Document of The World Bank

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Public Disclosure Authorized Report No. 11766-SL

PROJECT REDESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE Public Disclosure Authorized

AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

MARCH 31, 1993

MAIN REPORT Public Disclosure Authorized

AGRICULTURE OPERATIONS Public Disclosure Authorized WESTERN AFRICA DEPARTMENT

This documenthas a restricteddistribution and may be used by recipientsonly in the performanceof their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EOUIVALENTS (October 1992)

Currency Unit = Leone (Le) Le 1.00 = USSO.0019 USS 1.00 = Leones 520 SDR 1.00 = USS 0.71 uSS 1.00 = SDR 1.40687

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Metric BritishfUS

I kilogram (kg) = 2.21 pounds I metric ton( t) = 2,205 pounds I hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres I meter ( m) = 3.28 feet I kilometer (kIm) = 0.625 miles 27 kilograms = I bushel

Other

I bag of paddy rice = 50 kilogram I bushel of paddy rice = 60 pounds 1 "three-pence pan' 3 pounds I bushel 3 'three pence pans' I kerosene tin = 0.5 bushels

FISCAL YEAR

July I - June 30 FOR OFFICIALUSE ONLY

ABBREVIATIONSAND ACRONYMS

AAGP Annual Agricultural Growth Plan ACRE Adaptive Crop Research and Extension ADB African Development Bank ADP Agricultural Development Project Al Agricultural Instructor ASSP Agriculture Sector Support Project BSL Bank of Sierra Leone CA Chief Agriculturist CAPI Committee on Agriculture Producer Incentives CIF Cost, Insurance, Freight CRO Chief Regional Officer CSO Central Statistical Office CTC Chief Technical Coordinator CU Coordinating Comnittee DAF Department of Agriculture and Forestry DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DFDEP Departrnent of Finance, Development and Economic Planning DFD Development Finance Department DFR Department of Feeder Roads DG Director General DOW Department of Works EEC European Economic Community EIADP Eastem Integrated Agricultural Development Project FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FC Financial Controller FD Forestry Department FOB Free on Board GOSL Govemment of Sierra Leone GTZ Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Technical Cooperation) IADP Integrated Agricultural Development Project ICPC Integrated Crop-Processing Center IDA International Development Association IFAD Intemational Fund for Agricultural Development ILO International Labour Organization IMF Intemational Monetary Fund IPAM Institute for Public Administration Management LAWDD Land and Water Development Division MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry MANR Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources MANR&F Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Forestry MESD Monitoring, Evaluation and Statistics Division MOW Ministry of Works MPP Model Production Village MTR Mid-Term Review NARCC National Agricultural Research Coordinating Council NARP National Agricultural Research Plan NDB National Development Bank NEC National Extension Coordinator NGO Non-GovenmmentalOrganization NIADP Northern Integrated Agricultural Development Project NPRC National Provisional Ruling Council NRC National Research Coordinator NUC/CTC Njala University CoUege/Certificate Training Colege OFAR On Farm Adaptive Research

This documenit has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS (contd.)

PAO Principal Agricultural Officer PCR Project Completion Report RIC Reconstruction Import Credit RRRS Rokupr Rice Research Station SAO Senior Agricultural Officer SDR Special Drawing Right SLPMB Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board SLRA Sierra Leone Roads Authority SMP Seed Multiplication Project SMS Subject Matter Specialist TFAP Tropical Forestry Action Plan UNDP United Nations Development Progran UNV United Nations Volunteer USAID United States Agency for International Development WFP World Food Program FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE

AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

PROJECT REDESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

I. MACRO ECONOMIC SETTING ...... 2

III. THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR ...... 4 A. Overview ...... 4 B. Sector Strategy and Performance ...... 7 C. Agricultural Potential ...... 8 D. Constraints to Higher Output ...... 9 E. Donor Contribution ...... 20 F. NGOs ...... 21 G. Bank Group Operations ...... 22 H. Short-Term Options ...... 23

IV. THE REVISED PROJECT ...... 24 A. Project Objectives ...... 24 B. Summary Description ...... 25 C. Detailed Features ...... 26 D. Project Costs and Financing ...... 31 E. Procurement ...... 33 F. Disbursement ...... 34 G. Project and Special Accounts ...... 35 H. Audit and Reporting ...... 35 I. Project Implementation ...... 35 J. Technical Assistance, Studies and Training ...... 44

This reportis basedon the finding of a joint World Bank/IFADreappraisl missioncomprising Ms. Kirnn G.B. Singb(Mirsion Leaderand Economist),Mr. ShifenawDemsie (HighuaysEngineer), Mr. K.N. Sreekantiah(Agriculuist) andMr. A Schiffman(IFAD consultant)tbat visitedSierna Leone in AprilUMay1991 and a minion by Ms. Singh in December1991 during wich agreementwas reached with the Govnment of Sierm Leoneon the new projectdesign. The Government'sagreement on the Amendmentsto the DevelopmentCredit Agreementwa obtainedby a mision comprisingMs. Singhand Mr. KG.. Awunyo (Lawyer)in )uy/August 1992. Mesr. JohnJoyce, SufwndaApSAI. Gotz Scbreiberand Surjit Sigb havereviewed the redesignof the project, Messr. Asif Faiz, Thampil Panlij and AnD Bblahi the new feederreads compont, and Mesrs. SakweBunyaui. Lewis Campbell,Tek Haile-Marism,Biwroop Rambocus and Shiv Sinrg bve commentedon othercomponents and terms of reference.Ms. OlindaVel reviewedte procurementarrugem and togeher with Mr. Sunil K. Bhattacbharyand Mr. R. Gopal;rishnanoffered useful sugestionw. Mr. GbOzaliRaheem and Ms. Marie LaoiseAb-Kee advied on the technicalaspects of the costtables and Ms. Azn Ahmedand Ms. Qarmel McKer assistedvith the presentationaspcs and screra support. Te reportha beencleared by the RegionalProcurement Advisor, the Environmet Depatmet nd the Disburmements Division. Mr. JohnJyoye and Mr. Edwin Lim, respectively,are tie managingDivision Cbief and DepartmentDirector repoible for ths operation. V. PROFITABILITY,ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, BENEFITS AND RISKS .... 46 A. Profitability ...... 46 B. EnvironmentalFactors ...... 50 C. Benefits ...... 51 D. Risks ...... 51

VI. AGREEMENTSREACHED ...... 52

ANNEXES

Annex A - Matrix of Policy and InstitutionalActions Annex B - Letter of Sector Policy Annex C - List of Input Stores, Feeder Roads, Rural Banksand Farmers' Associations Annex D - Methodologyfor Pricing Inputs Annex E - Crop-Processing Equipment - Capitalization Schedule and Sample Agreement Annex F - Implementation Timetable - Annual Annex G - Summary Implementation Schedule - Monthly Annex H - Terms of Reference Annex I - OrganizationChart for Project Implementation Annex J - Summary Cost Tables

VOLUME1I Detailed Cost Tables SIERRALEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Since the late 1970s, Sierra Leone has endured severe economichardship. During the five year suspensionin IDA disbursements,several attemptswere made to improve economic management. These attempts, however, proved to be futile because of the country's inabilityto achieve fiscal and monetarydiscipline. The subsequenteconomic deterioration has had serious consequencesfor per capita income and levels of nutrition. Over the eleven year period 1979-89, per capita income is reported to be have declined from US$250to US$240. In recent years, however, the economicenvironment has improved considerably. The Governmentof Sierra Leone (GOSL)has demonstratedserious commitmentto maintaininga market-determinedexchange rate and liberalized trade regime, and to fostering competitionin the marketingof rice, the primary staple, and coffee and cocoa, the main export crops. With macro economicdistortions greatly reduced, the policy framework is now more conduciveto economicefficiency and the country is better placed to resume growth led by private sector investmentand determinedby market forces. The prospectsfor economicrecovery are strong provided complementaryprogress is made in reducing sector distortions and strengtheningsector institutionsand infrastructure. Recovery may be slowed by security concerns in the eastern and southern regions along the border with Liberia and the continuedcaution displayed by the private sector in undertakingnew investment.

1.2 On April 15, 1992, Sierra Leone was restored to accrual status after almost five years of suspensionof disbursementsimposed on August 15, 1987. The AgricultureSector SupportProject (ASSP), appraised in June 1983, became effective in December 1984. The amount of the Credit was SDR 25.6 million, with SDR 20.3 million financedby IDA and SDR 5.1 million cofinancedby IFAD. 1/ The primary objectivesof the ASSP were institutionalreforms in the then Ministryof Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) recently renamedthe Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF). Besides seeking the integrationinto the MAF of staff and activitiesthat had earlier been associatedwith Integrated AgriculturalDevelopment Projects (lADPs), the project provided funds for the importof key sector inputs, investmentsin tree crops, swamp developmentand the Daru (Palm) Oil Mill, extension of the IFAD-fundedMagbosi project, and additional sub-projectsthat were to be subsequentlyidentified. It also initiatedthe developmentof a rural banking system, action to phase out the fertilizer subsidy and reduce over staffing and daily wage expendituresin the MAF. 2/ These objectiveswere at the time consideredto be the most urgent. Implementationof the ASSPwas interrupted in May 1987 by the suspensionof disbursementsby IDA and also by cofinancierIFAD. During ASSP's brief implementation,the DevelopmentCredit Agreementwas amendedonce, in 1986, and later that year a Mid-Term Reviewof the project was undertaken.31 As disbursements

1/ IDA Credit No. 1501-SLand IFAD Loan No. 152-SL.

2/ Sierra Leone. AgricultureSector SupportProject, Staff AppraisalReport No. 4833-SL dated May 25, 1984.

3/ Amendmentto the DevelopmentCredit Agreementdated June 16, 1986 sought a change for the percentage of expendituresto be financedunder Category (2) Schedule 1, that is, vehicles and equipment, from " 100 percent of foreign expendituresand 80 percent of local expenditures"to " 100 percent." - 2 - to the ASSP resume, the total undisbursedbalances in the project SDR 13.9 million for IDA and SDR 3.6 million for IFAD. On accountof retrospectivedisbursements by IFAD, the amount of its cofinancingwould be reduced to SDR 2.1 million.

1.3 Since the ASSP was first appraised, two contrasting,but significant developmentshave taken place, namely, the positive change in the macro economicenvironment and progressivedeterioration of sector institutionsand infrastructure. Three additionalfactors have necessitateda reordering of the developmentobjectives of the ASSP: a stronger Bank policy toward competitivefree market pricing and full cost recovery, more formal demarcationof the roles of the private and public sectors, and a shift from the IADP approachtoward focussed and simpleprojects which are cost-effectiveand which can be sustained. Given the serious economicmanagement and budgetary problems experiencedby Sierra Leone in the past, the overriding concern now is to ensure that, within the liberalizedmacro economicenvironment, transparency and the efficiencyof resource use govern resource allocation.

1.4 While it would take far more than the limitedundisbursed balance in the ASSP to achieve full sector recovery and high growth, the project will make a modest start by helping to address the immediatepriority needs of the sector. Through the fuller use of existingtechnology, increased availabilityof essential inputs and crop-processingequipment, and rehabilitationof critical feeder roads, the revised ASSP would promote an enablingenvironment for increases in marketed output and incomes in the near term. Production and marketingdecisions would be taken entirely by the private sector and close attentionwould be paid to reducing economicdistortions and fostering a competitive environmentbased on market efficiency.

II. MACROECONOMIC SETTING

2.1 With an area of 72,000 square kilometersand a populationof 4 million growing at about 2.5 percent per annum, Sierra Leone is bordered on the north north-westand north-east by Guinea and on the south-eastby Liberia. The country is well endowedwith mineral resourcessuch as diamonds, bauxite and rutile, resourcesfor marine fishing, and soils and climatefavourable for food and cash crop cultivation. The economy is highly dualistic with an enclave modem miningsector that accounts for about 10 percent of GDP and 60-70 percent of export earnings, and the agriculture sector, predominantlytraditional and employerof about 65 percent of the population,that accounts for about 30 percent of GDP and 30 to 40 percent of export earnings.

2.2 ProlongedEconomic Decline. After exactlythree decades of independence,much of Sierra Leone's economicpotential remains untapped. Its exploitationso far, largely unplannedand poorly managed, has contributedto the wideningof incomeinequalities with few economicand nutritional benefits for the majorityof the nation's inhabitants. In 1979, comparedto the nation-wideaverage of US$250 per capita, the average levels of rural per capita incomesranged between US$100-200and are now reported to have declined further to the absolutepoverty level of US$75. Real GDP growth which averagedalmost five percent in the first decade after independencein 1961 has been unmatched since. During this initialperiod, successfuldiamond mininghad provided substantialforeign exchangeand budgetaryrevenues. With the passage of the 1970s, however, as alluvial mineral deposits became rapidly depleted and the country's only iron-ore mine at Marampa closed, economic growth slowed considerably. By 1978, overall mineral productionhad declinedby more than 70 percent in real terms and diamond productionhad fallen to one-third of the 1970 level. Population growth continuedto grow at over two percent per annum while real GDP averagedonly one percent per year. This had dire consequencesfor standardsof living which were already low. Meanwhile, - 3 - exogenousfactors, too, had begun to surface in the form of weakened export prices for primary export commodities,the peak levels of which began to level off in 1978, and in the major oil price shocks of the 1970s. As recession deepenedin the developedeconomies, starting around 1973, bilateral concessionaryassistance showed signs of contraction. The economy, and the government budget in particular, was unable to come to grips with the decline in mineral output, exports and foreign aid. To counter shrinkingper capita incomes, and reduced resource flows and budgetary revenues, the Governrmentresorted to expansionaryfiscal and monetarypolicies without adequate safeguardsto contain inflation. Most damagingwas the lack of expenditurecontrol in the face of sharply declining net revenue.

2.3 From 1975 onwards, the pressure on both the budget deficit and the balance of payments heightenedas did domestic inflationarypressure. Deficit financingon a substantialscale and heavy reliance on external borrowing at high rates of interest became the norm. The country's dependance on suppliers' credit increased and the debt service burden assumedserious proportions. By the late 1970s, the prospects for growth, particularlyin the short-term, had become exceedinglyslim. The debt service ratio which had then reached 30 percent surpassed itself subsequentlytouching 94.9 percent (includingIMF and excludingarrears) in 1987/88. Sierra Leone's creditworthinesshad become seriously eroded. With no comprehensivepolicy agenda to stem the sharp financial and economicdecline, the economy, entangledin a highly overvaluedexchange rate and economic distortionscontinued to forfeit economicefficiency and growth. The government'sinability to maintain the agreed to fiscal and monetarytargets led to the suspensionin March 1987 of the IMF stand-by arrangementof November 1986 and, with it, the StructuralAdjustment Facility which had supplementedthe stand-by.

2.4 Stabilization. The downward spiral caused by mountingpayments arrears and macro economicimbalances continued in varying degree of severity until about three years ago when the Governmentimplemented a series of far-reachingmacro economicreforms. _/ Most prominent among these were the introductionof a market-determinedexchange rate in April 1990 and external trade liberalization. Other importantreforms includedthe privatizationof coffee and cocoa marketing, and of the import of rice, both of which had been a monopolyof the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (SLPMB),the dismantlingof price and licensingcontrols, progress toward clearing arrears, and greater disciplinein budgetary expenditurescomplemented by improved monetarymanagement. _/ Over the four year period 1986/87through 1990/91,average annual real GDP growth is estimated to have grown at about 2.8 percent. This was accompaniedby a more than five-fold devaluationof the Leone from Le 34.92 to the US dollar to Le 197.85, a decrease in domestic inflation from 220 percent to 96.1 percent, a fall in the debt service ratio (inclusiveof the IMF and exclusiveof arrears) from 79.5 percent to 54.1 percent, and an increasein official foreign exchangereserves from 0.1 to 0.5 as measured in the equivalentof months imports. §/7/

4/ Prior to 1989, the Government's attempts at economicreform were inadequateand lacked serious commitment.

5/ See Country Strategy Note, World Bank, March 1992.

See MacroeconomicFramework, World Bank, March 1992. -4 -

2.5 AdjustmentContinued. With good progress on the structural adjustmentreforms implemented so far, Sierra Leone's prospectsfor renewed economicgrowth appear encouragingexcept for the continuedthreat of economicdisruption along the border with Liberia and its consequentadverse impact in the country's prime coffee and cocoa growing areas. The adjustmentprogramme, monitoredby the IMF, is being supportedby quick disbursingassistance from the Bank through the ReconstructionImport Credit (RIC) in the amount of US$43.4 million. This is being accompaniedby a resumptionof project lending by IDA and, it is envisaged, also by larger donor support. Macro economicprojections point to a growth in real GDP of about 4.6 percent per annum between 1991/92 and 1993/94, average annual increases in public and private investmentof the orders of 13.3 and 19.3 percent respectively,and a decline in payments arrears from US$200.8 million in 1991/92to a surplus of US$11.9 million by 1993/94.

III. THE AGRICULTURESECTOR

A. Overview

3.1 Soils and Climate. Sierra Leone has soils and climateconducive to sustained agricultural output and higher farm incomes. Topographyand precipitationvary considerably. There are four distinct agro-climaticzones: the coastalplains, the rain forest, the transitional rain forest, and the savannah woodlands. Levels of precipitationdecrease from an average of 5,500 mm in the Freetown Peninsulato about 2,000 mm along the northern frontier. Mean monthlytemperatures range from 30-40 degrees in the coastal areas to 34-36 degrees inland. About 75 percent or 5.4 million ha of Sierra Leone's geographicalarea is arable. Of this, spread across the country, 80 percent comprises the relativelyless fertile uplands and 20 percent fertile swamps. In the eastern and southern parts of the country, the rainfall, climateand soils favour the cultivationof coffee, cocoa, rubber and oil palm; and in the north, the long dry season and the practice of shifting cultivationare more conducive to the cultivationof grains, legumes and vegetables. Other importantcrops are tobacco and sugar the cultivationof which is undertakenthrough smallholderand outgrower schemes.

3.2 Incentives. Until recently, the policy framework, tolerant of a highly overvalued currency and trade protection, did little to promote economicefficiency. Efforts are now being made to rectify this situationat the sector level. In the case of coffee and cocoa, producer prices linked to the respective FOB price have theoreticallybeen in force for more than two years, but these have not been realized because of the security disruption in coffee and cocoa growing areas and the aggravation of SLPMB's financial viability already compromisedby over staffing and high overhead costs. In the initialperiod of adjustment,following realignmentof the exchangerate, output is, however, reported to have recoveredmainly through better tree husbandry and farm practices. This notwithstanding, technical and economicefficiency in the coffee and cocoa sub-sectorremains low. The same may be said of the rice sub-sectorwhere, historically,technical and economicinefficiency have been major factors in its poor performance. High protection,through quantitativeimport restrictions,had shelteredthe domesticrice producer from foreign competition. With no urgency, therefore, on the

7/ Between 1985 and February 1991, while the nominaleffective exchangerate index fell by 97.9 percent, the real effective exchangerate index declinedby only 56.5 percent. Source: IMF, Departmentof External Trade Relations. - 5 - part of farmers to improve productivity,the sector lagged well behind its potential. 8/ Trade liberalizationhas, for the first time, placed domesticrice producers in competitionwith international producers. This is clearly in the interest of economicefficiency and will call for large efficiency gains from those rice ecologiesin Sierra Leone which can potentiallycompete on the world market. These gains will inevitablytake time to materializeand will require concertedpolicy action and institutionalsupport. In particular, sub-sectorpolicy will need to eliminateeconomic distortions arising from three sources: (i) the protectionto the consumer,and the exceptionto trade liberalization,from the waiver of the 10 percent importtariff on rice (lifting the waiver is a condition of Third Tranche Release); (ii) the large rice consumersubsidy to the security forces; and (iii) any food aid that is not fully monetized.

3.3 Over the years, no sustainableproductivity and output increaseshave resulted from the considerableprotection afforded to the sub-sectorby a sector policy based, not only on quantitative import restrictions, but on parastatal dominationand input and credit subsidies. Instead, since independence,the level of rice imports has progressivelyrisen - the 1991 estimate of 150,000 tons, about 30 percent of total consumptionrequirements and is double the average of the years 1987 through 1991. If rice imports under PL480, under refugee support programmes and under war effort assistancefrom bilateral governmentsare included,the quantityof rice imported in 1991 is reported at 1.1 million tons. 2/10/ An exceptionwas the year 1975 when no rice was imported. This was not a sign of self-sufficiencyas has sometimesbeen argued but, reportedly, an inaccurate assessmentof rice stocks and availabilityin the preceding year. 11/ A sharp increasein the internationalprice of rice, triggered by a world wide crop failure, and anticipationof further price increases, had led to the importby Sierra Leone of large quantitiesof rice - 45,000 tons at Le 390 per ton, that is, at almost three times the 1973price. Meanwhile,in response to higher prices, demand, as was to be expected, fell sharply. It was more the apparent surplus stock situation and depressed demand rather than increasedproduction or productivitywhich created the perception, in 1975, of Sierra Leone's self-sufficiencyin rice.

8/ The doubling of output which occurred between 1961 and about the mid 1970s was due almost entirely to area expansionand little, if any, to efficiencyand yield increase.

9/ The economicdecline has led to significantreductions in levels of real income and nutrition. Per capita consumptionof rice has fallen by 25 percent to less than 100 kg per capita. This is much lower than the per capita consumptionof rice in neighbouringcountries where the average is around 135 kg per capita - in Madagascar, as far back as 1984, the per capita consumptionof rice was 175 kg in urban areas and 142 kg in rural areas.

10/ The prospectsfor the food situationin 1992 are bleak given the poor harvest and Sierra Leone's reduced capacity to finance imports because of foreign exchange difficulties. It is not likely at this point that the situation will improve measurablyin 1993.

11/ The lack of a strong data base for rice production and stocks made it difficult for SLPMBto conduct its rice operations in a logisticallysound manner. - 6 -

3.4 InstitutionalCapacity. The key institutionfor providing agriculturalsupport services to farmers is the Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF) which, until recently, was called the Departmentof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF); for many years prior to this, it was known as the Ministryof Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Forestry (MANR&F). The national agriculturalresearch and training institutes,as well as the NationalResearch CoordinatingCouncil (NARCC), are an integral part of the DAF. The Sierra Leone Produce MarketingBoard (SLPMB), the predominantparastatal in the agriculture sector, however, is institutionallyunder the purview of the Ministryof Trade. Several core professionalstaff in the agriculture sector institutionsare technicallywell-trained and experienced, many of them having held responsibilityor having had close associationwith either Bank-fundedIADPs or other donor-fundedagricultural development projects (ADPs). Over the years, the rest of the staff have benefitted in some degree from training programmes, in spite of these having been poorly funded, but do now require refresher and advanced training. At present, the main problem in sector institutionsis weak planning capacity, poor staff morale on account of abysmallylow salaries, and a dearth of budgetary funds for items other than wages and salaries. Lack of financial and logisticalsupport has severely curtailed even the most critical field operations of extensionstaff and, at research and training institutes, poor laboratoryand classroomfacilities have broughttraining programmes to a near stand-still.

3.5 Planning capacity at DAF Headquartershas remainedweak, especiallywith regard to policy and strategy formulation. This has proved to be a major setback for strengtheningthe quality of basic agriculturalsupport services, designed to assist farmers to upgrade their technology,such as extension, research, and monitoringand evaluation. In the past, DAF was also faced with unclear demarcationof responsibilityand terms of reference for senior DAF staff that led to further bureaucraticinefficiencies. The terms of referencefor individualDAF divisions and units are becomingincreasingly outdated as its institutionalrole evolvestoward providing greater focus on providingbasic agriculturalsupport services and away from direct involvementin production and marketing. With the revision in the terms of reference of DAF, instancesof DAF involvementin commercialactivity, more appropriatefor the private sector, would have little rationale. Recent examplesof such involvement,now appropriatelybeing dealt with, includecontractual agreements by the Forestry Departmentwith the private sector tobacco companyto plant fuel wood trees for tobacco curing and the surveillanceby the FisheriesDepartment of Sierra Leone's territorial waters for fishing violations. In the case of the former, the agreement has been declared null and void, and in the case of fishing, the Governmentis in the process of renegotiatinga joint venture agreement with a private companyfor professionalsurveillance and a new Departmentof Marine Fishing has been established to handle the managementof the commercialfisheries sub-sector.

3.6 As regards SLPMB, until the recent suspensionof its operations stemmingfrom Government investigationsinto its management,steps had been underwayto restructure and streamline the parastatal. In the past, the SLPMBhad not only dominatedthe export of coffee and cocoa and the import of rice but also engaged in their production and processing. Under the adjustmentreforms, its role in price-fixing, and as the sole marketeer of coffee, cocoa and rice, had been relinquished. The overriding objective, if and when the suspensionon SLPMBoperations is lifted, is to enable it to compete effectivelywith the private sector in the marketingof coffee and cocoa - its operations in rice would be limitedto the procurementof rice for the security force and for essentialpublic health and education institutions. Once the private sector becomes firmly establishedin the internal and external marketing of coffee and cocoa, it is envisagedthat SLPMB's role would be further narrowed and confined to providing good inspectionand quality control for Sierra Leone's agriculturalexports. In the meantime,to strengthen its competitivestance, it would be in the interest of SLPMB to hasten the divestitureof its food and tree crop plantations, and processingand storage capacity, rather than - 7 - looking to their expansion. 12/ In the case of the DAF agriculturalplantations and estates, efforts would be made by it to divest these or arrange for their professionalmanagement.

3.7 Institutionalreforms were the predominantobjective of the original ASSP. The initial problems encounteredin the implementationof these reforms have largely been resolved. One major problem concernedthe integrationof the IADPs into the line ministry and the reported conflicts between staff who had been affiliatedwith IADPs and receivedbetter remunerationand training, and their colleagueswho, having remained in the Ministry, had not so benefitted. Through appropriate training and personnel policies, these conflictshave been successfullydealt with. The DAF has also suffered in the past from weak demarcationof areas of responsibilityand personalityclashes at decision-makinglevels. This problem, too, is being given priority attention in the context of the newly designed ASSP. As regards, overall institutionalreform, while some organizational streamliningis necessary, no major overhaul of the DAF's organizationalstructure is necessaryat this juncture. In fact the streamliningwould help to consolidatethe reforms that were initiated under the original ASSP.

3.8 Infrastructure. Since feeder roads were built in Sierra Leone, lack of funding for maintenance has been a serious problem. The Ministryof Works (MOW), recently renamedthe Departmentof Works (DOW), constrainedby budgetary resources, has been unable to provide the necessary maintenancefunds not only when the roads were first built but well before GOSL's financial situation assumedthe serious proportionsthat it did. As has been the case with the civil service at large, poor funding has weakenedperformance of the sizeablestaff in the DOW most of whom are poorly remuneratedand motivated. As of the beginningof this year, the responsibilityfor roads, including feeder roads, has been transferred from the DOW to the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA)- feeder roads would be the responsibilityof the Departmentof Feeder Roads within the SLRA. Meanwhile,the private sector's capacity for road rehabilitationis inadequate, although some capabilityexists with it for carrying out feasibilitystudies and engineeringdesign. There has been little tradition and precedent in Sierra Leone for the upkeep of the road network. Almost all of the 1,900 mile feeder road networkwas constructedduring the 1970swith substantialdonor funding. Geographically,75 percent of the feeder road networkwas concentratedin the southern and eastern regions of the country with the primary aim of enablingthe evacuationof coffee and cocoa the production of which was then aggressivelybeing pursued. Constructionof the feeder road network was not as well-plannedas it might have been since the locationof the feeder roads was a part of the design of larger multi-purposeand complexagricultural development projects. Nevertheless,the developmentof crop extraction roads/tracksdid much to open up agriculturallyproductive areas and spread awarenessof the advantagesto farmers of improvedtechnology. This is no longer the case. The dilapidatedstate of the network has isolated many areas of rich agriculturalpotential and has become a serious setback to increases in marketed output.

B. Sector Strategy and Performance

3.9 The Government'ssector objectives,as stated in the First NationalDevelopment Plan, 1974/75-78/79,and reiterated in the draft NationalDevelopment Plan of 1983/84-85/86and the three year Green RevolutionPlan, remain in full force. These objectivesare: (i) higher agricultural

12/ The SLPMB, prior to the on-goinginvestigation of its activities, had prepared a US$25 million AgriculturalDevelopment Plan for which it had actively sought donor funding. - 8 - productivity;(ii) self-sufficiencyin staples and other products; (iii) diversifiedproduction; (iv) increased incomes and standardsof living; (v) maximizationof foreign exchangethrough export promotionand importsubstitution; (vi) increasedrural employment;and (vii) improved nutrition and soil fertility. 11/ Over the years, for the most part, the sector has performed at well below its potential. In the first half of the 1970s, agriculturalgrowth averaged about 1.1 percent per year in real terms; this was followed in the second half by about by 2.2 percent per year on average. It is estimatedthat during the 1980s, agriculturalproduction declined by 3.7 percent per year. This progressive decline has had serious consequencesfor rural per capita incomeswhich, even in 1979, were far below the national average. As much as 65 percent of the rural population(or about 49 percent of the total population)is reported, at that time, to have existed below the absolute poverty level of US$75. Since then, levels of real income and nutrition have fallen sharply. The index of inflation-adjustedaverage farm incomes, with 1973/74as base year, had dropped to 85 by 1985/86, 20 percent lower than 103 in 1963/64. In 1987, Sierra Leone ranked 29 in the index of human suffering, a statisticalmeasurement of differencesin living conditionsbetween countries - with an index of 76, the country was classifiedin the "extremehuman suffering"group of countries. 14/

3.10 Agriculturalperformance, disappointingas it turned out, had done little to further the objectivesin the sector. The futility of pursuingthe Plan objectiveswithin a distorted macro and sector framework, circumscribedby a grossly overvaluedexchange rate, was not recognized until recently. The result of the distorted agriculturaltrade and price policy was a moving away from, rather than closer to, each of the Government's objectives. Thus, firs, agriculturalproductivity remains at more or less subsistencelevels; second, in spite of considerabletrade and price protection, rice imports have increasedmore than six fold from Le 496.3 million in 1986 to over Le 3,000 million by the start of the new decade of the nineties, leavingthe self-sufficiencyobjective un-attained and aggravatingthe already serious malnutrition;third, even with some extent of built-in crop diversificationand food security in the subsistencefarming systemsthat currentlyprevail, diversificationhas not developedto the degree where substitutionin production and consumptioncan, with relative ease, respond to market signals; and finally, in terms of the sector's contributionto foreign exchangeearnings, the export of coffee and cocoa declined by 40 percent and 5 percent, respectively, between 1979/80and 1980/81. Subsequently,SLPMB's average procurementfor 1983- 86, totalling5,912 tons of coffee and 9,381 tons of cocoa, is estimatedfor the first nine months of the financial year 1990/91to have fallen to 3,600 tons and 5,500 tons, respectively- for cocoa, this export figure points to a drastic decline (in fact, a halving), from a peak of 11,364tons in 1984.

C. AgriculturalPotential

3.11 With its rich agriculturalresource base, Sierra Leone has good potentialfor providing sustained increases in employment,rural incomes and food to a rapidly growing populationand strong support to foreign exchangeearnings. However, after two decades of external assistance, Sierra

13/ At the time, the IADPs were consideredby the authoritiesas the primary vehicle for achievingthe objectives. This view was supportedby the Bank and the donor communityat large.

14/ The InternationalHuman SufferingIndex, published in 1987 by a United States-based NGO. Heading the world listing was Mozamnbiquewith an index of 95 - comparable indices for selectedWest African countries were: Ghana 87, Nigeria 80 and Liberia 71. For Cote d'lvoire and Guinea the indices were 73 and 82, respectively. - 9 -

Leone's agriculture is characterizedby low yields and productivity. Farming is primarily rain-fed with little use of fertilizer. 15/ Losses before and after harvest are significantand can exceed 35 percent. About 40 percent of agriculturalproduction is marketed which from all indicationsis reported now to have been further reduced. Approximately40 percent of the rural economy is monetized, that too, primarily on account of the export crop sub-sectorthat is concentratedin the southern and eastern parts of the country. Rice, the primary and preferred staple, is central to Sierra Leone's economy and integral to the economicand social order within the rural economy. The rice sub-sectoris highly sensitive to movementsin the exchangerate and has strong balance of payments implications. Generally acceptedas a mediumof exchange,rice drives the barter economy and is often used to procure coffee and cocoa, hire labour, and purchase farm inputs and wage goods. Technicalpackages for substantiallyhigher yields are availablefor rice and other food and cash crops but few subsistencefarmers are able to adopt these and sustaintheir use because of their poor cash flow and an agriculturalextension service that needs to be revived.

3.12 So far, a mere one-fifth of close to 2 million hectaresfavourable for rice, and less than 50 percent of the area suitable for coffee and cocoa, has been cultivated. Yet to be exploited,by rice ecology, is 65 percent of upland rice, 85 percent of inland valley swamps (IVS), over 90 percent of riverain grasslands, over 95 percent of mangroveswamps, and about 97 percent of the bolilands. While yields vary by ecologicalzone, and within each zone, the average yield per hectare under subsistencecultivation on upland farms is about 700 kg comparedto over 1100 kg which could be attained with availableimproved technicalpackages, and on the swamps 1500 kg comparedto about 2100 kg. Cassava, a substitutefor rice, is a good 'insurance' crop that can be stored in the ground, unharvested, for at least two years; its yield under improvedtechnology can increasemore than three- fold from the average traditionalyield of three tons per hectare. In the case of sweet potato, fast gaining in popularity, a three-fold increase in yield over the average traditionalyield of two tons per hectare is attainableunder recommendedfarm practices. The yield of groundnut,also a rice substitute(though to a lesser extent than cassava), can increaseat least three-fold from an average traditional yield of about 400 kg per hectare (shelled) and, for cow pea, as much as ten-fold from its traditional average of 100 kg per hectare. In the case of tree crops, the average traditionalyield for coffee of about 200 kg per hectare can be more than doubled to about 500 kg, and for cocoa, the traditional yield of about 200 kg per hectare can increasealmost four-foldto as much as 1000 kg. The area under (naturally-growing)mangrove palm, the oil of which is preferred for cooking ethnic food, is not known, but there is general recognitionthat its yield and quality are rapidly deteriorating, and that there is a need, therefore, for cultivatedoil palm. The present yield of about two tons fresh fruit bunch (FFB) for cultivatedoil palm can, with improved practices, be increased to almost four tons per hectare. Tapping this agronomicpotential throughthe use of improved seed and adoption of better farm practices can double the output of rice, coffee and cocoa.

D. Constraintsto Higher Output

3.13 Prior to the adjustmentreforms, weak agriculturalperformance was attributed mainly to the overvaluedexchange rate, distortions in macro economicand sector policy and weak planning and implementationcapacity. While macro economicmanagement has improvedconsiderably in recent years, planning and implementationcapacity continueto be weak overall and at the sector levels.

15/ Under donor-fundedprojects, however, cultivationis based on high input/highoutput technologyrequiring high managementintensity, heavy operationalcosts and input and credit subsidies. - 10 -

Years of progressive economicdecline have culminatedin a vehementsurfacing of the agriculture sector's incentive, institutionaland infrastructureconstraints as strong impedimentsto an early and sustainablesupply response. To indicateareas in urgent need of funding which can offer the best hope for short term impact, which can also serve as a basis for further buildingand consolidation, and which can be assistedthrough the remainingfunds in the ASSP, briefly assessedbelow are the constraintsto the realizationof Sierra Leone's considerableagricultural potential. Given their macro economic implications,where appropriate, coffee, cocoa and rice will be singled out for discussion.

3.14 Both price and non-price factors mitigate against the substantialincreases in marketed production attainable in the short-run. Intensive and extensivecultivation are both possiblebut each at high cost relative to financial returns at current input/outputcoefficients. The cost of production associatedwith improvedtechnology is beyond the means of the subsistencefarm household. 16/ At the farm level, the unremunerativefarm-gate price of rice, inadequateand irregular extension advice and weak links with research, the scarcity and high cost of labour, insecurityof tenure, and a technologicalbase rendered increasinglyoutdated by the labour shortage, are strong impedimentsto crop development,especially in the swamps. 17/18/ Ex-farm gate, the main disincentivesto the uptake of improvedtechnology are difficult access to credit, high rates of interest (which have recently becomepositive), shortagesof essential inputs and agro-processingfacilities, and a collapsed rural road network. Of these constraints, singled out for discussionare: (i) the price incentive; (ii) technologytransfer and weak links with research; (iii) farm inputs and agro-processingfacilities; and (iv) feeder roads. All of these constraints, in contrast with the other more long term issues which are outside the purview of the ASSP, lend themselvesto some solution for easing the production, marketingand nutritionconstraints in the short-term.

(i) Price Incentive

3.15 Weak producer prices have constituteda major obstacle to increases in the output of coffee, cocoa and rice. 19/ Until the adjustmentreform process was initiated, the SLPMB was responsiblefor setting prices for coffee and cocoa, and influencingthe price of rice. For coffee and

16/ This can average seven members:the farmer, one or more wives, childrenand some close relatives. In spite of the size, essentialoperations on the upland and swamp farm are tedious enough to fully occupy the family labour for the greater part of the year for both food and cash crop cultivation.

17/ Except in Freetown and surroundingareas, land is held by tribal communitiesand Chiefdomsand is granted by the ParamountChief to village farmers under usufruct.

.1/ In inland valley swamps, there is the added problem posed by the threat of bilharzia which has proved to be a real health hazard.

12/ Accordingto the Bank's Mid-Term Review, dated January 1987, "the primary constraintto increased(rice) productionhas been low producer prices." Sierra Leone's experiencein coffee, cocoa and rice has confirmedthe finding elsewhere that while any cost reductions from input and credit subsidieswere consideredby the farmer to be important, it was the price incentive(farmgate price) that turned out to be the stronger determinantfor higher production. - 11 - cocoa, the parastatal had establishedproducer prices at about 30 percent below border bench marks; and for rice, long relied upon to achieve food self-sufficiency,the SLPMB had indirectly influenced the retail price through manipulatingrice imports and settingthe wholesale price. Price determination for each of the crops was based upon the inefficientcost-plus pricing approach. In each instance, it appearedthat a comfortablemargin for the SLPMB was of foremostconsideration and it is this which appearedto have taken precedenceover the need to provide an adequateand remunerativeproducer price to the farmer. While, all three crops enjoyed protectionthrough credit and input subsidies, rice, in addition, received trade protectionthrough quantitativeimport restrictions, and coffee and cocoa were penalizedby a grossly overvaluedexchange rate. Coffee and cocoa were further discriminatedagainst through an export tax of 35-40 percent for coffee and 35 percent for cocoa. The distorted agriculturalpolicy was ultimatelyto take its toll on production, the balance of payments, the exchequer, and overall economicgrowth.

