Document of No. 18422-CM - World Bank · Document of the International Development Association Report No. 18422-CM PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED CREDIT IN AN AMOUNT OF

Document ofthe International Development Association

Report No. 18422-CM

PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT

ON A

PROPOSED CREDIT

IN AN AMOUNT OF SDR 11.4 MILLION (US$15.1 MILLION EQUIVALENT)

TO

THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON

FORA

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONAND RESEARCH PROGRAM SUPPORT PROJECT

September 21, 1998

Rural Development 2Africa Region

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

Currency Unit = CFA franc (FCFA)US$1.00 = CFA franc 620 (April 1998)

FISCAL YEAR

July 1 - June 30

ACRONYMS

ADF African Development Fund (Fonds Africain pour le Developpement)AfDB African Development Bank - (Banque Africaine de Developpement)AVZ Front line field staff (Agent de Vulgarisation de Zone)BA Beneficiary AssessmentCAA Caisse Autonome d'AmortissementCAS Country Assistance Strategy (Strategie d'Assistance au Pays)CFD Caisse Francaise pour le DeveloppementCIRAD International Agricultural Research Center for Development (Centre International

de la Recherche Agricole pour le Developpernent)CPPR Country Portfolio ProgressDAG General Administration Directorate (Direction des Affaires Gendrales)DDC&GR Community Development and Rural Works Directorate (Direction du Developpement

Communautaire et du Genie Rural)DEC Directorate of Studies and Cooperation (MINEPIA) (Direction des Etudes et

Cooperation)DEPA Agricultural Projects and Studies Directorate (Direction des Etudes et Projets

Agricoles)DIRPEC Directorate for Fisheries (Direction des Pehes)DPA Agricultural Production Directorate (Direction de la Production Agricole)DPIA Animal Production and Industries Directorate (Direction de la Production et Industries

Animales)EU European Union (Union Europ6enne)FAO Food and Agricultural OrganizationGOC Government of CameroonHEVECAM Societe d'Hevea du CamerounICB International Competitive Bidding (Appel d'Offres International)IDA International Development Association (Association Internationale de

D&veloppement)IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development (Fonds International de

Ddveloppement Agricole)IRAD Agricultural Research Institute for Development (Institut de Recherche Agricole

pour le Developpement)M&E Monitoring and EvaluationMFI Micro-Finance InstitutionMINAGRI Ministry of Agriculture (Ministere de l'Agriculture)MINEPIA Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (Ministere de I'Elevage, des

Paches, et des Industries Animales)

MINREST Ministry of Technical and Scientific Research (Ministere de la Recherche Scientifiqueet Technique)

NCB National Competitive Bidding (Appel d'Offres National)NGO Non-Governmental Organization (Organisation non-gouvernementale)

O&M Operation and MaintenancePER Public Expenditure ReviewPNVA National Agricultural Extension Program (Programme National de Vulgarisation

Agricole)PY Project YearQAG Quality Assurance GroupSMS Subject Matter Specialist (Technicien Specialise)SOASP Farmner Organizations and Links with the Private Sector Specialist (Specialiste en

Organisations et Associations Paysannes et Liens avec le Secteur Prive)SODECOTON Societe de Developpement du CotonSPRA Presidential Secretariat for Administrative Reform (Secr*tariat Presidentiel pour

la Reforme Administrative)TSE Environment Subject Matter Specialist (Technicien Specialise en Environnement)

Vice President Jean-Louis SarbibCountry Director Serge MichailofSector Manager Joseph Baah-Dwomoh

Task Team Leader Christopher Trapman

iii

CameroonNational Agricultural Extension and Research Program Support Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROJECT FINANCING DATA ................................................................................... 1

A. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES .................................................................................. 2

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (SEE ANNEx 1) .......................................... 2

B. STRATEGIC CONTEXT .................................................................................. 2

SECTOR-RELATED COUNTRY ASSISTANCE STRATEGY (CAS) GOAL SUPPORTED BY THE PROJECT (SEE ANNEX 1) ......... 2MAIN SECTOR ISSUES AND GOVERNMENT STRATEGY .................................................................................. 2SECTOR ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE PROJECT AND STRATEGIC CHOICES ............................................................... 6

C. PROJECT DESCRIPTION SUMMARY ................................................................................. 9

PROJECT COMPONENTS ................................................................................. 9

KEY POLICY A ND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS SUPPORTED BY THE PROJECT .................................................................... 10

BENEFITS AND TARGET POPULATION ................................................................................. 10INSTITUTIONAL AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ............................................... 1.................................. I

D. PROJECT RATIONALE ................................................................................. 15

PROJECT ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND REASONS FOR REJECTION .......................................................................... 15MAJOR RELATED PROJECTS FINANCED BY THE BANK AND/OR OTHER DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES .................................. 16LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS PROJECTS AND REFLECTED IN THE PROJECT DESIGN ............................................. 18

INDICATIONS OF BORROWER COMMITMENT AND OWNERSHIP ................................................................................. 19VALUE-ADDED OF BANK SUPPORT IN THIS PROJECT ................................................................................. 19

E. SUMMARY PROJECT ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 20

ECONOMIC ................................................................................. 20

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 21TECHNICAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 22INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 22SOCIAL ISSUES ................................................................................. 23ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ................................................................................. 24PARTICIPATORY APPROACH ................................................................................. 24

F. SUSTAINABILITY AND RISKS ................................................................................. 25

SUSTAINABILITY ................................................................................. 25CRITICAL RISKS ................................................................................. 25POSSIBLE CONTROVERSiAL ASPECTS ................................................................................. 26

iv

G. MAIN CREDIT CONDITIONS .................................................... 27

H. READINESS FOR IMPLEMENTATION .................................................... 28

L COMPLIANCE WITH BANK POLICIES ................................................... 28

ANNEXES ....... ,0.29

ANNEX 1 - PROJECT DESIGN SUMMARY ................................................... 29

ANNEX 2 - DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION .................................................... 33ANNEx 3 - ESTIMATED PROGRAM COST ................................................... 49ANNEX4 - COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS SUMMARY .................................................... 50ANNEX 5 - FINANCIAL SUMMARY ................................................... 52ANNEX 6 - PROJECT PROCUREMENT AND DISBURSEMENT ARRANGEMENTS .................................................... 53ANNEx 7 - PROJECT PROCESSING BUDGET AND SCHEDULE .................................................... 62ANNEx 8 - DOCUMENTS IN PROJECT FILE ................................................... 63ANNEX 9 - STATEMENT OF LOANS AND CREDITS ................................................... 64ANNEX 0 - CAMEROON AT A GLANCE ..................................................... 65

Map No: 1BRD29544

Project Appraisal Document Page 1Cameroon: Agrcultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

CameroonNational Agricultural Extension and Research Program Support Project

Project Appraisal Document

Africa RegionRural Development 2

Project Financing Data

Date: September 21, 1998 Task Team Leader: Christopher TrapmanCountry Manager/Director: Serge Michailof Sector Manager/Director: Joseph Baah-DwomohProject ID: CM-PE-45348 Sector: Agriculture Program Objective Cat: Economic managementLending Instrument: SIL PTI: [ X] Yes [] NoProject Financing Data [] Loan [X] Credit [ ] Guarantee [] Other [Specify]

For Credits: Total project cost is estimated at US$46.1 million over 4 years, of which IDA funding isbeing sought for US$15.1 million.

Amount (US$m/SDRm): US$15.1m/SDR1 1.4 mProposed Terms: [] Multicurrency [ ] Single currency

Grace period (years): 10 [] Standard Variable [ ] Fixed [] LIBOR-basedYears to maturity: 40Commitment fee: N/A

Service charge: 0.75%Financing Plan (US$m):Source Local Foreign TotalGovernment 9.9 0.2 10.1IFAD 3.2 7.4 10.6IDA 10.4 4.7 15.1ADF 4.7 5.6 10.3

Total 28.2 17.9 46.1Borrower: Republic of CameroonProgram Implementation period: Four years for this phaseResponsible Agency(ies): Ministry of Agriculture

Estimated Disbursements (Bank FYIUS$M):1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04

Annual 2.5 4.2 3.2 3.4 1.9Cumulative 2.5 6.7 9.9 13.3 15.1

Expected Effectiveness Date: January 1999 Expected Closing Date: June 2003

Project Appraisal Document Page 2Cameroon: Agricultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

Foreword

This PAD has been prepared jointly with IFAD and will be used to justify funding from that institution.It is more detailed than suggested in the guidelines in order that full project details are clear to bothpartners. It also responds to comments raised by the QAG review in October 1997.

A. Project Development ObjectivesPROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (SEE ANNEX 1)

1. The project will contribute to improve farmers' agricultural productivity and incomes in asustainable way, through providing support to an integrated, farmer-orientated agricultural extensionsystem and a demand-driven research system. It aims at completing the reform of one of the two mainoperational branches of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Agricultural Production (DPA)initiated with the Bank financed PNVA. While attempting to provide services to all farmers, the projectwill progressively concentrate on small resource-poor farmers and women food crop producers on apriority basis. It will assist farmers, particularly market-oriented farmers to develop professionalassociations capable in due course to provide technology transfer services to their members on afinancially sustainable basis. It will test alternative methods for agricultural services delivery.

B. Strategic ContextSECTOR-RELATED COUNTRY ASSISTANCE STRATEGY (CAS) GOAL SUPPORTED BY THE

PROJECT (SEE ANNEX 1)

CAS Document no: 15275-CM, January 17, 1996 and Progress Report no IDA/R98-14 of March12, 1998

2. The Cameroon CAS emphasizes the need to consolidate the benefits of devaluation, improve theproductivity of the poor and create a climate favorable for private sector development. The previousAgricultural Extension project (Ln. 3185-CM) has already had a significant impact on the productivity offarmers in remote areas, where previous projects have had little impact (par.47 - 51). The next phase offunding, will continue to be the main lending instrument contributing to poverty alleviation in the ruralareas through direct improvement of agricultural incomes and productivity of farmers at all levels oftechnical advancement. It will contribute to the creation of a favorable environment for private sectoractivity by assuring the transfer of technology to hundreds of thousands of private farmers. Bydeveloping linkages between private partners (commercial and developmental) and public agriculturaladvisory services, it will stimulate new investments by the former in rural areas, as has already occurredfollowing initiatives started under the previous phase of program funding.

MAIN SECTOR ISSUES AND GOVERNMENT STRATEGY

3. Sector Issues - The response of traditional export crops producers to the price adjustmentbrought about by the CFA devaluation has been remarkable. New export crops responding to new marketopportunities have begun to be developed. Government has begun privatizing State-owned commercialventures operating in the traditional export crop markets and this will be supported and accelerated underthe proposed SAC III operation. Strengthening farmers' associations, especially in cash crops, to takeover some of the functions previously undertaken by parastatals and by the Government Administration isimportant and is receiving support from other donors, in particular the French AFD and the EU. A majorissue in extension policy is the elaboration of a flexible approach, linking the development of effectivetechnology transfer services to all farmers, with the requirement that such services be taken over byprivate enterprise and farmers' associations wherever the financial conditions of beneficiaries no longerjustify spending taxpayer money in support of technology transfer activities.


4. Extension policy - The above considerations introduce an important distinction with respect tothe role of the State in promoting technology development in agricultural production. It is generallyaccepted that the State has an important role to play in funding extension services. Service deliveryshould however not be the exclusive reserve of the State. Similarly it is important to make a distinctionbetween exclusively market-oriented farmers and those producing for subsistence. The public sector hasan important role to play with regard to the latter category, while the former category should gradually beoriented towards developing linkages with the private sector, and ultimately becoming financially selfsustainable, either individually or in groups, with respect to acquisition of technical know how.Government is aware of these issues and the project design includes features aimed at assisting thetransaction to a better focused policy in this respect, by testing practical ways in which such policy can beimplemented.

5. A stock of technological innovations already exists which can support important productivityincreases in Cameroonian agriculture. Most of these can be adopted by small farmers, and do not requireinvestment of cash resources beyond the means of the poorest sections of the community. The readinessof agricultural producers to mobilize the resources (in labor and cash) required to adopt technologychanges which bring about significant returns without increasing risk, is testified by their response tomarket signals on many occasions, and in particular following the January 1994 devaluation of the FCFA.The first phase project has shown that the successful transfer of technological innovations in agriculturedepends on successful continuous generation of adaptable technologies which respond to producers' feltneeds, and less on the availability of targeted financial resources offered to promote their adoption.

6. Agricultural Research. A continuous generation of technological solutions requires a dynamicagricultural research. This is an issue area which needs addressing on a priority basis. This is not only amatter of resource availability and technical skill development. In Cameroon, it is primarily a matter oforientation, selection and programming of priority research themes, planning of specific researchprojects, and efficiency in the implementation of such projects. In the research area also it is useful tokeep in mind the distinction between primarily market oriented specific crop producers, and primarilysubsistence oriented multiple crops producers. Research themes which would affect the long termprospects of Cameroonian agriculture to keep and improve its comparative advantage on the globalmarket cannot be identified by farmers alone and remain the responsibility of Government supportedresearch institutions. On the other hand, research themes which affect the immediate productionproblems of small farmers, whether primarily market or subsistence oriented, should be identified withtheir active participation. The participatory diagnostic practices experimented by the PNVA provide aninitial methodological basis for associating the clients in the identification of research themes of interestto them, and this process will be considerably strengthened under the project.

7. Government willingness to reform public sector research activities is witnessed by the recentreorganization of the agricultural research institutes into a single unit (IRAD), the streamlining of theorganization structure of the unified institution, and the drafting of a medium term research developmentplan for IRAD. However, a major issue to be addressed is the need to improve the system wherebyresearch programs are drawn up and priorities are set. There is a considerable gap still to be filled toensure that research programs are closely related to solving farmers' priority problems, and in particularthose of resource poor farmers. The project will support measures (a) to strengthen the process, alreadyinitiated with the ongoing PNVA project, of associating research staff closely with the work of theextension staff, particularly, but not exclusively, at the participatory diagnostic stage, and (b) to developeffective channels and procedures which would ensure that research themes originating in theparticipatory diagnostic work are reflected in the formulation of specific research programs and that theseprograms are effectively implemented.


8. A second important issue is the need to stimulate better efficiency in the agricultural researchsystem, which can only be brought about by stimulating competition. IRAD is not the only institutioncapable of handling agricultural research in Cameroon. There is scope for involving the Universities,potentially interested private enterprises, and other public and private institutions of the sub-region aswell. Potential suppliers of research services ought to be enabled to compete for research funding, andsuch competition is expected to contribute to efficiency in delivery, reducing costs, and to improve thequality of products. The project features a special financial arrangement (par. 19) designed to bring abouta competitive environment in the agricultural research field, which represents an important innovation inCameroon.

9. Rural Development Institutions. Another major issue is the clarification of the role of the PublicAdministration agencies dealing with rural development, a responsibility which is now split between fourdifferent Ministries. Problems to be resolved include, inter-alia, the elimination of duplication of unitsoffering similar services, the exploitation of the economies of scale which can be achieved throughunification of services, and the decentralization of a currently very centralized decision makingadministrative and financial management machinery. The Government has appointed a PresidentialSecretariat responsible for Reform of the Administration (SPRA) to review the entire Administration andmake proposals for reform. The new Minister of Agriculture is giving serious consideration to ways torestructure the Ministry to achieve better efficiency and eliminate duplication. The project will contributeto furthering this process in parallel to the civil service reform efforts, which are part of the structuraladjustment program. Furthermore, an initial step has been taken towards integrating agriculture andlivestock extension activities through the memorandum of understanding signed by the Ministry ofLivestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) inFebruary 1997, which defines the areas of collaboration between the two Ministries, along the lines of asimilar agreement signed between the Ministries of Agriculture and Scientific Research in April 1996following the creation of IRAD.

10. Currently the Ministry of Agriculture includes two operational departments: the Directorate ofAgricultural Production (DPA) and the Directorate for Rural Works and Community Development(DDC&GR), the latter dealing with rural infrastructure and community development, including nutritionand home economics extension, and women in development. The Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries andAnimal Industries similarly has two operational Departments, the first responsible for Animal Productionand Animal Industries and the second responsible for Fisheries. The main issues affecting theperformance of the two Ministries include: (i) ineffective management of national budget in support ofagricultural development objectives; (ii) lack of clear objectives for a large proportion of agriculturesector staff, which will be addressed by the project; (iii) diffused effectiveness of field services by thecontinued presence of multiple projects, the reduction of which is a stated objective of both Ministries;(iv) absence of advisory services available to a broad spectrum of farmers, particularly to women farmerswho produce the bulk of food crops; (v) lack of trained agricultural, zootechnical and veterinarytechnicians to fill posts which will become vacant as elder staff retire; (vi) lack of coordination of donoractivities in support of research and extension; and (vii) absence of an effective system of monitoring andevaluation of services provided to farmers, a major concern of decision-makers; (viii) need to improvethe extremely low levels of civil service remuneration since the early 1990s. All these issues, except for(viii) are being addressed by the project.

11. As a result of the Bank-supported national extension program, the MINAGRI has acquired apositive experience in operations management and decentralization for part of its services and staff. Thefield extension services supported by the PNVA introduced substantial changes in the modus operandi ofthe Directorate of Agricultural Production, including clear cut specific work programs and graduallydeveloped a decentralized system of funding, with some scope for independent contracting at provincial

Project Appraisal Document Page 5Cameroon: Agdcultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

level. Decision making on many matters, including work planning is decentralized at the level of theAgricultural Regions, one step lower than the Provincial Administration. The system currently provides asuccessful model which the Ministry is considering to extend to its other operating branches.

12. Funding and channeling offundsfor rural development. Of particular concern is the situationwith regard to budgeting, release of funds, spending procedures and audit in the Government ofCameroon generally, and in the MINAGRI in particular. Some of the current problems are due to theextremely tight conditions under which the Finance Ministry has operated since the early 1990s with aview to reversing the catastrophic Government financial position cumulated over the years. Themeasures taken by the Finance Ministry to regulate liquidity and flow of public funds have been drasticbut are showing signs of success.

13. Government's declared objective is to increase, over time, the flow of funds actually available toagriculture and rural development in such a way as to reach a share of the budget more in line with theshare of the sector contribution to GDP. This would imply a substantial increase over time. The Ministryof Finance has recently doubled the recurrent budget allocation to the field services of the Ministry ofAgriculture. If these amounts were actually made available, they would be almost sufficient to substitutefor external funding of the operational costs of extension. However, under current circumstances, not allbudgeted funds are released due to the inefficiencies and bureaucratic constraints of the funding releasesystem, which compound the constraints imposed by limited Government cash flow. The projectincludes measures to improve this (par. 23).

14. Other rural sector issues. At producers' level, other important constraints besides adaptabletechnology generation and transfer include: (a) poor quality of rural transport infrastructure; (b) limitedavailability of agricultural inputs, in particular of good quality seeds, planting material and breedingstock, to be addressed under the proposed project; (c) outside the export crop chains, poorly developedlinkages between producers and buyers, an issue to be addressed under the project; and (d) access to ruralfinance, in spite of the impressive development of new financial services micro-institutions (MFIs) in theprivate sector. These mobilize local savings and lend to creditworthy borrowers without imposing pre-determined criteria regarding loan objectives. Rural finance issues continue to be important. Support forimprovements in rural infrastructure is provided by IDA under the Transport Sector Project, which has amajor rural roads maintenance component. The lending program includes operations in support of ruralwater supply and rural finance.

15. Government Strategy - The Letter of Agricultural Development Policy, published in 1995,confirmed the Government's policy of economic liberalization and withdrawal from direct involvement inproduction and marketing activities. Activities of MINAGRI and MINEPIA now focus predominantly onimproving the accessibility of advisory services to farmers and on strengthening regulatory services toensure quality of inputs available to farmers. The strategy for agricultural advisory services is presentedin the September 1997 Agricultural Extension Policy statement, which was developed under the NationalAgricultural Extension Project (Ln. 3185-CM), emphasizes: (i) professionalism - by which field staffwill be freed of subsidiary activities and be able to concentrate on improving their professional skills andspending the bulk of their time with their clients: (ii) a single line of command; (iii) access by all farmersto the service; (iv) participatory farming systems diagnosis by farmers, extension and research staff; (v)close links with research and other farmer support structures; (vi) regular and continuous training; (vii)efficient systems of communication; and (viii) flexibility to allow the national extension system to evolveso as to be open to substitution of public services by farmers' organizations and private providers. Amajor objective of the new policy is to bring together limited resources (internal and external) in supportof a cost-effective national approach to providing agricultural services and to reduce over time relianceon external funding.


SECTOR ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE PROJECT AND STRATEGIC CHOICES

Sector Issues

16. Long term extension policy aims at orienting the bulk of public agricultural extension activitiestowards resource poor farmners. This will be achieved by (a) concentrating public extension services inremote and resource-poor areas; (b) allowing for flexibility in applying farner/extension staff coverageratios; (c) targeting participatory diagnostic work to agricultural production problems according to levelsof income and gender; (d) continuing to concentrate on technology with no/low investment; and (e)giving priority to training of extension personnel across the board in gender issues and in identification ofproduction problems by different social groups. The project includes measures and pilot programs(Annex 2, par. 8) to support alternative modes of extension delivery for the relatively advanced groups.

