PRSPs and national forest programmes

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Poverty Alleviation and Forests PRSPs and
National Forest Programmes

• Strategic Framework
• PRSPs and Forests
• Linkage to National Forest Programmes
• Challenges for Technical Co-operation

GTZ - IWRP January 2003
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Strategic framework - Key documents
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS September 2000, at
the United Nations Millennium Summit Goal 1
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 7
Ensure environmental sustainability Target 9
Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and programmes
and reverse the loss of environmental
resources Indicator Proportion of land area
covered by forest International Conference on
Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico,
March 2002 matching commitments with resources
and action WSSD, Johannesburg, August
2002 Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of
Implementation (Para. 43 SFM as critical means
for Poverty Alleviation)
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Strategic framework - Key documents

• International Forest Regime
• Multilateral Environmental Agreements
• CBD, UNCCD, UNFCCC
• Forest Policy Dialogue and Implementation
• Rio-Declaration and Forest Principles, Agenda 21,
  Chapter 11
• IPF/IFF Proposals for Action
• UNFF process
• ITTA
• CPF and members
• e.g. WB Forest Policy and Strategy, Oct. 2002
• FAO Forests and Sustainable Livelihoods
  Initiative

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Strategic framework - Key documents

• BMZ April 2001
• Poverty Reduction - a Global Responsibility.
  Programme of Action 2015
• Ensuring Access to Vital Resources - Fostering an
  Intact Environment
• Linkage between poverty and environment
• Germany supports activities for environmental and
  resource protection both nationally and
  internationally.
• It assists developing countries and International
  Financial Institutions in implementing legally
  binding international instruments
• Support to measures for the protection and
  sustainable use of vital natural resources (air,
  soil, water, biodiversity) while ensuring the
  participation of local and indigenous populations
  in such measures
• German support linked to PRSPs
• BMZ, 2002 Sector Strategy Forests and
  Sustainable Development
• Objective Maintain forest functions and
  contribute to poverty reduction
• Implementation of international forest regime
  (Env. Conventions, IPF/IFF Proposals)
• Delivery of support within national forest
  programmes
• Integration of German Co-operation with national
  poverty reduction or sustainable development
  strategies

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Strategic framework - Key documents

• GTZ Strategy Paper, March 2002
• Poverty Reduction through global structural and
  peace policy
• (German title Armutsbekämpfung durch Globale
  Struktur- und Friedenspolitik)
• GTZ Strategy for poverty reduction
• Support to sustainable development in harmony
  with conservation and sustainable use of natural
  resources
• PRSPs as the frame for implementation
• Use GTZ capacities and comparative advantages to
  improve design and implementation of PRSPs
• New understanding of poverty reduction
• gt Structural approach ? political, addressing
  frame conditions
• gt Support to good governance, which is
  democratically legitimised, participatory and
  decentralised, and enhances the opportunities for
  the poor to participate in social and economic
  development in a meaningful way
• gt Promotion of the private sector as the driving
  force for economic development
• GTZ Discussion Paper, January 2002
• Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation
• (German title Waldwirtschaft und
  Armutsminderung
• - Ein Wirkungszusammenhang mit mehreren
  Dimensionen, F. von Stieglitz)

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Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers Key
Characteristics, Scope and Steps of PRSP
Process Linkage to Forests
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What is a PRSP ?

• The PRSP describes a country's macroeconomic,
  structural and social policies and programmes to
  promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as
  associated external financing needs.
• The PRSP is an instrument to increase poverty
  focus of public expenditures.
• The PRSPs aims are to
• strengthen country ownership of poverty reduction
  strategies
• broaden the representation of civil society,
  particularly the poor, in the design of such
  strategies
• provide a framework for donors assistance and
  improve co-ordination among development partners
  and
• focus the analytical, advisory, and financial
  resources of the international community on
  achieving results in reducing poverty.
• In lowincome countries, the PRSP provides the
  link between national public actions, donors
  support, and the development outcomes needed to
  meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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PRSP core principles

• PRSP are expected to transform the principles of
  the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF)
  into an action plan for poor countries
• PRSPs therefore should be
• Country driven
• Results oriented
• Comprehensive in scope
• Partnership oriented
• Long term in perspective
• Participatory

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Steps in the PRSP process

• The participatory process
• improved understanding of poverty issues
• building support among all the stakeholders
• The poverty diagnosis
• understanding the features of poverty and the
  factors that determine it
• The priority public actions
• choosing public actions which have the greatest
  impact on poverty and include them in the public
  expenditure programme
• Identification of goals, indicators of progress,
  and
• Design of a monitoring and evaluation system.

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Steps in the PRSP process

• Interim PRSPs (I-PRSPs)
• Stock-taking of a countrys current poverty
  reduction strategy
• Road-map for development of full PRSP (timetable,
  participatory process).
• Joint Staff Assessment (JSA) by WB/IMF
• Overall assessment for WB/IMF Executive boards as
  a basis for decision on concessional assistance
  by World Bank and International Monetary Fund
• Feedback to the country about how to improve its
  poverty strategy
• Full PRSPs (includes Analysis, Objectives,
  Strategy and Policies, priority action plan)
• The priority action plan includes
• The overall public expenditure programme and its
  allocation among key areas.
• A matrix of key structural and sector development
  plans, policy actions and institutional reforms
• A description of targets, indicators, and the
  monitoring and evaluation system
• Joint Staff Assessment (JSA) of
• Issues raised in the I -PRSP (incl. governance
  and public sector management)
• The priority public actions over a three years
  horizon to be aligned to the government Medium
  Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)
• The participatory process and the coverage of
  issues resulting from poverty diagnosis
• Annual Review
• Assessment of progress toward PRSPs goals and
  intended policy/programme reforms. Report to
  WB/IMF Executive Boards, feedback to country
• Updates/Revisions of PRSPs
• Strategy is a rolling programme covering a 2-5
  years horizon.

