PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE. West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program APL (WAAPP-1B) Region

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1 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Project Name PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program APL (WAAPP-1B) Region AFRICA Sector Agricultural extension and research (100%) Project ID P Borrower(s) BURKINA, COTE D IVOIRE, NIGERIA Implementing Agency CORAF 7, Avenue Bourguiba BP 48 Dakar Senegal Tel: (221-33) Fax: (221-33) paco.sereme@coraf.org CORAF Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared April 20, 2010 Date of Appraisal March 29, 2010 Authorization Date of Board Approval June 15, Country and Sector Background Report No.: AB5392 The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is home to 290 million people in 15 low-income countries. About 65 percent of the population lives in rural area and most depend on agriculture which contributes 35 percent of the regional GDP and over 15 percent of exports. The region is food self-insufficient and food insecure (particularly in the North or Sahel) with about 20 percent of its imports being food products. Agricultural productivity is low and vulnerable to weather and world market shocks. As a net food importer of cereals and livestock products, and as an exporter of raw materials, West Africa is being severely affected by the current volatility rise in global food and fuel prices and the recent financial crisis. As a natural resources dependent economy, climate change is posing an additional challenge to rural livelihoods. The region will continue to face the challenges to satisfy the food needs of its growing and increasingly urbanized population, promote sustainable development, and build a strong regional agricultural market. The 2008 WDR concluded that: (i) agricultural growth is a key factor to achieving overall growth, poverty and food security for the rural poor; (ii) agricultural production growth in Africa has been driven mainly by area expansion that is not sustainable, there is a need to move away from this and shift gears by creating enabling conditions for productivity growth of which the proposed project is expected to make a major contribution (iii) growth originating in agriculture is four

2 times as effective in reducing poverty as growth originating outside of the agricultural sector; (iii) increases in agricultural growth are highly dependent upon improvements in agricultural productivity; and (iv) investments in agricultural research and technology are among the most important determinants of agricultural productivity. In West Africa, potential returns to investment in agricultural technology generation and dissemination are high (46 percent on average. Ref. IFPRI- 2009), but funding for this activity remains very low. There is a substantial room for regional integration to strengthen food security and promote agriculture-led growth. NEPAD calls for 3 percent annual agricultural productivity growth through technology generation and dissemination and 6 percent growth in agricultural GDP to reach the MDGs by To this end NEPAD has initiated and brought before the donor community the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP). CAADP consists of four pillars, the fourth one being Agricultural Research, Technology Dissemination and Adoption. The West African agricultural policy document (ECOWAP) provides the framework for implementing the CAADP in West Africa at the regional level. ECOWAP is structured around three mobilizing programs. The first program focuses on the promotion of strategic products for food sovereignty. The second program aims to promote an overall environment favorable to regional agricultural development and the third program focuses on the reduction of food vulnerability and promotion of sustainable access to food. The lead institution for Pilar IV is the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the latter has developed the Framework for Agricultural Productivity (FAAP) as a tool to be used in implementing this pillar. The FAAP was endorsed in June 2006 by African Heads of States during the African Union Summit in Banjul (Gambia). There is a strong justifications for regional integration since: (i) there is a maturation of the CAADP process with the signing of country compacts under the leadership of ECOWAS emphasizing the role of regional coordination and cooperation; (ii) regional integration in technology generation and adoption is a response to the small country problems related to the means and the critical mass of researchers to conduct sound and efficient research programs; (iii) lessons from the implementation of WAAPP 1 strongly validate the regional focus for the program including the need for trans-boundary technology generation to enable countries in the sub region to confront similar challenges; (iv) CORAF has acquired more established capacities to play a coordination role, facilitate knowledge sharing and provide relevant advisory services to the NARS; and (iv) most importantly there are new challenges and urgencies that require joint efforts of countries within the region (food and fuel crisis, financial crisis, and climate change). 2. Program Objectives and scope The WAAPP is a two-phase, 10-year program to support the implementation of ECOWAP through the implementation of CAADP s fourth pillar. The development objective of the Program is to contribute to sustained agricultural productivity growth in the top priority commodity subsectors of ECOWAS, as reflected in ECOWAP. The priority subsectors were identified in a study commissioned by CORAF from IFPRI and adopted under ECOWAP. In addition to aquaculture, which was not covered in the study, the Program

