ANNUAL REPORT 2011 - IFAD

ice and vegetables. Some 60 service providers and
140 young women and men have been trained in
inland valley swamp rehabilitation techniques. In
addition, about 1,500 hectares of cocoa and coffee
plantations have been rehabilitated and rice seed
has been distributed. In the Kono pilot, for example,
farmers have recently harvested and reimbursed 100
bushels of rice seed that were then redistributed to
young people.
In order to build on these successes in Sierra
Leone, the Smallholder Commercialization
Programme was proposed for funding by the GAFSP.
The programme was approved in May 2011 and is
supervised by IFAD. The major objectives are
improved food security and income-generation, as
well as value addition and commercialization for
food crops and cash crops.
Local and national policy processes
The ability of smallholder farmers to compete with
larger producers and other regional sources of
supply, such as imports, depends on improving their
attractiveness to input and produce markets and
financial service providers. This means strengthening
their organizations and helping them demonstrate
their ability to manage for commercial results.
Together with our governmental partners, we are
working to foster the growth of inclusive, sustainable
and competitive smallholder producers’
organizations in the region. This is a complement to
our long-standing work with public service providers
and farmers’ organization platforms at national level.
For example, the ongoing National Programme to
Support Agricultural Value Chain Actors in Guinea
focuses on strengthening unions and federations of
farmers’ associations and financing economic
activities identified in their action plans. Management
and supervision of certain programme activities
(annual programme planning, procurement, financial
management, and monitoring and evaluation) are
delegated directly to farmer apex organizations with
government support. The programme is helping
farmers’ organizations to take the lead in developing
targeted value chains, improving their productivity
and competitiveness, and strengthening their
professional skills. Additional financing will scale up
the same approach in the Upper Guinea region, with
work starting in 2012.
PROGRAMME OF WORK FOR 2011
East and Southern Africa
22 countries: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda,
Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, 2 Swaziland,
Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia
and Zimbabwe
Overview
The worst drought in 60 years plagued East Africa in
2011, causing a severe food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya
and Somalia. The United Nations officially
declared a famine in southern Somalia, the first
famine declaration in nearly 30 years. The
humanitarian response was hindered by acute lack
of funding and security issues in the area.
With much of the region depending on rainfed
agriculture, cereal production was severely affected.
Food prices were high and volatile even in countries
not suffering drought, driven by demand from
drought-affected neighbours. Maize prices in Kenya
and Uganda hit record levels.
In addition to price volatility, other secondary
impacts of the drought were felt across the region.
Decreased hydroelectric capacity led to power cuts,
domestic water shortages were common and
government revenues saw sharp drops.
Southern Africa fared better, with favourable
rains, good cereal production levels and more stable
prices. Agricultural production in Malawi and
Zambia, in particular, benefited from highly
subsidized, but unsustainable, fertilizer distribution.
Portfolio management highlights
• 52 ongoing programmes and projects in
17 countries in the region at the end of 2011
• US$1,145.6 million invested by IFAD in the
region’s ongoing portfolio
• 5 new programmes and projects in Ethiopia,
Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia for a
total IFAD investment of US$218.5 million
• supplementary financing worth US$5.1 million
provided to an ongoing programme in the
Comoros and an ongoing project in Rwanda
• 2 new results-based country strategic
opportunities programmes (COSOPs) for
Mozambique and Zambia
2 The Republic of South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 and an IFAD Member State on 22 February 2012.
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