The unanticipated spike in international food prices in 2007-08 hit many developing countries hard. International prices for food and other agricultural products increased by more than 100 percent between early 2007 and mid-2008.
... See More + Prices for food cereals more than doubled; and those for rice doubled in the space of just a few months. The food price increases were particularly hard on the poor and near-poor in developing countries, many of whom spend a large share of their income on food and have limited means to cope with price shocks. An estimated 1.29 billion people in 2008 lived on less than $1.25 a day, equivalent to 22.4 percent of the developing world population. In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 923 million people were undernourished in 2007. Simulation models suggested that poverty rose by 100-200 million people and the undernourished increased by 63 million in 2008. The World Bank organized rapidly for short-term support in the crisis, launching a fast-track program of loans and grants, the Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP). The GFRP mainly targeted low-income countries, and provided detailed policy advice to governments and its own staff on how to respond to the crisis. The Bank also scaled up lending for agriculture and social protection to support the building of medium-term resilience to future food price shocks. The International Finance Corporation responded by sharply increasing access to liquidity for agribusinesses and agricultural traders in the short and medium term, as well as new programs to improve incentives for agricultural market participants. This evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the World Bank Group response in addressing the short-term impacts of the food price crisis and in enhancing the resilience of countries to future shocks.
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This MENA K&L Quick Note highlights the key lessons learned from the workshop entitled: Procurement Under Public private Partnerships (PPP): A Learning Event for the Water and Energy Sectors, held in Beirut, Lebanon on October 13-15, 2014.
... See More + The event was organized by the Governance Global Practice Team at the World Bank Office in Beirut in coordination with the Public-Private Partnership Cross Cutting Solutions Area (GPCDR-PPP-CCSA). The event provided a platform to expose clients to best practices on PPP procurement, particularly in projects, sectors, and countries with upcoming PPP operations, as well as in countries that are exploring the possibility of utilizing PPP arrangements and are interested to learn more about the approach and the legal framework to support it.
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Brief 93705 DEC 01, 2014
Lipson, Rachel; Ismail Ali, Nazaneen; Al-Kazzaz, Ala
The second Implementation Review and Support mission for the Pro-poor Urban Regeneration Pilot Project (PURPP), funded by the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), was held during November 11-23, 2014.
... See More + The objectives of the mission were to: (i) review the status of actions agreed during the implementation support review of June 2014 and the technical discussions of September 2014; and (ii) agree on next steps for the grant facility. The review team (referred to as the Team hereafter) would like to thank officials of the Government of Nepal (GoN) representing the Ministry of Finance (MoF) the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), and officials of the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) and the Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC) for the hospitality and courtesies extended during the review. The list of persons met is in Annex 1. This Aide-Memoire (AM) summarizes the main findings and recommendations of the mission. The draft Aide-Memoire was shared with the concerned agencies for discussion at the wrap-up meeting, which was chaired by Mr. Yogeshwar Parajuli, Commissioner, KVDA on November 23, 2014. As agreed at the wrap-up meeting, this Aide-Memoire will be classified as a public document as per the World Banks Access to Information Policy.
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Women play an important role in rural economic activity but face severe constraints to productivity and socioeconomic security. Nigeria's agriculture sector employs 35 percent of women and up to 44 percent of female heads of households.
... See More + Yet a number of factors constrain the expansion and diversification of agricultural activities, including fewer rights to land than men, lower access to credit, and inequitable access to inputs, fertilizers, and extension services. As a result, their agricultural productivity remains lower than that of men and their vulnerability to food insecurity and poverty higher. How to help female farmers increase their agricultural productivity and expand their economic opportunities is thus a key policy question. The government sees its agriculture transformation agenda (ATA) as a critical tool for driving rural income growth, accelerating the achievement of food and nutritional security, generating employment, and transforming the country into a leading player in global food markets. The strategy is to improve the value chains of a number of agricultural commodities by focusing on key aspects, including the availability and provision of improved inputs (seed and fertilizer), support for increased productivity and production, and the establishment of staple crop processing zones. With a view to informing the design of future agriculture policies and projects, this research investigated the experience of female farmers in an existing agriculture development project, the National Fadama Development Project (Fadama). Fadama is a community-driven development (CDD) project that aims to reduce rural poverty and increase food availability throughout all 36 states and the Federal capital territory in Nigeria. In particular, the research examines: target; performance; and empowerment of female farmers. This paper focuses predominantly on female Fadama user groups (FUGs) involved in cassava and palm oil processing, as these are the main crops with which women work under Fadama in Ogun state. Section A presents the factors that facilitate and shape womens access to and performance in FUGs. Section B discusses how womens increased income under the project affects their economic empowerment. Section C draws conclusions on the basis of this research, laying out key findings and exploring their operational and policy implications.
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Can governments be held accountable for spending by citizen organizations? In this issue the author present the experience of two civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in budget and procurement review and monitoring in Nigeria.
