Day one, Thursday, April 7, 2011

9:00 – 9:30 - Welcome and opening remarks

• Rutsel Martha (IFAD, General Counsel)
• Kevin Cleaver (IFAD, Associate Vice President)

Legal instruments: What’s out there and how can it be improved?

Participants will discuss how contracts can govern and support the activities of actors operating along the value chain, from smallholders to large agribusinesses.  How do financing agreements and legal services support value chain-oriented projects? Can contracts be used as development tools to ensure that the relationships between larger actors, smaller actors, and beneficiaries are mutually beneficial? 

Discussion facilitators

• Marieclaire Colaiacomo (IFAD, Counsel)
• Itziar Garcia Villanueva (IFAD, Counsel)
• Oksana Varodi (IFC, Project Manager, Sustainable Business Advisory/ Agribusiness)
• Marian Bradley (IFAD, Country Programme Manager, East and Southern Africa Division)
• Enrique Murguia (IFAD, Country Programme Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean Division)

Moderator

Sylvie Martin (IFAD, Assistant General Counsel)

Background document

• IFAD Financing Agreement
• Small Grant Agreement

11: 00 – 11: 15  - Coffee Break

Regulatory settings: mapping and shaping enabling business environments

Participants will discuss policy and regulatory elements for building enabling regulatory and legislative frameworks that can increase small-holder farmer inclusion in value chains. Innovative devices for engaging in unsecured transactions, accessing credit and underlying production assets, and protecting those assets will also be addressed. 

Discussion facilitators

• José Angelo Estrella Faria (UNIDROIT, Secretary-General)
• Madiodio Niasse (International Land Coalition, Director of the Secretariat)
• Alberto Criscuolo (IFC, Operations Officer – Investment Climate Department)
• Thomas McInerney (IDLO, Director of Research, Policy, and Strategic Initiatives)
• Steven Schonberger (IFAD, Regional Economist for West and Central Africa)
• Charles Forrest (IFAD, Counsel)

Moderator

Becher Atassi (IFC, Principal Counsel)

Background documents

• Impact Investing (Supported by The Rockefeller Foundation) - A Framework for Policy Design and Analysis: Insight at Pacific Community Ventures and The Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University (January 2011)
• USAID: Legal and Regulatory Foundations for Rural and Agricultural Finance (2006)
• UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law), Governing Council 89th session (2010), Agenda Item No. 8: Private Law Aspects of Agricultural Finance.
• IFAD Rural Finance Policy (2009)

12:45 – 14: 00 - Lunch break

Building relationships across the value chain: corporate forms, screening, and consumer protection

This panel will explore the questions: Which corporate forms and business models facilitate the construction of inclusive value chains? What due diligence challenges are involved with selecting private sector partners? What skills and rights can farmers be equipped with in order to strengthen their negotiating positions? 

Discussion facilitators

• Frédérique Mestre (UNIDROIT, Senior Officer)
• Norman Messer (IFAD, Program Manager, Belgian Survival Fund)
• Thomas McInerney (IDLO, Director of Research, Policy, and Strategic Initiatives)
• Oksana Varodi (IFC, Project Manager, Sustainable Business Advisory/ Agribusiness)
• Rajesh Behal (IFC, Chief Investment Officer, Global Agribusiness) 
  

Moderator

• Vineet Raswant (IFAD, Senior Technical Advisor, Policy and Technical Advisory Division)

Background documents

• IFAD Rural Enterprise Policy (2006)
• IFAD Grants Policy and Private Sector, Annex V of Revised IFAD Policy for Grant Financing (2009)
• Fear of Profit, David Bornstein, NYT, Oct. 29, 2010

Day two, Friday, April 8, 2011

Assessing the rural business environment: lessons from the ease of doing business index and IFAD’s performance assessment tools

Participants will speak to their experiences of developing and using indicators for assessing and comparing rural business environments. Possibilities for collaborating on developing new indicators for such assessments will also be discussed.

Discussion facilitators

• Alberto Criscuolo (IFC, Operations Officer –Investment Climate Department)
• Grahame Dixie (World Bank, Agribusiness Unit Team Leader Agriculture and Rural Department )
• Theresa Rice (IFAD, Operations Management)
• Chitra Deshpande (IFAD, Operational Policy Economist, APR)
• Ashwani Muthoo (IFAD, Deputy Director, Office of Evaluation)
• Rutsel Martha (IFAD, General Counsel)

Moderator:

Ganesh Thapa (IFAD, Regional Economist, APR)

Background documents

• Indicators as a Technology of Global Governance, Institute for International Law and Justice Working Paper, New York University School of Law (2010)
• The Structure and Operation of a PBAS for IFAD (2003), Executive Board 79th Session
• Rural Sector Performance Assessment, Scoring Form (2011)
• IFAD’s Office of Evaluations: Summary of Criteria and Methodology
• Introduction to the Performance Based Allocation System

11: 30 – 11: 45 - Coffee Break

New models for private sector engagement: opportunities for collaboration between IFAD and IFC

Participants will outline different models for encouraging private sector involvement in development projects. Institutional comparative advantages will be discussed in order to explore avenues for complementary practices and other forms of partnership.

Discussion facilitators

• Mylene Kherallah (IFAD, Regional Economist of the Near East, North Africa and Europe division)
• Geoffrey Livingston (IFAD, Regional Economist of the East and Southern Africa division)
• Sylvie Arnoux (IFAD, Counsel)
• Vipul Prakash (IFC, Global Head, Agribusiness  and Forestry)

Moderator:

Willem Bettink (IFAD Program and Change Officer, Program Management Department)

Background document

IFAD’s response to the emerging role of the private sector (2008), Consultation on the 8th Replenishment of IFAD’s Resources, Fourth Session

13:15 – 14: 30 -   Lunch break

The workshop will conclude with an inter-disciplinary recap of what has been learned and some ideas for next steps in terms of revising legal instruments, developing strategies for stronger collaboration with operational clients, as well as among the participating institutions.

Discussion facilitators

• Rutsel Martha (IFAD, General Counsel)
  
• Kevin Cleaver (IFAD, Associate Vice President)
  
• Vipul Prakash (IFC, Global Head, Agribusiness and Forestry)
  
• Thomas McInerney (IDLO, Director of Research, Policy, and Strategic Initiatives)
  
• José Angelo Estrella-Faria (UNIDROIT Secretary-General)