Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 19323 -ML IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROJECT (CREDIT 2235-MLI) May 20, 1999 Rural Development III Country Department 15 Africa Region This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS CFA francs (CFAF) per US5 1990 = 319 1991 = 282 1992 = 264 1993 = 283 1994 = 547 1995 = 500 1996 = 511 1997 = 583 1998 = 605' WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS Av'B Field Extension Workers (Agent de vulgarisation de base) CFAF Currency of the Monetary Union of West African States GC ( Contact Group (Groupe de Contact) ICR Implementation Completion Report IER Rural Economics Institute (Institut d'economie rurale) MDRE Ministry for Rural Development and Environment (Ministere du developpement rural et de 1 'environnement, renamed Ministry of Rural Development and Water in 1997) M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NGO Non-Governmental Organization OD)R Rural Development Agency (Operation du developpement rural) OlHVN Haute Vallee Development Agency (Operation Haute-Vallee du Niger) ON Office du Niger OP Farmers' Organization (Organisation paysanne) ORS Segou Rice Agency (Ope'ration Riz Segou) PI) Demonstration Plots (Parcelles de demonstration) PGRN Natural Resource Management Project (Projet de gestion des ressources naturelles) PNVA National Agricultural Extension Program (Programme national de vulgarisation agricole) SAR Staff Appraisal Report SG2000 Sasakawa Global 2000 SOP Farmers' Organization Specialist (Specialiste en organisations paysannes) T&kV Training and Visit TS' Subject Matter Specialist (Technicien specialise) Average throughJune 30, 1998. GOVERNMENT FISCAL YEAR January I December 31 Vice-President Jean-Louis Sarbib, AFRVP Country Director Hasan Tuluy, AFC15 Resident Representative Grace Yabrudy, AFMML Sector Manager J.-P. Chausse /I1. Girardot-Berg, AFTR3 Country Coordinator Patrick Labaste, AFTR3 Task Team Leader Franz Schorosch, AFMCI IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROJECT (CREDIT 2;35-MLI) Table of Contents PART I: PROJECT IMPL EMENTAT ION R EVIEW ................................................1. A. INTRODUCTION ...................NT........................O.................UCT................................ON.............................. 1 B. PROJECT OBJECTIVES .I C. ACHIEVEMENT OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES ........................................................................... 2 C.1. Agricultural and Livestock Extension Services ........................................................................... 2 C.2. Traing ........................................................................... 5 C.3. Research-Extension Linkages ............................................................................. 5. C .4. Functional Literacy ............................................................................ 6 D. IMPLEMENTATION RECORD AND MAJOR ISSUES AFFECTING PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ................. 6 D.I. Govern ent ...........................................................................6 D. 1.1. Under Govem ent Control ............................................................................. 6 D. 1.2. Outside of Government Control ........................................................................... 7 D.2. Other ............................................................................ 7. E. SUSTAINABILITY .............................................................................. S. F. BANK PERFORMANCE ............................................................................. 8 G. BORROWER PERFORMANCE ......................................................................... . 9 H. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY PERFORMANCE ........................................................................... 9 I. PROJECT OUTCOME ........................................................................... 9 J. FuTuRE OPERAnON ................ 10 K. LESSONS LEARNED ................ 1.0 PART II: STATISTICAL INFORMATION ...J TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENTS. 11 TABLE 2: RELATED IDA CREDITS .12 TABLE 3:: PROJECT TIMETABLE .13 TABLE 4: CREDIT DISBURSEMENTS: CUMULATIVE ESTIMATED AND ACTUAL .13 TABLE 5: KEY INDICATORS FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ...................................................4..................... 14 TABLE 5SA: STAFFING. 14 TABLE SB: EXTENSION RATIOS ............................ 14 TABLE 5C: REGIONAL COVERAGE ..15 TABLE 5D: TRAINING ..............IS................ ...... 15 TABLE 5E: ALPHABETIZATION .......................... ............. 15 TABLE 5F: SUPPORT TO FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. L5 TABLE 5G: ADOPTION RATE OF MAIN EXTENSION THEMES. 16 TABLE 5H: PROJECT IMPACT DATA .18 TABLE 5I: AREA UNDER IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY .19 This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. TABLE 6: KEY INDICATORS FOR PROJECT OPERATION ................................................ 19 TABLE 7: STUDIES INCLUDED IN PROJECT ................................................ 20 TABLE 8: PROJECT COSTS AND FINANcINx ............................................... 7 1 TABLE 8A: PROJECT COSTS ............................................... 21 TABLE 8B PROJECT FINANCING ............................................... 21. TABLE 9: ECONOMItC CosTs AND BENEFITS ................................................... 1 TABLE 10: STATUS OF LEGAL COVENANTS ............................................... 23 TABLE I 1: COMPLIANCE WITH OPERATIONAL MANUAL STATEMENTS ............................................... 26 TABLE 12: BANK RESOURCES: STAFF INPUTS ............................................... 26 TABLE 13: BANK RESOURCES: MISSIONS ............................................... 27 ANNEXES Annex 1: A.ide-Memoire of ICR Mission Annex 2: Completion Report prepared by the Borrower Annex 3: Borroweres comments on ICR MAP: IB3RD No. 22458 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROJECT (CREDIT 2235-MLI) Preface This is the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for the National Agricultural Extension Project, for which credit 2235-MLI in the amount of SDR 18.3 million (US$24.4 million equivalent) was approved on May 2, 1991. The credit was closed on June 30, 1998, compared to the original closing date of September 30, 1995. The credit was fully disbursed and the final disbursement took place on September 1, 1998. The ICR was prepared by a team led by Abdoulaye Tour62, AFMCI, of the Africa Region and reviewed by Jean-Paul Chausse, Sector Manager, AFTR3, and Hasan Tuluy, Country Director, AFC 15. The Borrower has prepared its own completion report, which is attached to the ICR (Annex 2). Preparation of the ICR was begun during a mission in November 1998. It is based on material in the project files. The Borrower contributed to the preparation of the ICR by contributing views reflected in the mission's aide-m6moire and commenting on the draft ICR. 2 The team members were Abdoulaye Toure (AFMCI), Agadiou Dama (AFMML) and Dirk Prevoo (AFTR3). Willem Zijp (RDV) participated during part of the mission. IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROJECT (CREDIT 2235-MLI) Evaluation Summary Introduction 1. From 1967 until the 1980s, extension services were provided by a large number of Government agencies and autonomous development projects. In the mid-eighties, it became apparent that this system was costly and had failed to achieve itsobjectives It was against this background that the Government requested IDA assistance for the implementation of a pilot agricultural extension project. The pilot started during the 1988/89 crop season and was extended during the subsequent season. An evaluation of the pilot carried out at the end of the second season led to Government requesting IDA for assistance in launching a larger scale operation. Project Objectives 2. The project represented the first four-year phase of a long-term national program, the National Agricultural Extension Program (PNVA), designed to strengthen agricultural, livestock and forestry extension with a view to generate increased agricultural production and sustained growth of farmers' and herders' incomes. The main elements of the project were: (i) efficient organization of extension services, provided with adequate human and physical resources, at the farmer, regional and national levels; (ii) regular and continuous training of responsible officials at each level; (iii) strengthening of the linkages between the extension services and the national and regional research services in order to find solutions to farmers' problems; (iv) strengthening of relations between the crop, livestock and environment services so as to ensure effective extension support for the agricultural livestock and forestry development programs; and (v) functional literacy and numeracy training for both men and women, including stepped up promotion of participation by women to enable them to play a more active role in rural development and to progressively assume a greater role in village association activities and management. 3. The objective of the project was in line with the country's and IDA's development strategies and project design was pertinent to the problems facing the agricultural sector and the analysis presented in the SAR was satisfactorily. The design had, however several weaknesses: (i) the objective was not quantified and few criteria were included in the Staff Appraisal Report (SAR) to evaluate the project's impact; (ii) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) was not explicitly included; and (iii) the functional literacy component was initially poorly defined, which was corrected following the mid-term review. These deficiencies had no impact on project implementation. The main risks identified at appraisal were: (a) the possible inability of extension and research services to produce workable solutions to farmers' and herders' problems; (b) problems related to interagency coordination; and (c) possible failure by Govemment and/or donors to sustain the long-term commitment required to achieve durable improvements in the effectiveness of agricultural support services. Only the first risk somewhat negatively affected project implementation. Implementation Experience and Results. 4. The project's overall objectives were fully achieved. The extension service was strengthened and streamlined with the introduction of truly polyvalent extension workers and collaboration between the different partners (other development projects, NGOs, other Government agencies) was especially strengthened. 11,559 contact groups were established, of which 2,098 women groups and 619 mixed groups. Membership of these groups totaled 120,258 (of which 22 percent women). Diffusion from contact group members to non-members was, however, almost non-existent in part because this was not encouraged by the project or by the villagers. A large number of demonstration plots were established focussing on agricultural, livestock and environment related themes (see also Table 5B, Part II). Adoption rates varied greatly by technical theme and from year to year. They ranged from a high of 77 percent for organic manure in Mopti, 70-80 percent for crop planting and care (also inMopti) and about 60 percent for seed density in Kayes and Koulikoro (see also Table 5G, Part II). Possible factors influencing adoption of some themes seems to be the high initial cost to the farmer of the new technology, and insufficient access to inputs, credit and markets. Sustained high adoption rates were usually achieved for low cost interventions with high pay-off, such as organic manure, adherence to the agricultural calendar and proper crop care and planting techniques, treatment of seeds, new varieties, vaccination of poultry, fattening of cattle, anti-erosion devices (stone contour bounds, hedges), aLgro-forestry, and improved stoves for cooking. Not all technical themes proposed by the PNVA had a positive impact on production, as shown by the yield for groundnuts and naturally did not result in adoption. Collaboration between research and extension was also institutionalized, but results were less than expected because of a lack of trained staff. Field trials were well executed by the Rural Economics Institute (IER), PNVA and the participating farmers and resulted in the dissemination of 5 new technical messages and 11 new varieties in 1995/96 and one new technical message and 12 new varieties in 1996/97. The alphabetization component fully achieved its stated and revised objectives. 5. The project's outcome is rated as satisfactory by the ICR mission, which is the same as the F590/PSR rating. Two independent studies were executed to measure project impact. Both studies were carried out during the 1995/96 agricultural season, but results became available too late to be of use during the last year of project implementation. The outcome of the beneficiary assessment was generally positive, but underscored some of the limitations of the project (access to credit, water, access to input and output markets). 8. No in-depth economic analysis was presented in the Staff Appraisal Report. Based onan data available to the ICR mission the economic rate of return of the project is estimated to be about 12-15 percent.3 An evaluation of the project at the farm level shows that farm income increased markedly for farmers adopting technical themes. The most profitable of these were cattle fattening, poultry vaccination, application of organic manure and treatment of seeds. 3 This analysis is presented as an illustration of project impact only. The assumptions are summarized in Table 9, Part ]I, 9. Sustainability of the investments made under the project is uncertain. On the institutional side, the project has put in place a more efficient extension organization that collaborates closely with other partners and has contributed significantly to human resources development. On the financial side, the system is not sustainable. The present system still has too high a cost per beneficiary member relative to other extension projects in the region (about US$40 per year versus a norm of US$10-15) and more efficient means of increasing the diffusion of technologies need to be looked into (radio, theater, multi-media, etc.). For the foreseeable future, Govemment is not able to support extension services without outside support. Farmers are also unable to significantly contribute to the functioning of extension services. These issues will be addressed under the proposed follow-on project, the Agricultural Services and Farmer Organizations Support Project. 10. Performance by the Bank, Borrower and Implementing Agency was satisfactory at all stages of the project cycle. Summary of Findings, Future Operation, and Key Lessons Learned 10. No plan for the future operation of the project was prepared by the Borrower. 11. The key lessons learned from this project are that: (i) an institutionalized system of close collaboration with other projects, agencies and NGOs can yield a much greater impact than would be possible with a standard project. Despite the end of outside funding to the PNVA, the system was still functional at the time of the ICR mission; (ii) there is a desire amongst farmers to assume responsibility for activities that were in the past carried out by the extension services. A key example is poultry vaccination, that is highly profitable to farmers; (iii) to increase the effectiveness of the second phase of the PNVA, which would amongst other things require an increased role of farmers and farmers organizations in both decision making and financing of services, it will be necessary to decentralize and effect institutional reforms; (iv) The adoption of the next level of technologies will require that priority needs are addressed at the farm level, such as access to short - and medium-term credit, and markets. IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROJECT (CREDIT 2235-MLI) PART 1: PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW A. INTRODUCTION 1. From 1967 until the 1980s, extension services were provided by the regional directorates of agriculture, 18 Rural Development Agencies (ODRs, Operations de developpement rural), three Offices, as well as various autonomous development projects. In the mid-eighties, financial difficulties, less than expected results and the effects of a drought, combined to create a crisis situation for the ODRs. A decision was subsequently made to restructure and/or liquidate them. It was against this background that the Government requested IDA assistance for the implementation of a pilot agricultural extension project. The pilot started during the 1988/89 crop season in the intervention areas of three ODRs: Segou Rice Agency (ORS,Operation Riz Segou), Mopti Rice Agency (Operation Riz Mopti) and Office du Niger (ON) - in Niono - areas and was extended during the subsequent season to include the areas covered by the regional directorates of agriculture in Mopti, Kayes and Koulikoro and the Haute Vallee Development Agency (OHVN,Op6ration Haute-ValWe du Niger). At the end of the second season, an evaluation of the pilot was carried out by a team of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Livestock. The overall conclusion of this evaluation was highly positive with substantial increases in yields on demonstration plots in farmer's fields. Based on these results, the decision was made by Govemment to request IDA for assistance in launching a larger scale operation. B. PROJECT OBJECTIES 2. The project represented the first four-year phase of a long-termn national program, the Agricultural Extension Program (PNVA, Programme National de Vulgarisation Agricole), designed to strengthen agricultural, livestock and forestry extension with a view to generate increased agricultural production and sustained growth of farmers' and herders' incomes. The project built on the experience gained during the implementation of the aforementioned pilot project. The main elements of the project were: (a) efficient organization of extension services, provided with adequate human and physical resources, at the farmer, regional and national levels; (b) regular and continuous training of responsible officials at each level by means of a system of fortnightly, monthly and armual training sessions, including training courses held outside of Mali or conducted by extemal participants; (c) strengthening of the linkages between the extension services and the national and regional research services in order to find solutions to farmers' problems. Technical problems such as those related to soil and water conservation, diversification of production through cropping systems adapted to particular ecological zones 2 and to the environment, soil fertility, and ecologically adapted varieties were to receive priority under the adaptive research programs; (d) strengthening of relations between the crop, livestock and environment services so as to ensure effective extension support for the agricultural livestock and forestry development programs;4 and (e) functional literacy and numeracy training for both men and women, including stepped up promotion of participation by women to enable them to play a more active role in rural development and to progressively assume a greater role in village association activities and management. 3. The objective of the project was in line with thecountry's and IDA's development strategies. It was, however, presented as a first phase of a long-term program, without explicitly defining what this implied (no description of a program and no specific short-, medium- and long-term objectives). The project's objective was not quantified and few criteria were included in the Staff Appraisal Report (SAR) to evaluate the project's impact. As was the case of many extension projects prepared in the late 1980s, the emphasis was placed on inputs not outputs and no detailed cost-benefit analysis was included in the SAR. The project's design, however, was pertinent to the problems facing the agricultural sector and the analysis presented in the SAR was satisfactory. Project design was, however, weak concerning Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), as no indicators had been established and insufficient support included for this activity. The functional literacy component was initially poorly defined, which was corrected following the mid-term review. Finally, project costs for training had not been properly estimated at appraisal and actual costs greatly exceeded estimated costs (para. 23). These deficiencies had no impact on project implementation. The main risks identified at appraisal were: (a) the possible inability of extension and research services to produce workable solutions to farmers' and herders' problems; (b) problems related to interagency coordination; and (c) possible failure by Government and/or donors to sustain the long-term commitment required to achieve durable improvements in the effectiveness of agricultural support services. Only the first risk somewhat negatively affected project implementation. C. ACHIEVEMENT OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES 4. The project's overall objectives were fully achieved as detailed below. The extension service was strengthened, collaboration between the different partners (other development projects, NGOs, other Government agencies) was especially strengthened, as was the collaboration between research and extension. The alphabetization component fully achieved its stated objectives, although it has become apparent during project implementation that other blockages need to be resolved if lasting Farmers Organizations (OP, Organisations Paysannes) are to be established. These issues will be addressed under the follow-onproject which is presently under preparation. C.1. Agricultural and Livestock Extension Services 5. The specific objective for this component, to reinforce and reorganize agricultural services, was fully achieved. Prior to the PNVA. many areas were deprived of extension services. The PNVA was able to quickly increase coverage from 2,234 villages in 1992/93 to 4,143 villages in 1995/96 (see also Table 5, Part II), which is about 50 percent of all villages outside of the CMDT area or 57 percent of cultivated land (the appraisal objective was 60 percent of cultivated land). At the regional level, the PNVA successfully put in place a coordination mechanism, which included bi-monthly meetings of all coordinators of projects, such as the Natural 4 This component is discussed together with agricultural extension services component 3 Resources Management Project (PGRN), ON, ORS, OHVN, and other partners, including NGOs such as Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG2000), operating in the region, and jointbi-monthly supervision missions. Monthly supervision missions were carried out by technical staff. Reprnsentatives of the regional government also participated in these meetings. The goal of the monthly meetings was to maximize development impact by agreeing on priorities which put resources where they were most needed and thus prevent overlapping of activities, and share best practice examples. Prior to the PNVA, several staff provided advice relevant to its own domain (agriculture, livestock or environment) in the same village. The PNVA successfully put in place a polyvalent Field Extension Worker (Agent de Vulgarisation de Base, AVB), who became the sole interlocutor for the farmer and provided agricultural, livestock and environmental advice to farmers. The extension service was able to maximize coverage as a result of the close collaboration with other projects, NGOs and agencies in each of the regions. The effectiveness of the extension service was independently reviewed in 1995/96, with the results reported in January 1997. Measures to address the issues raised during this review (insufficient access by women farmers, use of multi-media, lack of water, etc.) were not fully implemented because of the restructuring of the Ministry of Rural Development and Environment (MDRE, later Ministry of Rural Development and Water) in 1997 (para. 19). 6. The project applied the Training and Visit (T&V) approach to extension. Staffing was over most of the project implementation period adequate to achieve project objectives. It was, however, inadequate to fulfill the demand by the regional governments to increase coverage. No new staff could be hired as the result of an agreement between the Government and the IMF. The number of AVBs increased over time with the expansion of the PNVA and the inclusion of agents from several other development projects and agencies. The total increased from 513 in 1993/94 to 621 in 1995/96, and 737 in 1996/97, despite a slight decrease in the total number of field staff, because of inclusion of the AVBs from the PGRN and the Livestock Development Project. The present ratio of 16-24 Contact Groups (GC, Groupe de Contact) per AVB is considered adequate. This ratio was adjusted down from 40 following the mid-term review. The number of women AVBs is still very low (13), which poses problems in some areas, where cultural practices require that GCs constituted of women cannot work or do not want to work with male AVBs (in about 16 percent of the cases). The planned and actual ratio of four AVBs per Direct Supervisor is, however, too low. Experience in other countries has shown that a ratio of 8- 10 is more appropriate. Changing the ratio does not have an adverse impact on the quality of work by the AVB. Staff evolution and ratios are shown in Table 5A, Part II. 7. The AVBs established 11,559 GCs, of which 2,098 women groups and 619 mixed groups. Membership of these groups totaled 120,258 (of which 22 percent women). In generalgroups were constituted by selecting a person from each extended family and thus about 30 percent of the total number of farms were reached. In general, GCs worked well, with almost sixty percent of the GCs having participation rates of 8 members or more (the average size fluctuated between 10 and 12). Especially in the case of GCs constituted completely of women, participation rates were high and often the groups were relatively large (often at the women's insistence). Diffusion from GCs to non-members who were part of their extended family was almost non- existent. The system did not encourage this, as AVBs were not evaluated on the basis of diffusion rates but rather on the basis of the number of GCs established, the number of demonstration plots, and adoption rates. In addition, group members were not aware that they were supposed to inform non-group members of what they had received training in and insufficient social cohesion or control existed in villages to require them to do so. 8. In 1996/97, a total of 18,900 agricultural Demonstration Plots (PDs,Parcelles de demonstration), 30,472 livestock PDs, and 10,180 environmental PDs were established. Evolution of the PDs over time is shown in Table 5B, Part II. Adoption rates varied greatly by technical theme and from year to year. They ranged from a high of 77 percent for organic manure in Mopti, 70-80 percent for crop planting and care (also in Mopti) and about 60 percent for seed density in Kayes and Koulikoro. Details are shown in Table 5G, Part II. Within the same region, adoption rates could vary by as much as 40 percent from one season to the next. The PNVA did not 4 carry out an in-depth review to evaluate the reasons for this. Possible factors influencing adoption of some themes, such as the addition of phosphates to organic fertilizer, seems to be the high initial cost to the farmer of the new technology, and iinsufficient accest to inputs and credit. Sustained high adoption rates were usually achieved for low cost interventions with high pay-off. In the case of agriculture these themes include organic manure, adherence to the agricultural calendar and proper crop care and planting techniques, treatment of seeds, new varieties, etc. In the case of livestock these include vaccination of poultry and the fattening of cattle. For environment these themes included anti-erosion devices (stone contour bounds, hedges), agro-forestry, and improved stoves for cooking. Not all technical themes proposed by the PNVA had a positive impact on production, as shown by the yield for groundnuts and naturally did not result in adoption. 