Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).
INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA
FY 1998 Development Fund for Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $47,000,000 Introduction
The southern Africa region is strategically located between the south Atlantic and Indian oceans, and is of growing economic and political importance to the United States. Comprised of twelve countries, including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the region has a combined land area of some 3.5 million square miles and a total population of about 130 million. The region is a source of strategic minerals such as platinum, gold, cobalt, diamonds and manganese, as well as petroleum. Political and economic changes have swept the region in the last few years, enhancing the opportunities for growth and development. The newly elected leaders are committed to strengthening democracy and to undertaking reforms necessary for economic development. A particularly promising development is the move toward greater regional collaboration and integration led by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), which aims to create a free trade area by the year 2004. U.S. support is critical to the successful political and economic transformations taking place. These changes will also enhance the use and impact ofU.S. assistance. USAID's investment in an economically potent southern Africa will help stimulate markets for American goods and services. U.S. annual exports to the region are currently valued at $3.4 billion, or the equivalent of 60,000 jobs in the United States. Experience clearly demonstrates that the United States benefits directly from the economic expansion that its foreign aid helps fuel.The Development Challenge
The southern Africa region is currently undergoing a major political, economic and social transition, the outcome of which will be extremely important to the future interests of the United States. The brutal civil unrest that afflicted much of the region for more than three decades has now largely subsided and autocratic regimes are rapidly being transformed into democracies. Highly statist command economies are being restructured into open, free market economies where market forces rather than government bureaucracies determine the allocation of scarce resources and in which conditions exist for the private sector to function as the engine of growth and job creation. A number of countries are already pursuing such liberalization measures as the privatization of state-owned enterprises, reduction in government functions and budgets, and deregulation permitting the private sector to expand. Interest in investment and trade is increasing. Implementation of the recently-signed Trade and Transport and Telecommunications Protocols will greatly improve the environment for trade and investment as well as strengthening regional transport and telecommunication networks. With improved trade throughout the region, the vital components for private enterprise development (market, money and management), which are currently in short supply, will become increasingly available and accessible.
Despite the progress that has been made, much more remains to be done before the institutionalization of democracy and a free market economy becomes irreversible. Residents of the region fear that the nascent democracies may topple in the face of internal tensions and economic pressures (in particular high debt burdens), especially since newly formed economic and political structures are weak. The World Bank has emphasized that, in addition to the economic reforms already underway in the region, a number of actions will be required to accelerate the region's aggregate economic growth. They include reducing corruption, rationalization of central government expenditures, improving investment policies, accelerating the expansion and diversification of exports, and improving the efficiency of the infrastructural base, especially through the reform of policies in the telecommunications and transportation sectors.
The final outcome of these political and economic transitions will depend on how well the governments in the region respond to the needs of their rapidly growing populations. The region is experiencingpopulation growth rates that are among the highest in the world. The incidence of infant mortality and HIV/AIDS infection is also comparatively high. To make matters worse, the region is also prone to drought and food deficits since rainfall is highly variable, soils are fragile, and irrigation infrastructure is limited. Major droughts in 1992 and again in 1994 inhibited efforts to increase agricultural productivity, and required large infusions of food aid. Environmental degradation has increased, and the maintenance of biodiversity is threatened by the human population pressures on flora and fauna.
These developments bring with them challenges that require human and financial resources beyond the means of the individual countries within the region to supply. The problems identified transcend national boundaries. They are regional by nature and must be dealt with in a coordinated fashion. This is an opportune time for the United States to share its expertise and advance its interests by supporting and strengthening the newly established democracies, encouraging and facilitating dialogue, stimulating economic growth, and reducing the need for costly humanitarian assistance in response to emergency situations.
Other Donors
For decades the United States has been the major bilateral donor to the transport sector and the agriculture and natural resources sectors in the southern Africa region. USAID has collaborated with other donors on regional programs directed toward improved information and communications flow, rail and road infrastructure development, food security, human resources development, community-based natural resource management, and agricultural research. Since 1991, the United States has disbursed approximately $450 million for regional programs in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.Other significant donors in the region include the European Union (EU) and the Nordic countries. Through phase 1 of its Lome IV Convention, which ran from 1990-1995, the EU provided $158 million for regional programs in the SADC region. The EU has focused its assistance on food security, agriculture and natural resources management, transport and communications, and human resource development. In carrying out its assistance, the EU is working closely with SADC, the regional organization responsible for coordination of development efforts in the region. The Nordic countries obligated about $360 million in support of regional programs between 1990 and 1995 (this sum includes pledges to the on-going SADC Program of Action).
Other major donors have included the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Japan, and Kuwait. The World Bank's support to SADC has focused mostly on regional transport and telecommunication infrastructure sectors. The World Bank, IMF and EU are supporting the regional Cross-Border Initiative. Private voluntary organizations, and private and corporate foundations have also been active in the region.
FY 1998 Program
USAID's approach for helping the southern African region to achieve equitable, sustainable economic growth and successful democracies is embodied in the Initiative for Southern Africa (ISA). The ISA complements bilateral programs in the region with programs that address development constraints needing a coordinated region-wide response or which help to build links among countries in support of regional economic growth and democratic governance objectives. The ISA focuses in particular on addressing regional constraints to development in the areas of infrastructure, small and medium-scale business development, civic society and democratic governance, and agriculture and natural resource management. Currently, ISA programs operate under a Start-up Strategic Framework which includes provisional objectives, outcomes, targets and indicators. These program areas will be refined in mid-FY 1997 as USAID finalizes a long-term strategy for the southern Africa region.
Overall, the program supports three Agency strategic goals: building democracy, encouraging broad-based economic growth, and protecting the environment.
Agency Goal: Building Democracy
Strategic Objective No. 1 of the ISA program supports USAID's goal of fostering the growth of democratic institutions and political systems in recipient countries and regions. It contributes to U.S. foreign policy interests by promoting regional peace and stability. An important goal in itself, regional peace and stability is also a critical prerequisite to achievement of the ISA's other strategic objectives, and instability anywhere in the region will have disproportionate impacts on the climate for regional cooperation and integration. The formal structures of democracy are largely in place in southern Africa but what is far less well-rooted is a "culture of democracy" in which citizens understand and exercise their democratic rights and in which the fundamental obligation of accountability is accepted by their elected representatives and other participants in the formal structures of government. Through its individual country programs and the Southern Africa Regional Program (SARP), USAID assistance has been instrumental in promoting transitions from authoritarian rule to democratically elected governments in a number of countries. USAID also plans to extend its work in this area under the ISA through its five-year, $10 million Southern Africa Regional Democracy Fund (SARDF). Initiated in FY 1995, SARDF will support mutually-reinforcing multi-country and region-wide activities to promote democratic values and processes. Already, it has stimulated creation of a southern African network of human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and is strengthening media collaboration throughout the region. Initially, SARDF will focus on civic education aimed at building a culture of democracy and strengthening nascent civil society institutions by improving the capacity of indigenous organizations to inform citizens of their rights and responsibilities in a democracy. The Fund also currently provides training to enable legislators to more effectively represent constituents' interests and manage the legislative process, and to support activities empowering women to participate more fully in their nations' political lives. The Strengthening Regional Economies Through Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) Activity, designed in FY 1996, will strengthen the capacity of NGOs working at a regional level in all areas of the ISA, including democracy and governance.
Strategic Objective 1: Enhance the Skills, Knowledge Base and Capacity of Individuals and Organizations Working to Strengthen Democratic Processes and Values in Southern AfricaAgency Goal: Encouraging Broad-Based Economic Growth
It is in the interest of the United States to help the southern Africa region to achieve equitable and sustainable economic growth. Just as U.S. investments in Asia and Latin America over the past three decades are now reaping substantial economic returns, USAID's assistance to this region is laying the foundation for expansion of U.S. exports and economic growth in the twenty-first century. In particular, USAID's investments in rail and road infrastructure over the past decade, and current support for privatization and restructuring of telecommunications and railroads, are putting in place the key arteries along which trade and the information critical to private sector development will flow. Under the SADC Transport Efficiency Project, USAID provided technical assistance and other resources required for the formulation of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications, and Meteorology which was signed by the 12 SADC member countries' heads of state in August 1996. This protocol provides the region, for the first time, with a framework to facilitate policy reform in the transport and telecommunications sectors and to harmonize regulations, infrastructure standards and specifications to facilitate efficient cross-border movement of goods, services and people in support of trade and investment and the overall goal of regional economic growth.
The $100 million Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF), established in late 1994 by USAID, addresses the financial constraints faced by indigenous small and medium-sized enterprises. The accompanying technical assistance component will help improve the capacity of intermediaries to reach micro-enterprises. The Fund was given added impetus by the Trade Protocol signed by 11 of the 12 countries in the region committing them to establish a free trade area among all 11 countries by the year 2004. USAID is supporting SADC in the implementation of the Trade Protocol through the recently signed Regional Policy Dialogue and Implementation Activity.
The members of SADC are anxious to replace aid with trade, and the USAID Regional Center for Southern Africa located in Gaborone, Botswana is strategically placed to foster more and closer links between the countries in the region and the United States. U.S. merchandise exports to the southern Africa region were $3.3 billion in 1995, a 27.5 percent increase from 1994. U.S. merchandise imports from the region were $4.8 billion in 1995, a 7.9 percent increase from 1994. The implementation of the recently-signed Trade Protocol will further enhance the U.S.-Southern Africa trade relationship as well as produce an estimated 1.5 percent real increase in regional GDP and the creation of 500,000 new jobs. Finally, USAID support for regionally-coordinated agricultural research and training has already begun to reap rich rewards in the form of an increased availability of higher yielding and/or drought resistant varieties of two of the region's most important crops for small farmers, sorghum and millet.
Three of the ISA's strategic objectives are fully consistent with and supportive of USAID's strategic goal of stimulating rapid, balanced economic growth in recipient countries within the region.
Strategic Objective 2: Increased Indigenous Business Development and Ownership
Strategic Objective 3: Key Regional Conditions Established that Support Sustainable Increases in Productivity of Agricultural and Natural Resources by Smallholders* Strategic Objective 4:
Increased Efficiency, Reliability, and Competitiveness of Regional Transport and Telecommunication InfrastructureAgency Goal: Protecting the Environment
Environmental degradation and encroachment of the human population on wildlife habitats are problems that need to be addressed by the countries of the southern Africa region. Strategic Objective No. 3 seeks to address these problems. Since the late 1980's, USAID has been supporting community-based natural resource management programs in four countries within the region and the SADC Technical Coordination Unit for Wildlife located in Malawi. These programs have demonstrated that utilization of wildlife and indigenous plant species in a sustainable fashion can be a viable alternative to unsustainable agriculture practices on marginal lands. In Zimbabwe, revenues accruing to 100,000 participating households from safari company lease agreements increased to approximately $2.8 million in 1995, while in Namibia and Botswana a variety of new rural enterprises have sprung up that utilize natural resources in a sustainable manner, including community-based campsites and sales of thatching grass, wild fruits, water lilies, and handicrafts. In addition, USAID has begun to provide assistance to a regional network of environmental non-governmental organizations and governmental organizations/universities seeking to collaborate on the development of sound policies and strategies for the environment. This strategic objective fully supports USAID's goal of preservation and protection of the environment.
Strategic Objective 3: Key Regional Conditions Established that Support Sustainable Increases in Productivity of Agriculture and Natural Resources by Smallholders
INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA
FY 1998 PROGRAM SUMMARY
Encouraging Broad-based Economic Growth
Stabilizing Population Growth & Protecting Human Health
Protecting the Environment
Building
Democracy
Providing Humanitarian Assistance
TOTALS
USAID Strategic Objectives
1. Enhance the Skills, Knowledge, and Capacity of Individuals and Groups Working to Strengthen Democratic Processes and Values in the Region - Dev. Fund for Africa
500,000
---
---
3,000,000
---
3,500,000
2. Increased Indigenous Business Development and Ownership - Dev. Fund for Africa
18,600,000
---
---
---
---
18,600,000
3. Key Regional Conditions Established that Support Sustainable Increases in Productivity of Agricultural and Natural Resources by Smallholders - Dev. Fund for Africa
4,250,000
---
14,000,000
---
---
18,250,000
4. Increased Efficiency, Reliability and Compe titiveness of Regional Transport and Telecommunications Infrastructure
- Dev. Fund for Africa
6,650,000
---
---
---
---
6,650,000
Totals - Dev. Fund for Africa
- P.L. 480 Title II
30,000,000
---
---
---
14,000,000
---
3,00,000
---
---
---
47,000,000
---
USAID Mission Director: Valerie Dickson-Horton
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Enhance the Skills, Knowledge Base and Capacity of Individuals and Organizations Working to Strengthen Democratic Processes and Values in Southern Africa,
690-S001
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $3,500,000 DFA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: To enhance the skills, knowledge base and capacity of individuals and organizations working to strengthen democratic processes and values in southern Africa.
