INDEX PAGE/FRONT PAGE :

According to the Poverty Reduction Strategy of the Government of Bangladesh

(2005), the principal goal of Bangladesh's economic policy is to reduce poverty so
as to lift vast majority of the people above the poverty line and improve the
quality of life for the average citizens. Although considerable progress has been
achieved in the fight against poverty, yet about two fifths of the people of
Bangladesh lived below poverty in 2005 (Household income and expenditure
survey 2005, final report published in May 2007 p-58). Bangladesh has still long
way to go if the millennium development goal of reducing poverty has to be
achieved (bringing poverty down to 29% by 2015). This requires annual economic
growth rate of 6 to 7 percent on a sustained basis and the bulk of the growth must
come from the agriculture sector which is still the largest contributor to the GDP
(agriculture and rural non farm sector taken together account for 56% of the GDP).

Agriculture in Bangladesh is characterized by small farm and rice-dominated

farming systems. The productivity of rice and other crops is low and there are large
yield gaps between farmer's fields and research trials. The same is true for other
agricultural commodities such as fisheries and livestock. Diversification of
agricultural production systems to high value commodities is still slow with limited
post-harvest value addition.
Reaching technologies to the farmers requires technology generation and
dissemination through the research and extension systems. Both research and
extension in Bangladesh remain in the public sector. Private investment in research
and extension is low. The NGOs, local government and community organizations are
coming up but very slowly. Therefore, the public sector must continue to play a leading
role in agricultural research and extension. This makes a strong case to strengthen the
existing institutions in terms of human resources, reorientation, redirecting,
rationalizing and networking both nationally and internationally. National Agricultural
Research System (NARS) is responsible for generating agricultural related technologies
and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Department of Fisheries (DOF), and
Department of Livestock Services (DLS) in the public sector are responsible for
extension of generated technology to the farmers.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) is the apex body for NARS.
There are 10 research institutes under the umbrella of NARS. These are
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI), Bangladesh Sugarcane
Research Institute (BSRI), Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA),
Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI), Bangladesh Livestock Research
Institute (BLRI), Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), Bangladesh
Forest Research Institute (BFRI) and Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI).
The strength and weakness of BARC, NARS and Extension Departments have been
assessed in the preparation Phase of the project. It has been recommended to
improve accountability, objectivity and transparency in the technology generation
and dissemination, supply chain development and in the procurement and
financial management. Involvement of private sector in technology dissemination
and development of supply chain has been emphasized.

On request of the Government of Bangladesh, the World Bank has agreed to support a long term
development program over a period of 15 years in three phases, the fist phase beginning in July
2007. The IFAD, in the process of dialogue, has agreed to co-finance the program with World
Bank. The World Bank has indicated to provide a loan of US$ 62.5 million for the first phase while
the IFAD has indicated initial funding of US$ 19.45 million. The development partners indicated
that the GOB should contribute US$ 2.6 million during the first phase (PAD as of August 5, 2007).
The World Bank funding in the second and third phases will depend on the triggers set for the first
and second phases respectively.

About NATP-DAE:

The NATP is a multi-agency project. The project comma four components: three
main components –
(a) Agricultural Research Support,
(b) Agricultural Extension Support.
(c) Supply Chains Development and
(d) Project Management and Coordination.

The scope of NATP covers research, extension and supply chain development in
all sub-seams of agriculture – crops, fisheries and livestock.

The implementing units and agencies involved in the NATP spread over two
ministries are shown below. The lead ministry for the project will be MOA.

Agency/Unit Ministry Component

PCU MOA Coordination, all

BARC MOA Research (SPGR), all

KGF Research (CGP), all

DAE MOA Crop Extension

Hortex Development of Supply

DLS MOFL Livestock Extension

DOF MOFL Fisheries Extension

The Research component comprises three sub components: i) Competitive Grants Program
(CGP) ii) Sponsored Public Goods Research (SPGR) and iii) Enhancement of Research
Institutional Efficiency (ERIE). The CGP will be executed by Krishi Gobeshona Foundation
(KGF). SPGR & ERIE will be executed by BARC. The lead organization for research
components (ii) & (iii) will be BARC.

The extension component covers field based decentralized extension services in the
three sub sectors Agriculture. Fisheries and Livestock, and will be implemented in
more or less 120 Upazilas all over Bangladesh by the DAE, DLS, DOF and in partnership
with NGOs and farmer groups. The lead organization for extension component will be
DAE.

T h e S u p p l y C ha i n s D e v e l o p m e n t c o m p on e n t w i l l b e implemented through the

Hortex Foundation in partnership with GOs, NGOs and private sector.

For executing the activities of the project, the GOB will establish a Projec t
Coordination Unit (PCU) and four executing agencies. BARC, DAE, DOF and DLS will
establish Project Implementation Units (PIUs). Similarly, KGF and Hortex Foundation will
execute the project activities under the overall supervision of the respective heads –
the Executive Director (ED) of KGF and the Managing Director (MD) of Hortex
Foundation.

The PCU will be responsible for overall coordination of the implementation of the
activities of all components while the PIUs of BARC, DAE, DLS, DOF and the
executing agencies KGF and Hortex will be responsible for implementation of the
respective component activities.

T h e P C U / P I U s m a y h i r e c o m p e t e n t c o n s u l t a n c y companies/firms to
manage implementation of all major or (equipment/goods) procurements,
consultancies, reviews, studies, execution of both local and international
training programs and any other functions as per need. The PCU will hire one
lead NGO in consent with PIUs of DAE/DLS/DOF. The lead NGO will hire local
NGOs working in project Upazilas following PPR 2003. For selection of local NGOs,
the opinion of UECCs for the applying NGOs will be taken in consideration. The
selected local NGOs will assist UEFT members in CIG formation and capacity
building of the CIGs including microplan preparation, advancement of credit,
preparation of agri-business, agro processing etc. Lead NGOs will supervise the
activities of local NGOs working under their umbrella in collaboration with
DAE/DLS/DOF. PCU will make payment to NGOs after getting recommendation from
component agencies- PIUs of DAE, DLS and DOF. Cheque may be handover
through UECC.

Overall supervision of the whole project, policy direction and guidance from the
perspective of all stakeholders including farming community will be the
responsibility of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) alternately chaired by the
Secretary, MOA and the Secretary of MOFL and represented by
stakeholders from both public and private sectors. More specific coordination
and guidance at the implementation level will be provided by the Project
Management Committee (PMC) chaired by the Additional Secretary, MOA and
co-chaired by Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary of MOFL. In the project
management committee representatives of planning wings of MOA and MOFL will be
included as members.

Responsibilities of various coordination committees, organizations and agencies:

Organization/Committee Responsibility
1. Project Oversight, Policy Direction
Ministry of Agriculture Overall coordination, policy direction, oversight and guidance. Will
( M OA ) act as nodal ministry for the NATP as a whole
2. Project Coordination and Management
PSC will be chaired alternately by the Secretary of MOA and the
secretary of MOFL, and have representation of key stakeholders of the
research and extension systems. Please see the
organizational structure
of the Project Management for PSC/PMC etc. (Figure 2,
page 62). The
committee will normally meet twice annually to oversee
Project Steering
and provide guidance of project implementation and
Committee ( P SC ) overall coordination. This
arrangement is considered to work
effectively for successful
implementation of the project. It may be mentioned that
MOA and
MOFL have been working together at
different
levels/committees/programs e.g, farming
system research and
Project Management The committee will be chaired by Additional Secretary of
Committee (PMC)
MOA and Co-chaired by Additional Secretary/ Joint
Secretary of MOFL, other
members of this committee include BARC Executive
Chairman; DGs
for DAE, DLS and DOF; heads of PIUs; Executive Director
of KGF;
and Managing Director of Hortex and Project Director,
NATP. This
committee would be responsible for guidance on project
3. Project
Implementation
MOA
Nodal ministry for the project
Project Coordination Unit PCU will be headed by the national Project Director (PD).
(PCU) The PD
will have full freedom to make decisions related to the
project as well
as financial management decisions independently within
the financial
powers that have been delegated to the PD under the:
Delegation of
Financial Powers for Development Projects" issued by
the GOB. The
PD will sub-delegate financial power to the Directors of
PIUs,
Executive Director of KGF and Managing Director of
Hortex
Foundation.The unit will operate under the overall
direction of the
PSC. PCU will have the responsibility for coordination of
NATP
implementation by line extension departments (DAE,
DOF, DLS),
BARC, KGF, NGOs and grassroots organizations of the
participating
farming communities. Based on inputs from different
implementing
agencies, it will consolidate NATP annual budget and
work plan and
make recommendation through PMC then to be
submitted for approval
by the PSC. PCU will facilitate compliance with fiduciary
requirements
of the project related to financial management and
procurement, overall
 monitoring and evaluation of project activities and
inputs from experts
on any specialized subject matter to ensure timely
implementation of the
project.

BARC Project The unit will be headed by a Director who will be

Implementation deputed from
Unit (PIU)
BARC. The Director will enjoy the power of Project
Director of the
Unit. It will also have a number of hired experts and
staff for
implementation of the project activities. It will be
responsible for
prioritization, review and approval of the sponsored
public goods
research (SPGR) proposals
submitted by ARIs/Universities for
implementation. It will arrange
independent reviews of
implementation progress of research
krishi Gobeshona GOB established an independent Krishi Gobeshona
Foundation (KGF) (KGF) having General Body (GnB) and Board of
Directors
The (BOD).
function of KGF will be governed by the 'Articles of
Association'
KGF Board (BOD), will be responsible for
 CGP and other activities of KGF. The KGF Board, as an
independent
body, will be the approval authority for all
administrative and
financial matters of KGF. GnB will develop a vision and
strategy and
KGF will manage the Competitive
Grants Program (CGP)
independently with objectivity and transparency.
DAE, DLS, DOF The Director of respective PIU willbe deputed
Project
Implementation organization. The Directors will enjoy the power of
Units
(PIUs) of the respective Unit. Including Directors of PIUs, DAE
will(six)
6 depute
officers and 8 (eight) staff, DOF will depute 5
(five) officers,
DOF will also recruit 120 officers and 5 (five) staff on
contractual
basis with consolidated pay as per government rule and
122 staff
through outsourcing. DLS will recruit 7 (seven)
specialists and staff
under PA source through outsourcing. Each PIU will also
have some
hired full time experts and contractual
support staff for
implementation of project activities. It will
facilitate timely
Hortex Foundation The Managing Director (MD) will be responsible for
implementation
of supply chain development activities. There will be a
number of
full time consultants and contractual support staff to
help him. The foundation will assist in the implementation of
supply chain development component by promoting more equitable supply chain
governance and market linkages for selected high value commodities in partnership
with private sector, NGOs, CIGs/POs. It will organize training programs and
knowledge sharing on issues related to supply chain development.
 a) Whether the Project Director will
: Departmental
be a departmental officer or to be
:Recruited
recruited?

b) Whether the Project Director will be full :Full time

time or part time :Part time

c) Attach proposed project management

setup (As per Annexure- II)
d) Attach log frame Please see Annuxure -II

(As per Annexure - III) : Please see Annexure - III

11. Attach procurement plan
Please see Annexure- IV(a), IV(b) And
(As per Annexure- IV(a), IV(b) and IV(c) IV(c)

Please see Annexure-V

0. Give year wise financial and physical target
plan (As per Annexure-V)

13. After completion, whether the project needs to

be transferred to the revenue budget

a) If yes, briefly narrate the The NATP as a whole is a 15-year program

institutional arrangement and to receive continued IDA assistance during
financial requirement for operation and Phases 1, 2 and 3. In phases 2 & 3 fund
maintenance. will be provided depending on
implementation experience of
p h a s e s 1 & 2 respectively.

