RE: Enhancing funding and service delivery in agriculture: any ideas? | Eval Forward

Dear all,

Thanks to all who are participating and interested in this discussion.

Below is a summary of the main points raised by participants so far. 

I look forward to more comments and ideas on how to improve the funding of Agriculture. 

Reasons for poor funding:

  • “No taxes, no services”: tax is the basis to finance government and it is clearly insufficient in many countries.
  • Donors and governments perceive Ministries of Agriculture and related institutions to be problematic / not able to manage funds (and in some countries, alternative channels / institutions have been created to channel agriculture funding). 

What can institutions do to change and manage funding in Agriculture: 

  • Focus on program-based funding instead of funding-based programming;
  • Discourage “blanket allocations” and question the Maputo concept of a share/fraction of GDP without knowing in a logical flow how it is to be used;
  • Funding should be determined based on issues and interventions well backed up with evidence, and I would add here the importance of strengthening evaluation of government programs; and the interventions should be practical for implementations and be managed in a realistic manner;
  • Policy/decision makers in the agriculture sector, depending on country context and underlying donors’ interests, should ensure their projects’ proposals are well packaged so they attract potential donors in order to increase their chances of funding;
  • Engage all key stakeholders such as donor agencies, NGOs and other CSOs to effectively diagnose current agricultural funding situation and plan for future interventions.

I would also add the importance for Agriculture Ministries to focus their programs on SDG indicators, as this will also help in attracting more interest and funds.

Christine