Background: Despite impressive gains in recent years, the roots of democracy in southern Africa remain shallow, and southern Africans fear their democracies may fail in the face of ethnic tensions and economic pressures. Among the critical weaknesses are: a lack of widespread understanding of basic democratic rights and responsibilities and acceptance of such fundamental democratic tenets as the rule of law and human rights; governments lacking accountability and transparency; civic organizations, judiciaries and legislatures that are poorly equipped to hold government accountable for abuses of power; and the political marginalization of women and other major elements of society.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: Through its bilateral programs and earlier Southern Africa Regional Program, USAID assistance has been instrumental in a number of the transitions in the region from authoritarian rule to democratically-elected governments. Through its five-year, $10 million Southern Africa Regional Democracy Fund (SARDF), authorized as part of the Initiative for Southern Africa (ISA) in August 1995, USAID supports multi-country and region-wide activities to extend the benefits of lessons learned throughout the region and to create linkages among groups across the region as a basis for building a regional network of mutually supportive advocacy and service groups promoting democratic values and processes. Since implementation began, SARDF has made grants to support several regional networking initiatives. Its most important achievement, however, has been establishment of the SARDF Project Committee and identification of strategic options for regional activities.
Description: USAID's interim strategy is based on stakeholder discussions identifying impediments to democratization encountered throughout the region and addresses impediments in three areas in which it hopes to achieve significant benefits from economies of scale and regional networking and sharing of experience. The strategy supports the initiatives of indigenous civil and governmental organizations that are working to ensure that: (1) citizens understand how democracies function and their rights and responsibilities under their new democratic systems, (2) women's political participation increases, and (3) legislators have the knowledge and skills needed to effectively manage the legislative process, including an ability to build coalitions and resolve political disputes. A SARDF Project Committee, made up of citizens from throughout the region who are involved in democracy promotion, has been active in approving grant criteria, reviewing grant applications and advising on strategic and procedural issues.
Host Country and Other Donors: Aid from other donors flows through a number of unconnected channels, e.g., official donors (both bilateral and multilateral), parliamentary groups, international organizations, quasi-non-government organizations (NGOs), independent NGOs, churches and academic institutions. Efforts to coordinate donor assistance at the national level have met with varying degrees of success. As democracy and governance activities are focussed on no single recipient or coordinating body, systematic donor coordination in this sector is far more difficult. USAID is actively coordinating with other donors as it commences its long-term strategy development process in democracy and governance.
Beneficiaries: Successful promotion and strengthening of democratic institutions will benefit the entire population of the region. USAID funding focusses on civil society organizations, women and legislators.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: USAID will implement this activity through indigenous southern African NGOs and other entities which may on occasion work with U.S. or other non-indigenous partners.
Major Results Indicators:
The range of possible interventions under the SARDF start-up strategy, combined with uncertainties associated with its proposal-driven quality, require that indicators under the start-up strategy be grant-specific. The following indicators derive from the grants made by the end of FY 1996.
Baseline Target
Number of women employing skills or 0 (1995) TBD
techniques learned through project-funded
activities.
Production and distribution to all listed southern 0 (1995) TBD
African NGOs of a comprehensive directory of
D&G-related NGOs in the SADC region
Regular distribution of D&G-related press clipping 0 (1995) 220 (2002)
service to 20 NGOs in each country in the SARDF
region.
Formation of sustainable partnerships for advocacy 0 (1995) 5 (2002)
training and a regional training forum involving one
NGO each in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South
Africa and Swaziland.
Adoption by SADC-region NGOs of a coordinated TBD TBD
regional action plan for creating a legal and political
enabling environment for NGOs throughout the region.