9. The project insufficiently developed non-traditional means to diffuse or create interest in technical themes, as recommended by the mid-term review. Radio was insufficiently used and a survey showed that only two percent of farmers got information on extension from the radio, even though most rural households possess a radio. Multi-media or theater was only tested as a potential means to create interest in extension and GCs, but not further developed5. 10. Annual programming was based on on-farm or village level diagnostics, which were to be carried out by the AVB supported by multi-disciplinary teams including TSs and research staff. This did not function well and in the end this was done by the AVB only. AVBs lacked the technical skills to probe for causes underlying constraints cited by farmers and as a result, the pertinence of the diagnostics was limited. In addition, the diagnoses were aggregated at thearrondissement, cercle and regional levels. It was only at thecercle level that TSs and research staff intervened in the diagnostics process. Themes were then selected on the basis of the most commonly cited problems, which may have bome little to no relevance to real constraints. This likely explains the emphasis in the work program on technical messages that already had a reasonably high adoption rate. 11. Until 1997, regular project supervision was carried out at the national and regional level. The National Coordination Committee, which was the overall supervisory body for the project, consisted of the Secretary General of MDRE and the MDRE Department Directors. This committee effected on average one supervision mission per year and was joined by representatives of the regional governments. Regular supervision at the national level was carriedl out by the PNVA coordination team (coordinator and technical staff) with representatives from MDRE. This team visited each region 3-4 times per year. The Agricultural Services Specialist at the resident mission in Bamako, also regularly participated. At the regional level, bi-monthly supervision missions were carried out, with participation of the regional coordinators of all collaborating projects and NGOs, and regular monthly supervision missions were carried out by technical supervisory staff. Even a commission from parliament effected twofact finding missions and issued very favorable reports on the impact of the PNVA. 12. An M&E structure was established within the PNVA. This structure was highly decentralized with almost all staff in the field. Data was collected independent of the AVB, allowing a relatively unbiased view. During project implementation, a vast amount of information was collected this way and presented in arnual reports. Most of this data has been useful, but it has had a very limited impact on work programs. Insufficient support was provided to the project to establish proper indicators on which to focus (not even at the time of the mid-term review) and no effort was made to create a coherent computerized database that would have enabled cross checks with the databases of theServices des Statistiques of the MDRE and theInstitut du Sahel, and easy analysis of time series data. In addition, the PNVA lacked the capacity to properly evaluate all data, leading to errors in data processing, anrid insufficient attention had been placed in project design to strengthen the capacity 5 Government disagrees with the conclusion of the ICR mission as detailed in their comments in Annex 3. 5 of the PNVA to properly interpret the data and use them as a management tool. Computers were purchased very late during project implementation, but no training was provided nordatabase software purchased. The structure also seems costly, with 125 staff, mostly data collectors. The M&E service was unable to carry out a planned survey of the financial impact of the project, even though it had been planned since 1995. C.2. Training 13. Systematic in-service training was provided as follows: fortnightly training (FQ ,formation des quinzaines) for AVBs provided by TSs, and Monthly Technical Review Workshops (AMRT,A4teliers Mensuels de Revue Technique) for TSs with participation by research staff. The AMRTs were in general well and regularly organized. From 1992/93 to 1997/98, 446AMRTs were organized versus 592 planned (70 percent), with a 92 percent participation rate. One technical theme was presented at each AMRT in about 90 percent of the cases, which is judged adequate. AMRTs related well to the FQs, but the content of the technical themes need to be reviewed as many themes are repeated year after year in cases where adoption rates have already reached a reasonably high level (over 80 percent). This related closely to the earlier cited problem with the diagnostics (paras. 9-10). The principal themes were: agriculture (adherence to the agricultural calendar, selected seeds, seeds treatment, composting), livestock (intemal and extemal parasites, fodder crops, and vaccination and housing of poultry), and environment (agro-forestry, pruning, anti-erosion measures). FQs were also regularly organized and attendance was around 80 percent of planned. Theimpact of this training was limited by the low level of initial training of the AVBs and the attendance was negatively affected by the lack of mobility of field staff. 14. Training was provided to eleven staff chosen to become training specialists (one from each of the seven regions, one from the National Directorate, and three who had originally been designated to become training coordinators, but never took up their position). Two of the staff received training in France, the other nine in Mali. The seven specialists were responsible for planning and supervising all PNVA related training. The training was credited by project staff for having made the specialists more adept at the planning, conception and evaluation of training modules. C.3. Research-Extension Linkages 15. The Rural Economics Institute (Institut d'conomie rurale, IER) was to carry out each year field trials on 30 themes in each of the six regions. In reality in 1994/95, 51 trials were carried out in the PNVA area, of which 12 themes in Mopti and 13 in Kayes. In 1995/96, 51 themes were also carried out, of which 18 in Mopti and 8 in Kayes. The reasons for the much lower than planned execution (less than one-third) were delays in making funds available, which lowered the number of trials, and poor planning. Environmental, livestock and post- harvest themes were limited because the respective TSs initially insufficiently participated in the diagnostics, and it turned out to be more difficult than planned to translate these into research themes. The field trials were, however, well executed by IER, PNVA and the participating farmers and resulted in the dissemination of 5 new technical messages and 11 new varieties in 1995/96 and one new technical message and 12 new varieties in 1996/97. 6 16. No farm budget analyses were carried out to assess the potential impact of the proposed technical messages on farm income and whether this would be consistent with risks given the enormous dependency on 6 In general, there was a two to three year delay between start of a field tral and readiness of such themes for dissemination by the extension service. 6 climatic vagaries. Too much emphasis was placed on resolving technical problems. In addition, the farming systems approach was insufficiently utilized to create coherent technical themes. The disregard of financial costs in the evaluation of technical themes is evident in the adoption rates. Some themes that require relatively high up-front financial investments (e.g. the combination of phosphates and manure) have a much lower adoption rate, given the high risk of a poor agricultural season and the lack of access to credit. In addition, access to market outlets plays an important role in the adoption of technical themes. C.4. Functional Literacy 17. This component fully achieved its initial objective of supporting OPs through the establishment of 400 adult literacy centers and was implemented by the National Directorate of Functional Literacy and Applied Linguistics (Direction nationale de 'alphabetisation fonctionnelle et de la linguistique appliquee, DNAFLA). The villages constructed 385 centers themselves with the PNVA only providing finishing materials. In addition, the PNVA regularly supplied alphabetization centers with local language newspapers, magazines, books, and technical bulletins on crop cultivation, health and nutrition. In total 560 villagers, of which 65 women, were trained to teach alphabetization classes in the villages. Of the 385 centers established under the PNVA about 104 are presently not functional, as the trainers have left the village. Incentives are not provided to these trainers in a systematic manner by the villages, but rather on a voluntary and informal basis. 11,200 villagers (22 percent of these women) participated in alphabetization classes and 2,726 of these (of which 15 percent women) are now classified as newly-alphabetized. The newly alphabetized received post-alphabetization training organized by the National Directorate for Cooperatives (DNAFLA,Direction nationale de cooperation) and some NGOs in management (cooperatives, Caisse rurale d 'epargne et de pret, cereals bank, mills, etc.). 18. At the time of the mid-term review, it became apparent that functional literacy training was only partially effective in strengthening OPs. Based on experience in other countries, the position of Farmer Organization Specialist (SOP, Specialiste en Organisations Paysannes) was created and a new goal of supporting 250 OPs was introduced. This objective was greatly exceeded as508 OPs in 465 villages were supported by the end of the project, despite a lower number of SOPs 33 than anticipated. The SOPs need to be retrained, however, to provilde broader capacity building support to OPs thus improving their viability. 2,660 of the neo-alphabetized are members of GCs or leaders of OPs. Newly alphabetized carry out selected village tasks related to vaccination ol poultry, climate statistics, commercialization of agricultural produce, field measurements, management of cooperative savings and loans, etc. The PNVA provided specific training to interested farmers in these areas. D. IMPLEMENTATION RECORD AND MAJoR ISSUEs AFFECTING PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION D.1. Government D.1.1. Under Government Control 19. The two main issues under Government's control that affected project implementationwere: (i) the constraint on hiring new agricultural staff that was agreed between Govemment and the IMF. The hiring freeze prevented the project from hiring new staff to expand project activities or replace staff that had left through attrition (retirement, transfer, etc.); and (ii) the restructuring of the MDRE in 1997, which brought many project activities to a standstill as staff were demoralized and unsure whether they would be transferred or not, or be fired. 7 D.1.2. Outside of Government Control 20. The main issue outside of Govemment control that had a major impact on project implementation was the Tuareg rebellion in the Northem part of the country, which prevented project activities from starting up in this area until the peace agreement in 1995. D.2. Other 21. Procurement. Procurement encountered serious delays because of heavy administrative procedures, which lead to delayed start-up of the project and delays during project implementation. Especially for procurement of vehicles, motorcycles and equipment for which intemational competitive bidding procedures needed to be followed, significant delays were recorded at the different review stages as many signatures and clearances were needed from different Government agencies. In addition, long delays occurred earlier during project implementation between the Bank giving its no-objection and the contracts being signed and executed. These delays are endemic to the public procurement procedures. The PNVA also did not adopt standard bid documents until 1997, after staff had received training in Dakar, Senegal. A large number of replacement vehicles, motorcycles and computers, and gasoline were purchased towards the end of the project. The Bank gave its no-objection to these contracts without proper verification of available fimds.7 As a result about CFAF 200 million (US$330,000 equivalent) remains owed to suppliers. 22. Financial and Administrative Management. The coordinating unit of the PNVA has a satisfactory financial management in place and during project implementation, the auditors did not identify specific problems. Recommendations by the auditors for improved procedures were generally adhered to. Initially, sub- accounts of the Special Account were opened in each of the regional capitals. The staff responsible for these sub-accounts were, however, insufficiently trained and reconciliation of these accounts and the transfer of the required documentation to Bamako was slow. This caused the Africa Disbursement Division to insist that the sub-accounts be closed in 1994. After the closure, the regional coordinators had problems obtaining funds in a timely manner for project operations (training, demonstration plots, field allowances, etc.), which caused delays in project implementation. This issue will need to be resolved prior to launching a follow-on operation. 23. Project Costs and Financing. Actual project costs are estimated at US$28.0 million versus an appraisal estimate of US$27.1 million. The sole major discrepancy in the cost categories has been that for consultant services which had been estimated at appraisal at US$0.9 million, while actual costs were almost US$4.0 million. This large increase was entirely caused by an underestimation of training costs at the time of appraisal and was financed from underspending in other areas and exchange rate savings. 24. Legal Covenants. All legal covenants were adhered to. 25. Consulting Services. In general, the quality of consulting services provided to the project was satisfactory. The sole exception was the study on women participation (Table 7), which project staff judged unsatisfactory. 26. Access to Markets and Credit. Access to market (inputs and outputs) is becoming increasingly a constraint to effective adoption of technical themes proposed by extension. Lack of medium-term credit, limited 7 Bank staff involved in the supervision of the project have stated that at the time of non-objection sufficient funds were available and that the shortage was caused by exchange rate fluctuations. It was the view of the ICR mission that a sufficient margin needs to be maintained when doing such procurement to prevent exactly such events. 