CCP: ME 02/7 
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| CCP: ME 02/7
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COMMITTEE ON COMMODITY PROBLEMS |
INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS |
Nineteenth Session |
Rome, 27-29 August 2002 |
DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE COMMON FUND FOR COMMODITIES |
1. This document reports on progress made since the 18th Session of the Group, in July 2001, in the formulation, implementation, supervision and evaluation of livestock projects for financing by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). Two project profiles were submitted to and approved by the IGG on Meat in that Session. No new project proposals on meat and livestock products (including dairy) have since been submitted to the Secretariat for consideration by the Group.
2. Regarding the one project under implementation, the West African Livestock Marketing Project, the Secretariat has continued to coordinate project supervisory activities on behalf of the Group. Relevant progress reports will be tabled for delegates to review during the Session.
3. Specific issues have emerged related to the implementation of the above regional project, especially with regard to the responsibilities delegated to the different institutions involved. Difficulties include the coordination of activities and sharing of information between the different institutions and the complexity of allocating funds and coordinating financial accounting. In response to such difficulties, the Secretariat is attempting, through participation in annual Steering Committee meetings, to enhance processes for improved collaboration and coordination.
4. Two projects have been approved by the CFC, but are not yet operational: Meat Commodity Diversification and Upgrading of Meat Processing Technologies in Asia Pacific and Enhancing Beef Trade in Central America. The CFC's preference for funding regional projections has made the identification of suitable and qualified Project Executing Agencies (PEAs) more complex; consequently, international institutions, namely FAO and ILRI, have been designated PEAs for these projects, respectively.
5. The West African Livestock Marketing Project, which is expected to run for three years with a budget of US$1.51 million ($950,000 from the CFC), was approved in 1998 and initiated in January 1999. Project activities focus on two components. The first is the development and strengthening of West African border markets (in Burkina Faso and Mali), which are conduits for transborder trade in livestock, and the construction of rest points on livestock paths in the 6 participating countries. These components of the project are being implemented by the Comité Permanent Inter États de Lutte Contre la Secheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) as the PEA of the project while the second component, the determination of appropriate economic incentives and policy framework to improve livestock marketing and intra-regional trade, is coordinated by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
6. The project has been extended by the CFC for a fourth year with an expected date of termination of 31 December 2002. The project is well underway in achieving its objective of developing market infrastructure in the three border markets located in Burkina Faso and Mali. Supervision at the level of individual markets is reinforced by strong local participation and surveillance. The status of mapping of livestock trekking routes (part of component 1) remains problematic. While the exact livestock route in Burkina Faso remains undecided, only limited progress has been made in some other participating countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, and Nigeria. Delays in this activity reflect the difficulties of managing a regional project, with some delays resulting from lack of appropriate support action by public authorities in the individual countries.
7. The policy component of the project is progressing in a timely fashion, with ILRI and CILLS collaborating. While it is certainly advantageous to have a local/regional PEA such as CILSS working with ILRI on project activities, the logistics of ensuring timely arrival of funds to each institution have proven to be a critical problem, especially since ILRI's accounting system uses US$ and CILSS uses CFA.
8. CILSS has submitted an informal request to the CFC to review a possible follow-up regional project, which is yet to be considered by the CFC, focusing exclusively on the further development of livestock routes throughout the region.
9. The Secretariat has proposed in the beginning of 2002 to the CFC, to use any remaining supervisory funds to conduct a study on the actual impact of the project after its completion. This follow-up evaluation would look at actual cattle movements (before/after the project), impact on prices, successes/weakness of the policy component of the project, and the implications/effectiveness of such a project on rural livelihoods of small livestock producers, within a regional perspective (incorporating/evaluating other projects which are operational and might or might not have linkages to the CFC project).
10. The project on Meat Commodity Diversification and Upgrading of Meat Processing Technologies in Asia-Pacific, a US$2.2 million project (US$850,000 funding from CFC), endorsed by the Group at its 17th Session, was approved in September 2000 by the CFC. However, the project documents are in the process of being finalised. The delay in the implementation of the project was due to difficulties in finding a PEA that has the technical and financial capability to manage a regional project in this area. The national-level PEAs originally considered for the project lacked the ability to manage activities in other satellite centres. Consequently, FAO has had to assume responsibility for implementation.
11. As presented to the Group at its 18th Session, this 3-year project is a regional meat processing project for Asia and Pacific that focuses on improved utilisation and marketing of meat and processed meat products from various livestock species. The immediate objective of the project is to address regional issues in meat processing, including severe hygiene and technological problems that lead to significant economic losses and food safety concerns.
12. The project is based in the Philippines with satellite centres in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Samoa. The regional nature of the project will strengthen the technological, sanitary, commercial and environmental conditions of meat sector development in the more advanced countries and will act as a catalyst to start the developments in those that are least developed. The dissemination of technical know-how will be achieved through:
13. The project, Enhancing Beef Trade in Central America, endorsed in November 1998 by the Group, was submitted twice to the CFC for funding consideration. The project was finally approved by the CFC Consultative Committee (CC) in July 2001 and endorsed by the CFC Board in October 2002. The approved proposal drew on the work of a CFC-funded project planning workshop involving technical experts and relevant institutions of the region held in August 2000 in Nicaragua, to discuss the specific meat production and trade constraints of the region and to identify the measures needed to improve regional meat trade.
14. The Group, in July 2001, endorsed two new project proposals for submission to the CFC that were prepared by ILRI and relate to the (a) improved trade and marketing of ruminant meats in Southeast Asia, and (b) the development of smallholder dairy systems in Eastern and Southern Africa.
15. A fully developed project proposal related to enhancing meat marketing in Southeast Asia was submitted by ILRI (the PEA) to the Secretariat in November 2001. Concerns related to the budget and coordination with collaborating institutions, led to a decision to refocus the project and submit it to the CFC at a later date. In order to focus the project on the needs of regional stakeholders, ILRI, with funding from FAO, organised a regional workshop in March 2002, inviting stakeholders from approximately 9 Southeast Asian countries.
16. The participants at the workshop unanimously agreed that the issue of market access (both domestic and international) for livestock smallholders was of highest priority. A follow-up study will be conducted on country-specific barriers to input and output markets by ILRI. The results of this study are expected to aid in the generation of a CFC project proposal, which is expected to be submitted to the CFC Secretariat by January 2003.
17. In anticipation of focusing resources on developing the Southeast Asian proposal, FAO and ILRI decided to delay submission of the dairy project to the CFC until at least July 2003.
18. In light of the review of project status and progress reports and the fact that no additional project proposals have been submitted to the Group for consideration, the Group might wish to: