Agriculture and Environment
__ - August 1997
i A WOR E D_BA ILIK{ �Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the
,__l_,_ . ___ 1 World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region. It is published penodically
X ; rt' .. by the Knowledge, Information and Technology Center on behalf of the Region.
iU t i LAbout 70% of Africa's poor are cultural services, and irrigation
rural. Some 40% of rural house- projects.
hold heads have completed prima- The situation in Tanzania typi-
* i = . xy education, compared with 70% fled the environment in which
of urban household heads. Forty- these investments were made.
3> _ > flve percent of the urban popula-
J _ ; s tion and 30% of the rural popula- � Official agricultural prices
tion have access to sanitation. were so low as to be conflsca-
W ~ _. Forty percent of school-age tory, and black markets
- ^ females in urban areas are developed:
enrolled in primary school, com- ( Government marketing enter-
pared with 25% in rural areas. prises were characterized by
E Z Overall, household data show that inefficiency, high overheads
a while a large percentage of the and poor service;
urban population does poorly, the (D Farm input supply by govern-
4 . . rural population does worse. ment was often accompanied
Economic growth of 6-7% per by signiflcant corruption and
year has been found to to be nec- poor service:
essary on average in Africa to � Potentially competing input
V obtain a 2% per year reduction in supply and marketing by pri-
the number of poor. This would vate or cooperative operqtors
i - ^_ require an agricultural growth rate was legally suppressed; and
of 4-5%. This is due not only to the 9 The exchange rate was overval-
large contribution of agriculture to ued, reducing the local curren-
gross domestic product (30-35% cy value of export crops and
on average), but also because in eroding the local currency
most African countries, the major value of imported food.
* = industries are related to agroin-
dustry, agricultural marketing, In addition to the above, projects
-u ^and farm input supply. were run largely by donors and
- S expatriates and government capac-
Early rural development strategies ity was not developed. By the early
1990s, the population of expatri-
* _ ff ....... > In the 1970s, donor agencies and ates working in African govern-
African governments began signif- ments and public enterprises
icant investments in 5 types of exceeded the number of European
projects: integrated rural develop- colonial administrators in 1955
ment projects, single crop devel- this includes all activities, not just
opment projects, agricultural agriculture and rural develop-
.g -. credit projects, free-s a n- ment). No doubt, there were some
successes. In Nigeria, integrated cess to agricultural extension in banking and savings mobilization
rural develooment Droiects have Kenva. A similar oositive result needs of the orivate sector.
been more successful. Some sin- was documented in Burkina Faso. Although NGOs are increasing
gle-crop development projects, in importance, some are repeating
such as the cotton projects in Is the new strategy working ? the past errors of the donors,
West Africa, were often successful. including expatriate management
But public sector agricultural A qualitative rating of performance ans hundreds of small-scale pro-
credit projects were largely disas- on policies regarding agricultural jects that prove unmanageable and
ters and large-scale irrigation pro- prices, fertilizer, extension and unsustainable without the NGOs.
jects had, at best, a mixed record. infrastructure was undertaken for National programs and price
Mali's Office du Niger project is an a number of countries. Some increases often do not reach sub-
example of success achieved in countries have progressed and sistence farmers . Thus, the poor-
the latter case. others regressed between the est are often ignored. This catego-
assessments made in 1988-92 and ry includes the old and disabled,
Changes in approach 1992-95. women whose husbands work
A more detailed analysis indi- elsewhere, farmers in remote
Changes in approach began in the cated that the poor performers areas with poor infrastructure,
late 1980s and 1990s. performed poorly in both econom- and those in low rainfall areas.
ic and agricultural policy. Efforts to build African capacity
First, donors supported eco- Countries doing least well on poli- are most often half-hearted. Few
0. nomic reform, removal of price cy and investment tend to do least good models of capacity-building
controls, public expenditure well in agricultural growth. exist, with the national extension
reforms, and marketing and However, the data indicate that programs coming the closest.
input supply reform to allow some countries are consistently The decline in donor support to
private and cooperative sector succeeding among the group rural development projects and
participation in a more com- which has taken the improved integrated commodity projects
petitive environment. Private agricultural strategy the furthest: was accompanied by a decline in
and cooperative banking and these include Benin, Guinea, Mali, investment in rural health, educa-
flnancial intermediation were Tanzania, Uganda, and up till tion and infrastructure facilities.
promoted. 1992, Nigeria. Some countries that National programs were not devel-
Second, integrated rural devel- are implementing many parts of oped fast enough to counter this
- opment projects began to be the strategy but are not consistent decline in donor support.
phased out by donors and gov- performers include Botswana, The natural resource manage-
ernments, as were public sec- Cote d fvoire, Kenya, Mauritius, ment projects were not sufficient-
tor agriculture credit projects Togo and Zaire. ly effective in retarding the high
and large-scale' irrigation pro- rates of soil, water, forest and
jects. Commodity projects Weaknesses in the new strategy wildlife degradation affecting most
were continued, with an of Africa. Also, governments have
emphasis on efficiency and One of the most debilitating weak- not had the capacity to manage
company restructuring. nesses has been the widespread natural resources.