8 access to short-ternm credit, valorization of production through transformation, conditioning, poor rural infrastructure, etc., prevent farmers from adopting proven technologies (e.g. manure with phosphate) that require investments with relatively long payback periods (more than one year) or modemizing their farm equipment. The PNVA worked closely with SG2000 to address the lack of credit in pilot communities. 27. Technology Generation. The project was highly successful in disseminating a number of basic technological messages. It; was, however, unable to set up a sustainable system for the generation of next-phase technologies (para. 10 and 15). This issue will become a key constraint to the success of a follow-on operation. Insufficient new technology generation under the PNVA was not due to a lack of funding, but a lack of trained staff that could identify with farmers constraints and opportunities, and translate these into fundable research protocols. At the present, there is considerable lagtime between the establishment of a research protocol and approval by IER to commence the research because the protocols are not always of sufficient quality. Moreover, there is insufficient emphasis on farming systems research and on the financial impact of proposed technologies. E. SUSTAINABILITY 28. The investments rnade under the project are partially sustainable. Sustainability of the investments financed under the project was not an issue at the time of project preparation. It was expected to be the first phase of a long-term program at the time of project design and sustainability issues were therefore not addressed. On the institutional side, the project has put in place a more efficient extension organization that collaborates closely with other partners and contributed significantly to human resources development. Despite the flaws detailed before, there is an M&E system in place that needs only limited, but very targeted support. On the financial side, the system is not sustainable. The present system still has too high a cost per GC member relative to other extension projects in the region (about US$40 per year versus a norm of US$10-15) and that more efficient means of increasing the diffusion of technologies need to be looked into (radio, theater, multi-media, etc.). For the foreseeable ftuture, Government is not able to support extension services without outside support. Fanners are also unable to significantly contribute to the functioning of extensionservices as their production is not sufficiently market oriented to enable them a significant surplus. The proposed follow-on project, the Agricultural Services and Fanner Organizations Support Project (PASAOP) is expected to further strengthen the extension services by making them more responsive to farmers' needs and give the latter a greater say in the programming and priority setting. It would also lay the foundation for increased financial participation of farmers in the extension service. In order for this to be successfully done, several major bottlenecks will be addressed by this new operation, such as a greater emphasis on improved rural social infrastructure, credit (especially medium-term), and the development of markets for inputs and outputs. F. BANK PERFORMANCE 29. Looked at from the perspective of Bank practice at the time of project preparation, project design followed standard conventions and no innovative ideas were introduced. Appraisal was satisfactory with a sound analysis of the sector. The SAR had, however, several deficiencies (para. 3), the most important being the lack of quantitative objectives. Supervision was in general satisfactory, with regular supervision missions by headquarters' staff and day-to-day management by a field based staff. Supervision was weak, however, in certain technical areas such as monitoring and evaluation, the use of mass media and decentralization of financial management. The mid-term review was satisfactory and identified several areas for strengthening (access of women to extension services, access to credit, need to further strengthenOPs, etc.) that could only be partially implemented because of the reorganization of the MDRE. 9 G. BORROWER PERFORMANCE 30. The Borrower's performance at the stage of project preparation and appraisal was satisfactory. The Borrower prepared the project, with the Bank's assistance, and theproject was appraised by the Bank together with the Borrower in 1990/91. During project implementation, Government made adequate funds available in a timely manner, with the exception of 1992. Project supervision was regularlv carried out bv a multi-disciplinarv team (para. 11). In 1997, the restructuring of the MDRE negatively impacted on the project, as it created uncertainty and demotivated staff. Regular project supervision was interrupted and field activities slowed down markedly. 31. National procurement procedures delayed procurement by up toa year in some instances. The adoption of standard bid documents in 1997 improved this situation, but the main problem, which is the large number of signatories required, has not yet been satisfactorily resolved. H. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY PERFORMANCE 32. The coordinating unit of the PNVA performed highly satisfactory. Supervision of the project was regularly carried out and progress reports were regularly produced and of good quality. The team, together with regional staff, successfully put in place close cooperation with other Government agencies, development projects and NGOs, which is judged to be a key accomplishment of the project. I. PROJECT OUTCOME 33. The project's outcome is rated as satisfactory by the ICR mission," which is the same as the F590/PSR rating. 34. Two independent studies were executed to measure project impact. These studies were a beneficiary assessment, which focused primarily on how the extension system functioned from the perspective of the farmers, and a quantitative assessment which measured the production impact of the extension activities. Both studies were carried out during the 1995/96 agricultural season, but results became available too late to be of use during the last year of project implementation. In addition, the quantitative assessment tumed out to have been based on a biased sample, which greatly limited its usefulness. The outcome of the beneficiary assessment was generally positive, but underscored some of the limitations of the PNVA. 35. No in-depth economic analysis was presented in the SAR. A broad cost-benefit analysis was presented as an annex and several non-quantifiable benefits were listed in the main report. As part of the ICR mission an - admittedly superficial - economic evaluation of the project was carried out based on the information available from the M&E system and the quantitative assessment. The analysis is presented as an illustration of project impact only. On the basis of the assumptions that are summarized in Table 9, Part II, the economic rate of return of the project is estimated to be about 12-15 percent. An evaluation of the project at the farm level shows that farm income increased markedly for farmers adopting technical themes. The most profitable of these were cattle fattening, poultry vaccination, application of organic manure and treatment of seeds. 8 The rating is based on the standard rating system. Given some of the weaknesses of the project, a marginally satisfactory rating would have been preferred. 10 J. FUTURE OPERATION No plan was developed for the future operation of the investments financed by the IDA credit. A follow-up operation is planned, but preparation has been delayed because of the need to properly address the issues identified under the PNVA. This operation is not expected to be presented to the Board until late FY2000. K. LESSONS LEARNED The key lessons learned from this project are that in the Malian context: (i) An institutionalized system of close collaboration with other projects, agencies and NGOs can yield a much greater impact than would be possible with a standard project. Despite the end of outside funding to the PNVA, the system was still functional at the time of the ICR mission. (ii) There is a desire amongst farmers to assume responsibility for activities that were in the past carried out by the extension services. A key example is poultry vaccination, that is highly profitable to farmers. (iii) The PNVA has been very successful in providing agricultural extension services in a centralized environment. To increase the effectiveness of the second phase of the PNVA, which would amongst other things require ani increased role of farmers andOPs in both decision making and financing of services, it will be necessary to decentralize and effect the institutional reforms as proposed in the PASAOP. (iv) Low cost technologies for which a favorable environment exists can easily be introduced. The adoption of the next level of teclnologies will require, however, that priority needs are addressed at the farm level at the same time, such as access to short - and medium-term credit, and markets. (v) Incentives need to be provided to alphabetization trainers in a systematic mannempfront and not in the present ad hoc manner. This will prevent the most successful ones from leaving the village and also provide incentives to the trainers to continue training new students. 11 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MALI AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROJECT (CREDIT 2235-MLI) PART II: Statistical Information Table 1: Summary of Assessments A. Achievement of objectives Substantial Partial Negligible Not applicable Macro policies LI E [Z Sector policies l El E E Financial objectives [ E [] [] Institutional development E7 El Physical objectives El [Z E1 Poverty reduction [ E El Gender issues El [I] 0 0 Other social objectives E El El Environmental objectives n E El Public sector management EJ E E Private sector management E E E E Other (specify) E E E ] B. Project sustainabilit Unlikel Uncertain H-Tighly C. Bank performance satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient Identification L l E 12 Highly C. Bank performance satisfactory Satisfactor Deficient Preparation assistance n Dfic Appraisal G m ° Supervision 0 7] Highly D. Borrower performance satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient Preparation [ I7 ° Implementation K] 2:1 Covenant compliance E] K] Operation (if appLicable) K [ K E. Assessment of outcome Highly Highly satisfactory Satisfactory Unsatisfactory unsatisfactory K] [E ] I ] Table 2: Related IDA Credits Loan/credit title Purpose Year of Status approval Preceding operations 1. Mali Sud II (Cr. 1415- A combined sector adjustment/investment project to increase 1984 Closed NELI) agricultural production and farm incomes by stabilizing and increasing cotton production. 2. Mopti Area Development Increasing crop production through improved flood control 1985 Closed (Cr. 1597-NED) cultivation of rice, and increasing the off-take from the livestock herds and protecting pastre lands in the pastoral arees. 3. Of fice du Niger (Cr. 1906- Restructuring the Office du Niger and increasing farmer's 1988 Ongoing; closed NELI) inccimes by increasing agricultural productivity. 11/30/1998 4. Agriculturl Sector A hybrid adjustment/investment operation. The adjustment 1990 Closed Adjustnent/Investnent reformns were aimed at further deepening liberalization (Credit 2163-NL) measures initiated in 1988 and reforms in the cotton sector, the investnent component aimed at strengthening the expected supply response in the Mali-Sud region. Folowing operations 1. Natural Resources To introduce a rational land use system which will halt, and 1992 Ongoing; closing Managemnent (Cr. 2370- then reverse the process of degradation of the natural 6/30/2000 MUL1) resource base. 13 2. National Agricultural Improving the performance of the national agricultural 1993 Ongoing; closing Research Project (Cr. 2557- research system, by improving research coherence, quality, 12/31/2001 MLI) relevance, and accountability for results. 3. Agroprocessing (Cr. Addressing key sector constraints to private investment in 1995 Ongoing; closing 2737-MLI) agricultural processing and marketing, and focus primarily 6/30/2001 on capacity-building and on the transfer of know-how to the private sector through infornation networks, training, specialized TA, and study tours. 