3.16 Both the wholesale and retail price of rice are now market determined. However, the market itself, imperfect and encouragingof high trading margins, is such that consumer welfare is becoming increasinglycompromised and the welfare of the producer almosttotally ignored. At appraisal in May 1991, while the farmgate price of rice averagedabout 33 percent of the importparity price, the retail price of imported rice was at least five times higher at Le 4,500 per bag and that of domesticallyproduced rice, which enjoys a premium due to taste preferenceand quality, seven times higher at Le 6,500 per bag. In December 1991, the retail price had more than doubled to over Le 10,000 but the farmgate price had remained unchanged. Some price increase was inevitabledue to the adjustmentreforms, but with trade liberalizationand a world market price much lowered due to technologicalprogress in yields, retail price increasesof these orders appear excessive. 2Q/ D1/ The high margins could be justified, in some part, by the poor state of roads, rising cost of fuel and spare parts, and the entrepreneurialrisk involved in doing business in an economicenvironment that is yet to stabilize. However, these high margins are also the result of oligopolisticpricing given that a handful of private traders dominatesrice import. Unlike past policy regimes which endorsed consumersubsidies there is now no direct consumersubsidy on rice. Yet, economicdistortions presently do exist through the protectionafforded to the consumerby the waiver of the 10 percent import tariff on rice as well as the substantialdirect consumer subsidy on rice for the security force; the cost of this latter subsidy to the governmentbudget amountedto Le 100 million for 25,655 bags procured in April 1991 alone and the burden is estimatedto have risen significantlysince.

3.17 Policy distortions within the rice sub-sectorhave become aggravatedwith the institutionof the Government'sPublic Emergency Measures, 1992. While these measureshave not been directly resorted to, they have had an indirect influenceat containingthe retail price of rice to Le 8200 per

20/ A temporary price increase, forecast in the Bank's commodityprice forecastsof July 29, 1991 compared to those of March 13, 1991, was attributed to strong demand resulting from the Middle East war and also from Eastern Europe. The latest price forecasts dated February 10, 1993 project a negligibleshort-lived recovery in 1994 and a significantdecline, in real terms, through 2005.

21/ Until a realignmentof the exchangerate, the retail price was also influencedupward by the artificialshortage of rice created in Sierra Leone from the considerableillegal cross-bordertrade with Guinea. - 12 - bag. 22/ In addition to providing protectionto the consumer, these measures have dampened incentivesto rice importers and traders by limitingtheir trading margin to Le 400 per bag. The impact on the farmgate price of rice has been adverse and the situationwith respect to producer incentivesin the face of expandingdemand from a rapidly growing populationhas become serious.

3.18 In the short-term, given the scarcity of foreign exchange (exacerbatedby the loss in export earnings from coffee and cocoa due to economicdisruption in tree crop growing regions bordering Liberia), there is a limit to the amount of rice consumptionrequirements which can be met through imports, even with current levels of per capita consumptionon the low side. 23/ 24/ There is also a limit to the amount of food aid which can be expectedbeyond that necessitatedby emergency circumstances. There are, thus, within the time-frameof the short-run, few viable options other than to encouragemarketed output from domesticproduction by encouragingfuller use of existing improved technology. In recent years, the farm-gate price of paddy has averaged less than 50 percent of the retail price and only about 33 percent of the border equivalent.25/ With the institutionby the new regime of various food control measures, the producer price incentive remains unremunerativeand insufficientto enable the smaliholderto produce meaningfulsurpluses for the market. The cost of land preparation and cultivationis substantialespecially in the swamp rice ecologieswhere considerableuntapped potential is known to exist and in some of which Sierra Leone could develop strong comparativeadvantage. Furthermore, with devaluationand high trading

22/ The NPRC Governmenthas instituteda number of 'food control' measures through Decrees 9 and 10 of its Public EmergencyRegulations which sanction power to suspend market forces in the requisition,distribution, storage, transport and pricing of food items.

231/ The decline in agriculturalproduction in the coffee and cocoa growing areas bordering Liberia has been steep, although the extent of decline is difficultto ascertain. Official estimates, placing the fall in cocoa and coffee export volume in 1991/92at over 65 percent and 35 percent, respectively,appear to be optimistic;rice production is estimatedto have fallen by more than 40 percent. The decline in real terms in the internationalprice of coffee and cocoa, experiencedduring the 1980s, has continued through 1992 and has further aggravatedthe adverse impact on coffee and cocoa export earnings.

24/ The food situationis reported to have deterioratedin 1992 because of below normal plantingsof cereal crops on accountof the civil strife and shortagesof seed and farming implements. Estimatesof the numbers of persons internallydisplaced because of civil strife are placed at 257,000 and an additional255,000 are reported to have sought refuge in Liberia and Guinea. The index of 1992 import requirementsas a percent of normal requirementsis projected at 160 comparedto 86 in 1991 and the 1992 food aid requirementsas a percent of normal requirementsis projected to be as high as 850. See FAO Special Report on the Food SupplySituation and Crop Prospects in Sub-SaharanAfrica, No. 4, December 1992.

25/ Prior to the suspensionof disbursements,the Bank had recommendedsubstantial increases in the farmgateprice of rice. This was at a time when input and credit subsidieswere still in force, the exchangerate grossly overvaluedand the infrastructureconstraint less severe. - 13 - margins, the prices for imported inputs have escalated sharply and are beyond the financial reach of the subsistencefarmer. The dismantlingof producer price support, and input and credit subsidies, typical of the earlier policy regimes, and to which rice output had been responsive, albeit through acreage rather than yield increases, has resulted in a serious squeeze on the farmer's cash flow and perpetuated his inabilityto undertake necessaryfarm investments.26/ Beyondthe short-term, this situation is expected to improve as entry by the private sector in the procurementand marketing of essentialfarm inputs increases and a competitiveenvironment emerges. However, for increased private sector investmentin agriculturalproduction and marketing, two preconditions,besides economicstability, are necessary: (i) sound investmentproposals with high economicjustification and (ii) a fully functioningand effective commercialbanking network willingto finance such agricultural investments.

3.19 The producer prices for food crops other than rice are also purported to be market determined and in the case of cash crops, the situationvaries. For offee and cocoa, under the adjustmentreform programme,the SLPMBhad agreed to ensure that the producer price for each crop would not fall below the level of 60 percent of the FOB price. 27/ However, the SLPMBhas found it difficult to fulfill this requirement. Even though its monopolyin the internalmarketing and export of both crops has been relinquished,because of its high overhead costs, the SLPMBhas found it increasingly difficult to withstandthe stiff price competitionfrom private buying agents. In the case of tobacco, the producer price is arrived at through bargainingby the tobaccocompany with its contract farmers. In practice, however, the tobacco company is in a strong position to exercise monopsonisticpower and does eventuallyexercise this prerogative. An importantcrop for subsistenceproducers, and the second largest single source of excise revenue, tobacco had till very recently received heavy trade protectionthrough an import ban on cigarettes. 28/ Production, carried out by contract farmers, remains highly input and managementintensive, and input subsidiesfeature prominently. In addition, the costs of storage and the transport and handling of inputs, especiallyfertilizer, are not recovered from farmers. With the import ban on cigarettes (now lifted), there had been little incentiveto improve technical efficiency, and policy distortionsdue to production subsidieshad compromised,and continueto compromise,economic efficiency. High cost producers, with production costs substantiallylarger than those faced by other African producers, had been shelteredthrough trade and domestic protection, and yields and quality remained low, especiallythe quality of flue-curedtobacco. To retain farmers, the tobacco companyhad to pay prices for tobacco leaf higher than the cost of production, and much higher than levels that could be justified by the productivityof labour. In fact, in recent years, when the average cost of leaf per kilogrammeharvested was US$1.80, the price paid to the farmer by the tobacco companywas US$1.45; the comparablecost in other African countries such as Kenya and Ghana was about US$1 per kilogramme. Besidesthe economiccost of the trade ban, which has so far not been assessed, there are two additional costs (less amenableto

26/ In 1973/74, soon after initiationof the IADPs, subsidieson rice and petroleum had accounted for 10 percent of recurrent expendituresand had absorbed more than one- third of the revenue increase. Fertilizer and chemicals, and sprayers for tree crops, were subsidizedat 50 percent and 100 percent, respectively.

27/ Producer prices for coffee and cocoa announcedby the SLPMBhave recently averaged only about 30 percent of the FOB price.

2/ The ban on the importon cigarettes is reported to have been lifted with effect from December 1991 and has been replaced by an importtariff. - 14 - measurement)which may also be attributed to past tobacco trade policy. One is the environmental cost from the excessiveand indiscriminateuse of fuel wood for tobacco curing - on average, two to three kilogrammesof fuel wood are used to produce one kilogrammeof flue-curedtobacco, and as much as 100 kilogrammesto produce one kilogrammeof fire-curedtobacco. The other serious economiccost is, the now generally accepted, though not scientificallyproven, toll on human health from the consumptionof tobacco. 22/

(ii) TechnologyTransfer

3.18 Technologytransfer that had emerged as one of the few and more valuable legaciesof the IADP era has, with the rapid decline of sector institutions,been rendered progressivelyineffective. The gains anticipatedfrom the transfer of technologyin the form of higher yields and output have, therefore, not obtained. The result of two decades of experiencewith donor-fundedprojects in Sierra Leone is that a large number of farmers have been made aware, either through actual use or training and demonstration,that improvedtechnical packagescan lead to substantialyield increases. However, farmers have been wary of sustainedadoption not only because of the unremunerative farm-gateprice and difficult access to inputs and markets, but also because of the greatly reduced capabilityof the extensionservice to provide advice on the use of these inputs, on good post harvest practices and on market signals and informationthat could strengthendecision-making by farmers. In fact, many smallholderfarmers, once active participantsin IADPs, are reported to have reverted to traditionalpractices. It is now increasinglyrecognized by well establishedinternational research institutesthat to realize and sustain the full benefits of the agriculturalresearch effort, an effective agriculturalextension service is indispensable.30/ The immediateinstitutional priority in Sierra Leone is to restore the capacity of sector institutionsto provide basic agriculturalservices, specifically,the effective transfer of yield-enhancingtechnology to farmers, the monitoringand evaluationof the results of such technologytransfer, and the provisionof regular and timely feedback from the farmers to the agriculturalresearch institutesfor the further developmentof improved technology.

3.19 The cumulativenegative impact of the deterioratedextension service has been seriously and most obviouslyfelt in the inabilityof the DAF to implementits well-preparedunified extension programmeas well as its programmefor on-farm demonstrationsand trials. 31/ It is also evident in the DAF's work programmes in areas other than crops. That livestockextension has suffered is reflected in the poor health and high mortalityof livestockdue to non-availabilityof drugs and vaccines,the weak managementand feeding of animals, inadequateintegration with crop farming, and

29/ Meanwhile, the prospectsfor cultivatingpepper in tobaccogrowing areas, and processing it for export, are extremelygood. Disseminatingextension advice on the cultivationand processingof pepper would be an importantrole for the agricultural extensionservice of the DAF.

30/ CGIAR Seminaron Rice organizedby the World Bank in WashingtonD.C. in October 1991.

31/ Detailed programmesare provided in the NationalAgricultural Extension and Tree Crops Programmesunder the AgriculturalSector Support Project. 1987-89prepared by the Office of the Director-General,Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Forestry. - 15 - in the inabilityof the Teko LivestockTraining Center to make progress with its training programme. 32/ For many decades now, the forestry department, through lack of funding, has been unable to effectivelymanage the forest resource and promote its conservation. In 1987, the Bank's Energy Assessmentmission concluded that "high forests which once covered most of Sierra Leone had been reduced to four percent of the land area through shifting cultivation,commercial logging and cutting for fuel wood." 22/ The environmentaldamage has been compoundedby the rampant and uncheckeduse of the fuel wood resource for cooking, and for tobacco and fish curing. With little deliberatereforestation to show in return, secondary growth has replaced much of the high forest. Some reforestationis being encouragedby donor funded projects identifiedin the Tropical Forestry Action Plan (TFAP), the implementationof which will require a strong Forestry Division. 34/ The TFAP itself will need to be prioritized and followed-upwith a more intensifiedand expanded effort at arresting environmentaldegradation and promotingnatural resource conservation. As regards the Land and Water DevelopmentDivision, importantwork on land capabilityassessment and land-useplanning, in spite of staff having been trained to carry out soil surveys, topographical studies, and survey design and engineering,continues to suffer from lack of funding. Strengthening the LAWDD is indispensableto the judicious developmentand consolidationof swamps and to the much needed multi-disciplinaryapproach to swamp development. In the case of fisheries, even though artisanal fishing along the coast has been constrainedby a lack of equipment, spare parts and fuel, it has had greater success than has inland fishing. The main reason is that even though improvedtechnology for fish farming, particularlyin inland valley and mangrove swamps, has been demonstrated,further investigationis required before it can be widely disseminated. Besides extensionper se, DAF Divisionswhich provide support to agriculturalextension have also been greatly weakenedby the scarcity of funds. Foremost among these, the Planning, Evaluation and MonitoringServices Division (PMESD), now called the Monitoring,Evaluation and Statistics Division (MESD),has been unable to adequatelymonitor and evaluate the rate of adoption of improvedtechnology by farmers and, more importantly,the impact of such adoptionon agricultural productivityand output. It has also been constrainedfrom carrying out other basic farm budget and householdsurveys includingan AgriculturalCensus. The CommunicationsDivision, also, has been unable to maintain its programmeof preparing printed and audio visual extension messagesdesigned to educate farmers in the use of improved technologyand better farm husbandry.

3.20 The other and urgently sought side of technologytransfer, namely, the effective and timely feedback from farmers through extension officers back to research, has also been weak and has held back progress in developingand disseminatingimproved technology of a sort that is directly relevant to farmers needs. This is because agriculturalresearch, due to insufficientfunds, has been unable to adequatelyaddress commonconstraints faced by farmers in the adoption of modem technical

32/ This training center was establishedat Teko in 1904 in the Northern Province. It offers a two year course for the training of LivestockInspectors for the Livestock Divisionof the MANR&F.

33/ Sierra Leone: Issues and Options in the Energy Sector, Report of the Joint UNDP/WorldBank Energy AssessmentProgramme, October 1987, Report No. 6597- SL.

34/ Sierra Leone: TroDicalForestry Action Plan Inter-AgencyForestry Sector Review, Mission Report, UNDP/FAO, Rome 1990. - 16 - packages. While some of the constraintsare technical in nature and relate to the design and constructionof irrigation systems and the presence of iron-toxicityand salinity in soils, others are socio-economicin nature and are also health-related. The fact that most modern crop packages are demandingof labour, of serious consequenceto their increaseduptake and sustained adoption is the obstacle imposed by the acute shortage of farm labour and its escalatingcost. Thus, while the socio- economic aspects of technologyadoption, especiallyon farmer profitability,are becomingmore and more serious, adaptive research has been unable to deal effectivelywith these in the improved technologythat it has developed. The existingimproved packages, thus, remain largely unmodified with respect to these various constraintsand new ones to deal with them have so far not been developed. 35/ This is urgently required. Regular and effectivecommunication with farmers, and feedback from them to the agriculturalresearch scientists,through the extension service, appears to be indispensablefor identifyingspecific priority areas for research that can lead to sustained higher yields and output, especiallyfor rice.

3.21 The NationalAgricultural Research Plan (NARP), developedwith GOSL and ASSP funding, has an elaborate agenda for the conduct of research in many relevant areas. 361 This agenda, however, needs to be prioritized and developedin a manner that ensures that the research developed is demand-drivenand directly relevant to farmers' needs. As indicated above, the agenda also needs to incorporateresearch into socio-economicfactors that influence,and are fundamentalto, the uptake of improvedtechnology. The challenge is to prevent the present institutionaloversight of problems faced by farmers in moving from a low input/outputtechnology to an improved one and to ensure their active participationin the developmentof the technology. This can be best be done through strong research-extensionlinkages. To coordinatethe effort of the agriculturalresearch institutesand foster linkages with extension, the National AgriculturalResearch CoordinatingCouncil (NARCC), establishedunder the original ASSP, as well as the Office of the NationalExtension Coordinatorneed to be strengthened. Recently, the NARCC was includedas a line item in the budget and basic staff recruitmentis reported to have been completed. The immediatechallenge for NARCC is to strengthen institutionalcoordination with the DAF and with the research institutes. This would call for the setting-upof, on farmers' fields, an effective mechanismfor joint meetings(according to specific ecologicallyappropriate crop calendars)between research scientists,subject matter specialists and farmers. Such On-Farm Adaptive Research (OFAR) is considered invaluablein obtaining feedback from farmers on the use of the technologydisseminated and in furthering the effectiveness and relevance of the national research effort.

35/ Sierra Leone's experience with carrying out agriculturalresearch, especiallyin rice, dates back to more than 60 years. Supportedby external assistance, high-yielding varieties and improvedpractices have been developedand tested for the main food crops in almost all agro-climaticzones: for rice, by the Rokupr Rice Research Station (RRRS) and West Africa Rice DevelopmentAssociation (WARDA) and, for maize, roots and legumes by the Njala AgriculturalResearch Station.

36/ op cit., NationalAgricultural Research Plan (NARP) of Sierra Leone, February 1987. - 17 -

(iii) Input Supplyand Post-HarvestTechnology

3.22 For several years now, Sierra Leone has experienceda severe shortage of essentialfarm inputs, especiallyfertilizer and veterinary supplies. Needlessto say, these are essentialto the success of any effort to upgrade technologyfor increasingcrop yields and arresting livestockmortality. Difficultaccess to these inputs is best illustratedby the highly erratic availabilityof fertilizer since the mid-1980sdue to Sierra Leone's foreign exchangedifficulties. Followingthe depletion by 1984 of the 1980/81stock of 8,000 metric tons, 10,455 tons were importedin 1985 and a further 2,800 tons in 1987. More recently, in 1989, 450 tons were imported, and in 1990, 2,400 tons half of which was donated. The use of modern farm inputs as prescribed by modern technicalpackages is, thus, severely inhibitedby the lack of availabilityof inputs at the time and place required, the cost of these inputs when available, and the absence of a reliable private sector distributionmechanism, especially in remote rural areas. The latter may be attributed to the unsettledinvestment climate which continues to persist and due to which the private sector has chosen to act with extreme caution.

3.23 The demand for modern farm inputs, especiallyfertilizer, has been tempered by exchangerate devaluation, attemptsto reduce subsidies, and high transport and distributioncosts, on the one hand, and the low farm-gateprice of rice, on the other. 371/These factors have significantlydiscouraged the use of inputs integral to yield-enhancingtechnology. In the case of fertilizer, between 1971 and 1981, the price ratio between 20:20:0 fertilizer and paddy was highly discouragingof the use of fertilizer; in 1970, the price of fertilizer amountedto 60 percent of the price of rice, and in 1981, it was 120 percent higher. 38/ Some past studieshave demonstratedthe sensitivityof fertilizer use with respect to price. To illustrate, when the price of 20:20:0 was raised in 1976/77from Le 1.50 per bag to Le 3.00, and for 15:15:15 from Le 3.00 to Le 6.00, fertilizer usage fell proportionately from 5,100 metric tons to 2,511 metric tons. This contrastssharply with fertilizer use when, in the precedingthree years, the price remained constant in nominalterms and its use, promoted by high subsidies, increasedby almost 24 percent in 1974/75and 52 percent in 1975/76. However, fertilizer use, subsidy notwithstanding,also fell on other occasionsof fertilizer price increase, as was the case in 1972, 1976 and 1979 - the fertilizer subsidy is currentlyabove 70 percent of importparity. In the case of coffee and cocoa, in spite of recently improved incentives(and prior to the border disturbancesin coffee and cocoa growing areas), the demand for fertilizer and modem farm inputs remains weak. The main sources of demand for fertilizer have been, and continue to be, the MagbasseSugar Complex,Rokel Leaf TobaccoCompany and various ADPs. Fertilizer is also used in small degree by wealthier and more progressiverice farmers and by the Seed MultiplicationUnit for use by its contract-growers.

3.24 While the production of marketedsurplus is inhibitedby inadequateprice and non-price incentives,the output that is harvested/recoveredis reduced by high post-harvestlosses. These losses are considerableand can approach 35 percent. Improper storage at the farm level, and insufficient facilitiesfor storage and processingat the village level, are among the main causes for these significantpost-harvest losses. Since 1984, the DAF, assistedby UNDP/FAO, has implementedtwo phases of a project for post-harvestpractices to provide facilitiesfor and training in post-harvest

371/ The Governmenthad agreed to eliminatethe subsidy initiallyby January 1, 1985 and subsequentlyby the 1989 cropping season. However, currency devaluationis reported to have preemptedthe achievementof this goal.

38/ Source: UNDP/FAO Study on Fertilizer Marketing System. Sierra Leone,dated 1982. - 18 - technologyat the farm level. Farmers have, in the process, become well aware of the considerable reductionin crop losses that are possible through good post-harvestpractices, especiallyfor rice, cassava, corn meal, oil palm etc. In the case of rice, it has been demonstratedthat the use of drying floors, parboilingtanks, mechanicalthreshers, and mobile and stationarymills can reduce post-harvest losses from 25 percent to 10 percent. Other post-harvestrelated projects assistedby UNDP/FAO have aimed at strengtheningcrop-protection services, improvingagro-meteorology, etc. A more recent proposal is a third phase project, prepared by the FAO, which proposes the establishmentof integrated rural processingcenters at the village level. Through greater efficiency in crop storage and processing, the primary aim of the project is to enlarge the availabilityof food for own consumption and seed for the next season and enable a stock of harvest to be sold in the off-seasonwhen some pressure on the price invariablyexists. Besidesthe reduction in losses of harvested output, an importantindirect result of wider disseminationof post-harvesttechnology is the on-farm labour requirement that could be reduced and diverted to tasks, on-farm and off-farm, that are more remunerativeand productivefor the farm family.

3.25 The translation of farmers' awarenessand knowledgeof improved crop and post-harvest technologyinto better yields, higher output and sustainedgrowth is constrainedby poor creditworthiness,lack of purchasing power and difficult access to crdt especiallyseasonal credit. This is also a problem for traders, many of them frequentlywomen, who require working capital for packagingproduce, renting transport and purchasingfuel and a particular problem when it comes to marketing perishablessuch as vegetablesand fish. It is because of these difficultiesthat credit from the informalsector, in spite of exhorbitant interestrates (frequentlyapproximating 100 percent), and barter exchangewhich is deeply ingrainedin the rural economy, are resorted to. Cash shortagesand problems of dealing and storing large amountsof small denominationsof currency notes coupled with the lack of collateral, the financial risk inherent in farming, especiallysubsistence farming, and the fact that farm incomes are limitedby the relativelysmall size of the marketablesurplus are aspects of rural financial sector that exert a strong restraint on the modernizationof the agriculturaleconomy. Unless rural financial intermediationis strengthened,the move out of subsistenceagriculture to better yields and incomes will be a long and tedious task.

3.26 With improved producer prices and better feeder roads, the demand for modem farm inputs and farm machineryand implementsis expectedto increaseas is the demand for most types of credit for agricultural investment. In response to better economicprospects engenderedby the adjustment reforms, the demand for credit by small farmers, especiallyfarmers groups and associations,has already resumed. The Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL), with funding providedby the original ASSP, initiatedthe establishmentof a rural banking systemto provide loans for agriculturalproduction and fishing. 22/ Through supplementingcapital share subscriptionand providing training, BSL has, through its DevelopmentFinance Department (DFD), assumeda developmentand supervisoryrole in the rural financial sector. Since 1985, eight rural banks have been formed by village inhabitantsled by promoters who are typically well-to-do individualsand politicians. There are plans to increase the number of rural banks to 10. Loans, primarily seasonal loans, are extended at below market rates of interest which, about a year ago, were around 70 percent in nominalterms and minus 50 percent in real terms. While the high (nominal)cost of borrowing, whether from the informalor formal sector, has placed some limit on the demand for credit, the supplyof funds has also been constrainedby the

39/ There is also provisionfor loans for agribusiness,for instance, manufacturing, handicraft and construction,as well as for automobile, mechanicaland electrical repairs. - 19 - tight monetarypolicy. With continuedeconomic recovery and adjustment,the demand and supply for the credit should ease. As regards credit recovery, in the present circumstances,loan repaymentis often secured through direct recovery from the harvest and is reported to be good at 97 percent. This apparent success is attributableto the physical presence at harvest of loan officers, who, well acquainted with the debtor's expected harvest, exercisetheir prerogativeto collect. This is neither efficient nor cost-effectivein terms of modern bankingpractice. Ultimately,it is the ability of rural banks to mobilize resources and reach a large number of farmers in a cost-effectivemanner that would be critical to the financial viabilityof the rural banking system and make for the further growth and resilience of the rural economy. The capacityof the existing rural banks to perform basic banking functions is seriously constrainedby the lack of technical assistance,weak mobility and poor logistics.

(iv) Feeder Roads

3.27 Approximatelyone-third of Sierra Leone's feeder road networkwas funded by USAID and constructedin the 1970s and early 1980s by CARE (CooperativeAmerican Relief Everywhere)using heavy mechanization. The remainingtwo-thirds was financedby other donors with a considerable portion constructedunder the Bank-fundedIADPs. By 1987, about 71 percent of the feeder road network was assessed as being in poor to very poor conditionand in need, therefore, of major rehabilitation,25 percent was assessedto be in fair conditionrequiring periodic maintenance,and about four percent was consideredto be in good conditionrequiring routine maintenance. Four hundred miles (55 percent located in the southernand eastern regions) of the feeder road network had deterioratedto such an extent that it received the low rating of 2.0 in the weighted conditionindex indicating need for priority rehabilitation.401 A primary reason for the present conditionof the feeder roads has been a progressiveand persistent lack of funding for their maintenance. In fact, even in the IADP era, the problem of maintenancefunding was so acute that CARE, a foremost builder of these roads in Sierra Leone, decidedto cutback on new feeder road constructionand divert funds earmarked for new investmentto the maintenanceof feeder roads that had been thus far constructed.

3.28 Due to the continuedlack of maintenancefunding, the conditionof feeder roads in Sierra Leone has deterioratedfurther and is now a major obstacle to increases in agriculturalsurplus, efficient marketingand distributionof agriculturaloutput within and outside rural areas, and the availabilityof wage goods in rural areas. As a consequence,the growth and developmentof the rural economy has come close to a stand-stillwith both producers and consumersdeprived of the benefits of competitivepricing. The numbersof traders and middlementhat would conceivablyfind it profitableto compete have been discouragedfrom doing so by rising transport operatingand maintenancecosts triggered by the high cost of fuel and spare parts. It is the excessivelyhigh trading margins, inherent in oligopolisticand monopolisticpricing sanctionedby poor transport and marketing infrastructure,rather than healthy competition,fostered by a good road network, that has emerged as the primary determinantof input and output prices faced by farmers, particularlythose located in remote rural areas. In the process, the ability and the incentivefor the farmer to adopt improved technologythat would make for higher yields and output remains thwarted. While it is imperativethat rural roads are rehabilitated,it is equally imperativethat their maintenancebe

40/ The Governmentof Sierra Leone, Ministry of Works and Labour, Survey of the Classified Road Network and Important Feeder Roads, Draft Final Report, November 1987. - 20 - adequatelyand regularlyfunded and carried out. This would reduce the likelihoodof exhorbitant marketing costs being passed on to the producer/farmerin the form of a poor farm-gate price and steeply priced inputs, and to the consumer in the form of excessivelypriced basic consumptionitems. An added adverse effect of the poor feeder roads and the inordinate marketingcosts is the severe limit placed on growth multipliersstemming from production linkages within the farm and rural sectors but more importantlyfrom inter-sectoralconsumption linkages between the rural and urban sectors.

E. Donor Contribution

3.29 In perhaps what can best be described as Sierra Leone's most difficult economiccircumstance, that is, during the period of suspensionof disbursementsby the Bank and the inabilityof collapsed governmentinstitutions to pursue agriculturaldevelopment, it was the presence of donors which sustainedthe sector. Bilateraland multilateraldonors continueto play an importantcontributory role in enhancingyields and output of project farmers and training counterpartsin project executionand farmers in the applicationof improved technology. The main projects include: the EEC funded agriculturaldevelopment projects in the Port Loko, Kambia and KoinaduguDistricts; the GTZ-funded agriculturaldevelopment project at Bo-Pujehun,and a fisheries developmentin Kambia District; the FAO project at Moyambapromoting the cultivationof rice, vegetables and oil palm as well as the developmentof fisheries at Shengeand Tombo; the RhombeSwamp DevelopmentProject funded by Italian Aid (not yet on-stream);the new IFAD financedNorth Central Project, an extension of the Magbosi project; the ADB funded agriculturaldevelopment project at Moyamba, that at Torma Bum promotingcontract ploughingand ADB assistanceto the LivestockTraining Center at Teko in the Northern Region; and the Japanese funded project at Gbontapifor promotingmechanized cultivation through contract ploughing. The contributionof these projects to Sierra Leone's agriculturaland rural developmenthas, so far, not been assessedby donors. An in-depth review to assess the net economic and financialbenefits of these projects is urgently required. Efforts are also required to reduce the excessivehigh managementand input-intensityof all these projects and eliminateinherent economic distortionsdue to input and credit subsidieswhich are quite common. The key question is to what extent these projects can be sustainedunder the present budgetary constraintsand economic realities. This learningand knowledgewould be critical in the policy and institutionalframework for basic agriculturalservices as it continuesto evolve.

3.30 In spite of substantialexternal assistanceto the agriculture sector over the last few decades, institutionalcapacity buildinghas had mixed results and, on balance, remains weak. The impact on institutionalstrengthening of donor-fundedprojects, includingBank-funded IADPs, has been two-fold. First, these projects drew, and continueto draw, on MANR&Fstaff (by secondmentssupplemented with field allowancesas incentives)to assist with project execution. In the process, staff have been trained to implementprojects but not to plan and managethem. Second, the practice of drawing on MANR&F/DAFstaff had created parallel systemsof agriculturalextension and project management. The unnecessaryduplication of services through the excessiveconcentration of projects and staff in some areas at the cost of local projects and backwardareas has had little justification. Furthermore, with staff being answerable at the same time to donors and senior civil servants, a fair degree of confusionhad emergedas to the appropriateauthority in this dual system, especially on policy, technical and administrativematters. The resulting lack of control, focus, and planninghas been, and continuesto be, reflected in a number of dispersed independentprojects which remain outside any semblanceof a sector strategy. A more serious shortcomingis the lack of a joint assessmentby donors of the impacton Sierra Leone's agricultureof past donor interventionsand the absence of regular donor coordinationand regular joint meetingswith the DAF. - 21 -

3.31 Some donors have expressedreluctance to follow the Bank-ledmove away from the IADPs, the integrationof the IADPs into the main stream of the agriculturalinstitutional structure and the implementationof agriculturaldevelopment projects within an overall policy framework that does not sanction input and credit subsidies. There have been, in the past, two basic reasons for such donor attitude and resistance. One is the belief that the MANR&Flacked the capacity to plan and manage sector growth and development. This has been true to some extent and is attributed, in part, to the setback in institutionalcapacity buildingfrom the difficultbudgetary situation and the weak morale and motivationof staff. However, it may also be attributedto the fact that seconded MANR&Fstaff were made to assist with project implementationrather than the planningand managementof projects. 41/ Second, many donors are of the view that without input and credit subsidies,farmers are unlikely to adopt improvedtechnology. 42/ The net result was the perpetrationof highly managementand input intensiveagricultural development projects that are becomingdifficult to sustain. The Bank, in the interest of promotingeconomic efficiencyand capacity buildinghas reiterated its strong commitmentto ensuringthat the developmenteffort is of a substanceand pattern which is free of distortions, one that is self-sustaining,and one that increasinglycomes under the helm of sector institutions,such as DAF. This view and effort is supportedby cofinancier IFAD, and it is hoped will, in the near future, gain increasingsupport from the donor communityat large.

F. NGQs

3.32 NGOs have made an invaluablecontribution to Sierra Leone's agriculturaland rural development. Even in remote geographicalareas, farmers have benefittedfrom the agricultural extension advice provided by DAF extensionstaff who are often assistedby local and international NGOs. In addition, farmers have been educatedby NGOs on the benefits of their adopting a group approach for input purchase and output marketing and in the modalitiesof forming farmers associationsand functioningeffectively as farmers groups. In the absence of a competitiveand fully developedprivate sector for marketing agriculturalinputs, it is envisagedthat more active participationby the NGOs in the agriculturaldevelopment process would continueto be sought. Given the strong awarenessof NGOs of the seasonal and time-boundnature of agriculturaloperations and their well recognizedcommitment to the economicuplift of farm families, their assistance to farmers in channellinginputs would instil a measure of certainty with respect to the timely availability of input supplies. Furthermore, by facilitatingcost-effective transport to local and more distant markets, NGO participationcould provide some countervailingpower and competitionto private suppliers and traders, especiallyin remote geographicalareas where farmers are exploitedby weak farmgate prices and forced to pay exhorbitantprices for essentialfarm inputs. Where farmers choose to voluntarilygroup with the purpose of overcomingthe constraintsimposed upon their agricultural operations by lack of collateral and poor creditworthiness,their bargainingpower, whether for purchase of inputs or marketingof output, could be greatly enhanced.

41/ In 1986, after the Mid-TermReview, the Bank was encouragedby MANR&F's attempt at preparing the Green RevolutionPlan (GRP), its weaknesses notwithstanding,and acknowledgedMANR&F's potential and initiative in taking a lead role in guiding and supportingsector development.

42/ While this may true, it is also a fact that when the producer price warrants, farmers are known to seek out improvedtechnology and modern farm inputs. - 22 -

3.33 Both local and internationalNGOs continueto work closely with DAF staff in agricultural extension and training, particularlytraining in the use by men and womenfarmers of farm and agro- processingequipment, in monitoringyields and output, and in enhancingmanagement skills, etc. Each NGO has advantages. Local NGOs possess working knowledgeand have valuable insight into the culture and traditionsof farm households. This knowledgeis indispensableto the successful design and implementationof projects. 43/ With respect to project identificationand appraisal, it is the internationalNGOs which understandablyhave the greater advantage. These NGOs are well- versed in procurement, implementation,and reporting, and have strong managementand accounting skills. Local NGOs have yet to develop these capacitiesand skills and their ability to do so is constrainedby limitedresources. There has been a further problem faced by local NGOs. Even when formallyregistered, as required with the Departmentof Rural Development,they do not enjoy many benefits enjoyed by internationalNGOs, especially in respect of duty paid on essentialimported items. This differentialtreatment needs to be promptlyand appropriatelydealt with so that it does not become a strong dis-incentiveto local NGOs continuingtheir important contributionto sector development.

G. Bank Group Operations

3.34 The IDA's developmenteffort in Sierra Leone's agriculturesector has includedthree phases of the Eastern IADP and two phases of the Northern IADP. These projects were area development projects, complexand multi-purpose,management and input intensive, inclusiveof strong infrastructurecomponents, and were aimed at increasingproduction and incomes of target groups of farmers. Their overwhelmingemphasis was on rice production through swamp developmentand consolidationand this was, in some degree, to the neglect of upland farming that is deeply ingrained in the rural psyche. Because of its socio-economicimplications, upland farming, too, was subsequentlypromoted by the IADPs. Besides, promotingrice cultivation,tree crop development was also an importantobjective of the IADPs. The enclave nature of these projects kept them estranged in practice from the macro economicconcerns of the economyat large and economic distortionsin the sector in particular. Relative to the benefits and targets that were ultimately attained, the IADPs turned out to be costly in terms of their demand on professionalmanagement and organizationalskills. As a result, and in the interestof sustainability,the Bank (utilizingits knowledgeand experiencewith IADPs in several countries) reassessed its approach to agriculturaland rural developmentand reversed it in favour of more simpleand focussed projects. The ASSP was the first non-IADPproject in Sierra Leone the implementationof which was interruptedby the suspension of disbursements.

3.35 Included in the overall lessons from the IADP experiencein Sierra Leone are: first, that a project implementedin a distorted macro environmentcannot succeed; second, that while an enabling macro environmentis a necessary conditionfor sector and project success, it is not a sufficient condition, and that sector policy reforms are essentialcomplementary measures for supply response and sustainedgrowth; third, that the chances of a project succeedingin a country environment,where a financial crisis remains unresolved, and the budgetary situationis unsustainable,are low; four, that

43/ Instanceshave been reported where internationalNGOs, not familiar with local customs and traditions, imported and introducedpre-fabricated agendas and projects which, as it turned out, were not successful. The cost to the NGOs and to the local communityinvolved was ultimatelyunjustified causing apprehensionand caution on the part of the village communitytoward further outside interventions. - 23 - the danger of under-estimatingthe impact on the supply response of the producer price incentive comparedto non-price incentivesshould be guarded against; and fifth, that there is a necessity of obtaining informationfrom indigenoussources on the socio-economicissues surroundingthe introductionof improved technologyand new methodsof cultivation,particularly with respect to swamp rice. 44/ At the project level, the main lesson to be learned is that where institutionaland managementcapacity are relativelyweak and undeveloped,simplicity in project design is indispensable. Ambitiousprojects with complexdesigns in a country and sector saddled with serious macroeconomicand financial constraints, and aggravatedby limitedabsorptive capacity and poor or non-existinginfrastructure, are likely to meet with little success in achievingtheir objectives. This is particularlytrue in instances where the record of macro economicmanagement has been poor and where it has continuedto rapidly deteriorate.

H. Short-Term Options

3.36 Possibly beyond, but at least in the short to mediumterm, the pressure on the agricultural sector to provide substantiallymore foreign exchangeresources and food, and more employment opportunities,is likely to grow. Prior to the onset of the economicdecline, in the hope of finding better prospectsfor incomes from mining, constructionand trading, and from jobs in public administrationwhich expanded almostthree-fold in the first decade of independence,large numbers of the rural work force had migratedto mining areas and large towns. 45/ As the mining sub-sector weakened so did the pull on outward migration. Now, with the economy depressed,urban life has been transformed into an economicstruggle accentuatedby high inflationand a near collapseof most public services. The lure of urban life has clearly faded for most and reverse migration back to rural areas in some significantdegree appears to be taking place. This trend of return to rural areas may yet deepen as budgetaryexpenditures are further tightenedand civil service staffing further curbed. In any event, whether from natural populationincrease or continuedmigration back and forth, the burden on the sub-sectorto provide food and jobs is expectedto increase. This burden is expectedto further grow as and when refugees return to Sierra Leone from neighbouringGuinea. To meet this overall challenge, an increase in agriculturalproduction and productivity,prompted by an effective sector policy and strategy, and supportedby strong transport and marketing infrastructure, is vital.

3.37 It shouldbe borne in mind that the country still faces a serious resource constraint,that institutionaland infrastructuredevelopment are on-goingprocesses which will require considerable lead-timeeven though disbursementshave resumed, and that farmers are basically risk-averseand inclined to respond cautiouslyto the prospect of adoptingnew crop technologythat is input-intensive. In view of this, the sector cannot in the immediatefuture make up for all of the considerabletime lost during years of weak economicmanagement and the suspensionof disbursements. In the short-term,

44/ See World Bank, Project PerformanceAudit Reports, respectively,for the Integrated AgriculturalDevelopment Project, Credit 323-SL, dated May 27, 1978 and the Integrated AgriculturalDevelopment Project II, Credit 568/Loan 1138-SL,dated June 24, 1983; and Project CompletionReports, respectively, for the Eastern Integrated AgriculturalDevelopment Project, Credit 1094-SL,dated December28, 1990 and the Northern Integrated AgriculturalDevelopment Project, Credit 1128-SL,also dated December28, 1990.

45/ Accordingto the 1963 and 1974 Census figures, the urban populationgrowth rate was 5.9 percent. - 24 - therefore, even though developmentoptions are obviouslylimited, they are not lacking. This is because Sierra Leone's agriculturalsector has considerabletechnological, institutional and infrastructureexcess capacity as well as extensiveexperience with implementingBank-funded projects in the past. It also has an underlyingeconomic strength which its communityand group approach have to offer. Thus, in the short-term, a concertedeffort on three fronts could create the enabling environmentthat is urgently being soughtand place the sector on a path of recovery and growth: (i) tapping in the near term Sierra Leone's existingtechnological capacity for attaininghigher crop yields (ii) resuming institutionalcapacity buildingand strengtheningmechanisms to transfer technologyand monitor its adoption;and (iii) rehabilitatingthe existingfeeder road network. A prerequisiteto the successfultapping of these existing capacitieswould rest in strong sector policies that are reflected in producer incentivesthat are conduciveto higher production and sustainedgrowth.

3.38 The Governmentof Sierra Leone has demonstrateda politicalwill and commitmentto institutingand sustainingmacroeconomic reforms espousedby the Bank and Fund. It has also started to complementthis effort through its commitmentto important sector policy and institutionalreforms that would set the stage for an enablingenvironment for modern agriculturalgrowth. However, an environmentwhere the private sector holds the key to expandedinvestment and commercialactivity, where a competitivemarket economy is to be responsiblefor ensuring efficiencyin resource use, and where the public sector is to reorient its focus and assume the vital role of providing timely and cost- effectivedelivery of agriculturalservices remains largely undevelopedand weak. For decades now, the Bank has assisted Sierra Leone to move towards such an environment. Through the original ASSP, the institutionalframework was given in-depth attentionand many improvementswere introducedand, on the policy side, efforts were made to reduce the subsidy on fertilizer with a view to its eventualelimination. With the suspensionof disbursementsand acute budgetary difficulty, these policy and institutionalreforms could not run their full course. It is critical that the process now be completed.

IV. THE REVISEDPROJECT

A. Project Objecve

4.1 The primary objectiveof the reallocatedASSP is to create an enablingpolicy and institutional environmentconducive to the recovery of agriculturaloutput. This recovery would be led by the private sector and pursued within the frameworkof a free market economy. Specifically,the sought supply response in food and cash crops would be obtainedthrough private sector initiative and investmentin production, storage, processingand marketingrather than through the highly input and managementintensive approach by public sector institutionspursued through the IADPs. Investment decisionsbased on market signals would therefore be key, and which would, to bear fruit, require strong policy, institutionaland infrastructuresupport. The Matrix of Policy and InstitutionalActions given in Annex A contains the policy and institutionalreforms that would support the fostering of the enablingenvironment and it also provides a status comparisonwith the reforms pursued through the original project and the Government'scommitment to the policy reforms is stated in its Letter of Sector Policy given in Annex B. With due attentionto socio-economicand environmentalfactors, the project aims to assist the agriculture sector to recover, and surpass, its earlier contributionto GDP, rural incomes, nutrition, and net export earnings. Envisaged, therefore, is the intensiveuse of land under cultivationthrough fuller utilizationof existingimproved technology. Given Sierra Leone's present weak state of agriculturaldevelopment, the two most importantprerequisites to expansionin marketedsurplus are: first, an increase in agriculturalproductivity and second, greater efficiencyin - 25 - the storage, processingand marketingof the agriculturalsurpluses produced. The means whereby the project would achieve its objective of higher productionand efficientmarketing are through effective technologytransfer and strong research-extension-farmerlinkages, increasedavailability of essential farm inputs and agro-processingfacilities, good feeder roads, and remunerativeproducer prices. To the extent that any one of these is excludedor lags in its performance, agriculture sector recovery and supply response would inevitablybe seriouslycompromised.

B. SummaryDescription

4.2 The project would be implementedover a period of four years. Its design allows for a quick disbursementof project funds anticipatedat more than 80 percent by the end of the third project year. The funds would be used for project activitiesin regions other than the eastern and southern regions which remain politicallyinsecure. In additionto strengtheningthe policy and incentive framework, the project's objectiveswould be achievedthrough the followingmain components:

(a) technologytransfer (US$9.1million): this componentwould by increasingthe capacity of front-lineextension officers to transfer technologyto farmers (i) strengthen the disseminationof existing improvedtechnology for food and cash crop cultivation, and for post harvest technology,forestry, fishing, land and water development;(ii) reduce the high mortalityrate of the national livestockherd and small ruminants; (iii) strengthen monitoringand evaluationof the technologytransferred; (iv) rehabilitate selected extensiontraining and research facilitieswhich are severely dilapidated;(v) financethe training of SubjectMatter Specialists,agricultural instructors, men and womenfarmers, and loan officers of selectedrural banks; (vi) enablethe conduct of on-farm adaptive research (OFAR) trials and crop demonstrationson farmers' fields and ensure feedbackto research scientistson the use of such technologyadoption by farmers through the extensionservice; and (vii) facilitate technologyadoption through alleviatingthe immediatebottlenecks faced by rural banks to provide seasonal credit and working capital to farmers;

(b) farm inputs and post-harvesttechnology (US$9.6 million): this componentwould finance (i) the importof essentialfertilizer, farm tools and implements,oil palm seedlings, and small-scaleagro-processing equipment for rice, cassava, oil palm, maize and pepper; and (ii) the training, in post-harvesttechnology, of farmers (includingwomen farmers), agro-processorsand extensionofficers;

(c) feeder roads (US$7.8 million):this componentwould finance the rehabilitationof 530 km of severely dilapidatedcritical feeder road links, many of which are located in remote but agriculturallyproductive areas. Almost 68 percent of the total length of feeder road networkto be rehabilitatedwould be done through two replicationsof an on-goingpilot project using labour-intensiverehabilitation methods. The employment generationand food-for-workmade possible through this sub-componentwould be importantto farmers and farm labour during the off-season, known as the 'hungry season', when both food and cash are scarce;

(d) research-extensionlinkages (US$0.4 million): to ensure that the technology transferred to farmers is relevant to their socio-economicsituation, and that the technologysubsequently developed is demand-driven,this componentwould (i) foster research-extension-farmerlinkages through a series of crop variety trials to be - 26 -

conductedjointly by research scientistsand subject matter specialistson farmers' fields; (ii) provide for the publicationof the results of these research trials; and (iii) improve coordinationof the research effort between the national agriculturalresearch institutes;

(e) CoordinationUnit (US$1.4 million): to strengthenthe DAF's capacity to coordinate and implementthe ASSP, and plan and executeagricultural development projects and programmesbeyond the ASSP, the project would support, with appropriatetechnical assistance, equipmentand logistics,the establishmentof a CoordinationUnit within the DAFF.

C. Detailed Features

4.3 TechnologyTransfer. a severe lack of funding has reduced the capabilityof the agricultural extension officers for providing even minimalagricultural extension advice and farmer training. To restore basic agriculturalextension capability in the crops, forestry, livestock,fisheries, and land and water developmentsub-sectors, the project would provide for logisticaland operationalsupport and for refresher training of front-line extensionofficers. With the present staff strength, at least 30,000 farmers could be directly reached by the DAF extensionservice alone and, indirectly, approximately 900,000 farm householdswould be made aware of the benefits of adopting and sustainingthe use of improved technologypackages. At Headquarters(HQs), DAF's capacity to monitorthe uptake of technologytransferred and evaluate its impact on productivityand output would be enhancedand its financial control, audit and accountingfunctions would also be strengthened. The project would restore field extensioncapability, improve the capabilityof the DAF to monitorand evaluate the technologyof transfer, and strengthenthe capacity within the DAF to undertakepolicy and strategy planning and implementation. Existingimproved technologywould be introducedand promoted for: (i) raising yields and productivityin food and cash crops on upland farms and inland valley swamps (IVS); (ii) improvingwater control and farm managementin IVS; (iii) arresting soil erosion through encouragingtree planting and environmentalconservation; (iv) promotingthe financialbenefits from tree planting for fuel wood, poles and fruit; (v) enhancinginland and artisanal fishing; and (vi) reducing post-harvestlosses through the demonstrationand disseminationof post-harvesttechnology.

4.4 At the field level, agriculturalextension services would be administeredby Region. Each Region is divided into 10 circles or administrativezones which cover anywhere from 1 to 4 Chiefdoms, except for the Western Region which has five circles. 46/ To make field extension possible and effective, DAF's technicalDivisions at HQs would also be strengthened. Professional and technical operationswould continueto be headed by the Director-General(DG) of the DAF who would oversee the AgricultureDivision (crops); the Forestry Division; the LivestockDivision; the Fisheries Division; the Land and Water DevelopmentDivision (LAWDD);the Monitoring,Evaluation and StatisticsDivision (MESD) and the CommunicationsDivision. The Chief Agriculturist(CA) heads the AgricultureDivision and is assisted by the deputy CA and an assistant CA. Each Regional Office is headed by a Chief Regional Officer (CRO), and staffed with Principal AgriculturalOfficers (PAOs), Senior AgriculturalOfficers (SAOs), selected Subject Matter Specialists(SMSs), officers for monitoringand evaluation,training and engineering,and agriculturaland mechanicalsuperintendents. The seven CROs report to the CA.

46/ There are seven regions: Eastern, Southern, South Western, Western, Northern, North Central, and North Western. - 27 -

4.5 The project would finance investmentand operationaland maintenancecosts of vehicles, field, office and laboratoryeguipment and urgent civil works rehabilitationin selected agricultural training and research institutes. Vehicles and motorbikeswould be provided to senior officers at DAF HQs as well as at each regional office and, at the village level, bicycles wouldbe providedto front-lineextension officers. The allocationof these vehicles, includingthe two mobile training vans, and motorbikeswould be determinedby the CA. For resumingthe implementationof work programmes of DAF Divisionsin charge of Agriculture,Forestry, Livestock,Fisheries, LAWDD and the MESD, the project would finance relevant field and office equipment. Severe under-fundingof these items has impededbasic day-to-dayfield and HQs operations. Equipmentfor individualDAF divisionswould consist of standard computerand office equipmentas well as specializedfield and laboratoryequipment: (i) for the Agriculture(Crops) Division,this equipmentwould consist of supplies and tools for field staff and survey equipment;(ii) for the Forestry Division, the equipment would comprise tools and equipmentfor nursery programmes, specializedequipment for forest management,and equipmentfor utilization and wildlifeconservation; (iii) for the Fisheries Division, the equipmentwould consist of assorted fishinggear; (iv) for the LivestockDivision, the equipment would includedrugs, vaccinesand veterinary instruments;(v) for the Land and Water Development Division (LAWDD),the equipmentwould consist of cartography,soils, agronomy, agro-meteorology and laboratoryequipment as well as equipmentfor studyingwater resources; (vi) for the CommunicationsDivision, equipmentto produce audio-visualaids for extension and farmer training in all types of agriculturalactivity would be included;and (vii) for the MESD, equipmentfor weighing, surveyingand communicationsfor surveys and studies wouldbe included.

4.6 Refresher and on-goingtraining of front-linestaff would be indispensablefor resuming effective implementationof field extension services and operations. The programmefor training extensionofficers has been inactivefor many years because of inadequatefunding and the poor conditionof training facilities. Before training can be provided, these research and training facilities would need to be rehabilitated. The project would financeessential rehabilitationonly and, depending on the specific research and training institute, could includeurgent civil works repairs and rehabilitationof fields on which on-stationexperiments would be conducted. Only those facilities which are directly relevant to the project objectiveswould be funded. Included are the Mange Training School, the Institute of Agriculture/CertificateTraining College (CTC) at Njala, the Makali Training Center, and training facilitiesat the RokuprRice Research Station.

4.7 Input Supply and Post-HarvestTechnology. The project would ease the supply bottleneckof imported and essentialfarm inputs such as fertilizer, chemicalsand seed, tools and implements, veterinary drugs and vaccines, and machineryfor crop-processing. The inputs would not be delivered to a targeted group of farmers, as was the case in the IADPs, but would be made availableat specific locationsfor purchase by farmers of their own volition and decision (Annex C). The use of these inputs wouldhowever be monitoredand evaluatedby extension officers and monitoringand evaluationofficers of the DAF. The demand for these inputs, particularlyin weak and uncertain economicand political circumstances,is difficult since few estimatesof their use in the past exist. Even at the height of the IADP era, no statistics were collectedon the amounts of fertilizer used on various crops. Subsistencefarmers who have not participatedin donor funded projects are known to use little fertilizer and farm chemicals. When indeed it is applied, fertilizer is used mainly for swamp rice by the relatively large commercialfarmers, and practicallynone is used for upland rice, or for - 28 - coffee and cocoa. It is also used for the cultivationof vegetables,which unlike upland rice (because of severely eroded soils), show strong response to fertilizeruse. 47/

4.8 While the judicioususe of fertilizer would necessarilyentail crop and location-specific recommendations,general recommendationsby the Adaptive Crop Research and Extension(ACRE) Project funded by DAF/USAIDsuggest the use, with proper extension advice, of 20:20:0 for applicationon upland farms and urea in the swamps. The project would finance the import of 7,000 tons of fertilizer in the first project year, 7,250 tons in the second project year, and 7,500 tons in each of the last two project years. Accountingfor about 50 percent of the total annual requirement before the suspensionof disbursements,this quantitywould comprise various types of fertilizer in the followingapproximate proportions: NPK 20:20:0 (30 percent), NPK 0:20:20 (5 percent), NPK 15:15:15 (20 percent), NPK 15:15:6.4 (4 percent), Urea (30 percent), SSP (4 percent), and MOP (7 percent). These proportionsvary slightly from the mix of fertilizer types estimatedby the DAF Fertilizer Unit for its fertilizer requirementsprior to the suspensionof disbursements. Given that no major technologicaladvance or change in cropping patterns is reported to have occurred in Sierra Leone since then, similar proportionsmay be assumedfor the project period. The allocationshave been broadly guided by: (i) levels procured in the past in economicconditions considerably more favourablefrom the point of view of the individualfarmer; (ii) amountslikely to be realistically absorbed by the sector at present when incentivesfor fertilizeruse are relatively weak; (iii) higher cost of imported inputs because of devaluationand high marketingcosts; (iv) substantiallyweakened farmer cash flow in view of the weak and stagnant farm-gateprice of rice relative to production costs associatedwith yield-enhancingtechnology; and (v) less than a fully understandingof the dynamicsof the fertilizer sub-sectorgiven the infancy of comprehensivefertilizer trials within the country. Not includedin the import estimate are the fertilizer requirementsof commercialand institutionalentities such as the MagbasseSugar Complex, Rokel Leaf TobaccoCompany and other donor funded projects since each of these makes its own provision. Also not includedare the fertilizer requirementsof the DAF Divisionsand NARCCfor the extensiondemonstration and research trials that would be regularly carried out throughoutthe project period; these requirementshave been provided for under equipmentsupport in the technologytransfer and research-extensionlinkages components.

4.9 The demand for seed has remained fairly constantover the last ten years for high yielding varieties of rice and is expectedto approach about 2,000 tons per annum over the project period. Most of the improved varieties are availablethrough the Seed MultiplicationProject (SMP) establishedin 1976 with a grant from GTZ. The SMP has multipliedwell over 30 rice seed varieties through its three seed centers and approximately4,700 contract growers. During the last year, seed and fertilizer were supplied by the SMP to its contract growers at a price with a subsidy element of about 25 percent and recovery was reported to be as high as 85 percent or more. Frequently, cost recovery is carried out through barter exchangewith farmers selling the seed rice in exchangefor necessitiessuch as sheet roofs, cement and bicycles. Barter transactionsconstitute about 25 percent of SMP's output recovery. Once releasedby the research institutes,the SMP multiplies,tests and certifies the rice seed before sale to farmers and traders. Subsistencefarmers are not among the main purchasersof seed rice, since, they, as a rule, retain about 15 to 20 kilogrammesof seed from the previous harvest as supply for the next season; usually this rice is inferior in quality comparedto the well supervisedseed production of the SMP contract-grownseed rice. Over the project period, the demand for high yielding rice seed is likely to increase. The existing capacityof the SMP of about

47/ The applicationof fertilizer would be discouragedin swamps which are naturally very fertile and where soil fertility is not reported to rapidly decline. - 29 -

2,000 tons is consideredsufficient to meet this demand. Improvedplanting material for coffee and seed for cocoa would continueto be supplied from DAF nurseries establishedwith IDA funding in the past. The revised ASSP has provided for nominalfunding in the amount of US$50,000for maintainingthe existing coffee and cocoa nurseries not located in the Eastern and SouthernProvinces bordering Liberia. As regards improved oil palm seedlings, the demand remains strong and the shortage continues. Provisionhas thereforebeen made for the importof 300,000 oil palm seedlings from Cote d'Ivoire completewith the required polybagsand wire collars. For livestockhealth, over US$200,000would be made availablefor the import of the most essentialdrugs and vaccines and veterinary instruments. A little over US$35,000would be made availablefor the import of basic farm tools and implementsgenerally used by subsistencefarmers.

4.10 To prevent losses of increases in harvestedoutput from the uptake of improved technology, the project would fund post-harvesttechnology. There is considerableunmet demand for such technology,particularly parboiling tanks, drying floors, rice mills, cornmeal producing equipment, facilitiesfor preparing gari and fufu, oil palm processingfacilities etc. 48l/ The project would provide funds for the establishingby farmers associationsof integratedcrop-processing centers along the lines proposed by the third phase of a UNDP/FAO project for post-harvestpractices at the village level prepared by the FAO. Machineryand equipmentfor processingrice, cassava, maize, oil palm, groundnutand pepper would be made availableto fifteen bona fide farmers' associationsto establish the integratedcrop-processing centers across the country with technical assistancefrom internationally recruited experts and DAF extensionofficers (Annex C and D). The constructionof these integrated crop-processingcenters would be carried out with the active participationof potential beneficiaries who would contributethe required land, materials and labour. The cost of this componentcomprising crop-processingequipment and technical assistanceamounts to over US$1.5 million. Specifically,the project would finance, at least, five (seven)small size rice mills, five (seven)rice threshers, two (four) cassava processingunits, two (four) oil palm expelling units, five (seven)oil palm kernel crackers, two (four) maize shellers, five (seven) maize grinders, five (seven)pepper grinding units and one (two) sets of coffee processingmachinery. Also includedwould be stationaryand office equipmentand technicalassistance for the integrated crop-processingcenters. At least 500 male and female farmers, as members of the selected farmers associationsand groups, would be directly trained by the project and a number of DAF technical and extension staff would also be trained. The project would follow the current practice of full cost recovery through the capitalizationby the farmers' associationsof the crop-processingequipment by the end of the project period. The funds from the capitalizationwould be recoveredby designatedofficials and deposited in the Treasury.

4.11 To facilitate the delivery of seasonalcredit to small farmers, the project would provide logisticalsupport and training for six existingrural banks (Annex C). The operations of these rural banks are, at present, severely constrainedby a lack of mobility, insufficientequipment and inadequatetechnical assistance. Withoutseasonal credit, farmers are unable to afford expensesfor the purchase of modern farm inputs required by yield-enhancingtechnology and for the effective storage, processingand marketingof output. The farmers' already poor cash flow is under further pressure from numerous economicand social factors that are a rural reality. Thus, after meeting subsistenceneeds, the farmer, in additionto paying off debts contractedduring the 'hungry season,' the costs of hiring labour for land clearing, transplantingand weeding in the plantingseason, he is

48/ Wide usage of parboilingtasks will also be beneficialfor conservationof the fuel wood resource. At present, most parboilingof rice in villages draws heavily on fuel wood. - 30 - obligatedto meet essentialcommunity-related expenses surrounding post-harvest festivals and coveted membershipin traditionalsecret societies. All these debts and obligationsmake an early and substantialdemand on the harvest reaped by the farmer. At current input/outputcoefficients, the investmentof time and resources to adopt and sustain improvedtechnology, develop and consolidate swamps, bring more upland area under cultivation,consider on-farm storage and improvedtechnology is thus not of high priority. 49/

4.12 Feeder Roads. To reduce the isolationand exploitationof farmers in remote but highly productiveagricultural areas, the project would finance the rehabilitationof about 530kilometers of feeder roads. Urgent rehabilitationof selectedfeeder roads in the Port Loko, Tonkolili and Koinadugudistricts would be undertaken. These feeder roads, identified by the DAF (during the ASSP supervisionmissions in May and Decemberof 1991 and in August/September1992) are located in agriculturalareas of high potential where food and cash crops are typically grown, and areas where activity in the forestry and fishing sub-sectorsis expectedto gain momentum. A list of these feeder roads is provided in Annex C. Many of these roads had been identified and recommendedfor rehabilitationas far back as 1987. 5Q/ Their conditionhas now deterioratedfurther to such an extent that the evacuationof marketed productionof food and cash crops for export or urban and rural domesticconsumption is difficult and expensive. In view of the varied lengths of the feeder road links and their scattered locations,rehabilitation of about 360 kilometerswould be rehabilitated using labour-intensivemethods and the remaining 170 kilometersthrough equipmentintensive methodsof rehabilitation.

4.13 The ILO component,with its emphasison employmentgeneration, would consist of tw replicationsof a pilot project used to construct the 90 km feeder road stretch from Moyambato Shengeunder fundingfrom UNCTAD and food aid from WFP. Each replica would consist of one labour-intensiveunit and one equipment-intensiveunit. The labour-intensivecomponent would make a useful contributionto the farm economy in three ways. It would: (i) help to expedite the constructionof feeder road links consideredtoo short and possiblyunattractive for contractorsusing heavy mechanization;(ii) assist unemployedlabour with food-for-workin the 'hungry season' after the harvest has either been consumed, repaid or sold; and (iii) equipmentmade availableunder this sub-componentwould be used by the SLRA for training purposes. An average of bout 120 km of feeder roads can be expectedto be rehabilitatedby labour-intensivemethods each year - about 50 km with the equipment-intensivereplica and about 25 km with the labour-intensivereplica. The project would financethe cost of light equipmentfor feeder road rehabilitation,the supervisioncosts and wages of the labour gangs, and operationand maintenancecosts. Food rations for the labour- intensivesub-component would be provided by the World Food Progranmne(WFP) and would consist of a nutritionallybalanced food basket the actual marketvalue of which would be far higher. Over the three year project period, total rations would amountto 450 tons of rice, 35 tons of dried fish and 35 tons of cookingoil. This would provide about 90,000 food rations per year - 400 labourers (40 groups of labourers with each group consistingof 10 labourers) per year working for 25 days per month for nine months each year.

49/ When funds are available, the first priority of the farm householdafter meeting the first few obligationsis most often investmentin a metal sheet roof for the house.

50/ op cit. Ministryof Works and Labour, Survey of the ClassifiedRoad Network and ImportantFeeder Roads. - 31 -

4.14 Research-ExtensionLinkages. Project funds would be used to revive the recently established National AgriculturalResearch Council (NARCC)to enable it to carry out its mandateof coordinating agriculturalresearch in Sierra Leone. The aim is to ensure that, based on feedbackfrom farmers on the improvedtechnology introduced, research in future is demand-drivenand directly relevant to the technical and socio-economicconstraints faced by farmers in the use of improved technologies. The challenge is to obtain the active participationby farmers as end-usersof the technology, in influencing and determiningthe agenda for agriculturalresearch as it evolves. Specifically,the project would finance activitiesorganized by NARCCto coordinateresearch and obtain feedbackfrom farmers in the technologypromoted by the agriculturalextension services. These activitieswould includejoint meetings of research scientistswith farmers and Subject Matter Specialists(SMSs) to carry out a programmeof crop variety and agronomicresearch trials on farmers' fields. These OFAR trials are crucial to the ultimate success of Sierra Leone's agriculturalresearch effort and have been severely neglected in the past due to lack of funding and having been accordedlow priority. Starting 1989/90, funding to NARCCwas to be provided through a governmentsubvention but this has till now been negligible. The project would enable NARCCto monitor, evaluate and coordinatethe research effort of long-establishedresearch institutesin Sierra Leone for OFAR trials and related demonstrationson farmers' fields.

4.15 To facilitate feedbackfrom farmers on the technicalpackages being promoted, to use this feedbackto modify and generatetechnical packageswhich are directly relevant to farmers needs, and to encouragethe conduct and publicationof research which addresses farmers' technical and socio- economic constraints, the project would assist NARCC to carry out those componentsof its mandate which have a direct bearing on strengtheningresearch-extension-farmer linkages. Specifically, includedin the funding would be regular visits, one every two months, to farmers' fields jointly with SMSs and AIs; liaison with nationaland internationalagricultural research institutesincluding regional institutes;diagnostic surveys; socio-economicstudies; and the preparationof periodic and annual reports providing an assessmentof the results of technologyadoption and directionsfor future agriculturalresearch development. The project would provide fundingfor materials and equipment for the followingprogramme of crop variety trials to be conductedwith participationby farmers on farmers' fields: at least 965 trials for rice, 100 for maize, 310 each for cassava and sweet potato, 150 for groundnut, 80 for cow pea, and a nominalnumber for cayennepepper. Provision has also been made for financingvehicles and motorbikesfor participatingstaff, computerand office equipmentfor NARCC, and operation and maintenancecosts.

4.16 CoordinatingUnit. To enable the DAF to coordinateand implementthe ASSP and, in the process, to strengthen its implementationcapacity also for future projects and programmesin the agriculture sector, the project would finance vehicles, office and computerequipment and technical assistancefor the CoordinationUnit (CU). The CU would be establishedby merging the current procurementand financial managementunits of the DAF. An internationallyrecruited Chief TechnicalCoordinator (CTC) and Financial Controller (FC) would be retained by the CU. The CTC would coordinatethe ASSP and the FC would be responsiblefor all its financial aspects. Other staff of the CU would comprise a Chief ProcurementOfficer, a ProcurementOfficer, an Assistant ProcurementOfficer, a Senior Project Accountant,four accountantsand an adequatenumber of support staff.

D. Project Costs and Financing

4.17 The current undisbursedIDA balance in the ASSP amountingto US$19.5 million constitutes 69 percent of the total cost of the project estimatedat US$28.3 million. Of the total project cost, - 32 -

US$21.4 million or 76 percent is the foreign exchangecost and almost US$7 million the local cost (Annex J). Taxes and duties amount to US$2.4 million (equivalentto Le 1.3 billion). The base cost estimate, obtainedat appraisalin May 1991, has been adjusted to reflect prices expectedto prevail at resumptionof ASSP disbursementsscheduled for January 1993. Total contingenciesamount to 13.9 percent of total costs: physical contingencies3.6 percent and price contingencies,calculated on base costs plus physical contingenciesand compoundedannually, to 8 percent. The project cost estimate is based on the following assumptionsfor domesticand internationalinflation for each of the four project years respectively: international inflation at 0.8%, 1.7%, 3.6% and 3.6%, and domestic inflation at 37%, 21 %, 10% and 10%. Compared to the appraisal exchange rate of Le 250 to the US Dollar, the exchangerate expected to prevail at implementationis estimatedat Le 445. Thereafter, the exchangerate in each of the project years would maintaina constant purchasingpower parity between domestic and foreign goods. All costs are incremental. Table 1 below outlinesthe main componentsand their respective costs, and Table 2 the proposed financingplan for the revised ASSP.

Table I Proiect Costs Includine ContinRencies 1/ (USS Millions)

Local Foreien Total 9 Technology Transfer 3.41 5.67 9.08 32.1 Feeder Road Rehabilitation 1.69 6.13 7.82 27.6 Inputs and Agro-Processing 1.45 8.19 9.64 34.0 Research/Extension Linkages 0.25 0.12 0.37 1.3

Coordination Unit 0.10 1.31 1.41 5.0

Total 6.90 21.42 28.32 100.0

1/ Including duties and taxes in the arnount of USS2.4 milion, and contingencies amounting to US$2.9 million.

4.18 Financing. The Financing Plan shown in Table 2 below contains the contributionby the World Food Programme in respect of food rations for the labour gangs under the labour-intensive feeder roads sub-componentas well as fundingfrom food aid of the United Nations Volunteerswho would be provide technicalsupport to some of the components.

Table 2 Financine Plan

Original ASSP Revised ASSP Financier SDR Million SDR Million USD Million 1/

IDA 20.3 13.9 2/ 19.5 IFAD 5.1 2.1 2/ 3.0 Government 1.1 4.1 5.8 Beneficiaries 0.8

Total 27.3 20.1 28.3

1/ Converted at an exchange rate of SDR 1.40687 to the US Dollar 2/ Undisbursed balance - 33 -

E. Procurement

4.19 All goods and services financedunder the IDA Credit and IFAD Loan would be procured in accordance with IDA ProcurementGuidelines following the procurementarrangements shown in the table below. Except for the feeder roads component,all other procurementwill be undertakenby the ASSP CoordinationUnit in DAFF. The procurementfor the feeder roads componentwould be carried out by the Sierra Leone Roads Authorityfor roads to be rehabilitatedthrough ICB; equipment, estimatedat US$1.1 million, required for feeder road rehabilitationusing labour-intensive methods would be procured by Equipro (in consultationwith the ILO) followingBank ICB Guidelines on the Procurementof Goods and Works. The proportionof ICB in the procurementof civil works is 98 percent, for vehicles 100 percent and for goods, equipmentand materials 89 percent. The Bank's sample bidding documentswill be used for procurementfor ICB and LCB.

Amounts and Methods of Procurement (US$ Million)

Procurement Catezorv ICB LCB Other Total

Civil Works IDA (2.8) (0.1) (2.9) [FAD (0.6) (0.0) (0.7) Total 3.8 0.4 4.2 Vehicles & Spare Parns IDA (1.7) (1.7) IFAD (0.0) (0.0) Total 2.7 2.7 Goods,Equipment & Materials IDA (7.0) (0.7) (7.7) [FAD (1.3) (0.1) (1.4) Total 8.8 1.0 9.8 Consultancies, Technical Assistance, Studies & Training IDA (3.5) (3.5) IFAD (0.8) (0.8) Tote] 6.5 6.5 Incremental Recurrent Costs IDA (3.7) (3.7) IFAD (0.2) (0.2) Total 5.1 5.1 Total IDA (11.5) (0.8) (7.2) (19.5) IFAD (1.9) (0.1) (1.0) (3.0) Total 15.3 1.4 11.6 28.3

Note: Figures in parentheses denote amountsfinanced by IDA and IFAD; the remainder would be financedby the Government

4.20 For the rehabilitationof feeder roads, three ICB civil works contracts, each valued at about US$3.8 million are envisaged. Rehabilitationworks, aggregatingUS$0.4 million, for selected extensiontraining institutesscattered across the country may not be attractiveto foreign firms and, as such, Local CompetitiveBidding (LCB)procedures, acceptableto IDA, would be followed. IDA financingfor LCB would be limited to US$0.1 million. LCB would follow the practice of public bid - 34 - opening and clearly stated evaluation criteria. The award would be made to the lowest evaluated responsivebidder and foreign bidders would be allowed to participateif they were to so desire. The first LCB documentwould be reviewed by the Bank before it is releasedto the bidders. The threshold for prior review for all civil works would be US$100,000. All of the vehicles (US$2.7 million) and goods. equipmentand materials (US$8.8 million)would be procured under ICB. IDA Guidelineson margin of preference will apply. Other small items availablelocally at competitive prices would be procured by LCB up to an aggregate amount of US$1.0 million with proposed IDA financingof US$0.7 million. All procurementof goods through ICB would be exempt from pre- shipmentprice inspectionby the Government'sappointed inspection agency, although it would continueto carry out the quality and quantity inspection.

4.21 Consultantsfor technical assistanceand studies would be recruited in accordancewith IDA Guidelinesfor the appointmentof Consultants. This includesthe hiring of procurementagents to undertake the procurementof agriculturalinputs and crop-processingmachinery valued at US$7.5 million. Also envisaged is a separate services contract for delivery-to-siteof these inputs and machinery,that is, delivery to designatedstores/depots and integratedcrop-processing centers. All contracts for Consultantswould be subject to prior review by IDA.

4.22 At the Project Launch Workshop, procurementtraining would be provided to all staff in each implementingagency assignedresponsibility for handling procurementin the Project. Procurement planning and action plans will be given particular emphasis. To strengthen procurementmanagement, the revised ASSP has ensured the separationof responsibilitybetween the Senior Procurement Officer, vested with the ultimateresponsibility for procurementwithin DAF, and the Financial Controller. Each officer would report independentlyto the internationallyrecruited Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP who would be located in the ASSP CoordinationUnit.

F. Disbursement

4.23 The remainingIDA Credit and IFAD Loan would be disbursed over a period of four years. The project is expectedto be completedby December31, 1996 and closed by June 30, 1997. Small contractsnot exceedingUS$10,000 would be reimbursablebased on the SOEs. The Coordination Unit would maintain adequaterecords and accounts for disbursementsagainst SOEs. The Terms of Referencefor the Auditors of the Project would includea requirementthat SOEs be verified and that a statement to this effect be included in the AnnualStatement of Accounts.

Summary Disbursement Schedule (USS Millions)

CateYor-y Amount of Allocation ExDenditure Financed IDA IFAD (perent)

Civil Works 2.9 0.6 95 Vehicles 1.0 0.0 65 Equipment and Materials 7.1 1.4 95 Technical Assistance, Studies 3.5 0.8 65 & Training Incremental Recurrent Costs 5.0 0.2 70% through end December 1995 and 30% startingJanuay 1996 Total 19.5 3.0 - 35 -

DisbursementSchedule for IDA and IFAD (USS Millions)

CY 1993 1994 1995 1TOW Total

IDA 5.9 6.0 4.4 3.2 19.5 IFAD 0.7 1.1 0.7 0.5 3.0

Tol 6.6 7.1 5.1 3.7 22.5

G. Project and SpecialAccounts

4.24 Assuranceshave been obtainedthat a Special Accountfor the Project would be opened by the Borrower at the Bank of Sierra Leone with an authorizedamount of US$800,000to cover eligible expendituresfor four months disbursementsunder the IDA Credit and in the amountof US$350,000 to cover eligible expendituresfor four months disbursementsunder the IFAD Loan. A Project Account for counterpartfunds, that is, the Government'scontribution in local currency, would also be opened in the name of DAFF with a local commercialbank acceptableto IDA. The Government's contributionwould be reflected in the approved annual budget and would be paid into the Project Account quarterly in advance. The CoordinationUnit in the DAFF would be responsiblefor maintainingand administeringthe two accounts in accordancewith establishedaccounting procedures. It would prepare estimates for quarterly cash requirementsfor the Project based on appraisal estimates, except where amendmentsare necessitatedby cost increases or changes in project implementationand agreed with IDA and IFAD. The budgetscomprising these estimateswould be submittedto IDA for approval.

H. Audit and Reporting

4.25 The Governmentwould ensure that DAF arranges for an annual audit of the Special and Project Accountsby independentauditors acceptableto IDA and that the auditor's reports be submittedto IDA within four monthsof the end of each project year. It would includea separate opinion on the use of the SOEs. In addition, it would ensure that an internal audit of the two accounts also be carried out. The internal audits will be reflected in quarterly statementsand reports of Project expenditureswhich would be made availableto IDA no later than the middle of the following quarter. Progress on the implementationof the ASSP would be regularly reported through Quarterly Progress Reports. These reports would be prepared by the CoordinationUnit and will be made availableto IDA two weeks before the end of the following quarter. The progress reports would also includereporting on compliancewith the procurementplans and schedulesfor all procurementunder the project includingthat carried out by other implementingagencies as well as an updated Procurementand ProcessingImplementation Schedule as an attachment. A Mid-Term Review (MTR) would be carried out jointly by the IDA, IFAD and DAFF, at the end of which an action-orientedMTR Report would be prepared. At the end of the project implementationperiod, a Project CompletionReport (PCR) would be prepared by the GOSL no later than six monthsbeyond the project closing date.

I. Project Implementation

4.26 The revised ASSP would be coordinatedand implementedby a CoordinationUnit (CU) to be establishedin the Office of the Director-General,DAF (AnnexesF, G and I). The DAF would - 36 - implementthe componentfor TechnologyTransfer and Research-ExtensionLinkages and would be assisted by the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) for the small sub-componentfor strengtheningRural Banks for which the BSL would have oversight responsibility. Two of the five componentswould be executedby agenciesoutside the DAF with the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) - Department of Feeder Roads - responsiblefor the Feeder Roads componentof which the labour-intensivefeeder roads sub-componentwould be supervisedby the ILO. Each of the project componentswould be implementedin close and regular coordinationwith the CU through a CoordinatingCommittee (CC) to be chaired by the Director-General,DAF. Other membersof the CC would include: the Deputy Financial Secretary and the Director of Planning (Departmentof Finance, Developmentand Economic Planning);the Chief TechnicalCoordinator for the Project; the National ExtensionCoordinator (NEC); the NationalResearch Coordinator (NRC); the Chief Agriculturist,DAF; the Chiefs of the Forestry, Fisheries, Livestock,Land and Water Development,and the Monitoring,Evaluation and StatisticsDivisions within DAF; the Head of the Departmentof Feeder Roads in SLRA; the Director of the DevelopmentFinance Department in the BSL; the two TechnicalCoordinators responsible for Input Supply and Agro-Processing,respectively; the TechnicalCoordinator responsible for the Feeder Roads component;and the Rural FinancialSpecialist to be located in the DevelopmentFinance Departmentof the BOSL. Implementationof each componentis described below.

4.27 TechnologyTransfer. Implementationwould take place under the technicaldirection and supervisionof the National ExtensionCoordinator (NEC) who would report to the Director-General, DAFF through the Chief TechnicalCoordinator (CTC) of the CoordinatingUnit for the ASSP. Procurementresponsibility for the technologytransfer, research-extensionlinkages, rural banks and CU componentswould rest with the procurementstaff in the CU. The responsibilityfor preparing policy direction and regionalwork plans would rest with the DepartmentHeads at Headquartersand with the Chief Regional Officers (CROs)for implementation. To reach a large number of farmers and quicken the pace of technologytransfer, a group approach to agriculturalextension and technologydissemination would be pursued. This approach is based on the modifiedtraining and visit system. The agriculturalextension services of the DAF would convey extensionmessages to men and womenfarmers for improvedcrop cultivationtechnology and farm practices, postharvest technologyand practices, natural resource conservationincluding the planting of trees and reducing slash and burn practices, livestockhealth and integrationof livestock with crop cultivation,and improved fish farming in the swamps and along the coast and its integrationwith farm activity in the swamps and along the coast. While extensionofficers would encouragefarmers to organize themselvesinto groups and/or associationsto benefit from economiesof scale in credit and input and output marketing, they would not get involved in the actual organizationof farmers into groups. To ensure that farmers not belongingto a group are also provided extensionservices, front line extension staff would interact with all farmers.

4.28 The concept of the Model ProductionProgramme (MPP) Village, which was also introduced during the IADPs, with clear benefit, would be encouraged. In the MPP, the extensionagent resides within the village assignedto his care and works closely with the target group/populationon various production programmesoften with the assistanceof NGOs. The basic benefit of the group approach is its cost-effectivenessin respect of transport and field extension staffing and in maintaininga close working relationshipwith farmers. Other importantbenefits include the eliminationof inefficiency, and practical difficulty, inherentin implementinga system that is rigid and complexfor subsistence farmers with limitedtime and labour resources and the fact of such a system being more conduciveto the active participationand involvementby farmers in actual planning of their crop activitiesbased on a crop calendar prepared by the extension officers with direct input from farmers. The crop calendar would form the basis for subsequenttraining of the farmers themselves. Having been drawn up with - 37 -

input from the participatingfarmers, the crop calendar would also be more acceptableto farmers and would make for ease in implementation. For the peak season, farm householdswould be provided with technicalassistance in all aspects of crop production, and after harvest and in the off-season would receive advice on vegetable cultivation,on improvedhusbandry of small ruminants, and on post-harvesttechnology.

4.29 At the farm level, the transfer of technologywould take place through the approximately900 agricultural instructors(Al) located in villagesthroughout the country; about 300 of these are assigned to donor funded projects. Typically, an Al, assistedby two to four agro-technicians,can reach approximately500 farm familieswith the extension message, and cover anywhere from six to ten villages. 51/ At any one point in time, the Al could be in direct contact with about 10 percent of the farm families in areas which fall under his jurisdiction. Based on the crop calendar, extension staff would schedule regular fortnightlyvisits with farmers with the day fixed well in advance and communicatedto the farmers concernedalso well in advance. Quarterly and monthly meetings,field days, small plot demonstrationsand weekly markets would also form an integral part of the crop calendar and the extensionschedule. A programmeof extensiondemonstrations would take place on farmers fields and through regular field days. The NationalAgricultural Extension and Tree Crops Programmesprepared under the original ASSP, with modifications,where necessary, will serve as a broad guide for the extensiondemonstrations to be undertaken.52/ Given the importanceof rice as the primary staple, and given the critical need for raising food output, levels of nutrition, farm incomes and foreign exchangeearnings, the thrust of the demonstrationprogramme, as outlined below, appears sound. Twenty five percent of the demonstrationswill focus on rice (14 percent upland farming and upland rice technology, 16 percent for inland valley swamp rice, and 5 percent for mangroveand bolilandrice); 20 percent on rice-substitutessuch as cassava and sweet potato; 10 percent on maize, sorghumand millet; 15 percent on agro-processingof cassava, groundnut, oil palm and coffee; and 10 percent for tree crop rehabilitation,agro-forestry, village woodlotsand use of work oxen.

4.30 Because of the severe cash flow constraintfaced by the subsistencefarmer and difficult access by him to credit, the project espousesflexibility in the design and applicationof technicalpackages with strong emphasison improved husbandry. This flexibilitywould enable farmers, in cases where they are unable to adopt every recommendationof a technicalpackage, to make an initial start in the uptake of yield-enhancingtechnology and progressivelyderive higher output and incomethrough modifieduse of the package. An essentialprerequisite for such modificationwould be its sanctioning by agriculturalresearch scientistsprior to the disseminationby extensiOnstaff of the technologyin question. 53/ Thus, conceivably,there could be a situationor crop season when finances might not permit the farmer to use the exact amountsof improved seed and fertilizer prescribed by the technicalpackage. In this instance, farmers, on the advice of extensionstaff, could use improved

51/ To upgrade the quality of extensionservices, it is envisagedthat the post of the agro- technicianwill be abolishedwith qualifyingincumbents retrained and upgraded to the level of agriculturalinstructors.

52/ op cit.

51/ Under the IADPs, some flexibilityas to the use of technicalpackages did exist but this was confined to soil types and to the extent to which swamp developmenthad taken place. - 38 - technologymodified to suit their financial circumstances. Such modificationwould permit the continuationof the process of modernizationand improvementin farm productivity,through upgrading of technology,albeit at a slower pace. A gradual promotionof improved technology would be preferable to a process of complete adoption followedby a complete dismissalof yield enhancingtechnology as has been known to take place in Sierra Leone.

4.31 The technologyextended to farmers would, for the most part, be intermediateinput/output technologyto begin with. The impact, though limitedwould not be insignificant. For subsistence farmers, which the ASSP is primarily designedto assist, the design of the technologypackage would be simpleand, more importantly,with respect to input use, flexible. To place improved technology within the easy financial reach of a large number of farmers, the design of the improved technical packages in respect of input coefficientswould be variable within strict limits establishedby the research scientistsof the agriculturalresearch institutes. The cash-flowand financial obligationsof farmers would determine the extent to which they would be able to implementa particular technical package at any one point in time. 54/ The merit of this approach is that poor farmers would not be excludedfrom participatingin methodsto increaseyields, output and incomes and would have the followingoptions: (i) adoptionof improved farm practices, such as correct spacing and weeding, with the use of improved seed only; (ii) adoption of improved farm practices with the use of improved seed and some fertilizer; and (iii) adoption of improved farm practices with the use of improved seed and the full prescriptionof fertilizer. In each case, the farmer would be made aware by the extension officers of the different levels of yield, output and incomethat could be expectedfrom the flexible approach to the adoptionof technicalpackages based on prevailing input and output prices. Because of the high cost of fertilizer relative to output price, and less than optimalfertilizer response in some soil conditions,fertilizer is recommendedas only one part of an improvedpackage. As crop yields improve, farmers would be able to graduate to higher and higher levels of technologythe farm-gate price permitting. The relatively better-offmedium and large-scalefarmers who could afford modern inputs in line with original recommendationswould be advised accordinglyand would benefit commensuratelyfrom the resultinghigher output. Soil and water conservationand other environmentalconcerns would form an integralpart of the extensionmessage in each type of agriculturalextension and in all technical packages.

4.32 Programmesto transfer technologyto farmers by other Divisionsof the DAF that would be revived through the project are as follows. The priority for the Forestry Division, headed by the Chief Conservatorof Forests, would be to arrest environmentaldegradation and promote resource conservationthrough sound managementof the forest resource. The Division would regularize and intensifyits efforts to disseminateappropriate extension messages to farmers on the adverse effect on crop yields from slash and burn techniques. Further, it would emphasizethe necessityto farmers of plantingtrees to arrest soil erosion and derive financial benefits from the fuel wood, fruit and wood for poles that this planting could yield. The Tropical Forestry Action Plan (TFAP) contains numerousprojects and programmes which were identifiedat the TFAP Round Table held in Freetown in May 1990. In additionto its field extension work, the Forestry Divisionwould focus on prioritizing these projects and programmes. Revisionof the outdatedForest Ordinance of 1912 (subsequentlyrenamed the Forestry Act) would constitutea key task and would includethe drawing up, by mid-term, of a legislativeframework for setting and revising royalty rates based on market

54/ This is particularlyrelevant given that the response of improved rice varieties to fertilizer use has been observed, through adaptiveresearch trials, to be significantbut moderate in all of the rice ecologies. - 39 - value, introducingmarket forces in the allocationand managementof forest concessions,and promotingcompetitive practices in the extractionand marketingof timber and non-timberforest products. The overall considerationin forest resource managementwould be governedby the principle of sustainedyield managementand its exploitationbased on the economicvalue of wood.

4.33 A restored livestockextension service would be critical to enhancingthe farmer's financial security provided by small ruminants and, in circumstancesof growing labour scarcity, by draught power as a substitutefor labour in some ecologies. Accordingly,the LivestockDivision of the DAF would be strengthenedby the project both at the field level and at HQs, and the acute supply bottleneckof essentialdrugs and vaccinesfor livestockhealth, it is envisaged, would also be eased. This would enable the veterinary staff to treat the livestockherd for fatal diseases and enable field extensionstaff to advise farmers on livestockhealth and husbandry. An important aspect of livestock extensionwould relate to the use of work oxen by farmers as a means of enhancingnet financial returns and releasingscarce labour resourcesfor other urgent farm and off-farm economicactivity. Livestockextension messageswould also educatefarmers on the advantagesand means of integrating livestockwith crop cultivationin various ecologiesand within various farming systems. Given the shortagesand rising cost of labour, as well as the need for ecologicalbalance, integratedfarming systemswould be placed high on the research agenda of the agriculturalresearch institutes. The FisheriesDivision of the DAF would be strengthenedto provide extension adviceon artisanal and swamp fishing and also on efficient methods for curing and smokingfish. An importantsource of protein, fish is in high demand but artisan fishermen and farmers are unable to fully exploitthe vast resource along Sierra Leone's long coast line for lack of technicalknow how, fishing gear and equipment. Swamp fishing has great potential as a means of nutrition and livelihoodbut the pace of tapping this potential is limitedby a lack of sufficientlytested application. While research into the technologyfor swamp fishing and its integrationinto the farming system is promoted, extension staff of the Fisheries Division would advise farmers on the technologywhich presently exists.

4.34 The Land and Water DevelopmentDivision (LAWDD) has a key role to play in the pattern and pace of developmentof the agriculturalsector. Severe technicalconstraints which have hampered swamp developmentin the past remain a serious challengeeven today. The technical problems surrounding water control and structures in swampshas been studied by the GOSL and donors but no cost-effectiveand practical solution has yet been found. Other serious problems in some of the swamp ecologiesrelate to the iron-toxicityand salinity in soils. The ASSP would strengthenthe LAWDD and enable it, in consultationwith the internationallyrecruited Swamp/Watershed ManagementExpert, intensify its efforts to provide technical assistanceto farmers cultivating developedswamps, carry out land capabilityassessments, undertake land-use planning, analyzethe numerousstudies which currently exist within the LAWDDon swamp development,consolidation and management. In this endeavour, the LAWDD would also ensure that methods of land clearing and developmentof swamps are not hazardousto the ecology concernedand that these methods and practices are environmentallysound.

4.35 To support the efforts of all of the DAF Divisionsand monitor and evaluate the results of technologytransfer, implementationof the programmesof the remaining two DAF Divisions, namely the CommunicationsDivision and the Monitoring.Evaluation and StatisticsDivision (MESD)would be as follows. The CommunicationsDivision would produce audio-visualaids to facilitate the and promote the disseminationto farmers of improved farming practices and technologyby the various DAF Divisions. These aids would includewall charts and posters, black and white photographs, graphic designs, audio-cassetteprogrammes, brochuresand booklets, quarterly newsletters, mobile agriculturalslide and film shows, agriculturalnews coverage, public address systems, and banners, - 40 - the substanceand design of which would be determinedin conjunctionwith extensionstaff. It would be importantto obtain the ideas of extensionofficers for each type of agriculturalextension and from staff at all levels, particularlyfront-line extensionstaff that are familiar with the training needs of farmers and the affinityexpressed by them for particular training media. The MESD would focus its efforts on the collection, collationand analysis of food and cash crop yields and production by ecology and farm size for new and rehabilitatedagricultural areas, for swamps newly developed and/or consolidated,the number of farmers in each circle that are initiated into adoptingvarious improvedtechnology packages, sustainingthe use of these technicalpackages, reverting to traditional practices, fully or partially adoptingthe technical packages, the impact of adopted technologyon productivity,output and financial returns, the prices of farm inputs and output, and informationwith respect to the labour market, rural financial market and input and output markets. It would also be responsiblefor preparing farm and crop budgets, carrying out various types of householdsurveys and conductingthe AgriculturalCensus. A United NationsVolunteer (UNV) agriculturalstatistician would be recruited to assist the MESD.

4.36 Rural Credit. The Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) wouldbe responsiblefor the implementation of the Rural Bank sub-componentwith the technicalassistance of an internationallyrecruited Rural Finance Specialistand in associationwith the office of NEC in the DAF. Procurementof the equipmentand consultantwould be undertakenon behalf of the BSL by the DAF. The Development Finance Department(DFD) of the BSL would be responsiblefor ensuringthat each participating Rural Bank arranges for the collectionand transport of vehicles and equipmentallocated to it. The DFD woulddetermine the allocationof vehiclesand equipmentbased upon substantivework plans prepared in advance by and for each of the followingsix rural banks (RBs): Yoni Rural Bank and Kunike Rural Bank (both in the Tonkolili District), Marampaand Masimera Rural Bank in the Port Loko District, Mattru Rural Bank in the BontheDistrict, BombaliRural Bank in the BombaliDistrict and SewamaRural Bank in the Kenema District - excludedare the Daru Rural Bank and the Moamale Rural Bank both of which are located in the Eastern Province and both of which remain closed on account of insecurityalong the border with Liberia. The implementationplan for the sub-component would specify the particular technical assistanceand transport and equipmentneeds for each rural bank and provide a comprehensivelogistics and work plan clearly showingthe extent and type of assistancethat would be provided to individualfarmers or farmers' groups includingthose located in rural areas that are relativelyremote but within the vicinity of these rural banks. The DFD would ensure that individualrural banks, helped with the technicalassistance provided under the project, assess the potential demand for seasonal credit in the areas that are under the purview of each. This would be achievedthrough close and regular coordinationwith the DAF to keep abreast on the pace of progress in agriculturalproduction and processingon the one hand and rehabilitationof feeder roads on the other. Based on this information,each rural bank would undertake the preparation of quarterly work plans for lendingand credit recovery operations in accordancewith the DAF crop calendar drawn-up for each ecologicalzone. Quarterly progress would be monitoredby each rural bank and any obstacles to progress promptly reported to the DFD for resolution in consultationwith the ASSP CoordinationUnit and IDA. The Rural Finance Specialist(RFS) would be located within the DFD to assist with the implementationof the sub-componentin accordancewith his Terms of Reference. The main areas of technicalassistance to be provided by the RFS would include an assessmentof the rural financial sector and recommendationsfor increasingthe operationalefficiency and financialviability of rural banks.

4.37 Input Supplyand Agro-Processing. At this point in Sierra Leone's agriculturaldevelopment, the institutionaltransition to privatized farm input supply is limited by weak demand and high marketing costs. The reasons for these have already been discussed and pertain in the case of the - 41 - demand factor to the poor farmgate price and the high cost of importedfarm inputs and labour, and in the case of marketing costs to weak feeder roads and poor storage and marketing infrastructureand facilities. Implementationof this componentwould necessitatea careful and well-integratedjoint effort by the DAF and farmers' associations. Farm inputs and credit, once provided by the extension officer, either free of charge or at highly subsidizedrates under the Bank-fundedIADPs, will now, as required by the Government's policy, be left to the private sector. A reliable and cost-effectiveinput supplyand distributionmechanism would inevitablytake time to develop. The pace of its developmentand sustainabilitywould be governedby the strength of the enablingenvironment for private sector investmentas it evolves. Private distributionchannels would be expectedto multiply in the process and to strengthen with anticipatedimprovements in transport and marketing infrastructure and better access to foreign exchange, credit and local currency. Eliminationof input subsidieswould be integral to a strong enablingenvironment not only because of valid concerns with economic distortionsand economicinefficiency but also to provide the necessaryadequate incentivesfor entry by private sector in the marketingof modern farm inputs. Becauseof these factors, and because much time has already been lost, transitionalarrangements for access by small farmers to the timely availabilityof inputs at prices more competitivethan those now prevalent are necessary. These arrangementsare outlined. Procurementof the inputs and agro-processingmachinery and equipment would be undertaken through a services contract for the importand delivery-to-sitebased on internationalcompetitive bidding. Each of the two TechnicalCoordinator for Inputs and Agro- Processing, respectively, would be responsiblefor the procurementof items in their respective sub- components. In the implementationof the component,the TechnicalCoordinator for Inputs wouldbe supportedby technical assistancefrom a UNV CooperativeTrainer and an Expert in Agricultural Extension,and the Technical Coordinatorfor Agro-Processingby two UNVs in mechanical engineering.

4.38 In the case of farm inputs and aericultural tools and implements,deliveries wouldbe made to selected DAF stores and depots, some of which were constructedwith IDA assistancein the past. An internationallyrecruited TechnicalCoordinator for Inputs would, in consultationwith the National ExtensionCoordinator, and through the NEC with the CROs, specify the dates by which the various inputs were to be made availableat particular locations/stores/depotsfor purchaseby farmers. These dates would be determined with referenceto the relevant crop calendar prepared each year by the NEC jointly with the Chiefs of DAF Divisions,CROs and farmers for each ecologicalzone. The quantitiesof fertilizer importsprovided for by the ASSP are well within the DAF's existing storage capacity which is 20,000 tons. Purchases by farmers would be made from ten specifiedDAF stores/depotsat predeterminedprices ex-depot. Cost recovery from the sale of the inputs and farm tools and implementswould be the responsibilityof the accountantsof the Departmentof Finance, Developmentand Economic Planningwho wouldbe responsiblefor recording and depositingthe recovered sales proceeds into the Treasury. The methodologyfor pricing ASSP financedinputs is indicated in Annex D. All transactionswould be conductedstrictly on a cash basis. The use of th farm inputs, especially fertilizer, wouldbe closely monitoredby extension officers and monitoring and evaluationoffices assignedby the CA to particular circles - this monitoringwould be part of the regular extension and monitoringactivities of these officers and wouldbe recorded by farm size and owner, the crop(s) that it would used for, the amounts that wouldbe used for each crop and for each farm, and the yields and output that would be obtainedfor each crop and farm. It would be the extensionofficers that would advise farmers on the use of the inputs althoughthe decision as to whether a farmer would purchase the inputs would rest with the farmers themselvesand would be determined by market signals and expectedfinancial profitability. - 42 -

4.39 As regards the agro-processingsub-component, under the supervisionof an internationally recruited Technical Coordinator, the crop processingmachinery and equipmentwould be deliveredto fifteen pre-specifiedlocations. At each location, an integratedagro-processing center would be establishedby designatedfarmers' associations. The focus of the integratedprocessing centers would be on the processingof paddy, cassava, maize, oil palm, groundnutand pepper depending on the agro-ecologicalzone and the major farm activity in the area concerned. The HQs of the agro- processingsub-component would be Makeni in the BombaliDistrict with sub-officeslocated in the DAF's District HQs in the Port Loko District and in the Tonkolili, Koinadugu,Kenema, Bo, Kambia and MoyambaDistricts. The GOSL would, with the assistanceof the DAF, select fifteen farmers' associations,to head each of the fifteen integrated crop-processingcenters, from a list of forty-two farmers' associationsthat had successfullyparticipated in the two previous phases of the UNDP- funded post-harvestprojects at the farm level. The criteria for the selection of the farmers' associationswould be: (i) age of the farmers associations(at least seven years); (ii) stable record of membership(less than ten percent turnover in the last five years); (iii) good creditworthinessreflected in past (last five years) and current financial accounts/recordswith a rural or commercialbank(s); (iv) sound financial managementthat could be upheld by up to date internal and external audits and an absence of evidencepointing to corruption and wrong-doingsince inceptionof the relevant farmers' association;(v) strong Associationmanagement skills coupled with democraticdecision-making within its membership;(vi) a clear absence of barriers to membershipby women in the Association;and (vii) a good faith written agreementthat the selected farmers' associationwill purchase the crop-processing machinery and equipmentat full cost four monthsprior to project completion. The crop-processing machineryand equipmentwould be capitalizedby the respectivefarmers' associationsover the project period. The methodologyfor the purchase if crop-processingequipment by the farmers associations is given in Annex E along with a sample draft agreementfor farmer associationpurchase of such equipment.

4.40 Feeder Roads. The Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), through its Departmentof Feeder Roads (DFR), would implementthe feeder roads component. It would do so under the direction of an internationallyrecruited TechnicalCoordinator for Feeder Roads (TCFR) who would be located in the DFR and who would closely liaise with the Chief TechnicalCoordinator of the ASSP who would be located in the Office of the Director-General,DAF. The TCFR would be responsiblefor quarterly reporting to IDA through the DAF on the progress of the componentoverall through regular field supervision. The ILO-supervisedlabour-intensive sub-component would be implementedby the GOSL sub-contractingwith the ILO through the SLRA. The Chief Technical Advisor, ILO (based in Freetown)would supervise implementationof the labour-intensivesub-component with the help of an internationallyrecruited EngineeringAdvisor, an ILO Trainer, a UNV -Procurement,two UNVs - mechanicalengineering, and two UNVs - civil engineering. In the interestof domestic capacity building, local consultantswould be eligible to compete in the procurementfor consultantsservices to carry out detailed engineeringand design. SLRA/DFRstaff would receive training in procurement along with staff in the DAF. To carry out the rehabilitationof 360 km for feeder roads through labour-intensivemethods, small domesticcontractors would be selected. A bidding process for the selection of domestic contractors,trained and certified by the ILO in labour-intensivefeeder road rehabilitation,would take place and the rehabilitationitself would be supervisedby the ILO. The work force for the labour-intensivesub-component, consisting of eight labour gang groups each comprisingten labourers, would carry out rehabilitationwork on road sectionssituated on relatively flat terrain requiring limitedearth work and where the quality of roadside material was considered suitablefor gravel surfacing. The internationalbidding for the remaining 170 km of feeder roads would be handled by the Technical Coordinatorfor Feeder Roads who would be located in the Departmentof Feeder Roads in the SLRA. At the end of the project implementationperiod, the

- ~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ------43 - equipmentprocured for the ILO-supervisedcomponent would revert to the SLRA for provision of further training in feeder road rehabilitationand maintenance.

4.41 Research/ExtensionLinkages. The NationalAgricultural Research CoordinatingCouncil (NARCC)would liaise with the NationalExtension Coordinator and Chief Agriculturist,research institutes,SMSs and farmers to coordinateregular visits, once every two months, to farmers fields to test and demonstratetechnology previously tested only on-station. These adaptive research trials would be managedby the agriculturalresearch institutesin the first two years of the project and in the last two years of the project by SMSs. This is because, in the many years of scarce budgetary funding which ultimatelyled to the collapseof the DAF's capacityto deliver basic agricultural services to farmers, the agriculturalresearch institutestook it upon themselvesto undertakethis function in the interest of the farmers. By the third year of the project, however, it is envisaged that the DAF would be in a stronger position to assume the lead role for carrying out the OFAR demonstrationand trials. At this time, then, the agriculturalresearch instituteswould concedethis role to the SMSs. All OFAR would be carried out on farmers' fields with their active participation before being made an integral part of the final extensionmessage that would be disseminatedby extensionofficers to farmers. The findings of the OFAR would first be analyzedby the scientistsof the agriculturalresearch instituteswith input as required from the SMSs and then be made available to the NARCC for review and publication. Based on the regular feedbackprovided to research scientistsin the agriculturalresearch institutesby farmers through the extensionservice, agricultural research would increasinglyundertake to address effectivelythe technical, health, sociologicaland economicproblems encounteredby farmers in the use of the technologypromoted and its sustained adoption.

4.42 CoordinationUnit. In accordancewith the AmendingAgreement for the DevelopmentCredit Agreement,and guided by the ImplementationSchedule (Annex G), under the leadershipof the Chief Technical Coordinator (CTC), the CoordinationUnit would be responsiblefor the implementationand coordinationof the ASSP. This would necessitatea close monitoringof the performanceand progress of the project throughout the project implementationperiod. For this purpose, the CU would work closely with the Offices of the NationalExtension Coordinator, Chief Agriculturistand DAF technical divisions and liaise regularlywith the Officesof the NationalResearch Coordinator, the Director of the DevelopmentFinance Departmentof the Bank of Sierra Leone, the Head of the Departmentof Feeder Roads within the Sierra Leone Roads Authority. The officialsheading these offices would, in turn, work closely with the foreign and local technicalassistants recruited to enhance the implementationof the various components.

4.43 The CoordinationUnit would be responsible,on an on-goingbasis, for:

(i) undertakingthe procurementfor the technologytransfer, rural banks and research-extension linkages componentsand monitoringthe performanceof procurementfor the input supplyand agro-processingand feeder roads componentsthat would be the responsibilityof the respective technical coordinatorsfor input supply, agro-processingand feeder roads;

(ii) project performancereporting, and financial reporting and audit, as required and agreed, for each componentof the project; and

(iii) reporting on the proceeds from cost recovered, accompaniedby evidenceof deposit of these proceeds into the Treasury, from the sale of all project financedinputs and the capitalization of the crop-processingequipment. - 44 -

It would also ensure, as agreed that:

(iv) by each February 15, the prices for project financed inputs, includingthat of fertilizer with the agreed relevant level of subsidy, are posted at the designatedDAF input stores/depots;

(v) the parity price of rice is reviewed each quarter;

(vi) the farmgate and consumerprice of rice is monitoredand posted; and

(vii) the producer price for coffee and cocoa is reviewed and announced.

Also, in accordancewith the implementationschedule in Annex F, the CU would ensure:

(viii) the preparation, by each January 31, of an annual agriculturalgrowth plan, jointly, by the Heads of the Technical Divisions,the NEC and CA in close consultationwith the internationallyrecruited AgriculturalPolicy Planner;

(ix) the preparation, by each January 31, of an annual, and monthly,work programme, consistent with the annual agriculturalgrowth plan and consistingof annual technical and operational work plans, and procurementplans and schedules, for: (a) the DAF, by technicaldivision at the headquarterslevel, and for each district and regional office; (b) each rural bank; (c) each DAF store/depotfrom which ASSP financed inputs wouldbe sold to farmers; and (d) each of the 15 farmers associationsthat is selected to participatein the project; and

(xi) the preparation, by each March 31, the annual recurrent and public investmentbudget proposals for the DAF, by each technicaldivision, and NARCC; and

(xii) a good understandingof the rationale, by each March 31, of annual recurrent and public investmentproposals for: (a) the DFD for overseeingthe rural banks; and (b) the DFR in the SLRA for the maintenanceand new constructionof feeder roads.

At mid-term and at the end of project implementation(by project closing), the CU would ensure:

(xiii) the completionof the a Project CompletionReport assessingthe achievementsand performanceof the project with emphasison implementationperformance and attainmentof production, policy, institutionaland infrastructureobjectives.

4.44 The CU would also monitorthe progress of the Studyon the Price and Trade policy Aspects of Rice as well as the preparationof the Action Plan for the divestitureof DAF's oil palm estates (plantationsand mills) and ensure their timely completionas prerequisitesto policy action. In addition, it would ensure the timely completionof the ManpowerSurvey, DAF's Three Year Training Programme and the revised NationalAgricultural Research plan (NARP).

J. TechnicalAssistance. Studies and Training

4.45 Given the very weak absorptive capacity of sector institutions,the project would finance708 man monthsof technicalassistance, of which 35 percent would be local technicalassistance, an essential study for the rice sub-sectorand substantialin-country training for training men and women farmers, trainers of trainers and extensionofficers, staff in sector institutionsand rural bank loan - 45 - officers and managers. As regards technicalassistance, as is shown below, by component,the feeder roads componentaccounts for 40 percent of the foreign technicalassistance and the input supply and agro-processingcomponent a little over 30 percent. Of the remainder, almost half is accountedfor by technical assistancefor project coordinationand the rest for technologytransfer includingresearch- extension linkages. The fact that the technical assistanceis fairly evenly spread across componentsis

Technical Assistance (man months)

Technologv Transfer Agricultural Policy Planner 24 Swamp/Watershed Management Specialist 24 UN Volunteer - Agricultural Statistician 48 Rural Finance Specialist 18

Input Supply and Aero-Processinz Technical Coordinator for Inputs 48 Technical Expert in Input Marketing 24 Agricultural Extension Specialist 24 Technical Coordinator for Agro-Processing 36 UN Volunteers (2) - Mechanical Engineering 72

Feeder Roads Technical Coordinator for Feeder Roads 48 Engineering Advisor,ILO 36 Trainer, ILO 18 UN Volunteer - Procurement 36 UN Volunteers (2) - Mechanical Engineering 72 UN Volunteers (2) - Civil Engineering 72

Proiect Coordination Chief Technical Coordinator, ASSP 48 Financial Controller 48 indicativeof the overall serious weakness in implementationcapacity of sector institutions. Accordingly, almosttwo-thirds of the foreign technical assistancehas been allocatedfor executionof the project with the proviso that on-goingtraining for counterpartstaff by technicalassistance personnelwould be a foremost considerationin the regular and rigourous performanceevaluation of the technicalassistance. See Annex H for Terms of Reference. Based on the severe setback to sector institutionalcapacity and a private sector that has yet to firmly establish itself in roles earlier played by the public sector, the provision for technical assistanceappears to be stronglyjustified.

4.46 The ASSP-fundedstudy on the Price and Trade Policy Aspects of Rice is critical because of Government's concern with a food importbill that has escalated, insufficientfood security, declining real farm incomes and increased malnutrition. Given the predominanceof rice in the macro and rural economyof Sierra Leone and the fact that the rice sub-sectorhas for decades been unable to attain technical and economicefficiency, and the imperativefor it now, under a liberalizedexchange rate and trade regime, to competeeffectively as an efficient importsubstitute creates an urgent need for a sound Governmentpolicy for rice. The study would examinethe impactof the liberalizedtrade policy on producer incentives, assess its economiccosts and benefits, and present variouspolicy optionsto the Governmentfor attaining food security while maximizingnet financial returns to the farmer and net economicbenefit to the country. This would assist the Governmentin making the - 46 - necessarytrade-offs at the policy level by acknowledgingthe economiccosts, includingenvironmental costs, and incorporatingthese trade-offs in a strategy for growth.

4.47 To ensure the effective delivery of basic agriculturalservices by field staff, the project would financetraining for all Divisionsof the DAF in accordancewith the long-termtraining programme designedby the Staff Developmentand Training Unit of DAF. The programmeemphasizes the building-upof a core of trained trainers in all agriculturedisciplines through monthlyin-service training of agriculturalinstructors (AIs), regular training of Subject Matter Specialists(SMSs), pre- service training at the certificate and degree levels, and the training of men and women farmers and artisans. To improve the level and qualityof extension advice, it is envisagedthat all agro- technicianswould be phased out and upgradedto agriculturalinstructors through intensifiedtraining. The training itself would comprisepractical training with an opportunityfor trainees to gain some experience in teachingshort courses under supervision. Follow-uptraining would includethe introductionof additionalcourses as needed by individualDivisions of the DAF and would be distinct from training in the field providedby specific RegionalOffices and agriculturaldevelopment projects. Over the four year implementationperiod, the project would make a provisionfor the following training: 60 Subject Matter Specialistsand AgriculturalInstructors through regular quarterlytraining and an additional 160 through monthlytraining; 3,520 AgriculturalInstructors through short courses; 40 B.Scs and 40 M.Scs; and 4,000 farmers that would be directly trained through field days organized by the agriculturalextension services of the DAF and many more through demonstration effect and cumulativeimpact. Assumingthat each farmer follows-upwith five to ten farmers, as he would be expected to do, anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 farmers and more would receive extension training in the main areas of agriculturalextension. This compares favourably with the successful programmeof extension advice funded by the IDA-financedEastern IADP III which was able to reach 16,000 farmers with extensionadvice.

V. PROFITABILITY.ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. BENEFITS AND RISKS

A. Profitability

5.1 IntensiveVersus ExtensiveCultivation. Sierra Leone has significantunleashed potential in the productionof both food and cash crops, the full realizationof which is possible only in the longer term. This does not rule out, however, substantialincreases in output which can be achievedin the short to medium run through intensiverather than extensivecultivation. High investmentcosts associatedwith new swamp development,and difficult access to and availabilityof rural credit, reduce greatly the scope for new swamp developmentby individualfarmers. Similarly, large area expansionon the uplands is limitedby the scarcity and high cost of labour. In the immediateshort- term, therefore, production increases are most likely to emanatefrom inland valley swamps which have already been developedand consolidatedand also, thoughto a far lesser extent, from existing upland farms. This would be achievedthrough fuller use of existingtechnology and improvedcrop and farm husbandry. Specifically,the technologypromoted by the project is intermediatetechnology consistingof high yieldingseed varieties, the use of fertilizer and manual cultivation.

5.2 The costs of farm labour and mechanizationin the cultivationof rice in Sierra Leone have long been reported to be high. 55/ Now, with exchangerate devaluationand the removalof the

55/ See supervisionreports prior to the suspensionof disbursements. - 47 - almost 100 percent subsidy on mechanizationservices (institutedin the 1970s), the cost of mechanized rice cultivationhas risen even further and sharply. Regardlessof the rice ecology, unleashingthe potential for rice is, thus, a costly proposition,especially for the subsistencefarmer. For land preparationalone, the cost of labour and/or mechanizationis almost prohibitive. The wage rate is far in excess of the minimum wage that is negotiatedevery two years. Even though the prevailing minimumwage is at least Le 74 per day (Le 60 about three years earlier), in practice, the farmer pays anywherefrom Le 100 to Le 200 for brushing in addition to Le 100 worth of food and another Le 150 or so as an allowancefor smokingand liquor. The number of man days for land preparation in developedinland valley swamps can easily add to 250 man days and, in the case of undeveloped inland valley swamps, to as much as 1,076 man days (approximately400 man days for land clearing and 676 man days for earthworks). Upland soils, generally lower in fertility than swamps, have become less fertile through shifting cultivationand a fallow reduced from about from 12-20 years to about seven. Poor farm cash flow, insecurityof tenure and difficult access to credit have inhibited efforts by farmers to replenish soils. The problems to be surmountedfor swamp rice cultivationare quite different from those confrontedby farmers on the uplands. In the cultivationof mangrove swamp rice, the clearing of mangroveforest, particularlyof the lethal and recurring 'kire kire' weed in tidal mangroves, is an essentialbut highly tedious and labour intensive activity which frequently forces the farmer to pay an exhorbitant wage for hired labour. In the case of inlandvalley swamp ric, there are several levels of sophisticationto which swamp developmentcan be pursued. For the purpose of adopting intermediatetechnology on inlandvalley swamps, however, the minimum relevant prerequisiteswould includecomplete de-stumping,partial levelling, and the constructionof dykes and contour bunds for partial water control. These activitiesrequire considerableamounts of labour resources and timely technical assistance. Demandingalso of labour and tractor services for land preparationare the low saucer-shapedswampy grasslandsreferred to as bolilands. Finally, tractor services have become essentialto land preparationin the riverain grasslands found in southern coastal areas where labour scarcity is acute and where the labour that is available labour is fully employedto deal with heavy weed infestation.

5.3 TechnologyConsiderations. A number of improved technicalpackages and recommended practices exist in Sierra Leone for the main food crops. These have been formulatedover the years for each major food crop by the Adaptive Crop Research and Extension(Acre) Project funded by MAF/USAIDand publishedas Crop ProductionGuides by MANR-USAID-NUC. As is evidentfrom the section below, for rice, a number of high yielding rice seed varieties may be relevant in the contextof more than one ecology. Some of these varieties are of short duration and others of a more long duration. For instance,on the uplands, Rok 16 takes between 120 and 130 days to mature, Rok 3 from 140 to 145 days, and Lac 23 from 125 to 135 days - most of these varieties are fairly resistant to the major rice diseases in the uplands. Similarly, for the lowlands,Rok 5 takes from 130 to 145 days to mature, Rok 6 from 140 to 145 days, Rok 10 from 170 to 190 days, CP 4 from 175 to 200 days, BD 2 from 130 to 150 days and Indo-ChinaBlanc from 200 to 220 days - where iron-toxicityis a problem, Gissi 27, Suakoko S, Adny 301 and GD 28 are recommended. Fertilizer response, based on adaptive research trials, is reported to vary substantiallyranging from being very good, good, fair or poor depending upon soil conditions. Overall, the response is reported to be significantbut moderate in all of the rice ecologies. - 48 -

5.4 The main improvedseed varietiesfor rice by rice ecology are as follows:

Uplands Rok 3, Rok 16, Lac 23 (red), Rok 17, Rok 18, Rok 19, Rok 20 InlandValley Swamps Tos 78, Rok 12, Rok 14, Rok 3, Rok 5, Rok 6, Rok 10, CP 4, Rok 24, Rok 25, Rok 26, Rok 27, Rok 28 Boliland Rok 3, Rok 5, Rok 10, CP 4, Rok 29, Rok 30 MangroveSwamps BD 2, Rok 5, Rok 10, CP 4, Rok 9, Rok 21, Rok 22, Rok 23 RiverainGrassland Rok 5, Rok 3, CP 4, Rok 10, Indo-Chine Blanc IrrigatedLowland Tos 78, Rok 14, Rok 6, Rok 31, Rok 32, Rok 33

Improvedvarieties also exist for crops other than rice. Thus, for cow pea, the most common variety cultivatedin the North is the "Temne"or "Musaia" and in the South, "Tabe" or "Akara". Improved cow pea varieties from the IITA include ImprovedRed (1190) which is recommendedfor the wet and dry season as is Improved White (4557), ImprovedWhite (3236) for the dry season and Ife Brown for the wet and dry season. Improvedcassava varieties include Rocass 1 and Nucass 1 and in the case of maize, the recommendedvarieties are Western Yellow, TZSR Yellow, TZPB White (110-120 days to maturity) and Poza Rica 7931 (90-95 days to maturity).

5.5 Analytical Assumptions. Given the importanceof rice as a staple food, the fact of its strong macro economicbearing, and because it is a crop on which fertilizer use is (given the appropriate incentives)most likely to be used, the profitabilityanalysis focusses on rice cultivationin inland valley swampswhich, as alludedto above, offer good prospects for increases in yields and output in the short to medium term. This is not to understatethe increase in productivityand output that can ensue from the applicationof improvedtechnology to other food and cash crops indicated in Chapter III. The profitabilityanalysis is based upon a comparisonof the 'without' and 'with project' situation at the farm level assuming(a) no reduction in fertilizer subsidy and (b) eliminationof the fertilizer subsidy. The sensitivityanalysis considers the gradual eliminationof the fertilizer subsidy along with changes in other variables. Crop budgets for upland rice and inland valley swamp rice, 'with' and 'without project', were prepared for intermediatelevels of improved technology.

5.6 In view of the complexityof the rural labour market, an observationof the labour coefficient for traditionaland improvedtechnology, both for upland and swamp rice (on swamps already developed),may be noted. Invariably, the upland farm acts as the primary source of food security for the farm householdand is given priority by the farmer in the allocationof family labour. Since the size of the farm householdcan vary a great deal betweenregions, locationsand during different monthsof the year, for the sake of this analysis, the assumptionof the availabilityper hectare of family labour at five adult members has been made. Given a farm work-weekgenerally comprising six days and the crop season ranging between five and six months, the total availabilityof family labour per hectare adds to approximately720 man days per year. As much as 80 percent of this family labour time is spent for work on the upland farm for cultivatingrice, cassava and vegetables. There is some divisionof labour with the men concentratingon hunting, fishingand fencing and the womenon collectingpalm fruit and fuel wood. The remaining20 percent of the farm household's time, that is, 144 man days is availablefor swamp rice cultivation. This is approximately65 percent of the estimated220 man days per hectare required for swamp rice cultivationon swamps (already developed)leaving an unfilled labour requirementof 76 man days.