17. The project would support establishing/strengthening professional associations of primarilymarket oriented producers. At village level, larger and medium-scale farmers and associations ofproducers of "cash-crops" will be encouraged to obtain specialized advice at a higher level than the AVZ,and to purchase advisory services from individual professional agronomists or consulting finns.Gradually such farmers, whether individuals or companies, will graduate from being part of the contactgroups of the PNVA and will receive one-on-one advice from subject matter specialists or will buyadvisory services from private enterprise, who will be encouraged to run their own extension services, tosupport sale of inputs and/or producers outgrowers, whether in cropping or livestock. The initiative willbuild on the collaboration agreements being developed with private companies and will use the SOASPstaff in facilitating the establishment of Professional Associations. Funds are provided for a pilotinitiative to assist one or two professional associations (such as coffee or potato producers) in improvingtheir organization and management and also to explore ways for the Associations to contract moreadvanced research and extension support.

18. Improving services to women farmers - A major emphasis will be made to tailoring extensionmessages to the needs of women farmers, since they account for the largest share of food-cropproduction. Objectives include increasing the participation of women in regular meetings with field staff(from 35% to 50% over 4 years). A pilot component under the project envisages the recruitment undercontract of 200 female extension staff. Integration of the female food nutrition staff, employedpreviously by the Food Security project and mobilization of female community development staff wouldresult in a four-fold increase in the number of female staff at the field level.

19. A grant scheme to finance agricultural research activities on a competitive basis - The bulk ofthe support envisaged for the agricultural research program will be extended to IRAD by the AfricanDevelopment Fund, under separate parallel financial arrangements. This includes the bulk of IRAD'srehabilitation requirements, staff training, and a significant amount to cover the cost of on-stationresearch work. The project includes a competitive grant scheme to support specific research activitiesover and above funds included in the ADF-financed IRAD program. The competitive grant will supportadditional on-station or on-farm research activities concerned with themes identified as a result ofparticipatory diagnostic work with farmers at field level. Access to this grant will be open to allinterested research outfits of the region, IRAD included, which will be awarded contracts on acompetitive basis. The project also includes in-field research activities to be undertaken jointly with staffof IRAD, which will be funded with Bank and IFAD resources. With the addition of the competitivegrant scheme to the resources made available by the ADF, there ought to be no lack of resources tosupport on-station agricultural research activities during the next four years.

20. Availability of good quality planting material- the project will address this matter with a threeprong strategy: (a) assisting the MINAGRI to formulate rules and regulations regarding seed production


and trade; (b) provide resources to finance an adequate initial production by research institutions of baseseeds of crop varieties demanded by resource poor farmers, and of disease free planting material of rootcrops, (c) encourage small farmers group multiplication of good quality improved varieties of seed anddisease free planting material, and (d) encourage the activities of private enterprise in seed and breedingstock production and distribution.

21. Availability of inputs through improved collaboration between Private and Public Sectors -Theproject will contribute to the transfer of input distribution and marketing activities previously assured byparastatals or projects through closer collaboration with the private sector. A successful start has alreadybeen made under a series of agreements linking private sector input supply merchants and exporters withfarmers' groups and associations and credit institutions. This has been through the PNVA unitresponsible for links with the private sector and support for farmers' associations. The development ofnational farmers' unions and federations of farmers' associations will be pursued.

22. Improvements in productivity of public sector staff- Since 1993 the real level of civil servants'salaries has fallen by 70%. To counter the effects of this and improve morale and productivity, effortswere made under the previous project to ensure joint programming of field visits, supervision and traininginvolving farmers, front line staff and supervisors. As a result, more than 2,000 employees of theMinistry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Livestock and IRAD have clearly defined work programs andobjectives. For many this has provided a new sense of purpose. Support for efforts to broaden theseactivities beyond the extension services will continue. In addition an incentive scheme has beenintroduced whereby the Ministry awards special recognition to staff who have performed especially wellat the end of each year. Private partners working with PNVA have proposed similar awards schemes.Only about 25% of Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock staff will be directly involved in activitiescovered by the project. Both Ministries need to define the role of more than 4,000 remaining staff.Maintaining these staff on the Government payroll has important implications for sustainability of localfunding for the sector. Government will carry out before December 31, 2000 an operational audit of theMinistries of Agriculture and Livestock to define the essential roles for them and to determine the optimalnumbers of staff required by the rural Ministries. The audit will include a human resource study. Theconclusions of this study should be reviewed during the project Mid-tern Review and would provide abasis for future support to the Government in efforts to rationalize the overall public serviceestablishment. Following the operational audit, proposals will be made to retain only those staff requiredto fulfill this new mandate. The operational audit will be carried out by Presidential Secretariat forAdministrative Reform (SPRA) and undertaken in collaboration with the Secretaries General ofMINAGRI and MINEPIA.

23. Improved use of domestic funding to meet the operating costs of agricultural extension andresearch - The decentralized funding system set up for the management of external funds under theprevious project has demonstrated that greater decentralization of financial responsibility can result inincreased effectiveness in the use of public funds, provided adequate accounting reporting and auditing isapplied. Financial control procedures emulating the system adopted for external funding will bedeveloped for local funding during this next phase and should be in place by June 30, 2000 (par. 80).Concurrently, the shortcomings in financial management by provincial staff of the PNVA will beremedied, through better training of accounting officers. Following CPPR reviews and encouragementfrom Bank disbursement staff, the Government is improving staffing of the CAA, to better service themany international financed projects the flow of funds of which they handle centrally.

24. Coordination of donor support for rural development activities- The Government of Cameroonhas undertaken over the past two years a series of workshops on regional priority setting for the ruralsector. Based on the priorities identified, the Government has prepared a draft policy statement


(September 1997) in which it confirms that agricultural technology transfer is a priority. The Bankenvisages to do a review of rural sector strategy in FY99 and prepare a more detailed, specific andfocused discussion of rural sector priorities and interventions, and public expenditure and sectorinvestment programming than has been possible with limited resources over past years. Within theproject itself, funds have been earmarked to enable the Ministry of Agriculture to refine its strategy anddevelop an Action Plan for specific future investment projects, addressing complementary ruraldevelopment priorities. The joint financing of this program by three major multilateral aid agencies(IDA, AfDB, and IFAD) will provide necessary critical mass and support to Government efforts toencourage other donors to support the strategic objectives of the agricultural services strategy.

25. Internal and external monitoring and evaluation - these activities will be further developed bythe project with particular attention to (a) improving the internal management information system withregard to reporting on current activities and to accounting, (b) getting feedback from beneficiaries withrespect to the impact of the action taken, in time to take corrective measures. Specific technologyadoption case studies will be carried out, with a view to understanding the reasons for adoption/rejection,the way in which farmers tend to adapt innovations in their own environment, and the impact of adoptionon the farming system and the economy of the households; and (c) assessing the quantitative impact ofextension. A base line survey of a limited scope will be carried out in 1998 and repeated every two years,with a view to monitor the overall impact of the project on agricultural production in Cameroon.

Strategic Choices

26. A number of strategic choices have been made in project design:

a) The Government of Cameroon, while continuing to support a primarily public sector extensionservice, has declared its readiness to support the assumption of extension activities by farmers'groups and associations and increased linkages with private sector partners. The project will supportthese initiatives and other pilots aimed at identifyingcost-effective alternatives for the provision ofadvisory services, requiring less dependency upon public funding. Alternative experiences fromother countries will be reviewed through study visits and the development of follow-up pilots.

b) In line with the general objective of contributing to the institutional development process inCameroon, the project supports the activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and is fully integrated inthe structure of the Administration at central and field level for operational planning and managementpurposes. The decentralization process initiated under the PNVA will be strengthened. During thisnext phase, and pending reform of the government budget release system, and of the introduction ofimproved accounting, auditing and financial reporting procedures, however, the financial flows willfollow a parallel and separate channel, the effectiveness of which has been proven by the first PNVAloan. Assistance to the Ministry to streamline its procedures in close coordination with the Ministryof Finance has been included in the project.

Project Appraisal Document Page 9Cameroon: Agricuftural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

C. Project Description SummaryPROJECT COMPONENTS

(see Annex 2for a detailed description and Annex 3for a detailed cost breakdown):

Cost incl. % of IDA % of

Component Category contingen- total financ- IDAcies ing financing

(US$M) (US$M)

Agricultural extension - (i) transfer ofenvironmentally sustainable improved technology,with particular emphasis on women farmers; (ii) Institution

making available improved seeds; (iii) increasing buildn 26.1 57 9.4 62use of mass media; and (iv) monitoring progress of buildingextension

Agricultural research - (i) strengthening IRAD'sagricultural research services; (ii) supportingselective priority on-station research; (iii) trainingIRAD research and management staff; (iv) Institutionsupporting research/extension linkages; (v) building 14.6 32 1.0 7improving the quality and efficiency of researchthrough a demand-driven, competitive grantscheme.

Training and Human Resources Development -supporting in-service training and a pilot project to Institution 3.9 8 3.5 23rehabilitate two/three agricultural colleges. building

Farmer Organization Support and PrivateSector Linkages - developing commercial linkagesbetween farmers' groups and agricultural merchants Institution 0.5 1 0.4 3and suppliers, NGOs and other partners to improve buildinginput supply and marketing of produce.

Village-based participative communitydevelopment pilot - testing an approach providingvillages a platform to (i) determine ruraldevelopment priorities; (ii) implement action plans; Institution 0.4 1 0.3 2and (iii) obtain the assistance needed from various buildingservice providers (including extension)

Project impact evaluationand studies - external evaluation of project impact Institution 0.6 1 0.5 3and funding studies for an action plan for rural buildingdevelopment investments

TOTAL _ 46.1 100 15.1 100


KEY POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS SUPPORTED BY THE PROJECT

27. The project supports the institutional reform process of the Ministry of Agriculture, modifies itsapproach towards different categories of farmers and thus contributes to (a) promote the conditions forlowering the burden on public finances of technology generation and transfer, and (b) better coordinateagricultural production and poverty alleviation policies. Improvements in planning, financing, andimplementation of agricultural extension and research have been illustrated above (par. 16-26). Longerterm financial sustainability would be enhanced by the gradual reduction of unproductive staff in theMinistries of Agriculture and Livestock, as the role of these Ministries is more clearly defined.

BENEFITS AND TARGET POPULATION

28. Up to 30% of Cameroon's farmers in each of its 10 provinces will be targeted as directbeneficiaries of the project. Women farmers, who represent more than half of the farming population,and over 80% of the food crop producers, will be targeted by special efforts to identify technologyrelevant to their needs during on-farm diagnosis and by associating a larger proportion of women incontact groups meeting with front line staff. The poorest rural populations will be targeted by ensuringthat extension services are available in the remotest areas of the country.

29. Primary benefits

- with regard to impact on growth: the project will build on successful initiatives started under theprevious National Agricultural Extension and Training project and contribute to increase agriculturalproductivity and output and thereby foster agricultural development and increase rural incomesdirectly for up to thirty per cent of the country's farmers;

- with regard to impact on income distribution: rural poverty will be reduced, household food securityand nutrition levels will improve through particular emphasis given under the project to: (a) theidentification of the production problems specific to the poor sections of the rural community, and(b) tailoring technology transfer activities to the particular requirements of women farmers whoproduce the bulk of Cameroon food crops. The project will fund services in all areas of the countrybut will make special efforts to cover particularly remote areas, where some of the poorest tranchesof the population reside;

* the assets of the Government institution specializing in agricultural research will be rehabilitated.

30. Other Benefits

* The rationalization of the activities and staff of multiple institutions and projects in the rural areaswill lead to better use of scarce public resources and foster the process of administrative reform;

* More experience with decentralization of field services management will be acquired;

* The professional level of more than 2,500 staff will improve from in-service training;

* Capacity for carrying out demand-driven agricultural research will be established;

* Efficiency of research activities will improve through competition for funds by research outfits;

* More women will be able to play a role in agricultural extension service as a result of increasedparticipation by women farmers in extension contact groups and increased recruitment of femaleextension staff;

* Farmers' groups will be formed eventually developing into professional associations capable ofprocuring up-to-date agricultural production know how on a financially viable basis;


* Increased availability of good quality seeds of improved varieties, of disease-free planting material ofroots and tubers, and of breeding stock;

* Positive impact on soil fertility, conservation and water management, through the adoption of soilconservation and crop rotation techniques;

* Improved input supply and commercial marketing of farm produce will be achieved throughintensification of contacts between farmers' groups and associations and private sector agriculturalmerchants, input suppliers and traders;

* the development of a market for private agricultural advisory services, through encouraging largerfarrners, the associations of market oriented producers, and companies to purchase advisory servicesfrom private professionals, rather than rely on Government extension workers. Concurrently, a startwill be made on rehabilitating training facilities for agricultural technicians for basic, in-servicetraining, and refresher (keeping abreast of development) courses.

INSTITUTIONAL AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

31. Project oversight is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. The coordination of theproject components (Agricultural Extension, Training and Human Resource Development, FarmerOrganization Support and private Sector Linkages, Village-based participative community development,internal Monitoring and Evaluation of crop, livestock and fisheries extension, financial management andcontrol) will be the responsibility of the Coordinator of National Agricultural Extension Program. Thenational coordinator will be appointed by the Minister for Agriculture. Among other things, he will actas secretary for the competitive research grant sub-component. Given the important management roleplayed by the national coordinator, the candidate for this post will possess qualifications and experiencewhich are acceptable to IFAD and IDA. A deputy coordinator has been nominated by the MINEPIA toensure close collaboration with this Ministry. Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock staff will beredeployed in accordance with the September 1997 Agreement signed between the two Ministries. IRADwill be responsible for the three agricultural research sub-components funded by the AfricanDevelopment Bank, concerned with the rehabilitation of IRAD's research structure, on-station researchand training of IRAD staff. The Division of Studies and Projects (DEPA) will be responsible forcoordinating external Monitoring and Evaluation and for the coordination of major studies.

32. The Agricultural Extension component represents a continuation of support for theGovernment's national agricultural extension policy started under the ongoing National AgriculturalExtension and Training project (Ln. 3185-CM). (see par. 47 below). The role of the NationalAgricultural Extension Program is to ensure that advisory services reach as many livestock, fish and cropfarmers as possible, giving priority to direct services to small farmers and food crop producers. Theprogram uses an approach which highlights participation among extension staff, researchers and farmersin on-farm diagnosis and adaptive research and regular training of field staff and farmers. The main toolsinclude work programming, regular training, use of loose contact groups made up of farmers sharingsimilar interests, individual on-farm demonstration plots and on-farm trials with research and extensionstaff. To date agricultural advisory service delivery has primarily been based on the use of public staffproviding free services to all types of farmers. While aiming to maintain public funding of extension aswell as the recent improvements in the quality of the management of the public extension service, theproject will support pilot initiatives whereby the services of private organizations active in extension suchas farners' organizations and NGOs will be sub-contracted (Annex 2 par. 8). In addition, a pilotoperation to assist village communities in identifying rural development priorities and implementingaction plans will be organized (Annex 2 par. 33-38). One of the objectives of this pilot is to increasefarmers' say over the management and organization of extension.


33. While awaiting the results of the pilots mentioned in the preceding paragraph, some 1,700 multi-disciplinary field agents, backed by about 350 supervisory staff, 250 subject matter specialists, and over200 research staff will provide advisory services to farmers at all levels of technical advancement. Thezonal extension worker (AVZ) will continue as the link pin between farmers and herders and sources oftechnology and information. Each AVZ will cover between 500 and 1,000 farm families (an average of800 nationally), according to population density and the state of communications and rural roads.Coverage is expected to be lower in remote areas and will represent increased average costs for targetingremote and poor families. For the majority of smallholder farmers, face-to-face contact will be throughregular meetings between the AVZ and contact groups. These will be organized in such a way as todistinguish groups of farmers belonging to different social strata and taking gender into account. Largerfarmers and planters will receive technical advice from subject matter specialists on the basis of flexibletimetables defined in joint consultation between SMS and farmners. They will be gradually encouraged toobtain farm specific demonstration and technical advice from private technicians on a commercial basis.Market oriented small farmers and cash crop producers will be encouraged to join associations and topurchase specialized technical advice on similar arrangements. Identification and diagnosis ofproduction- and post-harvest-related problems will be undertaken jointly by extension and research staffwith farmers throughout the year, on the basis of work programs defined under contracts prepared atprovincial levels. The number offemale extension staff will be increased by recruitment of 200 suchstaff on renewable contracts on a pilot basis. Some 52 farmers' organization specialists (SOASPs),operating at the regional level, under supervision from staff at provincial and central level will interactbetween farmers organizations, agricultural merchants and suppliers and NGOs to ensure reliable flow ofinformation of market opportunities and to "broker" agreements between the national extension servicesand the services of private sector partners. They will be assisted by a post-harvest/crop processingsubject matter specialist posted initially at provincial level. An economist financial analyst to be postedin the M&E unit will assist with market survey and financial analysis of proposed investments which willbe sub-contracted to private individuals and NGOs whenever appropriate. An environmental subjectmatter specialist in each province has been appointed to ensure consistency between technicalrecommendations and environmental sustainability. Close linkages with agricultural research staff willbe ensured through renewable contracts agreed between provincial agricultural research and extensionstaff and funded by the project, following transmittal of a request from the provincial supervisor to theproject coordination office.

34. The program will cover all ten provinces of Cameroon, an increase over the six provincesincluded originally under the previous project. The next phase of funding in support of agriculturalextension will concentrate on improving the quality and increasing coverage of the services. Inparticular, greater attention will be paid to animal husbandry andfisheries extension. Participation byfarmers in programming agricultural extension and research will be intensified by continued emphasis onon-farn diagnosis by extension and researchers. Training in diagnosis techniques will remain a priority.The present practice will be complemented by introducing a simple method to assess the differentproblems facing resource poor farmers and women food crop producers, forming separate contact groupsof these farmers when required, and to ensure that the requirements of those farners are included in thework plans. To complement on-farm diagnosis, two further approaches will be developed to resolveproblems, whose solution cannot necessarily be found on-farm. The first will be to continue support forsolutions to agricultural input delivery and marketing problems being developed in conjunction with theprivate sector, farmers' associations with staff from the Farmer Organizations and Links with the PrivateSector Support unit (SOASPs). The second will be to initiate a pilot in support of village-levelcommunity development, based on successful experience of such an approach elsewhere in the region.The use of mass media will be strengthened to complement the participatory approach to extension. Seedproduction and multiplication will continue to receive support. In particular, national seeds legislationwill be finalized, and women's groups and small scale individual farmners will be encouraged to multiply


improved seeds and breeding stock. In order to maintain the new levels of commitment among extensionstaff, an award system based on merit will be introduced for extension and research staff. Private sectorpartners have expressed willingness to institute a similar system.

35. The project provides resources to encourage testing alternative technology delivery systems on apilot basis. Details of how these pilots will be implemented are provided in par. 8 of Annex 2 below.Study tours for representatives of the public and private sectors will be organized to countries beyond theAfrica Region to compare experiences which could be of relevance to Cameroon. Certain extensionactivities, such as training, extension, monitoring and evaluation, on-farm trials, could be sub-contractedto NGOs, private companies or training institutes, which demonstrate necessary capability and who agreeto respect the principles of the national extension policy. Funds are included under the project to allowfor subcontracting such selected extension activities to thirdparties.

36. Under the Research component, the African Development Bank will fund three sub-components in direct support of the National Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD)over the next five years. These sub-components include rehabilitation of the physical infrastructure ofselected IRAD stations, purchase of equipment, provision of technical assistance, documentation andoperating costs of research staff; funding of demand-driven research programs; and local and overseastraining of IRAD research staff. Technical and institutional responsibility for implementation of thesesub-components will be with the Director General of IRAD, a relatively young institution created inMarch 1996, following the fusion of separate research institutes for agronomy and livestock research.Under a fourth sub-component research and extension activities will be funded by the PNVA by way ofcontracts drawn up between the PNVA provincial supervisors and the research stations/centers,corresponding to those provinces. The services to be provided under these contracts include regulartraining by research staff of subject matter specialists on techniques, identified as priority by farmers;tests and trials in farmers' fields of potential solutions to priority problems identified during on-farmdiagnosis; and the costs for researchers involved in carrying out on-farm diagnosis with extension staffand farmers. Under a fifth sub-component a competitive grant for on-station research on themesidentified by the participatory diagnostic work will be established with IFAD funding. Access to thisgrant will be available to public and private research outfits on a competitive basis. Management of thegrant will be entrusted to a eight-member Committee of representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture,Ministry of Livestock, IRAD, the University of Dschang, AGROCOM, the Federation of Cameroonfarmers, a representative of a women's' farming group and a representative of a small farmers'associations (such as FENAPAC) (Annex 2 par. 23).