After completion of the project the yearly

recurrent expenses of DAE (Tk. 39
lakh), DOF (Tk. 144 lakh) and DLS (Tk.
37 lakh) will be met from normal revenue
budget.

Assets acquired during the

implementation of the project will be the
property of and maintained by respective
implementing agencies as per Government
rule.
b) If not, briefly narrate the institutional CGP of the research component and the
arrangement and financial requirement for Supply Chains Development component
operation and maintenance. will not be transferred to t h e r e v e n u e
b u d g e t . K GF w i l l continue with its
acquired assets to manage CGP
independently with the income streams of
endowment fund o f t a k a 3 5 , 0 0 0 l a k h
p r o v i d e d separately by development
partners. Once the income stream from
the endowment fund is made available,
the NATP phase-I support to KGF will
cease. The supply chain activities piloted
under the project will receive further
support during phases 2 and 3 subject to
success in phases 1 & 2 respectively. By
this time the Hortex Foundation will
become financially sustainable.

KEY COMPONENTS OF DAE (in details):

Component 1: Agricultural Research Support

Executing Agency: Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC)
Agricultural Research Support component will aim to enhance the efficiency
and effectiveness of the national agricultural research system through: (a)
promotion of a pluralistic institutional st r uct ure b y e na bl i ng e ntr y of
ne w p art ne r s t o s up p ort t he re sea rch syst e m; ( b ) ma ki ng agricultural
research more participatory and demand-led; (c) developing technologies to
promote sustainable intensification and diversification of agriculture and for
post-harvest value addition; and (d) bridging the yield gap between what is
possible and what is being currently achieved by farmers.

The component will have national coverage, and three sub-

components: (i) Sponsored Public Goods Research (SPGR), (ii)
Enhancement of Research Institutional Efficiency (ERIE) of the NABS
in stitutes an d (iii) Co mpeti tive Gran ts Program (CG P) . SPG R an d
E RIE will be implemented by BARC and CGP will be implemented by Krishi
Gobeshona Foundation (KGF).
1.1. Sponsored Public Goods Research

(SPGR)

(a) Management of SPGR

i) Conceptual approach: In addition to short to medium term applied

and adaptive research to be supported under CGP, some of the
constraints faced by the agriculture sector can be addressed only
through long term strategic and cross-cutting research. Public goods
research on problems of marginal and landless farmers living in
vulnerable areas (char lands, haor areas, hill areas, coastal areas,
brackish/saline water areas), biodiversity, ecological problems
traditionally receive much less attention. The project will fund selected
long-term sponsored public goods research in such areas. To complement
Government efforts, long-term sponsored public goods research in critical
areas will also be necessary to avoid technology vacuum by generating a
steady stream of usable technologies and intermediate research products
for meeting the future needs. The SPGR will be supported within a sound
policy framework, clearly defined long term strategy, expected outcomes
that justify public expenditure, and availability of research results specially
to small and marginal farmers. A small number of large multi-institutional
and multi-disciplinary projects will be supported under SPGR program. The
research themes to be funded will be those which are critical to enhancing
productivity, food security, sustainability and diversification of production
systems. The themes will be selected through a macro level priority
setting process to be coordinated by BARC, taking into account the on-
going research programs of ARIs and Universities. The possible thematic
areas include natural resource management, problem soils, soil
erosion, salinity, environment, genetic improvement of important crops
including horticultural crops, livestock and fisheries; biodiversity and
conservation of germplasm; and farmer-managed farming systems research
in ecologically vulnerable areas. SPGR will be used as an effective means
of strengthening the partnerships of ARIs with the CGIAR Research
Centres, and promote mentoring and capacity building of younger
scientists.
ii) Identification of research themes: BARC will prepare a list of
problems by consulting the Vision 2020 and the Research Master Plans of
ARIs. The list will be discussed in national workshops of senior scientists,
policy makers and planners of different public institutions to identify the
research themes. The following aspects may be considered in identifying the
themes:
 • Diversification of production
• Enhancement of productivity
•Ensuring food security (poverty)
•Conservation of natural resources (ecology)
•Benefits of small and marginal farmers (equity)
iii) Management of Sponsored Public Goods Research: The themes
for SPGR will be determined by BARC and ARIs following a set of criteria.
The program will be coordinated by PIU of BARC and implemented by
ARIs and Universities. ARIs may submit SPGR proposals in partnership
with the Universities, where appropriate expertise and facilities are
available as well as in partnership with the CGLAR Research Centres on co-
financing arrangements.

(b) Implementation of SPGR

i) Procedures for Inviting and Processing Research Proposals: The

PIU of BARC or appointed firm will invite proposals on the identified
themes from the Institutes and scientists. These proposals will be
subjected to rigorous peer review process, based on sound criteria, and
only those proposals which meet the prescribed criteria will be funded. The
proposals for SPGR research will be funded only after they get approval of
Executing Council of BARC. The PIU of BARC will coordinate and monitor
implementation of the approved projects. Satisfactory completion of the
annual program will be a pre-condition for the release of funds for the
following year. The activities of SPGR involving invitation of research
proposal, evaluation of proposal, monitoring of activities of funded
project, procurement and maintenance of equipment and foreign
training may be implemented by hiring expert firm for better
implementation of the project as PIU of BARC will not have enough expert
manpower to perform these activities. However, PIU under the guidance of
BARC will supervise the activities of the hired consulting firm.

0) Operational Guidelines: Inviting SPGR research proposals could be done

in the same manner as CGP as described in 1.3 (a) (iv), page-30. For
assessing project proposals, awarding contract to the wining institution,
signing of MOU, disbursement of funds, monitoring and evaluation of the
project and other project management activities, a separate set of
forms have been developed and provided in the consultant's report and
will be incorporated in the operation manual of NATP.

i) Funding of Sponsored Public Goods Research: The project will provide

financial grants to support SPGR, which will cover investment and
operating costs, including incremental operating costs, contractual
staff, limited rehabilitation and renovation works, goods and need-based
equipment, training and travel against proper justification for the proposed
items of expenditure.
ii) Monitoring and Evaluation: The progress of implementation of the
approved research projects will be regularly monitored by the PIU of BARC
against agreed milestones. The PIU of BARC may use the same monitoring
form as proposed for monitoring of CGP projects with modifications, if
needed.

ii) National Workshop/Seminar/Conference: Workshop, Seminar and

Conference at National as well as Institute level will be implemented
mainly on SPGR, rationalization of BARC and NABS Institute, master
planning, priority setting of research programs, monitoring & evaluation,
annual internal research program preparation and review, regional program
planning at regional stations, etc.

0) International Workshop/Seminar/Conference: Project related

scientists/consultants/ planners may attend at international
workshop/seminar/conference/ study visit to present research papers
and gain knowledge.

1.2. Enhancement of Research Institutional Efficiency:

i) Improvement of Governance: To improve governance, institutional
responsibilities and management systems of NARS, the 1996 BARC Act will be
amended and Acts of individual institutes under the Ministry of Agriculture
(and possibly the Acts of institutes under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock)
will be revised. The amended Act will also incorporate proposal for introduction
of unif6iin service rules for the NARS scientists (ARIs and BARC). BARC and
NARS institutes' organizational structure will be rationalized and its capacity
strengthened for improved resource allocation, prioritization, coordination,
human resource development, monitoring and evaluation of research, as well as
for promoting adoption of participatory research planning and implementation
processes. These changes will contribute to improved efficiency and
effectiveness of the NARS. Concurrently, capacity of BARC and ARIs will be
enhanced to manage fiduciary responsibilities related to procurement and
financial management. The project will support development of master plan
preparation and research priority setting capability in BARC and NARS
institutes at macro level considering the potential contribution of improvement
in the productivity and stability and sustainability of different production
systems.
ii)In country and International Ph. D: Candidates for Ph. D will be
selected following NARS/GOB selection criteria from NARS and project
related organizations. The preference in selecting scholars will be given to
agricultural, livestock and fisheries related subjects. Priority areas will
be Breeding, Bio-Technology, Bio-Chemistry, Agricultural Chemistry,
Agronomy, Soil Science, Horticulture, Agricultural Economics,
Agricultural Statistics, Agricultural Engineering, Entomology,
Pathology, Environmental Science, Agro-processing, Farming
Systems, Livestock and Fisheries related subjects and any other
subject as need may be felt. Total number of national and
international Ph. D. slots will be more or less 60 and 30 respectively.
Total grant to a student for local Ph. D. will not exceed Tk. 8 (eight)
Lakh. A stipend @ Tk. 10,000 - 20,000 per month will be given to an in
country Ph. D. student for up to 48 months. Tuition fees and research
grant will be given to the universities. Research grant to a student will
be Taka 2 (Two) Lakh. A student will also get Taka 50 (Fifty) thousand as
thesis grant. The cost of International Ph. D. and the rate of stipend will
be determined by BARC with the help of the consulting firm to be hired for
implementation of training & higher studies abroad depending on the
country of placement of student. However, cost will depend on the
requirement of the respective University.

0)National Training: National training will be on foundation

training, professional development, management improvement,
executive training for senior level scientists and officers, ICT & MIS,
Financial Management, Procurement, Administration Management, and
any other fields for skill development of scientists and officers. The
training may be implemented through outsourcing.

iv) International Training/Post Doctoral fellowship/Study visit.

Training, short course and post doctoral fellowship will be mainly on
specialized field of research, skill development, ICT & MIS, database
development and any other fields as need is felt. Study visit will be for
knowledge gathering from foreign organizations for improvement of
management of research administration planning and governance of GOB
organizations. Participants will be selected from project related
organizations.

1.3. Competitive Grants Program

Executing Agency: Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF)

The CGP will fund location-specific, pre-identified, high priority, multi-

disciplinary, short to medium teiiii, problem-solving research and
development. It will help to develop a more pluralistic research system
by opening the CGP to the NARS institutes, universities, other research
institutes, NGOs, and through co-financing, to the private sector and the
international institutes with excellence in agricultural research. The
research themes to be supported will be those that are crucial to bridge
the yield gaps, respond to the problems identified through micro level
priorities and address other demand-based issues for improving
productivity and farm income. Major focus will be on on-farm applied and
adaptive research, including marketing, socio-economic aspects and value
addition.