Acquire and supply conflict resolution techniques to 0 (1995) TBD
Malawi labor conflict situations
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Increased Indigenous Business Development and Ownership, 690-S002
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $18,600,000 DFA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: To provide increased jobs and incomes to the disadvantaged in southern Africa, USAID is financing the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF). SAEDF is being developed as a venture capital facility which will provide financial services such as debt equity or financial guarantees and related technical and managerial services to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). The fund will operate as an independent non-profit corporation and is expected to be sustainable within three years.
Background: Investment and trade interest in southern Africa is increasing. The process is enhanced by the gradual cessation of civil strife in most of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries. The three vital components for enterprise development--markets, management and money-- are still in short supply, but with improved trade throughout the region, the markets will become increasingly attractive. The larger enterprises in most parts of the region will be able to take advantage of these new market opportunities, but SMEs still suffer from shortages of management and capital. More open markets, better management, and enhanced capital availability in the SME sector will ensure greater participation by lower-income groups in the benefits of economic growth.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: The SAEDF has a sixteen-person board of directors (six representing southern African countries and ten from the U.S.), led by the chairman, Ambassador Andrew Young, and a full-time staff of ten. To date, the staff has evaluated over 300 proposals from the region and selected 75 for additional analysis. The Board has approved three lines of credit to micro and small business lenders and expects to review an additional six proposals for funding in early 1997. If approved, these proposals will bring total SAEDF investments to over $6 million and result in the creation of approximately 550 jobs. The Regional Technical Assistance Activity (RTAA) was initiated in September 1996 to help smaller SMEs gain access to the fund, and the technical assistance team is working closely with SAEDF to identify potential candidates for technical assistance. USAID provided technical assistance to enable SADC to review and refine its Trade Protocol, and USAID's Regional Policy Dialogue activity is now supporting SADC's efforts to implement the Protocol. One of the first tasks that this activity will accomplish will be to bring together key members of the private and public sectors in the region to discuss the protocol and decide how best to implement it. Assistance on several key issues that are defined by this group will follow.
Description: The SAEDF operates as an independent, non-profit corporation. It is focussing on investments that will ensure financial sustainability in order to continue to service the financial needs of SMEs. The SAEDF is complemented by a technical assistance activity aimed at improving the institutional capability of intermediary financial institutions in the region to service the technical, managerial and investment needs of the smallest enterprises in the SME sector. USAID will undertake analyses in support of this strategic objective and engage in policy dialogue with regional institutions, the private sector and governments, to expand trade and open markets.
Host Country and Other Donors: Since SAEDF will be able to meet only a fraction of the total annual investment needs of the SME sector (estimated between $800 million and $1 billion), USAID seeks to leverage additional funds by encouraging other donors to participate in the fund directly or on a parallel or co-financing basis in SAEDF projects. SAEDF is also working closely with institutions such as the International Finance Corporation to identify opportunities for joint financing. USAID has begun discussions with the Government of Japan, the European Union, the Nordic countries and theCommonwealth Development Fund. In addition, USAID will hold discussions with the European Union (EU) to ensure that its policy activities complement those of the EU.
Beneficiaries: Small and medium-scale enterprises in Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: SAEDF, Southern Africa Development Community, Chemonics.
Major Results Indicators:
Baselines and targets will be developed at a SAEDF/RTAA strategic planning workshop to be held in February 1997.
Baseline Target2
Increase in the number of indigenously-owned TBD TBD
small and medium-scale enterprises resulting from SAEDF
investments or investments stimulated by RTAA interventions.
Increase in net assets resulting from SAEDF investments TBD TBD
or investments stimulated by RTAA interventions.
Increase in employment in indigenously owned businesses TBD TBD
assisted by SAEDF or by other financial institutions as a
result of RTAA interventions.
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Key Regional Conditions Established that Support Sustainable Increases in Productivity of Agricultural and Natural Resources, 690-S003.
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $18,250,000 DFA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 1999
Purpose: To establish the key regional conditions for sustainable increases in productivity of agriculture and natural resources by smallholders.
