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PWB CHAPTER 4: TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME (TCP)

MAJOR PROGRAMME 4.1: TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME (TCP)

Programme Outcome

Regular Programme   US$ `000
  Appropriation 85 497
  Expenditure 85 325
  Over/(Under) Spending, US$ `000 (172)
  Over/(Under) Spending, % (0%)

Achievements

306. The Major Programme responds to urgent and unforeseen requests for assistance of Member Nations, in close association with other components of the Regular Programme. It aims at providing a rapid response to requests that fill a critical gap and are specific and practical in nature. Emphasis is given to increasing production in agriculture, fisheries and forestry and increasing income for small producers. TCP-supported projects are typically of short duration with a limited budget, require follow-up action by Governments, are designed to have a catalytic effect, and must be complementary to other sources of assistance. TCP assistance is provided in the areas of: emergencies, investment, training, project and programme formulation, assistance to development, inter-country cooperation and advisory services. All projects are required to satisfy the criteria established by the Governing Bodies. Examples of the catalytic effect of the TCP are provided in the following box.

Catalytic Effects of TCP Projects

A TCP project in Burkina Faso established, through the introduction of appropriate equipment and technology, artisanal tomato processing centres operated by women's groups. These centres serve to extend the technology of conserving locally produced tomatoes throughout the off-season. The training and demonstration processing units supported by the project have allowed thousands of farmers and their family members, women and women's groups to process crops commercially as well as for home use. The national Food Technology Institute, with support from NGOs, has extended the technology throughout the country, organizing the local manufacture and sale of large numbers of solar dryers, resulting in the reduction of post-harvest losses and the generation of significant rural income and employment.

In China, a TCP project played a major role in the formulation and pilot implementation of the first two County Agro-technological Extension Centres (CATECs). From these two pilot centres, CATECs were established within 10 years in 1,500 out of China's 2,300 counties. The two pilot Centres were not only used as models, they became the training centres for provincial and county officials before they established their own CATEC. US$ 80 million was provided by the World Bank to expand the CATEC system and UNDP provided some US$ 650,000 for the establishment of a National Agro-technological Extension Centre.

An agricultural review and project identification exercise was undertaken in Haiti in 1995, financed by TCP, with a contribution from the French Ministry of Cooperation, in order to analyse the constraints and potential of the agricultural sector, propose a strategy and identify investment and technical assistance projects. The TCP report was presented to the Government and discussed with potential donors and led in 1996-97 to the elaboration of a number of projects for external funding in the areas of: rural development (IFAD, US$ 30 million), irrigation (IDB, US$ 30 million) and rural credit (Caisse Centrale, US$ 6-10 million).

307. The Organization receives on average some 800 to 900 requests per biennium, of which two-thirds are normally found eligible for assistance from TCP resources. However, the size of the TCP appropriation, generally allows only 70 to 80 percent of the eligible requests to be met.

308. The number of new TCP projects approved and their total value is shown in Table 4.1-1. During any biennium the resources available for new project approvals include both the pertinent TCP Appropriation and any shortfall in delivery from on-going or completed projects referred to as "return-flow". Thus, in 1996-97, TCP project approvals totalled US$ 93.3 million, with the Regular Programme Appropriation being US$ 85.3 million and a "return-flow" of US$ 8 million.

Table 4.1-1: Number and Value of TCP Project Approvals and Revisions

Biennium of Approval Number of Projects Total Value of Projects

US$ million

Average Cost per Project

(US$)

1992-93 605 89.3 147 603
1994-95 496 92.6 186 694
1996-97 422 93.3 221 090

309. Resources for the TCP remained relatively constant, with only adjustments for cost increases, from 1992-93 through 1996-97. Due to the increasing complexity of projects, and their associated inputs, the average cost per project increased steadily, from US$ 147 000 in 1992-93 to US$ 221 000 in 1996-97. As a result, the number of projects approved declined from 605 in 1992-93 to 422 in 1996-97.

310. There has been a steady increase in requests for advisory assistance, resulting in the percentage of projects providing advisory services increasing from about 45 percent in 1992-93 to over 62 percent in 1996-97, as shown in Table 4.1-2. The percentage of projects providing emergency assistance also increased, to over 20 percent in 1996-97.

Table 4.1-2: Percentage of Approved TCP Assistance by Project Category

Type of Project 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97
Advisory Services 44.5 57.8 62.4
TCDC/ECDC 1.5 0.8 0
Development Support 0 0.8 0.2
Emergency Assistance 16.4 15.3 20.3
Formulation Mission 7.8 2.8 1.9
Investment Support 4.8 2.4 1.7
Training 25.0 20.1 13.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

311. The share of expert inputs in TCP projects went from about 29 percent in 1992-93 to over 46 percent in 1994-95, as indicated in Table 4.1-3. Because of the high costs of international consultants, efforts were intensified in 1996-97 to utilize more cost effective means of providing expertise to TCP projects including: national consultants, TCDC/TCCT experts and FAO staff. As a result, the share of international consultants within the total expenditure on experts declined from over 88 percent in 1994-95 to less that 72 percent in 1996-97.

Table 4.1-3: Use of Expertise in TCP Projects

  1992-93 1994-95 1996-97
  Value in
US$ million
Percent Share Value in
US$ million
Percent Share Value in
US$ million
Percent Share
International Consultants 23.6 91.8 38.3 88.7 25.9 71.7
National Consultants 2.1 8.2 4.8 11.1 5.0 13.9
TCDC/TCCT Experts     0.1 0.2 3.0 8.3
FAO staff (excluding general backstopping)         2.2 6.1
Total Expert Component 25.7 100.0 43.2 100.0 36.1 100.0
Total Approvals 89.3   92.6   93.3  
Percent of Project Budget Used for Experts   28.8   46.7   38.7

312. TCP project approvals by region, in terms of value, are shown in Table 4.1-4. A noteworthy development is the increased proportion of resources for Europe from about 5 percent in 1992-93 and 1994-95 to over 10 percent in 1996-97.

Table 4.1-4: Share of Approved TCP Project Resources by Region (Percentage)

Region 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97
Africa 39.4 41.9 39.6
Asia and the Pacific 22.2 24.3 21.1
Europe 5.3 5.9 10.3
Latin America and the Caribbean 19.0 18.3 18.5
Near East and North Africa 13.8 9.6 10.5
Inter-Regional 0.3    
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

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