Announcement of IDA Approves Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand Dollars Credit for Rice Development in Guinea on September 20, 1979

. FOR iMMED.IATE RELEASE .,, ,, ' \J • World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone. (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 80/6 September 20, 1979 IDA APPROVES $10.4 MILLION CREDIT FOR RICE DEVELOPMENT IN GUINEA The International Development Associati8n (IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending, has approved a credit of $10.4 mi 1 lion to the Government of Guinea to improve rice production. The project wi 11 support the government's efforts to increase national rice output in order to make Guinea self-sufficient and eventually become a rice exporter. About 2,700 farming fami 1 ies, cultivating some 4,000 hectares of upland rice and 1,300 hectares of swampland rice and the 12 mechanized cooperatives, to which they also belong, cultivating an additional 1,000 hectares of upland rice, are expected to benefit directly from the project. • The $19.6 million project will establish a planning and coordination unit within the Ministry of Agriculture and will set up an agronomic research program. It wi 11 also undertake a pricing study to help the government to improve rural incentives and productivity. A project preparation study for agricultural development in Upper Guinea wi 11 also be undertaken. Finally, the credit will finance a pi lot project in Guinea's fertile Forest Region to test and develop low-cost techniques for increasing rice productivity. The Government of Guinea will provide $4.3 million for the project, while the African Development Fund (ADF) will contribute $4.9 million. The IDA credit and the ADF loan will be for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. They will carry no interest but will bear a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum to cover administrative costs. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T E CHN I CA L DAT A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Rice Development The People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea $ 19 . 6 mi 11 i on • IDA FINANCING: $10.4 million, standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: African Development Fund, $4.9 million, on standard IDA terms; Government of Guinea, $4.3 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Ministry of Agriculture, Waters, Forestry and Co-operative Farming, B.P. 576, Conakry, Guinea CABLE ADDRESS: MIDORAL - CONAKRY TELEX: 638 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project comprises two components. Through its national institution-building component, the project will promote the development of the rice subsector by creating a coherent, policy-making capability in the Ministry of Agriculture. It also provides for the construction of three research stations, and for consultant services and research funds to the Ministry of Agriculture:4llt The regional component consists of a pilot project to test and develop technical improve ment in rice cultivation practices in Guinea's fertile Forest Region. PROCUREMENT: Procurement for all contracts over $50,000 for vehicles and equipment (estimated to total $4.3 million) wi 11 be carried out through international competitive bidding (ICB) in accordance with IDA guidelines. Materials, vehicles and equipment ($0.5 mill ion) that cannot be grouped in packages of at least $50,000 each, or are not suitable for ICB, will be procured under local com- petitive bidding procedures acceptable to IDA, or through negotiated purchase on the basis of local price quotations. CONSULTANTS: The project includes prov1s1on for the following consultant services: (a) 15 man-years for the establishment of a rice development planning and coordination agency; (b) 15 man-months for the establishment of rice research capacity in major rice growing areas; (c) 18 man-months for the Upper Guinea project preparation study; (d) 28 man-months for the study on agricultural prices and rural incentives; and (e) 8 man-months for the preparation of a possible follow-up to the pilot project in the Forest Region; and (f) 14 man-years for the establishment and operation of the "Operation Riz Gueckedou 11 (ORG). ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 20% 1985 - 0 - •