5.7 The input coefficientsfor improved rice seed and fertilizer in the uplands and in inland valley swamps are as follows: on the uplands (selectedareas where soil degradationis not severe and can be reversed): 70 kg. of improved seed per hectare and 5 bags SSP, 3.75 bags urea and 1.5 bags MOP; and in inland valley swamps (selectedswamps where the need for fertilizer has been established)70 - 49 -

kg. of improved seed and of 2.5 bags (50 kilogrammesper bag) of 0-20-20 per hectare and half a bag of urea. With the use of improved seed, paddy yields on developedinland valley swamps can increase by about 67 percent and on the uplands by 30 percent with the applicationof fertilizer. 5&/ In the 'with project' scenario, the rice yield in inlandvalley swamps is expectedto increase from 2.1 tons to 3.5 tons and on upland farms from 0.7 tons to 1.1 tons. A conversion rate of 67 percent has been assumedfor milled rice.

5.8 Results of the ProfitabilityAnalysis. The analysis shows that improvedtechnology for rice when used in the inland valley swamps (developed)could lead to favourablefinancial returns but not necessarilywhen used on the uplands where the soil degradationis severe. It may be noted, however, that economicprofitability is strong and positivefor the applicationof improved technology both in inland valley swamps (developed)and on the uplands. For inland valley swamps, a comparisonof the 'with' and 'without project' scenarios shows that financial returns Oeones)per hectare, at the farm level, assumingthe existinglevel of subsidy, more than double in the 'with

Financial and Economic Profitability for Rice at the Farm Level (with project and with current levels of fertilizer subsidy) (percent change)

Inland Valley Swamps Uplands Financial Economic Financial Economie

Leoneslhectare + 152 +77 -127 +40 Leones/total labour + 94 +61 - 28 +44 Leones/kilogram + 52 + 6 - 42 -12

Financial Profitability for Rice at the Farn Level (with project and with elimination of fertilizer subsidy) (percent change)

Inland Valley Swamps Uplands Financial F;niial

Leones/hectare -11 -111 Leones/total labour - 9 - 78 Lcones/kilogram -12 - 112 project' scenario, almost double when profitabilityis measured by returns to total labour and increase by one and a half times when profitabilityis measured by returns per unit volume of output. With eliminationof the fertilizer subsidy, the financial profitabilityis only slightlyweaker in the case of inland valley swamps: it still shows a doublingfor financial returns per hectare, a 76 percent increase

56/ That most farmers have access to improved rice seed may be attributed to years of rice research and testing carried out by the Rokupr Rice Research Stationas well as the intensifiedintroduction and disseminationof improved seed by Bank and donor- financedIADPs in the past. Many farmers have been able to meet their improved seed requirementsby multiplyingimproved seed. However, with the exceptionof quality control exercisedby the Seed MultiplicationProject for the seed multipliedby its contract growers, quality control and formal seed certificationis lacking. - 50 - for financial returns to total labour and a 34 percent increasein financial returns per unit volume of output. The case for a gradual reductionof the fertilizer subsidy versus immediateelimination rests on the current price of fertilizer relative to farm incomesthe levels of which have, over more than a decade of prolonged economicdecline, fallen sharply in real terms. This has preventedthe urgently sought improvementin rice yields in the inlandvalley swampsthat fertilizer use can enable and so also the reduction in the food import bill and malnutrition,and take-off of the subsistencefarmer and the farm economy.

5.9 SensitivityAnalysis. A sensitivityanalysis was carried out for financialprofitability at the farm level for the cultivationof rice in developedinland valley swamps and the uplands with respect to changes in the paddy yield, the farmgateprice of paddy and the wage rate. The results show that

SensitivityAnalysis for Rice (percent change)

yield farnmate price wage rate -10% -10% +10% Inland Valley Swamps Leoroheshctare -92% -14% -3% Leones/total labour -11% -13% -3% Leones/kilogram - 3% -11% 0%

Uvlands LeonesJhectare -54% -54% -24% Leones/total labour -39% -37% 0% Leones/kilogran -70% -53% -24% for inland valley swamps, the financial returns are highly sensitiveto reductions in yield and are sensitive, but to a lesser extent, to the farmgate price of rice paddy. In the case of the uplands, financial profitabilityis adversely affectedboth by a reduction in yield and a reductionin the farmgate price of rice paddy. In order that financial profitabilityin the uplands, as measured by leones per hectare, approaches levels that can be obtained in the inlandvalley swamps, the farmgate price of rice paddy would have to increase by 35 percent and, if financial returns are measured by per unit volume of output and by total labour, the farmgate price would need to double and increase five-fold, respectively. With the eliminationof fertilizer subsidy, the returns to labour on the uplands are highly sensitiveto both a ten percent reductionin the yield and a ten percent reduction in the farmgate price of rice, each showing a sharp fall of about 170 percent.

B. EnvironmentalFactors

5.10 No adverse impact on the environmentis expectedfrom the revised ASSP. The cultivationof swamps already developedand consolidatedwould be improved and the developmentof new swamps, which can have negativeenvironmental consequences, would not be pursued. Except for fertilizer, no crop chemicalswould be financed by the ASSP. The drugs and vaccinesto be importedfor livestock health and the chemicalsfor the land and water developmentdivision would consist of chemicalsthat are generally accepted and used. Tree planting, beyond the substantialtree crop (oil palm) cultivation enabledby the project, would be deliberatelypromoted by extension officers. Negative environmentalimpact from the slash and burn techniqueswidely practiced on upland farms would be minimizedthrough appropriateextension messages to farmers in particular and to the rural - 51 - communityat large. Environmentallysound methodsfor feeder road rehabilitationwould be employedto prevent and combatsoil erosion, ensure proper drainage, etc.

C. Benefits

5.11 The project would improvethe incentiveframework for rice, reduce mortalityrates in the livestocksub-sector, reduce post harvest losses and marketingcosts, enhancethe capabilityof the DAF to provide basic agriculturalservices to farmers, plan and monitor sector strategy, strengthen budgetaryplanning and management,expedite the privatizationof its oil palm assets, and ensure full cost-recoveryof inputs and agro-processingequipment. The labour-intensivesub-component for feeder road rehabilitationwould provide food and rural employmentin the post harvest monthswhen food and income are scarce. Supportedby importantpolicy reforms, the redesigned project would lead to substantialoutput, incomeand nutritionalbenefits. By the end of the four year implementationperiod, rice output is expectedto increase by more than 55 percent per year. Additionalbenefits from new oil palm planting would, given the gestationperiod, emerge more towards the end of the project period and would continuewell into the long term. The average foreign exchangesavings from reduced rice imports are estimated, in 1992 US Dollars, at about US$43 million per annum and incrementalearnings from the expected seven-foldincrease in palm kernel productionof at least US$2 million. Financial returns to farmers are also expectedto increase substantially:for inland valley swamp rice, financialreturns to total labour would rise by more than 65 percent initiallyand are expectedto increasefurther in each successiveproject year provided the policy and incentiveframework is conduciveto the farmer and is maintained. Given that the primary focus of the project is on the creation of an enablingenvironment for private sector decisions and production in the agriculture sector, an overall economicrate of return (ERR) is not applicable- the ERR for the feeder roads componentis at least 15 percent. The prospects for the project being successfullysustained are strong given its considerableemphasis on training a large number of subject matter specialists,front-line extensionofficers, men and women farmers, managers and loan officers of rural banks, and university degree students in agriculture.

D. Risks

5.12 An overall risk to the project is that Governmentmay not stay the course of the adjustment programme,that the security problem along the border with Liberia may persist and that the on-going civil strife may drag on. While the project cannot address this overall country risk directly, an effort has been made to ensure that the timing of ASSP actions is synchronizedwith that of the macro economicand structural adjustmentreforms. The risk from economicdisruption in the principal coffee and cocoa producing areas in the Eastern and SouthernRegions bordering Liberia has been minimizedby limiting project activitiesto areas outside the geographicalpurview of these border disturbancesuntil normalcy is established. The main project-specificrisk is that farmers may consider it unprofitableand unfeasibleto adopt improvedtechnology or sustain its use because of weak rural financial institutionsand because of the void created by the public sector relinquishingits role in the import and distributionof modern farm inputs - overcomingboth the weaknessand void will inevitablytake time. In the meantime,the risk from the absence of dependableprivate sector marketing channelshas been addressedthrough providingfor contract services and technical assistance, and that of inabilityof subsistencefarmers to obtain credit from rural banks, technicaland logisticalsupport for strengtheningselected rural banks has been included. The transition to competitivepricing and private sector marketingwould be further reinforcedthrough a deliberateand careful review and design of extensionmessages that would encouragefarmers to group together and - 52 - derive economiesof scale in the procurementof inputs, marketing of output and in the securing of credit.

VI. AGREEMENTSREACHED

6.1 Agreementshave been reached with the Governmenton the new design of the project and the major policy and institutionalactions that would be required and that are being sought. These actions are key to the successfulfulfillment of the objectivesthat would be pursued under the project. Stated below are the main actions to which agreement with the Governmenthas been reached:

A. Policy Actions:

(i) phased eliminationof the subsidy on fertilizer with no more than 60 percent subsidy on landed cost ex-depot effectiveFebruary 15, 1993, no more than 40 percent effective February 15, 1994, no more than 20 percent effective February 15, 1995, and zero subsidy effective February 15, 1996 and agreementthat the fertilizer price would be announcedno later than February 15 each year after prior review and agreementwith IDA;

(ii) the implementationand maintenanceof an organizationand staffing plan for DAF agreed to with IDA;

(iii) implementation,by October 1993, of an appropriateprice and trade policy framework for rice based on the recommendationsof the Study on the Price and Trade Policy Aspects of Rice;

(iv) preparation of an action plan by August 15, 1993, for the divestitureof DAF's oil palm plantationsand mills;

(v) agreement with IDA, annually, on the pricing for farm tools and implements,oil palm seedlings, and polybagsand wire collars for these seedlings, and on user charges for the agro-processingequipment; and

(vi) a review each April of the prices of coffee and cocoa and their announcementno later than each end May; prices would not be less than 60 percent of the FOB price.

B. Institutionaland Other Actions:

(i) revision of the DAF ManpowerSurvey and the preparationby October 31, 1993 of a Three Year Training Programmefor DAF staff, to be updated annuallyby each end January;

(ii) a revision of the AgriculturalResearch Plan by January 31, 1994;

(iii) the consumerand producer price of rice would be regularly monitoredby the DAF through its MESD and posted at the village level - the wholesale and retail price of rice at the main urban and local consumptioncenters would be monitoredevery fortnight and posted at the village level with no more than a two week lag and the - 53 -

farmgateprice of rice would be similarly monitoredin the main rice ecologiesin selected areas of inland valley swamps, mangroveswamps, riverain swamps and bolilandsand would be similarlyposted;

(iv) the following would be made availableto IDA (a) no later than each end January, technical work plans includingprocurement and implementationdesign and schedules for each DAF Division and Unit and for each componentof the revised ASSP, and for the feeder roads component,DOW/SLRA technical work plans which will incorporateenvironmental mitigation measures; (b) no later than each end March, proposals, by each DAF Divisionand Unit, for the recurrent budget and Public InvestmentProgramme prior to submissionto the DFDEP; and

(v) a Mid-Term Review would be carried out no later than December 1, 1994 and, to facilitate the mid-term review, a progress report on project executionwould be prepared no later than September31, 1994; and

(vi) a Project (Implementation)Completion Report would be prepared within six months of project closing.

C. Actionsfor Project Start:

(i) formal-submission to IDA of the annual audit reports for the project years before the suspensionof disbursements;

(ii) conclusionof formal implementationarrangements between the DAF and the SLRA for the feeder roads component,and between the DAF and the BOSL for the componenton rural banks;

(iii) agreementupon the Terms of Referencefor the technical assistancepositions, the Studyon the Price and Trade Policy Aspects of Rice, and Action Plan for the privatizationof DAF's oil palm plantationsand mills;

(iv) identificationof procurementand accountingstaff for the CoordinatingUnit and counterpartstaff for the input and agro-processingcomponent;

(v) agreement upon the membershipof the CoordinatingCommittee for the ASSP and for the Committeefor AgriculturalProducer Incentives;and

(vi) agreement upon the feeder road links to be rehabilitated,the DAF stores to be utilized for the sale of ASSP financedinputs, the list of farmers associationsfrom which fifteen would be selected to establish and operate the rural integrated processing centers, and the rural banks to be assisted.

AF4AG November 1992

- 54 - ANNEX A

SIERRA LEONE

AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT

MATRIX OF POLICY AND INSTITUTIONALACTIONS

Action Under OriainalASSP Current Status of Action Action Under Revised ASSP

InstitutionalDevelooment

reorganization of the MANR achieved although problems assurances have been given that the DAF will (recently renamed Department with management functionsand maintain an organizational structure and of Agriculture and Forestry, decentralizationwerereported staffing plan agreed to with IDA as a Project DAF); at the time; start-up action; in particular, these changes focus on the separation of the technical and acdninistrativefunctions at DAF and on measures to strengthen the effectiveness of decentralizeddecision-making;

reaLigrunentof staff within IADP staff absorptioninto the revisions to the Manpower Survey, reflecting MANR; MANR was accomplished and a changes since 1987, will be made and manpower survey prepared; implemented by DAF, no later than July 31, 1993, after consultationwith IDA;

integration of IADPs into IDA-funded IADPs were using the new organizationalstructure in the MANR; integrated into the MANR but DAF, the ASSP will enhance the pLanning, other donor-funded projects coordination and implementationcapacity for have not so far been agriculturaldevelopment plans, programmesand integrated; projects for the sector as a whole, beyond the ASSP, includingthe gradual total integration of ail IADPs;

privatizationof Daru Oil Palm as had been agreed, the an Action Plan, includinga fresh evaluationof Conpany (DOPC); National Oil Palm Company the oil palm asset comprising the oil palm (NOPC), a joint venture plantations and mills at Daru and Gambia- company, was formed to take Mattru, will be prepared by June 30, 1993 for over the operations of DOPC. the divestitureof the two oil palm estates in Subsequent efforts to whole or in part; privatize the company and/or pursueprofessional management have not succeeded;

Oterationat I wrovements

fifty percent reduction in only 12 percent reduction in staff reductionsrecommended by the forthcoming real terms of daily wage real terms was achieved by exercise on civil service reform (an agreed expenditureswithin MANR; Mid-Term Review; reform under the ReconstructionImport Credit) will be assured through the work plans and budgetary proposals, as agreed with IDA, will be reviewed each end March; establishing within MANR a the Unit was set up and a the training and evaluation process will be Staff Developmentand Training draft evaluation system was compLeted and refined through the regular Unit and a personnel drawn-up; assessment of the work plans of the Staff evaluation system; Development and Training Unit in accordance with the organization and staffing structure agreed with the IDA; completion of a National approved by MANR; revision, by no later than July 31, 1993, of Agricultural Training the Manpower Survey, to assess the Programme; availability, within DAFF, of professional, manageriaL and technicaLskills in relationto the skills-mix required for sector growth and development; and, based upon this revised Manpower Survey, the preparation of a Three Year Training Programmeto be updated each end January; - 55 - ANNEXA

SIERRALEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT MATRIXOF POLICYAND INSTITUTIONALACTIONS

Action Under Original ASSP Current Status of Action Action Under Revised ASSP

Operational Imrovements (contd.) strengthen research and accomplished, although funding National Agricultural Research Plan to be extension through the remains a problem; revised for strategy and focus no later than preparation of a National January 31, 1994 after proposals for its AgricuLtural Research Policy revision are submitted to IDA no later than and Plan (NARPP) and the September30, 1993; and as agreed with the IDA establishment of a NationaL on start-up actions for the Project, the Agricultural Research National Extension Coordinator has been located Coordinating Council (NARCC) in the Office of the Director-General, DAFFand and the posts of the National the minimal staffing of NARCChas also been Research Coordinator and the accomplished as a Project start-up action N a t i ona l Extension before the resumption of disbursements; Coordinator; strengthen planning, except for a draft report for the main operational divisions of DAFFwill be monitoring and evaluation regional work pLans other provided logistical support and technical services through preparation objectives were not completed; assistance as required to enable the transfer of work plans by region and of technology to farmers based on technical and annual operational plans, operational work plans for the Headquarters and identification of projects in Regional Offices to be agreed with IDA; line with sector policy for public investment programme, policy issues will be assessed by the Office of preparation of a policy issues the Director-General, DAFFin whoseoffice the paper, and preparation of a agricultural policy planner will be located; design and format for monthly this Office will also address matters with and quarterly reporting respect to the identification and coordination systems by region; of projects; as agreed with the IDA on the organizational structure, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Statistics Division (MESD)wi ll be strengthened under the ASSPand its work progra_m and the design of the reporting questionnaires and formats will be reviewed in detail each end January along with the work plans of each DAFF division and unit; for water resources accomplished; however, at some as agreed with the IDA, as a start-up action, development, the establishment stage, the IDU was placed the IDU has been restored to the LWDD; of an Irrigation and Drainage within the Agriculture (Crops) Unit (IDU) in the Land and Division with no serious the LWDDwould receive technical and logistical Water Resources Development rationale; support through the ASSP;its current technical Division (LAWDD); and advisory services to farmers will be subject to an initial detailed review with technical assistance provided under the ASSP, no later than January 31, 1993, and subsequent regular reviews of technical work plans for the MAFFdivisions and units; Aaricultural Pricing. Taxation an w^des formalization of an Inter- accomplished; however, the Terms of Reference for the Committee, now Ministerial Conmiittee on problems with setting the renamedthe Committeeon Agricultural Producer Agricultural Pricing; producer price for coffee and Incentives (CAPI), have been redrafted and cocoa in a liberalized agreed with the IDA to reflect the economicand exchangerate and trade regime institutional circumstances of a liberalized are reported, and those for exchange rate and trade regime; rice at farmgate have proved, to be unremunerative; the policy impact of price and trade policy in the coffee, cocoa and rice sub-sectors will be assessed by this Committee and technical assistance for formulating policy proposals (in support of the liberalized prices) on producer price incentives for coffee, cocoa and rice - 56 - ANNEXA

SIERRALEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT MATRIXOF POLICYAND INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS

Action Under Original ASSP Current Status of Action Action Under Revised ASSP

will be provided by the AgricuLturat Policy Planner to be based in the DG's Office as has been agreed with the IDA; Asricultural Pricina. Taxation and Subsidies (contd.) phasing out of all input some progress was made on the elimination of fertilizer subsidy through subsidies, incLuding reduction of input subsidies a scheduLe for phased reduction: no more than fertilizer subsidy which was including fertilizer but this 60X subsidy effective February 15, 1993, no to be reduced to 10 percent by has not been maintained nor more than 40 percent subsidy effective February June 30, 1987; consultation have further reductions been 15, 1994,no more than 20 percent effective with IDA prior to announcing pursued; February 15, 1995 and zero subsidy effective fertilizer price; February 15, 1996; as agreed, IDA will be consulted on the price of fertilizer prior to its posted announcementeach February 15; establishment of Pricing and accomplished through the the ASSPwill monitor and enforce the agreement Marketing Section in MANRin establishment of the Pricing reached between the Goverrnmentand the IDA on September 1984 for and Marketing Section within the adjustment programmeand theReconstruction recomnendation and review of PEMSDof MANR; Import Credit for maintaining coffee and cocoa agricultural prices (including prices at levels not less than 60 percent of floor prices), study on the the prevailing FOBprice; these prices will be liberalization of export revised annually each June and as my be marketing, and privatization necessitated by major developnents on the of rice imports; world; for rice, a Rice Policy will be iwplementedby October 31, 1993 taking into account the recommendationsof the Study on the Price and Trade Policy Aspects of Rice to be funded by the ASSPand completed by April 30, 1993; the consumerand producer price of rice will be monitored and published monthly by the MESDas follows: the wholesale and retail price will be collected every fortnight at the main urban and local consumptioncenters and will be posted at the village level with no more than a two week lag; and in selected areas in the main rice ecologies.

Feeder Rod (none) (none) about 530 km of feeder roads in agriculturally productive areas will be rehabilitated, 68 percent through labour-intensive methods of production; this will enhance esployment and incomes in the 'hungry season;' an agreement between the DAF and the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA)/International Labour Organization (ILO) (which will supervise the ioplementation of the labour-intensive rehabilitation) has been drawn up as a start-up action and is acceptable to IDA; Rural Banks Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) to accomplished; eight rural the ASSPwill provide logistical and technical establish a pilot rural bank banks established (of which support to six rural banks which are fully at Mile 91, and contribute 50 two are temporarily closed due operational and which have been agreed to with percent of the initial capital to the disturbances along the IDA; two newly opened rural banks have been of each new rural bank to border with Liberia) and two substituted for the two located In the troubled provide Le 600,000 interest- are under construction; eastern province bordering Liberia which remain free loans for 10 years after temporarily closed; an agreement, acceptable to concurrence with IDA; the IDA, between the DAFand the Bank of Sierra - 57 - ANNEX A

SIERRA LEONE

AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT

MATRIX OF POLICY AND INSTITUTIONALACTIONS

Action Under Oriainal ASSP Current Status of Action Action Under Revised ASSP

Leone has been concludedas a Project start-up action;

Inut SUPDlV and Aaro- Processii.

(none) (none) agro-processingequipment Located at fifteen IntegratedCrop ProcessingCenters wiLL be made available to fifteen bona fide farmers' associations to be selected by the DAFF, satisfactory to IDA and IFAD from an existing list of 40 farmers' associations (these had participated in the two earlier UNDP/FAO projectson post-harvesttechnology practices); agreement with the IDA on the methodology for determininguser charges and capitalizationof the crop-processing equipment by the participating farmers' associations has been reached as a Project start-up action;

inputs financed by the ASSP will be moved to, stored at and sold from DAFF stores/depots, agreed with the IDA; agreement on the methodology for pricing the farm inputs, that is, fertilizer,improved plantingmaterial for oil palm seedlings and polybags and wires collars for these seedlings,and tools and farm implements has also been reached with the IDA as a Project start-up action;

Research-Extemin Linkages

(none) (none) the ASSP will finance on-farm adaptiveresearch (OFAR) and provide for reguLar feedback from farmers to agricultural research institutes through the Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) of DAFF; a series of agronomicand crop variety trials will be carried out on farmers, fields in the presenceof farmers,research scientists and SMSs; the results of OFAR will be evaluated by the agriculturalresearch institutesand the National Agricultural Research Coordinating Council (NARCC) will document and publish the results as input into an agenda for the improvement and development of technical packages taking into account technical, economic and social problems encountered by farmers;

CoordinationUnit for the ASSP

(none) (none) the ASSP will finance the establishmentwithin the Office of the Director-Generalof DAF a Coordination Unit (CU), headed by a Chief TechnicalCoordinator; other staff will include a Financial Controller, a Chief Procurement Officer, a Procurement Officer, an Assistant Procurement Officer, four accountants and support staff; the CU will conduct Its operationsthrough a CoordinatingCommittee the membership of which has been agreed with IDA. After Project completion the CU will continue as the Agricultural Policy Planning Unit for the DAF. - 58 - AHNNX B

REPUBLIC OF SIERRALEONE

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, DEVELOPMENT & ECONOMIC PLANNING SECRETARIAT BUILDING GEORGE STREET FREETOWN SIERRA LEONE

November 17, 1992

Mr. Edwin Lim Director Western Africa Department International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1818 H Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20433

Dear Mr. Lim,

Agriculture Sector SupEort Project (Credit 1501-SL) - Letter of Sector Policy

This is to request your approval for Amendments to the Development Credit Agreement of April 18, 1984, for the Agriculture Sector Support Project (ASSP), Credit 1501-SL. The Amendments, already discussed with the Bank mission, concern major changes in the description of the ASSP necessitated by a severe deterioration of the agriculture sector. The undisbursed balance in the Project is of the order of SDR17.5 million of which SDR13.9 million are IDA and SDR3.6 million IFAD resources.

As you are aware, the prolonged economic decline experienced by Sierra Leone has had serious adverse effects on all sectors of our economy. The agriculture sector has been particularly vulnerable and has not been able to make the meaningful contribution - 59 - ANNEX B

to the country's growth that it is strongly capable of. Compared to a decade ago, when the ASSP was first appraised, conditions in the sector have deteriorated drastically. These have required a close review of sector priorities. In the interim, agricultural output has declinedby more than 3.5 percent per annum on average. The Government's objectives for the agriculture sector, however, remain the same and, because of the growing economichardship of our people, the commitmentto achievingthese objectives is now firmer than ever. Raising rural incomes, increasingagricultural production, and alleviatingmalnutrition are the objectivesto which we refer and to which our agricultural development effort will be directed. The revised ASSP would be instrumental in restoring our efforts to achieving these urgently sought objectives. The Government requests, therefore, a reallocationof the undisbursedbalance to what we believe are the sector's immediate priorities. Your approval of the requested Amendments and reallocationof the Credit, would, in our view, lead to the urgently needed recovery of the sector and of agricultural growth.

Sierra Leone is blessed with abundant natural resources and a people willing to work hard to develop these resources for the benefit of their families and their country. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of the agriculture sector. Our farmers struggle resolutely to improve their standards of living but are unable to do so. Rural incomes in real terms have declined sharply and levels of nutrition have become dangerouslylow. The average rural per capita incomeis now less than the poverty level of US$75 and the per capita consumptionof rice has fallen to less than 100 kg compared to about 125 kg per capita in more prosperous times, and more than 135 kg per capita in many regional countries. The sharp decline in the people's standard of living is a cause for anguish to the Governmentof Sierra Leone for its people and also a matter of deep concern for their future. Meetingthe increasingdemand for food and expectations for higher standards of living, without burdening, further, the balance of payments, is very possible if farm incomes and marketed production are increased. By the active participation in economic activity of the poorest of our society, most of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihood, output, rural incomes and calorie intake can be enhanced, food imports reduced, and agricultural exports increased.

The impact on agricultural incentives of the macroeconomicpolicies pursued in the past has proved to be adverse and deep-seated. With the economic realities of unsustainableexpenditures in the face of declining budgetary revenues, and shrinking foreign exchangereserves, the need for new policies had become only too clear. It was this recognitionwhich led us to adopt, with your advice, an economicreform programme which, we are proud to say, we have been able to sustain for more than two years now. The improved terms of trade and economic incentives that have resulted from this programme, particularly from the realigned exchange rate, are, as expected, being - 60 - ANNEX B

transmittedto the agriculture sector. However, it is the inability of our farmers to avail themselvesof these improved incentives, which continues to hold back sector recovery and growth. Progress which had been made through the IDA-funded Integrated Agricultural DevelopmentProjects (IADPs) in raising crop yields received a serious setback, for all practical purposes, during the suspensionof ASSP disbursements. What has endured is the technicalknowledge which our farmers and agriculturalofficers gained from the education, training, and demonstrationeffect enabled initiallyby the IADPs and later by the ASSP until its suspension. Even though, with the passage of time, this knowledgehas become diluted, it remainsvaluable. It can now be put to good use, and further improved upon, but not without a carefully designed investment and policy initiative, an intiative that would meet the pressing constraints to higher farm productivity, efficient crop-processingand marketing, and cost-effective delivery of institutionalagricultural support services. It is these constraints, Mr. Director, which the Amendmentsto the DevelopmentCredit Agreement seek to address.

In the short-term, Sierra Leone's options for agricultural growth are obviously limited but not entirely absent. These options rest in the yield-enhancingtechnology which can be disseminated,in agriculturalinstitutions which can be improved and in the feeder road infrastructurethat can be rehabilitated. The means of tapping these options, however, do not exist, and it is these that constituteour immediateconstraints. As with most of our institutions, those in the agriculture sector have been greatly weakened by the acute and prolonged budgetarycrisis from which Sierra Leone is starting to emerge. Thus, besides the agricultural research and training institutes, the Department of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has been affectedto the extent that it is now without adequatefunding unable either to convey the improved technologyto farmers or to improve technicalpackages through adaptiveresearch. Many of our farmers who, in the past, had adopted new and improved methods of production have been forced to return to traditionalagricultural practices. Crop yields have fallen to subsistencelevels with devastatingimpact on sectorgrowth and rural standardsof living. In a similarvein, the acute foreign exchange crisis has prevented the import of essential inputs such as fertilizer, improved planting material, agro-processingmachinery, and basic farm tools and implements. Not only are potential crop yields not realized but the limited output is reduced further by high post-harvest losses. Furthermore, the reduced import of essential veterinary supplies, especiallydrugs and vaccines has acceleratedthe mortality rates of our livestock. Meanwhile, the poor delivery of rural credit has left farmers without financial recourse for upgradingtechnology and the severe deteriorationof rural roads has left them without efficient means for marketingany surplus output. Finally, the producer price of Sierra Leone's predominantstaple rice remains weak, and current financialreturns argue against the farmer incurring the cost of adopting yield-enhancing technology and marketing the output. Overcoming these obstacles is fundamental to - 61 - ANEX B

raising agricultural productivity and marketed output, which, if not done in the near future, will result in irreparable damage to the agriculture sector.

In view of the above, we request, that the undisbursed funds in the ASSP be reallocated in a manner that would ease these constraints in the immediate future. In addition to the close attention for strengthening agricultural policy planning and institutional capacity, a three-pronged approach is envisaged by the ASSP: first, to provide farmers with relevant technical know-how for tapping the agronomic potential using existing yield-enhancingtechnology; second, to overcome shortages of inputs integral to the application of this improved technology,and reduce postharvest losses; and third, to rehabilitate feeder roads especiallyin remote but agriculturallyproductive areas. The revised ASSP has five components:technology transfer (US$9.1 million), agricultural inputs and post-harvest technology (US$9.6 million), feeder road rehabilitation (US$7.8 million, research-extensionlinkages (US$0.4 million), and the CoordinationUnit (US$1.4 million). These components have been carefully designed and agreed upon. The dollar equivalentcost of the redesignedASSP is US$28.3 million inclusiveof duties and taxes and physical and price contingencies. The Governmentof Sierra Leone's contributionamounts to about 11 percent of total costs; this is in addition to duties and taxes which would account for almost 8 percent.

The IDA Credit would finance 69 percent of the total cost and the IFAD Loan almost 17 percent; the World Food Programme would provide about US$300,000as its contribution. Foreign exchange costs, as a proportion of the base cost estimate are 76 percent, and investmentcosts 83 percent. Technicalassistance, including local technical assistance,constitutes about 17 percent of total project costs and is earmarkedfor critical areas - apart from facilitatingimplementation of the ASSP, the technical assistance is designed to strengthen agricultural policy and planning capacity, and swamp and watershed management,two areas in urgent need of attention.

Before touching upon the fundamentalpolicy and institutionalchanges which would be implemented through the ASSP, and which would foster the enabling environment for sustained agricultural growth, the Project would yield considerable benefits for our balance of payments. Incrementalpaddy output is estimated to rise by more than 65 percent per year. With benefits from reduced post harvest losses and improved recovery rates from efficient small-scalemilling, this would translate into 50 percent of annual imports of rice averaged for the last two years. Significantinvestment, employment and income gains to the rural economy are also expected from strong multiplier effects which would be generated by the resurgence of the rice economy. Similar, production and trade benefits would result from the new oil palm plantings. However, because of the long gestation period, these benefits would be realized only - 62 - ANNEX B

after Project completionbut would then extend well into the future. The average foreign exchangesavings from reduced rice imports are estimated, in 1992US Dollars, at about US$43million per annumand incrementalearnings from the expectedseven-fold increase in palm kernel productionof at least US$2 million. As regards, coffee and cocoa, we are hopeful that once security is fully restored in the tree-crop growing areas along the border with Liberia, production will recover and so also will the contribution to our export earnings. Besidesthe improved nutrition levels that the higher rice and palm oil output would enable, the enhancedcrop yields and marketablesurplus resulting from the use of fertilizer would permit substantialincreases in farm incomes. At current product and factor prices, financialreturns per hectareand financialreturns to total labour in rice cultivation in existing inland valley swamps are initially estimated to double, and those per unit of output to increase by almost 50 percent. Provided incentives to rice cultivation are favourable, these financial returns could subsequently strengthen even more. With further improvementsin technologyexpected from the stepped-upadaptive research effort, higher farm incomes from the cultivation of other crops such as groundnut, tobacco, cassava, sweet potato, and vegetables are also anticipated.

Apart from promotingtechnical and operationalefficiency in the sector, we would like to draw your attention, Mr. Director, to the policy framework within which the revised ASSP would be implementedand the economicefficiency gains that would be ensured. It is our firm endeavour that our economic policy, designed to increase economic efficiency and expedite the transition to a market-ledeconomy, is reinforced at the sector level. Accordingly, we would like to assure you of our commitmentto adopt border pricing and full cost recovery for all ASSP-financedinputs and crop- processing machinery. We would like to remove the fertilizer subsidy as early as possible to enable a rapid transitionto competitivepricing and the efficient use of this essentialand relativelyhigh cost ingredient for technologyimprovement. However, the Government cannot but be sensitive to the exigencies of our farmers, especially subsistence farmers, who require a strong initial incentive to reinstate their use of fertilizer at a time when production and marketing costs are high. We have therefore adopted the following schedule for the phased eliminationof the subsidy: no more than 60 percent, no more than 40 percent, no more than 20 percent, and zero percent effective February 15, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996, respectively. This schedulewould permit a strengtheningof the enablingenvironment for increasedagricultural production expected from the rehabilitationof feeder roads and improved access to credit, and allow the private sector the required time and opportunityto enter into the commercialimport and distribution of fertilizer.

In addition to the financial benefits, significant economic gains are anticipated from the rice subsector. To enable us to weigh policy options for rice, a Study on the - 63 - ANNEX B

Price and Trade Policy Aspectsof Rice is includedin the revised ASSP. Based on the findings, the study will provide an assessment of the costs and benefits of each policy option. This will enable the Govemmentto formulatea Rice Policy that will address its concems for food security and sustainable rice production. For the first time, our economicpolicy for rice will be based on a comprehensivereview and overviewof the subsector. The policy will focus on the incentivesfor rice cultivationthat will be called for beyond the short term, and beyond the month to month concernsof providing Sierra Leone's population with its staple food needs. It will thereby establish the policy framework for technical, economic and environmentalefficiency in the rice subsector withoutwhich the sector will not be able to competeeffectively on the world marketnow that our trade and exchange rate regime has been liberalized. Our past policies to promote rice cultivation, especially in the swamps, where most of our future prospects rest, have not brought about the results that had been sought. We are hopeful that once the new policy is formulated, we will be able to address issues in the rice subsector taking into account all aspects of our economic and social fabric and the well-being of both our farmers and consumers.

Monitoring incentives for the adoption of improved technology, especially for rice, as well as the impact of this adoption, will be critical to the success of our agricultural developmentinitiatives. We would like to assure you that monitoringand evaluation, and the developmentof a strong data base, will be at the core of our agricultural planning and policy analysis. Accordingly, and because rice is a predominant staple and producer crop, we intend to monitor the wholesale, retail and farmgate price of rice at key locations in our country on a regular basis. These market price indicatorswill go a long way in filling the current vacuum in market intelligence which is indispensableto sound investmentdecision-making not only for rice but also for close substitutes and other food and cash crops. For this purpose, close attention will be given to the formats and questionnaires that will be used for monitoring and evaluation. In the case of coffee and cocoa, as you know, we are committed, under the macroeconomicreform programme, to ensuring that the price paid for these crops to producersby buying agentsof the Sierra Leone Produce MarketingBoard (SLPMB)will not fall below 60 percent of the FOB price. Once the security situationalong the border with Liberia is resolved, we are confident that the improved incentives and restored agricultural services will manifest themselves in higher growth.

With respect to the divestiture of the DAFF's oil palm estates, we have agreed to prepare an Action Plan for the privatizationof the oil palm plantationsand mills at Daru and Gambia-Mattru. Our attemptsin the past to privatize the asset, which was also sought under the original ASSP, have not succeededfor a varietyof reasons. We would now like to undertakethe preparation of the Action Plan, in a systematicmanner, and - 64 - ANNEX B

would like, in the interest of the asset which continues to deteriorate rapidly, for this exercise to be initiated as early as possible. Technicalassistance for a fresh evaluation of the asset and for the drawing up of an Action Plan (for the divestiture of the asset either in part or in full), once the evaluationis completedhas been provided for in the revised ASSP.

On institutionalcapacity, we would like to assure you, Mr. Director, that we are continuing to build upon the organizationalchanges that had been instituted under the original ASSP. In addition to strengtheningour agriculturalpolicy planningand analysis capacity, we envisage improvement in two principal areas. First, we would like to delineate the professional and technical functions of the DAFF from administrative matters which affect it. This functional separation will enable the DAFF to focus on strengtheningthe delivery of basic agricultural services without day to day interruptions in operational work. Our less than satisfactory experience in the past dictates such separationof responsibilityto be a priority if our farmers are to be provided with quality support services in a manner that is cost-effective. Second, we would like to ensure effective decentralizeddecision-making by requiring Regional Offices to report to the Director-General,DAFF through the Chief Regional Officers and the DivisionalHeads rather than to administrativeheads throughnon-technical channels. We would also like to assure you of our commitment to streamlining the DAFF staff structure and to reducing its daily wage expenditures in the interest of operational and budgetary efficiency. This would be achievedwithout jeopardizing the ability of DAFF to deliver the higher growth objective that is expectedof it, and by ensuring consistencywith the civil service reform exercise currently being carried out under the ReconstructionImport Credit. In the coming months, therefore, our officers will work closely with your staff. In addition, and concurrently, the DAFF will revise the terms of reference for its various operational divisions, and assess the managerial, professionaland technical manpower and training needs that would be required to deliver and sustain higher agricultural growth in the coming years. The revised ASSP has already provided for a strong emphasis on training not only agriculturalextension officers but also farmers, farmers' groups, agro-processors,rural bank managersand loan officers, accountants,statisticians and computertechnologists. Training of domesticcontractors in road rehabilitationand maintenance will also be strengthened with the equipment procured for the labour- intensive feeder roads component.