4. Pilot Prvate Irrigation Improving and inducing an expansion of investments in 1997 Ongoing; closing Promotion(N021 MLI) small-scale irnigation, which would contribute to increased 12/31/2001 on-farm diversification of investments, productivity, and food security. Table 3:: Project Timetable Steps in project cycle I Date planned [ Date actual/latest estimate Identification (Executive 03/10/1987 Project Summary) Preparation 03/1987 - 04/1990 Appraisal 05/18/1990 Negotiations 01/28/1991 Letter of development N.A. policy (if applicable) Board presentation 05/02/1991 Signing 05/31/1991 Effectiveness 08/29/1991 11/27/1991 Project completion 03/31/1995 06/30/19989 Credit closing 09/30/1995 06/30/1998 Table 4: Credit Disbursements: Cumulative Estimated and Actual (US$ thousands) FY92 FY93 FY94 FY95 FY96 FY97 FY98 FY99 Appraisal estimate 7.5 13.2 18.6 23.8 24.4 24.4 24.4 24.4 Revised 2.5 6.8 9.1 12.7 16.4 23.9 24.5 24.5 Actual 2.4 6.8 9.0 12.6 16.4 21.1 25.3 26.0 Actual as % of 32 52 48 53 67 86 104 107 estimate Date of Last September 1, 1998 Disbursement 9 Estimated completion date, formal completion date was not revised 14 Tablle 5: Key Indicators for Project Implementation Table 5A: Staffing Planned Actual 1991/92 1995/96 1992/93 1995/96 1997/98 AVB 499 915 451 621 689 SD 124 183 105 124 137 TS 66 68 89 116 113 SOP n.a. n.a. 0 30 33 Local 44 50 33 42 43 Coordinators Regional 13 13 0 6 7 Coordinators Enqueteurs 79 115 86 80 103 Table SB: Extension Ratios 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1997/98 Norm Villages per AVB 4 5 5 6 6 6 6-8 Farm per AVB n.a. 394 330 346 514 475 500 GC per AVB 19 26 30 17 19 17 16-24 PMGC per AVB 380 309 299 174 211 185 160- 240 GC members 20 12 10 10 11 11 10 AVB per TS 18 5 6 18 18 18 20-30 (agriculture) AVB per SD 4 4 4.5 5 5 5 6-8 PD per AVB 0 20 38 30 46 72 n.a. SD per SS 0 2.5 3 4 3 3 4-6 Villages per SOP 0 0 0 0 15 19 20-30 AVB per enqueteur 4 5 6 7 6 7 8 Enqueteur per 4 4 3 4 4 4 4-5 controller 15 Table 5C: Regional Coverage Planned Actual (1995/96) Region Number of of which Number of of which Villages direct service Villages direct service Kayes 1,328 797 1,291 743 Koulikoro 829 711 1,226 947 Segou 779 470 889 885 Mopti 2,019 272 2,047 1,241 Tombouctou 203 129 984 360 Gao 173 104 338 178 Other n.a. n.a. 211 104 5,331 3,483 6,775 4,345 Table 5D: Training l_________________________ 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 Fortnightly training 255 243 283 920 902 806 Monthly Technical Review 56 47 52 88 76 47 Workshop (AMRT) Specific Training 7 32 37 189 180 140 Table SE: Alphabetization Planned Actual Centers 400 385 established, 281 active Enlisted not defined in SAR 7,760 Newly Alphabetized not defined in SAR 2,276 Post Alphabetization not defined in SAR 508 village associations Training _ (1,519 newly alphabetized) Table SF: Support to Farmers' Organizations Planned Actual Farmer Organization not planned 33 Specialists Farmers' Organizations n.a. 508 Of which women n.a. 248 OP/SOP _ 13-30 16 Table 5G: Adoption Rate of Main Extension Themes (adopting farmer members of GCs/surface in percent) Kayes Technical Theme 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 Organic manure 24/24 15/7 57/46 Thinning to 3 plants (millet) 21/22 59/74 Density 28/22 43/29 59/n.a. Cultural Care (sorglhum) 39/27 54/39 42/n.a. Seed treatment (millet) 9/6 41/28 23/23 28/19 Seed treatment (sorg,hum) 26/34 Intemal/extemal anti- 18/n.a. 26/67 22/31 29/n.a. parasitic treatment Straw with urea 8/n.a. 13/n.a. Anti-erosive Measures 13/n.a. Tree care 53 Vegetable nurseries 35/60 10/n.a. j Poultry vaccination 16/40 28/58 Koulikoro Technical Theme 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 Organic manure (millet) 69/27 24/24 46/55 67/19 70/38 Plant care 33/59 49/33 69/64 64/54 Seed treatment 35/n.a. 52/36 53/18 Seed density 50/22 31/23 42/23 44/19 59/n.a. Intermal/external anti- 41/n.a. 49/n.a. 52/n.a. parasitic treatment Straw with urea 32/n.a. 21/13 Tree care 16/n.a. 41/29 42/n.a. Vegetable nurseries 80/n.a. 44/59 64/n.a. Poultry vaccination 40/n.a. 76/60 56/49 Fodder Crops 37/n.a. 32/n.a. 17 Sigou Technical Theme 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 Organic manure 23/20 54/23 59/26 45/17 Plant care 60/33 42/92 48/34 38/10 Seed treatment 25/15 14/4 Improved seed 34/9 44/12 51/10 Internal/external parasitic 48/37 48/37 76/40 treatment Straw with Urea 14/n.a. 10/n.a. 5/14 Tree care 71/47 25/36 Vegetable nurseries 80/n. a. 44/59 64/n. a. Poultry vaccination 48/11 Fodder Crops 27/3 Mopti Technical Theme 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 Organic manure (millet) 61/14 75/82 Plant care (millet) 71/n.a. 78/33 75/42 75/n.a. Plant care (rice) 68/58 Seed treatment 44/15 46/25 49/49 Seed density (millet) 63/11 n.a./44 79/32 Internal/external parasitic 62/n.a. 49/n.a. 38/n. a. 54/45 43/n.a. treatment Straw with Urea 42/n.a. I 8/n.a. Tree planting 48/n.a. 52/n.a. 63/n.a. Natural vegetative cover 23/n.a. 65/n.a. 62/n.a. regeneration Anti-erosion measures 79/n.a. 70/n.a. Poultry vaccination 56/n.a. 53/40 60/n.a. Fodder Crops 34/n.a. 60/n.a. 50/n.a. 18 Table 5H: Project Impact Data With and Without Project Yields - Main Crops (demonstration versus control in kg/ha) =_____ _ 94/95 95/96 96/97 Millet_ Control 640 610 680 Demonstration 960 780 1,000 Sorghum Control 860 770 820 Demonstration 1,000 1,190 1,066 Corn_ Control 845 885 862 Demonstration 1,183 974 1,292 Rice_ Control 2,680 2,750 2,830 Demonstration 3,370 3,340 3,170 Niebe Control 520 440 420 Demonstration 760 760 550 Tomatoes Control 26,500 11,400 13,400 Demonstration 32,300 18,000 21,200 Onions Control 16,690 13,430 13,930 Demonstration 19,920 19,230 23,550 Shallots Control 20,980 21,350 18,980 Demonstration 13,860 25,770 24,940 Potatoes Control 15,770 12,690 16,040 Demonstration 17,460 16,160 20,340 Peanuts Control 760 690 510 Demonstration 1,090 980 630 19 Table 51: Area under Improved Technology (in hectares) Crops 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 Millet 177,448 181,506 261,664 Sorghum 30,636 31,650 41,846 Rice 7,536 6,583 15,446 Com 6,682 7,254 8,771 Peanuts 15,373 3,957 25,864 Niebe 2,729 7,270 9,845 Potatoes 46 157 36 Tomatoes 159 207 313 Shallots 719 2,725 9,155 Onions 13 82 56 Table 6: Key Indicators for Project Operation Key operating indicators in the President's Report Estimated Actual None had been defined in the Staff Appraisal Report. The project had been presented as the first phase of a l long-term program. 20 Table 7: Studies Included in Project Study Purpose as defined at Status Impact of Study aippraisal/ redefined 1. Acces des femmes Nor defined Completed in 1994 Only minor impact as aux services agricoles report did not respond to its terms of reference. A seminar was organized to discuss the subject without using the report. 2. Test de credit Not defined Completed in 1995 Used as input into the agricole preparation of the micro finance component of the Financial Sector Support Project 3.Evaluation du PNVA Not defined Started in 1995, Used to evaluate the par les beneficiaires completed in 1996 functioning of contact groups, the applicability of technical themes and the relationship between the AVB and the farmers (CG and others) 4.Evaluation Nol: defined Started in 1995, Used to evaluate the quantitative de la completed in 1996 impact on crops, it vulgarisation agricole showed that the PNVA had a positive impact. This was not internalized as a management tool. 5. Rapport de la Not defined 1997 Served as basis for mission d'evaluation action plan for project interne, 1 i phase implementation (1992-1996) following the extension .____________________ .___________-__________.__________.____ of the closing dates. 21 Table 8: Project Costs and Financing Table 8A: Project Costs Item Appraisal estimate Revised Estimate Actual/latest (US$ '000) (US$ '000) estimate (US$_'000) 1. Civil Works 800.0 417.2 2. Vehicles 6,000.0 6,428.0 3. Equipment 2,000.0 1,310.3 4. Consultant Services, 900.0 3,957.6 Studies and Training I 5. Operating Costs 16,100.0 14,530.3 6. PPF 1,500.0 1,343.4 TOTAL 27,100.0 27,986.8 Table 8B: Project Financing Appraisal Estimate Revised Estimate Actual/latest Source (US$ million) (US$ million) Estimate (11S$ million) IDA 24.4 26,007.0 Government 2.7 1,979.8 TOTAL 27.1 27,986.8 Table 9: Economic Costs and Benefits No economic analysis was done as part of project preparation or appraisal, and insufficient data were presented in the Staff Appraisal Report to present a comparative analysis. Moreover, during project implementation, no farm level cost data were collected by the Monitoring and Evaluation Service. The ICR mission collected some basic information in order to present an economic evaluation of the project. Given the great uncertainty and the lack of baseline date, this evaluation is only intended to serve as an illustration of project impact. The economic rate of return is estimated to range between 10 and 15 percent. The assumptions are presented below. (a) Incremental on-farm labor is evaluated at a cost of CFAF 600 per day (b) Incremental production is defined as the difference between production without technologies introduced by the project and production on adoption plots 22 (c) Incremental production is valued at the farmgate price, an economic price is used when possible (e.g. rice) (d) Diffusion rates are expected to increase over time for certain basic low-cost technologies. (e) The analysis is capped at 15 years and benefits of the project are expected to gradually decline after 10 years. 23 Table 10: Status of Legal Covenants Credit Agreement Covenant Current Description of covenant Comments secdon (C22350) type status l Credit Section 3.01 5, 10 C The Borrower declares its commitment to the objectives of the Project as set forth in Sch.2 to this Agrmt &, to this end, shall carry out the Project through MA, MEN, & MEE w/ due diligence & efficiency & in conformity w/appropriate admin, fin. & agr. pract.& shall provide, promptly as needed, the funds, facilities, services & other resources required for the Project. No comments. Section 3.02 5, 3 C Except as the Assoc. shall otherwise agree, procurement of the goods, works and consult. No comments. services require for the Project and to be financed out of the proceeds of the Credit shall be governed by the provisions of Sch. 3 to this Agreement. Section 3.03 (a) 5, 10 C The Borrower & the Assoc. shall, from time to time & in any case not later than 6/30 in each year the Project is being executed, starting with 6/30/92, exchange views on the progress achieved in carrying out the Project. l Section 3.03 5, 10 C (b) Prior to any such exchange of views as specified in para (a) of this Section & not later (b)(i)(ii) than 3/31 of each yr, the Borrower shall furnish a work program satisfactory to the Assoc. incl. the following: (i)a project performance review for the previous year of Project implementation; (ii) details of actions to carry out during the following agric. season including provisions relating to staffng & training. Section 5, 10 C (b)(iii) detailed investment & operating budgets broken down by component; (iv) a 3.03(b)(iii)(iv)(v) fnancing plan indic. the funding for the investment & operating budgets referred to in para. (iii) above; and (v) monitoring & evaluating objectives for the following agric. season. Section 3.03 (c) 5, 10 C During the exchange of views to take place not later than 6/30/93 pursuant to para. (a) of this Section, the Borrower & and Assoc. shall also discuss a comprehensive proposal for the implementation of the Project. Section 3.04 10 C In order to ensure the carrying out of the Project, the Borrower shall establish & maintain for duration of Project execution & in a manner satisfactory to the Assoc: (a) a Tech. Coordinating Committee to ensure the overall coordination of the Project, to be composed of: (i) Dir. of DNA; (ii) Dir. of DNE; (iii) Dir. of DNEF;(iv)Dir. Gen. of LER; __________ ______ _____ & (v) Dir. of DNAFLA; Section 3.04 (b) 5, 10 C (b) a Project monitoring & evaluating system, including (i) the organ. & staffing of a M & E unit is collecting too (c) monitoring unit wiin DNA; (ii) the organ. & staffing of regional monitoring units; (iii) a much information and list of the aspects of Project activity to be monitored & evaluated; (iv)the frequency of carrying out too little analysis. monitoring; & (v) the system of feedback into exten. prac.; & (c) a Project Acct. Unit & related acct. system & procedures. Section 4.01 (a) 1, 5 C (a) The Borrower shall maintain or cause to be maintained records & accts. adequate to (b) reflect in accord. w/ sound accounting practices the operations, resources & expenditures in respect of the Project of the depts. or agencies of the Borrower respon. for carrying out the Project or any part thereof. (b) The Borrower shall: Section 4.01 (b) 1, 10 C (i) have the records & accounts referred to in para.(a) of this Section incl those for the (i) Special Account for each fiscal year audited, in accordance w/appropriate auditing principles consistently applied, by independent auditors acceptable to the Assoc; Section 4.01 (b) 1C (ii) firnish to the Assoc., as soon as available, but in any case not later than 6 months (ii) (iii) after the end of each such year, a certified copy of the report of such audit by said auditors, of such scope & in such detail as the Assoc. shall have reasonably requested & (iii) furn. to Assoc. such other. info. concerning said records, accts. & audit thereof as Assoc. shall for time to time reasonably request. Section 4.01 (c) (i 5, 10 C (c) For all expend. w/respect to which w/drawals from the Cr. Acct. were made on the basis of statements of expenditures, the Borrower shall: (i) maintain or cause to be maintained, in accord. w/para (a) of this Section, records & accts. reflecting such Z expenditures; Section 4.01 (c) 1, 5 C (ii) retain, until at least 1 yr after the Assoc. has rec. the audit report for the fiscal year in (ii) (iii which the last w/drawal from the Cr. Acct. or payment out of the Spec. Acct. was made, all records (contracts, orders, invoices, bills, receipts & other doc.) evidencing such expenditures; (iii) enable the Association's representatives to examine such records; & Section 4.01 (c) 1, 10 C (iv) ensure that such records & accts. are incl. in the annual audit referred to in para. (b) (iv) of this Section & that the report of such audit contains a separate opinion by said auditors as to whether the statements of expenditure submitted during such fiscal yr, together w/the procedures &internal controls involved in their preparation, can be relied upon to l_____- supp. the related w/drawals. Covenant types: Present status: I = Accounts/audits 8 = Indigenous people 2 = Financial perfornancel revenue 9 = Monitoring, review, and C = covenant complied with generation from beneficiaries reporting 3 = Flow and utilization ofproject 10 = Project implementation not CD = complied with after delay funds covered by categories 1-9 4 = Counterpart funding 11 = Sectoral or cross-sectoral CP complied with partially budgetary or other resource allocation 5 = Management aspects of the 12 = Sectoral or cross-sectoral NC not complied with project or executing agency policy/ regulatory/ institutional action 6 = Environmental covenants 13 = Other 7 = Involuntary resettlement I-n 26 Table 11: Compliance with Operational Manual Statements Indicate any significant lack of compliance with an applicable Bank Operational Manual statement (OD or OP/BP): I Statement number and titlIe Describe and comment on lack of compliance All relevant manual statements were adhered to. Table 12: Bank Resources: Staff Inputs'" Stage of project cycle Weeks USS Weeks USS Weeks USS ('000) Prepartion up 122.5 238.4 to Appraisal _ . Appraisal 55.4 129.1 From Appraisal 35.2 84.9 to Board l Supervision l 270.0 450.1 Completion I = _ _ 14.0 25.0 TOTAL 497.1 927.5 10 No complete information is available on the planned or revised number of staffweeks and associated budgets. 27 Table 13: Bank Resources: Missions Performance rating Stage of project Month/yea Number of Days in Specialized staff Impleme Develop- Types of cycle r persons field skills represented ntation ment problems status objectives Through appraisal Board approval thrugh effectiveness Supervision 1 02/91 3 N.A. AS (3) 1 1 l Supervision2 10/91 4 6 AS (3), RAA NR NR NR Supervision 3 03/92 3 N.A. AS (3) 1 1 1 Supervision 4 09/92 3 N.A. AS (3) 1 1 P, CF Supervision 5 08/93 3 6 AS (2), RAA 2 1 P Supervision611 04/94 92 AS (4) 2 1 P Supervision 7 12/94 2 12 AS, DC NR NR NR Supervision 8 06/95 2 199 AS, F S HS P Supervision 9 06/96 1 1213 AS S HS P Supervision 10 12/96 5 NA. AS (3), Soc., 00 S HS P Supervision 11 01/97 1 8 TS NR NR NR Supervision 12 04/97 2 10 AS, TS NR NR NR Supervision 13 01/98 5 N.A. AS (4), 00 S S P Completion 11/98 4 10 AS (3), OA S S M&E, P Specialized skiHs: AS = Agricultural Services Specialist; DC = Division Chief; E = Economist; F = Financial Analyst; OA = Operations Analyst; 00 = Operations Officer, RAS = Regional Agricultural Services Advisor, Soc. = Sociologist; and TS = Training Specialist Types of problems: TS = Turnover of staff; AS = Implementing Agency Staffing; P = Procurement; DC = Donors Coordination; RR = Resident Representative; CT: Counterpart Funding; FM = Financial Management; Mid-Term Review Mission 12 This includes five project managers from neighboring countries. 13 This mission supervised related projects, it is not clear how much time was spent on each project individually. 28 Annex I AIDE MEMOIRE OF ICR MISSION BANQUE MONDIALE MISSION DE RAPPORT D'ACHEVEMENT DU PNVA (du 26 Octobre au 13 novembre 1998) La mission du rapport d'achevement du Programme National de vulgarisation Agricole (PNVA) a eu lieu du 26 Octobre au 13 Novembre 1998 au Mali. La mission etait composee de M. Abdoulaye Tour6, Specialiste des services agricoles a la Mission Residente de la Banque Mondiale A Abidjan, Dirk Nicolaas Prevoo, Analyste financier au siege de la Banque Mondiale A Washington, Willem Zijp, Specialiste principal des services agricoles au siege de la Banque Mondiale a Washington, Agadiou Dama, Specialiste des services agricoles a la Mission Residente de la Banque Mondiale a Bamako, et Adama Keita, Agro-economiste A la Cellule de Planification et des Stati;stiques au Ministere du Developpement Rural et de l'Eau ( CPS du MDRE), Aliou Coulibaly, Direction National du Plan ( MPEI), Tidiani Diarra, Coordinateur National du PNVA a la Direction Nationale de l'Appui au Monde Rural ( DNAMR) et des sp6cialistes au siege du PNVA. La mission a eu un entretien avec l'equipe Malienne A l'issue duquel un calendrier de visite de terrain a ete 6labore. La mission a effectue des visites de terrain dans trois des huit r6gions couvertes par le PNVA A savoir les regions de Koulikoro, Segou et Mopti. La mission a eu lors de la tournee sur le terrain des discussions avec l'Administration ( Gouverneurs, Conseiller au Developpement), le personnel du PNVA ( Comite Regional de Coordination, Superviseurs et Specialistes, TS, SOP et AVB) des paysans et organisations paysannes (AV), des partenaires ( prives, chambre d'agriculture, projets et ONGs) et a pu visiter plusieurs realisations du PNVA et de la recherche agricole. La mission a dgalement eu des seances de travail avec p]usieurs institutions nationales partenaires du PNVA. Les conclusions aux quelles ont abouti les discussions sont exposees ci-dessous. La mission tient a remercier les membres de l1'quipe interministerielle du rapport d'achevement du PNVA, les cadres du PNVA, les autorites administratives des regions visitees, les partenaires et les paysans visit6s avec lesquels, elle a eu des entretiens fructueux, sans lesquels cette mission n'aurait it6 un succes. Elle remercie egalement M. Mamadou Goita Secretaire General MDRE, M. Arnadou Kone, Directeur de la CPS, M. Amadou B. Tour6 chef du Projet et Tidiani Diarra Coordinateur National du Proj et. La mission a pu constater sur le terrain les resultats tres importants que le PNVA a permis d'obtenir et qui sont perceptibles A travers les e1lments suivants: i) I'existence de services de vulgarisation efficaces danLs les zones ou la vulgarisation etait inexistante et le renforcement des services de vulgarisation d ans les programmes appuyes par le PNVA tels que l'Office du Niger, l'Office Riz de Segou, l'Office Riz de Mopti.., ii) l'existence de resultats techniques reels sur le terrain qui sont visibles dans l'accroissement notable des rendements et des revenus que nous avons pu estimer dans les villages visites, iii) une participation effective des agriculteurs et leur satisfaction vis a vis des services apportes par le PNVA, iv) le r6le de leadership joue par le PNVA qui a su developper les synergies dans les interventions des differents services et acteurs y 29 compris les ONG et projets et qui a su interesse les autorites administratives et la commission developpement rurale de l'Assemblee Nationale A ses activites. La mission a examine de fa,on plus detaillee les differentes composantes et a pu identifier les aspects positifs et les succes du projet mais egalement les le,ons et les ameliorations A apporter. Le diagnostic: La methodologie developpee a prevu que le diagnostic serait menee a la base par les ABV, appuyes par une equipe pluridisciplinaire composee de techniciens specialisees et de chercheurs. Mais l'equipe pluridisciplinaire n'a pas bien fonctionne de sorte que le diagnostic a ete fait par les AVB qui n'ont pas les competences appropriees pour cette activite qui est a la base de la planification des activites de vulgarisation et de recherche developpement. Le processus de hierarchisation des contraintes et de planification des themes a traiter se fait du niveau village, arrondissement, cercle, region puis au plan national. Certes des representants de paysans participent dans les instances de bilan et programmation locales, regionales et nationales. Mais ce processus est tres long et la representativite des paysans ne garantie pas la qualite et la pertinence des priorites retenues. Ces faiblesse pourront etre resolues par l'adoption de l'approche participative villageoise qui est appliquee par le PGRN dans plus de 337 villages concemes par la collaboration PNVA- PGRN. Avec cette approche les priorites du village sont inscrites dans un plan d'action villageois comprenant le programme de vulgarisation du village lequel est evalue annuellement. La gestion de la vulgarisation: La mission a apprecie la qualite de la strategie de supervision dont la mise en ceuvre a ete perturbee A partir de 1997 par le processus de reorganisation du Ministere du Developpement rurale et de l'Eau (MDRE). En effet il existe au niveau national et regional des comites de coordination et des equipes de supervision composees respectivement des Directeurs et des Techniciens des differentes institutions impliquees dans le PNVA. Ces equipes font des visites r6guli&res planifiees pour appuyer la mise en auvre du programme sur le terrain. La revue a mi parcours a ete de bonne qualite. II faut souligner la participation positive des chefs de projets de 4 pays de la sous region qui a permis le partage d'experience. NManmoins la revue a mi parcours n'a pas eu le reflexe d'identifier la faiblesse du rapport d'evaluation en ce qui concerne le manque d'indicateurs de mesures d'impact (production et revenus) et de corriger cette lacune. Certaines specificites telles que l'elevage et la promotion des filieres porteuses au niveau locale n'ont pas ete bien etudiees et approfondies par le PNVA. Utilisation des media: Les radios de proximite ont ete le plus utilisees par le projet A travers les plages reserv6es pour les emissions de developpement rural et dont le financement a ete assure par le programme. Mais cette integration des media dans la strategie de vulgarisation a ete nettement insuffisante. Ce qui va etre corrige par le plan de communication en milieu rural en cours d'elaboration. 30 La responsabilisation des paysans: Ils demeurent toujours dependant des services de vulgarisation. Cela est visible dans les villages de collaboration PGRN/PNVA oui les comites de gestion ont 6te mis en place mais attendent tout du projet L'appui aux organisations paysannes : L'appui n'a pas ete suffisamment pris en compte dans le projet car seul l'alphab6tisation etait identifiee comme appui aux OPA. La revue a mi parcours a cherche A corriger cette faiblesse en mettant en place des SOP. Mais ceux-ci sont en nombre insuffisants et n'arriveni: pas a traiter les problemes poses par les OPA en dehors de la structuration, de l'appui a la tenue des documents et la formation en gestion. Alphabetisation fonctionnelle: Les resultats quantitatifs ont ete atteints et nous avons note sa bonne appreciation par les populations. Mais deux points critiques: i) motivation des animateurs dont la deperdition est de 1/4- ii) valorisation de l'alphab6tisation a travers la gestion de la post alphabetisation (voir l'experience du Niger et de I'OHVN). L'exploitation de la capiacit6 locale des neo-alphabetes par la mise a leur disposition de documentation approprie (presse villageoise, bibliotheque villageoise, fiches techniques de la vulgarisation sur les noucvelles technologies). Le suivi - evaluation : Nous avons constate l'existence: du bilan annuel regulierement transmis a la banque, des donnees statistiques sur le fonctionnement du dispositif et des donnees de base, des taux de participation et d'adoption. Nous avons note le manque d'une methodologie de mesure d'impact, de pertinence de certains indicateurs saisies et informations collectees. Le cout d'intervention du suivi evaluation est assez eleve a cause du dispositif assez lourd (125 agents soit 10%). Le projet n'avait pas d'indicateurs d'evaluation en outre il ne disposait pas d'indicateurs de reference. Recherche participative: Le processus est trop long et trop classique, 1'evaluation economique des technologies est faible. Les CRU permettent d'impliquer les paysans a la programmation des activites de recherche mais ceci doit etre ameliore par la participation de la vulgarisation. La faible participation des paysans dans la generation des technologies, la rigidite de la planification qui ne permettent pas de prendre en compte les problemes nouveaux. Le fonds des utilisateurs des r6sultats de recherche n'a pas fonctionne a cause du processus d'adoption de leurs projets et de la centralisation de la gestion. Points critiques sont: - Responsabilisation des paysans et la cogestion des services agricoles. - Vision a long terme des services Agricoles - Analyse d'impact des services Agricoles. 31 Annex II PROJECT EVALUATION BY BORROWER INTRODUCTION Au terme de l'execution du Programme National de Vulgarisation Agricole (PNVA) mis en ceuvre par le gouvemement a travers le ministere du Developpement Rural et de l'Eau avec I'appui technique et financier de la Banque Mondiale, et conformement aux dispositions relatives a la presentation d'un rapport d'achevement dudit programme par chacune des parties (le Mali et la Banque Mondiale), la partie malienne propose les conclusions suivantes. 1. CONTEXTE DE MISE EN OEUVRE DU PROGRAMME Face a la secheresse persistante, notamment celle des annees 1973 et 1984, et suite a un diagnostic du systeme d'encadrement des services agricoles, le Gouvernement de la Republique du Mali avec l'appui de la Banque Mondiale, a initie une nouvelle approche de vulgarisation agricole qui s'est traduite en programme denomm6 Programme National de Vulgarisation Agricole apres une phase test de trois ans (1988-1991). Cette approche se place egalement dans le cadre du programme d'Ajustement Structurel (PAS) en vue de renforcer les services agricoles. Objectifs et duree du programme: Objectifs: L'objectif principal du PNVA est l'amelioration des revenus des paysans et l'augmentation de la production. Le programme doit: - renforcer l'efficacitb des services de vulgarisation aux niveaux local, regional et national; - realiser les activites de vulgarisation agricole par la formation continue et reguliere a tous les niveaux ( producteurs et personnel d'encadrement); - renforcer les liens recherche/ vulgarisation / exploitation agricole; - appuyer les organisations villageoises par: l'execution d'un programne d'alphabetisation fonctionnelle adequat; l Ia formation en gestion des responsables d'OP; - favoriser la participation de plus en plus active des femmes aux activites de developpement rural; - assurer l'integration des activites d'agriculture, d'elevage et de foresterie pour une meilleure prbservation de l'environnement. Durk: Le credit a couvert une phase test allant de 1988/1989 a 1990/19991 et une premiere phase quadriennale de 1992 a 1995 et une prolongation de 1996 a 1998. II a ete clos le 30 juin 1998 apres deux prorogations. 3 2 2. ZONE DU PROGRAMME Le programme couvre l'ensemble du territoire national excepte les zones d'intervention de la CMIT. A l'issue de la premiere phase le programme devrait couvrir 60% de terres cultivables du pays et toucher 450.000 familles rurales. 3. CONCEPTIONS INITIALES ET EFFETS ATTENDUS DU PROGRAMME Les autorit6s maliennes par la mise en ceuvre de ce programme visent a: - assurer l'autosuffisance alimentaire et la securite alimentaire A une population en pleine expansion grace a l'augmentation de la production et de la productivite par le biais des transferts de technologies appropriees; - procurer aux populations de meilleures conditions de vie par une croissance soutenue de leurs revenus; - preserver l'equilibres agro-sylvo-pastoral par la protection de l'environnement dans un pays situe en zone sahelienne. C'est ainsi que le programme s'inscrit dans le cadre de la politique de d6veloppement agricole du gouvernement qui s'articule notamment autour du desengagement de l'Etat et de la responsabilisation des promoteurs acteurs du developpement rural, du d6veloppement durable et gestion des ressources naturelles, de la promotion des activites en faveur des groupes fragiles (femmes, jeunes ruraux). 3.1 Composantes Pour realiser l'objectif principal defini, le programme a ete realise A travers cinq composantes. Composante 1: Vulgarisation Agricole La vulgarisation agricole au Mali qui est une adaptation du systeme " Formation et Visite" est basee sur entre autres les principes suivants: - l'int6gration des activites menees par les agriculteurs au niveau de l'exploitation; - le maintien d'un. seul interlocuteur aupres des paysans pour la diffusion des themes; - la separation des fonctions de vulgarisation (appui - conseil) de celles du credit, des approvisionnements, de l'inspection ou du contr6le, de la sante animale et des taches administratives. - la formation reguliere de tous les agents en vue de developper un professionnalisme; - le resserrement des liens entre recherche, vulgarisation et exploitations agricoles. - Vacc6s des femmrles aux services agricoles. Composante 2: Liaison Rtecherche - Vulgarisation - Exploitation Agricole La composante repose essentiellement sur le developpement du partenariat entre la Recherche, les services de vulgarisation et les beneficiaires des technologies generees. Le maintien et le renforcement de ce lien necessitent des activites qui demandent la participation de tous les intervenants. 33 Les activites portent en particulier sur le diagnostic conjoint, les tests en milieu paysan, l'animation des ateliers mensuels de revue de technologies, les supervisions conjointes (vulgarisateurs et chercheurs) des realisations en milieu paysan. Composante 3: Formation, Communication, Alphabetisation et Organisations paysannes La formation continue des agents du PNVA et des producteurs est realisee a travers les principales activites suivantes: - les Ateliers Mensuels de Revue de Technologies ( AMRT); - les Formations de Quinzaines (FQ); - les Formations Specifiques (FS); - les visites d'echange et d'experience; - les voyages d'etude; - l'alphabetisation fonctionnelle; - la formation en gestion des organisations paysannes (hommes et femmes). Un accent particulier est mis sur l'amelioration de l'acces des femmes aux services agricoles pour leurs permettre une plus grande participation aux activites rurales. Le programme utilise au niveau national la radio et la television et aux niveaux regional et local les radios de proximite pour accroitre l'efftcacite de la vulgarisation a l'aide des medias. Composante 4: Suivi - Evaluation Le Suivi - evaluation en sa qualite de systeme d'informTation, de gestion, apparait comme un outil de pilotage du programme. La composante a retenu prioritairement les objectifs suivants: - mesurer les performances de la vulgarisation agricole et la liaison recherche vulgarisation; - mesurer l'utilisation des services et recommandations par les paysans; - mesurer la satisfaction des groupes cibles a travers des indicateurs cles: taux de participation aux demonstrations des AVB, taux d'adoption des themes; - contribuer de facon effective a augmenter l'efficacite de la vulgarisation; - aider a la prise de decision en foumissant aux decideurs les elements d'analyse dont ils ont besoin en temps opportun. Composante 5: Finances Le programme a ete finance conjointement par le budget d'investissement et d'equipement du Mali pour un montant initial de 690 000 000 FCFA et un cr6dit de 18 000 000 de DTS de l'Association Internationale pour le Developpement (IDA) filiale de la Banque Mondiale, dans le cadre de l'accord de credit n° 2235/MLI conclu le 31 mai 1991. 34 3.2. Ancrage Institutionnel et Pilotage du Programme Le Ministere en charge du Developpement Rural a la responsabilite de la mise en ceuvre du programme. On note toutefois que plusieurs departements sont impliques dans son execution. II s'agit de: - Ministere de lEducation de Base a travers la Direction Nationale de I'Alphabetisation Fonctionnelle et de la Linguistique Appliquee (DNAFLA), en ce qui conceme la composante alp:habetisation fonctionnelle; - Ministere des Finances A travers la Direction Nationale du Budget et la Direction Generale des Marches Publics, pour ce qui est respectivement de la contre partie financi6re de l'Etat et de la passation des marches, - Ministere de l'Economie du Plan et de l'Integration, A travers la Direction Nationale de la Planification en ce qui concerne la programmation financiere. Le Programme est organiis6 autour de trois grandes structures: - la structure de pilotage; - la structure de gestion; - la structure d'execution. a) Structure de Pilotage: il s'agit du Comite National de Coordination (CNC) qui est compose du Secr6taire General du MDRE - President -, des Directeurs de la DNAMR, de la DNAER, de 1'IER, de la DNAFLA. Le CNC examine les rapports de supervision, approuve les programmes et les budgets annuels et oriente le programme. b) Structures de gestion._ elles comprennent * Niveau national: - la Direction Nationale de l'Agriculture dont les missions ont ete transferees A partir de 1996 A la nouvelle Direction Nationale de l'Appui au Monde Rural (DNAMR) dont le Directeur est le chef de projet. - le Coordinateur National; - la Cellule de Gestion financi6re et Comptabilite. * Niveau regional: - le Directeur Regional de I'Appui au Monde Rural (DRAMR), president du comite regional de Coordination; - la Cellule de Gestion Financiere et comptable chargee de l'engagement des depenses et de leur liquidation conformement au Programme d'Execution Technique et Financiere (PETF) c) Structures d'execution: elles comprennent 35 * Niveau national: - la DNAMR (Direction Nationale de l'Appui au Monde Rural) - la DNAER (Direction Nationale de l'Amrnagement et de l'Equipement Rural) - la DNAFLA (la Direction Nationale de l'Alphabetisation Fonctionnelle et de la Linguistique Appliquee) - 1IER (Institut d'Economie Rurale) - une equipe de supervision constituee des membres du Comite National de Coordination; - une seconde equipe de supervision constituee de superviseurs nationaux et des cinq specialistes (Formation, Liaison Recherche/Vulgarisation, Promotion Feminine, Cellule de Gestion Financiere, Suivi-Evaluation) et du coordinateur national. Ces cinq specialistes constituent l'equipe du Secretariat technique au niveau de la Coordination nationale. * Niveau regional: - les Directions regionales de l'Appui au Monde Rural et les ODR d'Agriculture; - les Directions regionales de l'Amenagement et de l'Equipement Rural; - les Directions regionales de l'Education; - les Centres Regionaux de Recherche Appliquee (CRRA) - une 6quipe de 4 specialistes ( Formation, LRV, Cellule de Gestion Financiere, Suivi - Evaluation). * Niveau cercle: - le chef de service de I'Appui Conseil de l'Amenagement et l'Equipement Rural (SLACAER) entoure de Techniciens Specialises (TS) du Specialiste en Organisation Paysanne (SOP) et des contr6leurs d'enquete. * Niveau arrondissement (communal): = Le superviseur Direct ( SD), les agents vulgarisateurs a la base (AVB), et les enqueteurs. 4 REALISATIONS DU PROGRAMME Les resultats suivants ont et atteints au terne de la premiere phase de quatre ans et des deux ans de prolongation. 4.1 Aspects techniques 4.1.1 Composante Vulgarisation Agricole Les acquis Par rapport aux resultats techniques, les realisations sont les suivantes: * Couverture zonale En terme de villages encadres, il a et6 couvert 4143 villages soit un taux de couverture de 65% par rapport au potentiel de villages existants (6359 en 1995/1996). 36 Par rapport au nombre d'exploitations le taux de couverture etait de 72% en 1995/1996 ) et de 67% pour les superficies d'exploitation. Le dispositif de vulgarisation a 6te deploye sur l'ensemble du territoire hormis les zones couvertes par la CMD)T et a permis de toucher lA oi l'encadrement des producteurs etait inexistant et renforcer la capacite d'autres structures telles que l'Office du Niger, les Offices Riz (Segou et Mopti) et les projets et programmes dans les R&gions nord du pays. Ainsi 12 500 Groupes de Contact ont ete touches en moyenne soit plus de 300 000 exploitations agricoles. * Personnel d'encadrement L'effectif est passe de 895 agents en 1992/1993 a 1212 agents en 1994/1995 pour redescendre A 1183 agents en 1995/1i996 suite A la restructuration du programme qui a engendre en partie une diminution des effectifs surtout sur certains postes (SD, TS, Responsables Regionaux de formation, LRV, S/E). A partir de 1994, le programme a ete renforce par l'ouverture de postes de specialistes nationaux et regionaux.. Une autre incidence de la restructuration a 6te l'apparition d'AVB et de SD de profil elevage et enviro:nnement pour donner corps a l'esprit d'integration au sein du programme. II faut signaler aussi la mise en place d'organes de coordination et de supervision par region (comite regional de coordination, equipe regionale de supervision). * Ratios d'encadrement: Si l'on considere I'anni6e 1991/1992 comme annee de r6ference, d'une maniere generale, la tendance de 1992 a 1996 est a l'amelioration des ratios. En effet la moyenne de Villages/AVB est de 5,5 au lieu de 4. Celle de G-C/AVB est de 23 contre 19 en 1991/1992 et PD/AVB est de 33,5 au lieu de 25 pour l'annee de reference. Le District de Bamako cle part sa particularite connait un encadrement specifique et le ratio est I specialiste ( Agriculture, Elevage, Environnement) pour 28 concessions rurales sur un total de 7 000 concessions rurales. * Evolution des realisations en parcelles de Demonstration (PD) Agriculture ( principaux themes): Les PD ont connu les taux de realisation annuels de 71% en 1992/93 a 96% en 1993/94 et 55% en 1994/95, ensuite 59% en 1995/96. Cette evolution en dents de scie s'explique par la restructuration intervenue en 1994 qui a revu a la baisse le ratio nombre de GC/AVB et par voie de consequence le nombre de demonstrations par cercle AVB. Les tatux de realisation annuels, a 1'exception de 1993/94, sont moyens. Ceci s'explique en grande partie par l'insuffisance des agents de base, des moyens de deplacement et 37 surtout la non disponibilite a temps des intrants pour les demonstrations. Aussi on a rencontre des cas de perte due a la secheresse, aux noyades en zones inondees et aux sauteriaux. Adoption des principaux themes vulgarises: Des resultats significatifs ont ete enregistres: * Utilisation la fumure organique: 81 840 adopteurs sur 123 883 hectares; * Traitement des semences: 61 199 adopteurs sur 66 318 hectares; * Deparasitage des animaux (bovins): 256 196 tetes; * Vaccination de la volaille: 502 890 sujets vaccin6s. Quelques adoptions au niveau des paysans autres dans les regions ( 1997- 1998): * Kayes: entretiens culturaux sur mil: 27% * Segou: utilisation de la fumure organique sur mil: 50% * Koulikoro: densite de semis sur mil: 44% * District de Bamako: repiquage des plants maraichers:25% Incidences de certaines adoptions en Agriculture, Elevage et Environnement: * Rendements en Agriculture (kg): speculations mil et riz Les rendements moyens obtenus suite aux adoptions de themes en cultures cerealieres sont superieurs sur les parcelles d'adoption (PA) a ceux des parcelles ordinaires (PO). C'est ainsi que les rendements moyens sur les PA en mil ont et6 en 1994/95 de 960 kg contre 640 kg sur les PO, et en 1997/98 de 680 kg sur les PA contre 510 kg sur les PO. Pour la culture du riz les rendements moyens ont ete de 3,37 tonnes sur les PA en 1994/95 contre 2,68 tonnes sur les PO, et en 1997/98 de 4,5 tonnes sur les PA contre 3,05 tonnes sur les PO. * Vaccination de volaille: Les taux de mortalite ont diminue par l'application de la vaccination aviaire dans les regions comme l'attestent les resultats suivants de quelques localites: Dans le District la mortalite enregistree a et de 40% en 1994/95 contre 10% en 1997/98, et dans la region de Mopti elle a et de 21% en 1994/95 contre 13% en 1997/98. * Production de miel: La production d'une ruche amrlioree varie de 12 a 15 kg tandis que celle des ruches traditionnelles est de 5 kg en moyenne. Les points faibles - effectif des agents de base insuffisant; - insuffisance de l'outil diagnostic utilise; Les contraintes: - absence de ligne de credit agricole qui handicape fortement la generalisation de l'adoption des technologies par les paysans; - difficulte d'approvisionnement des producteurs en intrants. 38 Ces deux contraintes ont en effet beaucoup affecte certains resultats du programme. Les axes d'amelioratiion - renforcer le personnel d'encadrement de base et amrliorer les competences des cadres par la formation sp6cialis6e; - promouvoir le credit agricole ( intrants, equipements); - ameliorer l'outil diagnostic en adoptant l'approche participative villageoise. 4.1.2 Composante Liaison Recherche - Vulgarisation - Exploitation Agricole Les acquis: Toute une gamme de themes a ete mise en ceuvre de 1992 a 1996 a travers des test en milieu paysan aussi bien en agriculture, elevage qu'en environnement et ce sur plusieurs sites a travers le pays. C'est ainsi que sur 143 themes passes, 133 ont ete enregistres dans le domaine de I'agriculture contre 6 el: 4 respectivement dans les domaines de I'elevage et de l'environnement Ces flux technologiques ont permis de resoudre plusieurs preoccupations des producteurs identifies lors des diagnostics et remontees a la Recherche. Tous les paysans interview6s decrivent parfaitement les tests, demontrent leur interet et sont acquis a la cause. Le nombre de TMP realise est 2381. Les paysans ayant visite les stations de Recherche et les TMP sont au nombre de 3604. Les points faibles: - retard dans la mise a disposition des intrants pour les TMP (engrais mineraux, semences, etc.); - processus long dans la generation des technologies par les chercheurs; - faible participation des chercheurs au diagnostic et parfois aux AMRT compte tenu de leur effectif insuffisant. Les axes d'amelioratio_n: Par rapport aux essais et tests en milieu paysan: - ameliorer le systeme cle gestion interne pour disposer des intrants a temps; - assurer une plus grancle participation des vulgarisateurs dans les essais en milieu paysan par un choix judicieux des traitements et une adaptation a l'agroecologie et au contexte socio economique des paysans. Cette participation pourrait se concretiser lors des ateliers "Bilan et Programmation" du PNVA au sein duquel le chercheur aura a presenter son programme d'essais et tests qui fera l'objet de discussion. Les traitements suggeres par le chercheur pourront 8tre ainsi amendes par les vulgarisateurs. 4.1.3 Composante Formation - Communication, Alphabetisation et Organisations paysannes 39 Les acquis: Durant la periode 1992-1998 le bilan est le suivant: - en AMRT, le nombre de sessions realisees est de 446 sur une prevision de 592 soit 79%. Les participants ont ete de 853 sur une prevision de 924 soit 92%. - En FQ, le nombre de sessions a ete de 3463 sur une prevision de 4190 soit 83%. - Les Visites d'echanges d'experiences entre paysans ont connu un taux de realisation de 51% par rapport aux previsions. Centrees essentiellement sur les paysans, la participation de l'encadrement a ete faite dans la proportion de 1 pour 5 paysans. - Les Formnations specifiques: 585 sessions ont et realisees sur une prevision de 962 soit 61%. Ces sessions ont concemr 15 389 personnes surune prevision de 43 389 soit 35 %. - I'Alphab6tisation et les Organisations paysannes: * en Alphabetisation fonctionnelle, il y a eu 11 sessions de formation qui ont concerne 560 animateurs externes, 11200 auditeurs, 33 SOP et 2726 neo-alphabetes. Sur une prevision de 400 centres a ouvrir, 385 ont ete realises soit 96%. Sur les 385 crees, 104 ne sont pas fonctionnels a cause surtout de l'exode des animateurs villageois; * la Formation des formateurs de paysans: elle stest adressee aux neo-alphabetes confirmes par le test de niveau et a regroupe en mnoyenne 10 a 20 auditeurs par centre de formation a raison de 5 a 10 auditeurs par village.; 71 formateurs de paysans ont ete formes sur prevision de 151 soit 47%; * la Formation des neo-alphabetes en gestion: 2660 ont etes formes sur une prevision de 4170 neo-alphabetes soit 64%; - les activites mediatiques: elles ont connu une r6alisation de 95 emissions Radio et 7 pour la Tele aux niveaux regional et local a partir de 1993. Le faible taux de realisation des emissions Tele s'explique par la non decentralisation de cet outil au niveau regional (excepte Mopti et Kayes qui emettaient sur differe et sur une courte plage). Tandis que le developpement des radios de proximite a joue en faveur des emissions radio. - les autres formations: - Cinq voyages d'etudes ont eu lieu en Guinee- Conakry, Benin, Burkina Faso; - Six Consultations ont ete menees dans divers domaines ( Test de credit, Acces des femmes aux services Agricoles, Etudes par les Beneficiaires, Etudes quantitative, Revue a mi- parcours, Evaluation finale); - Quatre sessions de formation ont ete recues de l'exterieur du pays (France, Senegal, Pays- Bas). 40 Les points faibles: - faible implication des TS et des paysans dans le processus de programmation finale des themes techniques; - faible valorisation des neo-alphabetes - insuffisance de supports pedagogiques et d'activites mediatiques; - insuffisance de formation des AVB en technique de communication. - insuffisance de formLation specialisee pour les cadres; Les axes d'amilioration: - rendre le processus de programmation plus participatif; - creer, equiper et doter des centres d'alphabetisation en materiels didactiques; - identifier des creneaux d'utilisation des neo-alphabetes; - renforcer le contact avec l'ORTM et les radios rurales pour parvenir a une meilleure exploitation des m6dias et ameliorer ainsi le systeme d'information des producteurs. - realiser des formations specialisees pour les responsables et les TS 4.1.4 Composante Suivi -Evaluation Les acquis: - La restructuration du Programme suite A l'evaluation mi-parcours a abouti A un dispositif unique de S/E tant au niveau national que regional et local. Le nombre de cellules a ete reduit de 17 A 6. La cellule centrale a t etoffee avec deux cadres. Les ratios ont et ameliores, et le r8le des responsables dans le Suivi-Evaluation A tous les niveaux a ete defini pour un meilleur pilotage du programme. - Le fonctionnement du reseau a evolue en rapport avec les objectifs de vulgarisation et a debouche sur les resultats significatifs suivants: - la tenue d'ateliers nationaux sur le Suivi/evaluation pour assurer une maitrise des outils. Six ateliers ont et organises; - la participation A six ateliers sous- regionaux de Suivi-evaluation pour harmoniser les outils; - la conduite d'enqu8tes specifiques sur les groupes de contact qui a une meilleure constitution de ces derniers ainsi qu'une amelioration de leur fonctionnement; - la conduite des etudes sur PNvaluation quantitative de la vulgarisation agricole et l'evaluation qualitative du Programme par les beneficiaires; - l'eaboration du rapport sur l' volution du rendement des parcelles et unites d'adoption; - la publication des resultats qui ont et significatifs au niveau des technologies (lutilisation de la fumure organique, les entretiens culturaux, les traitements des semences, le deparasitage des animaux, la vaccination de la volaille, la lutte anti-erosive, etc.). - la formation du personnel et son recyclage aux methodologies d'enquetes. Les agents ayant participe sont au nombre de 344 enqueteurs, 130 contr6leurs, 47 responsables de cellules. Les missions d'appui aux agents de terrain sont au nombre de 3. 41 Les points faibles - absence d'enquetes de Suivi Evaluation de base; - instabilite des agents suite aux frequentes mutations; - retard parfois marqu6 dans la foumiture des donnees de base par le reseau de la vulgarisation entrainant le plus souvent des enquetes retrospectives; - frequence elevee des enquetes de Suivi (taux de participation; taux d'adoption; taux/sur les unites d'adoption); - pertinence non evidente de certains indicateurs; - insuffisance de la maitrise des outils de collecte par certains agents; - insuffisance dans la circulation des informations au sein des structures; - insuffisance des missions sectorielles d'appui; - inexistence de stages de perfectionnement. Les axes d'amelioration - relancer des ateliers nationaux et sous regionaux de Suivi/evaluation pour une meilleure formation des agents; - mettre l'accent sur les etudes et les enquetes specifiques ainsi que sur les missions sectorielles d'appui; - identifier des indicateurs pertinents d'impact ainsi qu'une methodologie de mesure des resultats; - r6duire la frequence des enquetes de Suivi; - former en informatique et /ou recycler les responsables du Suivi/evaluation a l'utilisation des outils de traitements des donnees aux niveaux central et regional . - profiter du recensement agricole pour avoir une base de donnees aptes a la mesure des impacts. 4.2 Situation Financiere du Programme 4.2.1: METHODES RETENUES POUR LE SUIVI ET LA PRESENTATION DES ETATS FINANCIERS Le suivi comptable et financier des operations du Programme effectue au sein de Cellule Administrative, Comptable et Financiere a connu deux phases d'evolution dans sa prise en charge des transactions initiees pour l'execution du Projet. Au cours des trois premiers exercices (1992 - 1994), les operations du Programme etaient apprehendees dans les livres sur la base des principes d'une comptabilite de tresorerie. A partir de 1995 un nouveau progiciel de comptabilite et de gestion a ete mis en vigueur. Ainsi, les etats financiers du PNVA comprenaient desormais un bilan, un compte de resultats et les differentes situations annexes donnant des informations complementaires sur la situation des deboursements par categories de depenses, le fichier des immobilisations. 4.2.2: Presentation de la situation financiere consolidee du PNVA au 22 octobre 1998 4.2.2.1: Le tableau d'execution budgetaire Au 22 octobre 1998, la situation consolidee d'execution des depenses s'eablit comme suit: Categories de depenses Montant Initial Reallocation Reallocation Consommation au Reliquat % . _________________________I en DTS -3-avr-97 1-v8 22-octobre-98 Consommation I Genie civil 600 000 300 000 290 000 285 250,19 4 749,81 98,36 % 2 Equipements et materiels 1 300 000 910 000 920 000 911 521,10 8 478,90 99,08 % 3 Whicules 4 000 000 5 000 000 5 000 000 4 546 332,28 453 667,72 90, 93 % 4 Services de consultants 600 000 2 550 000 2 700 000 2 671 436,07 28 563,93 98,94 % 5 Couits de fonctionnement 9 200 000 8 580 000 8 430 000 8 573 226,66 - 143 226,66 101,70 % 6 Remboursement de l'avance pour la preparation du projet 1 100 000 960 000 960 000 958 173,72 1 826,28 99,81 % 7 Non affecte 1 500 000 0 0 0 0 0 18 300 000 18 300 000 18 300 000 17 945 940,02 - 125,78 Manque a gagner sur le remboursement du compte special. 353 934,20 Total 18 300 000 18 300 000 18 300 000 18 299 874,22 - 125,78 100,00 % Le taux d'execution reel du credit est de 98,06 % ( 17 945 940,02 DTS ) Avec la prise en charge du manque A gagner du recouvrement du compte special (353 934,20 DTS) nous avons un taux d'execution de 100,00 % du credit. 43 4.2.3: Situation des fonds de contrepartie La contribution de l'Etat malien au financement du PNVA se fait au moyen de la prise en charge d'une quote-part des charges encourues sur la categorie 5 FONCTIONNEMENT et represente 15 % des depenses effectu6es sur cette categorie. L'Etat malien a effectue en 1994 et 1995 un important effort de rattrapage des retards de versement de 1992 et 1993. A cette date le montant global de la contrepartie malienne est de 985.149.750 FCFA contre 690.000.000 FCFA initialement prevus dans l'accord de credit, suite a l'incidence de la devaluation. Le tableau suivant donne la situation des versements effectues de 1992 A 1998: Exercices Inscriptions Montants budgetaires alloues 1992 107 103 000 26 775 750 1993 110 250 000 110 000 000 1994 308 446 000 308 446 000 1995 382 138 000 382 138 000 1996 47 000 000 47 00 0000 1997 47 000 000 39 950 000 1998 70 840 000 70 840 000 Total 1 072 777 000 985 149 750 4.2.4 Passation des marches: Tous les marches ont ete executes conformement aux directives de la Direction Generale des Marches Publics et de la Banque Mondiale et ont porte sur la foumiture des biens d'equipement (117 vehicules, 270 motos, 1.496 mobylettes et materiels de bureau). 4.2.5 Audit: Les comptes du PNVA ont et audit6s a la fin de chaque exercice c'est a dire le 30 juin et cela de 1992 a 1998. Le dernier audit a eu lieu le 14 septembre 1998. 4.2.6 Les points faibles: - absence de disponibilite de fonds au niveau r6gional pour financer les activites de formation, de deplacement et de transport; - lourdeur dans le mecanisme de passation de marche. 44 4.2.7 Les axes d'amelioration: - mettre en place au niveau regional un fonds de roulement pour executer les activites de formation, de deplacement et de transport; - alleger le mecanisme de passation de marche. 5. APPUIS DE LA BANQUE MONDIALE Le PNVA a regulierement requ les missions de supervision du siege en plus de celles de la mission residente de la Banque Mondiale. Les differentes recommandations ont facilite la bonne execution du programme. 6. VIABILITE DU PROGRAMME La mise en oeuvre du programme va se poursuivre dans le cadre de la restructuration du Ministere et aussi de la decentralisation. Deja la structure de base AVB, SD, TS etc. a et6 adopte dans le nouveau schema institutionnel du MDRE. Le Programme d'Appui aux Services Agricoles et aux Organisations Paysannes (PASAOP) en cours d'elaboration au MDRE comprend quatre composantes dont l'une est Vulgarisation, Alphabetisation et Formnation. Les acquis de la premiere phase du PNVA sont pris en compte dans cette composante et devraient etre consolides. Toutefois pour ne pas briser I'61an que lon observe suite a l'action sur le terrain du PNVA, un arret meme momentane du financement est pr6judiciable aux acquis. La viabilite du programme dependra de l'observation des differents axes d'amelioration et notamment la participation des beneficiaires a la programmation, au financement, au suivi et a l'evaluation de la vulgarisation ( communes rurales, O.P.A, ONG), le developpement institutionnel adapte a cette forme de gestion partageant les missions de vulgarisation entre les services de vulgarisation, les prives et les collectivites territoriales. 7. EFFETS ET IMAPACTS DU PROGRAMME Les effets du programme sont perceptibles sur le plan de la vulgarisation agricole. Depuis la restructuration de 1994 on a constat6 une integration des profils des agents du Developpement Ruiral ce qui a entrain6 l'apparition d'un professionnalisme au niveau non seulement du vulgairisateur mais egalement du paysan. En plus les zones ou l'encadrement etait pratiquement inexistant beneficient aujourd'hui d'un dispositif efficace de vulgarisation a travers le PNVA. 45 Au niveau de l'exploitation, I'adoption des technologies est satisfaisante et se traduit par une augmentation notable des rendements dans les villages encadres par le programme. Des ameliorations ont ete constatees en matiere de restauration de la fertilit& des sols A travers la lutte anti-erosive et la fertilisation organique. Par rapport aux femmes on a note une meilleure implication dans le programme; cette participation est passee de 7 A 22% A la fin du programme. II est apparu entre autres un allegement de leurs charges de travail et une diversification de leurs sources de revenus. Au niveau village on assiste A une apparition des organisations paysannes mieux structurees mais qui ont besoin d'etre dynamrisees et d'avantage plus organisees pour une meilleure prise en charge de toutes leurs actions de developpement. En ce qui concerne le partenariat, le programme a developpe une veritable collaboration avec differents intervenants (ONG, projets, administration, chambres consulaires, prives, etc.). 8. CONCLUSION Le manque de situation de r6ference depuis le demarrage du programme et l'absence d'indicateurs de mesure d'impact dans les documents de base n'ont pas permis d'evaluer surtout l'impact socio - economique et environnemental A la fin de la premiere phase. On note toutefois que les conclusions des etudes realisees notamment sur l'Evaluation quantitative de la Vulgarisation et l'Evaluation du programme par les b6neficiaires degagent des resultats d'une maniere generale positifs. Cependant pour l'atteinte de l'objectif global du Programme qui vise l'amelioration des revenus des paysans et l'augmentation de la production, il est indispensable de consolider les acquis de la premiere phase et de corriger les faiblesses constatees en s'orientant notamment vers un diagnostic villageois plus participatif, en mettant l'accent sur la formation et la responsabilisation des OPA et en favorisant la mise en place d'un systeme de credit mieux adapte aux realites paysannes qui prend en compte l'approvisionnement en intrants et les besoins en equipements indispensables. En outre les actions devraient porter sur une plus grande implication des beneficiaires a la programmation, au financement et au suivi - evaluation de la vulgarisation. 46 Annex III Ss. CT/MS MINISTERE DU DE;VELOPPEMENT RLpublique da Mali RURAL ET DE L'BAU u. u eopiewUn DMr-Vatt Foi SECRETARIAT GENERAL v 3 9 B ~~~~2 2 WS! MO ______/ R-GBamako. le22NEI99 Le Ministre du D6veloppement Rural et de l'Eau A Madame le Reprosentut cde 1l Mission \'