Rural development in Western and Central Africa VI th ANNUAL DONOR MEETING 9-11 May 2006 Casa San Bernardo - Rome, Italy Mohamed Manssouri, IFAD SYNTHESIS

Rural development in Western and Central Africa COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT/LOCAL DEVELOPMENT –Engage in a policy dialogue and reform on decentralization as the real entry –Based on WB’s evaluation and other assessments and existing efforts (decision tools) work together to develop an improved M&E System, CB analysis, benchmarking. –Increase our credibility by showing impact of CDD and improving impact of M&E vis-à-vis the tax payer and the various partners –Need for a better costs & benefits analysis to contribute really to poverty reduction and economic growth; –Increase collaboration between donors in order to have a higher impact on the ground; –Platform, websites, common events… –Land tenure is a key entry point (resource base, fiscal decentralization, cultural values…)

Rural development in Western and Central Africa FOOD CRISIS IN THE SAHEL Various causes for food-crisis: not only climate changes, but also locusts, social reasons, market, etc.:. Remote areas and rural areas are generally more affected. Need for more collaboration since the projects design. Need for better assessment capacity and emergency guidelines. Need to share information (public website). Early warning systems to be further developed Need to better understand the determinants of the crisis Need to better understand the management of the response to the crisis

Rural development in Western and Central Africa HIV/AIDS HIV is a social interactive issue. RD/Agriculture programmes can exacerbate the spread of HIV Agricultural & Rural Development can also make a substantial contribution to the Response to HIV/AIDS Better integrate HIV/AIDS issues in the projects. Need for a cross-sectoral mobilisation and collaboration against the pandemic. Mainstreaming at all levels (communities, national, regional, etc).

Rural development in Western and Central Africa CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Dynamic topic, increase of interest for this approach. Concrete achievements since 2005, Soils are one of the most important assets of developing countries’ capital. Already existing demand from private partners. Collective decisions processes in some case might slowdown the diffusion of CA. Dynamic at global and regional level Need for concrete application to build the momentum Africa should be part of Integrate WCA in this dynamic, create a network and find new partners: Could the decentralization of local communities foster the diffusion of CA? Economics: need to convince farmers of the economic comparative advantage.

Rural development in Western and Central Africa NATURAL RESSOURCES MANAGEMENT LAND TENURE Central issue but moderate progress Importance of the links between land tenure and local development. Need for more political engagement. Decentralization of land tenure arrangements is a way to empower local communities; Strong links between NRM, Land Tenure and CDDs. Pursue the partnerships initiated by ICARDD: Develop / create dialogue groups, sustainable platform, partnerships. between FAO / IFAD / AFD… a role for the Hub

Rural development in Western and Central Africa NATURAL RESSOURCES MANAGEMENT (2) CASE STUDIES - SOLARID, TERRAFRICA AND WB PROJECT ON PAYMENT FOR SERVICES Cost of inaction much higher than rehabilitation cost. Economic quantification strengthens engagement of all partners Integration TerrAfrica/ SolArid PES is a major innovation: need to consolidate and… scale up Need to start initiatives where people are able to pay for them.

Rural development in Western and Central Africa BIOSAFETY AND AVIAN FLU AVIAN FLU ALive has proven to be the appropriate entry point for collective action…. Agreement on the global vision Good donor coordination and distribution of rules on the avian flu issue: governance globally satisfactory Make it work…

Rural development in Western and Central Africa BIOSAFETY AND AVIAN FLU (2) BIOSAFETY GMOs are a reality, especially for cotton, it appears to be profitable, what about other crops; The question is not to know if we have to introduce GMO in Africa but to avoid negative impacts on the poor farmers, the environment, Agreement on the global vision: we need an appropriate environment (legal, regulatory…) and safeguards Need for regulations implementing rules and conservation of existing varieties. Working at regional level to generate economics of scale Inclusiveness/ethics Address genetic erosion capacities Need for supporting African countries in their understanding of OGM related issues. Need for strengthening capacities Assess the different potential problems and implement simulation to ensure farmers they won’t lose

Rural development in Western and Central Africa AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT RUBBER AND CARBON Innovativeness perennial crops/carbon sequestration Develop new types of financing for carbon and rubber. Carbon credit is temporary. Need to find ways to secure it. A lot of interest to be expanded to other crops

Rural development in Western and Central Africa AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT (2) COTTON Good progress and donor coordination. Joint dynamics of price risk management arrangement: promising innovation! Need for more partners’ involvement in the platform. New price risk management needs to be farmer-based

Rural development in Western and Central Africa AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT (3) FARMER ORGANIZATIONS (FO) Increase in dialogue with FO at all levels, Farmers’Forum is partnership venture at global level Need to have a differentiated approach to working with FOs (operational, local, national, regional) Need to support the structuring of FOs at the various levels and their networks

Rural development in Western and Central Africa Policy Reform Need to inform policies by rational information & knowledge Fact-based advocacy for agricultural & rural development How to support African agriculture? Consideration for environment when policies are defined; the resource base is not illimited The regional platform is a way to foster collaboration action through knowledge sharing & policy dialogue

Rural development in Western and Central Africa Thank you VI th ANNUAL DONOR MEETING 9-11 May 2006 Casa San Bernardo - Rome, Italy