37. The Training and Resource Management component will be the responsibility of a Head ofUnit under the national PNVA coordinator, with representation in each of the 10 provinces. Support willbe provided for training for field level staff, subject matter specialists and researchers. Funding isprovided for in-country and regional workshops. Training in on-farm diagnosis remains a priority so asto ensure that extension and research messages are adapted to the need of farmers having different socio-economic characteristics. The training program on participatory diagnosis will be expanded andcomplemented to enable all concerned staff to fully appreciate the impact of social stratification andgender issues in agricultural production problem identification. To support the policy objective ofdeveloping an effective supply of technological advisory services by the private sector, a pilot initiativewill be funded to rehabilitate two or three agricultural colleges for training of agricultural and livestocktechnicians. This initiative will be fully defined following a study, to be carried out by consultants underthe supervision of the DEPA, MINAGRI in collaboration with the DEC, MINEPIA, of supply anddemand for such technicians within both the private and public sectors, to ensure long term availability oftrained technical staff. This study will develop quantitative data following an FAO Study of the Reform


of Agricultural Teaching and Training'. The national project Coordinator's office will liaise closely withSecretary General of MINAGRI and the DEPA and DEC on the proposed follow-up and rehabilitationwork, which is not expected to begin before the third year of the project.

38. Private sector agricultural technicians would be encouraged to join technology update courses atthe colleges, and to participate in workshops designed to keep the Government technical staff abreastwith technology development. Local and overseas training will be programmed according to a trainingplan, agreed annually (1998 program annexed to the project implementation manual). In addition to in-service training objectives for staff, resources under this component are included for developing astrategy for basic training of agricultural technicians.

39. The Farmer Organization Support and Private Sector Linkages component will supportefforts of the SOASP unit of PNVA to develop contractual, formal and informal contacts between farmerassociations and groups and private sector suppliers of agricultural inputs, agricultural merchants,purchasers of agricultural products. Funding will be made available by the PNVA to improvecommunications between regional and provincial level specialists in farmers' associations and privatesector linkages (SOASP), to fund training of farmer group representatives and enable grouprepresentatives to undertake study visits both within and outside Cameroon.

40. The Village-based participative community development pilot will be carried out under theoverall coordination of the national PNVA unit by joint teams of staff from the Extension Service and theCommunity Development Department. At the provincial level, the Provincial Extension Coordinator willhave the end-responsibility for the pilot operation and will actively involve a wide range of organizationsand individuals, including local government, other rural services - such as health, education,infrastructure, etc. - NGOs, and any other organizations active in rural development. The results of thispilot will be monitored and evaluated, in collaboration with the DEC of MINEPIA, by the Ministry'sAgricultural Projects and Studies Directorate (DEPA), which will be responsible for identifying impactindicators, carrying out a base-line survey, and measuring progress on the impact indicators. The pilotoperation will be implemented with a view to the rapid expansion of the approach throughout the country.One of the elements to be examined will be the need for the creation of a rural development fund,possibly as a self-standing externally financed project. IFAD has expressed interest in funding a possiblefollow-up project, based on the experience of the pilot.

41. Project impact evaluation and studies component. Progress in achieving project objectiveswill be evaluated by: (a) the increase in the numbers of farmers, particularly women, receiving advisoryservices; (b) the level of adoption of new technical messages; (c) the impact of these technical messageson farm incomes; and (d) the number of market oriented farmers groups successfully developed. TheDirectorate for Agricultural Projects and Studies (DEPA) will be responsible for externalmonitoring andevaluation of project impact. The DEPA, in collaboration with the DEC/MINEPIA, will work closelywith the Monitoring and Evaluation staff of the PNVA national coordination unit, who are responsible formonitoring the internal progress of the extension and research programs on the ground. A singlemonitoring and evaluation system will monitor indicators of performance for both research and extensionservices. This system will be based on two levels. An internal monitoring system based on informationcollected during daily farm visits by the front level staff by which the impact of the extension andresearch services will be measured against objectives and indicators agreed with supervisors. Rates ofadoption of technical messages will be the main measure of impact of the extension and researchservices. The second level would involve: (a) a series of annual in-depth technology adoption/rejection

Reforme de l'Enseignement et de la Formation Agricole et Rurale - Michel Gineste FAOIDEPA Janvier 1998


case studies based on limited samples; (b) a rural household survey of about 2,000 households to beundertaken in the second and fourth year with the same methodology as the baseline survey carried out in1998, to acquire an insight on the overall impact of the project on production, and (c) an externalbeneficiary assessment to be carried out in the first and third year of the project. The M&E componentincludes the appointment of an economist/financial analyst who will be responsible for supervising thework done at SMS level to check the financial viability of the technical packages and to assist the SOAPSstaff and the SMS post harvest/processing/marketing technologies in assessing investment proposal andcontracting specific studies as required in their activities. Studies to be carried out under this componentin support of an Action Plan to implement the Government's new rural development strategy will becoordinated by the DEPA, in collaboration with the DEC.

42. The DEPA and DEC will coordinate preparation of the project's Mid-term Review, which shouldbe carried out before March 31, 2001 and should include, among other things, (i) an evaluation of theimpact of the pilot project experiences and proposals for future development; (ii) an evaluation of theoperation of the financial management system; (iii) an action plan for implementingthe conclusions ofthe human resource study determining the future size and deployment of the staff of the rural Ministries;and (iv) implement the rural sector development strategy and action plan.

43. Implementation Period - The project will fund the next four-year investment period in support ofthe national extension and research programs. Starting after credit effectiveness during the secondsemester of 1998, funding provided jointly by the Cameroon Government, IFAD, AfDB and IDA issufficient to meet the program needs for extension and research activities in Cameroon's 10 provincesuntil June 2003. During the third year of the project, an evaluation of impact will be undertaken andpreparation work on the next phase of external funding in support of the national programs will bedefined.

D. Project rationale

PROJECT ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND REASONS FOR REJECTION

44. Stand-alone project with independent management unit - Rejected because of: (a)incompatibility with Government institutional development objectives, the implicit longer terrn goal beingthe reorganization of the administration of all Government services to the rural world; (b) sustainabilityproblems on past experience with this approach; and (c) the success of the previous project which hasprovided support to the regular services of the Ministry of Agriculture.

45. Private versus Public Extension Services - Extension for small-scale farmers will continue to befinanced with public funds and most of the small scale farmers will continue to receive extension advicethrough the (public) PNVA. However, the project will provide a platform for experimenting with publiclyfinanced provision of extension for small-scale farmers through other organizations than the publicextension service. With regard to large scale commercial farmers, the project is designed to experiment -as an integral part of the Cameroonian Unified Extension approach - with privately funded extension,provided through farmers' organizations or other private practitioners of agricultural advisory services.These private extension initiatives will complement the role of the public service to ensure thatinformation about new technology developments are made available to all farmers and to privatepractitioners willing to keep abreast of developments. To clarify the thinking on this issue, study tours toother countries outside the Region will be organized.

46. Extension Project versus Rural Finance or Rural Infrastructure Projects - While ruralfinancial services and rural infrastructure have been identified by rural communities as top priorities for

Project Apprisal Document Page 16Cameroon: Agricultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

rural development, along with technology generation and transfer, these are being tackled partiallythrough Bank and other donor projects and more work is required to clarify the policy environmentespecially for rural finances. Efforts to strengthen the national agricultural advisory services have showna sound track record to date, justifying continued support by the Bank and IFAD, while projectpreparation continues in support of rural finance and rural infrastructure.

MAJOR RELATED PROJECTS FINANCED BY THE BANK AND/OR OTHER DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES(completed, ongoing and planned)

RatingsSector issue Project Bank-financed projects

only

Bank-financed Implemen- Devt.tation objectives

progress

Support of agricultural research National Agricultural Research Project (in. 2766-CM - closed S Sthrough physical infrastructure 1993)and equipment investments

Support for national cocoa export Cocoa Rehabilitation Project (Ln. 2912-CM - closed 1995) U UproductionPrivatization of veterinary Livestock Sector Development Project (Ln. 3014-CM - closed in U Uservices, livestock extension and June, 1996)support for herders' associationsRapid alert system, nutrition Food Security Project (Ln. 3388-CM - three components are still U Utraining; rural credit; rural market effective)construction and priceinformation diffusionImplementation of a cost effective National Agricultural Extension and Training Project (Ln. 3185- S Snational agricultural extension CM - closing date dec. 31, 1998)strategyOther development agencies

Rural development Northwest Rural Development Project - IFAD funded - subject tosuspension of disbursements since early 1990s. _

Rural development South West Development Agency (SOWEDA) - AfBD fundedproject in South West project - since 1991

Poverty alleviation and WID Project for Poverty Alleviation and Actions in Support of WomenAfDB project appraised -in Oct. 1997 for the Far North Province

IPM for cassava Ecologically sustainable plant protection project (ESCAPP)funded by USAID till 1995 in SW province. IFAD consideringfollow-up.

Root and tuber food crop problem Roots and Tubers Research project (ROTREP) - funded bysolving USAID till 1995 in South West. Bio-technology laboratory

constructed.Support for rural organizations, Ddveloppement Paysannal et gestion du Terroir (DPGT) -reduction of cotton handling ongoing CFD funded project in the north in colfaboration withcosts, soil fertility and gestion du SODECOTONterroirStrengthening farmer associations Projet d'Appui aux StratMgles Paysannes et a la

professionalisation de IAgrlculture - ongoing CFD funded insupport of farmer associations in marketing, input supply and agro-

______ _____ _____ ____ processing in the South.

IP/DO Ratings: HS (highly satisfactory), S (satisfactory), U (unsatisfactory), HU (highly unsatisfactory)


Experience of the previous project (Ln. 3185-CM)

47. The overall objective of the National Agricultural Extension and Training Project (Ln. 3185-CM)was to assist the Government to implement a national agricultural extension strategy. The project'smedium term objective was to introduce a unified extension system in certain areas of the country, whichwould rationalize existing overlapping provincial services. The project'spriority objective was identifiedas increasing farmer productivity by (i) strengthening operational institutions and establishing systems formanaging the extension services; and (ii) providing training to facilitate improved delivery of theservices. Special attention was to be given to the needs of women farmers under the project.

48. The first years of project implementation were characterized by weak management, high unit costand non-performance of the research component. Poor performnance was attributed also to the weaknessof the macro-economic environment, falling world prices of Cameroon exports, non-availability ofimports, following State withdrawal and frequent suspension of World Bank disbursement due to non-payment of arrears. Other problems included the tendency to impose extension themes as opposed toresponding to farmers' requests for advice, resulting in low adoption rates and lower outreach to womenfarmers than targeted until 1997. Analysis of slow adoption of new techniques during farm-levelsupervision revealed the need for the improvement of the capacity of research and extension staff to listento farmers as a basis for identifying research and extension priorities. The latter shortcoming wasaddressed through training in farming systems diagnosis for over 2,000 staff in the latter stages of theproject. More recently the participatory diagnostic methodology introduced for identifying farmerspriority needs in technology transfer has brought about a change in the PNVA programming of work, infarmer-extension worker relationships and in the morale and motivation of the AVZ and SMS staff inmany areas. A beginning was made in associating the staff of the new agriculture research institute(IRAD) to join the extension staff in the field to participate in continuous diagnostic work at field level.This participatory diagnostic system has proved to be highly effective and will be maintained. By the endof 1997, an efficient and well-managed extension service had been established.

49. On balance, considerable progress was made in achieving the project objectives. The Ministry ofAgriculture defined a clear agricultural extension policy, based on the lessons learned under the projectand the pilot, which preceded it. Over 150,000 farm families were receiving support from the project by1997, still some way from the full coverage intended under the Ministry of Agriculture's new extensionpolicy but nonetheless a major achievement. Adoption rates initially varied widely and raised questionsabout the relevance of selected extension messages. A major training program in on-farm diagnosis wasadopted to address this issue. A 1995 impact study concluded that more than 80% of farmers are awareof the existence of extension staff in the areas where the PNVA is active. Almost 60% of farmerscovered by that study declared that they no longer have to buy food crops for household consumption,since they now produce one or more of such crops themselves. Yield increases of more than 20% wereregistered by almost 70% of farmers belonging to extension contact groups. A Beneficiary Assessment inJuly 1997 established that 46% of farmers had received advice in one form or another from PNVA, andall but 6% were aware of PNVA's existence. Advice from PNVA is the principal source of technicalinfornation for almost 50% of farmers and almost 60% consider the service as the most important sourceof information in the rural areas. Two-thirds of all new techniques adopted by farmers resulted inproduction increases varying from 10% to more than 50% for the major crops in each of the fourprovinces surveyed (maize, groundnuts, plantain bananas, soya, cassava, potatoes, niebe beans, millet,sorghum, palm oil and vegetables). Most farmers said that before PNVA they relied previously ontraditional practices and received no alternative advisory services from other sources. Farmers in moreremote areas had rarely, if ever, received technical advisory services.


50. Progress has been made in human resource management, regular training is undertaken, there hasbeen improvements recently in research and extension linkages and some decentralization of financialand administration management. Delays in procurement have seriously affected the rate at which it hasbeen possible to provide vehicles and motorcycles to all staff. An extension management and trainingsystem has been successfully introduced to all ten Provinces. Regular on-the-job training has made theMinistry of Agriculture second only to primary and secondary education in terms of the number oftraining sessions organized each year. With over 2,000 staff at central and field level, the PNVArepresents an important structure within the Ministry of Agriculture, working with more than 25% of theMinistry's full establishment. The success of the management and training system has had importantsecondary effects on the discussions on civil service reform.

51. In response to a growing demand for services which go beyond traditional agricultural extensionand technology transfer, the PNVA has established a Unit, which is responsible for strengthening tieswith the private sector and providing support to farmers' associations. This unit has had notable successsince 1996 in brokering agreements with private companies and NGOs to improve input availability andmarketing services to producers. Agreements have been signed with organizations such as Pelenguet(hybrid maize seed), Pamol (oil palm seedlings), Rhone Poulenc (agro-chemicals), Hydrochem(fertilizers), CDD de Maroua-Mokolo (NGO) defining collaboration arrangements between thesesuppliers and the extension and research services. Sales for the first two companies have increasedexponentially. A regional workshop in early 1998 bringing together representatives of 16 privatecompanies, 11 farmers' associations and representatives from Madagascar, Guinea and Chad set the basisfor intensifying this initiative over the coming years.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS PROJECTS AND REFLECTED IN THE PROJECT DESIGN

Lesson 1. Stand-alone project management structures rarely ensure sustainable institution building. Thenew project is designed to support IRAD and MINAGRI existing central and field structures, intended toensure a permanent agricultural advisory service, capable of continuing, when external funding is nolonger available.

Lesson 2. Many Bank-funded projects have concentrated on capital-intensive investments and achievedfew tangible results among beneficiaries on the ground. This project is field-oriented and support isconcentrated on ensuring that more than 2,000 front line staff, researchers and subject matter specialistsare provided with the means (training, transportation, supervision and light equipment) to responddirectly to demand from their farmer clients.

Lesson 3. Projects with a high degree of local participation in preparation have resulted in better results.The project and the national extension program has been fully designed by a national team, under Bankstaff supervision but with no external technical assistance.

Lesson 4. Decentralization of many decisions and activities to the provinces and independent financialand personnel management services have been responsible for improved efficiency under previousprojects. Strengthening of these features has been included in the project design.

Lesson 5. Experience with the ongoing extension project and projects elsewhere has underlined theimportance of close contacts between research and extension, implication of the private sector, regularand continuous training, close participation of farmers and clear work programming. These are buildingblocks of the new project.

Lesson 6. The IBRD-funded Research project experience underscored the importance of designing aresearch apparatus taking account of the recurrent cost burden on the State. Strong decentralization,client participation in research and application of private sector principles were recommended, whichhave been reflected in new project design.


INDICATIONS OF BORROWER COMMITMENT AND OWNERSHIP

i) Ministry of Finance doubled recurrent budgets for agricultural field staff to >$2 million in 1997/98budget to demonstrate its commitment to the project and tripled the investment budget to $1million, over levels two years ago.

ii) The ongoing project is often quoted (cf. President's 1997 New Year speech) as one of the mostsuccessful examples of internationally supported development initiatives currently beingundertaken by the government. Ministers for Scientific Research and Agriculture participateregularly and in person at functions organized by the program (launch workshops, trainingworkshops, meetings with private sector partners, awards to best extension and supervisory staff).

iii) The Ministry of Agriculture considers the project as the most important ongoing developmentoperation it is currently managing. Its recent policy statement on agricultural extension confirmsthis.

iv) Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and (a) theMinistry of Livestock and (b) IRAD clarifying details of how activities will be coordinated.

v) Integration under the PNVA structure of parallel services within the Ministry of Agriculture (seedsand crop protection) has begun.

VALUE-ADDED OF BANK SUPPORT IN THIS PROJECT

i) Project staff have attended regional workshops elsewhere in Africa facilitated by Bank staff, wherethey have drawn on agricultural extension experience from elsewhere in the region. Study visits toother countries where Bank-supported experience is proving positive and will continue.

ii) Change in Bank supervision techniques under the ongoing project (Ln. 3185-CM), giving priorityto contact with farmers and other beneficiaries has served to demonstrate the value of thesecontacts as a means for assessing the efficiency of the service and identifying priority areas forimprovement. Traditional techniques of supervision as a control and inspection function are givingway to supervision as a support function.

iii) Coordination between the Bank and cofinanciers the African Development Bank and theInternational Fund for Agricultural Development will help support Government in its efforts toencourage other donors to follow its national strategy for agricultural research and extension and toensure optimum use of scarce external resources for agricultural development.

iv) As a complement to the structural adjustment dialogue, the Presidential Secretariat for CivilReform is using the PNVA management structure and system as the basis for the new organogrambeing prepared for an eventual new Ministry of Rural Development.

52. Extension and research being long term activities, it is expected that continued support by theBank may be needed after the present phase. This support will be considered based on the achievementof satisfactory progress towards the program's longer term objectives. In particular reform of theGovernment's procedures related to the release of funds allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture underthe recurrent budget would need to have been improved and the role of the rural development Ministriesclarified and staff resources brought to the required size to ensure efficient operation of field servicesthrough the application of the similar principles of control as currently applied to external sources offunding.


E. Summary Project Analysis(Detailed assessments are in the project file (see Annex 8)

ECONOMIC

(supported by Annex 4): Cost-Benefit Analysis: NPV = US$27 million; IER = 41%

53. Rationale for Public Intervention - At the present stage of economic development of Cameroon,it is a legitimate public function to:

a) ensure that a steady flow of technological innovations becomes available to foster agriculturalproduction, and to improve the country comparative advantages. This requires supporting a wellfounded program of agricultural research and ensuring that such program tackles the most importantproblems felt by farmers on a priority basis;

b) assist the poor sections of the farming community to improve their food security and income. Thisrequires directly supporting the transfer of agricultural production technology to small producers,particularly to women food crop producers; and

c) while securing that all farmers have access to public sources of information regarding technicalinnovations in agriculture, encourage wealthy farmers to acquire more advanced technical advicefrom private sources, promote the development of farmers' associations capable to do the same, andprovide training to private individuals wishing to supply agricultural advisory services on acommercial basis.

54. Certain delivery and training services (training of trainers, input supply and distribution,demonstration of new products) can be contracted to non-public entities, such as NGOs or privatecompanies and this will be encouraged under the project.

55. Appropriate Form of Public Intervention - Clear cost-effectiveness criteria have led Cameroonto provide farmer advisory services as a public good through its Ministry of Agriculture. The fiscalresponsibility to ensure that all farmers have access to a minimum of extension advice remains with theState. For the majority of the farmers, who are smallholder subsistence farmers, the State will also keepimplementation responsibility through the National Extension Service under the Ministry of Agriculture.However, under this project, pilots will be launched whereby extension delivery will be sub-contracted toprivate service providers. With regard to larger farmers and planters, this project will encourage theestablishment of privately funded extension organizations, operating within the overall framework of theNational Extension Strategy. Competition for research funds will improve efficiency in the agriculturalresearch field and also open the door for private enterprise to begin to operate in this field.

56. Improvements in Farm Income and Productivity - Project objectives envisage an increase in netfarm incomes of 20% among farmers receiving extension services over the next four years. Examplesunder the ongoing project of the impact of the adoption of simple cost-effective messages, requiring littleor no cash investment by farmers, have shown productivity and production increases of between 30 and200% (see details in the Project Implementation Manual). Rates of adoption by contact farmers of newtechnology are expected to increase from 30% currently to 80% by the end of 2002, as improved trainingand mobility provide extension staff with the tools necessary to respond to farmers' needs. Extensionstaff objectives will be to reach directly one third of Cameroon's 1.3 million farm families by the 4th yearof operations, up from one tenth in 1995/96. This represents a ratio of approximately 240 farmerscontacted directly by each extension agent every fortnight - or meeting 3 contact groups of 10 farmersevery day. These are within attainable limits.


