ReportNo. 1411a-BEN F 1 L E Appraisalof a FeederRoads FILCOPY Project People'sRepublic of Benin May 10, 1977 Public Disclosure Authorized ResidentMission Western Afnrca FeederRoad Section FOR OFFICIALUSE ONLY Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Do«unfnt of the WorkdBank Thisdocument has a restricteddistribution and may be used by recipents onlyin theperformance of therrofficiai duties. Its contentsmay not otherwesebe disclosedwithout Worid Bankauthorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit: CFA Francs (CFAF) US$1.00 CFAF 245 CFAF 1 million = US$4,081 Fiscal Year January 1 - December 31 System of Weights and Measures: Metric Metric US Eequivalents .1meter (m) 2 3.28 feet (ft) 1 square meter (! ) 10.8 square feet (sq. ft.) 1 cubic meter (m ) 35.3 cubic feet (cu ft) 1 kilometer (km) 2 0.620 mile (mi) 1 square kilometer (km2 ) 0.386 square mile (sq. mi) 1 hectare (ha) 2.47 acres 1 metric ton (t) 2,204 pounds (lb) Abbreviations and Acronyms CARDER Centre d'Action Regionale pour le Developpement Rural DLT Directorate of Land Transport DRB Directorate of Roads and Bridges FAC Fonds d'Aide et de Cooperation FED Fonds Europeen de Developpement ME Ministry,of Equipment MRD Ministry of Rural Development OCBN Organisation Commune Benin-Niger des Chemins de Fer et des Transports SONACO Societe Nationale pour le Developpment du Coton SONAGRI Societe Nationale pour le Developpement Agricole SONICOG Societe National Industrielle pour les Corps Gras STI Services des Techniques Industrielles USAID United States Agency for International Development v.p.d. Vehicles per day FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BENIN APPRAISAL OF A FEEDER ROADS PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................. .................... i-iii 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1 2. BACKGROUND ........................................................2 A. Economic and Geographical Setting ............ ..... 2 B. Agricultural Characteristics ...................... 2 C. The Transport System .............................. 3 3. THE ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT SYSTEMS .................... 3 A. The Road Network .................................. 3 B. Road Traffic ..............0 ............................ 4 C. Road Transport .................. ..........................4 D. Road Administration ......... .........................O... 5 E. Road Maintenance .......... ................................... 5 F. Road Engineering and Construction ................. 6 G. Financing ............. .................. ....... 6 4. THE PROJECT ............................................ 7 A. General Description ............ ............... ... 7 B. Improvement and Maintenance of Feeder Roads ... .... 8 C. Technical Assistance ........ .. ........................... 9 D. Equipment Purchases . .................. 9 E. Execution ......................................a ................ lO F. Project Monitoring and Planning .. il................. G. Cost Estimates ............. .. .............................13 H. Procurement .......... .............................. 14 I. Financing and Disbursements ....................... 15 5. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EVALUATION ......................... 15 A. Framework .................................. 16 B. Benefits ...... o.................................. 16 C. Costs . ..... ......... .18 D. Conclusions .... ........... ........... 18 6. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATION ... ............... 19 Thibdocumnt bu a rutUklsd dJultbuUon nd May be ussdby rocipientonly intheperfonnnhnce | t *à-. _A^o A a"..... - -- _ ... -_ - _. __......... AI ------ et -_ -- _ :_._]_..s__.___ -2- TABLES 1. Highway Network, 1976 2. Motor Vehicle Fleet (1967, 1970, 1975) 3. Expenditureson Roads, 1970-1976,and their Financing 4. Government Revenues from Road Users, 1975 5. Road Design Standards 6. 1978 Improvement Program 7. Provisional 1979 Improvement Program 8. Provisional 1980 Improvement Program 9. Feeder Road Maintenance Program 10. Equipment and Tools to be Purchased 11. Estimated Average Annual Costs for Each Brigade Type 12. Project Costs 13. Implementation Schedule 14. Estimated Schedule of Disbursements ANNEXES 1. AgriculturalBackground 2. Light (Labour Intensive),Intermediate and Reavy Brigades 3. Details of Technical Assistance to Ministry of Equipment 4. Guidelines for Feeder Road Project Monitoring, Evaluation and Planning 5. Details of Economic and Social Evaluation CHART Organizationof the Directorate of Roads and Bridges (DRB) - 1976 MAP IBRD 12709 - People's Republic of Benin: Feeder Roads Project PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BENIN APPRAISAL OF A FEEDER ROADS PROJECT SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS i. Benin is among the poorest nations of the world with an estimated 1975 per capita gross national product of US$140 equivalent. The agricultural sector provides a living for approximately 80% of the population of 3.1 million and contributes 30% of the gross domestic product and 90% of the value of exports. The principal cash crops are palm products, cotton and groundnuts, grown mostly by peasant farmers. Cotton and groundnuts are grown mainly in the centre and the north, and palm products in the south. Tomatoes and rice are assuming increasing importance. Soils are generally fertile and given adequate applications of fertilizer and pesticides, crop yields could be considerably higher than those currently obtained. ii. Government policy is directed towards increasing domestic food pro- duction in order to lessen dependance on imported foods and developing industrial crops such as cotton, oil-palms and groundnuts to increase peasant farmers' incomes and provide export earnings. The Ministry of Rural Develop- ment is responsible for policy matters and coordination within the agricultural sector and operates, through the Directorate of Agriculture, specialized crop agencies and the Centres d'Action Regionale pour le Developpement Rural (CARDER). The CARDERs are responsible for agricultural transport, marketing, the supply of inputs and agricultural extension services at farm level. iii. Development programs in the agricultural sector have been financed mainly from foreign sources including IDA, and investment amounted to about US$42.8 million equivalent over the period 1971-1975. This has included two IDA-financed projects: the Hinvi Agricultural Development Project (Cr. 144-DA) concerned with palm products and the Zou-Borgou Cotton Project (Cr. 307-DA) concerred with cotton and food crops but with a significant feeder road element. iv. Prices paid to the farmers and by the consumer have been fixed for all crops since August 1976. The Government pricing system is intended to keep prices paid by the consumer under control while providing the farmer with adequate incentive to grow both food and cash crops. However, during the last three years the Gcvernment's pricing policies have not encouraged cotton production which fell 50% during that period. Crop prices were revised in November 1976, and with the exception of maize they now compare favorably with free market prices in neighboring countries. v. Although Benin's main and secondary road system is reasonably adequate, there are serious deficiencies in the tertiary and feeder road network serving agricultural areas; this has acted as a brake on agricultural development. The proposed Feeder Roads Project is designed as a first stage in improving rural access roads. The project will permit the ready transport of agricultural inputs and extension services to farmers and evacuation of produce, thus stimulating agricultural production and increasing farmers' incomes. The proposed roads will serve approximately 200,000 inhabitants. - ii - vi. The proposed project consists of a three-year program for the constructionand improvementof about 845 km of feeder roads (includinga minimum of 160 km of Zou-Borgou Cotton Project roads and their subsequent maintenance)and maintenance of 425 km of existing feeder roads. In order to provide the necessary flexibility in planning and executing feeder road programs, only the first year's (1978) program has been defined. The ten- tative programs for 1979 and 1980 will be subject to revision by the moni- toring and planning unit that will be an important and integral part of the project. A methodologyhas been proposed for project monitoring and program planning. Changes in future programs would be discussed and agreed by an InterministerialTechnical Committee and approved by the Association. vii. Project costs are estimated at US$6.1 million equivalent,net of taxes, with a foreign exchange cost of US$4.0 million (66%); taxes and duties are estimated at US$0.6 million equivalent. The proposed credit of US$5.5 million would finance 100% of foreign exchange costs of the project and about 70% of local costs. The Government'scontribution would be US$0.6 million equivalent or about 10% of total project costs, net of taxes. The proposed project includes contingenciesamounting to US$1.2 million. viii. The Government has agreed to examine ways in which the local popula- tion directly benefitting from the road improvementscould contribute to the cost of improvementor subsequent maintenance. This could possibly be or- ganized through the regional CARDERS. ix. Execution of the project vould be the responsibilityof the Ministry of Equipmentwhich will create a new Division of Feeder Roads to implement the project. With few exceptions all work will be carried out by force account. The works will be carried out