To strengthen budgetary planning, control and management, we would like to draw your attention to the implementationprocedures set out in the ASSP. These are designedto link, throughoperational and technicalwork plans, the crop calendarfor each ecologicalzone with the annual budget cycle. Furthermore, budgetaryproposals would relate to a comprehensiveassessment of agricultural performance in the previous year - 65 - ANNEX B

and strategy for the next. The institutionalstreamlining proposed for the DAFF would not only be conducive to operational and budgetary planning but more importantly to ensuring accountabilityboth at Headquartersand at the Regional Offices. Funding will no longer be sanctionedfor input and credit supplyand distributionbut instead costs will be fully recovered from the sale of ASSP-financedinputs and machinery and deposited directly into the Treasury Main Account. With respect to sector policy, as it continues to evolve, we would like to assure you, Mr. Director, of close and careful monitoring of the extension messages that would be conveyed to farmers. Thus, besides, the disseminationof improved technology, these messageswill be used to educate farmers on issues which are consideredindispensable to sustainableagriculture. Among others, the extension messages will focus on protection and conservation of the soil and environment, eliminationof subsidies and price liberalization, market intelligence, and group approaches to procuring inputs, marketingoutput and gaining access to credit.

In closing, Mr. Director, we would like to reaffirm that the Government's commitmentto the macroeconomicand stabilizationprogramme is strong and abiding. With our sustained efforts at reform, which are beginning to bear fruit, we shall see a further decelerationin the rate of inflationand further strengtheningand maintenanceof positive real rates of interest. We would like, furthermore, to express our appreciation of the Bank's decision to keep Credit 1501-SLopen and to support the reallocationof undisbursed funds for objectiveswhich would arrest the decline of the sector and make for sustained growth in agricultural output, incomes and export earnings. I take this opportunityto assure you that we will do everythingwe can to make up for the time lost during the suspensionof ASSP disbursementsand ensure that the ASSP objectives are fully realized.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)

J. S. A. Funna Secretary of State for Finance, Development& Economic Planning - 66 -

ANNEXc

List of Input Stores. Feeder Roads. Rural Bank and Farmers' Associations

Input Stores 1/

Town District

1. Makeni (Headquarters) Bombali 2. Magburaka Tonkolili 3. Bafodia Koinadugu 4. Blama Kenema 5. Bo Bo 6. Rhombe Port Loko 7. Katonga Port Loko 8. Kambia Kambia 9. Kamakwie Bombali 10. Taiama Moyamba

Feeder Road Links

miles

1. Makote-Batkanu 40 2. Kabala-Mongo 74 3. Kabala-Bafodia 32 4. Lunsar-Masimera-Mile91 30 5. Foradugu-Gbinti-PortLoko 46 6. Mile 91-RochainMalal-Mara 18 7. Yonibana-Masugbe 12 8. Barmoi-Kantaia 20 9. Joru-Lalehun 19 10. Mange-Mambol 18 11. Barmoi-Mabanda 15 12. Mabanda-Maboto 6 13. Sumbuya-Sabuya 18 14. Sumbuya-Banguria 18 15. Kaifuna-Mabala 13

1/ Currently owned by the Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry. - 67 -

ANNEX C

Feeder Road Links (contd.)

miles

16. Kaitiri-Yana 21 17. Karina-Pendembu 18 18. Gbin-Kagberi 6 19. Musaia-Dogoloya 6 20. Falaba-Manankon 18 21. Benikoro-Didiya 6 22. Sandikoro-Sirekude 27 23. Barmoi-Makaranke 27 24. Tombo-Waterloo 12

Rural Banks

District

1. Yori Rural Bank Tonkolili 2. Kunike Rural Bank Tonkolili 3. Marampa and Masimera Rural Bank Port Loko 4. Mattru Rural Bank Bonthe 5. Bombali Rural Bank Bombali 6. Sewama Rural Bank Kenema - 68 -

ANNEX C

Farmers Associations 2/

District Village

1. Tuma Faso Bombali Makeni lol 2. Mabonkani Bombali Mabonkani 3. Thonkonba Bombali Thonkonba 4. Kalangba Bombali Kalangba 5. Machinka Bombali Machinka 6. Tamaranneh Bombali Masongbo 7. Rodinneh Bombali Manknehbana 8. Tabai Bombali Mabarai 9. Konsho Bombali Konsho 10. Mabunth Bombali Mabunth 11. Tambiama Bombali Tambima 12. Ndowahun Bombali Mahin 13. Bathlol Portloko Melekuray 14. Temesu Portloko Gbombana 15. Mapown Portloko Mapown 16. Tamaraneh Portloko Gbomsamba 17. Katonga Portloko Katonga 18. Kontawalla Portloko Kontawalla 19. Manise Portloko Manace 20. Rhombe Portloko Rhombe 21. Rowollow Kambia Rowollow 22. Gbinle Kambia Gbinle 23. Gbonkumaria Kambia Gbonkumaria 24. Makalie Kambia Makalie

1/ This list includes farmers' associations that participated in the two previous UNDP- funded projects on postharvest practices executed by the FAO and will form the basis for the selection of the farmers' associations that could participate in the agro- processing component of the revised Agriculture Sector Support Project. - 69 -

ANNEX C

Farmers Associations(contd.)

District Village

25. Bamoi Bamoi Bamoi 26. Kagberay Bamoi Kagberay 27. Masimera Bamoi Masimera 28. Kamba Bamoi Kamba 29. Gbama Dev. Bo Gbama 30. Ngiegboiya/Baiegboiya Bo Ngiegboiya 31. Konima Bo Konima 32. Bayama Bo Bayama 33. Pelewahun Bo Pelewahun 34. Niagolehun Bo Nigolehun 35. Fanima Bo Fanima 36. Gbotima Moyamba Gbappi 37. Kpetima Moyamba Kpetima 38. Taninahun Moyamba Taninahun 39. Manjehun Moyamba Manjehun 40. Naligoloma Moyamba Gbonjema 41. GbotimaII Moyamba Matagelema 42. Moemoh Moyamba Moemoh

2/ Marketing and Credit Association

AF4AG November 1992 - 70 -

ANNEX D

Methodologyfor Pricing Inputs and Crop-ProcessingEquipment 1/

Financial Import Parity Price =

FOB price at port of export plus freight to Freetown plus insurance plus cost of unloading at Freetown (port) equals CIF price Freetown multiply by the official exchangerate add import tariffs/duties add local port charges add local transport and marketingcost to relevant market 2/ equals market price deduct transport and marketingcost from project 3/ deduct local handling and storage costs at project 3/

1/ The price of fertilizer inclusiveof agreed level of subsidy. 2/ The market nearest the input stores or integratedcrop-processing center. 3/ The input store or integratedcrop-processing center.

AF4AG November 1992 - 71 -

ANNEX E

Capitalizationof the Crop-ProcessingEquipment 1/

Procedures

Qualifyingfarmers' associationswould be able to purchase the crop-processingequipment over the ASSP project implementationperiod. This cost of this equipmentwould be fully recoveredby the Project. The following steps and procedures would be involved in the purchase by farmers' associationsof the equipment:

(a) signing of an agreement (sample attached)by the selectedfarmer associationand the Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF);

(b) the agreement would be accompaniedby a commercialbank cheque from the farmers' associationin the equivalentof no less than ten percent of the landed cost of the equipmentfour monthsprior to the arrival of the equipment;

(c) this cheque and all subsequentcheques would be made out to the AccountantGeneral;

(d) the members of the participatingfarmers' associationwould, once the cheque has been processed, and on the advice of the DAF, proceed to prepare for the constructionof the Integrated Crop Processing Center (ICPC). The ICPC would consist of a shed to locate a rice mill or if other equipmentis to be purchased a shed to house such equipment. Land, labour and materials for the constructionof the shed(s) would be provided by the farmers' associationconcerned and constructionwould be carried out under the direct supervisionof the technical assistanceto be provided under the Project;

(e) on completionof the ICPC, to the satisfactionof the Project, the farmers' association would make a down paymentequivalent to no less than twenty percent of the cost of the said equipment;

(f) the remainderof the cost of the equipmentwould be recoveredas follows: in each of the first and second years after the first harvest, thirty percent of the cost of the equipmentex-ICPC plus depreciationfor the first year and the second year, as relevant and, in the third year, ten percent plus depreciation;

(g) in the event that three monthsprior to the completionof Project implmentation,the farmers' associationis unable to purchase the said equipment,such equipmentwould be sold to the highest bidder through a public bidding process.

1/ User charges to Farmer Associationmembers, for milling/processingagricultural produce, would be based upon the operatingcost of the equipment(labour and fuel) plus the cost of maintenance(servicing and repair). A reasonabletrading margin would be allowed to be charged to non-members. - 72 -

ANNEX E

Capitalizationof the Crop-ProcessingEguipment 1/

Sample Agreement

1. We, Farmers' Association(name), located at (village name) in District (name), hereby, enter into an Agreementwith the Departmentof Agriculture and Forestry to establish and operate an Integrated Crop-ProcessingCenter, hereafter referred to as ICPC, and that we further agree that until the crop-processingequipment (specify) shall be fully amortizedby the said Farmers' Associationover a three year period not to later than three months prior to the end of the Project period, the equipmentshall remain the property of the Governmentof Sierra Leone.

2. Once the said equipmentis fully amortizedby the said Farmers' Association, a formal legal transfer of the same said equipmentshall be made in the name of the Farmers' Associationnamed in (1) above.

3. The Farmers' Association,named in (i) above, agrees to abide by the amortization/ payment schedule laid out in the Proceduresfor Capitalization.

4. The Farmers' Association,named in (1) above, further agrees to:

(a) undertake the constructionof the ICPC using its own land, labour and materials;

(b) operate and maintain the crop-processingequipment in question in accordance with procedures establishedby the Project;

(c) maintain detailed financial records on the:

(i) operating costs;

(ii) maintenanceand repair costs;

(iii) milling/processingrates per unit of output charged to each memberof the Farmers' Associationand each non-member;

(iv) total monthlycosts incurred and revenues generatedfrom the operationsof the ICPC - these expensesand revenuesshall be recorded separatelyfor differentcrops; and

(v) financial contributionby each memberof the said Farmers' Associationtoward amortizationof the said equipment.

AF4AG November 1992 - 73 -

ANNEX F PAGE I OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

ACTIONS T BE TAKEN BY WHOM BY WHN

1993

A. INSITnlMONAL 1. REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCTIONS WITH IDA 1/ DAF A/ MAY 1 2. REVIEW OF DAP TORS WITH IDA DAF A/ MAY 30 3. MEETINGS OF COORDINATION COMblTTEE MEMBERS APRIL 30 B/ 4. MEETINGS OF CAPI 2/ MEMBERS 5. COUNTERPART STAFF (INPUTS/AGRO) IN PLACE 3/ DAF/DFDEP APRIL 15 6. SELECTION OF 15 FARMERS' ASSOCIATIONS DAF/TA MAY 30 B. PRICINGAND SUBSEDIS 1. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS DAF A/ MAY I 2. PHASED REDUCTION OF FERTIUZER SUBSIDY 4/ DAF A/ MAY I 3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERnIUZER PRICE DAF Al MAY I 4. REVIEW OF PARITY PRICE FOR RICE DAF Al JUNE 15 5. POST MONITORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 5/ DAF - MESD APRIL 30 Bl 6. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ DAF - MESD APRIL 30 Bl 7. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS DAF Al APRIL 30 S. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ DAF/SLPMB Al MAY 15 C. RICE PRICB AND TRADE TARIFF POUCY 1. COMPLETION OF STUDY ON RICE POUCY DAF/TA SEPT. 15 2. REVIEW FINDINGS/OPTIONS OF RICE STUDY GOSLIIDA NOV. 30

D. PRIVATEZATiON 1. COMPLETE VALUATION OF DAF OIL PALM ASSET 9/ DAF/TA AUGUST15 2. ACTION PLAN FOR PRIVATIZING OIL PALM ASSET 10/ DAF/TA OCTOBER31

E. BUDGETARY PROVISON, COST RBCOVERY AND AUDIT 1. QUARTERLY ADVANCE BY DFDEP TO DAF AND SLRA DFDEP APRIL 30 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED 11/12/ DFDEP JUNE 15 B/ 3. COMPLETION INTERNAL AUDIT GOSL DECEMBER31 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT AUDIT FIRM DECEMBER31

F. ANNUAL GROWIII. BUDGBTARY AND WORK PLANS 13/ 1. PRELIUMNARYDRAFT ANNUAL GROWIH PLAN DAF/TA DECEMBER 15 2. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ DAF OCTOBER31 3. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS WITH CU CU/IDA MAY 1 4. DRAFT BUDOET PROPOSALS DAF MAY 1 5. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES DAF/SLRA MAY 15 6. DEUVERY PLANS/SCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DAF/TA APRIL30 7. DEUVERY SCHEDULES/CROP-PROCESSING MACHINERY DAFITA JUNE 15

G. TRAMNO AND RESEARCH 1. COMPLETE DAF MANPOWER SURVEY DAF JUNE 30 2. PREPARE 3 YEAR DAF TRAINING PROGRAMME DAF A/ OCTOBER31 3. PROPOSALS BY NARCC TO REVISE NARP 151 NARCC/AGRIC. INSTTS SEPTEMBER 30

H. PROJECT PERFORMANCE 1. QUARTERLY REVIEW DAF/SLRAIBSL/TA JUNEIOCTOBER END 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ CU NOVEMBER I

NOTE: THE FOOTNOTE NUMBERING IN EACH INDMDUAL IMPLEMENTA1ION SCHEDULE IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSECUTIVE. - 74 -

ANNEX F PAGE 2 OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

ACnONS TO BE TAKEN BY WHOM BY WHEN

1994

A. INSITULMONAL 1. REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCTIONS WITH IDA II DAF A/ MAY I 2. REVIEW OF DAF TORS WITH IDA DAF A/ MAY 30 3. MEETINGS OF COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS JANUARY 15 B/ 4. MEETINGS OF CAPI 2/ MEMBERS JANUARY I Cl

B. PRICINGAND SUBSIDIES L. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 2. PHASED REDUCTION OF FERTILIZER SUBSIDY 41 DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERTIUZER PRICE DAF Al FEBRUARY 15 4. REVIEW OF PARITY PRICE FOR RICE DAF Al JANUARY 15 5. POST MONITORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 51 DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 6. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 7. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS DAF A/ APRIL 30 8. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ DAFISLPMB At MAY 15

C. RICE PRICE AND TRADE TAREFF POUCY 1. IMPLEMENTATION OF RICE POLICY 8/ GOSL JANUARY31

D. PRIVATIZATON I. ACTION PLAN FOR PRIVATIZING OIL PALM ASSET 1O/ DAF/TA JANUARY 15 C/

E. BUDGETARY PROVISION, COST RECOVERY AND AUDIT I. QUARTERLY ADVANCE BY DFDEP TO DAF AND SLRA DFDEP JANUARY 15 Cl 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED 11/12/ DFDEP JANUARY 30 Bt 3. COMPLETION INTERNAL AUDIT GOSL DECEMBER31 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT AUDIT FIRM DECEMBER31 5. PREVIOUS YEAR'S AUDIT REPORTS TO IDA DAF APRIL 30

F. ANNUAL GROWIH. BUDGETARY AND WORK PLANS 13/ I. FINAL DRAFT ANNUAL GROWrH PLAN DAF/TA JANUARY31 2. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ DAF JANUARY 31 31 3. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS WITH CU CU/IDA MAY I 4. DRAFT BUDGET PROPOSALS DAF MARCH 31 5. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES DAF/SLRA MARCH 31 6. DEUVERY PLANSISCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DAF/TA FEBRUARY 28 7. DEUVERY SCHEDULES/CROP-PROCESSING MACHINERY DAF/TA JUNE 15

G. TRANING AND RESEARCH 1. UPDATE 3 YEAR TRAINING PROGRAMME DAF A/ 2. COMPLETE NATIONAL AGRIC. RESEARCH PLAN NARCC/AGRIC. INSTITS JANUARY31

H. PROJECT PERFORMANCE 1. QUARTERLY REVIEW DAF/SLRA/BSLITA JANUARY I Cl 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ CU MARCH 31 3. PROGRESS REPORT FOR MID-TERM REVIEW CU/TA JULY 31 4. MID-TERMREVIEW DAFF/SLRA/IDA SEPTEMBER I

NOTE: THE FOOTNOTE NUMBERING IN EACH INDIVIDUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSECUTIVE - 75 -

ANNEX F PAGE 3 OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

ACnONS TO BE TAKEN BY WHOM BY WHEN

1995

A. INSTrUIIONAL I. REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCTIONS WITH IDA 1I DAF A/ MAY 1 2. REVIEW OF DAF TORS WITH IDA DAF Al MAY 30 3. MEETINGS OF COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS JANUARY 15 Bl 4. MEETINGS OF CAPE 2/ MEMBERS JANUARY I Cl

B. PRICING AND SUBSIIES 1. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 2. PHASED REDUCTION OF FERTILIZER SUBSIDY 4/ DAF Al FEBRUARY 15 3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERTILIZER PRICE DAF Al FEBRUARY 15 4. REVIEW OF PARITY PRICE FOR RICE DAP Al JANUARY 15 5. POST MONITORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 5/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 Bl 6. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 7. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS DAF A/ APRIL 30 B. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ DAF/SLPMB Al MAY 15

C. RICE PRICE AND TRADE TARIFF POUCY 1. MONITORING NEW RICE POLICY 8/ CAPI/GOSL JANUARY 31 Ct

D. PRIVATIZA1ON 1. ACTION PLAN FOR PRIVATIZING OIL PALM ASSET 10/ DAFITA JANUARY 15 C/

E. BUDCETARY PROVISION, COST RBCOVERY AND AUDIT 1. QUARTERLY ADVANCE BY DFDEP TO DAF AND SLRA DFDEP JANUARY 15 C/ 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED 11/12/ DFDEP JANUARY 30 B/ 3. COMPLETION INTERNAL AUDIT GOSL DECEMBER31 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT AUDIT FIRM DECEMBER31 5. PREVIOUS YEAR'S AUDIT REPORTS TO IDA DAF APRIL 30

F. ANNUAL GROWIH. BUDGETARY AND WORK PLANS 13/ 1. FINAL DRAFT ANNUAL GROWrH PLAN DAF/TA JANUARY31 2. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ DAF JANUARY 31 31 3. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS WITH CU CU/IDA MAY I 4. DRAFT BUDGET PROPOSALS DAF MARCH 31 5. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES DAF/SLRA MARCH 31 6. DELIVERY PLANS/SCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DAF/TA FEBRUARY 2S 7. DELIVERY SCHEDULES/CROP-PROCESSING MACHINERY DAFtTA JUNE 15

G. TRAINING AND RESEARCH I. UPDATE 3 YEAR TRAINING PROGRAMME DAF Al 2. COMPLETE NATIONALAGRIC. RESEARCH PLAN NARCCIAGRIC. INSTITS JANUARY 31

H. PROJECTPERFORMANCE I. QUARTERLY REVIEW DAF/SLRA/BSLTA JANUARY 1 Cl 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ CU MARCH 31

NOTE: THE FOOTNOTE NUMBERING IN EACH INDIVIDUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSECUTIVE. - 76 -

ANNEX F PAGE 4 OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

ACnIONS TO BE TAKEN BY WHOU BY WJHEN

1996

A. INSTITUnONAL 1. REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCTIONS WITH IDA 1/ DAF A/ MAY 1 2. REVIEW OF DAF TORS WITH IDA DAF A/ MAY 30 3. MEETINGS OF COORDINATION COMMYITTEE MEMBERS JANUARY 15 B/ 4. MEETINGS OF CAPI 2/ MEMBERS JANUARY I C/

B. PRICING AND SUBSIDIES 1. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 2. ELIMINATION OF FERTILIZER SUBSIDY 41 DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERTILIZER PRICE DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 4. REVIEW OF PARITY PRICE FOR RICE DAF Al JANUARY 15 5. POST MONITORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 5/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 6. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 7. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS DAF Al APRIL 30 8. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ DAF/SLPMB A/ MAY IS

C. RICE PRICE AND TRADE TARFF POLICY 1. IMPLEMENTATION OF RICE POLICY B/ GOSIJCAPI JANUARY 13 Cl

D. PRIVATIZAlION i. ACTION PLAN FOR PRIVA1IZING OIL PALM ASSET 10/ DAF/TA JANUARY 15 C/

E. BUDGETARY PROVISION, COST RECOVERY AND AUDIT 1. QUARTERLY ADVANCE BY DFDEP TO DAF AND SLRA DFDEP JANUARY 15 Cl 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED 11/12/ DFDEP JANUARY 30 Bl 3. COMPLETION INTERNAL AUDIT GOSL DECEMBER31 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT AUDIT FIRM DECEMBER31 S. PREVIOUS YEAR'S AUDIT REPORTS TO IDA DAF APRIL 30

F. ANNUAL GROWIH, BUDGEIARY AND WORK PLANS 131 1. FINAL DRAFT ANNUAL GROWTH PLAN DAF/TA JANUARY31 2. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ DAF JANUARY3131 3. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS WITH CU CU/IDA MAY I 4. DRAFT BUDGET PROPOSALS DAF MARCH 31 5. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES DAF/SLRA MARCH 31 6. DELIVERY PLANS/SCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DAF/TA FEBRUARY 21 7. DELIVERY SCHEDULES/CROP.PROCESSING MACHINERY DAF/TA JUNE 15

G. TRAINING AND RESEARCH 1. UPDATE 3 YEAR TRAINING PROGRAMME DAF A/ 2. COMPLETE NATIONAL AGRIC. RESEARCH PLAN NARCC/AGRIC. INSTITS JANUARY31

H. PROJECT PERFORMANCE I. QUARTERLY REVIEW DAF/SLRAIBSIJTA JANUARY I Cl 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ CU MARCH 31

NOTE: THE FOOTNOTE NUMBERING IN EACH INDIVIDUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSECUTIVE. - 77 -

ANNEX F PAGE 5 OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

ACnONS TO BE TAKEN BY WHOM BY WHEN

1997

A. INSTMMIONAL 1. REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCnONS WITH IDA 1/ DAF A/ MAY I 2. REVIEW OF DAF TORS WITH IDA DAF A/ MAY 30 3. MEETINGS OF COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS JANUARY 15 B/ 4. MEETINGS OF CAPI 2/ MEMBERS JANUARY I Cl

B. PRICING AND SUBSlDEES 1. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 2. PHASED REDUCTION OF FERTLIZER SUBSIDY 4/ DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERTILIZER PRICE DAF A/ FEBRUARY 15 4. REVIEW OF PARITY PRICE FOR RICE DAF A/ JANUARY 15 5. POST MONITORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 5/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 6. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ DAF - MESD JANUARY 15 B/ 7. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS DAF A/ APRIL 30 S. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ DAF/SLPMB A/ MAY IS

C. RICE PRICE AND TRADE TARIFF POUCY I. IMPLEMENTATION OF RICE POLUCY 8/ CAPI JANUARY 15 C/

D. PRIVATlZATION 1. ACTION PLAN FOR PRIVATIZING OIL PALM ASSET 10/ DAF/TA JANUARY I5 Cl

E. BUDGErARY PROVISION, COST RECOVERY AND AUDIT 1. QUARTERLY ADVANCE BY DFDEP TO DAF AND SLRA DFDEP JANUARY 15 Cl 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED 11/12/ DFDEP JANUARY30 B/ 3. COMPLETION INTERNAL AUDIT GOSL DECEMBER 31 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT AUDIT FIRM DECEMBER31 5. PREVIOUS YEAR'S AUDIT REPORTS TO IDA DAF APRIL 30

F. ANNUAL GROWIH, BUDGETARY AND WORK PLANS 13/ 1. FINAL DRAFT ANNUAL GROWTH PLAN DAF/TA JANUARY 31 2. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ DAF JANUARY3131 3. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS WITH CU CU/IDA MAY 1 4. DRAFT BUDGET PROPOSALS DAF MARCH 31 5. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES DAF/SLRA MARCH 31 6. DELIVERY PLANS/SCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DAF/TA FEBRUARY 28 7. DELIVERY SCHEDULES/CROP-PROCESSING MACHINERY DAF/TA JUNE 15

G. TRAINING AND RESEARCH 1. UPDATE 3 YEAR TRAINING PROGRAMME DAF I/ JANUARY31

H. PROJECT PERI0RUANCE 1. QUARTERLY REVIEW DAF/SLRA/BSL/TA JANUARY I C/ 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ CU MARCH 31 3. PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT GOSL APRIL I

NOTE: THE FOOTNOTE NUMBERING IN EACH INDIVIDUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSECUTIVE. - 78 - ANNEX F PAGE 6 OF 6

SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

Nan3Os m nTTEANNUAL IPLEMENTATION SCHEDULES F)R 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 AND 1997.

1/ DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (DAF). 2V COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE PRODUCER INCENTIVES. 3/ INCLUDES TEN ACCOUNTANTS TO BE PROVIDED BY THE DFDEP TO MAN THE TEN DAF INPUT STORES/DEPOTS. 4/ NO MORE THAN 60, 40 AND 20 PERCENT OF IMPORT PARITY IN MARCH 1993 AND FEBRUARY 1994 AND 1995, RESPEC'IVELY. 5/ WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICE AT MAIN URBAN AND SELECTED LOCAL MARKETS TO BE POSTED AT VILLAGE LEVEL 6/ FORTNIGHTLY, THE FARM-GATE PRICE OF RICE IN SELECTED AREAS OF ALL RICE ECOLOGIES. 7/ TO BE NO LOWER THAN 60 PERCENT OF FOB PRICE. 1/ RICE POIICY RESULTING FROM REVIEW OF FINDINGS AND OPInONS REFLECTED IN STUDY. 9/ THE OIL PAUL ASSET INCLUDES THE PLANTATIONS AND MILLS AT DARU AND GAMBIA-MATrRU. 10/ IN WHOLE OR IN PART. 11/ COSTS RECOVERED FROM THE SALE OF ASSP-FINANCED INPUTS AT THE TEN DESIGNATED DAF INPUT STORES/DEPOTS. 12/ ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS - DEPOSIT TO TREASURY TO BE MADE IMMEDIATELY ON RECOVERY OF COSTS. 13/ OPERATIONAL WORK PLANS, BUDGETS, PROCUREMENT ACTION PLANS AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULES. 14/ BY EACH DAF DMSION AND FOR EACH PROJECT COMPONENT WHETHER IMPLEMENTED BY BSL, SLRAIILO OR DAF. 15/ NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COORDINATING COUNCIL AND NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH PLAN. 16/ A REVIEW OF TEN MONTHS IN THE INrrIAL PROIECT YEAR. 17/ NO LATER THAN JUNE 30, 1997.

A/ EACH MONTH THEREAFTER. B/ EVERY FORTNIGHT THEREAFTER. C/ EVERY QUARTER THEREAFTER.

AF4AG November 1992 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROCECT (CREDIT 1501-SI)

SUMMARY IMPLEMENTATIONSCHEDULE

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

ACTIONS A MIJ |J |AIS IO|NDI |JTFTM|A M |IJ[AIS IO|N|DI FJTFTMTA7M|J J IAIS IO|N D I FTMTATMTJ J AS ION|D F MA

A. INsinITMIONAL

I.REVIEW OF DAF STAFF REDUCTIONS WITHIDA UI B 2.REVIEW OF DAC TORS WITH IDA E E E E 3.MhEETINGSOF COORDINATION COM[MITTEE EMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMM 4. MIEEnNGSOFCAPI2/ B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B S. COUNTERPART STAFF (INPUTS/AGRO) IN PLACE 3/ M 6. SELECTION OF 15 FARMERS' ASSOCIATIONS E

B. PRICING AND SUBSIDIES

I. ANNOUNCE PRICES OF ASSP FINANCED INPUTS B M P M M 2. PHASED REDUCTION OF FERIIJZER SUBSIDY 4/ B M dM 3. ELIMNATION OF FERTILIZER SUBSIDY MMM 4. ANNOUNCEMENT OF FERTIUZER PRICE B M M S. REVIEWOFPARrTYPRICEFORRICE M E M E M E dM E M E | M E |M E M E 6. POST MONrORED CONSUMER RICE PRICE 5/ EMMMMMMMM mmMMMMMMMMMMM M MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMM 7. POST MONITORED PRODUCER RICE PRICE 6/ EMMMMMMMM MMMM[MI MmMmMm- MMMMMMMMMMMM: MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMM S. REVIEW FOB PRICE FOR COFFEE & COCOA BEANS E E E E E 9. ANNOUNCE PRODUCER PRICE COFFEE & COCOA 7/ M PdM dM M

C. RICE PRICE AND TRLADETARIFF POLICY

1. COMPLETION OF STUDY ON RICE POLICY MP 2. REVIEW FINDINGS/OPTIONS OF RICE POLICY STUDY E Z 3. IMLDEENTATION OF RICE POUCY S/ E

D. PRIVATIZATION

1. COPETE VALUATION OF DAF OIL PALM ASSEr 9/ Pd 2. ACnON PLAN FOR PRIVATZING OIL PALM ASSET 10/ E

NOTE TIHEBEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END OF THE MON TH, BY WHICH ACTIONS ARE TO BE COMPLETED, ARE DENOTENB BY ThE LETTERS Pd' AND 'E. RESPECnVELY. SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SL)

SUMMARYIMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 ACnONS ~~~~~~~~~~~AM__J _ AS 0 F MTA MJ J A |IDNTD1 J J A S O N D |J|F|FM|FA|MTIJl|AIS|JO|N|DIJ||||| ACTIONSN DFT- F FF Am

E. BUDGErARY PROVISION,COST RECOVERY & AUDIT

I QUARTERLYADVANCEBYDFDEPTODAFANDSLRA B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B 2. DEPOSIT IN TREASURY OF COSTS RECOVERED I1/12/ MMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMM 3. COMPLETON INTERNAL AUDIT E E E E 4. COMPLETION EXTERNAL AUDIT E E E E 5. ANNUAL EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORT TO IDA E E E E

F. ANNUAL GROWTH, BUDGETARY& WORK PLANSI3/ I3 0o 1. PRELDIINARY DRAFT ANNUAL GROWIH PLAN M M M I M 2. FINAL DRAFT ANNUAL GROWITHPLAN E E E E | 3. PROPOSED ANNUAL TECHNICAL WORK PLANS 14/ E E E E E 4. IDA REVIEW OF WORK PLANS Wnli CU B B B B B 5. DRAFT BUDGET PROPOSALS B E E E E 6. FINAL PROCUREMENT PLANS AND SCHEDULES M E E E E 7. PLANS & SCHEDULES FOR FARM INPUTS DELIVERY E E E E E S. SCHEDULES FOR DELIVERY OF AGRO-EQUIPMENT M M M M M

G. TRAINIG AND RESEARCH

1. COIMPIET DAF MANPOWER SURVEY E 2. PREPARE 3 YEAR DAF ITRAININGPROGRAMME E 3. UPDATE 3 YEAR TRAING PROGRAMME EE I I I 4. PROPOSALS BY NARCC TO REVISE NARP 15/ E 5. COMPLETION NATL AGRIC. RESEARCH PLAN EX

NOTE THE BEGINNNG, MIDDLE AND END OF THE MONTH, BY WHICH ACTIONS ARE TO BE COMPLETED. ARE DENOTE BY THE LETTERS 'B'. M' AND 'E. RESPECTVELY. SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT 1501-SI)

SUMMARY IMPLEMENTATIONSCHEDULE

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

ACTIONS ACnONS A ~~~~~~~~MI_J _A IS O ND FT-MTA MJ_1 _ AS IO T FJF_ rMA FM _ |OND 11-F|F|M| I|JJA|SIO|N|D|| |FMATM|I]- AMJSNTD JMMJ N JFMAMAISJONID TEAMIT SON ETmAM

H. PROTECTPERFORMANCE

1. QUARTERLYBREVIEW E B B B B B B B B B B B B B B 2. ANNUAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE REVIEW 16/ B E EEE 3. PROGRESS REPIR FOR MID-TERM REVIEW E 4. MID-TERM REVIEW BI 5. PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT 17/

NOTE. THE BEGINNING. MIDDLE AND END OF THE MON TH. BY WHICH ACTIONS ARE TO)BE COMPLETED, ARE DENOT-EBY IHE LErrERS 'B3. 'M AND 'E * RESPECTIVELY.

1/ DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (D AF). 2/ COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE PRODUCER INCENTI VES. 3/ INCLUDES TEN ACCOUNTANTS TO BE PROVIDED B Y THE DEPARTMENTOF FINANCE, DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC PLANNING TO MAN TIE TEN DAF INPUT STORESIDEPOTS. 4/ SUBSIDY NO GREATER THAN 60 PERCENT, 40 PERCENT AND 20 PERCENT OF IMPORT PARITY IN MARCH 1993 AND FEBRUARY 1994 AND 1995. 5/ FORT-IGHTLY. WHOLESALE AND RETAJL PRICE AT MAIN URBAN AND SELECTED LOCAL MARKETS TO BE POSTED AT VMIAGE LEVEL WITH NO MORE THAN A TWIOWEEK LAG. 6/ FORTNIGHTLY, THE FARM-GATE PRICE OF RICE IN SELECTED AREAS OF IVS. MANGROVE SWAMPS. RIVERAIN SWAMPS, BOUILANDSAND UPLANDS. 7/ TO BE NO LOWER THAN 60 PERCENT OF FOB PRICE S/ RICE POUCY RESULTING FROM REVIEW OF FINDIN GS AND OPnONS REFLECTED IN STUDY. 9/ THE OIL PALM ASSET INCLUDES IRE PLANTATIONS AND MILLS AT DARU AND GAMBIA-MATTRU. 10/ IN WHOIE OR IN PART. 11/ COSTS RECOVERED FROM THE SALE OF ASSP-FINA NCED INPUTS AT THE TEN DESIGNATED DAF INPUT STORES/DEPOTS. 12/ ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS - DEPOSIT TO TREASURY TO BE MADE IMMEDIATELY ON RECOVERY OF COSTS. 13/ CONSISTING OF OPERATIONAL WORK PLANS. BUD GETS. PROCUREMENT ACTION PLANS AND SCHEDULE, AND IMLEMENTATION SCHEDULES. 14/ BY EACH DAF DIVION AND FOR EACH PROJECT C OMPONENT WHEIHER IMPLEMENTED BY BSL. SLRA/ILO OR DAF.A 15/ NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COORDINATING COUNCIL (NARCC) AND NATIONAL AGRICULTURALRESEARCH PLAN (NARP). 16/ A REVIEW OF TEN MONTHS IN THE INIIAL PROJEC T YEAh x 17/ NO LATER IRAN JUNE 30. 1997.

AF4AG Nov_ar 1992 - 82 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Project (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference for the Chief TechnicalCoordinator for the ASSP

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF), CoordinationUnit.

Perio2d: 48 man months

Oualifications: AdvancedDegree in Public or BusinessAdministration or Institutional/OrganizationalDevelopment with at least 10 years field experience in the managementof agriculture and rural development projects. It is preferablethat seven of the ten years experience should have been obtained in a developingcountry. Must be able to read, write and speak English fluently.

Responsibilities: The Chief TechnicalCoordinator for the ASSP (CTC) will report directly to the Director-General(DG) of DAF in whose office the ASSP CoordinationUnit (CU) is to be located. His main responsibilitywill be the coordinationand implementationof the AgricultureSector SupportProject (ASSP). He will work closely with the DAF DivisionChiefs and Chief RegionalOfficers as well as key relevant officials in all of the other implementingagencies for the ASSP. He will also coordinatethe technical assistanceinputs of all foreign and local technical assistanceassigned to the Project and in consultationwith the Director-Generaloversee the preparationand review of the work plans of the technicalassistance team. Specifically,the Chief TechnicalCoordinator will:

(a) ensure that all project componentsare executedin accordance with the project timetable indicatedin the ASSP Project Redesign and ImplementationReport (PRAIR). For this purpose, the CTC will draw up quarterly work plans for the activitiesof the CoordinatingUnit, six months in advance, and develop with the Chiefs of the DAF Divisionsquarterly work plans also six months in advance;

(b) identifyand promptlyresolve, in consultationwith the Director-Generaland his officials, other ASSP implementing agenciesand IDA, as the case may be, any bottlenecksand impedimentsto the smooth implementationof the ASSP and any factors that may obstruct the achievementof its objectives;

(c) oversee the work of the Financial Controller and Chief ProcurementOfficer to ensure that accountingand procurementare undertakenin a timely manner, that sound internationalaccounting practices are applied and that the - 83 - Annex H

Bank's Guidelineson the Selectionof Consultantsand Procurementof Goods and Services are meticulouslyfollowed;

(d) oversee the operation and reporting of the Project and Special Accounts, and monitor counterpartfunding and IFAD co- financing;

(e) coordinatethe ASSP through close liaisonwith: (i) the TechnicalCoordinator for Feeder Roads, located in the Feeder Roads Department(DFR) of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) and the Chief TechnicalAdvisor, ILO for the feeder roads component;(ii) the TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs and the TechnicalCoordinator for Agro-Processingfor the Input Supplyand Agro-ProcessingComponent; and (iii) the Rural Finance Specialist located in the Development Finance Department(DFD) of the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) for the technicaland logisticalsupport to selected rural banks;

(f) consult closely with the National ExtensionCoordinator and the NationalResearch Coordinatorfor implementingthe TechnologyTransfer and Reseach-ExtensionLinkages Components;

(g) as required, and on behalf of the Director-General,monitor agriculturaldevelopment initiatives of other donors and bringing to the attentionof the Director-Generaland IDA any substantivevariance with the Bank's near term sector strategy as enunciatedin the ASSP, particularlywith respect to its policy and institutionalaspects;

(h) work with the Chiefs of the Crops, Forestry, Fisheries, Livestockand Land and Water DevelopmentDivisions and with the Chiefs of the Monitoring,Evaluation and Statistics Divisionand the CommunicationsDivision on their quarterly work programmesand budgets with the ultimateobjective of: (i) increasingthe adoption rates by farmers of the technology transferred; (ii) improvingimpact assessmentson crop yields and farm incomesas a result of the technologyadopted; and (iii) promotingthe sustaineduse of the technologytransferred;

(i) monitorand report on ASSP implementationthrough the preparationof quarterly progress reports for each component and sub-componentand for each DAF technicaldivision and regionaloffice, identifybottlenecks, and propose and implementmeasures for strengtheningimplementation;

(j) identifygaps in the managerialskills within the DAF that may be regarded as impedimentsto the strengtheningof managementcapacity in the DAF and sector institutions; - 84 - Annex H

(k) ensure compliancewith the Bank's reporting requirementsas specifiedin the Bank's Project Redesignand Implementation Report; and

(I) ensure that Sierra Leoneans are fully involved in all aspects of ASSP decisionsand implementationand that local counterparts are fully trained in key aspectsof project coordinationand implementation.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Chief Technical Coordinator will prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendations or express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example,challenges and constraintsin the coordinationand managementof agriculturalprojects in Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 85 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the FinancialController

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF), CoordinationUnit for the ASSP.

Period: 48 man months.

Oualifications: AdvancedDegree in Accounting(ACCA or its equivalent)with at least 10 years experiencein working with a Governmentagency in a developingcountry, preferably in Africa. Fluency in English.

