AfDB-IFAD Joint Evaluation of Agriculture and Rural Development in Africa Draft Final Report AfDB/IFAD Partnership Me

1. AfDB-IFAD Joint Evaluation of Agriculture and Rural Development in Africa Draft Final Report AfDB/IFAD Partnership Meeting 20 November 2009, Tunis

2. Presentation outline • Evaluation objectives • Findings on ARD context and operational performance • Story line • Key recommendations

3. Evaluation objectives • Determine relevance of IFAD/AfDB policies and operations • Assess performance and impact of AfDB/IFAD policies and operations • Evaluate strategic partnerships of IFAD/AfDB • Develop recommendations to enhance effectiveness * Forward looking - how can IFAD/AfDB more effectively respond to Africa’s changing environment (food price volatility, climate change, Accra Agenda for Action, economic downturn etc.) in partnership with each other and other major players in ARD?

4. ARD Context: Opportunities and Challenges • Opportunities: Demand and trade for agriculture products, new commodities (bio-fuels) and bio-technology • Yet, volatile prices for commodities and underdeveloped input/output markets; unfavourable external trade regime • Agriculture growth remains key to reducing rural poverty • Transformation and commercialization of smallholder agriculture • Fragile states • Focus on widely shared growth through the four “I”s - investment climate, infrastructure, innovation, institutions – and through regional integration; • More engagement with private sector; within a new aid architecture: more donors, harmonization, NEPAD/CAADP • Weak government capacity; poor quality sector institutions; limited decentralization

5. Past Performance: AfDB & IFAD Projects (Evaluations 2003-07)

6. Past performance: some key issues • “Micro-macro paradox” in project and country programme performance • Weak analytical work and knowledge management • Need to focus more clearly on specific sub-sectors such as water and irrigation, livestock, micro-finance and community driven development • Concerns about sustainability of projects and other interventions • Not enough attention paid to gender • Weak performance of both lending agencies (AfDB/IFAD) and borrowers (governments) • Benchmarking: performance roughly on par with other organizations working on ARD in Africa

7. Partnerships • In a context of “partnership proliferation”, IFAD and AfDB require clearer partnership policies and objectives • Past partner priorities were not always set well, and there was too little focus on specific partnership results and value-added • IFAD and AfDB need to clearly articulate their comparative advantages and complementarities for future partnership, at global and country levels • Further internal reforms in both agencies are needed to develop workable partnership models and supportive business processes • Strong partnerships are dynamic in nature, they require flexibility • Adequate resourcing, including staff resources, and organizational incentives are crucial to make partnerships work

8. Complementarities for partnerships • IFAD and AfDB have different mandates that guide their ARD relevance and possible complementarities • AfDB: infrastructure, regional development, governance, skills, private sector, poverty reduction through growth • IFAD: empowers farmers and the rural poor, targets smallholders and poverty directly, innovates • The AfDB/IFAD partnership must be seen within the broader framework of strategic sector partnerships • with African organizations (NEPAD/CAADP) and initiatives (FARA, AGRA, AFFM) • with World Bank, EC, bi-lateral lead donors, knowledge institutions (IFPRI) etc. • Country level partnerships are key

9. Complementarities by intervention areas

10. The story emerging from the evaluation • Africa is a continent on the move • Medium and long term prospects are good, as there is renewed interest in ARD and macro-economic policies have improved • Challenges remain, new and old, such as low levels of human development, climate change and distorted trade regime. • Agriculture remains very important for economic development and poverty reduction. There is untapped potential. • Good policies matter, but there is a policy, institutional and leadership gap. Many governments lack the capacity for planning and implementing pro-poor growth policies and programmes

11. The story emerging from the evaluation (cont.) • There now is more space for the private sector in Africa with many future opportunities, e.g. in promoting agricultural markets and trade • The political will to invest in agriculture is critical, need for improvements in some countries through greater allocation of resources to ARD in line with Maputo declaration • Strong partnership are required between development partners, including public and private sectors and civil society • Partnership between IFAD and AfDB in the past was opportunistic, rather than strategic. Limited co-financing over the past 30 years

12. The story emerging from the evaluation (cont.) • Complementarity of development agencies and governments should be the basis for future partnerships • Non-lending activitiesare currentlyweak in both agencies • IFAD-AfDB need to deepen and complete the process of internal change and move beyond their current role as project investment agencies. Need to become more knowledge and policy oriented, focused and specialised. • Sustainability of benefits and gender equality remains a major concern

13. Recommendations Focus around the three “Ps” of policy, performance, and partnership Filling the sector policy gap • At regional/sub-regional level, maintain alignment with CAADP and provide a joint statement of support to CAADP • At country level, support borrowers to develop sound national ARD policies • At country level, support sector coordination and align agency strategies and programmes with national policy framework • At global level, develop knowledge and capacity to engage in international advocacy on trade issues affecting African producers

14. Recommendations (cont.) Improving Lender Performance • Increase skills, knowledge and capacity in the areas of policy, analytical work, knowledge management, and managing partnerships • Increase support in fragile states, giving careful attention to choice and sequencing of aid support to ARD • Strengthen country presence and finance more relevant and tightly focused projects • Finance simpler, more tightly focused projects and programmes, undertaken within the framework of coordinated sector plans

15. Recommendations (cont.) Improving Borrower Performance Support governments to undertake capacity needs assessments of borrowers in ARD, and provide substantial support for institutional development, including for • political decentralization • gender mainstreaming • research and development

16. Recommendations (cont.) Building purposeful partnerships • AfDB-IFAD to deepen their current bilateral partnership based on their respective comparative advantage, specialization and complementarity • IFAD’s role in pro-poor innovations and Bank’s capacity to upscale offer opportunities for wider impact • Bank support for large scale operations (e.g., infrastructure) to be complemented by IFAD’s attention to small scale activities (e.g., small producers and their organizations) • At regional level, take forward their partnership within the framework of CAADP

17. Examples of IFAD/AfDB partnership options • Focus on complementarities: hardware/software; innovations/up-scaling; agri-business/producer organizations etc. • Undertake specific partnership activities in selected countries: joint country business plans and supervisions, sharing of country-offices, jointly planned complementary rural area projects, etc. • Support Governments and other stakeholders, including CAADP, to undertake joint planning, analysis and budgeting • Undertake joint actions for ARD in Africa: advocacy; convening policy fora of African institutions and other international actors • Documenting good practices leading to replication and up-scaling

18. Thank you!