Through their catalytic effect, TCP projects have helped significantly to stimulate the flow of bilateral and multilateral investments. For instance, proposed investment projects may be halted because there are insufficient funds to pay for a key study required by the prospective financing institution. In such cases, TCP frequently funds the necessary study, thereby permitting project preparation to go ahead, a loan agreement to be reached and investment funds to be disbursed. This has happened with regard to proposals for rural road construction and marketing projects in Bangladesh, for example.
A similar situation occurs when a country is in urgent need of investment funds to rebuild its agricultural economy but requires immediate help in assessing investment priorities. When this is the case - as in Angola and Haiti, for instance - TCP may fund detailed studies by FAO to be used as a blueprint for the design of investment projects and programmes for external financing.
TCP projects also provide the basis for a wider application of their activities in the same country, attracting investment from bilateral, national and private sources. Examples of such project extension include palm oil production and processing activities in Zambia and soil conservation in Jamaica.
TCP PROJECTS AND THEIR CATALYTIC EFFECTS... |
Two TCP projects in Bangladesh facilitated large-scale investment in the improvement of rural roads and marketing. TCP assistance was used to fund key studies covering 65 markets and concerning improved market management and feeder and rural roads. The studies, which were essential for the continued preparation of the investment projects, subsequently attracted US$195 million of International Development Association funding for two highly successful development projects.
Similarly, TCP assistance in Eritrea supported the preparation of detailed engineering and socio-economic studies for which funds were lacking. These provided the basis for a US$18 million fisheries infrastructure development project, to be financed by the African Development Bank.
In 1995, FAO carried out an urgently needed agricultural review and projects identification mission in Haiti. The purpose of the exercise was to analyse the constraints and potential of the agricultural sector, propose a suitable strategy and identify investment and technical assistance projects. The activities were financed by TCP with a contribution from the French Ministry of Cooperation. In 1996-1997, following the presentation of TCP's report and discussion with donors, a number of projects were elaborated for external funding, including a project for rural development (to be funded by IFAD at US$30 million), one for irrigation (to be funded by the International Development Bank at US$30 million) and another for rural credit (to be funded by Caisse Centrale at between US$6 million and $10 million).
In Zambia in 1991, TCP initiated a project promoting the production and consumption of vitamin A-rich foods to alleviate and prevent vitamin A deficiency in the country. The project involved the agricultural, health, education and community development sectors in its support for training in horticultural production and nutrition. Through participatory nutrition appraisal, the project improved understanding of the causes of household food security and malnutrition and raised awareness among local and national decision-makers. As a consequence, the government requested assistance for the cultivation of oil-palms - a rich source of vitamin A - the processing of palm oil and promotion of its use at the household level.
A second TCP project with this objective was operational from 1994 to 1995. In addition to establishing oil-palm nurseries, training agricultural extension workers and community members in oil-palm cultivation and processing, and strengthening the training of government extension workers in nutrition education, it brought together government sectors and donors. Based on workshop results, in 1996 a comprehensive integrated programme for improved household food security and nutrition was prepared and funded by Belgium for a total of US$3.3 million.
In 1994, a National Soils Policy report was prepared for Jamaica by FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) proposing government action to be taken in this area. Following this, TCP was requested to fund a project aimed at putting some of the recommendations into practice, including the preparation of a national soil conservation programme and the training of key officials to continue with implementation. The series of training workshops begun by FAO have now been extended with multidonor funding, in particular from the Commonwealth Secretariat. The EC also has a large ongoing programme that is using the project's results and plans.
In the Baltic states, inadequate land tenure systems were identified as a serious constraint to several generously financed projects aimed at developing an effective land market in rural areas. When Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania applied independently for land tenure assistance, FAO responded with the project TCP/RER/2351, which provided a cooperative framework for all three countries.
The TCP project assisted each of the responsible line agencies in clarifying their goals, as part of the overall problem was attributed to the fact that these were not clearly defined or shared among the different agencies concerned with land issues. For example, there was no coordination between the Ministry of Justice, responsible for the legal content of new land rights, and the cadastre office, responsible for recording those rights.
Under the project, a team of three internationally renowned experts in land tenure administration, land tenure law and land record technology assisted each line agency in developing a clear set of goals and work plans and in analysing constraints, all of which were then discussed for the first time among the technical land administration officers from the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Justice, Finance, etc. Finally, an intercountry presentation of these goals, plans and constraints was given at a meeting of major European and international donors in J_rmala, Latvia. The occasion allowed donors and recipient countries to use a focused approach in defining future activities to be carried out together. |