57. Economic Rate of Return - The economic rate of return (IER) for the project, based on theincremental value of production from farm models prepared for the three main agro-ecological zones ofCameroon is 41%. The NPV, discounting at 10%, is US$27 million. The estimates are relativelyinsensitive to changes in the number of farmers contacted by extension staff and to changes in the costsof production. However, the IER is relatively sensitive to changes in local market prices (after takingaccount of deflationary impact of increased production on local market prices) and extremely sensitive tochanges in yields and production.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

(see Annex 5)

58. Financial viability of the technologies transferred to project clients - The financial viability ofthe technological innovations promoted by the project is a key to adoption and project success. Theprofitability of adopting a number of technical packages extended by the PNVA has been tested by cropbudget and farm model analysis. The adoption of most technologies extended so far successfully do notinvolve significant cash outlays and hence little risk of incurring financial losses. More complextechnologies involving market risk will be evaluated by the economist of the M&E central cell beforeincluding them in the extension packages. SOASP agents will also be trained to the extent that they willbe able to understand when economic advice should be sought for particular initiatives, especially inlivestock. This would avoid starting relative expensive projects in wrong locations.

59. Project Cost - Total cost of the project is estimated at US$46.1 million, of which US$29.3million investment and US$16.8 million recurrent. The IDA Credit will contribute towards the costs ofvehicles, equipment and materials (US$2.6 million), training (US$3.8 million), the competitive researchgrant scheme (US$1 million), operating costs (US$5.4 million), and studies, consultants and pilot projects(US$2.3 million). IFAD will contribute towards the costs of civil works (US$0.7 million), motorcycles(US$3.3 million), operating costs of motorcycles (US$3.3 million) and research/extension linkages(US$3.3 million).

60. Of total project costs (investment and recurrent), almost US$30 million is allocated to extensionand training activities managed by the Ministry of Agriculture. At an average of US$7.5 millionannually, this figure compares with a total budget from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry ofLivestock of more than US$10 million (not including salaries) budgeted from internal resources insupport of the recurrent and investment costs of agricultural extension and related independent projectsand parastatals. As the activities of these institutions are integrated under the national extension andresearch programs, so public funds will be freed to replace external funding and ensure the financialsustainability of program activities. Incremental operating costs will be fully met by Government fromthe third year of the project.

61. The project financing plan provides for US$10 million (including taxes) from Government,which represents 22% of the total net-of-tax costs. The balance of US$36 million would be fundedjointly between IDA, IFAD and the African Development Fund. Taxes and duties amount to US$4.3million over 4 years.

62. Fiscal Impact - The total annual project cost from all funding sources represents about 18% ofbudgeted 1997/98 public expenditure in support of the three main agricultural sector Ministries(Agriculture, Livestock, Environment) and less than 1% of total public expenditure for that year. It isexpected that the claim of agriculture on available Government resources will decline in course of time asa result of the privatization of the parastatals, leaving room for larger resource allocations to priority

Project Appraisal Document Page 22Cameroon: Agricultural Exdension and Research Programs Support Project

programs, while debt rescheduling would ease the Government cash flow with respect to disbursement offunds supporting all programs.

63. The projected total annual cost of the extension program (investment and recurrent costs)represents 0.4% of total agricultural GDP (not including forestry), or 4% of the incremental agriculturalGDP estimated by the national accounts forecast for the project period. Recurrent costs representapproximately $10 per beneficiary farm family, the equivalent of about 50 kg of shelled maize.

64. Investment in improved agricultural extension and research services is a highly productive use ofCameroon's limited public resources. Incremental expenditure essentially provides the means for makingeffective use of staff already on the Government payroll. No increase of public expenditure on salaries isenvisaged, with the exception of the incremental cost of the female extension staff, since all posts areeither filled currently or will be filled by reassignment within the public service or will use non-government staff (NGOs, private partners, universities etc.).

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

65. The project is technically sound. With respect to farming, it builds on a technology deliverysystem and on administrative mechanisms which have been tested and refined over the past 6 years by theBank-supported PNVA project. Many simple and cost-effective techniques for improving production,productivity and post-harvest crop handling are available 'off-the-shelf' from private and public sectorsources, universities and farmers. Demonstration techniques in farmers' fields and regular training offield staff have combined to rekindle confidence between farmers and field staff, leading to betteradoption rates of improved practices. In 1997, approximately 130 new technical messages were tried byabout 84,000 farmers in their own fields, with improvements in yields between traditional techniques andthe new techniques varying between 30% and 200%.

66. With respect to market linkages, the recently introduced SOASP units are playing and wouldcontinue to play a catalytic role in the process of attracting both sellers of inputs and traders inagricultural produce to centers of growing agricultural activity. The unit is conceived as a multi-disciplinary group whose modus operandi is still experimental and would be better defined during projectimplementation. Emphasis would be given initially to organizing meetings of suppliers, crop traders,industries interested in agricultural raw materials, and farmers groups and individuals, as well as onassessing market prospect for specific areas, and in supporting the SMS work in the field of storage andprocessing, and generally post-harvest activities. The project design is flexible in this domain, since themethodology needs to be firmed up on the basis of experience.

67. IRAD agricultural researchers will provide training, participative farming systems diagnosis andfield trials services in support of the agricultural extension services, under a client service contract.Development of further collaboration agreements with private partners and NGOs, of which there arealready some successful examples, will test alternatives for increasing private sector participation in theresearch and extension network.

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

68. Executing Agencies - Integration of existing activities funded by independent projects andparastatals into the national system, which is essential to long term sustainability, will take placegradually as funding arrangements come up for renewal and Government convinces donors of thesoundness of its new agricultural extension strategy by successful results in the field. As the processtakes place, so the best qualified staff are expected to integrate the national program. Under the pilot


operation on Village Participation, a methodology to organize and understand community demand forrural services (including extension) will be tested. If successful, the methodology will make it possible tobetter plan the provision of services, especially at the local levels of government. As illustrated by fieldexperience in other countries in the Region, the Village Participation methodology makes it also possibleto increase farmers' say over the management arrangements of the extension service.

69. The decentralized personnel and financial management systems of the Ministry of Agricultureneed to be strengthened and training is envisaged for provincial level staff in improved accounting andmanagement practices. Training programs and the pilot initiative to strengthen capacity for trainingagricultural and livestock technicians will be carried out in close coordination with the GeneralAdministration Directorates (DAG) for both Ministries and the Secretary General of MINAGRI.

70. Work has begun on the definition of a single rural development Ministry responsible, amongother things, for agricultural services and technology transfer. The principles of the national agriculturalextension strategy by the Ministry of Agriculture will be included in new proposals for rationalizingcurrent Ministerial institutional structures. The national staff of the PNVA and those of the PresidentialService for Administrative Reform (SPRA) are currently working on how these principles will beincluded in the definition of posts under the organogram of the new Ministry.

71. Certain extension and training activities will be subcontracted to NGOs, the national universitiesand other partners, which have the proven experience and willingness to provide support to farmers andfarmers' associations in such areas as improved access to credit, marketing support, organization for thepurchase of inputs and post-harvest storage and transformation.

SOCIAL ISSUES

72. Poverty Impact - A major thrust of the project is to coordinate the poverty alleviation andagricultural development policies of the Government. The project will address the problem of how toreach the poor and how to ensure that action is taken to solve their problems on a priority basis.Important modifications in the modus operandi of extension staff will be introduced to that effect. Theseinclude:

* participatory identification of different social strata at village level;* identification of production problems affecting different social strata and by gender;* there will be several contact groups consisting of representatives of different social strata and gender;* continuous participatory diagnosis will be done with different contact groups;* demand for services and identification of priority research themes will be recorded by different

contact group identifying those which are common to all social strata, and those which are specific topoor farmers and women.

73. Special training programs will be undertaken to develop the skills necessary to undertake theabove at all levels in the Ministry Staff involved in extension. The selection of research projects to befinanced by the competitive research funds will give priority, among the themes identified throughparticipatory diagnostic work, to those themes which originate in the demand of poor farmers and womenfarmers.

74. Supportfor Women - Efforts will be directed specifically at women in the rural communities. Atraining program in gender issues will be carried out involving all staff of the Ministry connected withextension. The number of female extension staff will be increased. Special terms contracts will beoffered to village-resident women who would act as extension officers, and receive training as required.As many women as possible would be encouraged to join or make up their own contact groups for


extension visits. The target during the next five years will be to increase from 35 to 50% the proportionof women as members of contact groups, meeting regularly with extension staff, to reflect more closelythe proportion of farmers who are women. Furthermore, pending the design of a new project supportingcommunity development, the project will finance the incremental costs of the field services of theMinistry dealing with nutrition and home economics extension.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

Environment Category B.

75. An environmental analysis was completed in June 1997, which includes an evaluation of theenvironmental impact of the ongoing PNVA, and recommendations for the next phase. The evaluationconcluded that the PNVA has contributed to environment protection through promotion of technologieswhich tend to conserve resources and to mitigate the adverse effect of expanding agricultural production,particularly in the areas which are most fragile, such as the Northern and Western provinces.Recommendations for improvement include many detailed suggestions. Examples of the most importantrecommendations which can be implemented in practice, without endangering the demand driven policyof the PNVA include: further work on IPM to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, continued emphasison composting to reduce need for chemical fertilizers, measures to prevent water pollution from treatmentof highly toxic cassava varieties, more emphasis on associations of legume cover crops on fallow land.Participatory diagnosis of environmental problems should be included in the diagnostic work. A trainingprogram for extension staff, in particular for the newly created SMS-environment posts, and for the AVZis recommended, including contracting training with the Universities special units on environment. Theserecommendations are included in the project design.

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH

(a) Primary beneficiaries and other affected groups: Project design has been built upon theincreasingly successful results of on-farm participatory diagnosis between extension staff, researchersand farmers. Continued high priority will be given to training in diagnosis techniques for all staff(supervisory, technical and front line staff). Prioritization of research and extension programs is nowbased predominantly on expressed farmer priority concerns, collected during the regular farm visits byextension and research staff. During launch workshops of the four most recent provinces (North West,Center, North and South), all parties (private and public sectors) involved in rural development activitiesin these provinces participated in defining the appropriate research and extension service for theprovince. This process will continue, through relaunch workshops to be held in the six originalprovinces, where the PNVA program started more as a free-standing project operation, rather than aprogram bringing together existing rural development partners.

(b) Other key stakeholders: Private sector partners have participated increasingly in joint programswith the extension services and representatives of farmers' groups and associations providing trainingand distribution of product samples to be tested by farmers in several thousand on-farm demonstrationplots. The confidence which has developed following this participation has led several large scale inputdistributors to invest in local production plants and to multiply the number of distribution outlets,bringing these into greater proximity of their new clients.


F. Sustainability and Risks

SUSTAINABILITY

76. The long term sustainability of the national extension program depends on: (a) the priority givento the program by MINAGRI and MINEPIA decision-makers at the time of the formulation of the annualbudget, (b) the design and implementation of effective measures to control better the release of fundsallocated to extension under the Budget, (c) the speed at which cost sharing arrangements develop andthe amount of budget resources this will eventually free for other uses, (d) the efficiency with whichGovernment will achieve cost reduction through eliminating less priority activities and related sources ofexpenditure, and (e) the efforts of the Ministry to sub-contract certain extension activities to privatepartners and the extent to which this will provide opportunities for cost-sharing, particularly in respect ofextension efforts for high value export crops.

CRITICAL RISKS

Risk Risk Risk Minimization MeasureRating

Development Objectives to CAS Objectives

1. Government fails to pursue liberal M 1. World Bank and IFAD maintain firm dialogue withmacroeconomic policies or maintain public Government.expenditure in support of agricultural sectorat 1997/98 levels.

2. International commodity prices become M 2. As in 1. above. Diversification of agricultural technology willvolatile and Government abandons enable Cameroon to improve its resistance to changes in pricesliberalization measures. of certain commodities.

3. Re-training of staff on dealing with M 3. Strong political support is required for this element of theresource poor and women farmers problems project to succeed. Study tours to successful projects within anddoes not take place and differential approach beyond the region will increase awareness of successful optionsto poor and wealthy farmers is not applied. to follow. Cofmancing with IFAD will keep supervision

attention concentrated on this potential risk.Project Outputs to Development Objectives

1. Ineffective PNVA manager appointed by H 1. Government to nominate national coordinator whoseGovermment. experience and qualifications are acceptable to IDA.

2. Improvements in participatory farming N 2. Strong priority is being given to participatory diagnosissystem diagnosis discontinued. training for all project staff during the early years of the project.

3. Experience from neighboring Nigeria and elsewhere, where3. Difficulties in identifying problems of M IFAD/IDA have examples of successful experience will bedifferent types of farmers and ineffective drawn upon to strengthen the quality of gender orientedgender training of staff. extension.

4. Public service conditions do not improve 4. Public service review continues as priority in the Bank/lFADand the best staff begin to leave the service. S macroeconomic dialogue with the government.Project Components to Outputs

1. Dynamic project management and H 1. Intensive supervision by Bank/IFAD/AfDB missions will becontinued intensive supervision by ensured to maintain levels of commitment and enthusiasm


Risk Risk Risk Minimization MeasureRating

MINAGRI staff and donor staffare assumed. generated during the past three years.

2. Approval and release of funds from S 2. Covenant include to ensure that Government takes overnational budget fail to materialize each year operating expenses of extension. Bank supervisory staff willto cover an increasing share of project participate in PER and Budget Conference meetings to ensureactivities. that sufficient funding is assured.

S 3. Arrangements will be agreed during negotiations, whereby all3. On farm research and training activities donors are associated at least twice a year in the review ofare not rigorously tied to national extension research and training priorities.staff development objectives.

M 4. Progress on AfDB funding has advanced in tandem with4. Funding and adequate disbursement IFAD/IDA. The synergy of three major donors behind thismechanism by AfDB are not assured. project should assist in ensuring that all partners are able to

respect their commitments.

S 5. Regular supervision will assist in minimizing the effects of5. Interference with the operation of the possible interference. Independent evaluation of the use ofCompetitive Research Fund. Competitive Grant funds will be undertaken to ensure best use

of funds.

Overall Project Risk Rating S Historical project experience and the overall poor state of thelending portfolio in Cameroon suggests a substantial level ofrisk for the successful outcome of this project.

Risk Rating - H (High Risk), S (Substantial Risk), M (Modest Risk), N (Negligible or Low Risk)

POSSIBLE CONTROVERSIAL ASPECTS

(Program Alert System):

Type RiskRisk of Rating Risk Minimization Measure

Risk

1. Continued provision of agricultural G M 1. Pilot initiatives and study tours are being funded to enableservices as a predominantly publicly decision-makers to compare alternative experience inprovided service. privately provided services elsewhere.

2. Lack of broad donor support for 0 M 2. Regular meetings with donors on research and extensionnational program approach. programming. Cofmancing by IFAD/AfDB and IDA

provides significant critical mass of donor support.

3. Resistance to recognize the need to S M 3. Indicators designed to identify project impact on poorestdistinguish technology transfer farmers and training in how to improve targeting of poor andrequirements of the poor as different women farmers included in design.from those of the wealthier ones and toconcentrate on the priority needs ofpoor farmers.

Type of Risk: S (Social), E (Ecological), P (Pollution), G (Governance), M (Management), 0 (Other)Risk Rating: H (High), S (Substantial Risk), M (Modest Risk), N (Negligible or Low Risk)


G. Main Credit Conditions77. Conditions for negotiations: none

78. Conditions for Board presentation: none

79. Conditions of effectiveness:

a) detailed annual plans, including training programs, and budgets in respect of project activities for theinitial period up to December 31, 1999 have been received and found satisfactory to IDA;

b) independent auditors have been employed by the Government;

c) a Project Implementation Manual satisfactory to IDA has been adopted;

d) the IFAD Loan Agreement has been executed and all its effectiveness conditions fulfilled.

80. Main Credit conditions:

a) The government shall open a project account and deposit, not later than January 15, 2000 an initialcontribution of CFAF 360 million;

b) Not later than March 31, 1999 the Government shall furnish to IDA for review and comments,detailed proposals for a coordination system between research and extension activities at the nationaland provincial levels;

c) Not later than October 31, 1999 the Government shall implement the coordination system betweenresearch and extension;

d) As of October 31, 1999 not later than October 31, each year, the Government shall provide to IDA,for review and approval detailed work plans, including training programs, and proposed budgets inrespect of project activities for the forthcoming year;

e) Not later than June 30, 2000, the Government shall establish and maintain a financial managementsystem satisfactory to IDA, ensuring timely release and availability of local funds required to meetthe total operating costs of the agricultural extension services at the level of each province;

f) Not later than December 31, 2000, the Government shall carry out a review of MINAGRI's andMINEPIA's operations and human resources in accordance with terms of reference satisfactory toIDA;

g) Not later than December 31, 1999 and December 31, 2001 respectively, the Borrower shall undertakea beneficiary assessment of the farmers relating to the effectiveness of the agricultural extension andresearch services, in accordance with terms of reference satisfactory to IDA;

h) Not later than December 31, 2000 and December 31, 2002 respectively, the Government shallundertake a rural household survey to measure the impact of the project on agricultural productionand incomes, in accordance with terms of reference satisfactory to IDA;

i) Not later than June 30, 1999, the Government shall furnish to IDA, for review and approval, adetailed proposal for a pilot project designed to test alternative extension delivery systems;

j) Not later than March 31, 1999 the Government shall establish a Committee, responsible for invitingproposals for sub-projects identified for funding out of the Research Grants component;

k) Not later than June 30, 1999, the Government shall through MINAGRI, MINEPIA and MINRESTfurnish to IDA for review and approval, a Research Grant Manual;

I) Government will maintain a National Coordinator whose qualifications and experience areacceptable to IDA;

m) Prepare on or about March 31, each year a progress report integrating the results of the monitoringand evaluation activities of the project;

n) Carry out not later than March 31, 2001 jointly with IDA a Mid-Term Review;


o) Audit reports in the long form will be submitted within six months of the end of the fiscal year towhich they refer.

81. Disbursement condition under the Competitive Grant Scheme:

Research projects shall be eligible to IDA financing provided that: (a) they are in accordance withpolicies and procedures acceptable to IDA; (b) the committee, responsible for the review and approval ofresearch projects, has been established; and (c) the research procedures manual has been adopted in formand substance satisfactory to IDA.

82. During Negotiations, the following understandings were reached:

a) Annual budgets agreed each year in respect of project activities will be used for the control ofexpenditures to be reimbursed by the CAA and individual non-objections by IDA for expendituresfalling below the mandatory limits mentioned in Annex 6 will not be required;

b) A prioritized annual national research program will be discussed and agreed with farmers, extension(MINAGRI) and representatives of the main donors supporting agricultural research, and donors willbe associated at least twice a year in the review of research and training priorities.

H. Readiness for Implementation83. The procurement documents for the first year's activities are complete and ready for the start ofproject implementation.

I. Compliance with Bank Policies84. The project complies with all applicable Bank policies.

TaskT 'a erstopher Trapman Joseph Baah-Dwomoh

Project Appraisal Document Page 29Cameroon: Agricultjral Extension and Research Programs Support Project

ANNEXESANNEX 1 - PROJECT DESIGN SUMMARY

Narrative Summary Key Performance Indicators Monitoring and Critical AssumptionsSupervision and Risks

1. CAS Objective1.1. Improving the 1.1.1. Minimum increases of 5% pa in 1.1.1.1. Base line survey and 1. Government continues toincomes and gross farm incomes for 30% of all annual farm household pursue liberalproductivity of the farm families, targeting at least half surveys. macroeconomic policiespoor. with less than 0.5 ha and/or women and maintains public

food crop producers. expenditure in support ofagricultural sector at1997/98 levels.

2. Project Devt. Obj.

2.1. Improve 2.1. 1. Average increases in yields of 2.1.1.1. Baseline survey and 1. International commodityagricultural 10% pa from new technology. annual farm household prices remain stable andproductivity of men and surveys. Government continues to.womenfarmers. pursue liberalization2.2. Ensure that 2.2.1. Increase in number of extension 2.2.1.2. Beneficiary measures.resource poor and contact groups established by different assessment. Supervisionwomen food crop social strata and gender, when reports. 2. Re-training of staff onproducers'problems relevant, to ensure poor and women dealing with resource poorare fully integrated in farmers problems are adequately and women farmersextension activities. tackled. problems is successful and

differential approach topoor and wealthy farmersactually applied.