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Implications of PRSP process

• PRSPs are precondition for access to HIPC
  initiative (debt relief)
• The World Banks Country Assistance Strategies
  (CAS) will be aligned to PRSPs for IDA countries
• CAS incorporate poverty-related targets and
  indicators of the PRS as its objectives, to
  establish priorities for Bank-support lending
  operations.
• Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) is
  progressively replacing the Enhanced Structural
  Adjustment Facility (ESAF), hence PRSPs replace
  SAPs
• PRSPs are precondition for access to Poverty
  Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), determine focal
  areas of WB lending
• Bilateral donors increasingly take PRSPs as
  framework for aid delivery and co-ordination

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Scope of PRSPs

• Given that poverty is multidimensional, PRSPs
  should be comprehensive and cover all the key
  sectors associated with the poverty dimensions
  with variation from country to country.
• Basically, the scope of PRSPs should be aligned
  on the Millennium Development Goals. To that end,
  PRSPs should build on sector specific strategies
  and disaggregate poverty for rural and urban
  areas.
• The level of poverty and dependence on forests,
  especially in Africa makes it imperative to
  incorporate forest sector development in PRSPs.
• The importance of forests is highlighted in the
  Millennium Development Goal No. 7, Target 9,
  which seeks to integrate the principles of
  sustainable development into country policies and
  programmes and reverse the losses of
  environmental resources.

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Future Vision

• WB portfolio may shift towards more budget
  support lending with multi-sectoral programmes
  funded and executed through national budget
  systems, instead of stand alone projects
• Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) ensures
  that governments have a suitable budgetary
  framework, characterized by Transparency,
  Poverty focus, Results-driven expenses
• Efforts of bilateral donors towards comprehensive
  sector wide approaches with budget support
• Germany prepared to get involved, but how far?

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National Forest Programmes Nfp Process and link
to PRSPs
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What is a national forest programme ?

• Country-specific process for policy formulation
  and implementation towards sustainable forest
  management as a contribution to sustainable
  development
• based on UNCED and defined during IPF process
• concept draws on experience of the past
• A government-led process aiming at SFM
• with defined outputs and products
• following specific principles
• taking into account issues at stake and what is
  in place
• integrating aspects and results of international
  discussion

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Nfp Process

• Sustainable Development
• NFP Principles

Macro National Dev. Plan PRP, PRSP, SAP
Consensus Building (negotiation)
Other Sectors
Policy Making (decision)
Knowledge Building (analysis)
Multi- stakeholder Consultation
Forest Sector NFP Process
N-BSAP NAP etc.
Micro Local Level
Implementation (action ME)
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Possible Structures in nfp Process
Decision-making
Consultation
Head of GoV / Cabinet
Parliament
Macro Level
Min. Finance Planning

• PRSP process

Other Gowernment Agencies
NFP Secretariat?
Working Groups Task Forces
Donors, INGOs
Forest Sector NFP Process
Ministry / Forest Dept.
P r o j e c t I n t e r v e n t i o n s
NFP Secretariat?
Private Sector
Civil Society NGOs
Micro Local Level
Decentralised level Multi-stakeholder
Consultation Processes
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Linkage of nfps to macro-economic framework

• Review of PRSPs in Sub-Saharan Africa (PROFOR,
  2002)
• Forest issues only poorly reflected in I-PRSPs
  and PRSPs
• Weak analysis of cause-effect relationship of
  forests and poverty
• Subsistence value and role of forests as
  safety-net for the poor not adequately assessed
• Lack of good diagnostic tools and methodology to
  assess role and linkage of forests and poverty
• Poor interlinkage of forest sector with
  intersectoral and macro-economic aspects
• Forest issues missing in monitoring of PRSPs
  because of lack of specific indicators
• Only in a few countries with active nfp processes
  better reflection of forest sector in PRSPs
• Structural interlinkages can improve role of
  forest sector in poverty reduction processes
• Workshop on Forests in Poverty Reduction
  Strategies, October 2002, Tuusula,/Helsinki,
  Finland
• (see also detailed results of Workshop on the
  Web www.efi.fi/events/2002/forests_in_poverty/

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What needs to be done

• Awareness raising of PRSP actors for forest
  issues and vice versa
• Active involvement of PRSP actors in nfps and of
  forest actors in PRSP processes
• Structural linkages of sectoral and
  macro-economic processes (e.g. joint Steering
  Committees / Co-ordination Groups)
• Improved diagnosis including recognition and
  assessment of informal sector and role of
  non-poor in poverty reduction
• Recognition of subsistence contribution and role
  of forests as safety nets
• Analysis of risks and potentials
• Targeted and co-ordinated donor support to nfp
  processes including financing strategies

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Challenges

• Awareness raising of staff (GTZ and partners)
• Linking Forest Development Co-operation with PRSP
  processes
• Providing framework for linkage of nfp processes
  to PRSPs (linkage of structures and actors)
• Linkage of sector budgetary processes with Medium
  Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) process
• Linkage of German co-operation budget with
  partner budgetary processes
• Visibility for sector budgeting in MTEF planning
  process
• Better access to partner budget
• Get involved in PRSP processes through partner
  agencies and donor structures, e.g. Embassy, GTZ
  country offices
• Information flow on PRSP process
• Active involvement in diagnostic steps and design

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Thank you