3 will focus on enhancing the development of roots and tubers, livestock, rice, maize, sorghum and millet, fruits and vegetables, and oilseeds. The IFPRI/CORAF study found that these commodity subsectors make the greatest contribution to the region s agricultural growth and food security and can thus contribute substantially to reducing extreme poverty by The Program thus will support ECOWAS countries in: (i) creating the enabling conditions for technological cooperation by harmonizing regulations; (ii) marshalling the financial and human resources to develop a sound research program for each priority commodity within regional centers of specialization; (iii) sharing technologies that are already available as well as the technologies that will be developed and released by the centers of specialization; (iv) scaling up the regional adoption of these technologies by developing common strategies to promote the use of improved genetic materials, yield-enhancing technologies, postharvest technologies, and best practices to accelerate sustainable, positive change in agricultural productivity. Through these efforts, the Program will be an important instrument for ECOWAS countries to implement the recently adopted ECOWAP. Phase 1 is an initiation phase that sets up the program s framework in terms of the enabling environment and the mechanisms for sharing technology, developing a center of specialization for each of the targeted commodities, and setting up the mechanisms to accelerate technology generation and adoption. Under this phase, WAAPP will progressively include all interested ECOWAS countries that meet certain eligibility criteria as outlined below. The overall outcome of phase 1 will be: (i) the release of at least three improved technologies by each center of specialization; (ii) an improvement of yield by 15 percent over the control technology for these released technologies; and (iii) an adoption of improved varieties by at least 50 percent of producers beneficiaries of the project. The regional spillover effects will be measured at intermediate outcome level by the number of technologies released by NCOS and demonstrated in at least 2 ECOWAS countries. Phase 2, while building on the first phase s structure and achievements, is a deepening and expansion phase that will see further strengthening of the enabling conditions for regional cooperation and M&E, consolidating the centers of specialization initiated in phase 1, mainstreaming the demand-driven competitive agricultural grant scheme and scaling up adoption of the released improved technologies with an emphasis on adoption of improved seeds, plants, breed stocks and fingerlings. The outcome at the end of the 10-year program will be: (i) 30 percent productivity increase (farmers yield) achieved over the control technology in at least two of the region s top priority commodity sub-sectors in each participating country; and (ii) adoption of improved varieties by at least 70 percent of producers beneficiaries of the project, with clear spill-over effects across participating countries. 3. Rationale for Bank Involvement Successful results achieved in the three pilot countries (Mali Senegal and Ghana) in the domains of harmonizing regulations, setting up centers of specialization, operating demand-driven research systems, sharing researchers and released technologies justify Bank s support for an horizontal

4 extension of the program to all ECOWAS member states. The design of this program demonstrates the Bank s long term support to technology/knowledge generation and dissemination, capacity building, and regional integration. The Bank has already been supporting ECOWAS member states at the national level in the area of technology generation and dissemination, and is therefore well suited to help create synergies and added value among national projects. The WAAPP would continue to be a key implementing instrument of the Bank s Regional Integration Assistance Strategy (RIAS) for West Africa and its Regional Action Plan for sub- Saharan Africa. It would support regional integration activities and would be an essential element for speeding economic growth in Africa and for reaching the MDGs. The project would equally support the implementation of the Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) in the region. The need for agricultural technology generation and dissemination to raise agricultural productivity so as to achieve growth, food security and poverty reduction is clearly recognized in the CAS of all the countries in the region. The Bank s comparative advantage in this operation lies in its recognized leadership in the support to agricultural research and development at both the country level (in Africa, Central Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean) and internationally-- e.g., in its support to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the former Special Program for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR) that has evolved into the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The Bank is uniquely qualified to capitalize on the lessons learned from its past interventions and to create synergies and value-added across its on-going operations. Other development partners readily look up to the Bank to facilitate high-level policy harmonization between countries. As a knowledge institution, notably through the design of the Agriculture Knowledge Information System (AKIS), the Bank is particularly well equipped to share global knowledge and expertise in technology generation and dissemination. The WAAPP follows the AKIS paradigm and the FAAP guiding principles to promote innovative, market-oriented technologies that account for both farmers circumstances and environmental concerns. Project development objective and key indicators 1. The development objective of WAAPP-1B is to generate and accelerate the adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries top-priority areas that are aligned with the region s top priorities, as outlined in the ECOWAP. 2. The key Project outcome indicators are: (i) total direct beneficiaries of the Project have reached 2,000,000 agribusinesses/producers in the sub-region; (ii) 50 percent of these agribusinesses/producers have adopted the improved technologies that have been made available under the Project; and (iii) about 500,000 hectares are covered by improved technologies made available under the Project.

5 4. Description Component 1: Enabling conditions for regional cooperation in the generation, dissemination and adoption of agricultural technologies This component aims at strengthening mechanisms and procedures for the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved agricultural technologies and tools at the national level in order to allow member countries of the ECOWAS to benefit from these technologies within the framework of a regional technical and scientific cooperation. 3. This component will support: (i) the development of a sustainable financing mechanism and corresponding institutional arrangements for the generation, dissemination, and adoption of improved, climate-resilient agricultural technologies; (ii) strengthening CORAF/WECARD s competencies in research and development as well as its knowledge management, information, and communication systems to accelerate the sharing of agricultural technology, tools, and best practices; (iii) the establishment of regional regulations on genetic materials and agrochemicals, including support for developing harmonized regulations on fertilizers (under preparation by ECOWAS) and for Project countries to align their national regulations with the ECOWAS regulations; (iv) strengthening National Registration Committees for the effective release of genetic materials, approval of pesticides, and management of IPRs; (v) the development of a strategy to mainstream climate change considerations in research and development (R&D) programs, because climate change presents major challenges to sustaining growth in agricultural productivity in West Africa; and (vi) the development of a strategy to mainstream gender considerations in R&D programs using similar tools as for climate change. Component 2: Strengthening the National Centers of Specialization (NCOS) This component aims at strengthening the operational capacities of national agricultural research systems in one national priority area of each of the participating countries, which is aligned to regional priorities. As such, countries will focus on their top research and development priorities rather than attempting to tackle all possible issues with little prospect for success, in order to make the best use of scarce resources and achieve meaningful results towards increasing agricultural growth and reducing extreme poverty. The Project will contribute to this process by establishing or strengthening national centers of specialization (NCOS) in participating countries. The priority host institutions and commodities for the centers are: (i) CNRA (the National Center for Agricultural Research) in Côte d Ivoire, for the banana-plantain value chain; (ii) INERA (National Institute for the Environment and Agricultural Research) in Burkina Faso, for the mango and onion value chains; and (iii) NIFFR (National Institute for Fresh Water Fisheries Research) in Nigeria, for fisheries specifically catfish and tilapia. This component will support: (i) the implementation of core R&D programs of NCOS, focusing on adaptive research conducted with effective participation from stakeholders, particularly producers and agribusinesses; (ii) capacity-building for researchers, along with the facilitation of regional and international partnerships (including support for research exchange programs, on-

6 the-job-training of young researchers, and implementation of annual capacity-building plans); (iii) construction and/or rehabilitation of core facilities, such as laboratories, buildings, and experimental fields, and the provision of equipment to strengthen or establish viable NCOS; (iv) supply chain analyses, impact studies, benchmarking, and monitoring and impact analysis for commissioned or strategic research; and (v) the financing of small grants to implement research activities to assess available technologies from within or outside the territory of the participating country. Component 3: Funding of Demand-driven Technology Generation and Adoption This component aims at strengthening priority-focused, transparent funding mechanisms for demand-driven agricultural R&D within participating countries and at accelerating the adoption of released technologies. The component focuses on areas that have been identified as high priority at both the national and regional levels. Eligible activities will cover alleviation of key constraints along the supply chain of these commodity sub-sectors. They will concern new, as well as on-the-shelf agricultural technologies with potential quick impact. Sub-component 3-1: Demand-Driven Technology generation. This sub component will support the strengthening of competitive agricultural grant systems (CARGS) with strong buy-in from major stakeholders. It will support a regional CARG managed by CORAF and national CARGs developed by each participating country Sub-component 3-2: Support to accelerated adoption of released technologies. This sub component aims at boosting the adoption of released technologies in order to bridge the yield gap between producers and on-farm research. The strategy of the project consists in focusing at project start-up on disseminating on-the-shelf agricultural technologies identified during project preparation and listed in annex 4 with quick rapid impact on the ground. The project will further support the dissemination of technologies generated under implementation of WAAPP-1B. Sub-component 3-3: Facilitating access to improved genetic material: This sub component aims at increasing availability and access of producers to improved genetic materials of seeds, planting materials, fingerlings and breed stock. Sub component 3.4. Developing a yield prediction tool to help farmers on crop choices The sub-component will finance technical assistance to CORAF to develop the Earth Audit Agricultural Yield Pilot concept. The primary purpose of this tool is to help African farmers who depend heavily on rain fed agriculture to attain more consistent and predictable crop yields. The AYP will use internet and cell phone technology to make food crop predictions from existing datasets and models available to farmers and the broader agricultural community. The project will finance: (i) research activities to complete the development of AYP infrastructure and set up of the web tool during the operational phase; (ii) organization of a regional launching workshops to disseminate the tool; (iii) training of researchers and other stakeholders on the AYP tool; (iv) and M&E activities.