3. Project Outputs

3.1. Increase in the 3.1.1. Numbers of farmers in contact 3.1.1.1. Monthly reports from 1. Government appointsnumber offarmers with extension services to reach 30 % sector supervisors, effective dynamic(particularly women) of farm families by 2002, of which consolidated at regional, management of PNVA.receiving advisory 50% would be women farmers (up provincial and national levels.services. from 35% in 1997). 2. Continuous improvement

3.1.1.2. Beneficiary assessment in participatory farmingstudies. system diagnosis.

3.2. Increase in 3.2.1. Increase in adoption rates of 3.2.1.1. Fortnightly reports 3. Simple methods foradoption rates of new technical messages by farmers in from sector supervisors, identifying differenttechnical messages. contact groups to reach 80% by 2002. consolidated at regional, problems of different type

provincial and national level. of farmers are introducedand gender training of staff

3.2.1.2. Special in-depth prove effective tools toadoptionlrejection case studies. influence approach.

3.3. Sustainable 3.3.1. 1690 agricultural extension staff 3.3.1.1. Staff numbersprofessional advisory (of whom 200 women staff recruited monitored during regular 4. Public service conditionsservices provided to contractually) in post by 2002. supervision. Details reported improve or the best stafffarmers. half-yearly. will leave the service as



3.4. Demand driven 3.4.1. Annual research program based 3.4.1.1. Quality of results and private sector opportunitiesnational agricultural principally on results of participative following years' program increase.research system on-farmn diagnosis agreed by all reviewed by October 31 eachoperational. partners. year.3.5. Large scale 3.5.1. Number of farmers and groups 3.5.1.1. Report on activities offarmers and market served by private suppliers. subject matter specialists.orientedfarmersgroups approach 3.5.1.2. Report on activities ofprofessional SOASP.agricultural advisors inthe private sector;supply ofprivateservices increases.3.6. Better linkages of 3.6.1. Number of meetings/workshops 3.6.1.1. Reports of SOASP.groups offarmers with (farmers and private operators) Supervision mission reportsmarket (suppliers, crop organized by SOASP staff in each IDA/IFAD.purchasers) region; number of input purchasingestablished groups formed; quantities transacted;

number of processing/marketinggroups formed; sales quantities/value.

3. 7.Lessons learnt from 3.7.1. Identification of ways to 3.7.1.1. External monitoringvillage-based mobilize farmers common interest and evaluation of pilotparticipative groups for development activities and component.community for maintenance of common initiatives.developmentcomponent.

3.7.2. Test of financial mechanisms tosupport community initiatives andrecommendations for formulation of alarger future project to supportcommunity development.

4. ProjectComponents

4.1. Agricultural 4.1.1. Extension services in all 10 4.1.1.1. Regular supervision 1. Dynamic projectExtension. provinces equipped to carry out and to assured by the national management and continued

supervise regular extension and coordination unit, DEPA and intensive supervision bytraining programs. DEC. MINAGRI and MINEPIA4.1.2. Internal monitoring unit 4.1.2.1. Internal monitoring staff and donor staffstrengthened an internal information reports and IDA/IFAD assumed.computerized at provincial level. supervision missions.4.1.3. GOC maintains public 4.1.3.1. Monitor during annual 2. Approval and release ofexpenditure support for agricultural PER review and budget funds from national budgetsector at least at 1997/98 levels. approval exercise each May. materializes each year to4.1.4. Efficient budget release cover an increasing share ofmechanism to ensure regular funding project activities.at provincial levels in place.4.1.5. 100 % of recurrent funding of 3. On-field research andextension program to be met out of training activities arelocal funds by 2001. rigorously tied to national

Project Appraisal Document Page 31Cameroon: Agricutural Extension and Research Programs Support Project


4.1.6. On-farm research, diagnosis and 4.1.6. 1. Ten contracts signed extension staff developmenttraining activities sub-contracted to by provincial supervisors and objectives.researchers. IRAD station/center chiefs.4.1.7. Record of farmer participation 4.1.7.1. AVZ supervisors 4. Funding and adequateand of increasing participation of reports and information stored disbursement mechanismresource-poor and women farmers. in computerized data base by AfDB is assured.

includes number of resourcepoor and women farmers 5. Non-interference with thecontact groups and poverty competitive mechanism ofsensitive themes included in the Fund.the work program.

4.2. On- Station 4.2.1. Facilities and equipment of 4.2.1.1. ADF and MINRESTAgricultural Research IRAD's 5 regional centers are supervision missions.

operational.

4.2.2. Implementation of in-service 4.2.2.1. Missions as above.training for scientists and support staff.

4.2.3. On-station priority research 4.2.3.1. Monitoring andprograms are prepared and Evaluation reports prepared byimplemented. MINAGRI/MINEPIA/

MINREST. ADF supervision.4.2.4. The management committee of 4.2.4.1. Monitoring bythe competitive research fund is MINAGRI/MINEPIA/MlNREestablished and its members appointed. ST.The research grant manual is adopted.4.2.5. The fund is operational. 4.2.5.1. National coordination.Research grants made (number andtypes) and adoption rates by farmers.

4.3. Training and 4.3.1. Training program operational 4.3.1.1. Training program (seeHuman Resource and regular orientation training and Project ImplementationManagement. recycling courses, continuous on-the- Manual) as basis for

job training and specific needs training monitoring and supervision.under way. IDA and IFAD supervision

mission reports.4.3.2. Personnel management 4.3.2.1. Procedures presentedprocedures established. to IDA and IFAD for review

during supervision.4.3.3. Training of key staff in human 4.3.3.1. Key staff trained.resource management completed. Monitored during supervision.4.3.4. Creation of a financial 4.3.4.1. Monitoring of situationmanagement cell to (i) review financial by DEPA with externalmanagement procedures; (ii) train controllers.accounting staff, and (iii) ensurereplacement of external controllers.4.3.5. Supply and demand study of 4.3.5.1. Report presented toagricultural technical staff completed. project and IDA.4.3.6. Rehabilitation of 2/3 agiicultural 4.3.6.1. Proposals presented bycolleges under way. DEPA/DEC for rehabilitation

cleared with IDA before tenderdocuments are prepared.


Narmtive Summary Key Performance Indicators Monitoring and Critical AssumptionsSupervision and Risks

4.4. Support to 4.4.1. SOASP staff in place with 4.4.1.1. Supervision offarmers' associations resources to operate. activities to be undertakenandpromotion of jointly by the nationalprivate sector linkages. coordination with

representatives of privatesector partners.

4.4.2. Training and extension 4.4.2.1. National coordinationactivities undertaken by NGOs and unit monitors sub-contractedprivate sector on contractual basis. activities.

4.5. Village-based 4.5.1. Preparation and appraisal of 4.5.1.1. Proposal formulated byparticipative component. DEPA in collaboration withcommunity DEC and DGRDC fordevelopment submission for IDA's and

IFAD's approval.4.5.2 Successful implementation of 4.5.2.1 Joint supervisionactivities included in the action plans. MINAGRI/MINEPIA. IDA

and IFAD supervision missionreports.

4.6. Impact Evaluation. 4.6.1. Repeat survey of baseline 4.6.1.1. Survey carried out bysample survey to be carried out in year consultants under supervision2 and 4 of the project. of DEPA, DEC and DPA.4.6.2. In-depth technology adoption/ 4.6.2.1. One such study byrejection case studies (limited province contracted topurposive samples of villages, specialists every year, undertechnical themes). supervision of DEPA.4.6.3. Beneficiary assessment (BA) of 4.6.3.1. BA carried out byPNVA's services in year I and 3 of the external consultants, underproject. supervision of DEPA/DEC.

4.7. Streamlining of 4.7.1. Financial management system in 4.7.1, 1. IDA/IFAD supervisionGovernment budget place by June 30, 2000 to ensure full missions.fund release local funding of operational expensesprocedures financial of extension services.control and audit.


ANNEX 2 - DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Introduction

1. The project comprises six main components:

a) Agricultural Extension (sub-components include participatory diagnosis of farmers'production problems, transfer of environmentally sustainable improved farming techniques,particularly to resource-poor and women farmers, availability of improved seeds and breedingstock, increased use of mass media, monitoring of the progress of extension and researchactivities);

b) Agricultural Research (sub-components include strengthening of IRAD's agricultural researchservices, on-station research, training of IRAD staff, the interface between research andextension, including training of subject matter specialists, on-farm trials and on-farm diagnosis,and the establishment of a Competitive Grant Scheme to finance research projects originating inthe participatory diagnosis work undertaken with farmers at village level);

c) Training and Human Resources Development (comprising a large number of staff trainingprograms, including training on participatory assessment of farmers technology transfer needsby different socio-economic strata, training of staff on gender issues in agricultural production,training in environment conservation, in post harvest and product processing, in group marketlinks development, as well as pilot proposal to rehabilitate two/three agricultural colleges forbasic and refresher training of agricultural technicians operating in the public and privatesector);

d) Support to Farmers' Organizations and Links with the Private Sector;

e) Pilot project in support of Village Community Initiatives; and

f) Project Impact Evaluation.

2. Components:

(a) Agricultural Extension - US$26.1 million

3. The Agricultural Extension component represents a continuation of support, started underthe ongoing National Agricultural Extension and Training project (Ln. 3185-CM), for theimplementation of national agricultural extension policy.

Policy, Approach, Methodology, and Main Activities

4. The National Agricultural Extension Program will continue to ensure that advisory servicesreach as many livestock and crop farmers as possible. The main principles of agriculturalextension will continue to be applied, namely the professionalisation of all staff to ensure highquality of service; a single line of command to avoid conflict of authority; close linkages betweenextension and research; participation among extension staff, researchers and farmers in on-farmndiagnosis and adaptive research, permanent retraining of staff; flexibility in the system to be able totake advantage of the knowledge and experience of all partners intervening in rural areas,systematic programming of activities at all levels, and regular supervision, and monitoring of work-in-progress. In comparison to the first phase, greater attention will be paid to animal husbandry andfisheries extension, facilitated by an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and the


Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) signed in September 1997. Adeputy Coordinator of agricultural extension has been nominated by MINEPIA and furthersecondment of staff is expected at the provincial, regional, sector and zonal levels, as the needarises.

5. The program will build on the strengths of the experience developed since 1991, whichinclude increasing the productivity of a significant number of farmers, through the introduction ofsimple low cost techniques. The capacity and effectiveness of the front line agricultural advisoryservices have been considerably improved and the next phase of project funding will build on theseimprovements by improving the quality and increasing coverage in terms of the typology of therural households served, so as to benefit more womenfarmers and also to pay special attention toresource-poorfarmers on a priority basis. Participatory diagnostic work will be improved to ensurethat the specific problems of poor farmers and women farmers are appreciated and fully taken intoaccount in elaborating the program of work of extensions and research (see training and humanresource development component). Where special problems of poor and women farmers areidentified, separate contact groups of these farmers will be formed. Participation by farmers inprogramming agricultural extension and research will be intensified by continued emphasis on jointon-farm diagnosis by extension and research workers. Training in continuous technical diagnosismethods will remain a priority. Large farmers, planters and associations of primarily market-oriented cash crop producers would be serviced at SMS level (there are currently 5 of differentspecialization in each of the 52 agricultural regions) and gradually encouraged to addressthemselves to private agricultural technicians for detailed on-farm advice. Contacts between SMSand these farmers would involve a two-way flow of information on specific technologydevelopment and problem identification. Farm management advice for more advanced farmerswould be supplied either by specific SMS in farm management or by the private sector (privateextension practitioners, as these develop, suppliers, crop purchasers). The use of mass media willbe strengthened to complement the participatory approach to extension.

6. Following an encouraging start under the first phase project, seed production andmultiplication will receive enhanced support. In particular, national seeds legislation will befinalized, and women's groups and small scale individual farmers will be encouraged to multiplyimproved seeds, and disease free planting materials of root crops. The project will promote theproduction of base seeds of varieties of interest to these groups and of disease free material by theresearch stations and Commercial Seed Producers under contract and ensure that such materialsreach all demanding small farmer groups multipliers.

7. In order to maintain the new levels of commitment among extension staff, anaward systembased on merit will be introduced for extension and research staff.

8. The policy aimed at containing the Government role in technology generation and transferto what is necessary and legitimate to achieve public objectives in agriculture and povertyalleviation, will be pursued by encouraging certain sectors of the farming community to purchasetheir own advisory services from private extension practitioners, to encourage the creation of asupply of such private services and to encourage testing alternative technology delivery systems.Since there is little experience with such initiatives in Cameroon, the project will support activitieson a pilot basis to encourage the development of privately supplied extension. These could includebut are not limited to:


a) Study tours by public and private sector representatives will be organized to countries beyondthe Africa Region to compare experiences2 which could be of relevance to Cameroon;

b) A pilot operation to be implemented in two different provinces whereby the Ministry ofAgriculture will experiment with the sub-contracting of extension delivery to organizationsother than the public service. These organizations could include producers organizations,NGOs, private industry (such as cotton companies, coffee merchants, agro-chemical companies,etc.). The following steps will be taken to implement this pilot operation:

i) PNVA will prepare for the Ministers' approval a set of rules and criteria specifyingminimal technical and organizational criteria for the sub-contracting of delivery ofextension. These criteria should reflect the National Extension Strategy and shouldregulate key features such as farmers/AVZ ratios, regularity of visits to farmers'groups, regularity of training, regularity of supervision, coverage of farmers withina given area, coverage of agricultural enterprises, etc.;

ii) In the pilot areas, PNVA will invite all actors, active or willing to participate inextension to a workshop to discuss and agree upon the extension delivery set-up.The purpose of the workshop is for the PNVA management to explain the NationalExtension Strategy, and the criteria for sub-contracting of extension delivery, andfor the different participating organizations to explain their objectives, organization,and extension methodology;

iii) As a result of the workshop, contractual agreements will be made between PNVAand the eligible organizations to regulate the sub-contracting of extension delivery.In the agreement, the geographic area, the number of staff involved, and the mutualresponsibilities will be specified. It is up to the respective parties to determine theduration of the agreement;

iv) In those areas where extension delivery is sub-contracted to private organizations,PNVA will have to withdraw the existing staff from extension activities, either byphysically relocating these staff to other areas, or by adapting their taskdescriptions. PNVA will however retain the responsibility to supervise and monitorthe quality of the extension work of the private organizations, will continue toprovide training (both on methodological aspects and on technical issues), and willverify the use of funds under the agreement;

v) The financial covenants need to be discussed and agreed between the differentparties involved, but typically, PNVA will assume financial responsibility for thecost of on-the-job training, linkages with research, and mobility of staff. Theexecuting agency will typically bear the salary cost;

c) A pilot initiative to be undertaken in conjunction with one or several associations of producersof a cash crop (such as coffee or potatoes). The objective of this pilot would be to establish amethodology, whereby the farmers' association would mobilize funds (possibly from an exportsraised with the help of the Government) to be able to pay for high quality technical advisory

2 The World Bank (December 1996) reviewed some promising alternatives extension services which include,interalia, co-financing extension by farmers (Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras); contracting services of privateextension workers, private consulting firms, NGOs, local universities (Venezuela, Chili [stratification of the clientmarket with public sector extension resources targeted towards small farmers, while graduating large scale farmersto fee-for service extension], Bangladesh [NGOs]); decentralized agricultural extension services to municipalities(Colombia), and introducing mass media-based extension (Brazil, India, Peru).

Project Appraisal Document Page 36Cameroon: Agncultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

and research services. Project funds could be used on a matching grant basis to help pay for theservices for the first two years. The pilot could be used to assist professional associations toorganize themselves and be duly constituted. Both PNVA and the associations will identifyextension and/or research programs that can be supported under the pilot and identify privateproviders susceptible to fulfill this role. The contract between PNVA and the associationswould also specify the cost sharing arrangements for the pilot;

d) A pilot program whereby up to 20 municipalities would be selected for joint management andfunding of research and extension. While the PNVA would retain responsibility for technologytransfer and staff training, the municipality would be asked to second staff paid by themunicipality to the extension service or accept MINAGRI staff that the municipality wouldmanage. The municipality would take part in the participatory diagnosis and, more importantly,have the responsibility for evaluating the extension work. A contract would be signed betweenPNVA and each municipality specifying the contribution of the latter (mainly staff salaries) andthe management responsibilities of the two parties. The Mid-Term Review would specificallyexamine the possibility of increasing the contribution and management responsibilities of themunicipalities.

9. These pilots will be tested during the course of the next three years. Detailed proposals forthe first pilot will be drawn up within 6 months of project effectiveness. Each proposal will providea detailed description of what is to be done under the pilot; the benchmarks to measureachievements; a timetable for the first and subsequent phases of the pilot; details of a program toevaluate the cost-effectiveness of the proposal; and draft contracts for implementation. Thesedetails will be discussed and agreed with IDA/FIDA before the pilot goes ahead.

10. Action will be taken to implement the main recommendations of the environmental analysiscarried out by SBMCG3. The recommendations include the elaboration of an environmentalmanagement manual, the identification of the tools of environmental conservation which fit withfarmers own felt priorities, and the identification of monitoring indicators of environmentalprotection, and the evaluation of the impact of project activities on the environment. During thenext four years, emphasis will be placed on improving the organization and terms of reference ofthe Environment Subject Matter Specialists (TSE - there is one in each province), whose mainfunction will be training of front-line agents in conservation oriented production technologiesadaptable by small farmers. Special attention would be given to develop IPM technologies bystrengthening the SMS plant protection posts and closely associating the Division of PlantProtection to the field extension activities. Farmers will be trained in the use of compost/manurepits to reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and women farmers will be trained in techniques toreduce the impact of toxic waste from cassava processing in the river flows. Further efforts will bemade to respond to demand for conservation oriented practices in the most fragile areas by trainingfarmers in agroforestry practices and in the advantage of planting legume fodder crops on fallowland, etc. The project provides funding for the sub-contracting of certain specific environmentalprotection activities to third parties, such as the Environment and Forestry Ministry and to NGOsalready operating in certain districts, such as Enviro-protect, Living Earth and Green Care.

3 Evaluation Environnementale du Projet d'Appui au Service National de la Vulgarisation Agricole by Soft BusinessManagement Consulting Group, June 1997


Monitoring extension progress

11. The PNVA's own internal Project Monitoring Unit will be strengthened to systematicallyanalyze critical data collected by the staff, with a view to keeping decision makers informed ofissues requiring rapid interventions and special attention during supervision. This will apply to alloperations of the Extension Division, to the joint operations with IRAD for on-farm research work,and for the research projects financed under the Competitive Fund. The monitoring of theimplementation of the IRAD research component will be arranged separately. The externalevaluation of the national programs, will be implemented under a separate component, thecoordination of which is entrusted to the Division of Studies and Projects, DEPA of the Ministry ofAgriculture, in collaboration with the DEC/MINEPIA.

12. Sector Supervisors collect the first generation of information recorded by the AVZ anddiscuss this in the regular sector fortnightly meetings with all AVZ to facilitate exchange ofinfornation and check progress of work. SMS staff also record the information they collect. Theinformation recorded by the AVZ is compiled in a form kept by the Sector Supervisors and sharedwith the Regional Supervisors and the SMS at the monthly regional meetings. These reports formthe basis of the data sheet discussed jointly by the Regional Supervisor and the Provincial staff ofthe extension staff. At Provincial level the data is recorded in a computerized data base by the staffof the Provincial Monitoring Unit. The staff of the Extension Division, and the Monitoring Servicein particular, will travel to the provinces as part of regular supervision and collect the data from theProvincial Units and use it to compile the Quarterly Progress Reports.

13. The details of program monitoring indicators are included in the Project ImplementationManual. Data is collected according to newly designed notebooks for front level staff and of theirsupervisors. The current record keeping system will be slightly modified to show information atRegional Supervisors' level with regard to the number of women farmer contact groupsparticipating in the AVZ program and to identify the number of farmers adopting poverty sensitivetechnology innovation themes. This information will be computerized at the provincial level, andreleased on a monthly basis to higher management and to the interested supervisory staff. Trendswill be computed to show the evolution of the program actions in accordance with the policy callingfor priority attention to the problems of the less wealthy farmers and to women food crop producers.Funds to purchase the necessary computer and related equipment for the Monitoring Units of all the10 Provinces are included in the Extension Component.

Cost of extension activities

14. Under the extension component (US$26.1 million), the project will fund the activities of thenational agricultural extension and research programs in each of Cameroon's 10 Provinces over thenext 4 years. Investment costs under the extension component would be US$9.3 million, andrecurrent costs US$16.8 million. In particular, under the extension component the project willfinance:

a) the purchase of cars for supervisory staff and motor cycles4 for the AVZs (US$5.6 million);

b) operation and maintenance cost of vehicles and other equipment (US$8.4 million);

4 Motorized canoes for fisheries extension staff, as justified by their program of work


c) travel allowances for extension staff (US$6 million);

d) improvement to office buildings and office equipment (US$3.1 million);

e) recruitment of 200 female extension workers contracted in their villages of residence (US$0.8million);

f) pilot projects for sub-contracting extension and research activities to NGOs, private partners,municipalities (US$2.1 million).

15. Operation and maintenance of extension equipment, vehicles and motor cycles is the mostimportant budget line item (the project will cover the operation and maintenance costs of more than2,000 motorcycles and field allowances of extension and supervision staff, when away from dutystation, for 4 years. IDA will meet 100% of all operation and maintenance expenditures, exceptthose for motorcycles for the first year and 40% thereafter. IFAD will fund 100% of the costs ofthe operating expenses of motorcycles for the first year and 40% thereafter. Field staff are providedwith motor cycles under individual agreements, developed under the ongoing project, wherebyownership of the motorcycle reverts to the field staff, after 5 years of use on official duties. Thisformula has proven to be cost effective and provides an incentive for key staff, in an environmentwhere salaries and allowances are low. Vehicles will be provided for supervision activities.

16. A total of 2,500 staff from IRAD, Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestockwill be involved in project implementation by the fourth year of the project, by which timeagricultural advisory services should be available to the majority of Cameroon's farm population.Extension agents operate within sectors comprising between 600 and 1,100 farm families each,depending upon population density, rural infrastructure and distances between villages. About1,700 front line staff will ensure advisory services directly to between 25%-35% of these farmersand the demonstration effects of the adoption of improved techniques are expected to ensure thatmessages pass to those farmers, who are not directly in contact with the field staff. The fullestablishment of field staff will be provided by those best qualified chosen from the establishmentsof the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock, Condition Feminine, MINEF, projects, parastatals,NGOs and other partners, who are prepared to participate in the national program. Redeploymentof staff may be necessary and has already started in certain areas. Arrangements for thedeployment of staff from non-governmental sources would be covered under specific agreementsdrawn up between these partners and the Ministry of Agriculture.

17. Operating costs financed under the extension component do not include salaries, except forthe new recruitment of 200 women AVZs to work in their own village of origin under special shortterm renewable contracts. Nevertheless external funding of operating costs under the project issizable. IDA and IFAD funding will meet the full field operations and incremental operating costsof the extension service during the first 12 months of the project. This will ensure that farmeradvisory services are maintained while the Ministry of Finance and the MINAGRI streamline,within the above mentioned period, the procedures for disbursing funds currently available toextension under the Government Budget, introducing mechanisms which would ensure that theseresources can be actually used when and where they are required.

(b) Agricultural Research Component (US$14.6 million)

18. Under the Research component, the African Development Bank will fund three sub-components in direct support of the National Institute for Agricultural Research and Development(IRAD) over the next five years. These sub-components (totaling US$10.3 million) include:


a) strengthening of IRAD research capacity (US$6.0 million) to include: rehabilitation of thephysical infrastructure of selected IRAD stations, purchase of equipment, provision of technicalassistance, documentation and operating costs of research staff);

b) operating cost for on-station research work (US$3.4 million); and

c) local and overseas training of IRAD research staff (US$0.9 million).

19. In addition, the agricultural research component will include two other sub-components asfollows:

a) interface of research and development (US$3.3 million); and

b) a competitive grant scheme to finance research projects on a competitive basis (US$1million).

20. Details of the AfDB financed agricultural research components are included in the projectappraisal report of the AfDB. Technical and institutional responsibility for implementation of theAfDB financed sub components will be with the Director General of IRAD, a relatively younginstitution created in March 1996, following the fusion of separate research institutes for agronomyand livestock research.

21. The interface of research and development sub-component consists of jointIRAD/MINAGRI/ MINEPIA activities such as:

a) joint participatory diagnosis of farming systems in conjunction with farmers and livestockowners;

b) training of subject matter specialists at monthly technology review meetings and preparation oftechnical brochures for use by front line field staff; and

c) trials carried out in farmers' fields in conjunction with relevant subject matter specialists andfront line staff.

22. In accordance with an agreement signed in April 1996 between the Ministry of Agricultureand the Ministry of Scientific Research, IRAD will provide support for agricultural extensionactivities. The funding (included in the budget of the Department of Agricultural Production) of theabove activities by IRAD will be governed by individual service contracts negotiated between theprovincial agricultural extension teams and the chief of station/center for IRAD at the provinciallevel. The program will reflect the participatory diagnosis carried out between farmers, researchstaff and field extension staff during the preceding months. IRAD will independently manage thefunds released to them under the contracts. Contracts will be renewed by the Ministry ofAgriculture on the basis of the completion of satisfactory services.

23. The Competitive Grant Scheme (US$1 million) will finance specific research projects, overand above those which will be undertaken by IRAD under the AfDB sub-component (US$3.4million). Eligible projects for finance by this scheme will be those which have been identifiedduring participatory diagnostic work with producers but for which solutions have not been found byIRAD or according to priorities established by the Ministries responsible for rural development.Implementation of these projects will be entrusted to any qualified research outfit, public andprivate, under a competitive bidding procedure. The Competitive Grant Scheme will begin with theelaboration of a procedures manual, followed by a workshop organized jointly by the Ministry ofScientific Research and the Ministry of Agriculture, within six months of project effectiveness,


which will establish the procedures for requesting, preparing and evaluating research proposals,together with arrangements for supervision to ensure that the process is transparent andparticipation as broad as possible. Funding will cover the incremental costs of on-station researchor on-farm research, and investments in vehicles and laboratory equipment will not exceed 20% ofthe total costs of each proposal. Overhead costs of the institutes involved will not be eligible forfunding. An ad hoc eight member Committee will be set up to invite research proposals foridentified problems, appraise the proposals received and decide on contract rewards. TheSecretariat of the Committee will be provided by the National PNVA Coordinator, who would beassisted by the Head of Unit responsible for links with research. The Minister for Agriculturewould sign contracts under the grant scheme. IRAD will compete for these funds with otherqualified institutions in the Region. A close monitoring of the Grant Scheme will be provided bythe DEPA, in coordination with DEC to demonstrate the feasibility of investing in research and toattract future funding from other donors.

(c) Training and Human Resource Management component (US$3.9 million)

24. The component includes three sub-components as follows:

a) Training of Government staff and of private technicians (US$3.4 million);

b) Assessment of the market for private agricultural advisory services and rehabilitation ofagricultural colleges (US$0.4 million); and

c) improved human resource management (US$0.09 million).

25. Training. The training of Government staff and of private technicians will be theresponsibility of a unit within the sub-Directorate for Agricultural Extension, represented at thecenter and in each of the 10 provinces. Local and overseas training will be programmed accordingto a training plan, agreed annually. The project will support the technical training of staff of thenational agricultural extension system and researchers. To ensure the relevance of such training,farmers will also participate at many of these training functions. Farmer training is one of the mainobjectives and activities of the extension component. There may be cases where selected farmerscould benefit from specific training elsewhere within Cameroon or abroad. Such training would beconsidered for funding, if relevant and cost-effective. During appraisal, the strengths andweaknesses of the existing training program were analyzed and a detailed training program hasbeen prepared. (see Annex to Project Implementation Manual for 1998 training program).

26. The Training sub-component will concentrate on three major areas: (i) orientation trainingand recycling; (ii) continuous on-the-job training; and (iii) training related to specific needs. Under(i) the project will undertake:

* re-launch workshops in the 6 provinces where the program has been active since 1991, andwhere attention will be on associating other agencies, institutions, NGOs and private partners;

* orientation training for staff of MINEPIA and for staff from other government departments,who are expected to participate in the program and for senior staff from Research andAgriculture who have not been directly involved in implementation of the first phase of thePNVA;

* special training on identification of agricultural production problem specific to resource poorand women farmers and on contact group formation by socio-economic/gender stratificationwhenever relevant;


* general training of all staff in gender issues.

27. Under (ii), the emphasis will continue on regular fortnightly training of extension staffundertaken by subject matter specialists (SMS) at the regional headquarters (about 1,000 sessionsper year are programmed), and the monthly technology review meetings (AMRT) between researchstaff, extension staff and farmers held at provincial headquarters (objective is 240 AMRTs perannum).

28. Under (iii), specific training courses for selected staff will include:

* refresher training in participative diagnosis techniques;* training of trainers for researchers, supervisors and SMSs;* training in methodology for tests and trials in farmers' fields;* training in teaching practices and group facilitation;* training of farmers' organization specialists;* training in monitoring and evaluation;* training in integrated pest management of field staff;* training in supervision techniques and organization of meetings;* specialized training for SMSs;* training in environment conservation techniques;* financial management training; and* human resource management training.

29. Provision has also been made for overseas study tours. Costs comprise mainly per diemcharges for staff who are attending training courses, travel to and from training for both trainers andtrainees. Existing training establishments and facilities will be used wherever possible.

30. Assessment of the demand for agricultural technicians and rehabilitation ofagricultural colleges. This sub component involves two operations:

a) the completion of an FAO initiated study of the Reform of Agricultural Teaching and Training5

(US$30,000). In addition to meeting the current in-service training objectives for Governmentstaff, there is need to increase capacity to run basic training and refresher courses foragricultural technicians, with a view to increasing the supply of competent technicians in theprivate sector as well as for filling vacancies left by retiring Government staff. The studywould assess the quantitative demand for and supply of such services. They will be carried outby the Studies and Projects Directorate (DEPA) of MNINAGRI in association with theDEC/MINEPIA and in collaboration with the appropriate administrative and training servicesof each Ministry;

b) a potential outcome of the study could be the implementation of a pilot initiative to rehabilitatetwo/three agricultural technical colleges. The national project Coordinator's office will liaiseclosely with those colleges identified during the above study, on the proposed follow-up andrehabilitation work, which is not expected to begin before the third year of the project. Thecurricula and syllabuses of the colleges will be redesigned in such a way as to provide both in-service and basic training to agricultural technicians for whom there is expected to be a growingdemand over the coming years as the needs of Cameroonian farmers become increasinglysophisticated and technically challenging. Funds (US$400,000) have been budgeted to meet the

5 Reforme de I'Enseignement et de la Formation Agricole et Rurale - Michel Gineste FAO/DEPA Janvier 1998


costs of rehabilitation and equipment of these colleges to be disbursed during the third andfourth years of the project.

31. Human Resource Management. Under this sub-component (US$89,000):

* a study on personnel management procedures, including career development policies for staffassociated to the extension program will be carried out (US$78,300). Its recommendations willalso cover proposals for other related Departments in the Ministries of Agriculture andLivestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries;

* the capacity for handling data on personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture both at the provincialand central levels will be strengthened by providing computers, printers and other related officeequipment in all provinces (US$10,700). This equipment will be used also by the GeneralAdministration Directorate (DGA) of the MINAGRI. The Directorate will provide support andadvice on staffing and training decisions to the PNVA.

(d) Farmer Organization Support and Private Sector Linkages component (US$452,000)

32. This component will support the efforts of the SOASP unit of PNVA to develop formal andinformal contacts between farmer groups/associations and private sector suppliers of agriculturalinputs and crop processing equipment, traders, industrial purchasers of agricultural products, etc.and to assist groups in handling contractual arrangements with the private sector if so demanded bythe farmers. At the lowest level the SOASP unit operates through an SMS posted in the Regions.At Provincial level the SMS unit will be reinforced with an SMS in post harvest and produceprocessing to form a multi-disciplinary team. Funds will be available at this level to contract outmarket studies, review of processing techniques of interest to local farmer groups, etc. Assistancewith the financial evaluation of processing and marketing proposals will be given to the provincialunits by the Economist to be posted in the Impact Evaluation Unit of DEPA (see below). A majoractivity of the SOASP will be to organize meetings of farmers (at all relevant levels) to exchangebusiness information among themselves and to meet private sector operators, along the lines ofworkshops successfully initiated under the ongoing PNVA. Funding will be made available toimprove communications between regional and provincial level specialists in farmers' associationsand private sector linkages (SOASP), to finance training of farmer group representatives, and toenable group representatives to undertake study visits both within and outside Cameroon.

(e) Village-based participative community development (US$405,600)

33. The Village-based participative community development pilot is designed to assist villagecommunities to analyze their existing situation, identify and agree upon rural development priorityproblems, make action plans to address the priority problems, take charge through their ownorganizations of the implementation of the action plans, and put pressure on the different servicesand development organizations active in the area to provide the quality services needed. The toolsand methods used under this approach are not new: they are the synthesis of a large number ofexisting experiences with community participation in rural development (including PRA, NRM,Social Funds, gestion des terroirs etc.). While this approach is being introduced through theExtension Service, it is not limited to extension. The problems and action plans identified by thevillages cover the whole spectrum of rural development (including extension). Village Participationis not designed to replace the national extension system. On the contrary, through the VillageParticipation process farmers express their need for know-how and demand adequate assistancefrom the extension service as well as from other services.


34. To implement the approach, the extension agents and other partners who are working in thevillages take the entire village communities through a three-step program. First, the villagers(women and man, young and old, the better off and the poor) make a diagnosis of their existingsituation. To do that, they draw maps, analyze their own organizations, and go through interviews.At the end of the exercise the entire village agrees on what their priority areas are. Next, peopleanalyze the problems. This leads to the understanding that even those problems that appeared hugeand uncontrollable can be (partly) resolved using existing resources. At the end of this phase, thevillage communities agree on the action plans to deal with the priority problems. The third stage ofthe exercise is the organization of the village. They decide on who will be responsible for what andelect the village council, implementation committees, and allocate specific power, responsibility andaccountability. This leads to the actual implementation of the action plans, and the increasedpressure on the different service delivery organizations to provide the assistance needed.

35. The Village-based participative community development pilot will be carried out under theoverall coordination of the national PNVA unit by joint teams of staff from the Extension Serviceand the Community Development Department. At the provincial level, the Provincial ExtensionCoordinator will have the end-responsibility for the pilot operation and will actively involve a widerange of organizations and individuals, including local government, other rural services -such ashealth, education, infrastructure, etc.- NGOs, and any other organizations active in ruraldevelopment. The results of this pilot will be monitored and evaluated by the Ministry'sAgricultural Projects and Studies Directorate which will be responsible to identify impactindicators, carry out a base-line survey, and measure progress on the impact indicators. The pilotoperation will be implemented with a view on the rapid expansion of the approach throughout thecountry.

36. The objectives of the pilot operation will be to:

i) Adapt the Village Participation approach as tested in other African countries to the Camerooniansituation;

ii) Train a group of trainers in the methodology of community participation;

iii)Examine the mechanism to improve planning at the decentralized levels of government based onthe community priorities and action plans;

iv) Examine the mechanisms to increase farmers' say over the management and the organization ofthe extension service;

v) Determine the need to establish a self-standing project to finance community activities.

37. The pilot will be carried out in three main agro-ecological zones of Cameroon (northern,western highlands and southern forest zones). A total of some 75-100 villages will be involved inthe operation. Operation of the pilot will be based upon a detailed proposal to be preparedfollowing study tours in 1998, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, to similar experiences in othercountries in the Region. IDA/IFAD supervision missions will assist in finalizing the proposals.Funding will be made available under the overall management of the national PNVA CoordinationUnit.

38. The pilot project would provide experience on alternative ways to manage theimplementation of a larger Community Development Project, including recommendations aboutalternative approaches involving the private sector and the respective role of the MINAGRIDGR&CD and the private sector in the larger project. IFAD has expressed interest in funding such

Project Appraisal Document Page 44Cameroon: Agwcultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

a project. The results of the pilot project will be monitored and evaluated by the Ministry'sAgricultural Projects and Studies Directorate, with a view to preparing a larger scale project forexternal funding.

(f) Project Impact Evaluation and Studies component (US$618,800)

39. The responsibility for this component will be entrusted to the Department of Studies andProject (DEPA) of the MINAGRI, who will associate the DEC of the MINEPIA in itsimplementation. Under this component, five different types of activities are envisaged:

i. regular review and analysis of information internally generated by the extension staff. Theseinclude information on: (a) the participation rate of farmers (men and women) attendingfortnightly meetings; (b) the total number of contact groups and their distribution by gender(men, women, mixed) and by typology of farmers (rich, poor, mixed); (c) the number ofdemonstration plots and trial plots; (d) comparison of yields on demonstration plots and oncontrol plots; (e) the number of training sessions and monthly technology review meetings; (f)the number of technical messages being disseminated; and (g) the number of field trials carriedout by researchers;

ii. assistance to the extension field staff in perforning the financial evaluation of the expected netbenefits of adopting the technologies extended to farners (a simple routine task not always wellperformed at the moment), and to support the SOASP units in contracting and reviewing marketstudies and crop processing project proposals. MINAGRI will recruit an economist to performthese duties;

iii. external evaluation of project impact. Three methods of external impact evaluation will beused: (a) specific ad hoc technology adoption case studies. Ten ad hoc technology adoptioncase studies (total 4-year budget US$197,500) will be undertaken every year. These will berelatively simple exercises, involving 7 to 10 working days each, and will be carried out byindependent professionals expert in PRA methodologies, either MINAGRI/MINEPIA staff orprivate consultants. Villages will be selected on the basis of information collected by theinternal monitoring system. Within villages, a purposive sample of farmners to be interviewedwill be chosen, reflecting the social stratification of the village and the gender division of labor.The case studies will be based on PRA methodologies, and will report in-depth informationabout technology adoption, the reasons for adoption, the modifications introduced by theadopting farmers, the reasons for rejection if this is the case, the farmers appreciation of the riskinvolved in adopting a technology, and of how the technology has contributed to solving theirhousehold livelihood problems; (b) beneficiaries' assessment studies, and (c) base line andupdate surveys of agricultural production of a fixed sample of farmers;

iv. For the evaluation of the independent impact of research on project outcomes, DEPA willcontract a consultant to (a) interact with the various research stakeholders and arrive at a formallist of impact indicators, (b) provide guidance to researchers on formulating monitoringindicators for their research tasks, and (c) spell out the data requirements for a rigorousevaluation of the impact of research. Consultant services will also be recruited to carry outindependent evaluations of the research projects financed under the Competitive ResearchGrant Fund. Resources will be provided to MINAGRI under the project to contract theimplementation of the above to other specialized Govermment units or to private specialistconsultants. Supervision of this work will be undertaken by DEPA in collaboration withDEC/MINEPIA;


v. evaluation of the pilot projects detailed in par. 8 above. Terms of reference for the evaluationwill be developed with support from IDA/FIDA supervision missions and will be agreed priorto the launching of the pilot schemes.

40. A base-line survey of agricultural production has been started in 1998, covering about2,000 families. The survey will be repeated using the same sample and the same methodology inyear 2000 and 2002. It is believed that this will provide an insight on the PNVA impact onagricultural production. Each survey is estimated to cost US$100,000.

41. A beneficiary assessment of the PNVA was carried out in 1997. Under the new project theBA will be repeated in 1999 and in 2001. Each BA is expected to cost US$30,000.

42. A Mid-Term Review (MTR) will be carried out under the direction of the DEPA, incollaboration with DEC, no later than March 31, 2001 to evaluate project impact using the agreedimpact indicators referred to in Annex 1 and covering the following points, in addition to thosereviewed during annual reviews: (i) evaluation of the impact of pilot project experiences andproposals for future development of the pilots; (ii) evaluation of the operation of the financialmanagement system; (iii) the results of the review of operations of MINAGRI and MINEPIA,including proposed follow-up actions; (iv) the implementation of the rural sector strategy and actionplan relating thereto; and (v) assessment of the efficiency of the coordination system betweenresearch and extension activities.

43. US$197,500 has been included to meet the costs of further sectoral studies and publicexpenditure priority ranking workshops required to strengthen the pipeline for public expenditureand investment projects in support of the new agricultural sector policy of the rural developmentMinistries.

Organization and Management of the Extension Coordination unit of MINAGRI

44. The project will be carried out under the coordination of a national agricultural extensionprogram coordinator located within the existing structure of the Ministry of Agriculture'sDepartment of Agricultural Production, except for the 3 sub-components of the AfDB financedResearch component which is entrusted to IRAD. At central level, seven services (Cellules)support the national coordinator, as follows:

a) Program monitoring;b) Links with Agricultural Research;c) Methods and Norms of Extension;d) Training and Human Resource Development;e) Seeds and Breeding Material;f) Support to Farmers' Organizations and Linkages with Private Sector;g) Administration and Finance.

45. In any one of the 10 Provinces, the Extension Service is structured into 9 units (manyconsisting of a single specialist) coordinated by the provincial PNVA Supervisor, an officer of theMINAGRI or detached from MINEPIA directly responsible to the Provincial Delegate forAgriculture, who represents the Minister of Agriculture in the Province. The nine Units are:

a) methods and norms;b) training and human development;

Project Appraisal Document Page 46Cameroon: Agicultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

c) liaison with agricultural research;d) environment;e) program monitoring unit;f) seed unit;g) post harvest and product processing;h) support to farmers' groups and market linkages development;i) administration and finance unit.

46. The administrative level of the MINAGRI below the Province is the Agricultural Region, ofwhich there are 52. In each one of these, a Regional Supervisor coordinates the activities ofbetween four and six sector supervisors and supervises the work of five technical subject matterspecialists (SMS) and a Specialist in Farmers' Organizations and Links with the Private Sector asfollows:

a) Food crops and horticulture;b) Plant protection;c) Tree crops;d) Seed and breeding material;e) Animal production and fisheries;f) SOASP.

47. Below the regional level there are 233 sectors, each headed by a Sector Supervisor. Thisofficer coordinates the activities of the 1,700 AVZ, who are posted at the level of agricultural zones,whose size varies according to the density of population within each zone.

48. Programming of work and lines of command. The work plan of the Extension Staff isset in accordance with the following steps:

i. the formulation of the work program begins with the participatory diagnostic work of the AVZwhereby the production problems of different categories of farmers are identified in aparticipatory way. Diagnostic work is a continuous task. SMSs and researchers are associatedand the research and training wrk programs are adjusted to reflect the results of the continuousdiagnosis;

ii. AVZs refer to the SMS and decision is taken on how to deal with the problems: if solutions areavailable "off-the-shelf' a program of training and demonstration and regular follow up isprepared for the AVZ to undertake. The action involves: forming groups of contact farmersinterested in the theme to be demonstrated to solve the problem, deciding on the fields in whichthe demonstration is carried out, the role of farmers in the demonstration and definition of theschedule of follow up visits with each group;

iii. In case there is no "off-the-shelf' response available, the process of contacting the researchstaff starts. This involves the Liaison with Agricultural Research Unit at provincial level, andeventually a contract is signed at Provincial Level (Provincial Supervisor, Head of the IRADstation in the Province) with IRAD to undertake in-field research jointly with the extensionstaff. These contracts are funded by resources allocated to the extension component at thecentral level;

iv. If on-field research is not sufficient to solve the problem and on-station research related to thetheme identified through participatory diagnostic work is required, an on-station research


project will be formulated for funding under the competitive fund, and will follow a moreelaborate procedure;

v. All work plans are formulated by AVZ and Sector Supervisors and progress reviewedconstantly at the fortnightly meeting held at sector level. On a monthly basis, sector work plansare reviewed with the SMS in a monthly meeting at the Region headquarters, chaired by theRegional Supervisor. In turn, regional supervisors meet with provincial supervisors once amonth;

vi. The regular training program starts with the training of subject matter specialists at 2-dayMonthly Technology review meetings. Farmers also attend these sessions to ensure relevanceof themes to field conditions. The SMSs then train field staff at fortnightly training sessions.

49. The work plans of the Sectors are consolidated by Region and then at provincial level. Atthis level the Administration and Finance Unit prepares the annual Provincial budget which isapproved at the center and reviewed on six-monthly basis. The provincial budgets and the budgetsof the PNVA units not included in the Extension Division, (DEPA for example), are aggregated bythe Administration and Finance Services of the Division at central level.

Flow of Funds, Administration and Financial Control

50. Administrative responsibility and financial management of agricultural extension is beingincreasingly decentralized, enabling the regional extension units to function largely independently.However, the investment budget (civil works contracts, purchase of office furniture and equipment,and of vehicles on behalf of central units and peripheral units) is implemented centrally by theAdministration and Finance Service of the Extension Division. With respect to externally financeditems, the flow of funds for these items involves payments drawn on the Special Account of theproject opened at the CAA. This is a unit of the Ministry of Finance which handles all externalproject funds. Funds allocated to national training, or to make payments under contracts with IRADat Provincial level are also released centrally.

51. The Project Special Account with CAA is also used to handle funds allocated to operatingexpenditure. However, these are channeled through 10 auxiliary revolving fund accounts openedwith commercial banks in each province. The CAA is responsible for processing loan withdrawaldocuments, and for submitting those documents on a monthly basis to the Bank for replenishing theSpecial Account. The auxiliary accounts to cover local expenditures by each of the 10 provincialdelegations of the Ministry of Agriculture have been operational for the past 6 years and willcontinue to be the main source of funding of activities at the provincial level and below. On amonthly basis, or more often if necessary, expenditure reports and an account reconciliation will besent to the CAA so that the expenditures paid at the regional level are consolidated into theapplication for the monthly replenishment to the central special account. Arrangements forproviding support for Ministry of Livestock staff collaborating under the program will be managedin the framework of the agreement signed between the two Ministries in September 1997.

52. Recurrent expenditure allocations from the Government Budget are released through theProvincial Treasurer at the Provincial level. This process is subject to delays and bureaucratic stepswhich drastically reduce the funds actually available to extension front line operators and whenmade available this is often not at the time when they are needed. The Government is formulating aproposal of procedural reforms to solve this problem, which must be in place, tested and fullyoperational within the first 18 months of the project life.

Project Appraisal Document Page 48Cameroon: Ag9icultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

Appendix I

Distribution of Farm Families and Agricultural Extension Zones

Provinces Ext Nord Adam Ouest Nord Centre Sud Est Littoral Sud TotalNord aoua Ouest Ouest

Farrn families (1) 264,825 99,599 80,732 201,498 161,032 129,020 44,965 63,414 106,787 89,286 1,241,158

Ag. extension zones 230 140 115 217 185 253 104 141 111 147 1,643

Farm Faxnilies/AVZ 1,151 711 702 928 870 506 432 450 962 607 755

Sector Chiefs 29 29 17 25 24 34 13 18 17 19 215

Subject Matter 30 20 25 30 30 40 21 20 20 20 256Specialists

Regional Supn 6 4 5 6 6 8 4 4 4 4 51

Provincial Supn 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 60

CentralCoordination

(1) As per data used for mid-term review LnL 3185-CM, 1995.


ANNEX 3 - ESTIMATED PROGRAM COST

Table 3A

Project Component Local Foreign Total-US$ million-

A. Agricultural Extension 15,497.3 8,479.2 23,976.6B. Agricultural Research 7,471.0 6,414.5 13,885.5C. Training and HumanResources Management 2,434.5 1,150.0 3,584.5D. Farmer Organization Supportand private sector linkages 246.2 170.1 416.4E. Village based participativecommunity development 288.2 93.3 381.5F. Monitoring and Evaluation 388.2 179.5 567.7

Total BASELINE COSTS

Physical Contingencies 1,038.9 558.2 1,597.2Price Contingencies 875.0 797.4 1,672.4

Total PROJECT COSTS 28,239.4 17,842.3 46,081.7

Table 3B - Components by FinanciersGovernment World African Int'L Fund

Bank Devel. for(IDA) Fund Agriculural

Dev.(FIDA)

A. Agricultural Extension 9,435.3 8,106.3 6,328.6National Agricultural Extension Program 31.0 51.7 123.4Seed improvement 296.9 635.2 423.4Equipment and salaries of women AVZ 66.2 637.9

Subtotal Agricultural Extension 9,829.4 9,431.1 6,875.4B. Agricultural Research

1. Research/Extension linkages 3,285.42. Competitive Research Grants 978.63. Strengthening of IRAD Services 5,954.04. On-station research 3,430.15. Training of IRAD staff 923,0

Subtotal Agricultural Research 978.6 10,307.0 3,285.4C. Training and Human Resources Management 99.4 3,475.0 323.4D. Farmer Organization Support and Private Sector Linkages 14.4 438.1E. Village-based participative community development 94.4 280.3 31.0F. Monitoring and Evaluation 84.3 534.6

Total Disbursement 10,121.9 15,137.6 10,307.0 10,515.2


ANNEX 4 - COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS SUMMARY(US$million in 1997 terms)

Present Value of Flows Fiscal Impact

Economic Financial Taxes SubsidiesAnalysis Analysis

Benefits 41,160 47,279Costs 24,925 31,338 4,339 N/A

Net Benefits 16,234 15,942IER 42% 27% N/A N/A

Main Assumptions

1. The economic analysis takes account of the following variables, which influence the economiccost benefit flow of the project: (i) the number of farmers benefiting directly from extension staff advice- it has been assumed conservatively that 30% of Cameroonian farmers will benefit from the project, (ii)incremental project benefits based on farm models for each of the main agro-ecological areas of thecountry namely, the North (Extr8me Nord, Nord and Adamaoua provinces), the West (Nord-Ouest, Ouestand Sud-Ouest provinces) and the South and East (Centre, Littoral, and Est provinces). The total basecosts, as derived from Costab, have been used to calculate both the financial and economic rates ofreturn. Full investment and recurrent costs for all project components (including Agricultural Research)are used for the first four years of the project. Thereafter, recurrent costs of the Extension component areused for the following six years. Full details are presented in the Technical Annexes to this report, whichare available in the project files. In the "without project" scenario, it is assumed that production andoutput will continue to grow at a rate of 5% per annum, as a result of the continuing effects of FCFAdevaluation and other factors. The "with project" scenario assumes that production and yields willincrease by 10% as a result of the adoption of new technology by those farmers in direct contact withextension staff. The net increases in farm revenue are assumed to be carried forward from one year tothe next. No benefits are derived for other farmers, who are not directly contacted by extension staff butwho can also expect to benefit from new technical messages, as they themselves test the techniquesadopted by their neighbors or members of the farmer contact groups. It is assumed that the new technicalmessages will involve an increase of 6% per annum in production costs. Farm gate prices are based oneconomic prices calculated from international commodity price projections taken from CommodityPrices and the Developing Countries, IBRD, May 1997, with the exception of the prices of niebe andtomatoes, which are based on local market prices.

2. To take account of the potential impact of increased production on the local market, "withproject" farm gate prices for commodities produced for the local market (maize, groundnuts, tomatoes,niebe) have been marked down by 6%, in both the economic and financial analysis.

3. The results of the sensitivity analysis on the IER carried out by changing one of the abovevariables by varying proportions is present in the Table below:

Project Appraisal Document Page 51Cameroon: Agncultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

Sensitivity Analysis

Impact on Project IER Resulting from Changes in Key Assumptions

% age changes in project assumptions -30% -20% -10% 0 +10% +20% +30%IER on base case assumptions 1/ 42% =Change in # of farmers contacted by AVZ 8% 21% 28% 42% 48% 55% 63%Change in production costs 74% 63% 52% 42% 29% 17% 3%Change in local market prices = -5% 21% 42% 60% 79% 99%

1/Base case assumptions include:- Increases in farm production take place at a rate of 5% pa in the "Without project scenario".- Farm gate prices "with project" have been discounted by 6% to allow for possible impact ofincreased volume of production on local market prices.- "With project" improvements in production based on 10% increase in yields or productionresulting from adoption of improved technology.

- "With project" production costs assumed to involve a 6% increase in production costsfollowingadoption of improved practices.- Extension staff contact with 30% of all farmers.

4. The sensitivity analysis shows that the internal economic return is: (a) moderately sensitive to achange in local market prices (it requires a 15% change in local market price assumptions to reduce theIER to marginally acceptable levels); and (b) relatively insensitive to changes in production costs and inthe number of farmers contacted by extension staff (it requires approximately a 25% increase inproduction costs and a reduction of more than 25% in the levels of farmers contacted by extension stafffor the IER to fall to marginally acceptable levels.


ANNEX 5 - FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Table 5A (US$'000s in 1998 terms)

Implementation Period OperationalPeriod

98199 99/00 00/01 01/02

Project Costs

Investment Costs 9,101.8 6,480.2 7,448.2 6,259.9 5 years

Recurrent Costs 3,970.0 4,088.7 4,280.8 4,452.1 15 years

Total 13,071.8 10,568.9 11,729.0 10,712.0

Financing Sources (% of total project costs)

IDA 15.1 (32%) 5 years

IFAD 10.6 (23%) 5 years

FAD 10.3 (22%) 5 years

Government 10.1 (22%) 5 years

Total 46.1 (100%)

Table 5B - Project Impact on MINAGRI Budget (US$millions)

1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01

PIP for Agriculture and Livestock 16.0 17.0 16.8 16.8

Recurrent budget for Agriculture and Livestock 1/ 32.8 34.5 36.2 38.0

Total public expenditure for Agriculture/Livestock sectors 48.8 51.5 53.0 54.8

Total project cost 2/ 9.6 7.5 9.9 7.8

Project cost as % of total ag. sector public expenditure 20% 14% 19% 14%

Government contribution to project costs 2.7 2.1 2.8 2.2

Government contribution as % of recurrent budget 8% 6% 8% 6%

1/ Mission projection beyond 199 7/98

2/ Costs directly related to Minagri/Minepia budgets (not including IRAD direct costs)

The relatively low level of the contribution by the government as an overall proportion of total publicexpenditure in the agricultural sectors demonstrates that there is clearly the capacity to meet thecounterpart costs of the project and to ensure longer term financial sustainability.


ANNEX 6 - PROJECT PROCUREMENT AND DISBURSEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

Procurement

1. Procurement Experience. Procurement under the previous project (Ln. 3185-CM) has beenslow. Staff of the National Coordination Unit have adopted standard Bank guidelines and procurementprocedures for the past three years. However, procurement processing under the Government regulationsinvolving a central procurement unit in the Ministry of Agriculture and a separate procurement office inthe Ministry of Finance has been responsible for delays and the procurement problems. Most have beendue to unfamiliarity of non-project staff with the Bank's guidelines. As a consequence, a major trainingeffort has been launched to provide training for those who are likely to be involved in procurementprocessing and in decisions of major tender awards. In November 1998, staff from the project and fromthe central Directorate for General Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture will attend procurementtraining at CESAG in Senegal. Later in 1999, in-country training in procurement will be organized fornational staff as part of a broader effort to be organized by the Bank to strengthen procurement capacity.

2. Procurement of civil works and goods will be carried out according to procedures set forth inthe Guidelines for Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits (dated January 1995, revisedJanuary and August 1996 and September 1997). Procurement of consulting services will follow theBank's guidelines dated January 1997 revised in September 1997. A procurement schedule is presentedas an appendix to the Project Implementation Manual. The main project procurement categories, theirestimated costs and methods of procurement are summarized in Tables 6A and 6B, with those amounts tobe funded by IDA included in brackets.

3. Civil Works. The main item of civil works will be the rehabilitation of two or three agriculturalcolleges during the third and fourth year of the project. At an estimated cost of US$100,000 each, therenovation of buildings and annexes for each college is not likely to attract outside firms and thus theprocurement of these works will be subject to national competitive bidding (NCB). Other rehabilitationworks of regional and district agricultural extension offices is not expected to exceed US$40,000 perbuilding and will also be carried out using NCB, under procedures acceptable to IDA. The total cost ofindividual contracts carried out under NCB procedures will not exceed US$900,000, of which IFAD willfinance US$750,000, the balance being funded by the Government.

4. Goods financed under the project include vehicles, motorcycles and spare parts, office furniture,outfitting and extension materials, demonstration equipment and teaching tools. Of the total amountsubject to ICB (US$6.8 million), US$1.8 million equivalent will be funded by IDA. Most of these goods,particularly vehicles and motorcycles would be grouped into packages costing more than US$100,000equivalent and procured through International Competitive Bidding procedures (ICB). Where ICBprocedures are used, standard bidding documents developed by IDA will be used, and a preferentialmargin of 15%, or the applilcable customs duty, whichever is the lower, over the c.i.f. prices of competinggoods, would be given to bids offering domestically manufactured goods, in the evaluation of bids, inaccordance with the Procurement Guidelines. Contracts for materials and furniture not exceedingUS$100,000 and totaling US$500,000, required over a period of time and available locally at competitiveprices, for which foreign firms would not be interested, would be procured by NCB under proceduresacceptable to IDA. The NCB document to be used for local bidding should be cleared by the Bank priorto the first contract for local bidding. Goods contracts estimated at US$20,000 each or less and notexceeding US$600,000 in aggregate would be procured by national shopping, of which IDA will financeUS$300,000. Procurement would be spread over the four years of the project.


Table 6A: Project Costs by Procurement Arrangements

(in US$million equivalent)

Total CostExpenditure Category Procurement Method (including

contingencies)ICB NCB Other N.B.F

1. WorksI _______ _ 1 0.9 1 1 0.9

l__ __ __ __ ___ __ _ _ __ ((0.7)) _ _ ((0.7))2. Goods

6.8 0.5 0.6 8.0(1.8) (0.4) (0.4) (2.7)

((3.3)) _ X X ((3.3))3. Training

3.8 3.8(3.8) (3.8)

4. Research Contracts

1 4.3 4.3

1 _______ __ ___ ____ ((3.3)) = ((3.3))5. Operating costs

16.3 16.3

(5.4) (5.4)((3.3)) ((3.3))

6. Studies, Consultants and Audits_________ _________ 2.5 j _ _ _ _2.5_______ __ ___ ______ (2.3) _ _ _ _ (2.3)

7. AfDB Funded Research l l l ll | 1 ~~~~~10.3 (a) l 10.3

Total 6.8 1.5 27.5 10.3 (a) | 46.1(1.8) (0.5) (12.8) (15.1)

((3.3)) ((0.7)) ((6.6)) ((10.6))

Note: ICB = International Competitive Bidding; NCB = National Competitive Bidding, N.B.F. = Not Bank-financed.

Figures in parenthesis are the amounts to be financed by the IDA credit;Figures in double parenthesis are the amounts to be cofinanced by IFAD on a parallel financing basis,supervised by IDA and following Bank Procurement Guidelines subject to eligibility of IFAD membercountries.(a) Cofinanced in parallel by the African Development Fund; procured in accordance with AfDB regulations;

5. Under NCB procedures, the following criteria will be respected: (i) foreign firms will not beexcluded if interested; (ii) bid evaluation and award criteria will be specified in the bidding documentsand the award will be made to the lowest evaluated bidder; (iii) a minimum of 30 days bidding time will


be allowed for national competitive bidding; (iv) no negotiations with bidders will be held withoutconsulting the Bank; and (v) and the margin of preference for domestically manufactured goods will onlybe allowed for contracts let under international competitive bidding procedure.

6. Consultancies and Training. The details of the training program are presented in the TechnicalAnnexes to this document. As part of the annual work program, the PNVA would submit for IDA reviewand approval annual training and study tour programs for each of the workshops and training coursesenvisaged. From the second year and for successive years, the program would include an evaluation ofthe previous year's training program.

7. Contracts for short term consultants (including auditors and external trainers) to be hired underthe project would be awarded following the Bank's guidelines dated January 1997 (revised in September1997), with terms of reference, selection procedures and requests for proposals being satisfactory to IDA.No external long term consultants are envisaged.

8. Selection of consultants will normally be addressed through competition among qualified short-listed firms in which the selection will be based both on the quality of the proposal and on the cost of theservices to be provided. Short-lists for contracts estimated under US$100,000 may be comprised entirelyof national consultants if a sufficient number of qualified firms (at least three) are available atcompetitive costs. However, if foreign firms have expressed interest, they will not be excluded fromconsideration. The standard Letter of Invitation and Form of Contracts as developed by the Bank will beused for appointment of consultants. Audit services, which are of a standard nature will use least costselection criteria.. Research programs under the Competitive Grants Fund will be contracted by theMinistry of Agriculture to IRAD and other organizations, such as universities and regional institutes,under a "Selection Based on Consultant's Qualifications", which should be satisfactory to IDA. Criteriafor use of such funds should include (i) client responsiveness, either as a priority problem identified byfarmers or as a topic of national interest; (ii) estimation of potential economic and financial benefits; (iii)identification of beneficiaries; (iv) definition of means whereby benefits will be disseminated; and (v)identification of similar work already carried out by the potential grantee. Research contracts at theprovincial level in respect of field diagnosis, training of SMS and applied research to be entered intobetween the Ministry of Agriculture and which are not expected to cost more than $50,000 will bemanaged as sole source contracts, renewable every six months on the basis of satisfactory performance,as evaluated by the Ministry of Agriculture and IDA. Overheads under these contracts should notaccount for more than 15%. Services provided by field agents and supervisory staff other than thoseprovided by civil servants (e.g., by NGOs) will also be the subject of "Service Delivery Contracts".Services for lectures and small studies, which can be delivered by individual consultants will be selectedthrough comparison of qualifications among those expressing interest in the assignment or approacheddirectly. Simplified contracts will be used for short-term assignments, i.e., those not exceeding sixmonths, carried out by individual consultants. The Government has been briefed during negotiationsabout the special features of the revised guidelines, in particular with regards to advertisement and publicbid opening.

9. Prior Review Thresholds. Contracts for goods and works in an amount of US$100,000equivalent and above and for consulting services involving US$100,000 or more for consulting firms andUS$50,000 or more for individuals will be subjet to prior review procedures of IDA. The review processwould cover 76% of the total value of the amount contracted for goods and 66% of the amountcontracted for civil works. Selective post-review of contracts awarded below the threshold levels willapply to about one in three contracts. Draft standard bidding documents for NCB will be reviewed andagreed upon with IDA. The Bank will review the selection process for the hiring of consultants proposedby the Borrower. For consultants contracts estimated to cost the equivalent of US$200,000 or more,


opening of the financial envelopes will not take place before receiving the Bank's no-objection to thetechnical evaluation. Prior IDA review will not apply to contracts for the recruitment of consulting firmsand individuals estimated to cost less than US$100,000 and US$50,000 equivalent respectively.

Table 6B: Thresholds for Procurement Methods and Prior Review

Contracts Subject toExpenditure Contract Value Procurement Prior Review

Category (Threshold) Method(US $ thousands)

1. Works <$100,000 NCB First contract, and allin excess of $100,000

2. Goods >$100,000 ICB All in excess of$100,000

<$100,000 and NCB First NCB contract>$20,000 regardless of amount

<$20,000 Local purchase None

3. Contracts with Direct contracting or First contract each yearprivate partners and award of contract after for private partnersIRAD the selection process

agreed with IDA/IFAD

4. Consultants >$200,000 firms/all all prior review,included technicalevaluation

<$200,000 and firms/all all prior review>$100,000<$100,000 firms/all no prior review>$50,000 individual all prior review<$50,000 individual no prior review

Total value of contracts subject to prior review: $4.5 million

10. Procurement information will be collected and recorded as follows:

a) prompt reporting of contract award information by the Borrower;

b) comprehensive half-yearly reports to IDA by the Borrower indicating:

i. updated cost estimates for individual contracts and for the total project, including best estimatesof allowances for physical and price contingencies;

ii. revised timing of procurement actions, including advertising, bidding, contract award andcompletion time for individual contracts; and

iii. compliance with aggregate limits on specified methods of procurement.

Project Appraisal Document Page 57Cameroon: Agncuftural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

Disbursement

11. The IDA Credit is expected to be effective by end December 1998 and the project will run overthe following four years. Disbursements are expected to continue over 4Y2 years. Cofinancing with IFADwill be assured on the basis of parallel financing.

12. Special Account (denominated in CFA francs).

Authorized allocation of 800 million CFA, the equivalent of US$1,400,000. Full amount to be depositedupon effectiveness. Calculation of authorized allocation is as follows:

Average Monthly Three MonthDescription Expenditure per Cash Flow

Cost Center (US$)

Extension activities of 10 provincial delegations FCFA 10,000,000 600,000

Research activities subcontracted to IRAD's 10 FCFA 3,300,000 200,000provincial centers

Central PNVA coordination unit FCFA 100,000,000 600,000

Total 1,400,000

13. The provincial delegations of Agriculture will continue to maintain separate provincial accountsto meet operational expenses of extension and supervisory staff. The opening balance of each auxiliaryaccount will respect the new levels agreed under the previous project (30 million FCFA for Adamaoua,Est, Littoral, Nord, Sud and Sud-Ouest provinces, 40 million FCFA for the Nord-Ouest and Ouestprovinces and 50 million FCFA for the Centre province).

14. No direct procurement will be managed by the provincial delegations and statements ofexpenditure will be sent to the National Coordination office for verification and onward transmission tothe CAA. Expenditures should be submitted for reimbursement at least once per month or morefrequently if necessary, through the CAA. The account may be used to pay for expenditures in eitherlocal currency or foreign exchange through the commercial banking system, against any category ofeligible expenditure. All expenditures less than 10% of the initial deposit would be paid from the specialaccount. All replenishments should be fully documented except in the case where Statements ofExpenditure (SOEs) are authorized. Monthly bank statements and reconciliation of the Special Accountstatement would accompany replenishment requests. For direct payment by IDA, minimum applicationamount should be above 20% of Special Account deposit.

15. Annual Budget Approval. Annual agreement will be reached between the Bank, other donors,the Ministry of Agriculture and the CAA on an annual budget. Disbursement requests in conformity withthe main expenditure items under this budget will be submitted to the IDA for payment without specificnon-objection letters, except for expenditures related to contracts falling above the non-objectionthresholds. Expenses related to contracts, below the prior review or clearance thresholds, which representsignificant changes in the annual budget will be required to be submitted for special non-objection of theBank.


Table 6C - Disbursement of IDA Credit(US$ thousands, net of taxes and duties)

Category Amount Percentage Financed by IDA

(1) Agricultural Research 1,000 100%

(2) Vehicles and Equipment (excluding 2,600 100% foreign and 85% localmotorcycles)

(3) Studies, audits and consulting services 1,800 100%

(4) Operating Costs 5,400 100% up to US$2.3 million and 35%thereafter

(5) Training 3,600 100%

(6) Unallocated 700

Total Project Costs 15,100

16. The Credit closing date is fixed as June 30, 2003 which provides four and a half years for thedisbursement of expenditure under this four year project. The disbursement categories for the Credit arepresented in Table 6C above. The annual work program will be subject to approval by all financiers.The proportion of the annual work program to be financed by IDA and IFAD will be decided each yearafter review and discussion of the proposed budget by the Ministry of Agriculture and IRAD.Disbursement is expected to proceed at a quicker pace than that of the standard disbursement profiles,given the experience of the project coordination team with Bank procedures and the relativelystraightforward nature of expenses which will be funded. In addition, most of the vehicles andmotorcycles will be procured in the first two years of the project. The expected disbursement profile isgiven in Table 6D below. Thirty six months after Credit Effectiveness, if the experience of this phase ofthe project continues to be satisfactory, preparation will begin of a further phase to provide continuedsupport to the national extension program.

Table 6D - Estimated IDA Disbursements(US$million)

FY99 FYOO FYO1 FY02 FY03

Annual 2.5 4.2 3.2 3.4 1.9

Cumulative 2.5 6.7 9.9 13.3 15.1

Percentage 18 45 67 90 100

17. Disbursement by IDA against Statements of Expenditure (SOEs). Appropriate arrangementsfor accounting and auditing are in place and the Ministry of Agriculture possesses the ability to processand maintain SOE documentation in a manner satisfactory to IDA. The financial management unit of thesub-Directorate for Agricultural Extension would claim reimbursement on the basis of statements ofexpenditure (SOEs) for: (i) civil works costing less than US$100,000 equivalent (Disbursement

Project Appraisal Document Page 59Cameroon: Agricuftural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

Category II); (ii) goods contracts less than US$100,000; (iii) contracts with consulting firms valued atless than US$100,000; (iv) contracts with individual consultants costing less than US$50,000 (includingamendments); and (v) all operating costs and training.

18. The office of the Director of Agricultural Production and the offices of the Provincial delegatesof agriculture (for the provincial auxiliary accounts) will retain all the relevant supporting documentationfor reimbursement claims under SOEs for inspection by supervision missions. During the course of theannual audit of the project's accounts, the auditor will certify that all expenditures claimed under SOEsduring the year have been properly incurred for the project.

Financial Management

19. The project will make a significant contribution to increasing the degree of financial autonomy ofthe provincial and departmental delegations of the Ministry of Agriculture. Guidelines for financialmanagement and a simple budget monitoring system were introduced in each of the provincialdelegations of Agriculture under the previous phase of the project. The financial management controlunit, which was set up under the first phase of the program in support of the national Director ofAgricultural Extension, will continue regular training of provincial level staff during the course of thenext phase. Existing budgeting and accounting procedures will be strengthened by the introduction of asimple management information system, developed for agricultural extension and research projects underother Bank projects elsewhere in Africa (e.g., in Madagascar), which will facilitate budget preparation,financial monitoring and monitoring of cost effectiveness and which will respond to the project'soperational and management information requirements. It is also proposed to introduce double entry andaccruals based accounting as recommended under IASC's6 guidelines applicable to public accounting.The system's architecture will be based on the concept of integrated financial management, capturingaccounting data at source and once only. Appropriate PC based computer software will be used tosupport the system. Short term consultants might be required to assist in the introduction of theseimprovements, which will begin in 1999.

20. The financial arrangements under the first extension project (Ln. 3185-CM) have generallyfollowed the Government procedures (as applied by the Ministry of Agriculture) with somemodifications to conform to the Bank procedures for disbursements under SOEs. These will becontinued under the next phase of the project, with the following proposed improvements:

21. Accounting at the Provincial Levels. While the current procedures for incurring and recording ofPNVA expenditures at the provincial levels are simple and clearly set forth, these have not beenconsistently adhered to. Under the current procedures each province is expected to submit requests forreimbursement of expenses to the CAA (via the Central Coordination Unit of PNVA in Yaounde) butsuch submissions have been irregular. The cumulative effect of such irregularities leads to provinciallevel special accounts being blocked by constant return of unsatisfactory withdrawal requests, thusjeopardizing project activities. To correct these problems under the next phase of project funding:

a) supervision from the central financial management unit of the Ministry of Agriculture will beintensified to ensure at least 2 missions per province per year. During these visits, procedures forincurring expenditures will be verified to ensure respect and adequate recording. The unit will needto be ready to recommend disciplinary measures against non-performing staff, particularly those withfinancial and fiduciary responsibilities;

6 International Accounting Standards Committee

Project Appraisal Document Page 60Cameroon: Agwcultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

b) requests for reimbursement of special accounts in the provinces will be submitted at least once, if nottwice, a month.;

c) reconciliation of provincial funds with bank balances and outstanding replenishments will be carriedout once a month;

d) if the above procedures are followed, the level of the revolving fund for the provincial accounts iffixed at three months of expenditure should be adequate to ensure a smooth level of operations.

22. Special Account at the CAA. The main project special account will continue to be maintained ina commercial bank account under the control of the CAA. The system has worked reasonably well todate but could be improved by the following:

a) Bank statements must be provided more promptly by the commercial bank to the CAA and to theproject financial management staff. The CAA should submit withdrawal request to the Bank not lessthan once a month;

b) The financial control unit of the project will monitor closely the monthly submission withdrawalrequests to the Bank;

c) To meet the increased financial activity under the project, the level of the Special Account will be setat US$1,400,000 or the equivalent of three months' cash flow for the project.

23. Funding under the project is included to meet the costs of the annual audit of accounts. Fundinghas also been included for the first three years of the project to enable the Ministry of Agriculture tocontinue to employ an external financial control team. However, in the interests of longer termsustainability, the Ministry should assume responsibility for the financial control of the activities of thenational program. Thus beyond the third year of the project, funding for short term financial consultantsonly has been included.

24. Financial Management of Research Activities. To reinforce the relationship of IRAD as asupplier of services to extension, six-monthly contracts will be drawn up at the provincial level betweenthe provincial agricultural services and IRAD, which will define the roles and responsibilities of eachparty. These contracts will cover a program of work for 6 months and be renewed by agreement of bothparties, on the basis of satisfactory performance. Lump sum payments for services will be released toIRAD's provincial representations by the CAA at the request of the Directorate for AgriculturalProduction, to cover 3 months' activities at a time, on confirmation of the agreement of the provincialagricultural team.

Project Accounts and Audits

25. Accounting. The project's key functional processes, budgeting, purchasing, paying, recordingand reporting have been designed to operate in line with the Government of Cameroon's decision todecentralize day to day management of operations to the provincial level. Financial and administrativefunctions will be represented at two levels, central and provincial, with the lowest management unit beingthe agricultural extension sector. Functional relations between the national extension Director's financialcontroller and the provincial management centers will be managed according to procedures, which havebeen drawn up by the financial controller's office. Their application will be monitored by staff of thefinancial controller's office, who will be required to travel to visit each province at least twice a year.Reports of these visits will be submitted to the national Director of Agricultural Extension. The financialcontrol staff will also either provide or coordinate training in financial management and administrationfor financial staff at the provincial level.

Project Appraisal Document Page 61Cameroon: Agicultural Extension and Research Programs Support Project

26. Audit. The project's accounts will be audited, according to IASC accounting guidelines byprivate audit firms recruited under NCB procedures, having demonstrated professional training andapplying auditing standards recognized under IASC's auditing guidelines. Financial reporting standardswill be in conformity with recent Bank's guidelines on financial statements and norms of the IASC.Financial statements submitted for auditing will comprise as a minimum, a statement of net position(balance sheet equivalent), a source and application of funds, a summary budget execution statement anda summary statement on the IDA Special Account. Audit reports in the long form will be submittedwithin six months of the end of the fiscal year to which they refer. Auditors will be contracted by theproject prior to effectiveness.

27. An annual work program incorporating the annual training program, details of procurement andother agreed project details would be prepared and submitted to IDA for comments and approval by theend of April each year.

28. Reports on project implementation progress would be submitted to IDA semi-annually at the endof April and at the end of November each year. The April report would be submitted to coincide withdiscussion of the draft annual work program for the following year.


ANNEX 7 - PROJECT PROCESSING BUDGET AND SCHEDULE

A. Project Budget (US$'000) Planned Actual(At final PCD stage)$125,000 $324,000

B. Project Schedule Planned Actual(At final PCD stage)

Time taken to prepare the project (months)3 20

First Bank Mission (identification) 07/96 7/11/96

Appraisal Mission departure 11/9/96 4/10/97

Negotiations 1/15/97 07/28/98

Planned Date of Effectiveness 5/30/97 12/31/98

Prepared by: Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture's PNVA, DPA, DOA, Ministry of Livestock, Ministryof Scientific Research and IRAD.

Bank staff who worked on the project included: Christopher Trapman, Bhagwanti Khushalani, JanWeetjens, Jacques Fremy, Ivar Serejski, Vishva Bindlish, Clotilde Ndomb, Abdul Haji, Harry Palmier;Romano Pantanali (IFAD) contributed to the final drafting of the PAD.


ANNEX 8 - DOCUMENTS IN PROJECT FILE

A. Project Implementation Manual

Ministbre de l'Agriculture - Direction de la Production Agricole - Programme National de VulgarisationAgricole - Manuel d'Execution du Projet D'Appui aux Programmes Nationaux de Vulgarisation etRecherche Agricole - mars 1998.

B. Bank Staff Assessments

Detailed Project Costs TablesEconomic Cost/Benefit Analysis - Detailed TablesFinancial Analysis - Detailed Tables

C. Other

Evaluation Environnementale - SBMCG pour le Ministbre de l'Agriculture/PNVA - juin 1997

Presentation de la Structure et de l'Organisation du PNVA dans les Provinces - Ministbre de P'Agriculture

Impact du PNVA: Evaluation par les Bdneficiaries - Michel Bakuzakundi, Consultant - juillet 1997

Actes de l'Atelier de Programmation des Actions d'Appui aux Programmes Nationaux de Vulgarisation etRecherche Agricoles, Ngaoundere 29-9-96 -- 4-10-96

Programme National de Vulgarisation AgricoleNVolet Recherche - Programmes Provinciaux Conjointsd'Activites - IRAD mai 1997

Analyse de l'Impact du PNVFA - Rapport Final - janvier 1995 - ACA Investment and ResourceMobilization Partners.


ANNEX 9 - STATEMENT OF LOANS AND CREDITSAs of June 30, 1998

Loan Fiscal Year Purpose Bank IDA Undisbursed ClosingCredit No. Date

31850 1990 Ag. Ext. Training 19.0 0.0 12/31/983185A 1990 Ag. Ext. Training 2.0 2.0 12/31/9833880 1992 Food Security 22.1 10.6 12/31/983388A 1992 Food Security 1.5 1.5 12/31/9826840 1995 Health/Fert/Nutrition 43.0 33.5 06/30/0127030 1995 Transport Sector T.A. 10.2 2.6 06/30/9828130 1996 SAC II 150.0 0.05 03/31/9828132 1997 SAC II 25.2 0.00 03/31/98

28133 1998 SAC II 18.1 0.00 01/21/9928690 1996 Transport Sector 60.7 54.5 12/31/0228820 1996 PE/TA 12.6 9.7 12/31/99P8820 1995 Infrastructure Work TA 0.4 0.22 09/30/98P9010 1995 Basic Ed. Improv. Proj. 0.5 0.00 06/30/98P9011 1997 Basic Ed. Improv. Proj. 0.2 0.09 06/30/98P9350 1995 TD/CM Pipeline 1.0 0.75 06/30/99

Total 87.6 278.9 115.51


ANNEX 10 - CAMEROON AT A GLANCE

:Sub.. . .PovERTry and SOCIAL: -:aharan 16ow-

CeNeW6i .:.sAfrica Income9 Development diamond'

Population mkI,- 996 (mrlkk,s) 137 6600 3,229GNP per capita 1996 (USS) I610 490 500LieepcacON P 1 99(bftl~ US$) 8.4 _2941 1 601

Aveargle annual growth, 1890-956

population 2%) 9 2.7 1.7 GNP Gross:Laibor force %)3.1 2.6 1.7 prprmy

Mo1at recent estimate (latest ymea avafifable since 1969)~ capfta enrollment

Poverty: headcoUnt kidea (96 of populalatbnJ . -. -

Urban population f9id alplouation) 45: 31 29Life expectancy at bkirt (year) .. 67 02 63Infant mortality(pe0r. 1,000 live bkr*_~ 56 92''::69 Acess to safe waterCNid:rmalnutrition (96of cNAkivW',under 9) 14Accesis to safe water (96 of popuialat--~41 47 .. 53illiteracy (96 oFoufk ag 5 37 43-CameroonGrossprimraryenrotlment (%ofsdotaepqpu1ation):: 69.. 80 : 72 1005

male 93 78 12Female 84 65 9 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

KEY EC-ONOMIC RATIOS end LONG-TERFATRENOS

1976 1986" 1996 98Economic ratlos*

GDP (b/imsi US$) .2.8 A.1 8.0 9.0Gross dom~estic irwestment/GOP.: 20.0: 249 14.5 116.11:Exports of goods and services/GOP 22.7 ..334 -25.9: 23.9OpnesoecomGrossclomestic ssvings/GDOP 17.1 :+26.8 20.8 19.4Gross national isavings/C)OP 12.1 209 12.4 13.7

.Current accouint balanc/O 80 -. 2.1 -2A.4Interest payments/GOP 00 17 2.1 17 Saigs InvestmentTotal debtIGOP 15.3 36.2. .115.6 103.2:Total debt service/exports 6.8 15.5 40.9:. 381.6Present value of debt/GOP . 107.9: 94.1.Present valueo et550t . 0. 7, Indebtedness

1976-86 1966-96 1986 1986 19611746(average "anna gr-Wh) Cmro

GNP pier capita 1.7 ~0.3 .. 1.A0 31.9~ i3.3o-nmruElxorts of goods and service 18.1 2.0 -11.8 8.3:: 3.6'

STRUCTURE of the ECONOMY

(96 of GDP) 1976 11986 1996 198 Growth rates of outputeand investm1ent(%Agriculture 29.1 22.1 42.5 44.3 30 Industry 18.2 36.8 25.3 24.3 2,~

Manufacturing 10.3 11.8 10.8 10.9 0Services 52.6 41.1 32.2 31.5 .109a

-21)Private consumption 72.0 64.2 70.8 72.7 -30 General government consumption 10.9 9.0 8.6 7.8 _GDI GDImports of goods and services 25.5 31.6 19.7 20.6 _________________

1976-86 1986-86 1996 1986(average ualria groWth) Growth rates of exporte and knports (%)Agriculture 4.9 0.7 2.0 5.0 20 -Industry 18.4 -5.5 -0.4 5.5

Manufacturing 13.8 -1.0 2.4 7.7 15-Services 6.3 -3.5 6.6 4.7 _

Private consumption 5.5 -3.1 7.2 7.8 .1 9General government consumption 6.8 -4.7 0.9 -4.2Gross domestic investmrent 1.7 -8.0 -6.6 12.8 -20Imports of goodsaand services 10.8 -1.2 -0.7 13.2 -Epot -- 4-ImporssGross national product 4.1 2.4 1.9 7.1 ____________________

Note: 1996 data are preliminary estimates.

*The diamonds show four key indicators in the country (in bold) compared with its income-group average. If data are missing, the diamond willbe incomplete.


Cameroon

PRICES and GOVERNMENT FINANCE1976 1S86 1896 1986

Domestic prics hIflation (%j(96 change) 30Consumer prices 13.6 11.5 26.9 6.4 20Implicit GDP deflator 6.0 112 17.0 45 10

Govemment finance o ' 0

(96 of GDP) Si 92 9sCurrent revenue 21.0 12.9 14.4 -10Current budget balance 9.5 -3.8 -1.9 GDP def. _ cpIOverall surplus/deficit -1.6 -4.9 -2.8

TRADE1975 1886 1896 1996

(millions US$) Export and Import levels (mIll. USS)Total exports (fob) 512 2,339 1,662 1,721 2So0

Fuel . 1,535 454 330 2

Cocoa 226 256 276Manufactures 126 137 192 1 ) I

Total imports (cif) 1,231 1,392 1,483 1,00Food .. 92 222 248Fuel and energy 8 Capital goods .. 382 460 440

Export prce index (1987=100) 126 121 121 90 91 92 93 94 s5 96

Import price index (1987=100) 96 81 83 mExports aImportsTerms of trade (1987=100) 131 149 146 _

BALANCE of PAYMENTS1976 1986 1996 1996

(mi/liaS US$j Current account balance to GDP ratio (%)Exports of goods and services 648 2,725 2,059 2,159 2Imports of goods and services 730 2,573 1,572 1,857Resource balance -82 153 488 302 0 1 9

Net income -202 -488 -668 -595 |-Netcurrenttransfers 62 10 9 74 |4

Current account balance, 4 before official capital transfers -221 -325 -171 -220

Financing items (net) 203 363 185 302Changes in net reserves 18 -38 -13 -82 -10 -

MWemo:IIReserves including gold (mill. US$) .. 0 13 13Conversion rate (AwxbVS$) 2224 471.1 518.6 501.9

EXTERNAL DEBT and RESOURCE FLOWS

(millions US$) Composition of total debt, 1996 (mil.l US$ |Total debt outstanding and disbursed 420 2,946 9,203 9,323

IBRD 50 287 639 520 G AIDA 50 227 443 513 1198 576 B

Total debt service 45 432 863 861 136IBRDO 5 14 2IDA 3 8

Composition of net resource flowsOfficial grants 0 0 0 0Official creditors 56 94 -195 100Private creditors 48 -253 -94 -133 zForeign direct investment 0 0 0 0 DPortfolio equity 0 0 0 0 6768

World Bank programCommitments 22 159 86 254 A - IBRD E - BibteralDisbursements 37 50 68 163 B - IDA D - Other mutiateral F - PrivatePrincipal repayments 0 16 92 93 C - IMF G - Short-termNet flows 37 34 -24 70 1 _

Interest payments 4 22 56 51Net transfers 33 12 -80 19

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Documents

Document of No. 18422-CM - World Bank · Document of the International Development Association Report No. 18422-CM PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED CREDIT IN AN AMOUNT OF