • Farmer-based organizations (FBOs) • Research Extension Liaison Committees • FBO Development Fund to access technologies • Water User Associations (WUAs) for irrigation • Political decentralization • Elected representatives to hold service providers accountability • Supply-side strategies: Improving the ability of the agricultural administration to provide better services • Administrative decentralization • Public sector management reforms, civil service reforms

  8. Example: Small reservoirs

  9. FBO-Approach Small Reservoirs in the Upper East Preliminary results from a stock-taking survey * Technical problems* Procurement problems * Land rights issues* Gender issues IFPRI – Water Challenge Program, 2006/7

  10. Can Decentralization Help? • Political decentralization • District Assembly Member as “doorstep politician” • Where are agricultural issues on his/her priority list? • Role not matched by discretion over funds and influence on public administration • Will reforms help? (Election of DCE and all DA members?) • Few women among the elected members • What happens if all members are elected? • Administrative decentralization • Agricultural field staff “in between” line ministry and DA • What will be the effect of Local Government Service • Fiscal decentralization • Composite budget, District Development Fund

  11. The untapped potential of districts- Index of time needed to access services - Derived from CWIQ 2003

  12. Open questions • How to get better data on agricultural services? • “Farmers’ Investment Climate” – not known • What are the most binding constraints? • Collect data on access and satisfaction (like for health & education) • How can decentralization reforms serve agriculture? • Why does agriculture not focus more strongly in this debate? • How to foster experimentation and learning • More emphasis on rigorous evaluationof reform models, e.g., FBO approaches • What works where and why?

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