• Reference: P-Z1-AA0-107
• Approval date: 13/12/1901
• Start date: 01/01/2002
• Appraisal Date: 15/05/2012
• Status: ApprovedAPVD
• Implementing Agency: IGAD
• Location: Great Horn of Africa

The Bank's intervention will be structured in the following components:

A. Improvement of Water and livestock infrastructure: The focus of this component is the establishment of agriculture and livestock infrastructure. The activities include:

(i) Development of multi-purpose water infrastructure for crop and livestock production as well as for human consumption. Depending on the country and location, the infrastructure will include small to medium size dams, water harvesting systems, boreholes, river diversions;

(ii) sustainable development of grazing areas, pasture, fodder and animal feed production, loading and offloading infrastructure and roads to ensure efficient and timely movement of inputs and products. This subcomponent will support the livestock and livelihoods of the majority of the inhabitants of the HOA, and help reduce conflicts over the utilization of shared natural resources;

(iii) infrastructure for primary and secondary value addition processing including holding pens, cattle dips, animal housing, abattoirs, tanneries, dairies, cooling plants and other relevant facilities and

(iv) studies and design of civil works

B Improvement of livestock marketing and value addition infrastructure: The focus of this component is to support the improvement of livestock marketing, value addition supply chain, post harvest loss reduction infrastructure The activities include the development of

(i) feeder roads, livestock, cereals and vegetable markets, quarantine stations, control posts;

(ii) livestock control and housing, slaughterhouses, silos and warehouses, packaging, conditioned transport, production of cheese, butter, yoghurt and other products.

(ii) production of leather products, dried milk, buttons, dressed poultry, glue and cooking fat.

C. Strengthening institutional capacity and enabling environment for production and trade: The focus of this component is on capacity building and institutional strengthening. The activities will include:

(i) Capacity building of IGAD and relevant national institutions;

(ii) Training program beneficiaries;

(iii) Development of livestock and water and pasture utilization policy and regional regulatory frameworks;

(iv) mass sensitization and awareness creation on sustainable management of the pastoral reassures;

(v) development of a regional market information system;

(vi) development of water, pasture and feed resources at the regional level; (vii) economic and sector work, (vii) Knowledge generation and management including research and development and (viii) Technical assistance.

D. Program Coordination: The overall implementation and coordination of the program will be carried out by IGAD (Executing Agency) in close liaison with the various Governments of the HOA countries. At national levels, the Ministries in charge of HOA will house a special desk which is fully capacitated with a National Program Coordinator, as well as staff of relevant Ministries in charge of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, Trade, Finance, Transport and Communication, Roads and Lands.

The overall objective of the program is to create a favorable environment that will sustainably lead to better livelihoods and food security, increased households income, and better natural resources utilization in the Horn of Africa. Specifically, the program aims at improving the production and marketing infrastructure and setting up other accompanying soft measures as Regional Public Goods (RPGs) in order to enhance livestock productivity and trade at the regional level.

Livestock and livestock products contribute significantly as a food source and are usually the main source of income in pastoral livelihoods. However, water is the single most important threat to sustainable livelihoods and livestock development among the pastoral communities in the HOA. To that end, interventions in this sector should include investments in water infrastructure to mobilize and store both ground and surface water for irrigation and livestock, establishment of trans-boundary water organizations for greater cooperation in water resources management and sharing of benefits and strengthening institutional capacities for reliable water information systems, regulations, water rights and research on groundwater/artesian resources.

A well-developed physical infrastructure such as roads and energy, especially electricity are also a necessity for supporting production, processing and marketing activities in the livestock sector. There is a large potential for value addition in livestock and livestock products for the local and regional markets. Trade barriers to food and feed in the HOA have contributed greatly to the vulnerability of the communities and the timely response to such food crisis given the current climate change in the region. These trade barriers can be lack of regional information system on standardized commodity price and volume, and policy- regulatory-based, such as bans on food exports during periods of drought or they can be physical barriers such as underdeveloped transport infrastructure and information systems. Barriers to trade in food often leads to a rise in food prices in the food deficit regions while depressing prices in the surplus regions and thereby acts as a disincentive to producers in the surplus regions. This aspect could be addressed through improved information system, both agriculture and non-agriculture infrastructures and policy dialogues to enhance regional integration in the area of agricultural and livestock products. In spite of the large potential in the intra-regional trade, the average share of intra-regional trade in total trade in Eastern Africa during the period of 2000 - 2008 remained as small as 9%. However, through this programme, the increased production of livestock coupled with improved regional information system, marketing infrastructure and adapted trade regulatory measures will translate in increased trade across HOA countries as the trade cost for HOA countries who are currently importing and exporting mainly from outside of the region will be reduced. Better natural resource management and fewer conflicts in the region are also other additional benefits derived from the operation.

The reason why the Bank should support this program is that, it is fully aligned with the Bank's Medium Term Strategic Plan (2008-2012), Agricultural Sector Strategy (2010-2014) as well as the Bank's Framework Paper for Post-Harvest Loss Reduction in Africa (2010-2014); all of which emphasize agricultural infrastructure, natural resource development and commodities value addition, with the ultimate goal of ensuring sustainable food security within Bank's Regional Member Countries. The program is also in line with the Bank's Integrated Water Resources Management Policy (IWRM) which aims at promoting an integrated approach in the management of water resources in order to achieve economic development and attain the goals of poverty reduction in Africa. Further, the program is aligned with the Eastern Africa - Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP 2011 -2015) which is underpinned by the Strategic Frameworks of both EAC and COMESA and the COMESA-EAC-SADC (CES) Tripartite Arrangement launched in 2008. In line with the Bank's Regional Integration Strategy, the two pillars of the PISP 2011 -2015 are infrastructure and capacity building. This strategy provides a revamped framework for harnessing Africa's natural resources in a sustainable manner and promoting cohesive regional integration while capacitating regional and inter-governmental institutions.

The development of livestock, water and rural infrastructure and several targeted soft interventions as Regional Public Goods (RPGs) envisaged in the program will positively impact on increasing regional trade, facilitating population movement, promoting peace and sustainable use of the natural resources base, enhancing domestic and foreign Private sector investments and consequently strengthening the resilience of region's economies. Bank's intervention will seek every possible opportunity to collaborate with international, regional and research organizations such as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), COMESA, UN, etc. and build synergies with ongoing and planned interventions towards the achievement of its objectives.

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The benefits expected to emerge from the project include the following: a)Improvement of physical assets such as land, livestock and other natural resources; b)Prevention of the cyclical nature of flood and drought and mitigating negative effects of climate change; c)Improvement in human and animal health; d)Increase in incomes at the household level due to either increased livestock and food production; e)Enhancement of knowledge sharing among program beneficiaries; f)Increasing food security due to increased accessibility to pasture, water and market; g)Reduction of the dependency on food aid; h)Building Capacity and institutional strengthening at national and regional levels;

(i)Better policies, regulation and institutional frameworks; j)Enhanced linkages of production with markets and increased intra-regional trade of livestock products in HOA countries. k) Better control of regional transboundary animal diseases (TADs)

UMAR Lawal Mohammed - OSAN1

Finance source	Amount
ADF	UAC 91,120,000
Total	UAC 91,120,000