Programme area. Maintaining the geographical coverage of the ASDP, the proposed IFAD supplementary loan  will cover rural districts nationwide, where about 90 per cent of the poor - defined as those living on less than a dollar a day - live. Some 80 per cent of the country's rural poor are engaged in agricultural activities.

Target group. The IFAD supplementary loan  will maintain the focus on the ASDP target group – poor rural people, including women, with potential to improve their crop and livestock productivity and increase their incomes, and people who are food-insecure. Services provided to the target group include increasing their access to agricultural technology and assisting them in building their entrepreneurial skills.

Programme objectives. The ASDP's overall goal is to contribute to reaching the agriculture growth target set out in the country's poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty, 2005-2010 (or MKUKUTA in Kiswahili). The proposed loan, will support the two programme objectives: (i) enabling farmers to have better access to and make better use of agricultural knowledge, technologies, marketing systems and infrastructure, all of which contribute to higher productivity, profitability and farm incomes; and (ii) promoting private investment in agriculture based on an improved regulatory and policy environment. The loan will strengthen the ASDP Basket Fund, enabling it to support improved agricultural mechanization services in addition to its current activities on research and extension services and irrigation development. Strong private-sector participation in agricultural service delivery and mechanization services is also anticipated.

Programme description. The proposed supplementary loan will support the existing ASDP components:

• Local-level support. This component aims at supporting agricultural sector activities at the village, ward and district levels. This is achieved through: (i) priority local agricultural investments in accordance with district agricultural development plans and on a cost-sharing basis, with beneficiaries contributing labour and locally available materials; (ii) a shift to contracting of agricultural services and greater control of resource allocation decisions by farmers; and (iii) the building of district planning capacity, agricultural reforms, farmer empowerment and the development of private-sector service provision.

• National-level support. This component is designed to assist the agricultural sector lead ministries in implementing the policy and institutional reforms envisioned in the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and to provide an enabling environment for commercial activity in the sector. This involves support to: (i) agricultural services, primarily research and extension; (ii) irrigation development; (iii) market and private-sector development; (iv) food security; and (v) coordination, monitoring and evaluation.

Important features. The proposed loan will strengthen ASDP's capacity to meet the PRSP goals for the sector. IFAD has already provided two loans to the ASDP Basket Fund, valued at US$36.0 million., through the Agricultural Services Support programme (ASSP) and the Agricultural Sector Development Programme – Livestock (ASDP-L)  The proposed supplementary loan will help close the ASDP funding gap and will be fully integrated in the Basket Fund. The programme is consistent with IFAD's country strategic opportunities programme for the United Republic of Tanzania, the IFAD Strategic Framework 2007-2010 and the country's PRSP.

Some innovative features of the ASDP include:

• Pooling of resources. All funding for agricultural development (both external and domestic) has been brought together under a single sector programme and expenditure framework, owned and led by the Government, with development partners progressively aligning and harmonizing their procedures with country systems. This is in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, and in complete contrast with the separate project mode employed in the past by different development partners and the Government itself.

• Deepening and widening of development partnerships. The design and implementation of the ASDP has brought together development partners according to their relative comparative advantages and provided an opportunity for a more holistic view to agricultural development.

• Government leadership. Unlike in the project mode of the past, the Government has taken the lead in the design and implementation of the ASDP. This has been effective in building ownership of the programme, and the confidence and capacity of government officials.

Potential cofinanciers and domestic contribution. Current commitments to the ASDP Basket Fund over the 2006-2013 period include: the International Development Association (US$90 million); the African Development Bank (US$60 million); the European Union (US$8.5 million); Irish Aid (€7.4 million); and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (US$3 million). The total initial commitment of the development partners is estimated at US$310 million. The Government's contribution comes through the medium-term expenditure framework and the annual budget. The beneficiary contribution is estimated at US$230 million. The Government plans to organize a fund-raising conference in March 2008 to solicit greater commitments to the ASDP Basket Fund from existing development partners and to invite others to join in this effort.

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Photo caption 1: IFAD photo by Robert Grossman - United Republic of Tanzania - Mara Region - Cattle owners Gaudensia Ndibalema and Mossi Kassim herd cattle towards a dip in the town of Surubu, Tarime District. Some 600 households owning a total of 5,948 head of cattle use this facility, which was rehabilitated by the IFAD-assisted Mara Region Farmers’ Initiative Project.

Photo caption 2: IFAD photo by Robert Grossman - United Republic of Tanzania - Mara Region A smallholder farmer in Tagota village showing the high quality of his first harvest of coffee beans.

Facts and figures Region: Eastern and Southern Africa Programme ID number: 1420 Nature of programme: Agricultural development Total programme cost (provisional): US$2.0 billion Estimated IFAD loan: Supplementary loan (to be determined) Cofinancing gap: See section on potential cofinanciers Domestic contribution (provisional): Approximately US$1.7 billion Proposed terms: Highly concessional Stage of programme cycle: The ASDP (jointly funded by IFAD and other development partners) is ongoing and the current phase is expected to close in five years' time. The supplementary loan will be applied to implement the existing components of ASDP. Next step in programme development: Complete the design to justify the supplementary loan and ensure it fits into the implementation structure of the ongoing ASDP.Country meeting on design scheduled for July 2008 Tentative date for consideration by the Executive Board: September 2008 Programme duration: 2006 to 2013 Tentative programme start-up date: March 2009 (for the IFAD supplementary loan) Implementing agency: Four sector led by Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Borrower: United Republic of Tanzania Hot links Rural poverty in Tanzania IFAD operations in Tanzania Planned project activities disclaimer Contact information Mr I. De Willebois Director, Eastern and Southern Africa Division Mr S. Eremie Country Programme Manager e-mail: s.eremie@ifad.org International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Via Paolo di Dono, 44, 00142 Rome, Italy Tel: +39 0654591 e-mail: ifad@ifad.org