Background: Agriculture and natural resource-related production is the major force driving economic development in most southern African countries where over two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture for employment and income. The region's rich natural resource base includes reserves of minerals, fisheries, and a diverse wildlife that sustain a growing eco-tourism industry. However, less than eight percent of the land is arable, and it is subjected to growing degradation from drought, overgrazing and over harvesting. USAID is working to reverse declining per capita food productivity and to assist the region's poorest by investing in research on the subsistence food crops of small farmers -- sorghum, millet, and cassava -- and in developing sustainable natural resource management practices and policies which increase incomes in marginal areas.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID assistance concentrates in two areas: 1) assisting SADC technical units to coordinate effectively regional research and training efforts in the agricultural and natural resource sectors in order to develop technologies suitable for small farmers, and 2) promoting community-based natural resources management in areas unsuitable for intensive agriculture. Activities financed under the ISA encourage a greater involvement of non-governmental actors in sustainable technology development and dissemination, environmental education, and in the analysis and adoption of appropriate agricultural and natural resource policies and strategies.
USAID supports the Southern Africa Center for Cooperation in Agricultural Research's (SACCAR) efforts in priority setting, research coordination, and impact assessment. Also, USAID finances four of the twelve regional agricultural research networks: the Sorghum and Millet Improvement Program, the Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network, the Agricultural Research Management Training Program and the Heartwater Animal Disease Control Program. SAACAR targets over 100 million farmers to receive improved crop, livestock and natural resource technologies. Releases of over 33 high-yielding varieties of sorghum and millet led to production increases in many of the SADC member states, especially in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. In Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, massive dissemination of superior planting material for cassava and sweet potato is taking place. The Heartwater Disease Control project has produced effective vaccines and tick repellents, technologies needed to control this devastating disease. USAID programs have trained over 1,000 research scientists, technicians and decision makers in various aspects of research management, thereby greatly strengthening program priority setting and implementation throughout the region's agricultural research system.
USAID has supported community-based natural resource management initiatives in four countries of the region -- Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe -- as well as regional networking and training initiatives supported by the SADC unit in charge of wildlife, which is based in Malawi. These community-based activities demonstrate that sustainable utilization of wildlife and indigenous plant species can be a viable alternative to unsustainable agricultural practices on marginal lands. Communities are now receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenues each year through a variety of wildlife utilization schemes. Illegal hunting activities have been reduced and employment generated, and regional governments are now putting in place laws and policies which will promote and sustain these community-based efforts. Additionally, USAID collaboration with the regional office ofthe World Conservation Union, located in Zimbabwe, has expanded the activities of its more than sixty governmental and non-governmental organization members in environmental policy development, monitoring of trade in wildlife products, and development of new environmental education materials. In addition, staff have been trained in such areas as biodiversity conservation, environmental economics, project management and techniques for working with rural communities.
Description: USAID focusses on achieving three major outcomes: (1) sustainable and profitable technologies and approaches developed and demonstrated for regional application, (2) regional policies in place which support sustainable productivity increases, and (3) mechanisms for regional sharing of information and technology institutionalized. Intermediate outcomes include: strengthened regional institutional capacity, and improved data and analysis for regional ecosystem management. In FY 1998, funding will be required to increase the number of participants in successful community-based natural resource management programs, to further strengthen policy analysis and implementation efforts by regional entities, and to extend grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to disseminate improved agricultural and natural resources technologies. In addition, USAID will work with SADC to implement regional coordination efforts of its technical units, ensuring that policies are harmonized and limited funding is devoted to the highest priority projects.
Host Country and Other Donors: In the agricultural and natural resource sector, host governments, International Agricultural Research Centers, NGOs, the private sector and donors collaborate on a daily basis. Many of USAID's programs are co-financed; the SADC member states contribute over 60% of the total operating costs of SACCAR. USAID remains the major donor in the sector. Other active donors are Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Nordic countries.
Beneficiaries: USAID programs target an estimated 100 million subsistence farmers and smallholders living in marginally productive agricultural areas who receive improved seed varieties and technologies for managing resources. Other beneficiaries are government and nongovernmental agencies which deliver assistance to smallholders and which benefit from institutional strengthening.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and the International Service for National Agricultural Research are grantees working in collaboration with the 12 SADC national agriculture research systems. Regional organizations such as the SADC Secretariat, SACCAR, World Conservation Union's Regional Office for Southern Africa, SADC/Wildlife, and several national universities are also acting as executing agents. International NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, PACT or private contractors such as Chemonics are the implementors. In all cases, host governments are active participants and partners with USAID's regional programs.
Major Result Indicators:
Baseline Target2
Improved coordination of agricultural research programs on a TBD TBD
regional basis as evidenced by prioritized plans and investments.