(a) Management of CGP:

(i) Establishment of KGF: GOB established an independent Krishi
Gobeshona Foundation (KGF) having General Body (GnB) and Board of
Directors (BOD). GB will develop a vision and strategy and also provide
guidance to implement the mandate in order to achieve the objective of
foundation. BOD be able to frame its own rules and procedures and to
devise operating procedures for the Foundation. KGF will manage the
Competitive Grants Program (CGP) independently with objectivity and
transparency. KGF will invite research proposals from relevant
organizations with capacity to undertake such work, including NARS
institutes, universities, NGOs, and the private sector. By opening the CGP
to non-traditional partners, a more competitive pluralistic institutional
structure for the NARS will be facilitated. The priority research themes for
competitive funding will be demand-led and identified through a
participatory process involving farmers and other stakeholders.

The independent Krishi Gobeshana Foundation (KGF) will manage and

approve the CGP. The thematic areas for CGP research will be identified
through a priority setting process to be coordinated by BARC, and will
also include the short term researchable issues identified at the time of
preparing the micro-extension plans for the participating unions and
reflected in the Upazila extension plans. The CGP themes will be finalized
in Joint Annual Workshops of BARC and KGF. Since this process may take
some time, the themes for the first lot of CGP will be identified through a
consultative process involving all stakeholders – public and private sector
research providers, farmers, extensionists and policy makers; and
subsequently prioritized for financing through a joint review by BARC and
KGF.

Cost items as indicated in the cost tables are adjustable among items
and per need. As an independent foundation/agency, the KGF Board will
be responsible and powered to approve any adjustments/ reallocations/ new
items etc. of the budget for investment, operation, maintenance etc. for
efficient and effective functioning of KGF. The KGF Board is the final
authority for any decision for the successful operation of the CGP & the KGF.
ii) Funding of CGP: The NATP phase I project will finance the CGP and its
implementation initially until endowment fund of taka 350,00 lakh for KGF
is established and ready for funding CGP. The project (NATP Phase-I) will
finance costs of KGF secretariat, investment and operational costs,
including incremental operating costs, contractual professional experts
and staff (e.g. research associates), goods, including need-based small
equipment, training, travel, support service, etc.

0) CGP program to be financed: The CGP will fund location-specific, pre-

identified, high priority, mlti-disciplinary, short to medium term, problem-
solving research and development. It would help to develop a more
pluralistic research system by opening the CGP to the NARS institutes,
universities, other research institutes, NGOs, and through co-financing, to
the private sector and the international institutes with excellence in
agricultural research. The research themes to be supported would be
those that are crucial to bridge the yield gaps, respond to the problems
identified through micro level priorities and address other demand-based
issues for improving agricultural productivity and farm income. Major
focus would be on on-farm applied and adaptive research, including
marketing, socio-economic aspects and value addition.

0)Processing of research proposals: For inviting and reviewing research

proposals under the CGP, there will be a two-stage competitive
application process. First in response to a widely advertised "Call for
Proposals", "Concept Notes" will be submitted by the potential Principal
Investigators (PIs) through their research organizations. Second, after the
Concept Note has been approved by the KGF following a peer review
process as qualifying for the second stage of evaluation, the "Full
Proposal" including detailed cost estimates will be submitted. The
proposals in each sub-sector will be ranked based on objective and
transparent selection criteria (outlined in the following section). Only
those proposals will be finally approved for funding which meet the
prescribed criteria. The implementation progress of the approved
research projects will be regularly monitored against agreed milestones.
The duration of CGP projects will normally be 23 years depending on the
nature of the proposal.

The activities of CGP involving invitation of research proposal,

evaluation of proposal, monitoring of activities of funded project,
procurement and maintenance of equipment may be outsourced for better
implementation of the project as KGF does not have enough manpower to
perform these activities. However, KGF will supervise the activities of the
hired consulting firm. KGF Board will be the final approval authority
for all matters relating to KGF & CGP implementation and operation.

v) Selection criteria: The criteria for evaluation of research proposals will

include: relevance and scientific quality of the proposal; expected
impact on productivity, farm income, sustainability and equity;
likelihood of completing the proposed activities and achieving the
expected outputs and impacts; comparative advantage of the PI
and host institute in undertaking the proposed research; and
evidence of production system perspective, multi-disciplinary
and interinstitutional approach. Additional weightage may be given
to the joint proposals, which promote public-private partnerships,
involve NGOs or research organizations outside the NARS, focus on
research-extension-farmer linkages, and promote collaboration of
biological sciences with social and economic sciences.

vi)Operational guidelines: Detailed guidelines for the operation and

management of CGP, including proformas for the submission and review of
concept note and full proposal, activity milestones, evaluation criteria,
sanctioning of approved proposals, memorandum of understanding
to be signed by the implementing agency and KGF, monitoring and
evaluation during implementation, and submission of progress reports
are given in Operational Manual of KGF.

0) Training: National training will be on proposal writing, peer review,

monitoring & evaluation, and any other areas as project may demand.
International short term visit/ study tour/ consultative meetings/ workshop/
seminar etc. will be for the contractual experts of the KGF.

0)Consultancy Service: Consultancy service will be for assisting

identification of CGP research areas, evaluation of proposal, monitoring
of activities of funded project, evaluation of research findings and any
other areas as required by KGF.

Component 2: Extension Support

Executing Agencies: Department of Agricultural

Extension (DAE) Department of
Fisheries (DOF)
Department of Livestock Services (DLS)

The long-term objective will be to establish a decentralized demand-led and

pluralistic extension service comprising crops, fisheries and livestock
extension. The decentralized extension service will be knowledge-based
and accountable to farmers for planning and delivery of extension
support. The proposed interventions will draw on lessons learnt from
extension approaches previously pilot tested in Bangladesh and
other countries in the region, especially the decentralized and
participatory technology transfer mechanism and institutional
innovations promoted under the National Agricultural Technology Project
in India which was completed in 2005. The component will execute
programs in three major areas or sub-components such as crops, fisheries
and livestock. The activities will be implemented through DAE, DOF and DLS.

Policy guidance and inter-agency coordination for the extension

component would be facilitated by the National Extension Coordination
Committee (NECC). It would maintain overall oversight on the extension
program and facilitate inter-departmental coordination at the national level.
The DAE, DOF and DLS nodal staff, responsible for facilitating
implementation of their respective extension programs, would keep the
NECC informed of the progress and liaise with the Project Coordination Unit
on matters related to their program. At the district and Upazila levels inter-
departmental coordination would be facilitated by the District
Extension Coordination Committee (DECO) and Upazila Extension
Coordination Committee (UECC) respectively. Membership of the three
committees would include representatives from key stakeholders, e.g. line
departments, research, marketing NGOs, credit agencies, the private
sector and farmers.

2. 1. Decentralized of Extension Services

i)Activities to be finance under the component: The project would finance

extension micro-plans, technology validation trials and demonstrations,
NGO Services, consultancies, training, information and knowledge sharing,
including publications, production of publicity materials for print and
electronic media, office equipment and supplies and incremental operating
costs.

0)Geographical coverage and selection criteria: The national coverage

under the extension component would be reached in three phases, reaching
about 25% of the districts/Upazillas under the current project (phase-1) and
expanding to other districts/Upazillas during subsequent phases of the
program based on implementation experience. Multiple criteria, covering
socio-economic, biophysical and institutional considerations, would be
 used to select districts, followed by selection of Upazillas.
A list of 120 Upalilas tentatively selected for the phase-1 is provided at
Appendix – A2. The criteria applied for tentatively selecting the phase-1
Upazilas include: (a) extent of poverty, (b) physical accessibility, (c)
potentials of improving productivity, (d) likelihood of success and
replication to surrounding areas (reflected by implementation capacity
and availability of institutional support services, agreed by the
concerned implementing agency), and (e) not duplicating and not
conflicting with other projects of the MOA and MOFL in the region.
According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2005 (final
report published in May 2007 p-58) poverty estimated by using cost of
basic needs method was 40% for the whole country. Incidence of poverty
varied widely across administrative divisions – Barisal division having
highest incidence of poverty (52%), followed by Rajshahi and Khulna
divisions, 51.2 and 45.7 percent respectively; against 32% in Dhaka, 33.8%
in Sylhet and 34% in Chittagong.

While Barisal and Rajshahi divisions deserve high priority by poverty

criteria, Upazilas from Barisal division were not included to avoid
overlapping and conflict with two other projects – the IDB funded South
Central Smallholder Support Project and Danida funded Regional Fisheries
and Livestock Development Project, both covering all Upazilas of Barisal
division.

A total of 22 Upazilas of the Rajshahi division will be covered during

the first phase (proportionate allocation would require 32). This division
is less represented because of having ADB funded Northwest Crop
Diversification Project which extensively covers the whole division and
the ADB and Danida funded Participatory Livestock Development Project
which covers greater Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra and parts of greater Rajshahi
and Pabna. From the other four divisions 25% or more Upazilas are included
for phase-1.
The NATP phase-1 does not aim extensive area coverage. It rather
intends to initiate and introduce demand-driven, pluralistic and
participatory extension services with research extension–farmer
linkages. The phase-1 will cover less remote areas considering
available institutional facilities while the subsequent phases will cover more
remote areas.

i) Extension Microplan Preparation (EMP): Responsibility for

preparation, implementation and funding of demand-led extension micro-
plans (covering crops, horticulture, livestock and fisheries) will be
delegated to the Upazila level. The key elements of the decentralized
system will include: (a) targeting, motivation, organization and capacity
building of rural producers with the help of NGOs to form Common Interest
Groups (CIGs) based on livelihoods or some other common interest, e.g.
credit, water use, to prepare and implement participatory extension
micro-plans at the Union level reflecting the priority needs of the CIG
members in crops/horticulture, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors; (b)
aggregation of Union micro-plans to provide the Upazila extension plan,
along with sub-sector (crops, livestock, fisheries) budget estimates, for
review and approval by the Upazila Extension Coordination Committee
(UECC); (c) funding for implementation of extension micro-plans will
be provided by line departments through respective budgets, with the
project bridging the funding gap; (d) technical support and training of
CIGs by the Upazila and Union level extension teams (departmental staff,
NGOs and farmer resource persons), who in turn will be trained and
technically supported by the district level extension staff with the
involvement of research scientists; and (e) the national level policy
guidance, inter-agency/departmental coordination and monitoring
and evaluation of the decentralized extension system by the National
Extension Coordination Committee (NECC), supported by the District
and Upazila level Extension Coordination Committees (DECC and UECC),
with representation of all relevant stakeholders.

iv) Participatory planning and funding of demand-led extension plans:

The first stage in the planning process would be the preparation of
extension micro-plans at the Union level. The government staff based at
the Upazilla and Union levels, NGO staff and representative(s) of
producers would form the Union Extension Facilitation Team (UEFT). This
team would work with CIGs for participatory identification of problems in
to a micro-plan using habitation (para) as the planning unit. Micro-
extension plans would reflect priority needs expressed by producers and
take in to account the socio-economic circumstances of the participating
producers.