Responsibilities: the Financial Controllerwill report directly to the Chief Technical Coordinator for the AgricultureSector Support Project (ASSP) for all ASSP-relatedfinances, and to the Director-Generalof DAF for all other financial and budgetarymatters. He will liase closely with the AccountantGeneral and the Auditor General for matters relating to the Government's accountingregulations and acceptablecommercial standards and will be in overall authorityfor the DAF accounts and financial staff located in the CoordinationUnit. Specifictasks will include but will not be limitedto:

(a) ensuringthat ASSP accounts in each implementingagency for the ASSP are maintainedin a form acceptableto IDA by working closely with relevant Divisionsof the DAF and with the Bank of Sierra Leone (DevelopmentFinance Department), the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (Departmentof Feeder Roads), the TechnicalCoordinator, Farm Inputs and the TechnicalCoordinator, Agro-Processing;

(b) supervisingthe operationof the ASSP Project and Special Accountsand counterpartfunding;

(c) ensuring that all ASSP Project and SpecialAccounts are properly maintainedin a manner that will facilitate internal and external audit;

(d) reviewing contract documentationand disbursementrequests to IDA and IFAD to ensure that the material is in accord with the legal, accountingand procurementrequirements of IDA and IFAD;

(e) ensuring that the annual capital and recurrent actual and proposed budgetsof the DAF, DFR in SLRA and the DFD in - 86 - Annex H

the Bank of Sierra Leone are consistentwith the objectivesof the ASSP;

(f) providing technicalsupport to administrativesections of regional offices in the preparationof annual recurrent and capital budgets;

(g) guiding counterpartstaff in implementingimprovements to the existingaccounting systems at headquartersand at regional levels - this would include, improvingand regularizing accountingreturns and reporting systemsfor each region; and

(h) bringing to the prompt attentionof the Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP any problems with respect to accountingand budgetary problems encounteredin any of the ASSP-componentsand suggestingpractical recommendations for early resolution.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Financial Controller will prepare a report reviewing the performanceand implementation of the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendationsor express thoughts for strengtheningthe general area of activitywith which he was involved, for example, the challengesand constraintsin financial and budgetaryaccounting and control in Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 87 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the AgriculturalPolicy Planner

Location: Departmentof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAF).

Period: 48 man months

Oualifications: AdvancedDegree in Economicswith specializationin economic developmentplanning and at least 10 years experience in a developing country in agriculturalpolicy planning and analysis. Fluency in English and good communicationand writing skills.

Responsibilities: The AgriculturalPolicy Planner (APP) will report directly to the Director-General(DG) of DAF. His overall task will be to advise the DG on agriculturalpolicy, agriculturalgrowth performanceand prospects, and oversee the formulationof an annual agricultural growth plan as required by the AgriculturalSector Support Project (ASSP). The APP will work closely with the National Extension Coordinator, NationalResearch Coordinator, Chief Agriculturist, DivisionChiefs of the Agriculture,Forestry, Fisheries, Livestock, Land and Water Development,Monitoring, Evaluation and Statistics, and CommunicationsDivisions and will attend all meetingsof the StandingCommittee of the DAF. Specifictasks will include:

(a) growth analysis, marketingand price policy analysis, institutionalpolicy analysis, strategy formulation, and identificationand formulationof programmesfor agricultural developmentbased on economicallysound criteria;

(b) assessing, each year, aggregatepolicy and growth performance of the agriculturalsector within the context of the macro economicadjustment reform programme;

(c) identifyingspecific factors, by each sub-sector,responsible for strong and poor growth, as the case may be, taking into accountthe impacton yields and output of individualfood and cash crops, artisanal fish catch along the coast and in inland swamps, fuel wood and charcoal output, and the change in the livestockherd and number of small ruminants;

(d) analyzingconstraints to higher agriculturaloutput and productivitywith specific attention to price and non-price incentivesin agriculture - constraintsin respect of technology, credit, deliveryof basic agriculturalservices, and transport, - 88 - Annex H

storage and marketinginfrastructure will be singled out for discussion;

(e) assessingthe impact on agriculturalgrowth of (i) the prevailing domestictrade and exchangerate policy regime; (ii) the internationalmarket for traded goods; (iii) the domestic rural labour market; (iv) trends in private investmentin agriculturalproduction, processingand marketing; (v) operationof the rural financial market; (vi) bilateral and multilateralfood aid delivered, distributedand monetized; and (vi) environmentalpractices in the agriculture sector by the main ecologicalzones;

(f) assessingthe implicationsof growth performancein the year, for the availabilityof food and levels of nutrition, farmer profitability,trends in marketedoutput, imports and exports, and the balance of payments;

(g) formulatingan annual agriculturalgrowth plan (AAGP) based on agriculturalpolicies and priorities designedto maximize growth, productivityand farm incomes and reduce policy and economicdistortions. The priorities will be clearly defined and will be decidedtaking into accountintra-sectoral and inter-sectoraltrade-offs required to achieve the targeted growth. The sub-sectorstrategies for the year will reflect these priorities and will form the basis for work plans for DAF Divisionsfor the year; and

(h) training local counterpartstaff in all of the above tasks.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the AgriculturalPolicy Planner will prepare a report reviewing the performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendations or express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved,for example, challengesand constraints in agriculturalpolicy planningin Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 89 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Project (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the Swamp and WatershedManagement Expert

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF), Land and Water DevelopmentDivision (LAWDD).

Period: 24 man months.

Oualifications: First Degree from a Universitywith a well recognized schoolof AgriculturalEngineering or Irrigation Technology,and a Masters Degree in Hydrology, IrrigationEconomy, IrrigationScience or related fields. The Expert shouldhave at least ten years practical experiencein irrigation with emphasison swamp irrigation and small farmer systems, and in the managementof catchmentsand swamps. Of this experience, a minimumof five years in countries with agro- climaticconditions similar to Sierra Leone would be desirable. Experiencewith rice production agronomicrequirements would be preferred.

Responsibilities: The primary objectivesof the swamp and watershedmanagement expert (SWME) are to assist the DAF to develop an internal capacity to design and install environmentallysustainable, practical, low cost and technicallyefficient field-level practices in swamp improvement and managementfor rice and other crop productionsystems and in so doing assist farmers to increase productivity. The SWME will report to the Chief of the Land and Water DevelopmentDivision of DAF. The SWME will be required to travel widely within the country and work with the field staff of LAWDD sections of regionaloffices. He will experimentwith swamp water managementtechniques with a view to improvingthose already in use by farmers and advise on overall catchmentmanagement to enablethe maintenanceof an optional water cycle and minimumsoil and water loss. Specifictasks will include, but will not be limitedto:

(a) assistingLAWDD staff of the DAF with the identificationof swamp areas for improvement/consolidation,the preparation of plans, technicaldesigns and specifications,and cost estimatesfor implementation;

(b) training counterpartand support staff in the design, field constructionand maintenanceof low cost swamp irrigation, flood control and drainage distributionsystems;

(c) training staff and farmers in techniquesfor the proper operationand maintenanceof systems; - 90 - Annex H

(d) supervisingthe selection and establishmentof demonstration plots at representativesites and working closely with the Chief Agriculturist,National Extension Coordinator, agronomists and Subject Matter Specialistsin the DAF in the development of programsto demonstratelabor-efficient water and catchmentmanagement, crop management,tillage and harvestingtechniques to farmers;

(e) reviewing water and catchmentmanagement practices giving regard to availablelocal informationand previous technical studies maintainedby the LAWDD, and identifyingmeans of improvingthese practices through field levelling, improved tillage and seed bed preparation, and through minimizingthe labor input where the labour market so requires;

(f) reviewing water supply and water use patterns, and monitoring data to assist the SwampIrrigation Users Groups or Associationsmake decisionswith respect to water use practices and water conservationtaking into account labor availabilityand competingdemands for labour;

(g) reviewing the techniquescurrently used for the managementof irrigated crops in different agro-ecologicalzones and devising means of improvingon these in a manner that would contributepositively to the farmers' welfare. These practices will take into accountlabor scarcity, and the need to maximize labor efficiency,group/participatory management of the irrigation systems, and cost recovery measures;

(h) reviewing with soil scientistsand agronomistsof DAF, the National AgriculturalResearch Council (NARCC), Rokupr Rice Research Station(RRRS), and the Universityof Njala (NUC), AgriculturalTraining College, the soil analyticaldata. Particular emphasiswill be placed upon the nutrient and micro-nutrientstatus of the soils for establishingfertilizer requirementbased on the real, rather than the perceived, needs of the crops. The SWMEwill also assist in training staff and farmers to recognizethe symptomsof soil salinityand/or sodicityand iron toxicity from analyticaldata and field observationsand to advise on appropriate remedial actions;

(i) training local counterpartstaff in performing all of the above tasks.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Swamp and WatershedManagement Expert will prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub- - 91 - Annex H

componentor area of specializationand based upon his experience make recommendationsor express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, the challengesin constraints in swamp developmentand consolidationand watershedmanagement in Sierra Leone.

November 1992 - 92 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference for the Rural Finance Specialist

Location: Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL), Office of the Director, Development Finance Department.

Period: 18 man months.

Oualifications: AdvancedDegree in Business, AgriculturalEconomics or related disciplinewith at least seven years operationalexperience in banking. Five of the seven years experienceshould have been obtained in a developingcountry in a rural settingwith experience in a management position.

Responsibilities: the Rural Finance Specialistwill work directly with the Director, DevelopmentFinance Departmentof BSL, to implementthe ASSP's componentfor strengtheningrural banks. Specifictasks will include but will not be limitedto:

(a) reviewingthe existingfinancing modalities of the rural sector and recommendmeasures for improvement;

(b) reviewingthe operationsof rural banks and determining methods and efficiencymeasures for improvingsavings mobilization,credit delivery and financial control;

(c) developinga monitoringsystem for rural finance operationsin the formal and informalsectors;

(d) establishinga methodologyfor assessingand reviewing the demand for seasonal, medium and long-termloans by type of agriculturalactivity;

(e) establishinga system to monitorfunds extendedto rural banks by the NationalDevelopment Bank (NDB) under various lines of credit financedby donors includingthe ADB;

(f) assessingthe training needs, organizingtraining programmes and workshops, and preparing, in consultationwith the BSL, training manuals for rural bank managers and loan officers;

(g) liaisingclosely with the Office of the NationalExtension Coordinator in the Departmentof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAF) for assessingthe credit needs of individuals - 93 - Annex H

and group farmers with a view to facilitating group lending by rural banks;

(h) training local counterpartstaff in carrying out all of the above tasks; and

(i) bringing to the prompt attentionof the Chief Technical Coordinator for the ASSP any problems with respect to the implementationof ASSP-financedlogistical, technical and training support to the participatingrural banks and suggesting practical recommendationsfor early resolution.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Rural Finance Specialistwill prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendations or express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved,for example, challengesand constraintsin rural/agriculturalcredit institutionsin Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 94 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the Technical Coordinatorfor Farm Inputs

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF) Regional Headquarters, Makeni.

Period: 48 man months.

Oualifications: Post-GraduateDegree in AgriculturalTechnology and at least 7 to 10 years experience in crop technology,input handling,and training of farm leaders, preferably in West Africa. Experience in organizing farmers groups and associationsand providing training to them in the purchase of inputs and marketingof output wouldbe desirable.

Responsibilities: The primary objectivesof the TechnicalCoordinator's (TC's) assignmentare to assist with the implementationof the input supply sub-componentof the overall Input Supply and Agro-Processing componentof the AgricultureSector Supportproject (ASSP). In particular, the TechnicalCoordinator will ensure that the ASSP- financedinputs are physicallyavailable at designatedDAF stores and/or depots by a particular date to be determinedwith reference to a specified crop calendar previouslyfinalized with the National ExtensionCoordinator and the Chief Agriculturist,DAFF. The TC will report to the Chief TechnicalCoordinator of the ASSP, who will be located within the Office of the Director-General,DAF and will liaise closely with the DAF counterpartstaff and the Technical Coordinatorfor Agro-Processing. The TC will be required to travel widely within the country and ensure that fertilizer and oil palm seedlings are made availablefor the timely purchase by farmers. He will be responsiblefor:

(a) assessingthe demand for specific farm inputsfor the geographicalarea to be served by each designatedinput store/depot;

(b) logisticsand planning, in particular, preparing auiply schedulesfor ensuringthe timely availabilityof stocks in each designatedDAF store/depot;

(c) preparing a detailed work plan for and the implementationof the input supply sub-componentincluding procurement action plans and schedulesand ensuring consistencyat all times with the input supply sub-componentand the relevant crop calendar - the detailed work plan will containassessments of quantities of each of the inputs required for each crop season at each of - 95 - Annex H

the ten selected input stores/depotsand the dates by which these supplies shouldbe delivered to the respective locations;

(d) preparing Guidelinesfor Input Supplyand Storage for staff at each input store/depotfor carrying out the detailed work plans drawn-up for it;

(e) ensuringthat adequatequantities of farm inputs are in fact transported and stocked at the selected DAF input stores/depots,and that these are appropriatelystored;

(f) ensuringthat staff of each of the ten selected input stores/depots(i) maintainregular up-to-datedetailed records of all inputs stocked and suppliedto farmers (ii) comprehensive records of sale transactionsfor all inputs sold at the designated input stores/depotsand (iii) work closely with the extension officers and monitoringand evaluationofficers assignedto the administrativecircle in which each input store/depot is located to monitorthe use of the ASSP-financedinputs purchasedat these stores;

(g) maintainingliaison with each of the ten input stores/depotson an on-goingbasis as well as holding quarterlyjoint meetings with them to monitor the progress of the input supply sub- component;

(h) sensitizingfarmers to the need for farm level storage and correct storage practices especiallyfor fertilizer;

(i) supervisingthe work of the TechnicalExpert in Input Marketing and the Expert in AgriculturalExtension;

(j) training and educatingfarmers and counterpartstaff in input marketingand storage; and

(k) bringingto the prompt attentionof the Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP any major problems with respect to the provision and sale of ASSP-financedinputs at the ten stores/depotsand suggestingpractical recommendationsfor early resolution.

Tasks (a), (b), (c) and (d) will be carried out with the assistance of the Expert in AgriculturalExtension and task (i) with the assistanceof the United Nations Volunteer in CooperativeTraining.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Technical Coordinatorwill prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of - 96 - Annex H

specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendations or express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraints in marketingand input supply in Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 97 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the TechnicalCoordinator for Agro-Processing1/

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF) Regional Headquarters, Makeni

Period: 36 man months

Oualifications: Post-GraduateDegree in AgriculturalTechnology/Engineering and MechanicalEngineering with specializationin food crop processing. At least ten years experiencein post-harvesttechnology at the farm and village level is required, preferably in West Africa. Experience in training farmers' associationsand groups to establish and operate crop- processingcenters will be highly desirable.

Responsibilities: The primary objectiveof the technicalassistance is to assist the DAF to implementthe agro-processingsub-component of the larger input supply and agro-processingcomponent of the Agriculture Sector Support Project (ASSP). The TechnicalCoordinator will collaboratewith DAF counterpartstaff and two United Nations Volunteers(UNVs) to carry out his responsibilities. His main responsibilitywill be to ensure that fifteen integrated rural crop-processingcenters are establishedby selected farmers' associations,that they are operated in an efficient manner, and that costs of the crop-processingmachinery and equipmentis properly maintainedby the farmers' associationand fully recoveredby the ASSP four monthsprior to project completion. The TC will report to the Chief TechnicalCoordinator of the ASSP, who will be located within the Office of the Director-General,DAF and will liaise closely with the DAF counterpartstaff and the TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs. The TC will be required to travel widely within the country. Specifically,he will be responsiblefor:

(a) preparing a detailed work plan for the implementationof the agro- processingsub-component ensuring at all times consistencywith the input supply sub-componentand with the crop calendars relevant to specificecological zones;

(b) selectingfifteen farmers' associations(from a list of 42 farmers' associationsthat had participatedin two post-harvesttechnology projects prepared by the FAO and funded by the UNDP) based on the criteria establishedby the ASSP for qualifyingfarmers' associationsfor participationin the agro-processingsub- component; - 98 - Annex H

(c) preparing an action-planfor the establishmentby the selected farmers' associationsof each of the fifteen selected integrated crop-processingcenters (ICPC);

(d) preparing an action-boundtime-table with (a) drawings and layout plans for the constructionof each ICPC and (b) an amortization plan for the capitalizationof the crop-processingmachinery and equipment;

(e) ensuring that each of the requirementsin the action-boundtime- table are fully understoodby the members of each participating farmers' associationand accepted by them;

(f) drawing-upspecifications for the machineryand equipmentthat is to be procured and ensuringthat this machineryand equipmentis appropriatefor the ecology within which the particular ICPC is located;

(g) ensuring full cost recovery of the crop-processingmachinery and equipmentby assisting, as far as possible, members of the participatingfarmers' associationsto act in compliancewith the amortizationplan;

(h) conductingtraining courses/workshops/seminarsfor the members of the farmers' associations,DAF counterpartstaff and technicians (i) in the operation, maintenanceand managementof the integrated crop-processingcenters, especiallythe machinery and equipment; and (ii) to strengthen the basic organization and functioningof the farmers' associations;

(i) based on the Bank's Guidelinesfor the Selectionof Consultants, arranging for a services contract to procure, in accordance with the Bank's InternationalCompetitive Bidding procedures, the crop- processingmachinery and equipmentand vehiclesfor the sub- component;

(j) supervisingthe work of the two UN Volunteerswho would assist the fifteen selected farmers' associationsto establish, operate and maintain the ICPCs especiallythe machineryand equipment;

(k) training local counterpartstaff in performing all of the above tasks;

(I) preparing a completionreport four months prior to the project closing date; and

(m) bringing to the prompt attention of the Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP any major problems with respect to the establishment,operation and cost-recoveryat the participating - 99 - Annex H

ICPCs and suggestingpractical recommendationsfor early resolution.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Technical Coordinator will prepare a report reviewing the performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendationsor express thoughts for strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraints in post-harvestprocessing and marketing in Sierra Leone.

1/ The basic terms of referencefor the agro-processingcomponent, made available by the FAO Office in Freetown, have been amendedslightly.

AF4AG November 1992 -100 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Project (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the Technical Coordinatorfor Feeder Roads

Location: Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), the Departmentof Feeder Roads (DFR).

Period: 48 man months.

Qualifications: Post-GraduateDegree in Civil Engineeringwith at least 15 years post- qualificationexperience including five years experiencein managing projects in road constructionand managementand five in feeder/rural road constructionand supervision,preferably in Africa. Fluency in English.

Responsibilities: The TechnicalCoordinator for Feeder Roads (TCFF) will oversee the implementationof the Feeder Roads componentof the AgricultureSector Support Project (ASSP) includingthe labour-intensivesub-component. The latter will be supervisedby the ILO under the direction of the Chief Technical Advisor, ILO, based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Overall coordinationand implementationof the Project will rest with the ASSP CoordinationUnit. This will be establishedin the Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF) within the Office of the Director-General DAF and will be headed by a Chief TechnicalCoordinator for the ASSP. The TCFF will report directly to the Director, Departmentof Feeder Roads, Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA). Specifically,the TCFF will:

(a) prepare annual work programmesand assist the Director, DFR in the preparationof procurementdocuments for works, services and goods to be procured under the ICB sub-component- procurement for the labour-intensivesub-component will be undertakenby the ILO and the TCFF and Director, DFR will be kept fully and regularly informedof this procurement;

(b) liaise with the Chief TechnicalAdvisor, ILO for followingthe implementationand progress with work plans for the labour- intensivesub-component to enable regular quarterlyreporting of the sub-component;

(c) ensure strict adherenceto technicalspecifications through monitoringthe quality of constructionat rehabilitationsites;

(d) maintain correct up-to-daterecords of all financial transactionsand commitmentsmade under the feeder roads component; - 101 - Annex H

(e) monitoroverall progress of the feeder roads component(both ICB and labour-intensive)through preparationof monthlyand quarterly progress reports assessingphysical, procurement and institutional achievementsunder each of the two sub-componentsand the submissionof these to the Chief TechnicalCoordinator of the ASSP CoordinationUnit in DAF;

(f) ensure that sound environmentalprocedures and controls are applied;

(g) train local counterpartstaff in performing all of the above tasks;

(h) at the end of the project period, prepare and submit a Project CompletionReport assessingthe extent to which project physical and institutionalobjectives were attained, an analysisof actual versus projectedbenefits, and implementationperformance; and

(i) bringing to the prompt attentionof the Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP any major problems with respect to the equipment-intensiveor labour-intensivefeeder road sub- componentsand suggestingpractical recommendationsfor early resolution.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the Technical Coordinator will prepare a report reviewing the performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experience make recommendationsor express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraints in feeder road rehabilitationin Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 102 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the United Nations Volunteer in Statistics

Location: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF) - the Monitoring, Evaluationand StatisticsDivision (MESD).

Period: 48 man months.

Oualifications: UniversityDegree in Statistics,Economics or Agricultural Economics.At least four to five years practical experiencewith data collectionand computerizeddata base storage and processingof agriculturalstatistics and crop forecastingis required. Fluency in English.

Responsibilities: the UNV will work directly with the Chief of the Monitoring,Evaluation and StatisticsDivision to establish a comprehensivestatistical data base for monitoringkey growth and structuralvariables in the agriculturalsector. Specifically,the UNV will set-up a computerdata base system for recording and up-datingstatistical information with respect to:

(a) time series agriculturaldata at the most dis-aggregateddistrict or circle level on production costs, yields and acreage by individual crops in the main ecologiesand regions of the country; in a similar manner, data will also be recorded for the forestry, artisanalfisheries and livestock(including small ruminants)sub- sectors;

(b) the size and ownershipof (i) food crop, cash crop and tree crop farms; (ii) forest farms and concessions;(iii) fish farms; and (iv) livestockfarms; and where integratedfarming systemsprevail, the number and types of agriculturalactivities and production yields by each activity;

(c) for each circle, the number of farms (by farm size, ownership and level of technologyuse) where yield-enhancingtechnology is being disseminatedby the agriculturalextension services of the DAF and the resulting annual change in yields;

(d) weekly agriculturalprice statisticsat the farmgate, retail and wholesale levels for all food and cash crops includingtree crops;

(e) monthlytransportation costs by region/districtfor each crop, for forest products includingfuel wood and charcoal, for fish and for livestockand small ruminants; - 103 - Annex H

(f) weekly prices, in the main local markets, of agriculturalinputs, farm tools and implements,and mechanizationservices;

(g) by farm size and agriculturalactivity in each month of the year, the number of agricultural/farmlabourers (by age and sex) employed,the duration for which employedeach month, and the daily wage (excludingand includingfood);

(h) crop and farm budgets for each farming activity;

(i) by type of agriculturalactivity, the levels and changes in indebtednessof farmers, the size and terms of the loans (from informal and formal sectors) and the period over which the loan is actually repaid or anticipatedto be repaid;

(j) income, consumptionand investmentexpenditure by farm householdwith key characteristicsof each farm household recorded (that is, location, size and activity(s)of the farm household);and

The UNV will also train local counterpartstaff in establishingand maintaininga computerdata base for all of the above and in providing technicalassistance with guiding M&E staff in the design of suitable questionnaires/surveysfor data collectionand analysis. He/she will also bring to the prompt attentionof the Chief TechnicalCoordinator of the ASSP, any major problems encounteredin establishingand operating the statisticaldata base.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the UNV will prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub- componentor area of specializationand based upon his experience make recommendationsor express thoughts for strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraintsin the establishmentand operationof agriculturaldata base systemsin Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 104 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference for a TechnicalExpert in Input Marketing

Location: Makeni, Headquartersof the Input Supplyand Agro-Processing Componentof the AgricultureSector Support Project (ASSP).

Period: 24 man months.

Oualifications: Post-graduatedegree in AgriculturalTechnology and Marketing and at least 7 to 10 years field experiencein crop technology, input handling, and training of farm leaders, preferablyin West Africa. Experience in advisingfarmers and farmers' organizationsand associationsat the village level in input purchase and marketingwill be useful. Fluency in English and good communicationsskills.

Responsibilities: The primary objectivesof the assignmentare to assist the Technical Coordinatorfor Farm Inputs in implementingthe input supply sub- componentof the Input Supplyand Agro-Processingcomponent of the AgricultureSector Supportproject (ASSP). In particular, the assignment requires that all ASSP-financedinputs are made availableat designated DAF stores/depotsby a specifieddate determinedby the operational crop calendar finalized each year with the ExtensionCoordinator and Chief Agriculturist,DAF as well as with the relevant Chief Regional Officers. The TechnicalExpert will report to the TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs and liaise closely with the DAF counterpart staff and the technical assistanceteam for the Agro-Processingsub-component. The Technical Expert will be required to travel widely within the country and ensure that fertilizer and oil palm seedlings are placed within the timely reach of farmers. Specifictasks will include:

(a) preparationof a detailed annual and quarterly overall implementationwork plan and work plans for each of the individualten stores/depots;

(b) ensuringthat each of the specifiedten DAF stores/depotsare adequatelysupplied with ASSP-financedfarm inputs and that the inputs are appropriatelystored; this would require regular periodic assessmentsof demand for ASSP-financedinputs for the geographicalarea served by each selected DAF store

(c) logisticsplanning, in particular, preparing supply schedulesto ensure the timely availabilityof stocks in each designatedDAF store/depotbased on a predeterminedcrop calendar; - 105 - Annex H

(d) ensuringthe maintenanceof regular and up-to-daterecords of inputs stocked and sold to farmers for each of the ten stores/depots;

(e) maintainingclose liaisonbetween the input supply stores/depots and sensitizingfamers to farm level storage;

(f) apprisingextension staff of DAF of the key factors in the cost- effectivestorage, transport and marketingof inputs with the sole purpose of enablingthe extensionofficers to regularly disseminate adviceto farmers (private sector) rather than the DAF (public sector) marketinginputs;

(g) preparation of Guidelinesto train farmers in input handling and storage, particularlywith respect to factors related to climate and temperature in the handling and marketingof farm inputs, especiallyfertilizer;

(h) working with farmers and sensitizingthem to the advantagesof groupingtogether to benefit from economiesof scale in the purchase of inputs and in the marketing of inputs;

(i) training farmers in the technical,logistical and accountingaspects in input purchase and marketing;

(i) bringingto the prompt attentionof the TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs any problems with the delivery, storage and sale of ASSP-financedinputs at the ten DAF stores/depotsand suggestionsfor early resolution

(k) at the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the technical coordinator/expert/specialistwill prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project component/sub- componentand making recommendationsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, marketingand input supplysystems within the country.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the TechnicalExpert will prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendationsor express thoughts for strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraintsin private sector input marketing in Sierra Leone.

AF4AG\November1992 - 106 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference for an AgriculturalExtension Specialist

Location: Makeni, Headquartersof the Input Supplysub-component.

Period: 24 man months.

Oualifications: Degree in Agriculturewith specializedkmowledge of crop production in the tropics with at least seven to ten years experience in practical agriculturalextension training includingthe training and visit (T&V) method. Experience in training members of farmers' associationsand cooperativesand managementtraining would be desirable.

Responsibilities: The primary objective of the assignmentis to assist the Technical Coordinatorfor Farm Inputs to implementthe input supply sub-component of the larger Input Supplyand Agro-Processingcomponent. The Extension Specialistwill report directly to the Technical Coordinatorfor Farm Inputs and maintain close liaison with the NationalExtension Coordinator, Chief Agriculturist,other technical Division Chiefs of DAFF and the Chief RegionalOfficers. He will also maintain close liaisonwith the United Nations Volunteerin Farmer Training in Post-Harvest Technology. The Extension Specialistwill:

(a) review the effectivenessof the extension systemsin place in each Region and suggest measures for making these more cost- effective;

(b) review, in-depth, the effectivenessof linkages between extension programmes, appliedresearch and extensionand farmer training and suggest improvementsfor strengtheningthese linkages;the review and suggestionsshould be thoroughlydiscussed with the Chiefs of TechnicalDivisions of the DAF, the National AgriculturalResearch CoordinatingCouncil (NARCC), senior scientistsand officialsof the Rokupr Rice Research Station (RRRS)and other agriculturalresearch institutes, and the Njala UniversityCollege (NUC);

(c) provide guidanceon the substanceand design of training materials (to train farmers) producedby the CommunicationsUnit of DAFF with a view to expandingfarmers' receptivityto technical informationdisseminated by agriculturalextension officers on yield-enhancingtechnology and on the importanceof farmers' feedbackto extensionofficers, subject matter specialistsand - 107 - Annex H

scientistsof agriculturalresearch scientistson their experience with the use of this technology;

(d) work closely with the Staff Training and DevelopmentUnit to conduct periodicre-orientation and training workshops for agriculturalextension officers in (i) the methods of technology disseminationto individualfarmers and members of farmers' associationsand (ii) designingmethods for assistinggrassroots farmers' associationsand groups - both (i) and (ii) should take into account variationsin local culture, customs and approaches;

(e) conduct village level meetingsand educatethe designatedgroup leaders and members of farmers' associationson improved crop technology,farm and tree husbandry, and sound environmental practices; and

(f) regularly apprise the NationalExtension Coordinator and the National ResearchCoordinator of his findings concerningthe performanceof the agriculturalextension services and links with agriculturalresearch and suggestrecommendations for their further strengthening.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the AgriculturalExtension Specialistwill prepare a report reviewing the performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendationsor express thoughtsfor strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraints in agricultural extensionservices in Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 108 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference for a United Nations Volunteer in Farmer Training in Post-HarvestTechnology

Location: Makeni, Headquartersof the Input Supplysub-component.

Period: 24 man months.

Oualifications: Degree in Agriculturewith backgroundin MechanicalEngineering and at least five to seven years experiencein training subsistencefarmers in least-developedcountries in post-harvesttechnology, especially in small- scale crop processingtechniques.

Responsibilities: The primary objectiveof the assignmentis to assist the Technical Coordinator, Agro-Processing,to implementthe agro-processing component. Specifically,the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) will liaise closely, especiallyin the field, with counterpartstaff of the Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry. The Expert will:

(a) prepare draft layout plans and drawings for each of participating crop-processingcenters;

(b) prepare detailed workplans for each crop-processingcenter, by District, in accordancewith the current crop calendar;

(c) sensitizefarmers for the need to strengthentheir associations,and assistingthem in organizingtheir managementgroups;

(d) conduct village level meetingsand educatethe designatedgroup leaders and members of farmers' associationson the importanceof fostering viable farmers' associationswhere crop-processingis a stated objective;

(e) provide on-the-jobtraining to members of participatingfarmers' associationson the chain of post-harvestoperations to village level crop-processingand their integrationwith the relevant crop calendar;

(f) prepare the training materials for each crop-processingcenter;

(g) conduct training for extensionworkers on the operation and managementof the crop processingcenters; - 109 - Annex H

(h) hold regular meetingswith the farmers and extensionworkers and based on these meetingsprepare progress notes;

(i) bring to the attention of the CTA any problems encounteredin the operation and managementof the crop processingcenters for early resolution.

At the end of his assignmentwith the ASSP, the UNV will prepare a report reviewingthe performanceand implementationof the project/component/sub-componentor area of specializationand based upon his experiencemake recommendationsor express thoughts for strengtheningthe general area of activity with which he was involved, for example, challengesand constraintsin farmers' adoptionof post-harvest technologyin Sierra Leone.

AF4AG November 1992 - 110 - AnnexH

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the ILO EngineeringAdvisor I/ (Feeder Roads Labour-IntensiveSub-Component)

Location: ILO, Freetown and regional locationsas required.

Period: 36 man months.

Oualifications: The EngineeringAdviser should have a University degree or equivalent in Civil Engineering,followed by at least 15 years of professional experience, a major part of which should have been in developing countries, preferablyincluding sub-saharan africa. He/She shouldbe thoroughlyfamiliar with labor based constructionmethods in connection with feeder roads and infrastructure. He/She shouldhave ability to train local counterpartstaff, Nationalstaff and Technicians. He/She shouldbe fluent in English and be prepared to live under difficult conditionsand travel frequentlywithin project areas.

Responsibilities: The EngineeringAdvisor will be in charge of the Technical Assistance Team supervisingthe implementationof the Feeder Road Componentof the AgricultureSector SupportProject (ASSP) in Tonkolili, Port Loko, Kambia, Bombaliand KoinaduguDistricts of Sierra Leone. He/She will work under the direction of the ILO Chief TechnicalAdvisor who heads the TechnicalAssistance Team supervisingthe Feeder Road Rehabilitation and MaintenanceProgram in Sierra Leone. He/She in close cooperation with staff secondedby the Governmentof Sierra Leone, Nationalstaff and UNVs posted to the Project will carry out the following duties:

(a) advise and assist senior personnelseconded to the project in planning, implementationand monitoringof the Feeder Road Rehabilitationactivities;

(b) advise and assist in preparing work plans, implementationand material schedulesand other programs for the smooth implementationof the project;

(c) advise and assist in preparing lists of all procurementof plant and equipment,tools, materials, both local and overseas;

(d) manageand coordinateall project inputs provided by GOSL and World Bank, ensuring that inputs are effectivelyused;

(e) prepare draft policy papers, guidelines,systems and procedures and training materials; - 111 - Annex H

(f) organizeseminars and specifictraining courses, for Nationalstaff, and oversee the training carried out by UNVs;

(g) advise and assist in settingup a systemfor the utilization of local contractorsfor feeder road rehabilitationand, thereafter, for the maintenanceof the newly rehabilitatedroads;

(h) liaise with all Internationaland Nationalstaff implementingthe ASSP Programme includingthe World Food Programme.

1/ The basic terms of reference for the labour-intensivefeeder roads componentwere made availableby the ILO TechnicalAdvisor in Freetown.

AF4AG November 1992 - 112 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Project (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor UNV - ProcurementOfficer (Feeder Roads Labour-IntensiveSub-Component)

Location: ILO Office, Freetownand regionallocations as required.

Period: 36 man months

Oualifications: The UNV shouldpreferably have a University Degree in Civil Engineeringor equivalentfollowed by at least three years professional experience. He/She should have a good knowledgeof English.

Responsibilities: The UNV ProcurementOfficer will be attached to the World Bank financedFeeder Road Componentof the AgricultureSector Support Project (ASSP). The UNV will be a memberof the ILO Technical AssistanceTeam stationedin Freetown, with frequent travel to the site offices/stores. His main responsibilitieswill be as follows:

(a) assist in organizingall local procurementof materials, tools and spare parts etc;

(b) assist in setting up a stores system for the selected sites and carry out trainingof local staff, store-keepersand others as needed;

(c) organizeregular stores auditing;

(d) assist in planning material utilizations;

(e) organize a system for keeping all records of local and overseas procurement;

(f) assist in organizing, clearing and transportingall overseas procurement.

AF4AG November 1992 - 113 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Project (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor UNV - MechanicalEngineer (Feeder Roads Labour-IntensiveSub-Component)

Location: ILO, Freetwon and regional locationsas required.

PMrio2d: 36 months

Oualifications: The UNV should have a Universitydegree in mechanicalengineering, followed by at least four years professionalexperience, part of which should preferablyhave been in developingcountries. He/She should have a good knowledgeof English.

Responsibilities: The UNV Civil Engineer, along with a second UNV Civil Engineer, would assist in implementingthe World Bank financedFeeder Roads componentof the AgricultureSector Support Program (ASSP). The UNV will be a member of the ILO TechnicalAssistance Team and would work under the supervisionof the ILO EngineeringAdviser. The UNV would organize and supervisethe site mechanicalworkshop to be establishedat suitable locationswith the project area and would carry out the followingduties:

(a) assist in elaboratingtechnical specifications and building documentsfor machineryand equipment;

(b) carry out inspectionsof delivered equipment,set up stores and stores managementsystems for all spare parts;

(c) set up a system for the maintenanceof the equipmentand direct the carrying out of maintenanceand repair;

(d) assist in planning of equipmentutilization;

(e) keep records of expendituresby equipmentitem;

(f) carry out training of plants and auto mechanics,store keepers and other associatestaff.

AF4AG November 1992 - 114 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor UNV - Civil Engineer (Feeder Roads Labour-IntensiveSub-Component)

Location: ILO, Freetown and regional locationsas required.

Period: 36 months

Oualifications: The UNV shouldhave a Universitydegree in Civil Engineering, followed by at least four years professionalexperience, a major part of which should have been in developingcountries. He should have experience in labor-basedconstruction methods in connectionwith feeder roads structures and buildingsand a good knowledgeof English.

Responsibilities: The UNV Civil Engineer, along with a second UNV Civil Engineer, would assist in implementingthe World Bank financed Feeder Roads componentof the AgricultureSector SupportProject (ASSP). The UNV wouldbe a memberof the ILO Technical AssistanceTeam and would work under the supervisionof the ILO EngineeringAdviser. Duty Station would be located at a suitable location, within these districts.

Each UNV wouldbe assigneda number of sub projects (roads, culverts, bridges etc.). They wouldcarry out their duties in close collaboration with their counterparts,and jointly the UNVs should;

(a) carry out labor availabilitysurveys;

(b) make detailed investigationssurveys, designs and plans for each sub project, organize and supervise works to ensure adequate quality and progress;

(c) assist is selectionof roads, tracks and other structures;

(d) organize a system of careful managementof project personal, inputs adequaterecord keeping procedures;

(e) assist local contractorsin organizingof works and the mobilization of labor;

(f) organizeprocedures for adequate daily and weekly site reporting and consolidatethe informationinto monthlyprogress reports;

(g) make a maintenanceplan for each sub-project, set up arrangementsfor maintenanceand guide, and superviseactual implementationof maintenanceto a large extent to be carried out by petty contractors; -115- AnnexJH

The UNVs should provide on-the-jobtraining to their counterparts, technicians, and local contractors. Initially, the UNVs, under the direction of the CTA, would managethe implementationof works, but graduallyresponsibilities should be transferred to the engineering counterparts. This transfer of responsibilityshould take place without loss in productivityor quality. It would be closely monitored.

AF4AG November 1992 - 116- Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Referencefor the ASSP CoordinatingCommittee

Obiective: The primary objectiveof the CoordinatingCommittee for the Agriculture Sector SupportProject (ASSP)is to monitorthe overall progress in the implementation of the ASSP through regular joint meetingsof all the agenciesresponsible for implementinga componentor sub-componentof the ASSP.

Membership: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry (DAF): Director-General,(Chairman), Chief Technical Coordinatorfor the ASSP, TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs, TechnicalCoordinator for Agro-Processing,Agricultural Policy Planner, Swamp and WatershedManagement Expert, TechnicalExpert in Input Marketing, AgriculturalExtension Specialist,National Extension Coordinator, Chief Agriculturistand the Chiefs of the Forestry, Fisheries, Livestock, Land and Water Development,and Monitoring,Evaluation and StatisticsDivisions; NARCC: National Research Coordinator;Department of Finance. Developmentand EconomicPlanning (DFDEP): Deputy Financial Secretaryand Director of Planning; Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL): Director of DevelopmentFinance Departmentand the Rural Finance Specialist;Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA): Director, Departmentof Feeder Roads, Chief TechnicalAdvisor (ILO) and the TechnicalCoordinator for Feeder Roads financedby the ASSP.

