Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: 78161-ML PROJECT PAPER ON A PROPOSED ADDITIONAL CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 39.8 MILLION (US$60 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE REPUBLIC OF MALI FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF THE WEST AFRICA AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PROGRAM PROJECT (WAAPP-2A) June 5, 2013 This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective April 30, 2013) Currency Unit = United States dollars (US$) CFAF 505 = US$1 US$1 = SDR 0.66269 FISCAL YEAR January 1 - December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AFAAS African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services AIPO/OAPI African Intellectual Property Organization APL Adaptable Program Lending AWP&B Annual Work Plan and Budget CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program CARGS Competitive Agricultural Research Grant Schemes CAS Country Assistance Strategies CAVA Cassava-Adding Value for Africa CERAAS Centre d'Etude Rfgional pour l'Amlioration de l'Adaptation a la Scheresse/Regional Center for Drought Adaptation Studies CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CNRA Comit national_de la recherche agricole/ National Council for Agricultural Research CORAF/WECARD Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Diveloppement Agricole/West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development EAs Environmental Assessments EMPs Environmental Management Plans ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework ESMPs Environmental and Social Management Plans ECOWAP Economic Community of West African Agricultural Policy ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FARA Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa FBOs Farmers-based organizations GDP Gross Domestic Product IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IDA International Development Association IER Institut d'Economie Rurale / Institute of Rural Economy IFR Interim Financial Report ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ILRI International Livestock Research Institute i IPR Intellectual Property Rights IRRI International Rice Research Institute ISTA International Seed Testing Association ISRA Institut Senegalais de Recherche Agricole / Senegal Institute for Agricultural Research LABOSEM Laboratoire des Semences NARS National Agricultural Research System NCB National Competitive Bidding NCoS National Centers of Specialization NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development NGOs Non-Government Organizations MOA Ministry of Agriculture M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoU Memoranda of Understanding ORAF Operational Risk Assessment Framework PAD Project Appraisal Document PAPAM Projet d'Accroissement de la Productivite Agricole au Mali/ Mali Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Project PHRD Japanese Policy and Human Resources Development Fund PNIA Programme National d'Investissement Agricole/ National Agricultural Investment Program PNISA Programme National d'Investissements dans le Secteur Agricole (Mali)/ National Agricultural Sector Investment Program (Mali) PDO Project Development Objectives PIM Project Implementation Manual PMP Pest Management Plan RAP Resettlement Action Plan R&D Research and Development RCoE Regional Centers of Excellence RSC Regional Steering Committee TTL Task Team Leader WAAPP West African Agricultural Productivity Program WAEMU West African Economic and Monetary Union Vice President: Makhtar Diop Country Directors: Colin Bruce -Regional Integration Ousmane Diagana-Mali Sector Director: Jamal Saghir Sector Manager: Martien Van Nieuwkoop Task Team Leader: Abdoulaye Toure 11  REPUBLIC OF MALI The Second Phase of The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) Additional Financing TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Paper Data Sheet ................................ ..... iv Project Paper I. Introduction ......................................................... 1 II. Background and Rationale for Additional Financing .....................................1 III. Proposed Changes .....................................................5 IV. Appraisal Summary ....................................................6 ANNEX 1: RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING ............l.....................l ANNEX 2: OPERATIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (ORAF) .................19 ANNEX 3: DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................22 ANNEX 4: IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ......................................33 ANNEX 5: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, DISBURSEMENT AND PROCUREMENT ASSESSMENTS OF THE WAAPP-2A IMPLEMENTING ENTITIES .........................................45 111  REPUBLIC OF MALI Second Phase of The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) Additional Financing ADDITIONAL FINANCING DATA SHEET Basic Information - Additional Financing (AF) Country Directors: Colin Bruce (AFCRI); Sectors: Agricultural extension and Ousmane Diagana - Mali research (70%), Agro-industry, marketing, Sector Director: Jamal Saghir and trade (20%), Public administration- Sector Manager: Martien Van Nieuwkoop Agriculture, fishing and forestry (10%) Team Leader: Abdoulaye Toure Themes: Rural services and infrastructure Project ID: P145160 (30%), Regional integration (28%), Expected Effectiveness Date: 31 December Technology diffusion (27%), Rural 2013 policies and institutions (10%), Climate Lending Instrument: Investment Project change (5%) Financing Environmental category: B-partial Additional Financing Type: Scale Up assessment Expected Closing Date: 31 December, 2018 Joint IFC: Joint Level: Basic Information - Original Project Project ID: P129565 Environmental category: B-partial assessment Project Name: The Second Phase of the Expected Closing Date: 31 December West Africa Agricultural Productivity 2017 Program Series of Operations (WAAPP-2A) Lending Instrument: TPF Joint IFC: Joint Level: AF Project Financing Data []Loan [X] Credit []Grant [ ] Guarantee [ ] Other: Proposed terms: final maturity of 40 years including a grace period of 10 years. AF Financing Plan (US$m) Source Total Amount (US $m) Total Project Cost: 65.9 Cofinancing: Borrower: 5.0 Beneficiaries: 0.9 Total Bank Financing: IDA (new) 60 1This proposed operation is an additional financing to the already approved WAAPP-2A project (P129565) that includes Ghana and Senegal. Therefore, the activities under each component complement the activities of the components under the already approved project. iv Client Information Recipient: Responsible Agency: Ministre de l'Agriculture Contact Person: Madame Demb61 Anne R6jane Kon&, Telephone No.: 66 73 79 10 Fax No.: Email: r6jane.kone@cnra.mali.org AF Estimated Disbursements (Bank FY/US$m) FY 14 15 16 17 18 19 Annual 5 10 15 15 10 5 Cumulative 5 15 30 45 55 60 Project Development Objective and Description Original project development objective (PDO): The development objective of WAAPP-2A is to scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries' priority agricultural commodity areas. The priority commodity for Mali is rice (along with root and tuber crops for Ghana and drought resistant cereals for Senegal). Project description: The project constitutes the second phase of the Program and consists of the following parts: Component 1: Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies Carrying out of a program aimed at strengthening the mechanisms for cross-border exchange of technologies, so as to allow the Participating Countries to benefit fully from the regional cooperation in technology generation and exchange, encompassing the provision of goods, consultants' services, training, and the financing of Operational Costs Component 2: National Centers of Specialization (NCOs) Consolidation of the strengthening of the operational capacities of the NCOs of the Participating Countries and support in their transformation into Regional Centers of Excellence on the basis of graduation criteria, encompassing the provision of works, goods, consultants' services, non- consulting services, training (including academic training), and the financing of Operational Costs and Small Grants. Component 3: Demand-Driven Technology Generation and Adoption Carrying out of a program aimed to bridge the gap between research and farmers field productivity levels, by means of broadening the range of adapted technologies across selected priority commodities and the scaling-up of their dissemination and adoption, and encompassing the provision of works, goods, consultants' services, non-consulting services, training, study tours and workshops and the financing of Operational Costs and Grants. Component 4: Project Coordination, Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Establishment of an effective coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation system for the Project at both: (i) the regional; and (ii) the national levels, thereby ensuring the implementation at each level of suitable financial management and procurement systems by CORAF and the CNRA, timely reporting on Project activities, annual training programs for the CNRA and the staff of the agencies involved in Project implementation, accurate monitoring and evaluation of regional and national agricultural productivity, and carrying out of a communication strategy, all through the provision of vehicles and goods, consultants' services, non-consulting services, training, and the financing of Operational Costs. V Safeguards and Exceptions to Policies Safeguard policies triggered: Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) [X]Yes [ ] No Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) [ ]Yes [X] No Forests (OP/BP 4.36) [ ]Yes [X] No Pest Management (OP 4.09) [X]Yes [ ] No Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) [ ]Yes [X] No Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) [ ]Yes [X] No Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) [X]Yes [ ] No Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) [ ]Yes [X] No Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) [ ]Yes [X] No Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60) [ ]Yes [X] No Does the project require any waivers of Bank policies? [ ]Yes [X] No Have these been endorsed or approved by Bank management? [ ]Yes [ ] No Conditions and Legal Covenants: Financing Agreement Description of Date Due Reference Condition/Covenant 5.01 (a) Effectiveness Condition The Subsidiary Grant Agreement has been executed on behalf of the Recipient and CORAF. 5.01 (b) Effectiveness Condition The Execution Agreement has been executed on behalf of the Recipient and CNRA. Schedule 2, IV, B. 1 Withdrawal Condition Notwithstanding the provisions of Part A of this Section, no withdrawal shall be made for payments made prior to the date of this Agreement, except that withdrawals up to an aggregate amount not to exceed SDR300,000 may be made for payments made prior to this date but on or after June 1, 2013 for Eligible Expenditures under Category (2) (a). vi  I. Introduction 1. This Project Paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to provide an additional credit in an amount of US$60 million to the second phase of the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) (P129565). 2. The proposed additional credit is to finance the second phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program for Mali (WAAPP-2A Mali). The WAAPP is a regional Program which to date covers 13 of the 15 ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. The overall goal of the WAAPP is to contribute to increased agricultural productivity in the participating countries. Under the first phase of WAAPP, the Board approved three series of projects, including WAAPP-1A (Mali, Senegal and Ghana) in 2007, WAAPP-1B (Burkina Faso, C6te d'Ivoire and Nigeria) in 2010 and WAAPP-1C (Benin, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo) in 2011. Guinea joined the program in 2011 through a Japanese Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) grant to support rice development. 3. The second phase (WAAPP-2A) follows the successful completion of the first phase for the first series of countries, namely Ghana, Senegal and Mali. The WAAPP-2A Project was approved by the Board on May 22, 2012 for Ghana and Senegal, while Mali was postponed due to the temporary suspension of Bank activities in the country. 4. The AF will enhance the impact of the program by expanding its coverage to include Mali which is hosting the center of specialization for rice, the most important staple crop in the ECOWAS sub-region. The AF will help: (i) create the enabling environment for regional cooperation in technology generation and dissemination and transform the National Center of Specialization into a regional center of excellence; (ii) support the rapid increase of productivity by providing to producers quality seeds and a large number of improved technologies generated in the sub region; (iii) improve the country seed system and enhance the capacity of stakeholders including females, to increase the profitability of the targeted value chains; and (iv) support targeted emergency interventions for smallholder producers in the Northern regions affected by the conflict including specific activities targeting women and youth to improve their resilience. (See Annex 3, Box 3.2). For the purpose of the AF the project has been re-appraised to take into account the new socio-economic environment in the country. II. Background and Rationale for Additional Financing Country context 5. Mali is a large (1,241,238 square km) landlocked country. It has a rapidly growing population of about 15.8 million, unevenly distributed due to the fact that about 60 percent of its surface area is desert. Mali's per capita Gross National Income (GNI) was about US$610 in 2011. The country was ranked 182 out of 186 countries by the 2012 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Index. 6. A new Interim Strategy Note (ISN) is scheduled for presentation to the Board on June 18, 2013 together with a budget support operation. The ISN aims to both rapidly provide support to 1 meet the immediate needs of the people across the country and initiate new activities to better address long-term governance challenges. 7. From a macroeconomic standpoint, the Malian economy has proven resilient thus far. In 2012, the increase in the prices of gold and cotton in international markets had a positive impact on the Malian economy given that gold represents 80 percent of the country's export earnings and a significant share of tax revenues, while cotton is the second largest export. Although the country posted a 1.2-1.5 percent contraction of its real GDP, according to the most recent estimates dated March 2013, the negative impact of the political situation on economic activity was considerably mitigated by a dramatic rebound in agricultural production in 2012 (+14 percent) following a good season of rains, as well as an increase in gold production (+9 percent). Without this confluence of exogenous factors, the decline in GDP would have been much more drastic. Although the economic outlook depends, in the short term, on the progress in the political and security situation on the ground, the growth rate should return to its trend level of around 5 percent in 2013. 8. Despite these favorable external factors at the national level, the crisis had a severe effect on the agricultural sector in the Northern regions (Mopti, Tombouctou, Gao, Kidal) where a large number of producers were displaced or lost their agricultural assets including pumps for irrigation, planting material, and stocks of small ruminants and poultry. Strategic alignment 9. The proposed AF is fully consistent with the goals set out in the Bank's Interim Strategy Note (ISN, FY14-15), the Government's Agriculture Orientation Law (LOA, 2005) and the National Investment Program in Agriculture. Objective, design and scope of the original project 10. The original Project WAAPP-2A was approved by the Board on May 22, 2012. The corresponding IDA Credits of US$60 million each became effective on December 12, 2012 for Ghana and December 20, 2012 for Senegal. Project performance is satisfactory, with seven percent of project funds already disbursed. 11. The Project Development Objective (PDO) of WAAPP-2A is to scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries' priority agricultural commodity areas. This PDO also applies to WAAPP-2A Mali, and the priority commodity identified for Mali is rice. Reaching this objective implies: (i) strengthening the regional cooperation in the generation of technology, (ii) scaling-up dissemination and training programs focused on regional and national priority commodities, and (iii) developing collaborative mechanisms (through Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)) and synergies with the governments' subsidy programs as well as with other projects and programs intervening along the targeted value chains. 12. The original project has four components. These components are still relevant for WAAPP-2A Mali. However, under component 3 specific activities targeting Northern Mali have been identified to address the need to rehabilitate the productive capital destroyed by the conflict (See Annex 3, Box 3.2). 2 13. Component 1: Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies (US$7.2m + US$3.7m AF). This component aims at strengthening the mechanisms and procedures for the exchange of technologies, so as to allow participating countries to benefit fully from the regional cooperation in technology generation and exchange. The component includes two sub-components: (i) Implementation of ECOWAS common regulations on genetic materials, pesticides, fertilizer and veterinary products; and (ii) Implementation of regional WAAPP strategies, which consist of mainstreaming regional strategies into national action plans including activities related to (a) Knowledge management, information, and communications systems; (b) Mainstreaming gender; (c) Mainstreaming climate change; (d) Sustained mechanism for financing agriculture research and development; (e) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR); and (f) Environmental and social safeguards. 14. Component 2: National Centers of Specialization - NcoS (US$27.4m + US$14.9m AF). This component aims at strengthening regional cooperation in technology generation by aligning national priorities with the regional ones. It will support the upgrading of the National Centers of Specialization (NCoS) into Regional Centers of Excellence (RCoE). It will also strengthen relevant national research centers associated with NCoS in the development of the value chain and facilitate synergies with relevant CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and other international research centers. It will mainly finance construction and rehabilitation of core infrastructure, ISO certification of the NCoS, capacity building, grants to implement core research activities and capacity strengthening for the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF, Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Developpement Agricole). 15. Component 3: Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption (US$75.lm + US$37.3m AF). This component aims to strengthen priority-focused demand-driven agricultural Research &Development (R&D), scale-up technology dissemination and adoption within participating countries and facilitate access to improved genetic material. It includes three sub-components: (i) Demand-driven Technology Generation that will continue to strengthen the regional Competitive Agricultural Research Grant Schemes (CARGS) managed by CORAF and the established CARGS in each of the participating countries; (ii) Support to Accelerated Adoption of Released Technologies that will scale-up these activities to continue bridging the gap between farmers' and researchers' yields for selected priority commodities. The strategy consists of disseminating technologies developed under WAAPP-1A by the NCoS and strengthening of technology delivery systems, in order to achieve rapid but sustainable impact on the ground. In this regard, the project will work closely with government subsidy programs as well as with other projects and programs intervening along the targeted value chains; and (iii) Facilitating Access to Improved Genetic Material that will increase the availability of and producers' access to improved genetic materials (seed, planting materials and animal breeds) for the targeted priority value chains. 16. Component 4: Project Coordination, Management and Monitoring and Evaluation (US$10.3m + US$4.1m AF). The AF will continue to be coordinated: (i) at the national levels, by existing national coordinating units, which successfully coordinated the implementation of WAAPP-1A; and (ii) at the regional level by CORAF on the basis of a well-defined mandate agreed by the RSC under the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB). 3 Rationale for the AF 17. The WAAPP is aligned with Pillar III of the Regional Integration Assistance Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa (RIAS) approved in 2008 and the RIAS update in 2011. Pillar III prioritizes support for cross-country collaboration to provide regional public goods including promotion of agricultural productivity. The program also supports the implementation of the Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) of the participating countries and contributes to achieving two principal objectives: (i) make agriculture more productive and sustainable to improve food security, reduce poverty, and contribute to economic growth; and (ii) support regional integration. The WAAPP is also the Bank's response to ECOWAS' request to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program's (CAADP) agricultural R&D pillar, further articulated within the Framework for Africa's Agricultural Productivity. Under the first phase of WAAPP, the Board approved three series of projects, including WAAPP-1A (Mali, Senegal and Ghana) in 2007, WAAPP-1B (Burkina Faso, C6te d'Ivoire and Nigeria) in 2010 and WAAPP-1C (Benin, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo) in 2011. Guinea joined the program in 2011 through a PHRD grant to support rice development. 18. The second phase of the program began in FY12 with Ghana and Senegal, following the satisfactory implementation of WAAPP-1A (Mali, Senegal and Ghana). WAAPP-1A is closing on June 30, 2013 following a six-month extension. 19. There is a strong justification to finance WAAPP-2A in Mali, given the importance of this project for the country and for the sub-region. Both the first phase WAAPP-1A and the second phase WAAPP-2A (Senegal and Ghana) have been rated satisfactory by the recent implementation support mission in April 2013. 20. WAAPP has demonstrated its efficiency in promoting regional cooperation in technology generation and dissemination in the agricultural sector. The project serves as a vehicle for participating countries to have access to a pool of competencies and a stock of improved technologies through the strengthening of centers of specialization and the national and sub- regional competitive research grant schemes. The project has helped create an enabling environment by supporting the implementation of ECOWAS regulations and has developed mechanisms and tools to boost regional cooperation in technology generation and dissemination. 21. Participating countries have selected Mali to host the national center of specialization (NCoS) for rice. In this regard, they all agreed that all rice research activities be concentrated in Mali which, under WAAPP-2A, will be transformed into a regional center of excellence (RCoE) for rice R&D. In this framework, Mali NCoS has already released around 15 technologies which have been made available to other countries and are under adaptation/dissemination in the sub- region. Under WAAPP-2A, more technologies are expected to be released by Mali for the benefit of the sub-region. 22. WAAPP is also strengthening eight other centers of specialization in the sub-region including livestock in Niger, coarse grain in Senegal, roots and tubers in Ghana, maize in Benin, plantain in C6te d'Ivoire, mangrove rice in Sierra Leone, fruits and vegetables in Burkina Faso, and aquaculture in Nigeria. Many of the commodities listed are relevant for Mali's agriculture. WAAPP is therefore an opportunity for Mali to access and adapt the technologies generated in the other NCoS for the benefit of Mali producers and value chain actors. 4 23. The main projects of the Bank agricultural portfolio in Mali (WAAPP (P094084), Mali Fostering Agricultural Productivity Project (PAPAM, P095091) Agricultural Competitiveness and Diversification Program (PCDA, P081704) complement each other and the development of a strong synergy between them is critical for achieving the growth and poverty reduction objectives of the country. Each of these projects has a specific domain of intervention. While WAAPP builds on the sub-regional knowledge space created by the program to provide the framework to adapt and disseminate improved technologies, approaches and best practices, PAPAM and PCDA support the scaling-up of the adoption of these technologies and best practices. PAPAM is being restructured in a way that strengthens the synergy of the project with WAAPP. III. Proposed Changes 24. The Project Development Objective, overall design, institutional and fiduciary arrangements remain unchanged. The project safeguards category remains B, since there are no expected significant and/or irreversible adverse environmental and social issues. The project area will be extended to cover Mali as initially planned. Therefore the total amount of the project will increase from US$120 million to US$180 million. The closing date will be extended for an additional one year, to December 31, 2018, to allow Mali to fully implement its activities. The results framework also remains unchanged, though the targets will be increased to take into account the addition of Mali in WAAPP-2A. Table 1: Project outcome indicators Indicator Original Changes Revised target with AF target Direct project beneficiaries of which 40 percent 1,400,000 700,000 2,100,000 female (560,000) (280,000) (840,000) Beneficiaries who are using technologies 280,000 140,000 420,000 generated by other countries Technologies generated by the Project with at 43 16 59 least 15 % productivity increase over the control Producers with knowledge of technologies 80% 0 80% generated/released by the Project Area under new technologies 1,100,000 600,000 1,700,000 Processors/ producers who have adopted at least 820,000 420,000 1,240,000 one new technology 5 Table 2: Project Cost and Financing ('000 US$) Project IDA % Project Components cost Financing Financing Component 1: Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies. 3.5 3.4 5.7 Component 2. National Centers of Specialization 13.1 12.9 21.5 Component 3. Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption. 40.0 35.2 58.7 Component 4. Program Coordination, Management and Monitoring and Evaluation 4.3 4.1 6.8 Total Baseline Costs 60.9 55.6 92.7 Physical contingencies 0.4 0.4 0.6 Price contingencies 4.6 4.0 6.7 Total Project Costs 65.9 60 100.0 IV. Appraisal Summary Economic and Financial Analysis 25. The original Economic and Financial analysis included Mali and therefore the results of the analysis as described in the WAAPP-2A Project Appraisal Document (PAD) are still relevant for the AF. The financial analysis of crop budgets of the priority crops shows the impact on financial profitability to be large, with all crop models financially viable. Yield increases vary between 25 and 48 percent with use of improved technologies and crop husbandry practices. All models are financially profitable, which demonstrates the sound basis of the technology dissemination process. The results from the economic analysis showed that WAAPP-2A is an economically acceptable project. Table 3 summarizes the average yield required for the project to break even at the end of the fifth year under different scenarios. Table 3: Summary of the results of baseline economic analysis of WAAPP-2A Average yield increase required to break even at the end year 5 SENEGAL (i) Without spillovers 7.3% (ii) With spillovers in Ghana and Senegal 3.6% (iii) With spillovers in West Africa 1.1% MALI (i) Without spillovers 3.7% (ii) With spillovers in Ghana and Senegal 3.1% (iii) With spillovers in West Africa 1.1% GHANA (i) Without spillovers 8.0% (ii) With spillovers in Togo 5.9% (iii) With spillovers in West Africa 2.1% 6 Technical 26. The project's design is based on established institutions which were strengthened during the implementation of WAAPP-1A and have demonstrated high competence to implement project activities. The design incorporated lessons learned from the implementation of WAAPP- lA and the preparation of WAAPP-1B and WAAPP-1C. In addition, the project is firmly anchored in the national medium term agricultural investment programs prepared through the CAADP process. Furthermore, preparation was done through a participatory process that led to strong stakeholder ownership in participating countries. All readiness conditions have been met and the project is ready to start disbursing resources from the first year. Financial Management 27. A Financial Management (FM) assessment of WAAPP-2A was conducted in December 2011 and updated in May 2013 by the Bank's FM team, in accordance with the new Financial Assessment Principles. During its assessment, the Bank's FM team consulted the various texts establishing the national institutions in charge of implementing the project and reviewed the fiduciary arrangements of the proposed implementing entities which have experience in managing IDA financing. A review of the FM capacity of the entities involved in the implementation of WAAPP-2A identified inherent and control risks, for which the team developed corresponding mitigation measures. The residual control risk is moderate. The proposed FM arrangements for this project are considered adequate to meet the Bank's minimum fiduciary requirements. The implementing entities are compliant with the Bank's FM requirements and there are no overdue audit reports and interim financial reports from these entities. In addition, an FM implementation support mission was carried out April 2013 for the Mali component. The FM performance was rated satisfactory and the related risk assessed as moderate. Procurement 28. Procurement assessments for CORAF and the implementing agency in Mali were done during the period September to December 2011 and updated in May 2013. The assessments reviewed the procurement procedures, organizational structures and functions, staffing, staff skills, quality and adequacy of supporting and control systems, etc., at the country and project management levels. The overall risk for procurement (prior to mitigation measures) is considered moderate for CORAF because of the strong human resource and technical capacity and experience in implementing WAAPP projects. Overall risk for procurement in Mali was high due to the presence of only one procurement specialist with no proper procurement training and limited previous procurement management experience, and the inappropriate filing and archiving system. The assessments recommended a number of actions to mitigate the procurement risks. With the implementation of these measures the procurement risks are expected to be reduced to moderate. 29. Procurement for the proposed project will be carried out in accordance with the Bank's (i) "Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non-Consulting Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; (ii) "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; (iii) "Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants ", dated 7 October 15, 2006, revised in January 2011; and the provisions stipulated in the Financing Agreement. 30. For each contract financed by the credit, the different procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need for pre-qualification, estimated costs, prior review requirements and time frame have been agreed in the Procurement Plan. This plan will be updated at least annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity. All procurement procedures will be described in a Procedure Manual, satisfactory to the Bank to ensure that the project is executed in a timely, transparent, efficient manner with an integrated approach. Social (including Safeguards) 31. WAAPP-2A is expected to have no significant negative social impacts. Under WAAPP- lA, the project has developed successfully mechanism to ensure that the needs of small-scale farmers and processors who are the main beneficiaries, particularly women, youth and vulnerable groups, are accounted for in setting priorities for the CARGS and implementing the research activities. A stakeholder researcher farmers and extension linkage committees called "comit6 des utilisateurs de la recherche" has been set up and meets yearly in each of the regions and at the national level to set priorities and take stock of the results achieved. Adaptive research is conducted in farmers' fields. Competitive grants to implement R&D are open to producers' organizations and agribusiness associations in addition to research organizations. The project is working with development operations and public-private partnerships to promote producers' use of technologies. WAAPP-2A will strengthen these processes. 32. Under WAAPP-1A, -lB and -IC, CORAF has designed a regional gender strategy to mainstream gender considerations in technology generation and adoption and has appointed a regional social development and gender adviser to help mainstream these aspects throughout. The project is supporting implementation of this strategy in each participating country. Mali has already appointed, among others, a Social Focal Point responsible for both gender and social development aspects of the project and prepared a gender action plan. All social and gender activities are systematically screened by the focal points. WAAPP-2A will scale up the implementation of this action plan and ensure sustainable mainstreaming of gender consideration in all project activities throughout the country. 33. As a Category B Project, the foreseen social impacts, mostly positive, are expected to be local, site-specific and easily manageable. The Involuntary Resettlement Operational Policy (OP/BP 4.12) is triggered because of the expected land acquisition, leading to involuntary resettlement and/or loss of loss of access to resources or livelihoods upon which local beneficiary communities depend. To comply with the Bank's OP/BP 4.12 policy principles and guidelines, the participating countries under the leadership of CORAF have prepared a Resettlement Policy framework (RPF) applicable to each country in the program, including Mali, on how to comply with the above-mentioned land use/right issues. The draft report is available and has been cleared by both CORAF and the Bank. It was adopted by each country, consulted upon, and publicly disclosed in the participating countries and at the InfoShop on February 9, 2012. It is also important to note since the original project was approved in 2007 it has not been necessary to prepare a Resettlement Action Plan (RPF). 34. The RPF has been reviewed again and, since this AF is based on the same footprint as the original project, but with some scaling up of certain activities, the RPF has been re-disclosed 8 simultaneously on both the CORAF/WECARD and the Ministry of Agriculture websites, and thereafter at the World Bank InfoShop on May 20, 2013. The cost of any possible land-taking that may lead to possible resettlement has been included in the RPF and factored in the overall project cost. RAPs will be prepared during project implementation as and when necessary. Both the regional implementing agency CORAF/WECARD and the CNRA have Social Focal Points trained by the World Bank safeguards specialist who will ensure timely compliance of the project on safeguards throughout its implementation. Environment (including Safeguards) 35. WAAPP-2A is expected to have a positive environmental impact through its support for agricultural technologies that promote better use of land and water resources. 36. WAAPP-2A builds on WAAPP-1A, the first phase. It is a Category-B project due to the fact that potential social and environmental impacts are expected to be local, site-specific and easily manageable. The Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and Pest Management Plan (PMP) for the WAAPP-1A have been reviewed and adapted within the context of the new orientations of WAAPP-2A which follows the same line of intervention as WAAPP-1A, with a focus on technology dissemination. 37. During WAAPP-1A implementation, close supervision of the implementation of safeguards measures was conducted by the social and environmental safeguards specialists of the Bank and consultants hired by CORAF. The works and project activities included the rehabilitation of research centers, research sub-projects, and dissemination of action plans for improved technologies, measures for which were prepared based on the guidance in the ESMF. In addition, each country and CORAF appointed social and environmental safeguards focal points in charge of supervision of the implementation of the social and environmental safeguards mitigation measures. Going forward, the civil works and activities in WAAPP-2A are expected to be more substantial; Environmental and Social Management Plans will be prepared during project implementation. 38. A capacity building plan was also implemented including a two regional training workshop in Dakar (April 2011) and Freetown (April 2013) for all safeguard focal points. The recent assessment in March 2013 indicates that the safeguard focal points have the required knowledge and are playing a key role in ensuring that safeguard measures are implemented. They are systematically doing the screening of the research and dissemination sub-projects financed by the project, based on a screening form prepared at the regional level. There is still a need to strengthen their capacity to anticipate the aggregated impact of the scale up of the dissemination of some technologies, and the project is undertaking additional training and capacity-building to this end. The ESMF includes further provisions for capacity strengthening at all levels for the successful implementation of the project safeguards measures, in compliance with national and Bank safeguard policies. The PMP sets forth the basic principles each member- country would follow to adequately handle the possible usage of pesticides, especially during this second phase mostly focused in the dissemination of agriculture technologies. The ESMF and the PMP have been prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed in-country and at the InfoShop prior to appraisal on February 9, 2012. Both documents were reviewed and ultimately disclosed both in CORAF/WECARD and the Ministry of Agriculture's websites on May 20, 2013as well as at the World Bank InfoShop on May 21, 2013. 9 39. Policy exceptions and readiness. No exceptions are envisaged. The project is fully operational. All conditions are in place to ensure that the proposed activities implementation can be scaled up as soon as the Credit is declared effective. 