Each Upazilla extension plan would be reviewed and assessed for quality
(technical feasibility and ability to implement) by the Upazilla and District
level technical staff prior to presentation to the Upazilla Extension
Coordination Committee (UECC) for approval. The District staff would also
check the micro-extension plans for overlaps and recommend to UECC
removal of those activities duplicating work already being financed by other
development programs in the project Unions. At the district and Upazilla
levels inter-departmental coordination would be facilitated by the District
Extension Coordination Committee (DECC). Policy guidance and inter-agency
coordination would be facilitated by the National Extension Coordination
Committee (NECC).

Common Interest Group (CIG): CIGs will be formed from the farmers in the project
areas. To provided day to day need-based extension services to the
farmers SAAOs to visit CIGs and other groups on regular basis. In addition,
one-stop services will be provided to the farmers from Farmer's Information
and Advice Centers (FIACs) established in the Union Perished Complex.
One SAAO will remain present in the FIAC rotationally to provide necessary
advisory services to the farmers. The FIACs will be composed of SAAOs and
other field extension agents of DLS, DOF, and local NGO representatives. They
will provide necessary assistance in CIGs formation. CIGs will consist more of
small and marginal farmers (as high as 80%) of which minimum 30% will be
female farmers. Five types of CIGs are identified: (1) crop farmers, (ii)
livestock farmers, (iii) fish farmers/ fishers (iv) farmers interested only in high
value crops, and (v) farmers producing special commodities under contract
farming. There are will be more or less 18000 CIGs in 120 Upazilas of which
2400 will belong to DOF, 3600 will belong to DLS and the rest 12,000 will
belong to DAE. In each Upazila there will be more o.- less 150 CIGs having
15 CIGs in each Union. The number of members of each CIG will be around
20.

v)Strengthening of Research-Extension-Farmer Linkages: Support

will be provided for: (a) the early involvement of researchers in extension
planning and work on demand-based on-farm technology validation; (b)
demonstrations, field days, fair, horticulture nursery, workshops and
farmer exchange visits including increased use of communications
technologies for training and dissemination of extension related
information; and (c) establishment of Farmer's Information and Advice
Centers at the Union level to promote farmer-to-farmer exchange of
information experiences, as well as interactions with public/private service
providers.

Research-Extension-Farmer linkage is maintain through National

Agricultural Technology Coordination Committee (NATCC) at National
level and Agricultural Technical Committee (ATC) at regional level. These
committees will be strengthen through NATP project.

0)Farmer's Information and Advice Centers (FIACs): To facilitate

two-way flow of information between farmers and other stakeholders
(local government, extension, research, private sector, NGOs), the
project would assist with demonstrations, exchange visits and
workshops on key technologies. Establishment of Farmer's Information
and Advice Centers ( F I A C s ) a t t h e U n i o n l e v e l w o u l d f a c i l i t a t e
' f a r m e r- t o - farmer' exchange of knowledge/information and
interactions with other public/private service providers.

DOF and DLS do not have field staff below Upazila, the project will
help identifying and training of 1200 Local Extension Agent for Fisheries
(LEAF) and 1200 Community Extension Agents for Livestock (CEAL), who
will deliver simple extension service at the rural level.

FIACs will be located at the UP complex or UP office. Fund for

renovation, furniture, maintenance and repair of Union parishad offices
for FIAC has been kept in the project. SAAO of DAE, LEAF of DOF and CEAL
of DLS will have office at FIAC and they will stay at FIAC on rotation to
make sure that the FIAC office is never unattended during office hours.

FIAC will receive necessary inputs, equipment/supplies, training and

extension materials needed for demonstrations on various
technologies, technology validation trials, production and distribution
from the UECC/ respective Upazila officer.

2.2. Enhancing Institutional Efficiency:

i) Institutional Efficiency: To improve overall efficiency of the public extension
service and to strengthen a decentralized pluralistic institutional
structure of extension service providers, assistance will be provided to:
(a) develop producer's organizations (POs) based on CIGs, especially
at Union and Upazila levels, to empower members for greater
participation in planning, implementation and monitoring of extension
and to make the public service more responsive to their needs; (b)
evaluate and revise current structure, functions and business
procedures of different line departments Department of Agricultural
Extension (DAE), Department of Fisheries (DOF) and Directorate of
Livestock Services (DLS), including capacity to manage fiduciary
responsibilities; (c) update MOA's National Agricultural Policy (NAP) and the
New Agricultural Extension Policy (NEAP), updates national fisheries
policy of DOF preparation of a new livestock extension policy consistent with
GOB'S PRS, and preparation of a national extension implementation strategy
to strengthen coordination and synergy between extension activities of
different line departments (DAE, DOF and DLS) and in cooperation with the
private sector service providers; and (d) strengthen training capacity and
facilities for need-based human resource development (DAE, DOF, DLS staff
and farmers) in strategic partnerships , with other organizations, e.g. agricultural
universities, large NGOs.

ii) Renovation of Training Centre: The Department of Agricultural

Extension, has some institutional arrangements for staff and farmer
training, but they lack full facilities in terms of space, audio-visual
equipment, training materials, furniture, and office equipment, transport
facilities and related support services. The project will provide support
to meet the key requirements for development of research facilities at the
training centres. DAE has ATIs at District level and Upazila training centres
at Upazilas. The training centres have infrastructure facilities for classroom,
laboratory and accommodation of trainees and staff. But they will need
support for renovation and training equipment.

iii)Renovation of Laboratories: DAE has pesticide testing laboratories.

They need renovation Work, laboratory equipment, glassware, apparatus
and chemicals.

2.3. Human resource development:

In the context of changing needs of the agricultural sector and the farming
communities, the project will support (a) need-based human resource
development program for the extension staff of both the government and
non-government service providers and of farmer groups. (b) Interdisciplinary
and disciplinary technical support, including regular training of the Union
level: earns and the Upazilla staff
i) National Training: National training will be capacity building
training on PRA tools, training n production technology (SA AO,
A AEO), Technology training for Extension Officers (Upazila/Districts ) , Training
on ICT skilled development, Training for ATI teaching staff, insen-ice training of SAAOs etc.
DOF and DLS field staff will be trained on relevant issues.
ii) International Training/Study visit. International training will be- plant
protection training for Wing laboratories and study visit will be for Extension
officers for gathering knowledge for efficient management of extension work.

iii) National Workshop/Seminar/Conference: National

Workshop/Seminar/Conference will be progress of activities at Upazila
levels. The workshop may be organized at National, District o r U p a z i l a
level.

0) International Workshop/Seminar/Conference: Project related

officers/planners may attend at international
workshop/seminar/conference.

v) M. S. program : Candidates from extension agencies and project related

persons may be given
opportunity for in country M.S programs. Total grant to a student for local M.S.
will not exceed
Tk. 3.50 Lakh (Three lakh and fifty thousand). A stipend @ Tk. 8,000 – 10,000
per month will be given to an in country M.S. student for up to 24 months. Tuition
fees and research grant will be given to the universities. Research grant to a
student will not exceed Taka 1 (One) Lakh. A student will also get Taka
25 (Twenty Five) thousand as thesis grant. The candidates will be
selected by DGs of DAE, DOF and DLS in consultation with the Directors of
PIUs.
v) Ph. D. program: Candidates from extension agencies and project
related persons may be given opportunity for in country Ph. D programs.
Total grant to a student for local Ph.D. will not exceed Tk. 8 (eight) Lakh. A
stipend @ Tk. 10,000 – 20,000 per month will be given to an in country
Ph. D. student for up to 48 months. Tuition fees and research grant will be
given to the universities. Research grant to a student will not exceed Taka
2 (Two) Lakh. A student will also get Taka 50 (Fifty) thousand as thesis
grant. The candidates will be selected by DGs of DAE, DOF and DLS in
consultation with the Directors of PIUs.

Component 3: Development of Supply

Chains Implementing Agency: Hortex
Foundation

To assist with development of supply chain of selected commodities

(e.g. fruits, vegetables, flowers, poultry, dairy, meat, fish etc.) in
selected Upazilas, where farmers are already engaged in production of
such commodities for the local or export markets. Initial focus will be
helping farmer groups with improved technologies in production and
post-harvest value addition in horticulture crops. As in Component 2, CIGs
and POs will be the focal point for decentralized participatory planning and
implementation.

3.1. Farmer-Market Linkages:

i)Selection criteria and geographic coverage: The selection of specific
chains would be based on market demand, comparative advantage and
farmer preference in a given location.
ii)Activities to be financed under the component. The project will
finance consultancies, NGO services, technology validation trials and
demonstrations, publications, production of publicity materials for print
and electronic media, office equipment and supplies and incremental
operating costs. In early years, there will be a strong emphasis on
bridging the 'know-how' gap in this field based on analysis of selected
supply chain. Specific activities will include:

0)Strengthening Farmer-Market Linkages: To facilitate production of

the type (variety) and the quality of commodities demanded by the market,
the project will help producers to organize themselves into groups and
diversify production by self-selecting market options and products they
wish to invest in. This will help to vertically integrate small and marginal
producers into supply chain covering key commodities of interest to the
poor, including rice, maize, fruits, vegetables, livestock and fisheries.
More specifically, the project will: (a) as in Component 2, organize
producers into CIGs and POs with a focus on small and marginal farmers; (b)
where appropriate, promote contract farming by linking CIGs and POs
with processors and/or marketing organizations for production of selected
commodities, especially for the local market, building on experience gained
from on-going contract farming activities in the country; and (c) disseminate
'best practices' for production, post-harvest technologies, management
of supply chain and to promote quality improvement based on low-
cost post-harvest management practices, including cleaning, grading,
packing, storage and transport, and introduction of higher
sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards (SPS) required by the national
and/or export markets. Different options for extension support will be
utilized. These could include the use of decentralized public extension
service or contractual arrangements with other service providers, including
NGOs or the private sector. Option for establishment of demand-based
'user support fund' will be considered to provide producer groups and their
organizations investing in higher-risk activities to access services from
suppliers of their choice. Sorting and collection house may be leased or
Kacha structure may be developed on leased land for collection and
sorting of collected commodities from farmers.

3.2. Knowledge Management.

i)Capacity Building and Knowledge Management: Support will be

provided for: (a) capacity. buildinc, of trainers, and training programs aimed
at capacity building of CIGs, POs agribusiness staff and public officials
(research, extension, regulators) in commercial farming practices,
including, issues related to agribusiness development, access to appropriate
financial services and marketing support; (b) information sharing support
to both the public and the private sector participants; and (c)
development of effective linkages with the research system and support for
validation trials, especially for work on local supply chain.

