Guide For The Design And Implementation Of Public Private Partnerships For Agribusiness Development In Africa

Unleashing the potential for inclusive agricultural growth and transformation in Africa requires coordinated and strategic public and private investment in the agriculture sector. [Author] Against a background of limited government resources and expertise, public–private partnerships are increasingly being promoted as a mechanism to pool resources, reduce risk, improve productivity and drive growth in the agriculture and food sectors. [Author] In line with this trend, many African countries have recently expressed an interest in further understanding the potential for public–private partnerships for agribusiness development (agri-PPPs) to deliver on these transformative goals. [Author] This publication aims to provide guidance to African policymakers and potential private sector investors on the core principles of designing and implementing agri-PPPs that will promote the transformation of Africa’s agriculture sector in an inclusive and sustainable way. [Author] This area of work is of particular interest to the African Union Commission (AUC) which has highlighted agri-PPPs as a key tool in the delivery of the results under the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth for Shared Prosperity and Livelihoods. [Author]

This sourcebook appraises these instruments and considers their nature and objectives, their potential benefits and challenges and the approaches used to implement them. It also examines the practices that have led to both successful and unsuccessful outcomes. The publication provides a comprehensive review of the potential of these tools to enhance value addition, deliver jobs, increase exports and provide markets for new and existing producers in the targeted territories. It notes, however, that implementation of these tools poses a number of challenges. For example, planners and practitioners sometimes use them interchangeably, thus ignoring the specificities of the investments, policies and processes required, and their expected outcomes. The sourcebook concludes that these tools have potential for catalytic impact, but planners need to make sound choices that respect demonstrated principles and follow good practices for effective design and implementation.

Managing the ability of agriculture to meet rising global demand and to respond to the changes and opportunities will require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation - not business as usual. Investments in public Research and Development, extension, education, and their links with one another have elicited high returns and pro-poor growth, but these investments alone will not elicit innovation at the pace or on the scale required by the intensifying and proliferating challenges confronting agriculture. Experience indicates that aside from a strong capacity in Research and Development, the ability to innovate is often related to collective action, coordination, the exchange of knowledge among diverse actors, the incentives and resources available to form partnerships and develop businesses, and conditions that make it possible for farmers or entrepreneurs to use the innovations. While consensus is developing about what is meant by 'innovation' and 'innovation system', no detailed blueprint exists for making agricultural innovation happen at a given time, in a given place, for a given result. The AIS approach that looks at these multiple conditions and relationships that promote innovation in agriculture, has however moved from a concept to a sub-discipline with principles of analysis and action. AIS investments must be specific to the context, responding to the stage of development in a particular country and agricultural sector, especially the AIS. This sourcebook contributes to identifying, designing, and implementing the investments, approaches, and complementary interventions that appear most likely to strengthen AIS and to promote agricultural innovation and equitable growth. It emphasizes the lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and prospects for replicating or expanding successful practices. The information in this sourcebook derives from approaches that have been tested at different scales in different contexts. It reflects the experiences and evolving understanding of numerous individuals and organizations concerned with agricultural innovation, including the World Bank. This information is targeted to the key operational staff in international and regional development agencies and national governments who design and implement lending projects and to the practitioners who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. The sourcebook can also be an important resource for the research community and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Investing in farmers through public-private-producer partnerships Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development Scaling-up Initiative in Indonesia. Investing in farmers – or agriculture human capital – is crucial to addressing challenges in our agri-food systems. A global study carried out by the FAO Investment Centre and the International Food Policy Research Institute, with support from the CGIAR Research Programme on Policies, Institutions and Markets and the FAO Research and Extension Unit, looks at agriculture human capital investments, from trends to promising initiatives. One of the nine featured case studies is the Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development Scaling-up Initiative in Indonesia. This programme adds perspectives on investing in human capital in agriculture through public-private-producer partnerships, using lead farmers, cocoa doctors and farmer field schools. The case study shows that the training and coaching provided increased knowledge of and practical skills in cocoa farming, including technical skills, soft skills and empowerment, leading to better productivity and cocoa quality. The programme increased farmers’ confidence to take on new activities and sell a quality product. In addition, farmers developed group cooperation and decision-making skills, and group members learned communication, entrepreneurship and marketing skills. This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.

The FMM Annual Report for 2018 highlights the concrete results achieved through the continued support of key resource partners. This report details initiatives, innovations, impacts, outcomes and human-centred stories from the field. The report shows how deepening our engagement with resource partners and fostering new alliances is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Investment in infrastructure can be a driving force of the economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of shrinking fiscal space. Public-private partnerships (PPP) bring a promise of efficiency when carefully designed and managed, to avoid creating unnecessary fiscal risks. But fiscal illusions prevent an understanding the sources of fiscal risks, which arise in all infrastructure projects, and that in PPPs present specific characteristics that need to be addressed. PPP contracts are also affected by implicit fiscal risks when they are poorly designed, particularly when a government signs a PPP contract for a project with no financial sustainability. This paper reviews the advantages and inconveniences of PPPs, discusses the fiscal illusions affecting them, identifies a diversity of fiscal risks, and presents the essentials of PPP fiscal risk management.