CHAPTER 4: TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME

(All amounts in US$ 000)

 

Major Programme

2000-01 Programme of Work

Programme Change

2002-03 Programme of Work

Percent of Total

4.1

Technical Cooperation Programme

89,118

9,788

98,906

97%

4.2

TCP Unit

2,337

476

2,813

3%

Total

91,455

10,264

101,719

100%

520. The Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) will continue to respond to urgent or unforeseen requests for technical assistance of Members, in close association with other components of the Regular Programme. It will keep to its main characteristics: ability to respond to urgent requests; limited project duration; low costs; practical orientation; and catalytic role and complementarity to other sources of assistance.

521. Updated statistical information is provided below. Since the creation of TCP in 1976, 6,895 projects were approved, for a total amount of US$ 816 million, an average allocation of about US$ 118,000 per project.

Distribution of TCP Allocations by Region (US$ million)

Year/Biennia

Africa

Asia and Pacific

Europe

Latin America
and Caribbean

Near East

2000

15.2

8.9

4.5

9.0

5.8

1998-99

37.2

17.6

9.6

17.2

10.0

1996-97

36.8

19.7

9.7

17.3

9.9

1994-95

38.8

22.7

5.5

16.9

9.1

1992-93

35.1

19.1

4.8

16.8

12.2

Distribution of TCP Allocations by Categories (Percentages)

 

1996-97

1998-99

2000

Training (T)

14.6

12.6

18.2

Advisory Services (A)

56.0

42.9

43.7

Emergency (E)

25.8

32.0

21.8

Investment (I)

1.8

1.2

1.9

Formulation/Programming (F)

1.5

1.0

1.1

Support to TCDC (C)

0.1

0.0

0.4

Support to Development (D)

0.2

10.3

12.9

522. Criteria for TCP assistance, as established by FAO Governing Bodies, are summarised below. Requests should:

  1. give emphasis to increasing production in food and agriculture, fisheries or forestry, particularly with a view to raising incomes of small-scale producers and rural workers;
  2. be accorded high-priority by the government, which must also ensure that local support facilities and services are available and that follow-up action will be taken;
  3. be directed to an urgent and specific problem or need, fill a critical gap, limited to a particular sector or area, and involve practical action with well-defined objectives and expected results;
  4. be limited in duration, preferably from one to three months; in no case should the overall duration of project activities exceed 24 months;
  5. be limited in cost, not exceeding US$ 400,000 per project and preferably much lower, and involve the most-effective and least-costly method of execution; and
  6. provide assurance of the fullest possible participation of the government in project execution, through such means as the use of national institutions, personnel and resources.

523. TCP also supports projects within the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), to the extent that the TCP criteria are met. In addition, a Facility has been established for use by FAO Representatives to enable them to meet requests directly through recruitment of local consultants.

524. TCP is managed and coordinated by the Technical Cooperation Programme Service (TCOT), previously a Unit in the Office of the Assistant Director-General, and now part of the TCO Division, which ensures adherence of approved projects to the TCP criteria, coordinates the appraisal of requests and the Organization's response to incoming requests for TCP assistance. FAO Representatives, technical officers in Regional and Sub-regional Offices and at Headquarters, participate in the formulation and appraisal process. During implementation, TCOT reviews and monitors, in close cooperation with field and Headquarters offices, the performance of the programme as a whole, of individual projects, and in terms of thematic clusters of TCP projects. In the latter case, four evaluations have been carried out so far covering projects in the fields of food control, apiculture and sericulture, legal assistance and policy advice.

525. As for the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), part of the resources under Major Programme 4.1 is subject to transfer, as reimbursement of administrative and operational support services (AOS) and technical support services (TSS) provided by the relevant units. The related provision for these expenditures in support of TCP are US$ 7.3 million for AOS, and US$ 4.1 million for TSS largely under technical programmes and for evaluation.

Changes in Resources

526. The tentative resource projections in the Medium Term Plan 2002-2007 included an increase in TCP resources under Chapter 4 of the Programme of Work and Budget to take the share of this chapter to 17 percent of the total FAO Regular Budget Appropriation by the end of the period, as called for by Conference Resolution 9/89. The share envisaged for the first biennium (2002-2003) of the six-year plan period was 14.9 percent and the overall increase of US$ 10.3 million in the current Summary Programme of Work and Budget proposals aims to maintain this percentage. It may be noted that the eventual percentage of the Appropriation under Chapter 4 will change as a result of Conference decisions, including the impact of the rate of exchange adopted next November.

527. Besides the call to increase resources for TCP embodied in the above Conference Resolution, a combination of structural factors militate for such an increase. In the first instance, account must be taken of the increase in the number of Member Nations that are eligible for assistance from the Technical Cooperation Programme (e.g. in 1990, FAO had 157 Members, while the membership now stands at 180). As a result, for instance, the share of the European region in TCP assistance has increased from less than 5 percent in 1992-93 to over 10 percent in 2000, affecting of course the share of other regions.

528. There is also a phenomenon of increasing complexity of TCP projects, due to increased use of national consultants, TCDC experts and FAO staff for advisory services. In addition, there are demands for assistance in new fields, in particular following the decisions of the World Food Summit, for example:

  1. projects in the framework of the SPFS - leading to substantial donor funding - initially limited to the water control component, and more recently expanding to other components of the SPFS;
  2. support to national food control systems and national food safety;
  3. establishment of national Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System (FIVIMS) in food insecure countries; and
  4. training for World Trade Organization (WTO) multilateral trade negotiations (MTN).

529. Moreover, there has been a surge in demands for emergency assistance requests, from 97 projects at a cost of US$16.9 million in 1992-93 to 106 projects representing US$ 29.3 million in 1998-99. Complex emergencies caused by natural calamities as well as socio-political conflicts have increased, and most emergency TCP assistance has moved away from relatively straightforward provision of inputs, to arrangements that aim at interacting with donors and recipient countries, with a view to optimising relief and rehabilitation for the rural and agricultural sector. Requests for assistance to settle refugees temporarily in host countries or to support them with seeds and agricultural tools for their return are also on the rise. This context leads to additional requests for technical support in programme formulation for rehabilitation following emergencies.

530. These various developments have resulted in a decline of the number of projects approved in every biennium from 551 in 1990-91, down to 430 in 1998-99 and 191 projects in 2000, whereas the average cost for individual projects has increased from US$ 147,600 in 1992-93 to US$ 227,600 in 2000. Normally, FAO receives some 800-900 requests for TCP assistance per biennium; and every year some 250-300 requests - for an overall value of US$ 60 to 75 million - remain unattended, and need to be carried forward to the subsequent biennium or abandoned.

531. At the same time, the substantial decline in extra-budgetary funding for FAO's technical support and cooperation with developing countries, mainly due to the decline of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) financing, implies that many Members, including Low-income, Food-deficit Countries (LIFDCs) very often can only resort to TCP in order to access FAO's expertise in response to urgent and unforeseen needs.

532. All these factors support the wish of Members benefiting from TCP assistance, to see an increased share of TCP to the total Appropriation. Within the chapter, it is also necessary to strengthen the TCP Unit (Major Programme 4.2) in its essential coordination and supportive roles, particularly with a view to speeding up the approval process.