0)Information dissemination: Assistance would be provided to enable

collection and dissemination of information based on 'best practices' from
national and international sources production, post-harvest management
and value chain development of commodities selected support under the
projects. S i nce bulk of production is sold as fresh produce; general
practices (at pre-harvest, harvest curing, preparing for market, post-
harvest treatment, packing, storage, processing, transport and marketing at
wholesale as well as retail) for handling of fruits, vegetable, cut flowers, fish
and meat would be given special attention.

3.3. Enhancing Institutional Efficiency:

The focus will be on strengthening of institutional arrangements
and 'know-how' of organizations able to support market-oriented
production systems, including: (a) support to CIGs and POs to play a central
role in helping members to improve access to markets, both through
orderly contract farming and direct marketing, and other services
(inputs, credit, technical support); and (b) improvements in
institutional and operational effectiveness of Hortex, the specialized
agency established by MOA to promote post-harvest value addition and
market linkages to accelerate growth of high supply chain of
agricultural commodities; especially horticulture.

i)Capacity building and training: Training will be provided on capacity

building and training of producers, agri-business staff and public officials
(research, extension, regulatory) in commercial farming practices,
including post-harvest management practices, quality, including issues
related to sanitary and phytosanitary standard (SPS) measures and their
enforcement, environmental regulations and export procedures.
0)International Consultants: International Consultants will be hired for
strengthen governance, organizational arrangements, functions and
staff skills in order to rationalize Hortex Foundation's role and improve
their effectiveness in promoting development of value chains. To facilitate
linkages of small and marginal farmers with local rural markets, a study by
them will examine governance, organization and functioning of the
foundation. The project will also finance both National and
International consultancies for determining selection criteria and
geographic coverage, strengthening farmer market linkages, promotion of
low cost post harvest management system, improvement of sanitary and
phyto sanitary standards (SPS), Extension support using market based
methodologies, information dissemination, development of ICT and MIS
facilities & preparation of modules for supply chain development.

i)Component 4: Project Coordination Unit (PCU):

i)Implementation Arrangement. The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) will

coordinate and facilitate implementation of NATP under the
direction and supervision of the Project Steering Committee
(PSC) and Project Management Committee. The Project
Implementation Units in BARC, DAE, DOF, DLS, and
implementing partners – KGF and Hortex will be responsible for
ensuring implementation of project activities assigned to
respective organizations. The PCU will be headed by the Project
Director and will have 5 National Coordinators – one responsible
for Agricultural Research, three responsible for Extension
(crops, fisheries, livestock) and one for Supply Chain
Development. It will also have two independent members of
Procurement Core Team (PCT), and expertise in Administration,
 Financial Management, Procurement, M&E, and
Social/Environmental aspects to support and develop capacity
of implementing agencies, as needed. In absence of the Project
Director the assigned deputy will be the acting head.

0)Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E): Support would be provided for

development, implementation and institutionalization of rigorous
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for project activities
implemented by the ARIs and Extension Organizations. Overall
responsibility of the project M&E and reporting will rest with the
PCU. Day-to-day duties will be carried out by a M&E Specialist
supported by a M&E Officer and administrative assistant in the
PCU. Each implementing agency (BARC, KGF, ARIs, DAE, DOF, DLS
and Hortex) will be required to provide M&E capacity and design
its specific M&E plan to meet its own requirements as well as
those of the project management. Close collaboration will be
established between the M&E Specialist and the M&E Cells.
The M&E Specialist and the M&E, Cells will be adequately
staffed and resourced to carry out their M&E functions.
The PCU and implementation agencies would be supported by
international and national technical assistance in M&E, including
impact assessment.
0)Impact Assessment: Participatory evaluation and independent impact
assessment of project activities will be carried out each year
starting after 2 nd year of the project. Impact assessment studies
will be outsourced to independent agencies to continuously track
the project impacts and to provide source material for annual
stakeholder M&E workshops to be organized by the PCU in
association with PIUs. M&E workshops will be held every year in
strategically important locations to provide a platform for
stakeholders, including the project beneficiaries, to participate in
the evaluation of project activities. The findings of the
participatory M&E workshops and of the impact assessment
studies will be incorporated in the MIS/M&E system.
0) Impact Assessment Expert Team: A 5-member independent Expert Impact
Assessment Team (EIAT) composed of well respected experienced
specialists in agricultural economics, rural development and rural
institutions, and one representative each of farmers' associations and
the private sector, will meet once per year during years 2-5 to provide
independent assessment of success and failure of project activities. It will
report directly to the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The EIAT will (i)
carry out joint field visits to project sites; (ii) review the findings of the
independent evaluation and impact assessment studies, and annual
stakeholder workshops; and (iii) prepare a brief summary report with
recommendation to the PSC. The M&E Specialist will act as secretary to the EIAT.
v) Performance Audit : To supplement the annual project audit, an annual
operational review will be carried out by external reviewers who will review
the internal control, framework and procedures of project activities.

vi) Consultants & Consultancy Services for NATP Phase-II Preparation : NATP
provides a flexible and long-term approach and will be implemented over a
period of 15 years in three phases having components: Agricultural
Research, Agricultural Extension and Supply Chain Development. Each phase
is expected to last about five years. Phase-I of the program will focus on,
research, extension, supply chain and institutional development. Agricultural
research will have a national coverage whereas agricultural extension will
cover more or less 120 Upazilas. The supply chain development activities will
be done in some of these Upazilas. Phase-II of the program will continue with
institutional strengthening with an increased focus on agricultural technology
generation dissemination and adoption. In addition, phase 2 would address
the need for fiduciary (financial management and procurement) and
budgetary reforms for agricultural research and extension services.
Agricultural research would remain national in scope whereas decentralized
extension approach would be extended to new 35% of all the Upazilas.
Consultants & Consultancy services will be hired for preparation of project
description, project appraisal document and development project proposal for
implementation of NATP phase-II.

vii) Management Information System (MIS) and Information and

Communication Technology (ICT): Information management is an
essential instrument to enhance research efficiency. ICT application in
agricultural research has been limited due to limited IT facilities and
technical skills. It is necessary to establish electronic linkages amongst
BARC, NARS institutes, research centers/stations and the related
universities/organizations. It is essential to establish a collaborative National
Agricultural Information System (NAIS) under the leadership of BARC as
National Hub and agricultural information unit to be created in each NARS
institute as nodal point of the network. The NARS institutes will be
connected through Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN)
to the central facility of BARC. Provision for both hardware and software
support with technical assistance will be provided for the de velopment
of infra-and inter-institutional connectivity through development of LAN and
WAN with the help of ICT and MIS unit of BARC. Action will be taken for
training on computer application in database management (MIS), technical
report writing and web/ electronic publishing, multimedia production, in-
house publishing and library automation/digitization leading to
establishing virtual library. Information Management Specialist will be
hired. The operation and maintenance of LAN and WAN and purchase of
equipment and .aft are for MIS and ICT may be outsourced.

viii) Digital Display Center at BARC. A digital display center will be

established at BARC to provi de the scientists, research managers and
policy makers of NARS organizations, and universities with the technological
development home and abroad in the field of agriculture, livestock and fisheries.
The extension departments, NGOs and related organizations will also be
benefited for extension work as the center will be equipped with
developed technologies. The display center will closely work with
Computer & GIS unit of BARC. The center will also act as a technological
archive of Bangladesh.
Fiduciary and other relevant issues

1. Consultants & Consultancy Services and Staff

i)Project Personnel: The Director of respective PIU of BARC, DAE, DLS
and DOF will be deputed from parent organization. Including
Directors of PlUs, DAE will depute 6 (six) officers and 8 (eight)
staff, DOF will depute 5 (five) officers, and DLS will depute 4
(four) officers and 4 (four) staff to the project. DOF will also
recruit 120 officers and 5 (five) staff on contractual basis with
consolidated pay as per government rule, and 122 staff
through outsourcing. DLS will recruit 7 (seven) specialists and
staff under PA source through outsourcing. The salary and other
facilities of deputed and recruited officer will be borne from PA
contribution. BARC will depute only Director of PIU, the salary and
allowances of whom will be borne from BARC core budget. A
meeting of the Manpower Assessment Committee for New
Development Projects under the Ministry of Finance was held
on 09 September 2007 and accepted the proposal of
Manpower deputation of DAE, DOF and DLS, and recruitment of
officers and staff of DOF (Appendix F).

0)Core Experts for full project period of PCU, PIUS, KGF and Hortex: The core Experts
will be National Consultants {Annexure - IV(b)}. They will mainly be responsible for
supervision of the implementation of project programs at implementing
agencies. The Project Director of PCU will be deputed folio GOB agencies or
may be recruited directly. The Experts will be hired for PCU., PIUs KGF and
Supply Chain Development by relevant implementing agencies
directly or through hired firm(s) following PPR 2003/WB guidelines. The
remuneration o experts includes 60% basic pay and 40% allowances
including house rent, conveyance, medical, festival bonus etc.

i)National Short Term Consultants: The project involves multifarious

activities including research management in crops, livestock and fisheries:
extension work, procurement, financial management etc. The research
fields are also multi-disciplinary. The core manpower of the project will
not have expertise in all disciplines. Neither there is need for full time
expertise in all fields throughout the full project period. Some expertise
will need to be hired time to time for short period. For this purpose
provision has been kept for short term consultants. The consultants will be
hired for rationalization of BARC and NARS Institutes, updating of vision
of 2020 of agricultural research, master planning, priority setting,
monitoring & evaluation, impact assessment, database & software
development, MIS & ICT and any other field as need is felt. The
consultants may be hired through outsourcing.

0)International Consultants: In some cases International Consultants will be

needed to help National Consultants for smooth running of the activities
of special nature of the project. As such, provision has been kept to hire
International Consultants. International Consultants will be hired for rationalization of
BARC and NARS Institutes, HRD planning, master planning, priority setting, monitoring & evaluation,
impact assessment of research etc. The International Consultants may be hired
through outsourcing.

i) Consultancy Service: BARC with the assistance of hired consulting

firms/ priority setting workshops and seminars will identify themes for
SPGR and CGP. Proposal will be invited on the identified themes from the
Institutes and Scientists. These proposals will be subjected to rigorous
peer review process, based on sound criteria. The proposals which
will meet the prescribed criteria will be funded. Consulting firms may
also be hired for hiring Core Expert and Short Term Consultants,
Human Resource Development (HRD) for placement of National &
International scholars at Universities, and fund management and
monitoring the progress of the scholars. Establishment of ICT & MIS
facility, purchase and maintenance of equipment may also need to be
outsourced. Impact assessment will also need hired consulting firm.

ii) Core Contractual Staff for full project period of PCU, PIUs,
KGF and Hortex: Limited number of support staff like accountants,
data analyst, computer operator, driver etc. will be hired for the full
project period on contractual basis. They will assist core experts. They may be
hired by outsourcing. Requirement of KGF support service staff will be
determined and hired by the KGF. The salary of contractual staff will
includes 60% basic pay and 40% allowances i ncluding house rent,
conveyance, medical, festival bonus etc.

2. Financial Management:
The accounting policies and procedures of the project will be governed
by the existing Project Accounting Manual of the Ministry of Finance.
All project related transactions i.e. all sources (IDA and IFAD fund) will
be accounted for separately in the PCU following double-entry
bookkeeping principles and on a cash basis. The key project accounting
functions for which PCU will be responsible are as follows: (i) budget
preparation and monitoring; (ii) payments for eli g ible project
expenditure to NGOs/third parties; (iii) disbursement of project funds to
various a gencies as per approved work plan; (iv) maintenance of books and
bank accounts; (v) cash flow management; (vi) financial reporting to
GOB, the World Bank and other stakeholders; (%']) preparation of
withdrawal application to claim funds from the World Bank; and
(vii) assistance to external auditor and ensuring appropriate follow up
of audit. Expenditure related to specific PIU and agencies will be
managed by PIUs and respective agency, and their field offices down to
Upazila. The respective agencies and PIUs will maintain such account
and report to the PCU.

i) Special Account Fund:

The project has provision for international higher studies, training,

study visit, seminar, conference, international consultants etc. The
fund for these purposes will be spent in foreign currency as well as
local currency. The Special Account PA for both local & FE costs has
been shown in cost tables. But foreign currency will also be required for
procurement of equipment of SPGR through international competitive bid.
It is not possible to determine the amount of foreign currency to be
required for this purpose. The requirement of equipment will be
determined as project proposal during the project period submitted by
the NABS institutes, Universities, NGOs and individual scientists. It is not
possible at present to determine how much foreign currency will be
required for this purpose. As such all special account funds of the
project have been shown as PA which will be spent as local cost/FE cost as
required.

ii) Funds Flow and Disbursement arrangements:

• For utilization of IDA and IFAD fund, PCU will open a dollar special
deposit account DOSA or CONTASA. The Project Director and in
his/her absence assigned deputy will be the authorized persons for
issuing cheque or payment advises, making payment requests to MOF
through MOA for replenishment requests to IDA. Project Director will sub-
delegate financial power to Directors of PIUs, Executive Director of KGF
and Managing Director of Hortex Foundation.
• GOB contribution for PCU, BARC, DAE, KGF and Hortex will be channeled
 through MOA and that for DOF and DLS will be channeled through MOFL.
GOB contribution may directly be channeled through implementing
departments/agencies.
• A fund Flow chart is shown in Annexure: II, Figure-1.
• PCU will be responsible for transferring IDA and IFAD funds to PIU of
BARC, DAE, DOF. DLS, KGF and Hortex foundation on the basis of six
months estimated expenditure and approved work plan. No fund will
be given to these agencies unless SOE of the previous advance fund
is provided to PCU. PIUs of DAE, DOF and DLS will disburse fund to
Upazilas according to their need after submission of SOE.
• PCU will disburse funds to NGOs directly on the basis of terms and
conditions of contractual agreement between NGOs and the project. After
getting recommendations from component agencies and PIUs of DAE,
DLS and DOF. Cheque may be handover to UECC.

• For payment relating to consultants hired by PCU and all other

operating cost will be paid directly by the PCU on the basis of actual
expenditure and approved contracts as certified by the concerned user
agency.

• For payment relating to consultants hired by PIUs, KGF and Hortex and
all other operating cost will be paid directly by the respective agencies
on the basis of actual expenditure and approved contracts as certified
by the concerned user agency.

3. Procurement:
Procurement will be handled by the PCU, the PIUs (BARC, DAE, DLS, DOF),
KGF and Hortex Foundation for individual project components. The PIU of
BARC will handle the procurement of SPGR and ERIE, KGF will handle the
procurement of CGP, the PIUs of DAE, DLS and DOF will handle the
procurement Agricultural Extension Support, Hortex Foundation will handle
the procurement of Supply Chain Development and PCU will handle the
procurement of Project Coordination Unit. All procurement will be done
following PPR 2003/WB procurement guidelines as agreement with the
World Bank. The PCU/PIU and the KGF, Hortex may engage competent
consulting firm by outsourcing to manage all major procurement,
consultancies, reviews, studies, execution of both local and
international training programs and any other functions as per need.

0.Procurement Core Team (PCT):

A PCT will be formed for the project and will be attached to and located at
the PCU to oversee the procurement process under the project. The PCT
will consist of at least five members of which at least two full time
external independent experts (technical and procurement) will be from
outside the government or public sector entities. These two external
independent experts will be responsible to PSC and are likely to be of
known reputation from government and autonomous bodies,
universities, academia, NGOs and the private sector. The PCT will be
directly responsible for handling all procurement of the PCU while for the
IAs it will provide procurement and technical guidance and oversee the
procurement activities.

5.NGO Support: The PCU will hire one lead NGO in consent with PIU of
DAE/DLS/DOF. The lead NGO will hire local NGOs working in project Upazilas
following PPR 2003 for selection of local NGOs. The opinion of UECCs for the
applying NGOs will be taken in consideration. The selected local NGOs will
assist UEFT members in CIG formation and capacity building of the CIGs
including microplan preparation, advancement of credit, preparation of agri
business, agro pr-,_ Ncessing etc. Lead NGOs will supervise the activities of
local NGOs working under their umbrella in collaboration with
DAE/DLS/DOF. PCU will make payment to NGOs after getting
recommendation from component agencies and assigned by the PIUs of
DAE, DLS and DOF. Cheque may be handover through UECC.
0.Vehicles: Project Director, Directors of PIUs (BARC, DAE, DLS,
DOF), Executive Director of KGF and Managing Director of
Hortex will need frequent movement from place to place in
and outside Dhaka to visit MOA, MOFL, WB, NARS institutes,
Implementing Agencies, work sites etc. regularly. They will need
full time Car/Jeep for official work. The list of vehicles for
implementing agencies is given below:

Vehicle PCU BARC KGF DAE HORTEX DOF DLS Total

Car 1 1 2

Jeep 1 1 1 2 1 1 7
 Microbus 1 2 3

Motorcycle 124 12 120 124 380

Besides, movement from place to place outside the city is integral part of the
work of the
consultants of PCU and PIUs to visit NARS Institutes to coordinate project
activities. For their
movement provision for one jeep has been kept for PCU. For regular
movement of official and
consultants of PCU and KGF for official work provision has been kept for 1
microbus for PCU
and 2 microbuses for KGF. The officers of PIU of DAE, DOF and DLS,
and officers of
departments need to visit Unions to coordinate activities of CIGs. The
Departmental Officers need to visit Union. The provision of one Jeep at PIU
and motorcycles at each Upazila has kept for these visits. All components
will hire vehicles for experts, consultants and relevant
for their visit to implementing agencies when necessary. Vehicles will also
be hired for
routine movement of the experts and staffs of the project until the vehicles
of the project are procured.
Vehicles of PCU and PIUs and other components (KGF, Hortex) will be owned
by implementing agencies after phase wise completion of the project to
sustain their activities as per Government rule.
7. Other Issues:

TA/DA: Consultants/Experts/Members of teams and committees formed by

project authorities dill get actual TA for their visit outside Dhaka. In addition,
they will also get Tk. 1000/= as DA (Including Food and Lodging) for each
over night stay. In special circumstance reasonable actual accommodation
and actual other expenses will be reimbursed based on submitted
documents. Deputed Govt. Officers will get TA-DA/Actual expenses as per
government rules from project or agencies. Hortex and KGF will
operate/device their own TA/DA procedures approved by their Board.
Training Allowance: Trainee farmers, trainers and resource persons
will receive training allowance as per existing rates of GOB extension
departments and budget approved by respective PIUs.

Sitting allowance: Members of PSC, PMC, Tender Evaluation

Committee (TEC), Proposal Evaluation Committee (PEC), Procurement Core
Team (PCT), Expert member(s) for preparation and evaluation of technical
specification, National Extension Coordination Committee (NECC) etc. will
get Tk. 1000/= for each meeting. The members of Regional Extension
Coordination Committee (RECC), District Extension Coordination Committee
(DECO), Upazila Extension Coordination Committee (UECC) and similar
committees will get taka 500/= as sitting allowance for each meeting.
The amount of sitting allowance for KGF will be determined b y the BOD of
KGF. The sitting allowance for Hortex Foundation will also determined by the
BOD of Hortex Foundation.

National Training/ Workshop/ Seminar/ Conference/ Meeting: National

Workshop, Seminars and Training the budget should not exceed Tk. 750/=
for each participants for Lunch, dinner morning and afternoon tea, and
sitting allowance per day. Logistic support including bag, folder. writing pad,
ball pen, eraser, marker etc. should not exceed Tk. 1000. Actual amount
will be determined by PD for PCU, Directors for PIUs, ED for KGF and MD
for Hortex. Resource person will get Taka 750/= (including handout cost) for
each one hour lecture.

International Workshop/Seminar/Conference/Study Visit: Fund will be

provided to attend international workshop/seminar/conference/study visit for
exchange and sharing of scientific knowledge and expertise with
international scientists from PCU, PIUs, KGF and Hortex. The candidate
should also be selected from project related organizations. Allowances will
be given as per Government rules for Govt. officers. The PD of PCU, Directors
of PIUs, Consultants and Specialists will get allowances at Joint Secretary
level.

Honorarium/ Remuneration: Annual Honorarium/ Remuneration may be

paid to PD PCU, Director PIUs (BARC, DAE, DLS, DOF), officers and staff
of parent organizations of PCU, PIUs and other component staff as per
government rules helping in supervising and executing project activities.
Such officers and staff will be identified by the PD of PCU/ Directors of PIUs.
Technical Evaluation: Remuneration will be provided to persons preparing
and evaluating the technical specification of equipment and evaluating
the research proposal and reviewing the achievement of the sub-projects
of CGP and SPGR. The amount will be determined by the PD of PCU/ Directors
of PIUs and BOD of KGF.

d. Environmental and Social Safeguards

The NATP activities are not expected to involve any adverse social or
environmental impacts. However, the project preparation study
comprised a social and environmental assessment and suggested a set
of environmental and social safeguards as noted below:
Environmental Safeguards: The Environment Management
Framework (EMF) includes a negative list of activities that will not be
supported by the project. This includes (i) land acquisition; (ii)
involuntary resettlement; (iii) activities within protected areas like reserve
forest; (iv) use of pesticides prohibited under national legislation or
internationals agreements to which Bangladesh is a party; and (v) any
research involving Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) which have not
been approved by an independent panel of internationally recognized
experts, and cleared by the World Bank and GOB (DOE). Measures to
strengthen environmental management in NATP are identified by
components in the EMF.

Social Safeguards: Given that the project's interventions are chiefly

aimed at technology development and dissemination as well as
establishing marketing chains, the impacts are expected to be mostly
positive. None of the interventions require 'land acquisition'. Upazila to
be covered in the first phase do not have Adibasi (tribal) population. In view
of these, no social safeguard policy is triggered. However, in respect of
Component 1 viz., Agricultural Research Support, as a proactive measure,
and to ensure that project will indeed generate positive impacts, it is made
mandatory for each prospective research proposal to comply with safeguard
measures.