Freauency of Meetings: The CoordinatingCommittee will meet once a month for each year of the ASSP implementationperiod. The duration of the Meeting will be two days. Detailed Minutesof the Meetingswill be prepared by the Office of the Director-General, DAF within one week of the conclusionof each Meeting and will be circulated immediatelythereafter to each implementingagency. A copy of the Minuteswill be also be sent to IDA and IFAD. In additionto these scheduled meetings, a Meeting of the CoordinationCommittee may be called by the Director-General, DAF and the Agendaon that occassionwill be governed by the circumstance(s)in question.

Purpos: To examine (a) the obstacles encounteredin ASSP implementationduring the month or six weeks (b) obstacles resolved during this period and (c) obstaclesthat are yet to be resolved (includingthose being resolved at the time of the Meeting). Agenda: The Quarterly Work Plans prepared by each ASSP implementingagency or departmentwill form the basis of the Agendafor each Meeting. Copies of the Quarterly Work Plans will be made availableto each implementingagency or departmenttwo weeks prior to the meeting. At each Meeting, the Coordinating Committeewill be given a detailed report on the progress with implementingeach ASSP componentand sub-component. Briefly, the Meeting will focus on:

(a) reporting on the overall implementationfor the period under review by the Chief TechnicalCoordinator (CTC) for the ASSP. In respect of the sub- - 117 - Annex H

components,reporting responsibilitywill be as follows: for (i) the rural banks sub-component,the Director of the DevelopmentFinance Departmentof the BSL; (ii) the feeder roads component,Director of the Departmentof Feeder Roads, SLRA; (iii) the input supply and agro- processing component,the TechnicalCoordinator for Farm Inputs and the Technical Coordinatorfor Agro-Processing,respectively; (iv) the research extensionlinkages component,the NationalResearch Coordinator, NARCC; (v) the technologytransfer component,the National Extension Coordinator(NEC) and the Chiefs of the Crops, Forestry, Fisheries, Livestock,Land and Water Development,Monitoring, Evaluation and Statisticsand the CommunicationsDivisions.

(b) identificationof specific issues, by sub-component,responsible for any lag in the achievementof the QuarterlyWork Plans of the relevant component of the ASSP, will relate to:

(i) procurementof goods and services and selection of consultants;

(ii) deliveryof vehicles, equipmentand suppliesto the reporting agency or to the required store or site;

(iii) Proiect and SpecialAccounts;

(iv) counterpartfunding;

(v) sale and record of inputs sold to farmers at each of the ten DAF stores/depots;

(vi) use and operation. maintenanceand purchase of the ars processingequipment providedto each of the fifteen farmers' associations;

(vii) rehabilitationof the training institutesand feeder roads;

(viii) assistanceto and performanceof selected rural banks;

(ix) performanceof the technicalassistance;

(x) progress with the training programmefor extensionofficers, farmers, agro-processors,graduates, and rural bank managers and loan officers;

(xi) intra-Departmentcoordination in the preparation and executionof work plans;

(xii) inter-Departmentalcooperation;

(xiii) matters concerningIDA and IFAD; - 118 - Annex H

(xiv) participationand performanceof intendedbeneficiaries - farmers, farmers' organizationsand agro-processors;

(c) proposed corrective action and the date by which it must be completed;

(d) follow-upon the proposed corrective action to be taken by the implementingagency concernedthrough close monitoringand assessment of the actions agreed upon at the Meeting;

(e) evaluationand recording by each implementingagency of the status and results of the follow-upwith which it is entrusted and reporting on this at the next scheduledMeeting of the CoordinatingCommittee;

(f) discussionand recording of any exogenousfactors impingingon project implementationsuch as the macro economicsituation, climatic factors, labour market issues, credit, internationalcommodity prices, etc.

No: To strengthen implementationof each ASSP component,and to facilitate the discussion/conductof the Meetingsof the CoordinatingCommittee, it is advised that each ASSP implementingagency/department conduct, as necessary, internal meetingsalong the lines discussedabove. In this regard, meetingssuch as those conductedby the Standing Committeeof DAF could prove useful.

AF4AG November 1992 - 119 - Annex H

Sierra Leone AgricultureSector Support Proiect (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference Committeeon AgricultureProducer Incentives

Objective: The primary objective of the Committeeon AgricultureProducer Incentives (CAPI) will be to assess (i) the impact of producer incentives,particularly producer prices, on the productionof the main food and cash crops and (ii) the macro economicimplications of these incentives.

Rationale: With exchangerate and trade liberalization,and transitionto a market economy, the role of the parastatalsand public sector institutionsin pricing and marketing has been relinquished. Yet, for purposesof food security, budgetary planning and balance of payments impact, the response of agriculturalproduction to changing factor and product prices will be critical. The conventionaleconomic policy tools under trade liberalizationwill now becomerelevant and will supercedethe inefficientcost-plus pricing and trade restrictionsfrequently encountered in a more closed and controlled regime. To enable the technical and economicefficiency called for by a liberalizedopen economy, domesticproducers would need to work within the frameworkof producer prices that do not deviate very much from border prices. Until recently, the Sierra Leone Produce MarketingBoard (SLPMB)had been charged with assuring adequateincentives to coffee and cocoa producers. With the future of the SLPMB uncertain, a mechanismis required to monitorthese prices for key food and cash crops.

MembershiD: Departmentof Agricultureand Forestry; Departmentof Finance, Development and EconomicPlanning; Bank of Sierra Leone: Departmentof Trade; and Departmentof Industriesand State Enterprises.

Frequency of Meetings: Once every quarter and as deemednecessary.

Purpose: To guauge the adequacyof producer incentivesfor the main food and cash and export crops with a view to assessingtheir policy implicationsespecially for the balance of payments, levels of nutritionand subsidiesand trade tariffs.

Agenda: Based on agriculturaldata for the quarter, collectedand analyzedby the DAF (MESD) and circulatedby the Office of the Director-General,two weeks in advance, to the membersof the Committee,the Committeewill assess the policy implicationsof the demand and supply situationfor the main food and cash crops and make recommendations. Detailed Minutesof the CAPI will be prepared and circulated by the Office of the Director-Generalto Committeemembers, and to IDA and IFAD, within one week of the conclusionof the meeting and a copy of the statisticaldata will be filed with the Minutes. To enable a comprehensiveand substantivediscussion based on quarterly trends, by commodityand region, provision by DAF (MESD)of the followingdata will be mandatory: - 120 - Annex H

(a) data on production, stocks, imports, supply and availabilityrelative to demand, and importbill of:

(i) rice (and close substitutessuch as cassava and sweet potato);

(ii) palm oil;and

(iii) tobacco;

(b) data on the production, stocks, exports and export earnings of coffee, cocoa, palm kernel, ginger and pepper;

(c) detailed data on marketing, storage and production costs (with any taxes, tariffs and subsidiesseparately shown) for each of the above crops;

(d) data on retail and wholesaleconsumer prices (overall and at selected regional and local locationsof the main food crops; and

(e) data on the farm gate and market prices relative to border prices for each of the above crops with the exceptionof roots and tubers.

AF4AG November 1992 - 121 - Annex H

Sierra Leone A2ricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference Study on the Trade and Price Policy Aspects of Rice

Objectiveand Rationale

1. The main objective of the study is to assist the Governmentof Sierra Leone in formulatinga price and trade policy for rice. The study will develop trade and price policy options in the rice subsector through comprehensiveassessments of the economiccosts and benefits of each option. The rationale for the study is the Government'sgrowing concern with the high and rising rice importbill, inaccessby consumersto rice, inadequatefood security, declining real farm incomes and increased malnutrition. These concerns have raised serious questionsas to the effectivenessof past policies from which neither producers, consumersnor the exchequerappear to have benefitted. Now, under a liberalizedexchange rate and trade regime, it is imperativefor the subsectorto competeeffectively as an import substitute. Urgently called for is a rice policy which promotes an appropriatepolicy and incentive frameworkrelevant to the new macro-economicregime and which is at the same time pertinent and responsiveto the country's concern with food security.

2. The study will assess (a) Sierra Leone's overall potential for rice cultivation;(b) the extent to which this potential can be efficientlytapped in the short, medium and long term respectively;and (c) the price and trade policy recommendationsnecessary for exploitingthis potential in an economicallyefficient manner and on a sustained basis. The study will focus on the implicationsfor producer prices and levels of economicefficiency of alternativelevels of import tariff on rice. The period of analysiswill cover the three years which can be considered as being the most representativeof the last seven.

MethodO1°8Y

3. Analyseswill be carried out to identifydistortions, assess comparativeadvantage, evaluate financial and economicprofitability, and examinethe production response of rice to income and price change. Specifically,the study will:

(a) assess the nominal and effective protectioncoefficients at key points in the marketing chain includingfarmgate, rural market and wholesalemarket for 1987, 1989 and 1992 respectively. For 1992, the effective protectionanalysis will includea scenario analysis for fertilizer policy at the followinglevels of subsidy: 73 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 35 percent and 15 percent.

(b) examine Sierra Leone's comparativeadvantage in rice cultivationthrough a Domestic ResourceCost (DRC) analysisfor each rice ecology under alternative technologieswith and without mechanization. The main rice ecologiesto be studied are inland valley swamps (IVS), mangrove swamps, riverrain swamps, - 122 - Annex H

bolilands, and upland farms. For each of these ecologies, traditionaland improvedtechnologies currently availablewill be considered. Mechanization options will includework oxen, power tillers and tractors dependingupon the specific rice ecology and technologyin question. For rice cultivationin the swamps, for each swamp rice ecology the analysis will distinguishbetween new swamp cultivationand swamps already developed. The DRC exercise will include a sensitivityanalysis on the exchangerate, border price, rice yield, wage rate, discount rate and transportationcost.

(c) estimate financial and economicprofitablity for each rice ecology under traditional and improvedtechnology with and without mechanizationand at different levels of fertilizer subsidy.

(d) conduct a sensitivityanalysis on the price and incomeelasticities of demand and supply for rice, and elasticitiesof substitutionbetween rice and cassava and/or sweet potatoeusing existingelasticities in economiescomparable to Sierra Leone.

C. OUtDUi

4. The study will provide an assessmentof: (i) the magnitudeof annual rice consumption requirementsin the short to mediumterm which can be met through efficient productionfrom existingswamps based on the DRC analysis; and (ii) the implicationsfor the balance of payments of closing the gap. Based on the findings, the Study will formulatethe main elements of a Price and Trade Policy for Rice which has as is primary objective: (a) economicefficiency; and (b) incomes and employment. For any departurefrom economicefficiency, as may for instancebe called for by a policy which pursues the latter objective, both the economiccost and cost to the budget will be clearly identifiedand quantified.

AF4AG November 1992 - 123 - Annex H

Sierra Leone A2ricultureSector SupportProject (Credit 1501-SL)

Terms of Reference Action Plan for the Privatizationof DAFF's Oil Palm Assets

Objectiveand Rationale

1. The main objective of the technicalassistance is to assist the Departmentof Agriculture and Forestry (DAF) to prepare an Action Plan for the early privatizationof its oil palm estate (plantationsand mills) at Daru and Gambia-Mattru. Privatizationof the assets, an objective of the original ASSP, was interruptedby the suspensionof IDA disbursements. One of the reported problems with the initial effort made at the time was dissatisfactionby the Governmentof the results of the valuation. Importantto the indigeneousdiet, red (palm) oil has balance of payments implications,a good potential for developinginto an efficient import substituteand for providing employmentopportunities, and other important multipliereffects in the rural economy. The rational for early privatizationis to (a) eliminatethe burden on the public sector budget on account of the asset which is also rapidly deterioratingand (b) secure, for the asset, ownership committedto the professionalmanagement and operationof the plantationsand mills, and once which can, without subsidiesand protection, enable it to mazimizeyields, capacity utilizatonand favourablereturns to investment.

2. The Consultantwill prepare an Action Plan which shall (a) consist of an outside independentevaluation of the oil palm assets, disaggregatedby each plantation and mill; and (b) consider alternativemodes of privatization/marketingthe asset in full or in part. The Action Plan will comprise the following:

(a) Valuationwhich will be carried out by a professionalvaluation expert and a fair market value (FMV) determined. This will be used to establish a range of values of the asset within which offerings and negotiationswill be conducted- the "highestand best use" valuationwill specify the upper range and the estimatedliquidation value the lower range; and

(b) Privatization/MarketingMethods and Strategywhich will discuss marketingobjectives and the means for achievingthese objectives. Besidesthe objective of obtaininga fair price (not necessarilythe maximumprice) for the asset, the objective of ascertainingthe nature of the ownership, its financial resources and managementcapability, and access by it to technologyand markets will be critical to the long-termfinancial and economicviability of the enterprise and ultimatesuccess of the privatization.

Methodology

3. The prerequisitesand the methodologyfor the valuation to be followedby the Consultant:

(a) preparatory work will precede the valuationexercise and will consist of: - 124 - Annex H

(i) the preparation of accurate financial statements by an outside auditor in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards. After verification of receivables, inventories and other assets, the financial statements may need some restatement and the financial income statements and balance sheets some reconstruction; and

(ii) a legal audit to verify ownership title, identify pending legal claims, and clarify the extent and nature of any other hidden and/or contingent liabilites;

(b) the valuation will be guided, once the preparatory work specified in 3 (a) above is carried out, by the following methodolgies for valuation:

(i) the use of the market valuation approach for the valuation of real estate and buildings which lend themselves to comparison with other transactions for properties similarly located

(ii) the use of a liquidation value basis and an income valuation basis for the oil palm plantations, specialized machinery and equipment, since these, under the managementof the new ownership, are expected to generate future income streams; and

(c) the Action Plan for privatization itself will consider the following privatization/marketing methods:

(i) public offering - a number of desirable features can be built into the offering such as providing an upper limit to share ownership by any single shareholder, special terms for employees, and incentives to hold the investment rather than cashing it out;

(ii) public tenders - competitive bids on divestitures or service contracts are common in the initiation of a sales process to privatize. Because of its transparency, the open bid process is preferable to one where buyers are identified in advance and direct negotiations held. The preparation and design of the request for bids will be critical to ensuring that concerns of the Government are adequately addressed. To facilitate comparability and screen out less creditworthy competitors, bids will normally be requested on an all cash basis;

(iii) direct negotiation- to provide for final direct negotiations (based on requests for sealed bids in a public tender) for various terms, conditions and warranties to go into the final contract rather than for negotiations over the actual price, though negotiations on price can be included. Provision will also need to be made for unsolicitated bids which are expected once a privatization programme gets underway as well as bids which might have been directly solicitated. For direct negotiation to succeed, an external impartial review mechanism would be required transparency. - 125 - Annex H

-QU

4. The Consultantwill prepare an action plan specifying in detail the steps that the Governrent of Sierra Leone would need to take in privatizing its oil palm plantations and mills at Daru and Gambia-Mattru. All supporting documentationincluding the valuation should be included as an Appendix to the Action Plan.

AF4AG November 1992 126 -

ANNEX I

SIERRALEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (CREDIT1501-SL)

ORGANIZATIONCHART FOR PROJECTCOORDINATION AND IMPLEMENTATON (by implementingagency and seniorstaff responsibility)

IMPLEMENTINGAGENCY (DAFF)

IMPLEMENTATIONUNIT (Officeof the Director-General)

* Director-Generalof DAFF

ASSP COORDINATINGUNIT **

* ChiefTechnical Coordinator (ASSP) FinanciaLControLler ChiefProcurement Officer NationalExtension Coordinator

F~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER AND INPUTSAND AGRO-PROCESSING FEDElRADS RESEARCHEXTENSION LINKAGES (DAFFCOUNTERPARTS) (SLRA) (DAFF) (FARMERSORGANIZATIONS) (TECHNICALASSISTANCE)

* ChiefAgriculturist * TechnicalCoordinator (Inputs) * Head,Dept. FeederRoads * DAFFDivision Chiefs * TechnicalCoordinator (Agro- * TechnicaLCoordinator ChiefRegional Officers (Processing) (FeederRoads) * NationaLExtn. Coordinator

RURALBANKS LABOURINTENSIVE PILOT (BSL) (110)

* Dir.,Dev. FinanceDept. * Chief TechnicalAdvisor * RuralFinance Specialist (ILO)

Note: ( ) denotesinstitutionaL responsibility.

* denotesmeombership in the ASSP CoordinationCommittee; in addition,the membershipof the Coordinating Coamitteewill includethe Deputy FinanciaL Secretary and the Directorof Planning(Department of Finance, Developmentand EconomicPlanning) and the NationalResearch Coordinator (Natlonal Agricultural Research CoordinatingCouncil).

** denotesother staff in the CoordinatingUnit, namely, a ChiefProcurement Officer, a ProcurementOfficer, an AssistantProcurement Officer, a SeniorProject Accountant, four accountants and supportstaff. SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Project Cost Sueeary

Leone US Doltar X Total ------XForeign 8ase Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Totat Exchange Costs A . TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 1U47429090.2 2831523164.1 4278952254.3 2832871.6 5395882.7 O . FEEDER ROADS 639189057.1 8228754.3 66.2 32.4 2936260850.1 3575449907.2 1290543.8 5585321.4 C INPUTS 4 AGRO-PROCESSING 6875865.2 82.1 27.1 500569379.2 3994226265.9 4494795645.1 1245670.7 D . RESEARCH EXTENSION LINKS 7398167.1 8643837.8 88.9 34.1 87003381.8 57494195.2 144497577.0 172367.2 1 E . ASSP COORDINATION UNIT 105512.7 277880.0 39.8 1.1 40962297.7 658679453.0 699641750.7 83848.9 1261616.0 1345464.9 94.1 5.3 Total BASELINE COSTS 2715153206.0 10478183928.0 13193337134.0 5625302.2 Physical Contirgencies 19746499.9 25371802.2 77.8 100.0 61149638.4 409437866.6 470587505.0 117595.5 Price Contingencies 787380.5 904976.0 87.0 3.6 814794067.3 247556525.1 1062350592.4 1163057.9 879924.0 2042981.9 43.1 8.1

Total PROJECTS COSTS 3591096911.4 11135178320.0 14726275231.0 6905955.6 21413804.5 28319760.1 75.6 111.6

3/30/1993 22:48

z, SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Sumwary Account by Project Component Leone

INPUITS& RESEARCH ASSP TECHNOLOGY AGRO-PROCESSI EXTENSION COORDINATION TRANSFER FEEDERROADS HG LINKS IHIT r==sra======ssssasasssss======w===zs==w==r======1. INVESTMENTCOSTS

A. BUILDINGS& CIVIL UWRKS 156615153.9 1768000000.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 S. VEHICLES 1150592040.0 72651571.2 58572800.0 9584640.0 30883840.0 C. EQUIPMENTAND SUPPLIES 546929939.6 523240400.1 3444042672.5 27546671.4 16175078.4 D. TECHNICALASSISTANCE 535147800.0 598045500.0 694412160.0 44850000.0 599040000.0 E. TRAINING 355992000.0 0.0 34612500.0 40799200.0 0.0

Total INVESTMENTCOSTS 2745276933.5 2961937471.3 4231640132.4 122780511.4 646098918.4

II. RECURRENTCOSTS co A. CIVIL UWRKS O&N 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 29176145.3 B. VEHICLE O0 1191852017.2 68201662.5 54985216.0 8530329.6 0.0 C. EQUIPMENT0LM 341823304.2 3053107M7.5 198170296.7 12436736.0 11916687.0 D. OTHEROPERATING COSTS 0.0 140400000.0 10000000.0 0.0 12450000.0 E. SALARIESAND ALLOWANCES 0.0 99600000.0 0.0 750000.0 0.0

Total RECURRENTCOSTS 1533675321.4 613512435.9 263155512.7 21717065.6 53542832.3

Total BASELINECOSTS 4278952254.8 3575449907.2 4494795645.1 144497577.0 699641750.7 Physical Contineencies 100537614.4 206594596.6 159245780.6 1856565.6 2352945.9 Price Contingencies 340034957.8 285190289.5 358506174.6 45794935.8 32824234.8

Total PROJECTCOSTS 4719524827.0 4067234795.3 5012547600.3 192149078.3 734818931.4 =s-s=t======s=ussssuflus aatssssss3=3=lzs===fl=fl3sssssssssssfllf3f.z===s= Taxes 983226029.5 156293215.7 88167741.1 13923449.4 28101579.4 Foreign Exchange 2948698263.3 3186286822.9 4256799269.1 60223691.3 683170273.9 3/30/1993 22:48 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTORSUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Sumary Account by Project Component Leone

Physical Price Contingencies Contirnencies

Total S AmoKnt X Amount

1. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. BUILDINGS 4 CIVIL WORKS 1924615153.9 10.0 192461515.4 2.4 46939723.7 B. VEHICLES 1322284891.2 5.0 66114244.6 0.6 8231500.3 C. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES 4557934761.9 4.7 212011745.1 7.2 328608589.9 D. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 2471495460.0 0.0 0.0 10.0 247893289.0 E. TRAINING 431403700.0 0.0 0.0 58.3 251446014.6

Total INVESTMENT COSTS 1070M3967.0 4.4 470587505.0 8.2 883119117.5

11. RECURRENTCOSTS

A. CIVIL WORKS OIN 29176145.3 0.0 0.0 8.8 2567582.7 B. VEHICLE 08. 1323569225.2 0.0 0.0 4.2 55780167.8 C. EQUIPMIENTO&M 869657797.3 0.0 0.0 6.5 56377895.2 D. OTHER OPERATING COSTS 162850000.0 0.0 0.0 10.0 16238769.8 E. SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES 100350000.0 0.0 0.0 48.1 48267059.4

Total RECURRENTCOSTS 2485603167.9 0.0 0.0 7.2 179231475.0

Total BASELINE COSTS 13193337135.0 3.6 470587505.0 8.1 1062350592.5 Physical Contingencies 470587505.0 Price Contingencies 1062350592.5 1.9 20040929.6

Total PROJECT COSTS 14726275232.0 3.3 490628434.6 7.2 1062350592.4

Taxes 1269712015.1 2.7 33853992.0 Foreign Exchange 11135178320.0 3.7 417396405.7

3/30/1993 22:48 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Stnmery Accounts by Year

Totals Including Contingencies Leone

1993 1994 1995 1996 Totat 1. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. BUILDINGS & CIVIL UORKS 186994946.6 1977021446.4 0.0 0.0 B. VEHICLES 2164016393.0 1375288080.3 21342555.7 0.0 0.0 1396630636.0 C. EQUIPMENTAND SUPPLIES 2563637216.0 809317573.0 842873905.8 D. TECHNICAL 882726402.0 5098555096.8 ASSISTANCE 994489681.0 808380420.6 602429904.5 314088742.9 2719388748.9 E. TRAINING 118286579.9 147672181.5 182953778.1 233937175.1 682849714.6 Total INVESTMENT COSTS 5238696503.8 3763734177.3 1628257588.4 1430752320.0 12061440589.0 … s======gss=gS== s======Stsst=====r=== == 0 11. RECURRENTCOSTS

A. CIVIL WORKSO&N 7446861.4 7754415.6 8087674.3 8454776.7 B. VEHICLE 31743728.0 O&N 329247425.5 339283875.3 348938178.4 361879913.8 C. EDUIPHENT O&I 1379349393.0 242402946.9 253193368.9 265765492.3 164673884.6 926035692.6 D. OTHER OPERATING COSTS 53640818.7 56078067.3 58616103.4 10753780.4 179088769.8 E. SALARIES AND ALLOUANCES 39654975.0 50675244.7 58047334.5 239505.1 148617059.4 Totat RECURRENT COSTS 672393027.5 706984971.9 739454782.9 546001860.6 2664834642.9 Total PROJECTCOSTS 5911089530.8 4470719149.1 2367712371.2 1976754180.6 14726275231.0 30 9 2======s=2=333=.u=sz=z=s=48===s=====mtssus=sus=====s=3======t

3/30/1993 22:48 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Sumary Accounts by Year

Totals Including Contingencies US Dollar

1993 1994 1995 1996 Total

1. INVESTMENTCOSTS

A. BUILDINGS & CIVIL WORKS 359605.7 3801964.3 0.0 0.0 4161570.0 B. VEHICLES 2644784.8 41043.4 0.0 0.0 2685828.1 C. E)UIPHENT AND SUPPLIES 4930071.6 1556379.9 1620911.4 1697550.8 9804913.6 D. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 1912480.2 1554577.7 1158519.0 604016.8 5229593.7 E. TRAINING 227474.2 283985.0 351834.2 449879.2 1313172.5

Total INVESTMENTCOSTS 10074416.4 7237950.3 3131264.6 275144.8 23195078.1 t====r2r-S2-==-2S* U SUSssSSWssSSStSWSS===SS=ssstS===== (A

11. RECURRENTCOSTS

A. CIVIL WORKS OIN 14320.9 14912.3 15553.2 16259.2 61045.6 B. VEHICLE DIN 633168.1 652469.0 671035.0 695922.9 2652595.0 C. EQUIPNENT DIN 466159.5 486910.3 511087.5 316680.5 1780837.9 D. OTHER OPERATING COSTS 103155.4 107842.4 112723.3 20680.3 344401.5 E. SALARIES AND ALLOUANCES 76259.6 97452.4 111629.5 460.6 285802.0

Total RECURRENTCOSTS 1293063.5 1359586.5 1422028.4 1050003.6 5124682.0 ===z===SSSS SZUUU=----UU rMMUSZlSrS* WuSSSXuSSZus*sSmfSS====2==S=flu Total PROJECT COSTS 11367479.9 8597536.8 4553293.0 3801450.3 28319760.1 act= ====:fls= sgsstzsssstssnstsstsusmssssswxumssflsm.snas.ut=s .====s==fl

3/30/1993 22:48 x- SIERRA LEONE AGRICJLTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Leone

Sunmary Accounts by Year

Base Costs Foreign Exchange

1993 1994 1995 1996 Total X Amout ===z==rslsa.2flt======r======z======-====z=z=s======2======:==tt==ss======:==== I. INVESTMENTCOSTS

A. BUILDINGS& CIVIL WORKS 156615153.9 1768000000.0 0.0 0.0 1924615153.9 95.7 1841394380.8 B. VEHICLES 1303962951.2 18321940.0 0.0 0.0 1322284891.2 65.1 860841246.7 C. EQUIPMENTAND SUPPLIES 2409697169.5 718532660.4 714852465.9 714852465.9 4557934761.8 86.4 3939014684.0 D. TECHNICALASSISTANCE 964337880.0 737968080.0 503166000.0 266023500.0 2471495460.0 83.7 2067414960.0 E. TRAINING 100593025.0 99228025.0 107168425.0 124414225.0 431403700.0 4.9 21299200.0

Total INVESTMENTCOSTS 4935206179.5 3342050705.4 1325186890.9 1105290190.9 10707M73967.0 81.5 8729964471.4 II. RECURRENT COSTS

F. CIVIL UORKS 0& 7294036.3 7294036.3 7294036.3 7294036.3 29176145.3 n7.1 22483435.5 G. VEHICLE O&M 327319528.0 332083232.4 332083232.4 332083232.4 1323569225.2 70.2 929483303.6 H. EQUIPMENT OUH 23868675.4 241519120.7 244247089.9 145204801.3 869657797.3 75.4 655852718.2 I. OTHER OPERATINGCOSTS 52412500.0 52412500.0 52412500.0 5612500.0 162850000.0 86.2 140400000.0 J. SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES 33450000.0 33450000.0 33325000.0 125000.0 100350000.0 0.0 0.0 Total RECURRENTCOSTS 659162849.8 666758889.5 669361858.6 490319570.0 2485603167.9 70.3 1748219457.3

Total BASELINE COSTS 5594369028.9 4008809594.9 1994548749.6 1595609761.0 13193337134.0 79.4 10478183928.0 Physical Contingencies 185459528.4 213642730.0 35742623.3 35742623.3 470587505.0 87.0 409437866.6 Price Contingencies 131260973.5 248266824.2 337420998.4 345401796.3 1062350592.4 23.3 247556525.1

Total PROJECTCOSTS 5911089530.8 4470719149.1 2367712371.2 1976754180.6 14726275231.0 75.6 11135178320.0 ==-z------sss-----st----=ass=s==sssss vvmz=zmms=zzzzmsss==Z======w Taxes 824014893.9 150654690.2 155741308.3 139301122.7 1269712015.1 0.0 0.0 Foreign Exchange 4399618885.1 3783966973.6 1597878419.7 1353714041.9 11135178320.0 100.0 11135178320.0 3/30/1993 22:49 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL S_ary Accoumts Cost Stmary

Leone US Dollar X Total ------X Foreign Base Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Exchange Costs ------...... 1. INVESTMENTCOSTS

A. BUILDINGS& CIVIL WORKS 83220M.1 1841394380.8 192615153.9 165650.6 3535532.3 3701183.0 95.7 14.6 B. VEHICLES 461443644.5 860841246.7 132228891.2 888360.4 1654495.1 2542855.6 65.1 10.0 C. EQUIPMENTAND SUPPLIES 618920077.8 3939014684.0 4557934761.8 1464138.6 7301120.6 8765259.2 86.4 34.5 D. TECHNICALASSISTANCE 404080500.0 2067414960.0 2471495460.0 795248.3 3957627.6 4752875.9 83.7 18.7 E. TRAINING 410104500.0 21299200.0 431403700.0 790392.5 39230.0 8296Z2.5 4.9 3.3

Total INVESTMENTCOSTS 1977769495.4 8729964471.4 1070M3967.0 4103790.4 16488005.7 20591796.1 81.5 81.2

11. RECURRENTCOSTS

A. CIVIL WORKS0U1 6692709.8 22483435.5 29176145.3 16832.4 39275.6 56108.0 77.1 0.2 S. VEHICLE 0& 394085921.6 929483303.6 1323569225.2 776262.7 1769062.7 2545325.4 70.2 10.0 C. EQUIPMENTOZ 213805079.2 655852718.2 869657797.3 492262.8 1180156.0 1672418.8 75.4 6.6 D. OTHEROPERATING COSTS 22450000.0 140400000.0 162850000.0 43173.1 270000.0 313173.1 86.2 1.2 E. SALARIESAND ALLOWANCES 100350000.0 0.0 100350000.0 192980.8 0.0 192980.8 0.0 0.8

Total RECURRENTCOSTS 737383710.6 1748219457.3 245603167.9 1521511.8 3258494.3 4780006.1 70.3 18.8

Total BASELINECOSTS 2715153206.0 10478183928.0 13193337134.0 5625302.2 19746499.9 25371802.2 77.8 100.0 Physical Contirgencies 61149638.4 409437866.6 470587505.0 117595.5 787380.5 904976.0 87.0 3.6 Price Contingencies 814794067.3 247556525.1 1062350592.4 1163057.9 879924.0 2042981.9 43.1 8.1

Total PROJECTSCOSTS 3591096911.4 11135178320.0 14726275231.0 6905955.6 21413804.5 28319760.1 75.6 111.6

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...... =~Zz Z=z====zmwXvZZZ 3/30/1993 22:49

x-. SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Projects Components by Year

Totals Including Contingencies Leone

1993 1994 1995 1996 Total …--======-=__=.sr======s==…======A. TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER 2697344944.4 763272166.9 595353260.6 663554454.5 4719524826.1 B. FEEDERROADS 1126946591.7 2414780655.5 466374820.2 59132727.9 4067234795.3 C. INPUTS& AGRO-PROCESSING 1817803572.2 1083452020.0 1086938795.5 1024353212.7 5012547600.3 D. RESEARCHEXTENSION LINKS 56841804.0 40827195.9 45318440.4 49161638.0 192149078.3 E. ASSP COORDINATIONUNIT 212152618.6 168387110.7 173727054.6 180552147.5 734818931.4

Total PROJECTSCOSTS 5911089530.8 4470719149.1 2367712371.2 1976754180.6 14726275231.0 3======2=2======

3/30/1993 22:49 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURE SECTORSUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Projects Conponents by Year

TotaLs Including Contingencies US Dollar

1993 1994 1995 1996 Total

A. TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER 518n7201.8 1467831.1 1144910.1 1276066.3 9076009.3 B. FEEDER ROADS 2167205.0 4643809.0 896874.7 113716.8 7821605.4 C. INPUTS & AGRO-PROCESSING 3495776.1 2083561.6 2090266.9 1969910.0 9639514.6 D. RESEARCH EXTENSION LINKS 109311.2 78513.8 87150.8 94541.6 369517.5 E. ASSP COORDINATION UNIT 407985.8 323821.4 334090.5 347215.7 1413113.3

Total PROJECTS COSTS 11367479.9 8597536.8 4553293.0 3801450.3 28319760.1 ======3/30/1993-22:49

3/30/1993 22:49 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Leone

Project Cowponents by Year

Base Costs Total

1993 1994 1995 1996 Leone USDotlar === =re======A. TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER 2548203987.5 702862995.9 504073518.3 523811752.6 4278952254.3 8228754.3 B. FEEDERROADS 1058768144.7 2126566173.4 352566173.4 37549415.6 3575449907.2 6875865.2 C. INPUTS& AGRO-PROCESSING 1727100278.1 984918390.7 943336488.2 839440488.2 4494795645.1 8643837.8 D. RESEARCHEXTENSION LINKS 51974873.0 30799953.8 30799234.7 30923515.5 144497577.0 277880.0 E. ASSP COORDINATIONUMIT 208321745.5 163662081.1 163773335.1 163884589.1 699641750.7 1345464.9

Total BASELINECOSTS 5594369028.9 4008809594.9 1994548749.6 1595609761.0 13193337134.0 25371802.2 Physical Contingencies 185459528.4 213642730.0 35742623.3 35742623.3 470587505.0 904976.0 Price Contingencies 131260973.5 248266824.2 337420998.4 345401796.3 1062350592.4 2042981.9

Total PROJECTCOSTS 5911089530.8 4470719149.1 2367712371.2 1976754180.6 14726275231.0 28319760.1 ======z======Taxes 824014893.9 150654690.2 155741308.3 139301122.7 1269712015.1 2441753.9 ForeignExchange 4399618885.13783966973.6 1597878419.71353714041.9 11135178320.0 21413804.5

3/30/1993 22:49 SIERRALEONE AGRICUCLTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Financing Plan by Disbursemmnt Category US Dot tar

IDA IFAD GOSL Govermanmt Total Local ------For. (Exct. Duties AiDnt X Amount X Amount X Amount X Anoit X Exch. Taxes) & Tax. =--=z= .... = ...... ssa...... =...... sS -=====-== ..... == t======z======.=.==.==. A. CIVIL WlRS 3212253.5 77.2 688559.7 16.5 0.0 0.0 260756.6 6.3 4161570.0 14.7 3957842.7 149786.4 53940.8 1 B. VEHICLES 1745568.4 65.0 12312.9 0.5 0.0 0.0 927946.6 34.5 2685828.1 9.5 1745568.4 18607.8 921651.9 C. EGUIPHENT 7683836.9 78.4 1540595.6 15.7 0.0 0.0 580481.1 5.9 9804913.6 34.6 8122372.0 1339991.0 342550.6 D. TECHNICALASSISTANCE 3480490.4 53.2 672866.6 10.3 0.0 0.0 2389409.2 36.5 6542766.3 23.1 4113806.3 2428960.0 0.0 w- E. O01 COSTS 3431470.0 67.0 216106.6 4.2 0.0 0.0 1477105.4 28.8 5124682.0 18.1 3474215.0 526856.4 1123610.6

Total Disbursement 19553619.4 69.0 313044 .5 11.1 0.0 0.0 5635699.2 19.9 28319760.1 100.0 21413804.5 4464201.7 2441753.9 =za=g======r======s=t=sts=====zzz=====- ...... ==== .....=z======3/30/1993 22:49

z t>1 x SIERRALEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT1501-SL Financing Plan by Project Coonents US Dot tar

IDA IFAD GOSL Coverrant Total Local ------For. (ExcF. Duties Amount t Amnt X Amount X Aomta Amont X Exch. Taxes) Tax.

A. TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER 5467481.5 60.2 360394.2 4.0 0.0 0.0 3248133.6 35.8 9076009.3 32.0 5670573.6 1514616.4 1890819.3 B. FEEDERROADS 5187223.1 66.3 1012359.1 12.9 0.0 0.0 1622023.1 20.7 7821605.4 27.6 6127474.7 1393566.8 300563.9 C. INIPUTS& AGRO-PROCESSING 7666296.3 79.5 1532106.7 15.9 0.0 0.0 441111.6 4.6 9639514.6 34.0 8186152.4 1283808.8 169553.3 D. RESEARCHEXTENSION LINKS 115814.8 31.3 26792.3 7.3 0.0 0.0 226910.4 61.4 369517.5 1.3 115814.8 226926.8 26775.9 E. ASSP COORDINATIONUNIT 1116803.7 79.0 198789.1 14.1 0.0 0.0 97520.6 6.9 1413113.3 5.0 1313789.0 45282.8 54041.5 Total Disbursement 19553619.4 69.0 3130441.5 11.1 0.0 0.0 5635699.2 19.9 28319760.1 100.0 21413804.5 4464201.7 2441753.9 …======saasa==S=saa==aaaaaa=aaa=aa==f=taaa======aaaaaaaaaa== = aaaa===raa=z=a ======…

3/30/1993 22:49

0c

I SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUWPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL Disbursement by Financier by Semester US Dollar

IDA IFAD GOSL Government Total

Ammt Amount Amount A.KKnt Amot

Semester

1 1979128.1 159389.7 0.0 900383.5 3038901.3 2 3923838.2 529056.4 0.0 1230845.3 5683739.9 3 2923394.9 501478.3 0.0 839561.7 4264434.9 4 3145851.3 596026.0 0.0 556891.0 4298768.4 5 2966642.7 562937.3 0.0 615783.0 4145363.0 6 1452314.6 235826.0 0.0 588505.9 2276646.5 7 1224313.8 197822.2 0.0 440269.5 1862405.5 8 1254805.5 204312.2 0.0 441607.4 1900725.2 9 683330.2 143593.3 0.0 21851.9 848775.4 10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

TOTAL 19553619.4 3130441.5 0.0 5635699.2 28319760.1

3/30/1993 22:49

L4 SIERRA LEONE AGRICULTURESECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT CREDIT 1501-SL FinancingPlan by Foreign Exchange / Local / Taxes US Dollar

IDA IFAD GOSL Government Totat

Amount Amount Amount Aotint Amount ======2 = 2======r===:======t=zfl==ft==u=zfls..53

I Foreign 18696406.3 2637576.5 0.0 79821.7 21413804.5 11 Local (Exci. Taxes) 857213.0 492865.0 0.0 3114123.7 4464201.7 1 III Taxes 0.0 0.0 0.0 2441753.9 2441753.9

Total Project 19553619.4 3130441.5 0.0 5635699.2 28319760.1 ======…s====~=S======2==t=2US

3/30/1993 22:49

x-.