10 ANNEX 1: RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING AFRICA: Second Phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) Additional Financing Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/ Rationale for Change PDO Current (PAD) Proposed The development objective of No change WAAPP-2A is to scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries' priority agricultural commodity areas PDO indicators Current (PAD) Proposed change* Direct project beneficiaries of New target: 2,100,000 To account for the addition of which 40 percent female- (number) Mali. disaggregated by country. Beneficiaries who are using New target: 420,000 (number) To account for the addition of technologies generated by other Mali. countries - disaggregated by country. Technologies generated by the New target: 59 (number) To account for the addition of Project with at least 15 percent Mali. productivity increase over the control - disaggregated by country. Producers with knowledge of No change (target is a Percentage maintained with the technologies generated/released by percentage) addition of Mali. the Project- disaggregated by country. Area under new technologies New target: 1,700,000 To account for the addition of disaggregated by country. (number) Mali. Processors/ producers who have New target: 1,240,000 To account for the addition of adopted at least one new technology (number) Mali. -disaggregated by country. Intermediate Results indicators Current (PAD) Proposed change* Component 1: Enabling conditions for regional cooperation in the generation, dissemination and adoption of agricultural technologies Pesticide products/and genetic Mali target introduced: Pest = materials registered by national 50; genetic materials = 25 committees - disaggregated by (numbers) country Laboratories with ISTA/ISO Mali = 4 (number) 11 Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/ Rationale for Change certification - disaggregated by country Technologies with IPR- Mali = 65 (number) disaggregated by country Varieties generated by NCoS/RCoE Mali = 12 (number) registered in Regional catalogue - disaggregated by country Hits for the regional/national Web- Mali = 50,000 (number) based information system on agricultural technologies and research skills - disaggregated by country National action plans developed on Mali = 3 (number) gender, communication and climate change-disaggregated by country Component 2: National Centers of Specialization Qualifying criteria met by Mali = 6 (number) the NCoS to become RCoE - disaggregated by country NCoS/RCoE with ISO certificate - Mali = yes disaggregated by country Technologies generated by NCoS Mali = 6 (number) and demonstrated in at least three ECOWAS countries outside the country of origin - disaggregated by country Study sponsorship- desegregated by Mali = 40 MSc and 30 PHD country and MSc and PHD Scientific exchange visits - Mali = 22 (number) disaggregated by country I I Component 3:Support to demand-driven technology generation, dissemination and adoption Multi-country research Mali = 6 (number) proposals financed by the regional CARGS - disaggregated by country National demand-driven research Mali = 70 (number) projects financed by the national CARGS - disaggregated by country Demonstration plots established - Mali = 35,000 (number) disaggregated by country Number of technologies Mali = 18 (number) demonstrated - disaggregated by country Percentage of targeted clients (male Mali = 70 (percent) Maintained for Mali. and female farmers or businesses) satisfied with extension services - disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Six: Mali (T/Ha): 12 Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/ Rationale for Change Certified foundation seeds and Ri = 736 improved breed stock produced - Mil = 120 disaggregated by country and by Sgo = 115 commodity Ma = 235 Cas= cassava Ma=Maize Ri=Rice Mil=Milet Sgo=Sorghum Intermediate Result 4: Project Management and Coordination Percentage of procurement Mali = 80 (percent) Maintained for Mali. activities executed in conformity with the timing of the procurement plan - disaggregated by country Disbursement rate of IDA funds - Mali = 100 (percent) Maintained for Mali. disaggregated by country A national M+E system with Mali = 5 (rating 1-5) Maintained for Mali. database functional (structure, data collection & organization, up-to- date, reporting)- - disaggregated by country Percentage of subproject granted Mali = 100 (percent) Maintained for Mali. with environmental management plan that have been implemented effectively - disaggregated by country 13 REVISED PROJECT RESULTS FRAMEWORK Project Development Objective (PDO): To scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries' priority agricultural commodity areas. PDO Level Results 2 Unit of Cumulative Target Values** Data Source/ Responsibility Description 0 Maue Baseline Frequency for Data (indicator Indicators* Measure YR 1 YR 2 YR3 YR 4 YR5 Methodology Collection definition etc.) Project Level Results Indicators Indicator One: Gh= 112,262 125,000 250,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 Assessment/ Direct project beneficiaries of survey made Beneficiaries who which 40 percent female- Ma= 108,000 150,000 250,000 400,000 600,000 700,000 by M&E if use technologies disaggregated by country Z Number Se= 76,916 100,000 150,000 300,000 600,000 700,000 Annual necessary in CNRA generated and collaboration released by the Total= 375000 650000 1200000 1800000 2,100,000 with Project 297,178 consultants Indicator Two: Gh = 0 25,000 50,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 Beneficiaries who are using technologies generated by other 30,000 50,000 80,000 120,000 140,000 Annual Annual CNRA/NCoS countries - disaggregated by Se = 0 20,000 30,000 60,000 120,000 140,000 assessment country Total = 0 75,000 130,000 240,000 360,000 420,000 Indicator Three: Gh= 10 12 13 15 16 17 Technologies generated by the Information on Project with at least 15 percent Ma= 8 10 12 14 16 16 Annual pipeline of productivity increase over the S Number Annual assessment CNRA /NCoS technologies to be control - disaggregated by Se = 18 20 22 24 26 26 provided by country Total = 36 42 47 53 58 59 NCoS Indicator Four: Gh = 20 40 60 70 80 80 Producers with knowledge of Benchmark technologies generated/released Ma= 10 30 50 60 80 80 Year 1, 3, 5 and supply CNRA/NCoS by the Project- disaggregated by E Percent Se = 10 30 50 60 80 80 chain surveys country Indicator Five: Gh= 50,000 135,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 600,000 Information to be Area under new technologies provided by disaggregated by country Ma=45,000 100,000 200,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 Annual implementing Se=40,000 100,000 150,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 se agencies, survey completed by Total 335,000 550,000 1,000,000 1,300,000 1,700,000 surveys 14 Indicator Six: Gh=25,000 60,000 150,000 250,000 300,000 400,000 Processors! producers who have _ adopedalst oue w Ma=50,000 90,000 150,000 240,000 360,000 420,000 Annual adopted at least one new E] Number Annual assessment/sur CNRA / NCoS technology -disaggregated by Se=30,000 60,000 120,000 240,000 360,000 420,000 vey country Total 210,000 420,000 730,000 1,020,000 1,240,000 Component 1: Enabling conditions for regional cooperation in the generation, dissemination and adoption of agricultural technologies Intermediate Result indicator Gh: One: Pest= 200 250 300 350 400 450 Pesticide products/and genetic materials registered by national GM 4 7 10 12 13 15 Distinction to be committees - disaggregated by Ma: made by genetic country E Number Pest.=0 10 20 30 40 50 Annual Annual CNRA materials assessment developed at GM=0 5 10 15 20 25 national and at Se: regional level Pest=166 176 186 196 206 216 GM=39 41 48 52 54 54 Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 0 0 1 2 3 Two: Reference Laboratories with ISTA/ISO Ma=0 0 0 1 2 4 Supervision laboratories certification - disaggregated by ESe0 0 1 2 5 5 mission CNRA financed under country Component 1 Total 0 Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 0 2 3 4 5 Three: Technologies with IPR- Ma=53 58 60 63 65 65 Annual Annual CNRA /NCoS disaggregated by country Se=0 2 4 6 8 8 assessment Total- 53 60 66 72 77 78 Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 0 5 7 12 15 Four: Varieties generated by NCoS/RCoE registered in Ma= 0 5 10 15 20 Annual Annual CNRA and Regional catalogue - Se=0 0 3 6 10 12 assessment CORAF disaggregated by country Total= 0 0 13 23 37 47 Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Five: Hits for the regional/national Ma=0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 researchers/ Annual CNRA and Web-based information system H Number Se=0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Annual assessment CORAF country, service on agricultural technologies and providers, farmers research skills - disaggregated CORAF 40,000 80,000 120,000 160,000 200,000 by country 15 Intermediate Result indicator Number Gh=1 2 3 3 3 3 communication, Six: gender, climate National action plans developed Ma= 1 2 3 3 3 3 Annual CNRANCS change, on gender, communication and Se 1 2 3 3 3 3 assessment environmental climate change-disaggregated by and social country safeguards Component 2: National Centers of Specialization Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 2 3 4 5 6 One: Qualifying criteria met by the Number Ma=0 2 3 4 5 6 Annual CNRA and total: 6 criteria NCoS to become RCoE - Se=0 2 3 5 6 6 se CORAF disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 No No No Yes Yes Two: NCoS/RCoE with ISO Ma=0 No No No yes Yes Annual CNRA and Number Annual certificate - disaggregated by Se=0 No No No yes yes assessment CORAF country Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 0 2 3 4 6 Three: Technologies generated by NCoS and demonstrated in at Ma=2 2 3 4 5 6 Annual CNRA/NCoS Technologies H Number Annual assessment!/ NANo Tenologied least three ECOWAS countries Se0 2 3 4b5 6 and CORAF generated outside the country of origin - Se-0 2 3 4 5 6 survey (released or not) disaggregated by country Total 4 8 11 14 18 Intermediate Result indicator Gh: Four: Study sponsorship- MCs=14 34 44 49 53 53 desegregated by country and PHD= 2 10 15 20 20 20 MSc and PHD Ma: Scientists, MCs=3 30 40 40 40 40 Annual extension agents, PHD=3 20 30 30 30 30Anulardees E Number Se Annual assessment/ CNRA/NCoS agro dealers, farmers, MCs=2 21 30 35 35 35 survey community PHD=7 21 30 35 35 35 members, etc. Total MCs= 19 85 114 124 128 128 PHD= 12 51 80 85 85 85 Intermediate Result indicator Gh=12 16 20 24 30 32 Five: Scientific exchange visits disaggregated by country Number Ma=2 6 10 14 18 22 Annual a n CNRA/NCoS - isggeatd yof Anul assessment! persons Se=4 9 14 19 24 29 survey and CORAF Total= 18 31 44 57 72 83 16 Component 3:Support to demand-driven technology generation, dissemination and adoption Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 2 4 5 5 5 One: Multi-country research Annual proposals financed by the ] Number Ma=0 2 4 5 6 6 Annual assessment/ CORAF regional CARGS - Se=0 2 4 6 6 6 survey disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Gh=30 45 52 59 65 65 Two: National demand-driven Ma=30 60 65 70 70 70 Annual CNRA (and S NmeAnul assessment!/ARS research projects financed by the Se=37 44 51 57 62 62 seCARGS) national CARGS - survey disaggregated by country Total Intermediate Result indicator Gh=400 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 Three: Annual CNRA (and Demonstration plots established I Number Ma= 7,000 14,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 Annual assessment/ implementing - disaggregated by country Se=700 3,000 6,000 12,000 18,000 20,000 survey agencies) Intermediate Result indicator Gh=10 12 15 20 22 22 Four: Annual CNRA (and Number of technologies E Number Ma=8 10 12 14 16 18 Annual assessment/ implementing demonstrated - disaggregated Se= 5 3 6 8 10 10 survey agencies) by country Intermediate Result indicator Gh= NA 30 50 60 70 70 Five: Percentage of targeted clients (male and female farmers Percenta Ma= NA 30 50 60 70 70 Participatory .EYear 1, 3, 5 assessment or CNRA or businesses) satisfied with ge Se= NA 40 50 60 70 70 survey extension services - disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Ghana Six: Certified foundation seeds Cas=400 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 and improved breed stock proud i disagreed by Ma= 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 produced - disaggregated by country and by commodity Mali: Cas= cassava Ri 736 1,500 2,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 Supervision Ma=Maize Mil=120 750 1,500 2,000 2,000 2,000 missions and CNRA (and F Mil=Milet T/Ha Sgo= 115 750 1,500 2,000 2,000 2,000 Annual Annual implementing Fornprio crop Mil-iletassesmets/ gences) for priority crops Sgo=Sorghum Ma= 235 1,500 2,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 assessments! agencies) survey Senegal: Ma= 150 300 450 650 750 850 Mi= 50 100 150 200 250 300 Sgo= 50 100 150 300 300 300 17 Intermediate Result 4: Project Management and Coordination Intermediate Result indicator Gh= 80 80 80 80 80 One: Percentage of procurement activities executed in conformity Ma=0 80 80 80 80 80 Annual Supervision CNRA with the timing of the Percent Se=0 80 80 80 80 80 missions procurement plan - disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Gh=0 20 40 60 80 100 Two: Supervision CNRA and Disbursement rate of IDA funds E Percent Ma=0 20 40 60 90 100 Annual missions CORAF - disaggregated by country Se=0 20 40 60 85 100 Intermediate Result indicator Gh= 3 3 4 5 5 5 Three: Supervision A national M+E system with R Ma 3 4 5 5 5 missions and database functional (structure, E Se =3 3 4 5 5 5 Annual Annual CORAF data collection & organization, assessment/ up-to-date, reporting)- - survey disaggregated by country Intermediate Result indicator Gh- 100 100 100 100 100 Four: Supervision Percentage of subproject granted Ma= 100 100 100 100 100 missions and CNRA and with environmental management E Percent Annual Annual CORAF plan that have been Se= 100 100 100 100 100 assessment/ implemented effectively - survey disaggregated by country 18 ANNEX 2: OPERATIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (ORAF) AFRICA: The Second Phase of The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) (P145160) Additional Financing Risk Management: Project design considers actual and potential donor support for R&D in selected Description: Fragmentation of donor and development partners commodity value chains. At national level, activities are coordinated with sector coordination efforts in support of R&D in the agricultural sector. Inadequate committees. The Mali Fostering Agricultural Productivity Project which is working in synergy with coordination mechanisms for implementing national sector investment WAAPP includes technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate projects and programs programs developed within CAADP. intervention under the National Investment Program. Resp: MA Stage: Implementation Due Date: By mid-term Status: Not yet due Implementing Agency Risks (including fiduciary) Description : Limited regional coordination and technical support capacity due to Risk Management: growing number of countries joining the project. At the regional level, CORAF has developed capacity through the implementation of WAAPP-1A and -B, including for the animation of networks of operation specialist (M&E, Safeguard, Fiduciary and Communication). However, CORAF's capacity may face new challenges to play a more proactive role in promoting a strengthened regional dimension. Resp: CORAF Stage: Implementation Due Date: permanent Status: on-going Risk Management: WAAPP activates a stepwise priority setting for R&D action planning and National teams lack technical skills to address R&D issues in an monitoring (see component 2): (i) participative bottom-up results oriented priority planning at national integrated way and lack incentives to retain researchers in the level; (ii) regional priority consolidation by all WAAPP members and facilitated by CORAF; and (iii) National Research Institutes. Priority setting remains sub-optimal - periodic follow-up, evaluation and priority adjustments by WAAPP participating members, researchers give priority to their own interests, not to the national and coordinated by CORAF. regional issues. Resp: CORAF and Stage: Implementation Due Date: Impl. Status: on-going NCoS Support missions Weak institutional capacity for national coordination and Risk Management: Promotion of collaborative research at the national and regional levels using a implementation. Weak incentives and motivation for researchers and pool of researchers from universities, research centers, NGOs, and elsewhere, as well as cross support government service staff to carry out project activities from CGIAR centers. Strengthened research and extension farmer linkages. 19 Resp: CORAF and Stage: Implementation Due Date: December Status: on-going NCoS 2013 Description: Risk Management: Monthly management meetings involving all key stakeholders under the leadership of the Ministries of Weak project management: project activities are spread over regional ArclueadFnne research and higher learning institutions as well as public and private extension services, which adds to the project's complexity. Resp: CNRA Stage: Implementation Due Date: Monthly Status: on-going Risk Management: Adequate financial management will be put in place before implementation starts, including fund flow arrangement, and auditing and reporting requirements will be made clear. Complementary training will be given to staff on bank procedures and Interim Financial Report (IFR) preparation Resp: CNRA Stage: Preparation and Due Date: December Status: Not yet due Implementation 2013 Project Risks Description: Strengthening the regional dimension of WAAPP is a Risk Management: Experience under WAAPP-1A and 1B has demonstrated that closer supervision by complex process that is partially untested. CORAF and the Bank team including a regional Task Team Leader (TTL) and country office based Co-TTL improved project management efficiency. Also regional wrap-up meetings organized twice a year after the IS missions and peer country performance rating enhanced sharing of experiences and stimulated competition among countries. These mechanisms will be assessed and strengthened. Bank COAFan Stage: implementation Due Date: Mid-term Status: Not yet due Project activities are spread over federal/regional research institutes Risk Management: Regional exchange processes and the mandate of CORAF have been clearly and centers as well as higher learning institutions, which adds to the defined in the PAD of WAAPP-2A. The processes implementation will be closely monitored, assessed project's complexity. and strengthened Resp: CNRA, Stage: implementation Due Date: Mid-term Status: Not yet due CORAF and Bank Description: Weak institutional capacity for implementing safeguard Risk Management: The project includes an ESMP, RPF, and PMP. Under WAAPP-1A each country policies. appointed social and environmental focal points (FP), and CORAF organized two regional level trainings with the support of the Bank to strengthen the capacity of project teams and FP. Additional capacity building will be provided under WAAPP2A to strengthen the focal points and all the project teams in implementing safeguard activities. 20 Resp: CORAF Stage: Implementation Due Date: every two Status: Not yet due years Risk Management: There is increasing drive towards donor coordination and harmonization of development interventions in the agricultural sector following the development of national agricultural Limited harmonization of sector support programs investment plans and the signing of compacts within the CAADP framework. The Bank is supporting the strengthening of the Planning and M&E Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate and harmonize donor interventions. Resp: Ministry of Stage: Implementation Due Date: Permanent Status: On-going Agriculture Description: Risk Management: Support capacity strengthening of national R&D teams in line with identified * Poor quality of delivered technologies and services. capacity gaps through specific support from countries with stronger NARS, the NCoS networks and * Limited spillovers between countries selected partnerships with CGIAR Centers for high quality outputs. The M&E system and IS missions * Weak connection with the governments' subsidy programs. will monitor closely the spillover effects. The project is developing MOUs with the Government * Weak and fragmented monitoring capacities at national level. subsidy programs in each country to ensure that technologies developed under WAAPP will be * Sustainability of financing of R&D activities after project closing. disseminated by these programs (mainly improved seeds). Resp: CORAF and Stg:Ipeetto Due Date : By end of Sau:O-on CNRA SaeImlmnaon first year Sau:O-on Risk Management: WAAPP support a dual strategy to strengthen the WAAPP M&E systems by: (i) regional networking for R&D monitoring, with technical support from CORAF; and (ii) improved integration into harmonized national M&E systems, developed under country agricultural sector investment plans. Resp: CORAF and . Due Date: By end of Status: On-going CNRA Stage: Implementation first year Risk Management: Each country is being supported to set up a sustainable financing mechanism for technology generation and dissemination based on levies deducted from import or/an export of agricultural commodities. Resp: CORAF, CNRA Due Date: By end of and Ministry of Stage: Implementation Status: Not yet due Finance Implementation Risk Rating: Moderate Comments: This is a second phase of a program whose first phase was successfully implemented and lessons learned have been incorporated in the design. 21 ANNEX 3: DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION AFRICA: The Second Phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A) Additional Financing 1. Since 2007, WAAPP-1A has been working on enhancing agricultural productivity of root and tuber crops in Ghana, drought-resistant cereals in Senegal and rice in Mali. Overall WAAPP- lA Mali has made satisfactory progress towards achieving its development objectives with all PDO indicators on track of meeting their target. Specifically, and as of April 2013: (i) program activities have reached around 110,000 beneficiaries; (ii) 26 technologies have been released, all of which are showing potential yield improvements of 20 to 40percent; (iii) about 8,353 ha (out of the 12,000 ha expected) are covered with improved technologies made available through the program; and (iv) regional integration activities are being consolidated through the researchers exchange program which involved already around 21 researchers out of 9 targeted and through the exchange of technologies that have crossed the borders and are being tested and demonstrated in recipient countries. 2. The triggers for moving from the first to the second phase have also been reached as Mali has: (i) ratified the ECOWAS regulations for the registration of genetic materials and pesticides and started their implementation; (ii) strengthened its national registration systems for plant materials and pesticides; (iii) established operational National Centers of Specialization (NCoS) and involved several researchers from participating countries under the visiting scientists program; and (iv) strengthened its competitive research grant schemes that is satisfactorily operating. 3. The second phase of the WAAPP Program is based on the following principles: (i) continuity and consolidation of results achieved during the first phase, with high priority on the regional scope of the program and strengthening of technology transfer activities and the dissemination of technology innovations at a larger scale; (ii) results-based contracting of program implementation between the program coordination units and implementation agencies; (iii) the integration of all value chain segments for the priority targeted value chains; and (iv) the synergy and complementarities with on-going country-based and regional projects/programs. 4. Key innovative futures in the design of the second phase of WAAPP are: (i) the upgrading process from NCoS to RCoE; (ii) the strengthening of regional commodity R&D networks involving research partners in all ECOWAS countries; (iii) the enhancement of regional priority research planning and technology exchange mechanisms; (iv) the strengthening of R&D linkages and broader partnerships with sector stakeholders, including farmer organizations, NGOs, donor projects/programs and the private sector, for scaling-up technology dissemination; (v) the development of a detailed mandate for CORAF and RCoEs as facilitators of regional exchanges; and (vi) the enhanced recognition of WAAPP as a key actor for the implementation of national investment programs - "PNISA" in Mali - as well as for the regional agricultural investment program under ECOWAP. In doing so, the WAAPP supports Pillar 4 of the CAADP process. 22 The Project Development Objective 5. The WAAPP-2A Development Objective (PDO) is to scale-up the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies in the participating countries' priority agricultural commodity areas. The participating countries' priority areas are aligned with the region's top agricultural commodity priorities, as outlined in the ECOWAP. This PDO also applies to WAAPP-2A Mali and the priority commodity identified for Mali is rice. 6. In order to reach this objective, the Project will strengthen the regional cooperation in generation of technology, and scale-up dissemination and training programs focused on regional and national priority commodities. Project Beneficiaries and Results 7. Just as with Ghana and Senegal, the primary beneficiaries of WAAPP-2A Mali are the producers, processors and all other actors of the selected value chains. The beneficiaries include also the key participants in the generation and dissemination of technology, along with researchers, public and private extension and advisory agencies, research institutions, universities, NGOs, and government agencies, involved in value chains management. The total number of targeted direct beneficiaries for WAAPP-2A Mali by the end of the Project is expected to be 700,000, of which 40 percent female. (See also Annex 1: Results Framework.) Project Description 8. Component 1: Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies (US$3.738 million of which IDA US$3.695 million). This component aims at strengthening the mechanisms for the cross-border exchange of technologies, so as to allow participating countries to benefit fully from the regional cooperation in technology generation and exchange. It includes two sub-components: 9. Sub-component 1.1 Implementation of ECOWAS common regulations: Through this sub-component the project will continue to pursue and broaden the implementation of ECOWAS regulations relating to pesticides, genetic materials, fertilizer and address the issue of veterinary products. In this respect, interventions aimed at regional cooperation and linkages will be strengthened to share experiences and learn lessons to enrich and modify where necessary some of the activities to enhance the harmonization process. 10. Under WAAPP-1A, the project has already started to address issues related to the application of regulations of genetic materials, pesticides and fertilizers. Regulatory committees on pesticides and seeds (Comite National de Gestion des Pesticides and Comite National des Semences) have been established and strengthened. 11. The dissemination and implementation of these regulations that were started under WAAPP-1A will be scaled up under WAAPP-2A. In addition, in order to favor technology dissemination in the livestock sector at national and regional levels, the project will address the issue of registration and regulation of veterinary and animal products, such as vaccines, biological (anti-sera, hypermine sera and growth promoters) and drugs. Currently, the common regulations on livestock products are limited to West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries and there is a need to broaden these regulations to all ECOWAS countries. Veterinary products such as vaccines, biological (anti-sera, hypermine sera and growth promoters) and drugs are currently registered by national boards and import permits are delivered by the respective veterinary services. 23 12. The activities financed under this sub-component are: (i) action plans to implement ECOWAS regulations on seeds and pesticides, as well as on fertilizer and veterinary products when these two regulations will be adopted by ECOWAS, (ii) training and awareness programs for national institutions and major private stakeholders (seeds and fertilizer agro-dealers, seed growers) on the ECOWAS regulations, (iii) capacity building and operational costs for the national registration committees and councils for genetic materials and pesticides as well as for the national seed certification systems, (iv) the upgrading of the Laboratoire Central Veterinaire (LCV) which is the national reference laboratory for veterinary products, and (v) the ISO certification process for the laboratory. 13. Sub-component 1.2: Mainstreaming Regional Strategies into National Action Plans. The main activities under this sub-component are: * Knowledge management, information, and communications systems: the sub-component will finance: (i) the updating and implementation of national communication action plans (aligned with the regional communication strategy), including mass communication (national/private FM stations and TV), and (ii) the development of communication material such as documentaries, newsletters and brochures and diffusion of resource kits on CD/DVDs on innovation practices. * Mainstreaming Gender. Under WAAPP, CORAF has developed a regional gender strategy and action plans to mainstream gender concerns into national research and extension programs. These were approved by all stakeholders in July 2011. Just like Ghana and Senegal, Mali will prepare its national action plans in line with this regional strategy. The specific actitivities that WAAPP-2A will finance are the: (i) updating and implementation of the gender action plans; (ii) capacity building for the gender focal points and training programs on the use of gender approaches and tool kits for stakeholders; (iii) screening of research proposals and extension programs to address the needs of gender; (iv) integration of gender concerns in communication messages; and (v) case studies on gender in technology generation and dissemination. * Mainstreaming Climate Change. ECOWAS has developed a Climate Change Action Plan to complement its Agriculture Development Policy (ECOWAP). In addition, CORAF is preparing commodity-based climate change action plans to mainstream climate change issues into the WAAPP. To this end WAAPP-2A Mali will finance: (i) the design and/or implementation of commodity based climate change action plans in line with national and regional strategies; and (ii) the capacity building of relevant stakeholders for the purpose of mainstreaming2 climate change considerations3 in agricultural research and extension planning, implementation and monitoring. 2 Mainstreaming actions will include the systematic integration of: (i) the promotion of sustainable agriculture production systems; (ii) use of drought tolerant/resistant improved varieties, especially for cereals; (iii) sustainable water and integrated soil fertility management, including minimum/zero tillage, permanent soil cover and rotations (conservation farming); (iv) precision farming in terms of irrigation, placement of fertilizers and integrated pest management; and (v) agro-forestry and integrated crop-livestock-natural resource management. This approach involves a shift from a homogeneous model of crop production to farming systems that are knowledge-intensive and adapted to specific locations and investment to support training of farmers on new practices. See also 'Save and grow' (FAO, 2011). This initiative aims at producing more food for the global population in a sustainable manner. It hopes to help low-income farm families in developing countries to maximize their yields through improved production and healthy agro-systems. 24 * Sustained mechanism to financing agriculture research and development. WAAPP-1A Mali has successfully used a Competitive Agriculture Research Grant Scheme (CARGS), as program instrument for funding competitive agriculture research and development. However the sustainability of these schemes remains a challenge. WAAPP-2A Mali will, therefore, finance activities that would strengthen the sustainability of these schemes including : (i) study tours, consultant services, and workshops to support in the design or improvement of Mali's policies and financing mechanism to make competitive fund schemes more sustainable and robust; and (ii) review of national legislations for the current competitive fund schemes in order to harmonize technical and financial procedures, promote their effective, transparent, and participatory management, and foster M&E systems and accompanying institutional arrangements. * Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). During the implementation of WAAPP-1A Mali: (i) the Institut d'Economie Rural (IER), of Mali has obtained plant variety protection certificates for 53 varieties submitted to the African Intellectual Property Organization (AIPO/OAPI). The submission process of 10 markers of vaccines by the Central Veterinary Laboratory (LCV) is also underway. WAAPP-2A Mali will thus build on these achievements and finance: (i) studies on the relevance and return on investment of IPR protection for specific technologies; (ii) the registration process of IPR on strategic technological innovations, when the return on investment is justified; and (iii) capacity building for the management of IPR. * Environmental and Social Safeguards Management. Under WAAPP-1A, CORAF had set up a regional social and environmental network comprising environmental and social focal persons including gender in CORAF and from each participating country. It had also organized two regional training workshops for the designated focal points and a review of the implementation of the safeguard policies. WAAPP-2A Mali will further consolidate these achievements and therefore finance: (i) additional capacity building (regional trainings and workshops) for the environmental and social safeguards focal points including gender and stakeholders; (ii) consultant services to assess implementation of safeguards and gender recommendations, including the ESMF, PMP and RPF; and (iii) studies and workshops to address specific safeguards and gender issues at regional level. 14. Component 2: National Centers of Specialization (US$15.121 million of which IDA US$14.929 million). Under WAAPP-1A, the project has helped strengthen the NCoS through the upgrading of research facilities and equipment, capacity building of researchers and the funding of priority research programs. This support has already resulted in the release of eight potentially high impact technologies, which are under dissemination across the countries. WAAPP-2A Mali will consolidate these achievements and through Component 2 will support the transformation process of the NCoS into Regional Centers of Excellence (RCoE) 4 on the basis of graduation criteria (see Box 3.1 below for the criteria). To enable a comprehensive value-chain approach, the NCoS will broaden its scope to include other relevant research institutions; mainly those specialized in processing and post-harvest handling. 4 The process implies: (i) independent evaluation of NCoS systems; (ii) clearly defined criteria for harmonization and synergy; (iii) upgrading core facilities and equipment by establishing good information and data management systems, governance framework, strong research management, IT and M&E system; (iv) sustainable funding mechanisms; (v) strengthening research-extension linkages; (vi) motivating extension officers; and (vii) promoting pluralism in extension and greater integration of research and extension (Workshop to Share and Develop Information and Knowledge linked to the Implementation of WAAPP Workshop, July 2011). 25 Box 3.3: Criteria for obtaining the label of RCoE Agreement was reached among countries to use the following six (6) evaluation criteria for upgrading NCoS to RCoE: (i) Quality of research teams; (ii) ISO Label Certification Relevance of the programs implemented by the RCoE vis-A-vis regional priorities and needs; (iii) Regional research program planning and networking; (iv) Efficiency of information and communication strategy of Agricultural research results; (v) Contribution to significant capacity building of NARS through partnership with CGIAR & Agricultural Research Institutions in West Africa; and (vi) Quantity and quality of "ready-to-go" agricultural innovations efficiently 15. Similarly to Ghana and Senegal, Component 2 will finance: (i) the upgrading of core facilities and equipment of both the NCoS and its key national partners, including the rehabilitation/construction of additional infrastructure and equipment of laboratories, research and seed production fields, training centers, offices, staff residencies and guest accommodation for the NCoS. These facilities include several buildings, large research fields and research sub- stations located in the main agro-ecological zones. A preliminary assessment has identified the centres that will be rehabilitated and inventoried the rehabilitation requirements for the research fields and infrastructure. However, since the type of civil work to be undertaken for each centre has not yet been identified the research centre manager, in consultation with the researchers, will identify specific infrastructure and/or research fields for rehabilitation and prepare a priority list of works. The Procurement Plan for the project's first year includes provision for consultancy services related to detailed technical studies for works and equipment. 16. The research centre's manager will also prepare Environmental Assessments (EAs) or Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) as necessary. Investments will be contingent upon preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). Details and procedures for carrying out specific ESIAs and Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) were discussed in the context of the disclosed Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF); (ii) the processing of ISO certification for the NCoS management and NCoS laboratories through the delivery of technical advisory services and workshops; (iii) the capacity building of researchers and facilitating regional partnerships. The aging research staff and brain drain across national agricultural research institutions require a coherent human resource development plan and a significant capacity building effort to promote young researchers. 17. In order to strengthen core national research capacities, this component will finance: (a) the preparation and implementation of annual human resource development plan; (b) on the job and academic training program for young researchers at PhD and MSc levels; (c) a research exchange program for visiting scientists (mobility of researchers). The visiting scientists will be considered to be on sabbatical leave. They will be paid by their home institutions while the host centre bears their local costs, including lodging, board and miscellaneous expenses. These 26 visiting programs can be extended for periods of up to 12 months. Special consideration will be given to young and/or female scientists; and (iv) the support to priority agricultural research program. 18. The research programs of the NCoS will involve strategic and adaptive research in rice, the priority value chain. Programs for priority research will be developed in close partnership with key stakeholders to ensure their relevance. Priority research will also include farm surveys and supply chain analysis and benchmarking to document progress and impact of transferred technologies over the life of the program. These studies will also monitor on a regular basis the knowledge gap. The NCoS will develop a sub-regional R&D network involving relevant institutions from other participating countries to ensure regional spill over. The component will finance: (a) small grants to teams of researchers to undertake priority research activities responding to key constraints along the value chain; (b) capacity building and operations costs for the R&D networks; and (c) regional and international partnerships, and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for backstopping from CGIAR (1ITA, AfricaRice, ILRI, IRRI, ICRISAT, etc.) and other relevant international research institutions. The MoUs will emphasize aspects such as the development of scientific research protocols, and the provision of trainings, scientific expertise and joint implementation of research programs and the provision of foundation genetic materials to NCoS. Table 3.1: Targeted NCoS, their area of specialization areas and their key partners Country Host Institution for National International NCoS NCoS Area of Research Centers Technical specialization associated with Partners the NCoS Food Research Institute, Council for Crop Root & Savannah Arid CounScintf c for Crop s R Research Institute, IITA, Ghana Scientific and Industrial Research Tuber Crops Plant genetic CIP, CIAT Research (CSIR) Institute (CRI) Research Institute, Soil Research Institute Institut IER- R Laboratoi Africa Mali d'Economie Rurale (Niono, Sikasso Rice re de Technologie Rice, IRRI, (IER/CNS Riz) et Mopti) Alimentaire Institut de Technologie Centre Alimentaire (ITA) d'Etudes Dry Bureau d'Analyses Macro- Institut Rfgional pour Cereals (millet, ICRIS economiques A Senegal S nigalais de Recherche l'Amlioration sorghum, maize, econdCentr AT Agricole (ISRA/CERAAS) de l'Adaptation fonio) National de CIRAD a la Scheresse Recherched (CERAAS)Recherches Agronomiques (ISRA/CNRA) I_ I_I_I_lofBambey 19. Component 3: Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption (US$42.717 million of which IDA US$37.245 million). To bridge the gap between research and farmers' field productivity levels, this component aims at broadening the range of adapted technologies across selected priority commodities-rice for Mali, and scaling- 27 up their dissemination and adoption5. Table 3.2 shows the selected commodities (priority, secondary, and regional exchange) by each WAAPP-2A participating countries. The component will be executed on the basis of an action plan that defines the contributions of the Project in terms of (quantified) technology generation and dissemination activities. Furthermore, just like for Ghana and Senegal, WAAPP-2A Mali will support the adoption of the country's extension strategies, methodologies and organizations towards higher levels of efficiency, involving stakeholder platforms at local, zonal and national levels and the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT), including the piloting of e-extension. Table 3.2: Priority and secondary value chains selected by WAAPP-2A country Senegal Mali Ghana Priority Dry cereals and associated Rice Root and tuber crops commodities crops (irrigated and rain fed) (cassava, yam, sweet potato, cocoyam) Secondary Milk and meat Milk and meat Poultry and small ruminants Regional exchange Horticulture (tomatoes, Horticulture (tomato, onion Horticulture (tomato onion commodities mangoes) rice and Irish potato), and dry and pepper) cereals Dry Cereals, and rice 20. Sub-component 3.1: Demand-Driven Technology Generation. The program will continue to strengthen and expand the activities of the existing national Competitive Agricultural Research Grant Scheme (CARGS) and the regional CARGS managed by CORAF. It will address priority needs of stakeholders along the selected value chains, from production to postharvest handling, marketing, processing and consumption and target research subprojects involving all NARS stakeholders, including public research institutions, universities, NGOs, Farmers-Based Organization (FBOs) and the private sector. 21. Thus the sub-component will finance: (i) annual stakeholders' workshops to develop, follow-up and update national R&D action plans for priority setting in the domain of technology generation and dissemination for each of the targeted value chain; (ii) grants to multidisciplinary adaptive research teams to address priority needs of stakeholders along the value chains; and (iii) the testing and adaptation of technologies generated by NCoS in the sub-region. 22. Sub-component 3.2: Support to Accelerated Adoption of Released Technologies. This subcomponent aims to speed-up the adoption of released technologies. The strategy consists of disseminating technologies developed under WAAPP-1A by the NCoS in order to achieve a rapid but sustainable impact on the ground. Emphasis will be made on increasing the efficiency of the technology delivery systems in participating countries which requires an adjustment of extension strategies, methodologies, and coalitions between public and private service providers such as FBOs, NGOs and the private sector. 23. The sub-component will finance: (i) annual extension stakeholders' workshops at zonal and national levels to develop dissemination action plans; (ii) demonstrations of released technologies responding to beneficiary needs; (iii) the development of efficient extension methodologies including innovation platforms, Farmers Field Fora and Farmer Days; (iv) the The priority commodities are among the eight strategic value chains identified at the regional level (rice, drought- resistant cereals, cassava, maize, banana/plantain, fruits and vegetables and livestock - meat and milk). 28 promotion of released technologies through various information systems and communications media to improve awareness of technologies options and expand their use; and (v) participatory training on extension methodologies (including e-extension) and released technologies for agricultural advisory service providers, including national extension services, NGOs, input providers, FBOs, and other private stakeholders. 24. Sub-component 3.3: Facilitating Access to Improved Genetic Material. This Sub- component will increase the availability and producers' access to improved genetic materials (seed, planting materials and animal breeds) especially for the targeted priority value chains. It will finance: (i) the development/consolidation of seed production policies and systems taking into account government's seed subsidy systems and the implementation of multi-annual seed production planning sessions involving all stakeholders; (ii) the development or improvement of the gene banks to help manage biodiversity and prepare for climate change through better conservation of their genetic assets; (iii) the upgrading of the capacity of public research stations to produce and store breeder and foundation seeds through investment in irrigation facilities as well as laboratory, and storage equipment; (iv) the scaling-up of the production of certified seeds by private enterprises, farmers' organizations; and (v) the provision of mini kits of improved seeds to producers to jump-start dissemination, along with training and technical assistance for seed companies and seed producers. Box 3.2 - Impact of the crisis and Specific interventions for Northern Mali The 2012-2013 crisis in Mali resulting from the combination of the coup d'Etat of March 2012 and the conflict in Northern Mali had created a new environment for project intervention. An evaluation mission was conducted, which did a rapid assessment of the socio-economic impact of the crisis in the agricultural sector and tailored specific interventions for the affected areas to quickly restore the productivity capital and develop a more comprehensive medium term program for the development of relevant value chains for the North including targeted commodities for women and youth. In this framework, the evaluation mission had thorough discussions with the Minister of Agriculture and his staff, the "Secretaire General" of the Ministry of Finance and Budget, the "Collectif des Ressortissants du Nord Mali" (COREN). The mission also organized a stakeholder workshop including farmers' organizations (APCAM, Women farmers' association.), NGOs, Research institutions, line Ministries, project staff to discuss what has changed since March 2012, the impact of the conflict on the agricultural sector and its effect on project design and content. There was a consensus on the main impacts of the crisis: i) displacement of the rural population; ii) loss of producers productive capital including moto pumps for irrigation, planting material, stock of small ruminant and poultry ; iii) destruction of equipment and office buildings of the Agriculture Directorate in Gao and Kidal and research centers in Gao, Dire and Bagoundie. All stakeholders agreed that there is a need for short term emergency intervention including distribution of kits of inputs to help producers restart activity as well as more structured long term interventions to boost agricultural productivity and production and generate income through the promotion of specific value chains suitable for the Northern regions. 29 Actions identified for the Northern Regions Short term actions: i. Emergency distribution of kits of inputs Kit of 0,25ha/producer for cereals and (fertilizer, rice- wheat- vegetable seeds) to 0,10 ha/producer for vegetables producers and distribution of heads of small (Seeds + pesticides +fertilizer) ruminants and poultry targeting women and youth ii. Procurement and provision of moto pumps to Provision of 50 moto pumps to farmer groups who lost their equipment rehabilitate around 1000 ha. during the conflict iii. Import and distribution of dates palm tree Procurement and distribution of 5000 vitro plants to be used in an intercropping dates vitro plants and system with Jujubes 10000 jujube seedlings to around 1000 producers (5 dates vitro plants+ 10 jujubes per producer) iv. Contracting of services providers to Competitive selection of NGOs still implement these actions and provide advisory active in the Northern regions and services contracting of young graduates to complement extension services staff. v. Introduction of E-voucher scheme to ensure transparency and traceability Medium term action: i. Upgrading of Katibougou biotechnology Lab Works for the to produce locally date planting material rehabilitation/construction of the Lab, through tissue culture and construction of a procurement of Lab equipment. biotechnology Laboratory in Gao ii. Rehabilitation of research stations at Gao, Rehabilitation of infrastructure and Dire and Bagoundie research fields, procurement of office equipment and vehicles. iii. Rehabilitation of Gao and Kidal regional To be financed by World Bank directorate of agriculture offices emergency project iv. Promotion of specific commodities for the Value chain studies, development of Northern regions including wheat and dates research programs, dissemination of palm trees and the oasis agricultural system. improved technologies 25. Component 4: Project Coordination, Management and Monitoring and Evaluation (US$ 4.339 million of which IDA US$4.131 million). The project will be coordinated (i) at the national level by the existing national coordinating units, which successfully coordinated the implementation of WAAPP-1A Mali and (ii) at the regional level by CORAF on the basis of an Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) and a well-defined mandate agreed by the Regional Steering Committee. Just like Ghana and Senegal, the Government of Mali will allocate resources to CORAF commensurate with the role assigned to it. 30 26. This component will finance: (i) equipment, consultant services, non-consulting services and operating costs for the CNRA and CORAF to carry out and upgrade project management, including fiduciary and M&E; (ii) annual training programs for CNRA and implementing agencies staff, and (iii) implementation of the communication action plan. Project Financing Table 3.3 MALI - COST A. Project Costs Summary - Components by Financiers (US$ '000) Government IDA Beneficiaries Total Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Component 1. Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies Implementation of ECOWAS Common Regulations 43 4 1,128 96 - - 1,172 2 Mainstreaming Regional Strategies into National Action Plans 0 - 2,567 100 - - 2,567 4 Subtotal Component 1 43 1 3,695 99 - - 3,738 6 Component 2. National Center of Specialization (NCoS) Upgrading NCoS Core Facilities and Equipment 0 - 4,349 100 - - 4,349 7 Capacity Building and Mobility of Researchers 0 - 3,752 100 - - 3,752 6 Support to Priority Agricultural Research Program 191 3 6,828 97 - - 7,019 11 Subtotal Component 2 191 1 14,929 99 - - 15,121 23 Component 3. Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption Demand-driven Technology Generation 4,178 25 11,877 70 915 5.4 16,970 26 Support to Accelerated Adoption of Released Technologies 380 2 20,124 98 - - 20,504 31 Facilitating Access to Improved Genetic Material 0 - 5,243 100 - - 5,243 8 Subtotal Component 3 4,558 11 37,245 87 915 2.1 42,717 65 Component 4. Project Coordination, Management, and Monitoring & Evaluation Program Management 208 6 3,464 94 - - 3,671 6 Monitoring and Evaluation 0 - 667 100 - - 667 1 Subtotal Component 4 208 5 4,131 95 - - 4,339 7 Total PROJECT COSTS 5,000 8 60,000 91 915 1.4 65,915 100 B. Project Costs Summary - Components and/or activity ('000) (CFAF) (US$) Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Component 1. Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the Generation, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies Implementation of ECOWAS Common Regulations 199,614 348,957 548,571 399 698 1,097 Mainstreaming Regional Strategies into National Action Plans 920,652 235,886 1,156,538 1,841 472 2,313 Subtotal Component 1 1,120,266 584,843 1,705,109 2,241 1,170 3,410 Component 2. National Center of Specialization (NCoS) Upgrading NCoS Core Facilities and Equipment 1,023,800 1,001,830 2,025,630 2,048 2,004 4,051 Capacity Building and Mobility of Researchers 1,031,832 684,516 1,716,348 2,064 1,369 3,433 Support to Priority Agricultural Research Program 2,318,415 1,002,820 3,321,235 4,637 2,006 6,642 Subtotal Component 2 4,374,047 2,689,166 7,063,213 8,748 5,378 14,126 Component 3. Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption Demand-driven Technology Generation 6,822,350 1,321,530 8,143,880 13,645 2,643 16,288 Support to Accelerated Adoption of Released Technologies 6,838,475 2,357,947 9,196,422 13,677 4,716 18,393 31 Facilitating Access to Improved Genetic Material 1,540,608 790,685 2,331,293 3,081 1,581 4,663 Subtotal Component 3 15,201,433 4,470,162 19,671,595 30,403 8,940 39,343 Component 4. Project Coordination, Management, and Monitoring & Evaluation Program Management 1,052,170 655,690 1,707,860 2,104 1,311 3,416 Monitoring and Evaluation 104,550 203,000 307,550 209 406 615 Subtotal Component 4 1,156,720 858,690 2,015,410 2,313 1,717 4,031 Total BASELINE COSTS 21,852,466 8,602,861 30,455,327 43,705 17,206 60,911 Physical Contingencies 121,716 79,670 201,387 243 159 403 Price Contingencies 1,882,934 417,659 2,300,593 3,766 835 4,601 Total PROJECT COSTS 23,857,117 9,100,190 32,957,307 47,714 18,200 65,915 32 ANNEX 4: IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS AFRICA: Second Phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP-2A Mali) 1. Project Institutional and Implementation Arrangements 1. The assessment of the project's implementing arrangements in Mali was updated in May 2013. This update confirmed the relevance of the findings of the initial assessment conducted in December 2011, and strengthened certain measures, principally to enhance procurement capacity. The institutional arrangements set up for WAAPP-1A Mali are still relevant and will continue to govern WAAPP-2A Mali implementation, and the existing steering committees and project coordination unit (CNRA) will be maintained and strengthened. Regional implementation mechanisms 2. WAAPP-2A is an ECOWAS Program. ECOWAS therefore chairs the Regional Steering Committee that meets once a year to review the AW&B and implementation progress. The current regional Steering Committee which was very efficient during the implementation of WAAPP-1A will therefore be maintained. CORAF has been mandated by ECOWAS to coordinate the WAAPP Program at regional level. 3. Similar to Ghana and Senegal, at least one-fifteenth (1/15th) of the proceeds of the IDA financing of WAAPP-2A Mali will be made available to CORAF. To this end the Government of Mali will conclude a subsidiary grant agreement with CORAF, detailing the nature of technical support and coordination expected from CORAF and the level of financial support to be provided to CORAF by each participating country. 4. CORAF will support and monitor the overall implementation of the Program. It will report on progress related to the effectiveness of the dissemination mechanisms and the increase in agricultural productivity and competitiveness in the ECOWAS countries. 5. In order to speed dissemination of project results and achievement of the PDO during the second phase, CORAF will build synergies with some regional organizations with a large network coverage including: (i) the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS); (ii) the Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organizations of West Africa; (iii) the West Africa Seed Alliance; (iv) the relevant CGIAR centers (IITA, ICRISAT, AfricaRice); (v) the International seed testing association (ISTA); and (vi) African Seed Trader Association. National implementation mechanisms 6. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) will have the overall responsibility for the implementation of WAAPP-2A in Mali. It will delegate the overall coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to the Comite National de la Recherche Agricole (CNRA). 7. The specific implementation arrangements are: (i) The existing WAAPP National Steering Committee will be maintained and chaired by the Minister of Agriculture (or his/her designee) with the WAAPP Coordinator as Secretary. 33 (ii) The WAAPP coordination unit at the level of CNRA will be maintained and strengthened in the field of extension, communication, procurement and gender. The Coordinator of WAAPP will continue to be assisted by a Financial Controller, an M&E Officer and a Procurement Specialist, as well as the required support staff (assistants, drivers, secretaries). An additional Extension Specialist (who will coordinate in particular Sub-components 3.2 and 3.3) and a Communication Officer will be appointed at the level of CNRA. (iii) Component I will be implemented through results-based MoUs and/or contracts with all the relevant Directorates of MOA responsible for the implementation of the project's activities. The WAAPP Coordinator will be responsible for the preparation of these result-based MOUs and contracts with all the entities. (iv) Component 2 will be implemented by the Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER). Eligible structures for support under Component 2 will be broadened to include: (a) the agricultural research station of IER at Niono, which is the core NCoS, and its stations in Mopti and Sikasso; and (b) the Laboratoire de Technologie Alimentaire (LTA). (v) Sub-component 3.1 will be implemented by the IER. (vi) Sub-components 3.2 and 3.3 will be managed by the CNRA on the basis of contractual arrangements to be concluded with suitable public and private service providers in accordance with the provisions of the PIM. 2. Financial Management, Disbursement and Procurement 8. A Financial Management and Procurement Assessment of the Project's implementing entities of all WAAPP-1A countries, including Mali, have been conducted by the Bank fiduciary team during the period of November - December 2011. The assessment has been updated for Mali in May 2013. It confirmed the relevance of the findings of the initial assessment and strengthened certain measures to enhance procurement capacity. The details of the assessments and recommendations are found in Appendix 3.1. Following is the summary of the assessments as it concerns Mali. Financial Management 9. A financial management assessment of the WAAPP-2A implementing entities was conducted by the Bank's FM team in December 2011 and updated in May 2013 in accordance with the Financial Assessment Principles and Bank FM risk assessment guidelines, to determine whether the implementing entities have acceptable FM arrangements, which will ensure: (i) the funds are used only for the intended purposes in an efficient and economical way, (ii) the preparation of accurate, reliable and timely periodic financial reports, and (iii) safeguard the entities' assets. Following is the detailed assessment, together with the proposed arrangements for disbursements, accounting, audit, and monitoring. In addition an FM mission was carried out on April 2013 for Mali component. The FM performance was rated satisfactory and the related risk assessed as moderate. The FM assessment identified inherent (such as governance issue mainly due to weak budget execution procedures) and control risks (including lack of internal audit for Mali,). The 34 assessment also developed related mitigations measures for these identified risks. The residual risks after mitigation is rated Moderate. Procurement 10. Capacity assessment. Mali adopted a Public Procurement Code in August 2008, as part of the action plan of the update of the Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR) for Mali carried out in FY04. The Bank has assessed the country procurement regulations and found the principles and most of the procedures in compliance with Bank standards for procurement. Nevertheless, further strengthening of public procurement continues. The focus has progressively shifted from reforming the legal and regulatory framework to focusing on strengthening the procurement capacity and the transparency of the procurement system. In this regard the Government has taken the following steps: (i) adopted an action plan based on the finding of the 2007 Country Procurement Assessment Review (CPAR), (ii) setup a new legal and regulatory framework under the new procurement Code, and (iii) issued procurement regulations and Standard Bidding Documents. A Regulatory agency for public procurement has also been created and procurement units have been established in some regions and ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance. However, in order that NCB procedure for goods and works become acceptable to the Bank, some special provisions will be required, regarding small contracts, advertisement, access for foreign bidders to participate in NCB, limitation of domestic preference, deadlines for submission of bids, evaluation and contract award process, standard bidding documents, fraud and corruption clauses in bidding documents, inspection by the Bank, and obstructive practices, and debarment under national system. 11. In order to enable the use of national procedures and standard bidding documents for NCB, some adjustments should be made to align national procedures with those of the Bank. These adjustments include the following provisions: (a) Even though the Code does not apply to small contracts, the procedures will require that for such contracts, a competitive method be used; (b) In addition to the advertisement through a General Procurement Notice in the United Nations Development Business (UNDB) on-line and on the Bank's external website, bids would be advertised in national widely circulated newspapers; (c) All eligible firms, including foreign bidders, shall be allowed to participate in NCB procedures; (d) No domestic preference would be granted to domestic bidders or bidders from the WAEMU and WAEMU countries and for domestically manufactured goods; (e) Bidders would be given at least four weeks to submit bids from the date of availability of the bidding documents; (f) The evaluation and award process of alternative bids would be revised to be concordant with the Bank's Procurement Guidelines, (g) Procurement entities would use appropriate standard bidding documents acceptable to the Bank, 35 (h) Each bidding document and contract financed out of IDA financing would include provisions on matters pertaining to fraud and corruption as defined in paragraph 1.16 (a) of Procurement guidelines, (i) In accordance with paragraph 1.16 (a) of procurement guidelines, each bidding document and contract financed out of the proceeds of the Financing Agreement would provide that: (1) Bidders, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors would permit the Bank, at its request, to inspect their accounts and records relating to the bid submission and contract performance, and to have such accounts and records audited by auditors appointed by the Bank, and (2) Any deliberate and material violation by the bidder, supplier, contractor or sub- contractor of such a provision may be described as obstructive practice, as defined in paragraph 1.16 (a) (v) of the Procurement Guidelines. (j) The Bank may recognize, at the request of the borrower, any exclusion from participation as a result of debarment under the national system, provided that the debarment is for offenses involving fraud, corruption or similar misconduct, and further provided that the Bank confirms that the particular debarment procedure afforded due process and that the debarment decision is final. Assessment of the agencies' capacity to Implement Procurement 12. An assessment of the procurement capacity of the implementing agency in Mali was carried out in December 2011 and updated in May 2013. The assessment reviewed the procurement procedures, organizational structure and functions, staffing, staff skills, quality and adequacy of supporting and control systems, legal and regulatory framework, recent performance on procurement, the procurement provisions of the current manual, and internal controls. The update of the assessment conducted in May 2013 recommended the recruitment of an additional procurement specialist for the CNRA. 13. The key issues and risks concerning procurement for implementation of the project have been identified and include the following points: (i) Interaction between the implementing unit and the ministry's relevant central unit for administration and finance, which may cause delays and possible political interference; (ii) The lack of familiarity with procurement procedures of Government officials that are likely to be involved in project procurement through membership in the tender committees and national control system tasked with ensuring that the rules are respected and handling of complaints from bidders; (iii) The risk of exposure of the procurement specialist who is a civil servant to the influence and pressure from his/her superiors; 36 (iv) The lack of adequate staffing to manage procurement (currently, the Procurement Unit is staffed with only one key personnel with no proper training in Bank procurement procedures and having limited procurement management experience); (v) The lack of skills and experience to undertake and manage procurement under Bank procedures; (vi) Inadequate communication between the technical structures (beneficiaries) in the MOA and the procurement unit in the CNRA may lead to delays in the drafting of TORs or technical specification and poor estimation of the costs; (vii) The Risk of staff moving to other positions in the public or private sectors after they have been well trained in procurement; and (viii) The inadequate procurement filing. 14. The major actions planned to reduce the risk from High to Moderate and ensure smooth implementation; the related responsible entity and the proposed timeframe are summarized in the table below: Action Time Responsibility Appointment of a procurement specialist proficient in Bank No later than 3 months CNRA procedures after effectiveness Capacity building for procurement staff involved in the No later than 3 months CNRA procurement decision-making process and tender committee after effectiveness and /Procurement members throughout project life Consultants Preparation of the updated Project Implementation Manual of WAAPP-2 with section on procurement detailing out all applicable procedures, instructions and guidance for handling procurement Updating of the Procurement Plan for the first 18 months and agreed with the Bank No later than 3 months Set up of an adequate filing and archiving system of No prt n RA procurement documents. mprment CNRA implementation 11 15. Procurement Plan. A procurement plan (PP) for project implementation which provides the basis for the procurement methods was agreed at negotiations. The PP will be available at CNRA Office in Bamako and in the project's database and in the Bank's external website. The Procurement Plan will be updated annually or as required in consultation with the project team to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity. 16. Frequency of Procurement Implementation Support. In addition to the prior review which will be carried out by the Bank, the procurement capacity assessment recommends at 37 minimum one implementation support mission each year to visit the field to carry out post- review of procurement actions and technical review. The procurement post-reviews and technical reviews would cover at least 20 percent of contracts subject to post-review. Post review consist of reviewing technical, financial and procurement reports carried out by the Borrowers' executing agencies and/or consultants selected and hired under the Bank project according to procedures acceptable to the Bank. 17. Operating Costs financed by the project are incremental expenses arising under the project, and based on Annual Work Plans and Budgets approved by the Bank. Such costs may include, inter alia, office rent and maintenance; utilities (including electricity and water), communications (including telephone and internet charges); equipment rent, operation and maintenance; office materials and supplies (stationary and other consumables, but not the purchase of equipment); lease of vehicles, operation, maintenance and repair; and travel cost and transport of the staff associated with project implementation. These items will be procured by using the procedures detailed in the PIM. 18. Fraud, Coercion and Corruption. The implementing agency as well as bidders and service providers, i.e., suppliers, contractors, and consultants shall observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of contracts financed under the project in accordance with paragraphs 1.16 and 1.17 of the Procurement Guidelines and paragraph 1.23 and 1.24 of the Consultants Guidelines, in addition to the relevant Articles of Mali Public Procurement Code which refer to corrupt practices. Project's procurement activities will be carried out in accordance with the 'Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants' dated 15 October 2006 and updated in January 2011. 3. Environmental and Social (including safeguards) 19. WAAPP-2A is a Category B Project. The environmental and social impacts of the Project, for the most part, are expected to be minimal, site specific, and easily manageable to an acceptable level. Three Bank safeguards policies apply to the Project, namely: Environmental and Social Assessment (OP/BP 4.01), Pest Management (OP 4.09) and Involuntary Resettlement Policy (OP/BP 4.12). Specific guidelines on mitigation measures designed to minimize the social and environmental impacts of the project are discussed in the ESMF. 20. When the environmental and social assessment of the project was done, the range, scale, locations and number of technology generation and transfer activities that will be undertaken under the WAAPP initiatives were unknown. The difficulty inherent in defining what the real environmental and social impacts of such activities might be determining what mitigation measures to put in place made it essential to develop a regional ESMF. The Project triggered the Pest Management Policy (OP 4.09) because its envisioned activities are assumed to lead to agricultural diversification and intensification, and thus it was necessary to develop a regional PMP. Site visits for the pre-appraisal mission covered all participating countries including Mali and identified issues related to the possible loss of land and economic activity among individuals or groups of individuals. For that reason, a RPF was prepared for each of the countries-Ghana, Mali and Senegal. (It should be noted that, to date, it has not been necessary to prepare any Resettlement Action Plans). The ESMF, PMP and RPF have been consulted upon, reviewed by the Bank, and disclosed on February 9, 2012 (prior to appraisal) both in-country and at Infoshop. 38 To accommodate this second phase, that follow on the same footprint that the precedent one, the same safeguards instruments have been re-disclosed both in CORAF/WECARD and Ministry of Agriculture's websites on May 20, 2013 as well as at the World Bank InfoShop on May 21, 2013. ESMPs and RAPs will be prepared as and when necessary during project implementation. 21. Potential Impacts. The Project's potential environmental, social and health impacts include, but are not limited to: * Soil erosion and loss of biodiversity (fauna and flora), owing partly to Project activities and partly to poaching and land conversion in natural resource areas to which there is access near Project sites. * Extensive agriculture leading to deforestation of ecosystems. * Pesticide/inorganic fertilizer residues resulting from agricultural intensification and diversification. * Sedimentation of water bodies due to land clearing and poor rehabilitation of borrow pits. * Improper waste management. * Elimination of the natural enemies of crop pests and consequent alteration of biological pest control methods. * Development of resistance to pesticides, encouraging increases in and reliance on chemical pesticides. * Contamination of soil and water bodies. * Uncontrolled import, sale, and distribution of pesticides. * Weak institutional capacity for pesticide management. * No integrated approach to limiting crop pests. * Soil salinization, alkalization, and acidification. * Groundwater pollution (fertilizers, pesticides, and other contaminants). * Cattle health issues (from pesticide dips). * Unsafe management of pesticide containers. * None targeted species destruction (by pesticides). * Increase of waterbome diseases. * Soil trampling and compaction by cattle. * Selective browsing (by cattle) harms plants and ecosystems. * Well and water point pollution (by cattle). * Risks related to capacity deficiencies in biotechnology and biosafety. 22. As noted, the ESMF and PMP were updated by CORAF and discussed during a sub- regional workshop in Dakar in January 31, 2012. The ESMF formulates standard methods and procedures specifying how technological research proposals whose location, number, and scale are currently unknown will systematically address environmental and social issues in the screening, categorization, sitting, design, implementation, and monitoring phases. The ESMF includes: (i) systematization of assessment of environmental and social impacts for all identified subprojects before investment, and (ii) procedures for conducting subproject-specific environmental and social impact assessments, be they Limited Environmental and Social Impact Assessments or Full Environmental and Social Impact Assessments. 39 23. The proposed PMP, on the other hand, addresses concerns relating to the risks associated with potential increases in the use of pesticides for agricultural production, intensification, and diversification and potential increases in disease vector populations owing to irrigation schemes. The plan makes proposals to strengthen national capacities to implement mitigation measures designed to minimize such risks. The PMP, as part of the implementation arrangements, also identifies national agencies and other partners that could play a vital role in the success of the Project's social and environmental safeguards. 24. Both the ESMF and PMP include institutional arrangements, outlining the roles and responsibilities for the various stakeholder groups involved in each participating country, at the national and regional level, for screening, reviewing, and approving subprojects, as well as implementing and monitoring of mitigation measures for those subprojects. In view of the somewhat limited institutional capacity to address Project safeguards adequately, the two safeguard instruments include provisions to strengthen the capacity of the various institutions and actors involved and to promote coordination and synergies among the various sectors in attending to potential social and environmental impacts. Together these safeguard instruments are considered as a planning tool and a means for harmoniously integrating the Project with its biophysical and social environment to maximize its positive effects in the sub-region. 25. The ESMF, the PMP and the RPF were consulted upon, submitted to the Africa Safeguard Policy Enhancement (ASPEN), the regional Safeguard Unit, and cleared for disclosure regionally by CORAF and at the Bank InfoShop on February 9, 2012. To accommodate this second phase, that follow on the same footprint that the precedent one, the same safeguards instruments have been re-disclosed both in CORAF/WECAR and Ministry of Agriculture's websites on May 20, 2013 as well as at the World Bank InfoShop on May 21, 2013. 26. Public Consultation and Disclosure. The ESMF, PMP and RPF were prepared in compliance with Bank and national safeguard policies, following broad consultation with all relevant stakeholder groups, consistent with the approach adopted at Project inception. This participatory approach will continue throughout Project implementation, supervision, and evaluation. 27. Prior to disclosure in-country and at the Bank's InfoShop, CORAF organized a stakeholder workshop for Project stakeholder groups from public agencies in the participating countries (Ghana, Mali and Senegal), including representatives of national research and extension services, national environmental protection agencies, professional organizations, farmers' organizations, civil society, and NGOs. This approach was used to present the results of the studies, foster ownership, and garner input from these stakeholders to improve the quality and soundness of the instruments. Main issues raised include: (i) the roles of environmental and social safeguards focal points, (ii) capacity building, (iii) M&E, and (iv) provision of adequate budget for implementation and supervision of safeguards measures. Recommendations from both the Bank and stakeholders' were reflected in the final safeguard reports prior to disclosure. These recommendations and relevant provisions from the two sets of safeguard instruments have been reflected in the PIM. 28. Monitoring and Supervision of Safeguards Performance. Successful implementation of Project safeguard requirements and performance measurement requires regular M&E of Project activities to assess compliancy with national and Bank safeguard policies. This M&E will 40 also help ensure that project safeguard measures are systematically implemented throughout the life of the project. 29. To this end the following specific safeguard indicators (not included in the result framework)will be measured, as part of the project's global monitoring plan: * Number of subprojects screened on environmental and social safeguard grounds. * Number of subproject needing specific ESIAs. * Number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) conducted. * Number of subprojects with EMPs or EIAs and/or RAPs. * Number of EMPs or ESIAs and/or RAPs implemented according to schedule. * Number/frequency of safeguard supervision and annual Project reviews undertaken. * Number of training programs carried out for safeguard capacity strengthening. * Number of institutions/organizations trained according to measures identified and specified in the instruments. 30. In addition, as part of the Project's global monitoring system, biophysical and social changes (negative and positive) from the baseline in the natural environment in the Project's intervention area-such as changes in the quality of ground and surface water, changes in diversity of flora and fauna, land resource management, and improvements in agricultural activities-should be measured. 31. Safeguards Requirements in Project Legal Documents. As set forth in the financing agreements, Mali and CORAF shall carry out Components 2 and 3 of the Project pursuant to the provisions of the PMP in a timely manner, ensuring that: (i) mitigation and monitoring measures acceptable to the Bank are designed and implemented with due diligence and employing appropriate environmental expertise, and (ii) adequate information on the implementation of the measures contained in the PMP is appropriately included in the progress reports to be prepared under the project. 32. In addition, Mali and CORAF shall take all measures on its behalf to: (i) screen, under the relevant parts of the Project, the activities under the Research Proposals and Grants proposals submitted for financing out of the proceeds of the Credit; (ii) ensure that each Beneficiary: (a) carry out an appropriate site-specific Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) or Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP), as the case may be, and a Resettlement Action Plan, if there is Resettlement, for each such activities in accordance with the provisions of the ESMF and RPF, as the case may be, and in form and substance satisfactory to the Bank; and (b) consult upon and disclose the site-specific ESIA or ESMP, as the case may be, and the RAP, if there is one, as approved by the Bank; (iii) verify (through its own staff, outside experts, or existing environmental/social institutions) before approving the Research Proposal or Grant proposal that the activities meet the environmental and social requirements of appropriate national and local authorities and that they are consistent with the Bank's applicable environmental and social assessment and safeguard policies and comply with the environmental and social review procedures set forth in the IM or the applicable Procedures Manual, as the case may be; and (iv) thereafter, ensure that the relevant mitigation and monitoring provisions of the ESIA or ESMP, as the case may be, and RAP, if there is one, are appropriately implemented. 33. In addition, prior to the award of each contract for works under the relevant parts of the Project, Mali shall: (i) furnish to the Bank a written attestation for the specific site where the 41 works will be undertaken that the works shall not cause or result in Resettlement or submit to the Bank for its review and approval the related site-specific Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) in accordance with the provisions of the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) and in form and substance satisfactory to the Bank; (ii) submit to the Bank for its review and approval the related site-specific Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) or Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP), as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of the ESMF and in form and substance satisfactory to the Bank; (iii) consult upon and disclose the site- specific ESIA or ESMP and RAP, if there is one, as approved by the Bank; and (iv) thereafter, ensure that the relevant mitigation and monitoring provisions of the ESIA or ESMP, as the case may be, and RAP, if applicable, are appropriately included in the works contract concluded for the site and that they are implemented in the carrying out of the relevant parts of the Project. 34. Lastly, Mali and CORAF shall carry out its respective parts of the project pursuant to its obligations under and in accordance with environmental safeguards and international good practice and standards consistent with those of, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. 35. Arrangements for Safeguards Supervision. The supervision of safeguards implementation for the Project will be done by CORAF as part of the overall project implementation in conjunction with the national Social and Environmental Focal Points, and relevant experts involved in environmental and social mitigation. Bank supervision teams will also include environmental and social safeguards experts. To ensure effective Bank implementation support, CORAF in conjunction with WAAPP-2A implementation entity, will prepare and update detailed reports on the implementation of the ESMF, and subsequent ESIAs/EMPs and/or RAPs, as applicable, and the PMP, before Bank missions. Appropriate budget for these tasks will be included in the project financial evaluation. Safeguard Policies Triggered Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment (OP/BP/GP 4.01) [x] [] Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) [] [xI Pest Management (OP 4.09) [x] I ] Cultural Property (OPN 11.03, being revised as OP 4.11) [ ] [x] Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) [x] I ] Indigenous Peoples (OP 4.10) [] [x] Forests (OP/BP 4.36) [] [x] Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) [] [x] Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP/GP 7.60)* [] [x] Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP/GP 7.50) 11 [xI 4. Monitoring & Evaluation 36. The national and regional M&E systems will be strengthened to document the outcomes, intermediate results and outputs of WAAPP. 37. Monitoring of outcomes and impact at the regional level. At the regional level, CORAF will subcontract with appropriate regional and international agencies to update studies 42 on the region's agricultural productivity, based on the study done with International Food Policy Research Institute support in 2006, which has also served as a baseline for monitoring progress in agricultural productivity in the region. These studies are not related to participating countries only but will report on agricultural productivity in the entire ECOWAS region, and they will be carried out twice over the life of WAAPP. 38. CORAF will produce an annual consolidated report based on the countries' reports and their specific studies, to be shared with all ECOWAS countries. CORAF will also inform participating countries on a yearly basis on progress in implementing activities and the use of funds transferred from country proceeds, with all relevant documents (including financial statements and audit, and progress reports) as approved by its Steering Committee. 39. CORAF and the national research grant agencies will be responsible for maintaining web-based databases on grant administration and results. Such databases will be accessible to the public and will disclose information on the following: requests for proposals, the selection process and procedures, grantees, and results. In addition, CORAF will develop and maintain an agricultural research resource database in terms of publications and research skills available in the region. An independent evaluation of completed subprojects funded under the regional and national windows will be performed annually starting at the end of Year-2 following project effectiveness. This evaluation will capture, through a score-card approach, all relevant dimensions of subprojects, including alignment with the region's top priorities, participation and intake of beneficiaries, quality of FM, compliance with Bank safeguard policies, scientific achievements and efficacy for transfer to end-users, quality of documenting results and communicating to the public, and so forth. 40. Measurement and reporting of project outcomes and outcomes at the national level. At the national level, the CNRA will be responsible for the overall internal monitoring of project indicators and outcomes as defined in the Results Framework. The M&E unit of the CNRA will be strengthened with additional staff members solely dedicated to WAAPP activities. The M&E unit will produce semi-annual reports along with notes synthesizing information on the national priority sector and information on research grants and results. External service providers will be recruited to organize the required reference surveys and basic data collection in Project year 1 and year 3. M&E responsibilities for WAAPP-2A are summarized in Table 4.1 below. 41. The NCoS will be responsible for measuring the impact of technology released and transferred under Component 2. To this end, the NCoS will carry out farm surveys to measure the indicators on productivity improvement and technology adoption. Such panel surveys will be conducted over the project's life cycle and will include both a control group and adopters of released technologies. It will also perform supply chain analysis and benchmarking to identify on a regular basis any knowledge gaps and key areas for future research programs, as well as to provide an update on country progress and performance along the chains of commodities in their particular areas of specialization. 42. External monitoring will be ensured by the Government of Mali in close collaboration with the World Bank. CORAF will participate in the implementation support missions. CORAF and the Bank will organize the required implementation support missions. 43 Table 4.1 M&E Responsibilities. Activity Responsibility M&E Reports Internal monitoring * CNRA in Mali * Semi-annual progress report * Annual progress report * Project completion report External monitoring * Government of Mali * Implementation support reports (supervision, mid-term * World Bank (aide-memoire) review) * Mid-term review reports Impact evaluation * CNS/CROE * Supply chain analysis and benchmarking studies * CNRA will prepare ToR and recruit * Baseline surveys (PY1) external consultants * Reference surveys (PY3 & 5) 44 ANNEX 5: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, DISBURSEMENT AND PROCUREMENT ASSESSMENTS OF THE WAAPP-2A IMPLEMENTING ENTITIES Financial Management 1. A financial management assessment of the WAAPP-2A implementing entities was conducted by the Bank's FM team in December 2011 and updated in May 2013, in accordance with the Financial Assessment Principles Bank guidelines, to determine whether the implementing entities have acceptable FM arrangements, which will ensure: (i) the funds are used only for the intended purposes in an efficient and economical way, (ii) the preparation of accurate, reliable and timely periodic financial reports, and (iii) safeguard the entities' assets. Following is the detailed assessment, together with the proposed arrangements for disbursements, accounting, audit, and monitoring. Overview of Program and Implementation Arrangements 2. WAAPP-2A includes IDA financing to Ghana, Mali and Senegal. At the regional level WAAPP- 2A which is an ECOWAS Program will support CORAF - an ECOWAS institution in charge of coordinating the WAAPP Program at Regional level. At least one-fifteenth (1/15th) of the proceeds of each participating country's IDA financing is being made available to CORAF through a subsidiary grant agreement with CORAF, detailing the nature of the technical support and coordination expected from CORAF. At the national level, WAAPP-2A is being implemented by established institutions in each participating country. In Mali, the existing WAAPP coordination unit at the level of Comite National de la Recherche Agricole (CNRA) will be maintained and strengthened in the field of extension, communication, procurement and gender. Country Issues 3. Countries' specific and governance issues are addressed into the risk assessment under the country level risk category. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Measures Table 5.1. Fiduciary risk assessment for Mali. Risk Risk Risk Mitigation Residual Risk Observations Rating Measures/comments Rting Inherent Risks: M M Country The strengthening of public -Poor governance. financial management through - PFM system is weakened by the PRSC series and the several key problems in the area of ongoing TA project is expected financial management and control S to enhance the PFM's system to S that may contribute to poor service provide timely and reliable delivery, information and to make effective the external audit of the annual budget. Entity - The funds will be managed by No major risk identified the National Agricultural M Research Center (CNRA), the M implementing entity in charge of the first_phase_of the_project. 45 Risk Risk Risk Mitigation Residual Risk Observations Rating Measures/comments Rating The last FM rating on April 2013 is satisfactory and the related risk is deemed moderate Project - The WAAPP-2A will rely on No major risk identified the parent project M arrangements, which FM risk M has been rated moderate and the FM performance rated satisfactory. Control Risks: M M Budgeting - The Budget is approved and No major risk identified. monitored through the L accounting system. The L budgeting arrangements are adequate and well described in the current manual. Accounting - The current project Procedures There will be no No major risk identified. Manual and accounting system change in the L is sufficient to handle the L nature of the activities under the second activities under phase of the project. the additional financing. Internal Control - An internal Auditor will be -Risk on assets safeguard and on recruited. management reliabilities since the M implementing entity is not endowed with an internal audit unit Mf(3tmonst to ascertain risk management whereas the activities are increasing. Funds Flow - Disbursement will be report- M based. M Reporting - JFR are submitted on time and No major risk identified. are of acceptable quality. The L multi projects accounting L software will be customized for the additional financing needs Auditing: - An external auditor will be - The scope of the first phase audit recruited for the additional M might not encompass the activities M financing activities. (3 months after of the additional financing effectiveness) activities. Overall Risk: M M H - High S - Substantial M - Moderate L - Low 46 4. In view of the general country financial management issues and the issues peculiar to the implementing entities and the mitigation measures provided, the overall financial management risk rating for this project is Moderate. Staffing 5. The FM activities will be carried out by CNRA financial team that comprises a Financial Manager and an Accountant. The team under the first phase of the project is in charge of book keeping, budget monitoring, reporting and control and would be overwhelmed with the significant numbers of activities under the second phase. The FM team would then need to be reinforced with the appointment of an internal Auditor who will carry out on a regular basis the ex-post review of activities at the coordination unit and implementing agencies levels. Budgeting 6. The budget process (elaboration, implementation and monitoring) is described in the Project Procedures Manual that also includes detailed accounting financial and administrative procedures. The AWP&B will be prepared by CNRA in coordination with all the implementing entities and submitted to the WAAPP National Steering Committee for approval before the beginning of each year. The Steering Committee would also approve changes in the budget and revised action plans. The annual budget would be managed through the accounting software TOMPRO that is set up under its multi projects version and will be customized for the project needs. Accounting 7. Project accounting, policies and procedures are documented in the FM section of the manual. The accounting software TOMPRO currently used for the first phase of the project will be customized to record all the WAAPP additional financing transactions following Bank guidelines, and to prepare the financial statements for the project. Internal Control / Internal Audit 8. The Manual ensures that adequate internal controls are in place for the preparation, approval and recording of transactions, and the segregation of duties. To reinforce the internal control environment due to the high number of activities to be executed under the additional financing and the number of executing entities, an internal auditor will be recruited. Reporting and Monitoring 9. All implementing entities in the different countries will have to prepare IFRs on a quarterly basis and annual Financial Statement composed of the following: (i) Financial reports (sources and uses of funds by funding source and uses of funds by activities of the project), (ii) Projected expenditures and cash forecast for the next semester (six months), and (iii) Bank reconciliation statement for the Designated Accounts and the Transactions Accounts showing the cash balance available at end of the quarter under review. IFR will be submitted no later than 45 days after the end of the quarter. External Audit 10. The annual financial statements and the system of internal controls of the project will be subject to an annual audit by a reputable, competent and independent auditing firm, based on TORs satisfactory to the Bank. The auditor would provide a single opinion on the financial 47 statements of the project prepared by the fiduciary firm. The auditor would also provide a management letter assessing the internal control system of the project. The report will be submitted by CNRA to the Bank no later than six months after each financial year. The Auditor would be recruited within three months of effectiveness. The audit scope will be tailored to the project's specific risks and include special opinion on competitive grant. In line with new access to information policy, the audited financial statements will be made available. Disbursement Arrangements 11. The minimum value of applications for reimbursement, direct payment and special commitment is 20 percent of outstanding advance made to the Designated Accounts. Disbursement will be report-based from effectiveness. Banking arrangements and funds flow Table 5.2 Flow of funds Mali -A Designated Account (DA) will be opened in a commercial bank and -Upon credit managed jointly by the coordination agency. Withdrawal applications effectiveness and will be prepared by CNRA and sent to the Bank for processing on a request from the project, timely manner through the e disbursement procedures. All expenditures the Bank will deposit the would be financed through this DA. The DA will be managed according amounts of CFAF to the disbursement procedures described in the Project manual and the 4,000,000 into the Disbursement Letter. All payments from the DA will be made under the Designated Account. co-signature of the coordinator and the Financial Manager. The current fund flow arrangements from the DA to implementing agencies account will apply. - Current disbursement arrangements would apply. The disbursement method will then remain report based. - The documentation for all transactions would be retained by CNRA, and made available for audit, and to be presented to the Bank and its representatives, if requested. 12. The table below sets out the expenditure categories and percentages to be financed out of the grants and credit proceeds. Given that all countries are eligible to the countries financing parameter, IDA will finance all expenditures at 100 percent including taxes. 13. The use of SOEs will be in line with the procurement's thresholds. Table 5.3: Withdrawal of Proceeds Category Amount of the Credit US$ mn Allocated (expressed in SDR me) (1) Works under Parts B.I and C. 3 (iii) 2.52 3.8 (2) Goods, consultants' services, non- consulting services, Training, study tours, workshops and Operational Costs: (a) under Parts A.1.1, A.2.1, A.2.3, A.2.4, 25.19 38.0 A.2.5, A.2.6, B.1, B.2, B.3, B.4, C.1.2 (i), (ii), and 0.93 1.4 (iii), C.2.1, C.3 and D.(ii) 48 (b) under Parts A.1.2, A.2.2, A.2.7, B.5, C.1.1, C.2.2 and D.(i) (3) Small Grants under Part B.4 of the Project and 0.855 12.9 Grants under Part C. 1.2 (4) Grants under Part C. 1.1 1.73 2.6 (5) Unallocated 0.88 1.3 TOTAL AMOUNT 39.8 60.0 Financial covenants 14. The standard financial covenants related to submission of IFRs, audit reports and the maintenance of a sound FM system will be stated in the Financing and Project Agreements. Implementation support plan 15. FM implementation support plan will be consistent with a risk-based approach, and will involve a collaborative approach with the entire Task Team (including procurement). The first FM review will be carried out within 9 months of project effectiveness. Since all implementing entities are running other Bank - financed projects, the implementation support mission for WAAPP-2A will as much as possible be combined with the relating missions for the others Bank - projects for the sake of synergy. This detailed review will cover all aspects of FM, internal control systems, overall fiduciary control environment and tracing transactions from the bidding process to disbursements. Thereafter, the on-site supervision intensity will be based on risk, initially on the Project Paper risk rating and subsequently on the updated FM risk rating during implementation. The financial management specialist on-site visit will be once a year. Additional activities will include desk review of semi-annual IFRs, internal audit report, audited Annual Financial Statements and management letters as well as timely follow up of issues arising, and updating the FM rating in the Implementation Status and Results Report and the Portfolio and Risk Management System. Conclusions of the FM Assessments 16. Following the financial management assessment of the entities involved in the WAAPP 2A, inherent and control risks were identified and related mitigation measures were developed. The residual control risk is Moderate. PROCUREMENT A. General 17. Applicable Guidelines: Procurement for the proposed AF will be carried out in accordance with the World Bank's "Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non- Consulting Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; "Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants", dated October 15, 2006, and updated January 2011; and the provisions stipulated in the Financing Agreement. 49 18. Advertising procedures: In order to get the broadest possible interest from eligible bidders and consultants, a General Procurement Notice (GPN) will be prepared and published in United Nations Development Business online (UNDB online), on the Bank's external website and in at least one national newspaper, or technical or financial magazine of wide national circulation in Mali, or a widely used electronic portal with free national and international access. The CNRA will keep a list of received answers from potential bidders interested in the contracts. 19. Specific Procurement Notices for all goods and works to be procured under International Competitive Bidding (ICB) and Expressions of Interest for all consulting services to cost the equivalent of US$200,000 and above would also be published in the United Nations Development Business online (UNDB online), on the Bank's external website, and the widely circulated national newspapers. For works and goods using NCB, the Specific Procurement Notice (SPN) will be published in widely circulated national newspapers in Mali. 20. Publications of Awards and Debriefing: For all ICBs, request for proposal that involves the international consultants and direct contracts, the contract awards shall be published in UN Development Business online and on the Bank's external website within two weeks of receiving the Bank's "no objection" to the recommendation of contract award. For works, goods, and non-consulting services, the information to publish shall specified (i) name of each bidder who submitted a bid; (ii) bid prices as read out at bid opening; (iii) name and evaluated prices of each bid that was evaluated; (iv) name of bidders whose bids were rejected and the reasons for their rejection; and (v) name of the winning bidder, and the price it offered, as well as the duration and summary scope of the contract awarded. For Consultants, the following information must be published : (i) names of all consultants who submitted proposals; (ii) technical points assigned to each consultant; (iii) evaluated prices of each consultant; (iv) final point ranking of the consultants; and (v) name of the winning consultant and the price, duration, and summary scope of the contract. The same information will be sent to all consultants who have submitted proposals. 21. NCB and other post review contracts shall be published in national gazette or on a widely used website or electronic portal with free national and international access within two weeks of the Borrower's award decision and in the same format as in the preceding paragraph. 22. Procurement of Works: Minimal works contracts are expected to be procured under this AF. No ICB works contracts are anticipated. All works contracts are estimated to cost below US$ 5,000,000 equivalent and will be procured through NCB. Contracts estimated to cost less than US$100,000 equivalent per contract may be procured using shopping procedures in 6 accordance with Para. 3.5 of the Procurement Guidelines and based on a model request for quotations satisfactory to the Bank. Direct contracting may be used in exceptional circumstances with the prior approval of the Bank, in accordance with paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 of the Procurement Guidelines. 23. Procurement of Goods: Goods procured under the project would include: (i) Contracts for goods estimated to cost US$500,000 equivalent or more per contract to be procured through ICB; Goods orders shall be grouped into larger contracts wherever possible to achieve greater economy; (ii) Contracts estimated to cost less than US$500,000 but equal to or above US$50,000 6 Shopping consists of the comparison of at least three price quotations in response to a written request. Additional information on how to do prudent shopping is contained in the Guidance on Shopping available at the Bank's external web site for procurement under Procurement Policies and Procedures. 50 equivalent per contract may be procured through NCB; (iii) Contracts estimated to cost less than US$50,000 equivalent per contract may be procured using shopping procedures in accordance with paragraph 3.5 of the Procurement Guidelines and based on a model request for quotations satisfactory to the Bank. Such goods will normally include readily available off the shelf items that cannot be grouped or are standard specification commodities. Direct contracting may be used in exceptional circumstances with the prior approval of the Bank, in accordance with paragraph 3.7 and 3.8 of the Procurement Guidelines. 24. Procurement of non-consulting services: Procurement of non-consulting services, such as transport services, training, workshops and servicing of office equipment, will follow procurement procedures similar to those stipulated for the procurement of goods, depending on their nature. The applicable methods shall include NCB and shopping. 25. Selection of Consultants: Consulting Services under this AF would include but are not limited to external auditing, impact studies, environmental and social impact assessment, outcome mapping or scoping studies, mid-term evaluation, baseline studies, advisory services, technical assistance, engineering and design studies, development of strategies (including for communication), research projects, and preparation or revision of manuals. (i) Firms :Consultancy services would be selected using Request for Expressions of Interest, short-lists and the Bank's Standard Requests for Proposal, where required by the Bank's Guidelines. The selection method would include Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) whenever possible, Quality Based Selection (QBS), Fixed Budget (FBS), Least Cost Selection (LCS), Single Source Selection (SSS) as appropriate. Unless agreed to otherwise by the Bank, external auditors will be selected through LCS in accordance with Para. 3.6 of the Consultant Guidelines. (ii) Individual Consultants: Specialized advisory services would be provided by individual consultants and will be hired in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 5.1 to 5.5 of the Consultant Guidelines. 26. Assignments estimated to cost the equivalent of US$200,000 or more would be advertised for expressions of interest (EOI) on the Bank's Client Connection or Operations Portal and in United Nations Development Business (UNDB) online, in addition to the local newspapers of wide national circulation and National Public Procurement Authority's website. In addition, EOI for specialized assignments may be advertised in an international newspaper or magazine. In the case of assignments estimated to cost less than US$200,000, but more than US$100,000, the assignment would be advertised nationally. CORAF, the Regional Coordinating Unit based in Senegal, will use Senegal as its country. The shortlist of firms for assignments estimated to cost less than US$200,000 may be composed entirely of national firms in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7 of the Consultant Guidelines provided a sufficient number of qualified national firms are available and no foreign consultants desiring to participate has been barred. For all contracts to be awarded following QCBS, LCS and FBS, the Bank's Standard Request for Proposals will be used. 27. Procedure of Single-Source Selection (SSS) would be followed for assignments which meet the requirements of paragraphs 3.8-3.11 of the Consultant Guidelines and will always require the Bank's prior review regardless of the amount. Procedures of Single-Source Selection of Individual Consultants (IC) would be followed for assignments which meet the requirements of paragraph 5.6 of the Consultant Guidelines. 51 28. The use of civil servants as individual consultants or a team member of firms will strictly follow the provisions of Article 1.9 to 1.11 of the Consultants Guidelines. 29. Research projects: The AF will provide grants for demand-driven research and agricultural extension activities, which will be selected through a competitive grants scheme that is administered by CORAF. Eligible expenditures include research and lab equipment, machinery, supplies, operational costs, consulting services, publication. The modalities for administering the CARGS and Commissioned Research Grants are specified in the CORAF Grants Manual. Procurement under each activity will use simple methods and will be for small contracts covering consultant services, training, goods, and workshops. CORAF will be responsible for ensuring that the selected recipients of these funds have the minimum capacity to implement the contract. 30. Capacity Building, Training Programs, Workshops, etc.: Training activities would include workshops, study tours, seminars, conferences and on the job in the course of implementing programs such as the communications strategy and R&D. All training and workshop activities would be carried out on the basis of approved annual programs that would identify the general framework of training activities for the year, including: (i) the type of training or workshop; (ii) the personnel to be trained; (iii) the selection methods of institutions or individuals conducting such training; (iv) the institutions which would conduct the training; (v) the justification for the training, how it would lead to effective performance and implementation of the project and or sector; and (vi) the duration of the proposed training; and (vii) the cost estimate of the training. Report by the trainee upon completion of training would be required. 31. Operating Costs: Operating Costs financed by the AF are incremental expenses arising under the AF, and based on AWP&B approved by the Bank. Such costs may include office rent and maintenance; utilities (including electricity, water and gas), communications (including telephone and internet charges); equipment rent, operation and maintenance; office materials and supplies (stationery and other consumables, but not the purchase of equipment); lease of vehicles, operation, maintenance and repair; and travel cost and transport of the staff associated with project implementation. These items will be procured by using the implementing agencies' administrative procedures, which are reviewed and found acceptable to the Bank. The procedures for managing these expenditures will be governed by the Borrower's own administrative procedures, acceptable to the Bank. Assessment of Agencies' Capacity to Implement Procurement Institutional Responsibilities for Procurement 32. The project will continue to use existing implementing agency that is implementing the first phase, WAAPP-1A. At the regional level, procurement activities for the project will be carried out by CORAF through its Dakar-based Executive Secretariat of ECOWAS, which will continue the overall coordination of WAAPP, with FARA playing an advisory role (as assigned by the African Union/NEPAD). 33. At the national level procurement will be carried out by Comite Nationale de la Recherche Agricole (CRNA), delegated to implement the project by Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in Mali, which will have the key responsibilities of coordination, procurement, financial management and overall projects monitoring, evaluation and reporting. 52 Capacity Assessment 34. An assessment of procurement capacity was carried out by Bank Procurement Specialists during the period of September-December 2011. An update of this assessment was conducted in May 2013, on the basis of which the measures to strengthen procurement capacity were further reinforced as described below. The assessment reviewed the procurement procedures, organizational structure and functions, staffing, staff skills, quality and adequacy of supporting and control systems, legal and regulatory framework, recent performance on procurement, the procurement provisions of the existing manual, and internal controls. The overall assessment rates procurement risk prior to mitigation as high. 35. Regional Level (CORAF). The assessment showed that CORAF is staffed by an Executive Director, a Director of Programs, a Director of Administration and Finance, an Information and Communication Manager, eight (8) Program Managers, two (2) Planning and Impact Officers, and an Internal Controller. The technical staff will be responsible for preparing the technical aspects of bidding documents, including technical specifications and TORs. The procurement function is carried out by a Procurement Specialist (PS) who has been recruited on a full time basis for the WAAPP. CORAF has developed an administrative and financial manual of procedures for WAAPP in March 2009. 36. The assessment identified the following major weakness in the procurement capacity of CORAF: (i) Some discrepancies exist between the procurement aspects specified in the Administrative and Financial Manual and the Bank Procurement Guidelines; (ii) There are no adequate fiduciary control mechanisms in place for the management of subprojects. The overall risk for procurement by CORAF prior to mitigation is Moderate. 37. The following measures to reduce the procurement risk have been agreed on: (i) Maintaining the function of the PS to: (a) capacity building of the whole team, and (b) quality control of the procurement process of the subprojects. This capacity building approach would emphasize that the technical specialists and experts would have basic procurement capacity so as to properly handle technical responsibilities in preparing procurement, documents including terms of references and technical specifications. (ii) Improve the procurement knowledge of the Director of Administration and Finance (DAF) and two other key members of CORAF's staff through the coaching by the PS, internal workshops, and participation in CESAG and ISADE's training on World Bank procedures. (iii) Update the Administrative and Financial Manual to ensure its conformity to the Bank Guidelines and submit it to the Bank for approval. (iv) CORAF to assume full responsibility for procurement activities which they have to carry out and for coordinating and monitoring the procurement activities of the national units. (v) Develop training, supervision and monitoring programs to ensure that procurement activities handled by all beneficiaries are in line with the Bank's guidelines and procedures and with the provisions of the Financing Agreement. 53 National Level 38. The core staff will include a Procurement Specialist familiar with Bank procurement procedures. 39. In Mali, the key issues and risks concerning procurement for implementation of the project have been identified and include the following points: (i) Interaction between the implementing unit and the ministry's relevant central unit for administration and finance, which may cause delays and possible political interference; (ii) The lack of familiarity with procurement procedures of Government officials that are likely to be involved in project procurement through membership in the tender committees and national control system tasked with ensuring that the rules are respected and handling of complaints from bidders; (iii) The risk of exposure of the Procurement Specialist who is a civil servant to the influence and pressure from his/her superiors; (iv) The lack of adequate staffing to manage procurement (currently, the Procurement Unit is staffed with only one key personnel with no proper training in Bank procurement procedures and having limited procurement management experience); (v) The lack of skills and experience to undertake and manage procurement under Bank procedures; (vi) The inadequate communication between the technical structures (beneficiaries) in the MOA and the procurement unit in the CNRA may lead to delays in the drafting of TORs or technical specification and poor estimation of the costs; (vii) The risk of staff moving to other positions in the public or private sectors after they have been well trained in procurement; and (viii) The inadequate procurement filing; 40. The overall project risk for procurement under this AF for Mali is high. 41. To address the above risks areas, the following actions are envisaged: (i) The DGMP (Direction Gndrale des Marchis Publics) and the ARMDS (Autorit6 de R6gulation des March6s Publics) will have to play their role to ensure good governance and limit the opportunities for undue influence by any central unit of the Borrower. (ii) Capacity building for procurement staff involved in the procurement decision- making process and tender committee members, customized and hands-on training on procurement focusing on: procurement planning, preparation of bidding documents, evaluation of bids or proposals, and procurement documents filing. (iii) Appointment of additional staff (assistant) to support procurement specialist and enhance the capacity of procurement unit of CNRA. (iv) Preparation of WAAPP-2A PIM (on the basis of WAAPP-1A's PIM) with section on procurement detailing out all applicable procedures, instructions and guidance 54 for handling procurement. This should be disseminated to all staff involved in the project implementation. (v) Set up adequate records management for projects documents, including adequate spaces and office furniture for filing. 42. The major actions planned to reduce the risk from High to at least Medium-L and ensure smooth implementation; the related responsible entity and the proposed timeframe are summarized in the table below. Table 5.4: Risk mitigation for Mali Action Time Responsibility Pror to project CR Appointment of procurement assistant frtvesCNRA effectiveness Capacity building for procurement staff involved in the procurement Prior to effectiveness and CNRA /rocurement decision-making process and tender committee members throughout project life Coultant Consultants Preparation of Project Implementation Manual of WAAPP-2 with section on procurement detailing out all applicable procedures, Done CNRA instructions and guidance for handling procurement Preparation of Procurement Plan for the first 18 months and agreed one CNRA with the Bank No later than 3 months Set up adequate records management for projects documents into project CNRA implementation 43. Overall Risk Assessment: The main risks concerning the procurement capacity for the project can be summarized as follows: Country/Agency Procurement risk CORAF (Regional Agency) Moderate Mali High OVERALL High C. Procurement Plan 44. The Procurement Plan has been agreed between the Borrower and the Bank and will be available at CNRA and at the CORAF executive secretariat. It will also be available in the Project's database and in the Bank's external website. The Procurement Plan will be updated annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity and upon agreement with the Bank. Frequency of Procurement Supervision 45. The procurement capacity assessment recommends at least one implementation support mission each year to carry out post-review of procurement actions and technical review. The 55 procurement post-reviews and technical reviews would cover at least 20 percent of contracts subject to post-review. Post review consist of reviewing technical, financial and procurement reports carried out by the Borrowers' executing agencies and/or consultants selected and hired under the Bank project according to procedures acceptable to the Bank. 56