A safeguard management note shall form an integral part of the overall

proposal. This will receive due attention while assessing the proposals.
Towards this and to serve as a guidance note, the project has developed a
Safeguards Management Framework which essentially comprises: (i)
national legislative framework; (ii) impact assessment matrix; and (iii)
screening matrix. The legislative framework along with the Bank's
Safeguard Policies provides an overall framework. Impact assessment
matrix depicts the impacts likely to occur and the associated mitigation
measures thereof. Screening matrix helps in evaluating the social and
environmental aspects of a particular proposal. The details of economic and
financial analyses is given in Appendix-H.

e.Sustainability, critical risks and possible controversial aspects

Project sustainability depends on (i) continuous ownership of various
initiatives by the GOB and other stakeholders; (ii) strong political
support at various levels; and (iii) adequate flow of financial resources
to carry out activities after the project closes. The sustainability of this
project will be facilitated through (i) implementation of the 15-year
long-term program i.e. through a series of Adaptable Program Loans (APLs);
(ii) agreement with GOB to increase its budgetary contribution for financing
research and decentralized agricultural extension program;

(iii) Strengthening institutional capacity for various agencies dealing with

agricultural research and extension; and (iv) deepening institutional
reforms over time, with a particular focus on agricultural research and
extension.

0.Rationale:
The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) of the Government of Bangladesh
(2005) gives high priority to accelerating agricultural growth in order to
increase rural incomes, reduce poverty and improve food security. The
potential sources of future agricultural growth are expected to be
increased productivity, diversification into high value agriculture (HVA)
and post-harvest value addition. This poverty focused growth strategy
requires substantial investment in agricultural research and extension
systems. The National Agricultural Research System (NABS) alone

deserves gradual increase of its share in ADP to 0.6% of agricultural GDP

(which is the average for the developing countries as a group) while
existing allocations are low at only about one third of it (0.22% of AGDP as
of BBS 2006).

The extension system is receiving considerable financial allocation mainly

to maintain extension staff down to Upazila (in the case of DLS and DOF)
and multi-village block level (in the case of DAE) but the services are not
adequately reaching the fainiers. Almost the whole of the revenue budget
allocation is spent to pay staff salary, leaving very little to carry on
program activities. In both research and extension, program
development and even operation and maintenance of existing facilities
are largely dependent on time bound development projects. The
research –extension – fainier linkage remains weak and the farmers are not
adequately benefiting from the agricultural technology system although
the National Agricultural Policy as well as other relevant policies
emphasizes a demand-led extension service at the grassroots. Such
development requires an efficient and transparent service delivery
system, accountable not only to the line agencies, but also to the
farming community. To address the above needs, the NATP uses a
different approach - reactivating the existing facilities, create sustainable
funding mechanism, strengthening the institutions and empowering the
farmers.

PEC meeting was held on 02 September, 2007 on DPP of NATP phase-

I. A number of observations were made. A checklist has been prepared on
those observations and actions taken by BARC (Appendix-D). This recast
DPP has been prepared as per decision of the ECNEC meeting held on 08
October, 2007. A check list of the decision & action taken on the ECNEC
decision is given in Appendix-L.
g. Linkages:
The proposed project is in completely consistent with the objectives and
targets of PRS as well as short term, midterm and long term planning
of agriculture, fisheries and livestock development (Appendix-1) . The
project's linkages to national priorities is shown below:
Policy Matrix 4 as in the PRS (Crop agriculture)

Strategy Targets as in PRS

goals Likely contribution of the
project linked to PRS

• Narrow yield gaps

Increasing • Increase crop • Yield of major crops in 120
productivity production project Upazilas will increase by
and 10%
profitability in
the
• Production and income of farmer
crop sector
will increase by 20% in 120
2.Accelerating
production of • Increase • Support 200 farmer groups
high- production of improving market access and
value crops vegetables, fruits etc. technologies in production and post-
harvest on a pilot basis in 10
Upazilas
• Assist capacity building of Hortex
Foundation extending their support
to farmer groups and widen
contract growing system
3. • Develop improved crop
Strengthening technologies for quick • Support competitive grants
agricultural dissemination programs implementing short term
research • Initiate biotechnology research activities based on
research for crops farmers' needs and with
participation of NGOs and private
sector 9 Support public sector
agricultural research institutes
implementing larger duration
research initiative in strategic areas
including biotechnology under
sponsored public goods research.

• Assist institutional capacity

building of the NABS through
reforms, human resource
development, linkages and
sustainable fund flows.
4. • Give pro-poor focus on
Strengthening extension service • Develop a decentralized,
agricultural pluralistic (combining crops,
extension • Cover all categories of
fisheries and livestock) and
service farmers, landless and
participatory extension approach,
women in extension
transparent and accountable,
service
not only to the line departments,
but also to the farming
communities.

Support mobilizing 18000

fanners' common interest
groups in 120 Upazilas
covering about 1200 Union
Parishads.

• 60% of the CIGs will comprise

exclusively of small and marginal
farmers and 20% of women.
5. Mainstream • Increase and improve
women in women's participation • 20% of the 18,000 CIGs will
agriculture in be formed
agriculture exclusively of women farmers 9
Women CIGs will be preferred in home
based agricultural activities like
fruits and vegetables production,
 post-harvest of crops, including high-
value crops, seed preservationand
storage, backyard and small scale
dairy and poultry, small scale pond
fishery etc.

Policy Matrix 4 as in the PRS (Livestock and Fisheries sub sectors):

Strategy Targets as in Likely contribution of the

goals PRS project linked to PRS

1. Increasing • Increase To increase productivity in

productivity production of agriculture includl:.'
of Livestock Sector Livestock fisheries and livestock sectors,
products the NATP
2. Increasing
• Increase income develop a decentralized,
Productivity of the pluralistic (combini.i.-
in inland crops, fisheries and
aquaculture livestock)and participaton-
Livestock and
3. Increasing extension approach.
productivity poultry
in capture fisheries farmers, fishers • The MOFL part of NATP will
and support mobilizing 6,000 farmers'
fish farmers. common interest groups in 12G
• Increase yield of Upazila covering about 1200
pond Union Parishad directly
fishery reaching about 90,000 livestock
• Improve closed, and fishery farmers and fishers.
semi
closed • • 60% of the CIGs will
aquaculture comprise exclusively of small
and fish habitats and marginal farmers and
20% of women.

• TheCIGs with the

facilitation of extension
departments and NGOs will
prepare own micro- plans at the UP
level and thus will be empowered
 to demand services rather than
staying at the receiving end.

• The need based and ensured

integrated extension service
will help farmers better
accessing service technology
support of both GO and other sery
providers and thus help increasing
productivity.

* Yield of major crops in 120

project UZ will increase by 10%

• Production and income of

crop, fisheries and
livestock farmers will increase by
20% in 120 UZ.
4.Promoting Poultry • Raise poultry
Sector production
development • Increase milk
5.Promoting Milk production
and Meat • Develop milk and
production meat
6. Promote rice cum processing
fish facilities
farming • Promote fish seed
production, pen
culture, cage
culture
7.Strengthening • Boost up
Livestock production of • TheNATP will help
research and livestock enhancing institutional
Extension products
efficiency of BLRI, FRI, DLS and
• Develo
8. Strengthen p new DOF through supporting reforms,
fisheries breeds reorganization, human resource
research and • Develop development and increased and
extension improved sustainable funding.
animal
husbandry • The DLS and DOF presently not
practices and having field staff below Upazila
Veterinary level will identify and train and
services. equip local extension agents from
• Accele the community who will provide
rate simple extension messages to
fisheri farmers and establish a linkage
es between farmers and extension
production departments.

• Develop a decentralized,
pluralistic (combining crops,
fisheries and livestock) and
participatory extension approach,
transparent and accountable, not
only to the line departments, but
also to the farming communities.

• Support mobilizing 18000

farmers' common interest groups
in 120 Upazila covering about
1200 Union Parishad.

• 60% of the CIGs will comprise

exclusively of small and marginal
farmers and 20% of women.

h. Targets (as per PAD revised in Aug 2007, Project Description and proposals of
executing agencies):
Program Goal:

• Agriculture productivity (Yield of major corps in 120 selected Upazilas)

increase by minimum 10% by the end of the project.

• Household income of CIG farmers in the project Upazilas increase by

20% by the end of the project.

Purpose Level:

• Minimum 50 adaptable new agricultural technologies developed by the

end of the project.

• 60% of 330,000 CIG farmers accept and use new technology.

• Technology diffusion benefits at the ratio of 1 to 4 from the CIG farmers

to other farmers in the project Upazilas by the end of the project.

Outputs/ Immediate Outcomes:

• Public investment in agricultural research increase from 0.22% of AGDP

to 0.30% of agriculture GDP by the end of the project.

• Public investment in agricultural extension increase from 1.1% of AGDP

to 1.22% of AGDP.

• Research proposals successfully implemented under CGP: 15 in yr 1,

50 in yr 2, 100-120 yr 3-5.

• Research proposals successfully implemented under SPGR: 5 in yr 1, 10

per yr from yr 2.

• CGP research projects implemented through non-NARS partners-3 to

20 per year yr 1-5.

• New research proposals responding to technology needs of farmers: 20

 in yr 2 gradually increase to 50 by yr 5.

• CGP fund allocated to non-NARS partners: 20% in yr 1, gradually

increase to 30% yr 5.

• Number of validation trials of developed technologies by extension

departments: 50 in yr 2 gradually increase to 100 by yr 5.

• Number of Upazila extension plans prepared, approved and

implemented -120 in120 Upazila by yr 5.

• 1200 Union Micro Plans will be prepared, approved and implemented in

5 years beginning with 350 in 1st year.

• 18,000 GIGs will be organized and supported on a continuous basis, in

5 years beginning with 5,250 in 1st year.

• Number of farmers organized in CIGS-330,000 in cooperation with DLS

and DOF by yr 5, beginning with 96,250 in yr 1.

• 20% of the CIGs are formed with women members, 60% with male SM
farmer and maximum 20% with medium to large farmers.

• Supply chains development assistance benefits 200 CIGS-3000 farmers

in ten Upazilas.

• Number of farmers adopting post harvest technology: 200 trained CIG

farmers.

• Farmer to retailer price gap reduced by 15% by year 5.

• 29,400 demonstrations held by DAE.

• 455 exposure visits organized by DAE will be arranged for

farmers/extension workers to exchange of views and ideas.