... See More + In the Nigerian context, the preconditions for accountable citizen-state relations are underdeveloped. In particular, some of the building blocks of transparent and accountable public financial management systems are absent or dysfunctional. Lack of information and limited opportunities for citizens' engagement in government processes have resulted in high levels of mistrust between citizens and government. Despite these challenges, there are people and groups, in both government and civil society, who have taken bold steps to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the planning and management of public resources. For example, networks of CSOs working in the area of procurement oversight have started demanding information on procurement bids. The World Bank civil society fund provides financial and technical support to CSOs aimed at improving their capacity and effectiveness to engage in reform and policy processes. Given the World Bank's broader focus on governance reforms, a particular emphasis has been placed on supporting CSO engagement in monitoring the use of public resources, including budget and procurement processes and the delivery of public assets and services. This note features interviews with two civil society fund (CSF) grantees. The first is with Amy Oyekunle, the executive director and manager of the CSF grant at the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), and the second with Nkem Ilo, manager of the CSF grant at the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC). The aim of these interviews is to look at how these organizations navigate the challenges of the Nigerian governance context and what they can realistically achieve with financial and technical support from the World Bank in this context.
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The governance partnership facility (GPF) supported program mainstreaming governance in Tajikistan portfolio (FY2010-14) was a landmark achievement in applying governance analysis and looking for entry points to improve transparency and accountability in key sectors in Tajikistan.
... See More + This brief provides recommendations from its energy-efficiency audit, the extractive industries sector, and public procurement authority pilot program. In the long run, the government's goal is to use procurement performance measurement framework (PPMF) generated procurement performance assessments and annual procurement performance reports (APPRs) as feedback that inform policy design. If the reform momentum can be sustained, Tajikistan has a potential to gradually converge to good practices in public procurement and improve its good governance ratings over time.
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Brief 89229 JUL 01, 2014
Mikulova, Kristina; Johns, Kimberly; Kunicova, Jana
A central policy of the Government of Indonesia's strategy for enhancing its country's economic and social development is to develop infrastructure and expand service delivery.
... See More + Public procurement reform is a key component of this policy. Despite the decentralization of financial responsibility and authority to relatively autonomous local level governments, procurement reform in Indonesia is a centrally-driven effort. In this paper, we examine the extent to which procurement reform is translating into improvements in sub-national performance. Data on local government procurement expenditures point to an overall decline in the volume of procurement, especially in poorer districts. This paper uses qualitative case studies of procurement reform in six local governments and finds that local government leadership is associated with the uptake of reform. There is little evidence to suggest that procurement reform has been "demand''-led, since neither the private sector nor Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been active in advocating for procurement reform.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6977 JUL 01, 2014
Public Financial Management of the Mexican Federal administration relies on open and orderly Financial Management (FM) systems based on a strong legal framework, policies, and procedures for execution of public expenditures.
... See More + These FM country systems are partially replicated in the State of Oaxaca and, in particular, in the Secretariat of Finance (Secretaria de Finanzas, SEFIN), which will be coordinating the overall implementation of the Program, and in the executing entities, the State Water Commission (Comision Estatal de Agua, CEA) and the Oaxaca Metropolitan Area Water Utility (SAPAO), which will be responsible for carrying out technical activities under the Program. Although SEFIN has limited experience in managing Bank-financed operations, and CEA and SAPAO have no such experience, the overall conclusion of the FM assessment is that SEFIN, CEA and SAPAO1 have suitable financial management arrangements, which include the key elements for an adequate implementation of the Program, such as: (i) a formal process of budget planning and execution based on comprehensive legal and normative frameworks; (ii) the approval of the State Expenditures Budget on an annual basis by the State Legislature; (iii) an integrated budgeting and accounting system (SINPRES), which allows for the management and control of financial resources; (iv) organizational structures with adequate segregation of duties, documented in the appropriate Functions and Organizational Manuals, and (v) experienced staff.
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Over the last decade Morocco has made important strides in responding to citizen demands for more transparency, accountability, and shared prosperity.
... See More + This has also extended into the public sector and its varied functions. In Morocco public contracts account for some 17 percent of GDP and are responsible for critical activities in the economy, including delivery of key public services.2 Given its important role, the Government of Morocco (GoM) prioritized public procurement for comprehensive reforms. Starting with 2003 Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR) Morocco embarked on a productive dialogue with the World Bank to improve its procurement system and optimize the performance of its public investments.
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This handbook is intended for government employees involved in public procurement. It provides some insights into how fraud and corruption schemes work in public investments.
... See More + The handbook identifies a range of fraud and corruption indicators, or red flags, and relevant schemes that may become apparent during the life of an investment, from design to implementation. The primary focus of this handbook is fraud and corruption in procurement, with some coverage of general governance issues. It is based on the experience of Polands Central Anti-Corruption Bureau and the World Banks Integrity Vice Presidency, and it presents examples referring both to public investments implemented under Polish public procurement law and international competitive bidding. This handbook aims to provide support to the managers of procuring entities in conducting public procurement by identifying frequently occurring irregularities and suggesting methods of preventing them.
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