AfDB-IFAD Joint Evaluation of Agriculture and Rural Development in

Africa

Towards purposeful partnerships in African agriculture

African Green Revolution Forum2 September 2010, Accra

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Assess the relevance, performance and impact of IFAD and AfDB policies and operations for agriculture in Africa

Evaluate the IFAD/AfDB partnership and their partnerships with other sector stakeholders

Propose forward looking recommendations to respond to Africa’s emerging opportunities and challenges in agriculture

Evaluation objectives

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Evaluation activities

A review of sector context and emerging challenges

Papers on partnerships theory and practice Meta-evaluation of about 60 AfDB and IFAD

ARD projects Review of business processes in both

organizations Field work in 8 countries

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Role of AfDB and IFAD in African agriculture

IFAD and AfDB are major players in Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) in Africa

Combined historic cumulative total of US$ 10 billion in loans and grants, increasing to about US$17 billion with co-financing and borrower contributions

By 2005 the two agencies accounted for 50% of all multilateral aid to ARD in Africa

Current annual lending(2008): AfDB US$ 360 million, IFAD US$ 235 million

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The story emerging from the evaluation

Prospects for agriculture in Africa are good. There is growing demand for food and other agric. products, renewed interest in ARD, new technologies on the horizon and macro-economic policies have improved

Challenges remain, new and old, such as low levels of institutional and human development, climate change and distorted global trade regimes.

Agriculture remains very important for economic development, employment, natural resource management and poverty reduction. There is un- tapped potential.

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The story (cont.): AfDB/IFAD project performance

IFAD and AfDB project relevance is high, but projects overall performed only modestly

Only 60% of projects were effective and achieved intended results; but varying by type and component

IFAD and AfDB performance was similar, and similar to that of the World Bank and other international agencies

Sustainability of benefits and gender equality remains a major concern

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The story (cont.): Partnerships and new roles for IFAD and the Bank

Strong partnership are required between all 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.

Complementarity of development agencies, governments, and others should be the basis for future partnerships

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. More country and policy oriented.

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Recommendations

Focus around the three “Ps” of

policy, performance, and partnership

Filling the sector policy gap

At regional and sub-regional level support and maintain alignment with CAADP

At country level support borrowers to further develop sound national ARD policies and

strategic priorities support sector coordination and align AfDB and IFAD strategies and

programmes fully with national policy frameworks At global level develop knowledge and capacity to engage in

international advocacy on trade issues affecting African producers

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Recommendations (cont.)

Improving Lender Performance

Increase skills, knowledge and capacity in the areas of policy, analytical work, knowledge management, and managing partnerships

Strengthen country presence Finance simpler, more tightly focused projects and programmes,

undertaken within the framework of coordinated sector plans Increase support in fragile states for ARD, giving careful attention to

choice and sequencing

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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

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Recommendations (cont.)

Building purposeful partnerships

AfDB-IFAD to deepen their current bilateral partnership based on their respective comparative advantage, specialization and complementarity

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)

IFAD’s role in pro-poor innovations and Bank’s capacity to upscale offer opportunities for wider impact

At (sub-)regional level, take forward their partnership within the framework of CAADP

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Thank you!