• 580 district and UZ fairs organized by DAE.

i. Project Preparation Study

The concept of this project has evolved over time during a consultation
process initiated by the World Bank with the Ministry of Agriculture, the
Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, BARC and the relevant agricultural
extension departments of the GOB. This consultation contributed to the
preparation of a World Bank document, called "Revitalizing the
Agricultural Technology System in Bangladesh", December 2005. This has
documented various constraints and potentials of the agriculture in
Bangladesh along with recent experiences of its development involving
World Bank assistance.
The abovementioned study underlined the need for making appropriate
production and postharvest technologies to farmers to raise agricultural
productivity. It noted that the agricultural technology systems (research
and extension) are unable to effectively generate, transfer and promote
the use of such technologies to increase productivity of both food crops and
high value agriculture, including horticulture, fisheries and livestock.

The NATP project preparation phase engaged ten core Specialists and 13
other consultants to make a comprehensive analysis of the relevant issues,
problems and suggest appropriate project interventions to be supported
under the NATP. The project preparation study comprised inputs in
agricultural research, extension, supply chains development, social
assessment, environmental assessment, economic and financial analysis
and procurement and financial management. Combining inputs from the
individual consultants, the NATP preparatory work is contained in a
comprehensive report called "Project Description".

The project Description Report of the consultancy team suggested to take-up

a five year project comprising agricultural research support, agricultural
extension support (comprising extension in crops, livestock and fisheries)
and development of supply chain. The extension component
incorporated a decentralized extension model.
Project Preparation Facilities (PPF): The World Bank provided Taka
314 lakh as advance for NATP preparation phase for preparing Project
Description for NATP, DPP for NATP phase-1, Project Implementation Plan,
Operation Manual etc. A TPP for a period of January 2006 through December
2007 was approved in February 2006 and revised in August 2006 and
January 2007 to spend this money. It is estimated that Taka 280 lakh will be
spent during the project period. The rest of the fund has been included in
the DPP of NATP phase-I.

15. Whether any Pre-appraisal/pre-investment study was done

before formulation of this Project? If so, attach summary of
findings & recommendations in terms of NPV, BCR and IRR.
The project preparation study included an economic and financial analysis
which is incorporated in the Project Appraisal Document. The text of the
Economic and Financial Analyses is provided in Appendix -H. Based on the
study findings; the estimates of major parameters are quoted below:,
a) Net Present Value (NPV)
i.Financial US$ 190 million, Tk. 1,330.00 crore
 ii.Economic: US$ 160 million, Tk. 1,121.20 crore

b) Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)

i.Financial: 1.9
ii.Economic: 1.6

C) Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

i.Financial: 44%
ii.Economic: 37%

16. Whether project(s) of similar nature has/have been implemented

earlier and/or under implementation? If so, mention name, date and major
findings of Evaluation.

National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) is new in Bangladesh

due to its nature, dimension and involvement of multi-sectoral and
multi-agencies under different Ministries. There is no project
implemented earlier which is exactly similar to the proposed project. In
some cases the proposed project is partially similar to the following
projects:

Experiences of the Agricultural Research Management Project (ARMP):

The main objective of the Agricultural Research Management

Project (ARMP) (19962000) was to increase the efficiency of the
national agricultural research system and thereby Generate profitable,
relevant, and sustainable agricultural technologies. This was to be achieved
through (a) strengthening the capacities of the National Agricultural
Research System (NABS); (b) supporting priority research; and (c)
strengthening research linkages to extension through participatory farming
systems research.

The ARMP and earlier projects in agricultural research and extension

systems helped building up of major physical infrastructure. But the
system now requires institutional strengthening. The ARMP achieved
modest success in institutional development but the objective of
improving efficiency through reforms was not fully achieved.
Sustainability remained an issue. The present project reemphasizes
them and has changed approach from project funding to longer term
program funding.

17. Basis of total and item-wise cost estimate

The detailed and item wise detailed and item wise cost estimates are based
 on the project preparation study report prepared by a group of national
consultants in partnership with the involved executing agencies, mainly,
the BARC, DAE, DLS and DOF. The costs are based on 2007 local prices. A
provision is made for 4% physical contingencies and 5% price
contingencies over the next five years.

The detailed costs were also examined by a team of experts of the World
Bank who provided

Component wise indication of their funding possibility. The present cost

tables takes into

Consideration of their indications. Some adjustments were however made

on the basis of
suggestions coming from the executing agencies.
18. Unit cost of major items of the proposed and
similar other projects Name of the project, date of
completion and Unit Cost (In lakh Taka)

A comparison of cost of NATP with the recently completed projects is

given below:

Activities Project Completi

on Cost in Taka
Year
Past/On NATP
going 2007
Projects
2006 15,000 10,000
Northwest Crop
Farmer Group
diversification
Formation
project

Fanners Training Northwest Crop 2006 300 350

diversification
Allowances project
for Frozen Semen and 2007 500 600
CEAL Embryo
Allowances culture water
for Fresh Shrimp 2006 500 600
LEAF
Contract culture
Research Agricultural 2001 10,00,00 20,00,00
0 0
Ph. D Research
Agricultural 2001 45,00,00 60,00,00
(International), 0 0
ARMP
Ph. D (Local), ARMP Research
Agricultural 2001 5,00,000 8,00,000

Research
19. Attach detailed annual : Please see Annexure-VI
phasing of cost.
 (As per annexure-VI)
20. Specification/ Design of : Not Applicable
major components.
(attach, if possible)
0. Justify whether the most The cost has been Estimated
cost effective method
has been selected in case of
projects whose
b en e fi ts are diffi c ul t to
quantify
1. Briefly describe the
effect/impact on
i) Environment like land,
water, air, bio-diversity
etc.
based of the needs identified
by the project preparation team
of the NATP in consultation with
the main institutions in
agricultural research and
extension systems (BARC &
ARIs, DAE, DLS, DOF and
Hortex Foundation) and
further examined by the world
bank appraisal team presenting
their findings in the PAD (Feb
2007) and Aide Memoire (28
March 2007). The unit costs are
based on market price as of
2007 with allowance for yearly 5%
price contingencies and 4%
physical contingencies.

The environmental assessment

report of the NATP project
preparation team indicated that
the project shall have no adverse
environmental impact.
Because, the project does not
involve any new construction of
any sort, building, dam, water
control structure etc. The
investment will be maid mainly in
research and that too
focusing need based adaptive
research. No investment will be
made in sensitive areas like GMO
and nuclear agriculture. The
extension component will help
farmers' common interest group
learning and applying improved
agricultural technologies. The
project will help both research and
extension agencies improving
institutional ef f i ci e n cy t hrou g h
 h u ma n re s o urc e d e ve l o p m e nt ,
improving facilities and
enhancing allocation of
operating expenses more
sustainability. The supply chain
development will help farmer
groups acquiring and applying
appropriate production and post-
harvest technologies in selected
high-value crops.

The project will have positive

environmental impact th ro u g h
pa r ti c i p a to r y p l an n i n g and
exe c u ti o n of extension
activities in agricultural
extension. The priorities of
agricultural research are
expected to be redirected
making it need based and
closely linked to extension
services and farming
communities. The p ro j e c t w i l l
use an e n v i ro n m e n t a l
management frame work to
avoid an y adverse effec ts and
take proactive mitigating
measures.

ii) Women and children The project will benefit mainly

small and marginal farmers who
will be using improved
technologies and participate in
the project activities through
farmers' common interest
groups. Women and children
will b e n e f i t a s a w h o l e f ro m
increased income and
employment through
 improvemen t in agriculture.
Moreover, the project has kept a
provision of organizing minimum
20% of the farmer groups with
farm women who will mostly
participate in homestead
agriculture like fruits and
vegetables, poultry, duck, cattle
fattening, cow rearing, pond
fisheries and grading and
packing of produces for marketing.

0) Employment, poverty alleviation, There will be immense positive

etc. impact on poverty. It is expected
that, as the outcome properly
executing the project, poverty
will decrease in the 120 project
Upazilas by 5% and farmers'
income and employment will
increase by 20 percent and crop
production will increase by 10%.

It is expected that 60% of the

330,000 trained farmers belonging
to the CIGs will successfully apply
improved technology packages and
will experience 50% increased yield.
Their success will encourage
secondary adopters to the extent of
four times of successful primary
adopters. Thus about 990,000
farmers will use improved technology
from the end of third year. Improved
farming will demand increased
labor input which will come from
both family labor and employing
seasonal hired labor. The combined
effect will be 20% employment
increase and 5% reduction of
poverty.

iv) Institutional, The project will support

productivity enhancing efficiency of the
BARC, th e Agricultural
Research Institutes, the
Extension Departments — the
DAE, DLS and DOF th rough
reforms, h uman resource
development. i m p ro v e d
l ab o r a to r y an d o th e r
f a c i li ti e s wh e re necessary,
facilitating ICT development and
networking, both nationally and
internationally. The project will
support establishment of an
independent Krish i Gobeshona
Foundation to manage
competitive grants program in
agricultural research and the ARIs
taking up sponsored public goods
research of a bit larger size and
duration.
In the extension side, the project
will help firmly setting of a
decentralized extension
approach in which farmers will
be the main actors rather
than staying on the receiving
end. The farmers groups will
plan execute extension micro
plans in which the extension
agencies and partner NGOs will
facilitate decision making than
imposing decisions.
 Yes, the project will involve
private sector, NGOs and local
government implementing
various components. The
research component will work in
partnership with an independent
Krishi Gobeshona Foundation, who
will implement Competitive
Grants Programs carrying out
short term and need based
adaptive research. The
extension component will work
in partnership with selected
local NGOs who will help
organizing farmers' groups,
facilitate them micro plans at
23. Whether private sector/local the Union level and train the
govt. or NGO's participation building up institutional capacity
was considered? Describe how while the extension departments
will they be involved? will provide technology support
in crops, fisheries and
livestock. Union and Upazila
level extension service delivery,
using a decentralized approach
will work in cooperation with
Union and Upazila Parishad —
UP member and chairperson
involved in the preparation and
implementation of micro plans
and the Upazila Parishad informed
of the Upazila Extension Plans
ensuring their support to plan
and implement them effectively
and efficiently.
24. In case of aided project a. BARC Act amendment approved
mention the major by the cabinet
conditionality. 0. Project implementation
arrangements are operational
including establishment of
PCU and PIUs (for BARC, DAE,
DLS and DOF).
a. Krishi Gobeshona
Foundation is operational.
including registration,
setting up of office and
selection of Executive Director
(only TOR cleared by the
World Bank) and approved by
the KGF Board.
b. Draft Project Implementation
Plan is prepared
c. Draft Operations Manuals for
Agricultural Research Support
(CGP and, SPGR) and
Agricultural Extension Support
are prepared
d. GOB contributes to project
cost at least in Tk. equivalent
to US$ 2.6 million (CDVAT,
local staff, etc.).
25. Does the project involve
The project does not involve
rehabilitation/resettlement? If
acquisition of land. Therefore no
so, indicate the magnitude and
rehabilitation and resettlement
cost.
plans are needed.
26. Any other important details,
technical or otherwise (e.g.
sustainability, governance etc.)