Agriculture Finance
Projects are now seldom seen as isolated vehicles for funding self-contained actions.
Instead they tend to complement or reinforce country commitments to adjustments in economic and institutional policies.
Thus projects may underpin adjustments in prices, subsidies or land tenure, with the aim of encouraging farmers to adopt more sustainable land use practices; or they may explicitly support institutional reforms, for example by strengthening the support services required to encourage a stronger private sector role in agricultural trade.
Experience says that Agricultural Projects fail because of the following, so this is an important consideration to take note of when your project is being assessed.
1. Unrealistic project schedules
2. Under-estimated costs
3. Production technology deficiency
4. Bad management and staffing
5. Poor engineering
6. Procurement difficulties
7. Poor monitoring and evaluation
8. Wrong project structure
9. Ineffective technical assistance
10. Too many components
11. Low output prices/market problems
12. Inequitable benefit distribution
13. Slow adoption
14. Insufficient government commitment
15. Natural disaster
16. Political turmoil/war
17. Land acquisition difficulties
18. Project Inflexibility
19. Resource degradation
GENERAL CRITERIA
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in accordance with the country's development objectives and priorities;
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technically sound and the best of alternatives;
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attractive to the intended beneficiaries;
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operationally and managerially workable;
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economically and financially viable;
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sustainable and environmentally sound.