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PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)
CONCEPT STAGE
Report No.: AB1704
Project Name
Region
Sector
Project ID
Borrower(s)
Implementing Agency
Agricultural rehabilitation project
AFRICA
General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector (100%)
P095251
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
BP 2453
Brazzaville
Congo, Republic of
Environment Category
Date PID Prepared
Estimated Date of
Appraisal Authorization
Estimated Date of Board
Approval
[ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
June 8, 2005
March 10, 2006
May 30, 2006
1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement
1. The Republic of the Congo is well endowed with natural resources including oil, forests, water
and arable land. However during the 1990s the armed conflicts that ravaged the country’s
productive infrastructure and social capital created precarious living conditions for the vast
majority of the population, especially those in rural areas. Congo is the third largest oil exporter
in Africa (after Nigeria and Angola); however, successive governments have mortgaged future
oil revenues at relatively low prices in order to generate short-term revenues to finance the war
effort. For many years, the lack of transparency and mismanagement of public resources
resulted in the fact that only a very small portion of the population has benefited from oil
revenues. Consequently poverty increased significantly among a larger segment of the
population. Today, about 70 percent of the population, essentially women, youth, and rural
people live below poverty line, compared to 30 percent at the beginning of the conflicts.
2. The high poverty level in the rural areas combined with an increasing rural-urban income gap,
on the one hand, and the high degree of dependency of the national economy on oil and forestry
products, on the other, suggest the need for further income and livelihood diversification. Since
a significant share of the population resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture as a
primary source of livelihood, the Congolese Government views agriculture as a key sector for
increasing employment, incomes, and food security of the rural population and the urban poor,
and for broad-based growth.
3. However, due to long-term neglect of the sector and years of violent conflicts, the sector faces
several critical constraints. Key among these are (i) non-existent, war-torn, and/or poorly
maintained roads and other rural infrastructure; (ii) use of rudimentary technologies and limited
support from research and agricultural extension services; (iii) inefficient marketing systems due
to high transaction costs and poor infrastructure and information systems; (iv) lack of access to
credit, and (v) inappropriate and ineffective policies and legislation for sustainable development
of the sector, including rural finance, private sector, marketing, quality and standards, and natural
resource management.
4. In view of these issues, the government developed, in November 2003, its Stratégies du
developpement agricole pour la periode 2004-2013 with the following objectives: (i) re-conquer the
national food market to combat food insecurity, (b) reduce food imports and increase agricultural
exports, (c) increase producers’ income and create jobs in rural areas; (d) stem rural-urban migration,
and (d) promote the sustainable management of natural resources.
5. Realization of these objectives will require major efforts and resources. The financial
resources and the implementation capacities required for achieving these objectives far exceed
the resources locally available. The proposed project would significantly improve the country’s
capacity to address some of the main constraints facing agricultural development. It would
provide a solid foundation for improving and maintaining the competitiveness of the agricultural
sector both internally and externally (i.e., agricultural exports).
6. The current TSS and the Agricultural Policy Note (APN) -under preparation for the Republic
of the Congo are in line with the Government’s development objectives as outlined in its
Agriculture Strategy. Revitalizing the rural sector has been identified in the TSS as one of the
key priority areas for creating jobs through both economic growth and diversification. In
addition, both the TSS and the APN recommend that the immediate priorities for revitalizing
the rural sector center on the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads, as their poor
condition is a major obstacle to the commercialization and hence to raising agricultural
productivity and production.
2. Proposed objective(s)
7.
The overall objective of the proposed project is to help increase the income, and to
improve the living standards of the rural population by promoting strongly the diversification
and growth of economic activities in rural areas. In order to achieve this objective, the proposed
project will support the Government’s efforts in several priority areas identified in the rural
development strategy, the APN and in the TSS. More specifically, the project aims to: (i)
strengthen the Government’s capacity in sector management including programming, policy
analysis, performance-enhancing regulations, and provision of other public goods necessary for
sustained investment and growth in the agricultural sector.; (ii) rehabilitate the agricultural
production capacity of producers by developing and disseminating productivity-enhancing
technologies in crops, horticulture, fisheries, livestock, and agro-processing; (iii) improve
producers’ access to markets through the rehabilitation and expansion of rural infrastructure; and
(iv) developing tools for sustainable fisheries management.
.
8. The development objectives would be monitored through the following key performance
indicators (KPIs): (i) increased use by farmers of improved technologies including planting
materials and other modern agricultural inputs (ii) increased production of targeted crops and
fisheries (inland and marine), (iii) creation or expansion of one or two community-based
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in marine and/or freshwater ecosystems,
(iv) number and length of rehabilitated and newly constructed rural roads or inland waterways
and other rural infrastructure; (v) increased income of farmers and fishermen in the project areas;
and (iv) increased public and private sector service delivery
3. Preliminary description
9. The proposed project will be implemented over four years. The proposed project consists of
the following four components:
(i). Capacity-building for improved agricultural sector management: Activities undertaken will
include: (a) formulating and implementing the regional agricultural development programs in
order to exploit the comparative advantage of each targeted region of the country, (b) promoting
the creation of producer organizations and support such organizations to take advantages of new
economic opportunities in production, processing and/or marketing, (c) facilitating access to
agricultural inputs and livestock and fisheries technologies and farmer advisory services,
including technology development and dissemination, (d) supporting the establishment of a
Private Sector Development Facility to mobilize private sector initiatives, including post harvest
value adding initiative and promote supply chain development that will benefit smallholder
farmers.
(ii). Market-oriented diversification of production and market development and access:
Activities will include (a) rehabilitating rural and feeder roads and waterways; (b) supporting the
development of collection and storage centers for agricultural and fisheries products, (c)
supporting the development of food conditioning and processing units, including fish processing
technologies (d) developing and/or improving market infrastructure, including market
infrastructure for small-scale fisheries; and (e) strengthening the operational capacity of the
department responsible for agricultural marketing by upgrading the market information
collection and dissemination systems, (d) establishing food safety standards and guidelines
environmental protection, especially in the marine fisheries.
(iii). Sustainable management of fisheries (GEF co-funding). Using the ecosystem approach that
recognizes explicitly the interdependence between human well-being and the health of marine
and freshwater ecosystems, and the need to maintain the productivity of fisheries, the activities
will focus on developing the necessary tools for achieving the sustainable management of
fisheries resources. These tools aim at (a) controlling the pollution and degradation of aquatic
ecosystems, (b) minimizing waste and maintaining the reproductive capacity of the fisheries by
controlling fishing capacity (input-based and output-based capacity), (c) eliminating or
minimizing conflicts resulting from the multiple use of the marine ecosystems, (d) conserving
critical coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems, and (e) protecting endangered species. This
component will develop four main tools for sustainable fisheries management:




A regulatory framework: preparing implementation decrees of the Marine fisheries Law,
and of the Freshwater Fisheries Law, and establishing an effective monitoring, control
and surveillance system;
Designing and implementing [co]-management plans for freshwater and marine fisheries;
Designing and implementing a public-private (Government and oil industry) plan for the
prevention of marine pollution; and
Establishing or expanding one or two area(s) for conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity of coastal, marine and/or inland water ecosystems.
(iv). Project coordination and M&E: Activities will include: (a) data collection/analysis and
establishment of baseline against which project performance will be assessed, (b) preparation
and implementation of annual work plans, (c) preparation of periodic progress and
implementation reports, (d) monitoring and evaluation of project activities.
10. Institutional arrangements. A Program Steering Committee (PSC) will be created to direct
the overall preparation and design of the project. The PSC will comprise representatives of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAEP), Ministry of Forest Economies and the
Environment (MEFE), Ministry of Equipment and Public Works (METP), Ministry of the
Economy, Finance and Budget(MEFB)), Ministry of Naval Affairs, farmers and fishermen
groups, and the private sector. A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be established in the
MAEP and will be in charge of coordinating the implementation of the Project.
4. Safeguard policies that might apply
11. The proposed operation may trigger at least two safeguard policies: (i) Environmental
Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) because of the potential adverse impacts of infrastructure development
(i.e., rural roads, and other market infrastructure), and (ii) Pest Management (OP 4.09) because
the intensification of agricultural production may lead to increased use of pesticides by farmers.
The mismanagement and misuse of pesticides could result in adverse impacts on the floral,
fauna, and land resources as well as occupational and public health hazards.
12. The project will therefore help the Recipient to conduct the studies necessary to determine
the full potential social and environmental effects of the proposed investments in order to
identify and implement the appropriate measures for mitigating these effects. At minimum, it is
expected that the agricultural and infrastructure investments will take place in a framework that
includes the following environmental stewardship measures:
(b)
improved soil and water conservation practices;
(c)
use of integrated approaches to pest management (IPM) and preparation and
implementation of a pest management plan;
(d)
improved land husbandry practices that will help to reduce the pressure on
ecologically more fragile areas as well as on deforestation.
(e)
Capacity strengthening of the implementing agencies for implementing and
monitoring the recommended environmental and social mitigation measures.
5. Tentative financing
Source:
Global Environment Facility
BORROWER/RECIPIENT
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Total
6. Contact point:

Task Manager
Siméon K. Ehui
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington D.C. 20433
Telephone: 202 445 87767
Fax: 202 473 8229

For information on other project related documents contact:
The InfoShop
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 458-5454
Fax: (202) 522-1500
Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop

Implementing Agency
Ms Jeanne Dambendzet
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
PO: 2453 Brazzaville
Republic of Congo
($m.)
6.0
0
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