http://www.fao.org/economic/PtoP/en/ Presented during the From Protection to Production project Consultative Workshop, 17-18 September 2013, Accra, Ghana The From Protection to Production (PtoP) project is a multi-country impact evaluation of cash transfers in sub-Saharan Africa. The project is a collaborative effort between the FAO, the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office and the governments of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Project activities are mainly funded by the Regular Fund, the DFID Research and Evidence Division and the EU.

1. Coordination between social protection and
agriculture
Key Issues
Nyasha Tirivayi
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA)
Rome, Italy
Consultative Workshop
17 September 2013, Accra, Ghana

2. Outline of the presentation
•
Why coordinate social protection and agriculture?
•
What does coordination mean?
•
Who are the key actors and institutions?
•
Design and implementation of coordinated social
protection and agricultural policies
•
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
•
Conclusion

3. Why coordinate social protection and
agriculture?
• Theory and empirical evidence show potential synergies
• Coordination helps to build synergies
o Less fragmentation
o Policy coherence
o Better targeting, graduation strategies
o Efficiency
• Few governments currently coordinating. Little attention
in policy discourse

4. What does coordination mean?
• Collaboration by social protection and agricultural sectors
• No universal approach
• Varies by
o Intensity- low levels to systemic approach
o Level- policy, program, administrative
o Structures
o Vertical coordination from national, sub-national to local
o Horizontal coordination across line ministries

5. Who are the key actors?
• Government
o Ministries of Agriculture, Social Development
o Regional and local government
o Other line ministries
• Non-governmental
o Donors
o Civil society
• Local communities and individuals

6. What are the institutional mechanisms?
• Institutional mechanisms
o Policy and legal framework that defines goals and objectives for
coordination. E.g. Brazil’s National Law on Food and Nutrition
Security
o Definition of mandates e.g. managing coordination and
oversight.
o Decentralization and inclusive participation e.g. Ethiopia’s Food
Security Programme highly decentralized.
• Financing mechanism
o Public, private and external funding

7. What are the institutional mechanisms ?
• Success factors
o Strong political will
o Clearly defined national policy and legal
framework
o Clearly defined mandates
o Inclusive participation- decentralization
o Strong institutional capacity
o Financial mechanisms that create incentives for
coordination

8. What are the institutional mechanisms?
• Challenges
o Vulnerable to centralization that may discourage
innovation and responsiveness
o Difficult if too many actors involved, e.g.
horizontally or vertically
o Competition among mandated actors e.g. fiscal
space
o Contestation of power by multiple actors
o Strong institutional capacities required

9. Design and Implementation
• Choice of design and implementation
modalities can lead to conflicts or
synergies

10. Design and Implementation Issues
• consistency of objectives in order to maximize synergies
• type of instrument has implications on economic behavior of
beneficiaries.
o Positive effects on household spending, welfare and local
economy
o Unintended adverse effects e.g.
o conditionalities may divert women’s labour from production
o food vouchers may constrain household investment
o Public works may supersede women’s other responsibilities,

11. Design and Implementation Issues
• Timing of programs and interventions
o Coordination harmonizes the timing to exploit synergies
o Simultaneous implementation
o to beneficiaries,
o agricultural programs to non-beneficiaries in same
community
o Sequencing
o Provide agricultural support in the medium or long term
after poor beneficiaries of social protection have
accumulated capital

12. Design and Implementation Issues
• Seasonality
o seasonal variation in agricultural labour demand
and food prices
o public works may divert from household farm labour
requirements during the planting season
o high food prices can reduce the purchasing power of a
fixed cash transfer
o coordination would ensure correct timing
regarding agricultural seasons

13. Design and Implementation
• Targeting
o Unified targeting and management information systems
o Efficient
o Improved monitoring of coverage
o Bigger system vulnerable to errors or failure
o Targeting criteria may contradict
o fewer or small agricultural impacts among labour constrained
beneficiaries of social protection schemes.

14. Monitoring and Evaluation
• Encourages responsive adjustments that improve
coordination
• Success factors
•
•
•
•
•
Clearly defined in coordination policy
Consistency and comprehensiveness
Financial and human resources
Unified M&E system
Measuring synergies from coordination or integration

15. Conclusion
• There are opportunities and challenges to coordination
• Dynamic process that takes time
• No universal approach
• Initial context and political will determine direction and
extent of coordination
• Countries must tailor coordination that is suited to own
context and capacities

16. Thank You!
From Protection to Production Project
http://www.fao.org/economic/PtoP/en/