Tanzania - Agricultural Sector Development Program Project

Page 1 INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AC536 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 08/01/2005 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Tanzania Project ID: P085752 Project Name: Tanzania Agricultural Sector Development Program Task Team Leader: Robert Townsend Estimated Appraisal Date: September 20, 2005 Estimated Board Date: December 8, 2005 Managing Unit: AFTS2 Lending Instrument: Adaptable Program Loan Sector: Agricultural extension and research (60%);Irrigation and drainage (20%);General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector (20%) Theme: Rural services and infrastructure (P);Rural policies and institutions (S) IBRD Amount (US$m.): 0.00 IDA Amount (US$m.): 80.00 GEF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 PCF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 Other financing amounts by source: BORROWER/RECIPIENT 20.00 INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 50.00 70.00 B. Project Objectives [from section 2 of PCN] 1. If the Government of Tanzania's Agricultural Sector Development Program (ASDP) is successful, what will be its principal outcome? Sustained 5% annual growth of agricultural GDP (averaged over a rolling three year period) through improved productivity and profitability of the sector. 2. If this ASDP support program is successful, what will be its principal outcome? : Higher farm productivity, profitability and incomes through improved access to and use of relevant agricultural knowledge and technology by farmers, increased district level investment, and improved market development. C. Project Description [from section 3 of PCN] 3. APL proposal: An agreed strategy for the sector is now in place with many on-going donor supported programs each having varying durations and coverage of the ASDP components. Increased donor co-ordination in the sector through a basket funded support program would Page 2 allow more coherence to external assistance with reduced transaction costs for Government. The support is proposed to be phased covering three of the five pillars of the ASDP (the other two (policy and cross-cutting) are being covered under budget support. Initial focus will be on areas where there are financing gaps and technical support needs. Given the multi-phased, long term technical and financial requirements of the program an APL is proposed. A three phased APL would allow over a 9-10 year period support by development partners to the Government's efforts to (i) improve the responsiveness of agricultural services to farmer needs; (ii) implement district agricultural development plans; and (ii) market development (local, regional and international). Over the three phases the program would progressively increase both its sectoral and geographic coverage. The sequencing and main thrust of the three phases would be: * Phase I (three years): focus on empowering farmers/clients to make better informed decisions on technology choice; introducing a more contestable and decentralized system of agricultural services and extension to improve its relevance and encourage pluralism in service provision with a greater role for the private sector; clarifying the strategy for technical services and training; strengthening capacity for implementation of the district agricultural development plans, including irrigation; and identification of models for local, regional and international market development. * Phase II (three years): continued roll-out of the competitive grant schemes for research and extension together with empowerment activities; support for technical services and training; implementation of the district agricultural development plans through investment and capacity building; and implementation of market development models. * Phase III (three years): continued expansion of the competitive grant scheme for research and extension and support for the implementation of the district agricultural development plans; implementation of market development. Dependant on implementation progress, IDA funding could be integrated into direct budget support (PRSC) in this phase, although the basket and support the ongoing activities would continue to be financed by development partners. 4. The first phase of the long-term program will have three components (i) agricultural services; (ii) district investments; and (iii) market development. The first component will be the largest, with component (ii) and (iii) increasing in size in subsequent phases. 5. Component 1: Agricultural Services: This component will have three sub-components: (a) strengthening demand through farmer/client empowerment which will include activities focused on strengthening (i) farmer/client knowledge and organizational empowerment and; (ii) institutional and financial empowerment; (b) strengthening supply of services which will include activities focused on (i) institutional reform; (ii) capacity building; and (iii) service provision; and (c) co-ordination and quality control: which will include activities on (i) co-ordination and partnership; (ii) monitoring and evaluation; and (iii) quality control of service delivery. 6. Component 2: District Investment: This component will have two sub-components: (a) technical support to the ongoing design of this pillar of the ASDP, including irrigation aspects, with capacity building to support improvements in the planning, technical and financial capacity of districts; and (b) piloting activities to refine design considerations. Page 3 7. Component 3: Market Development: This component will have two sub-components: (a) technical support: to the ongoing design of this pillar of the ASDP; (b) piloting activities to refine design. D. Project location (if known) 8. The spatial coverage of the program will be determined during program preparation, but is likely to focus initially on: (i) districts where key reforms to service provision have been initiated and; (ii) districts where poverty levels are high and service capacity low. Other considerations will be given to agricultural potential, infrastructure, and ongoing donor support. The program will initially provide a minimum base flow of resource across the local, zonal, and national level, while providing intensive support for districts and services which qualify for early reform. During implementation, the level of support to government-based agricultural services would be scaled down commensurate with the need to retain certain services in the public domain, while increasing the role of private sector agencies in domains where they can attain commercial viability. E. Borrower