Third, a single national agri- failure of structural adjustment to Most important, the lack of gov-
0. cultural research system and create an enabling environment emient commitment to agricul-
extension system at country for private investment in the rural tural development in many African
level was developed in many sector. Donors have also not countries greatly inhibited the
countries. emphasized the need to establish quality and quantity of donor
Fourth, farmers groups would good instruments to support the efforts. However, some donors
receive increasing help with private sector, and donor loans flnanced such investments even
input supply management, through government to the private when governments did not provide
marketing, irrigation, tree sector have not worked well. the operation and maintenance
planting, and soil conservation. Alternative flnancinng vehicles to funds needed to sustain invest-
the failed parastatal credit banks ments in agricultural research,
The earliest pilot of this changed have not been developed quickly extension, rural infrastructure,
approach was applied with suc- enough to provide for the credit, irrigation, environment, water
supply, and public marketing and roads, and transport pro- posals for replication.
input supply. grams, each serving rural All on-going and proposed
areas with participation by the Bank-assisted agriculture
Adjustments needed in the devel- private sector. projects will be reviewed to
opment strategy Use of extension, farmers'- identify changes that would
< groups credit, social services, enhance the positive impact
National agricultural exten- and policy reform to deal with on using and developing
sion with participation by women's issues. African capacity.
farmers, NGOs, and the private Safety net for the poorest. A participatory preparation
sector and with closer atten- < Capacity-building efforts in all <E and implementation plan
tion to fiscal sustainability. , projects and programs. involving farmers will be devel-
National agricultural research oped for every agriculture pro-
0 with better links to farmer Role of the World Bank ject supported by the Bank.
needs at one end and to inter- Safety nets for the rural and
national research at the other. Being the largest donor to African urban poorest would be estab-
Agricultural policy reform and agriculture, infrastructure, health lished .
0 institution-building with more and education, the Bank will play a The Bank and its affiliates
focus on land tenure, decen- comprehensive role in supporting would more actively support
tralization, overcoming of con- the modifled rural development the worldwide liberalization of
straints on rural women's par- strategy. agricultural trade and discour-
ticipation, and reform of the age inefficient industrial coun-
legal system. The Bank will be more selec- try agricultural policies that
Farmer-managed small-scale <E tive in targeting countries for reduce African export markets.
0 ir-igation. assistance in rural develop- Standardized performance
Expansion of natural resource ment programs, focusing on 0 indicators will be used to mon-.
0 management programs with those that demonstrate com- itor and evaluate progress of
more farmer and community mitment to appropriate agricul- the modified strategy.
management; support for tural policy and investment. Tradeoffs would be asessessed
national water, forestry and It will expand its information, between investments and poli-
soil fertility programs. 0 education and communication cies that maximixe rural
Support to farmers' groups to initiatives to help governments income growth, versus those
0 mobilize participation by farm- generate widespread commit- maximizing poverty reduction.
ers and especially by womens' ment by their citizenry.
groups in project preparation Bank flnance will increasingly Kevin Cleaver. 1997. Rural Development
and implementation. be directed towards national Strategiesfor Poverty Reduction and
Direct support for G) ~~~~~~~~~Environmental Protection in Sub-
Direct support fo:, private sec- sector or subsector programs. Saharan Africa. Directions in
0 tor marketing and processing Through well-articulated coun- Development series. World Bank. To
by lFC and M[GA. try assistance strategies, the order copies of the publication, please
Agricultural and rural credit bank would ensure that 6611p501 For r7ea6ted6informfti (703)
0 through rural-based private national education, health, please write, telephone or e-mail
and cooperative-owned banks nutrition, transport, water and P.C.Mohan. Rm. J5-171. 1818 H Street
which mobilize savings, use . economic policy programs pro- NW, Washington. D.C. 20433; tel. no.
market-determined interest vide support for rural and agri-
rates, and undertake loan cultural development.
recovery efforts. The Bank's affiliates, IFC and
Expansion of national health, 0 MIGA, will expand their invest-
0D education, population, and ment in agroindustry, agricul-
nutrition programs that tural marketing, and farm
include services to the rural input supply.
population, and a focus on pri- Natural resource management,
mary services. 0 forestry, and water projects
Development of infrastructure will be evaluated to identify
< in national water supply, rural best practice, leading to pro-