7 Component 4: Project Coordination, Management, Monitoring and Evaluation This component aims at establishing an effective coordination, management and M&E system at the national and regional levels. The IDA-supported WAAPP will be implemented at the regional level by CORAF (ECOWAS mandated implementing agency) and at the national levels by the national coordinating units. The component will ensure the implementation of the following key activities: (a) Financial management and procurement systems at CORAF; (b) Reporting on project s activities; (c) Monitoring and evaluation of regional agricultural productivity; (d) Communication strategy. 5. Financing Source: ($m.) BORROWER/RECIPIENT 10 Beneficiaries International Development Association (IDA) Global Response to the food Crisis 19 Total Implementation The WAAPP will be implemented at the regional level by CORAF (which, as noted, is ECOWAS mandated implementing agency). At the national level it will be implemented by the national coordination unit in each participating country. In Burkina Faso, it will be implemented by the Project Coordination Unit established under the Secrétariat general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Fisheries Resources for the Association-financed Agricultural Diversification and Market Development Project (PAFASP) (and the National Scientific and Technical Research Center (CNRST). In Côte d Ivoire, the implementing agency is FIRCA (Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Extension), and in Nigeria it is ARCN (Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria). The Association will enter into Financing Agreements with each of the participating countries and into a Project Agreement with CORAF. At least one-fifteenth (1/15 th ) of the proceeds of the IDA financing will be made available to CORAF under subsidiary grants agreements to be concluded between each of the participating countries and CORAF for regional coordination activities as well as the implementation of a regional competitive grant scheme. For the grants resources coming under the FPCR Core Trust Fund, the Bank and the Association, acting as administrator of such trust fund, will conclude a grant agreement with each of the participating countries and CORAF. CORAF will monitor the overall implementation of the Project. It will report on progress related to the effectiveness of the dissemination mechanisms and the increase in agricultural productivity and competitiveness in the Project s areas of interest. 7. Sustainability WAAPP s sustainability critically depends on the following key factors: (i) clear mechanisms for disseminating and sharing technologies across countries; (ii) establishment of recognized

8 regional Centers of Excellence (RCOE); (iii) appropriate financing mechanisms (budgetary contributions) to support the core operations of the regional institutions: CORAF and the RCOE. To secure project long term sustainability, the project will help the countries set up sustainable funding mechanism including contribution from Governments and beneficiaries for the financing of technology generation and dissemination. 8. Lessons Learned from Past Operations in the Country/Sector Generic lessons learned from previous technology generation and dissemination interventions funded by the Bank in the region include the following: (a) technology generation and dissemination processes (research, extension, training) must be integrated to maximize impact; (b) demand-driven technology generation and dissemination systems are essential to ensure efficiency and sustainability and to empower producers; (c) accelerated technology adoption requires adequate quality advisory services and physical and financial access to the technologies; (d) it is most cost effective to address upstream technology generation and dissemination functions at the regional level and downstream functions at the national level (as demonstrated by the collaboration between CGIAR centers and NARS in the region); (e) the development of improved technologies tends to be male-oriented and therefore does not sufficiently address women concerns. The first two years of the implementation WAAPP-1A also helped draw technical lessons as regards areas of focus of technology generation and dissemination activities. In particular, for a quick impact, there is a need to put more emphasis on accelerating the adoption of existing improved technologies, and particularly strengthening the improved seed technology multiplication system. Finally, lessons learned from project supervision show the importance of pairing a regional TTL with co-ttls in each country and to organize post-supervision wrap up meeting involving all participating countries. 9. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation) Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) [x ] [ ] Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) [ ] [ ] Pest Management (OP 4.09) [x ] [ ] Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) [ ] [ ] Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) [ ] [ ] Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) [ ] [ ] Forests (OP/BP 4.36) [ ] [ ] Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) [ ] [ ] Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) [ ] [ ] Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60) * [ ] [ ] * By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties claims on the disputed areas

9 10. List of Factual Technical Documents 11. Contact point Contact: Abdoulaye Toure Title: Senior Rural Development Specialist Tel: / Fax: Atoure4@worldbank.org Location: Accra, Ghana (IBRD) 12. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C Telephone: (202) Fax: (202) pic@worldbank.org Web: