ICRR 10720
                                                                                                 Report Number : ICRR10720
                   ICR Review
                   Operations Evaluation Department


1. Project Data :                                        Date Posted : 07/21/2000
             PROJ ID : P002327 OEDID:
                                    OEDID : C1992                           Appraisal                        Actual
        Project Name : Second Small Rural                       US$M )
                                                Project Costs (US$M)                   26.1                            21.9
                        Operations Project
              Country : Senegal                   Loan /Credit (US$M)
                                                  Loan/         US$M )                 16.1                            14.2
  Sector, Major Sect .: Other Agriculture ,                     US$M )
                                                  Cofinancing (US$M)                    7.0                             4.8
                        Agriculture
          L/C Number : C1992
                                                                  FY )
                                                  Board Approval (FY)                                                   89
    Partners involved : IFAD                             Closing Date           06/30/1998                      12/31/1999

Prepared by :            Reviewed by :            Group Manager :            Group :
John R. Heath            Ridley Nelson            Ridley Nelson              OEDST

2. Project Objectives and Components
 a. Objectives
 "Encourage local initiative and thereby broaden popular participation in decision -making on rural investments", with
a view to which the project would "encourage small groups of producers to constitute themselves into
legally-recognized units...and render these creditworthy in the judgment of the local banking system; create
employment in rural areas to help decrease rural -urban migration; and strengthen the existing Senegalese capacity
for identification and preparation of small rural projects . The specific projects to be financed would increase crop, fruit
and vegetable production, enhance security of production and raise rural living standards " (ICR).
 b. Components

     Consolidation and rehabilitation of 12 of the 28 irrigated rice and vegetable perimeters developed under the
     first Small Rural Operations Project;
     Construction, equipment and technical services for (a) 10 rice and vegetable perimeters of 30 hectares each,
     (b) 4 rice and vegetable perimeters of 20-30 hectares each (for four women's and youth groups ), (c) six
     perimeters of cereals, banana and citrus fruit, and (d) 2 banana perimeters of 15 hectares each;
     Individual and collective equipment and technical services for 150 traditional beekeepers;
     Unidentified subprojects/activities; and
     Improvement of the project management structure .
c. Comments on Project Cost, Financing and Dates
None

3. Achievement of Relevant Objectives :
Impossible to assess with any accuracy owing to the absence of ex -post and ex-ante economic analysis, and the
lack of subproject records . With respect to the pre-defined perimeters, the actual number of subprojects completed
was 27, against the initial estimate of 77; and the number of hectares covered was 636, compared to the target of
1,010 hectares.

4. Significant Outcomes /Impacts :
The number of beneficiaries was greater than projected at appraisal : 114,000, against 51,000. The quality of the
subprojects improved toward closing, owing to greater beneficiary involvement . This was made possible by the
restructuring of the project and its new implementation and institutional arrangement .

5. Significant Shortcomings (including non -compliance with safeguard policies ):
Weak performance by the implementing agency led to difficulty in developing a pipeline of subprojects and to low
output relative to capacity and overhead costs . The cost of irrigation works was almost twice as high as that in
similar projects in neighboring Mauritania . Subproject identification and implementation was not always decided on
the merits of the subproject, being influenced by politics . Financial management was weak and the project
management unit was unable to account for all the funds used by the project .
6. Ratings :               ICR                  OED Review               Reason for Disagreement /Comments
              Outcome :    Unsatisfactory       Unsatisfactory
    Institutional Dev .:   Partial              Modest                   Same rating, different lexicon
        Sustainability :   Unlikely             Unlikely
   Bank Performance :      Deficient            Unsatisfactory           Same rating, different lexicon
      Borrower Perf .:     Deficient            Unsatisfactory           Same rating, different lexicon
       Quality of ICR :                         Satisfactory

7. Lessons of Broad Applicability :

(a) Long delays between identifying and implementing subprojects will push up costs and sap beneficiary support .
(b) It is better to cancel projects with major design flaws and weak implementation than to waste time trying to
redesign them, or trying to change the approach of implementing agencies .

8. Audit Recommended?            Yes    No

9. Comments on Quality of ICR :
No ex-post economic analysis because, at appraisal /midterm there was no ex-ante estimate of economic rates of
return or unit costs.