Improved dissemination of technologies TBD TBD
developed in regional programs to intended users.
Appropriate institutional models developed for sustainable TBD TBD
community-based management of natural resources.
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: Initiative for Southern Africa
TITLE AND NUMBER: Increased Efficiency, Reliability and Competitiveness of Regional Transport and Telecommunications Infrastructure, 690-S004.
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998 $6,650,000 DFA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATE COMPLETION DATE: FY 2001
Purpose: To increase the efficiency, reliability and competitiveness of regional transport and telecommunications infrastructure.
Background: Sustainable regional economic growth requires an efficient transport and telecommunications infrastructure. While the southern Africa region has invested heavily in basic infrastructure in the past, the overall efficiency of its transport and telecommunications systems has been hampered by government monopolies, state-owned enterprises, restrictive polices, inefficient use of physical assets, and unreliable information generation and exchange. These factors have discouraged additional investment. Transport and communications inefficiencies in the region reduce market opportunities for the private sector, especially for indigenous businesses and smallholder agriculture. USAID assistance to the sector dates to the early 1980's, when a primary objective was to reduce the region's dependence on transport through South Africa. USAID projects rehabilitated rail and road corridors and financed operational improvements in government transport units.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID's support is designed to improve the efficiency of the surface transport network and of the telecommunication network within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. In the rail sector, past USAID investments have increased locomotive capacity on key regional rail links, restructured management of the Tanzania, Swaziland and Malawi rail lines, and made inroads in improving operating efficiencies in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Building on these investments, USAID is financing the procurement and installation of a rolling stock information management system (RSIS) to permit more efficient use of the region's rail cars. In the transport and telecommunications sectors, USAID support was critical to the production of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications, and Meteorology, a regional agreement designed to harmonize policies, operating practices, and regulatory measures. This Protocol was developed through extensive consultation with transport and telecommunications systems users and was approved by the SADC Heads of State in August 1996. In the telecommunication sector, USAID is working with the Communications Authority of Zambia and the Zambia Privatisation Agency to open the telecommunication sector in Zambia to private participation. USAID is also assisting the Governments of Swaziland and Namibia in creating telecommunications regulatory capacity, and the Governments of Botswana and Zambia with the introduction of national cellular telephone service and internet service.
Description: The SADC Transport Efficiency Project (STEP) aims to restructure the transport sector through improved policies and technical changes that increase efficiency and attract investment. STEP and other USAID-funded transport projects build on a decade of investment in the region's railway corridors. In particular, current transport activities support the formulation of a regional policy agenda for the Southern African Transport and Communications Commission (SATCC). This policy agenda is designed to: 1) enable SATCC to promote policies that encourage competition and improve efficiency; 2) enhance SATCC's institutional capacity to conduct policy research, formulation and promotion; and 3) establish a regional transport data base. Additionally, USAID is financing the procurement and installation of a Rolling Stock Information System (RSIS), to improve the operational efficiency of rail car deployment and use.
In the area of telecommunications, USAID is financing activities to improve the region's overalltelecommunications network by assisting SADC countries in their efforts at restructuring and privatizing. This activity is also helping SATCC increase its capacity to assist SADC member countries to improve communication linkages within southern Africa and internationally.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID, along with the World Bank, plays a dominant role in the regional transport and telecommunication infrastructure sectors. USAID has collaborated with the World Bank on rail restructuring and privatization activities in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. USAID also coordinates its policy and regulatory reform program with the Canadian International Development Agency, which is building national capacity in the rail sector to carry out needed reforms, and with the Overseas Development Agency of the United Kingdom. The World Bank is the major lender in the telecommunications field, financing restructuring activities in Tanzania and Zambia and a study of the telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe. The Swedish International Development Agency provides assistance in Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Tanzania. The French aid agency has focused assistance on institutional reform of the rail sector, while the principal German aid agency has provided training at the national level for road and rail operators.
Beneficiaries: The entire population of the SADC region will benefit from the cost savings resulting from increased competitiveness and efficiency of the railways, as well as from the improved access to information provided by a reliable telecommunications system. The national railways, freight forwarders and commercial sector will directly benefit from the improved and efficient cargo tracking services provided by the national railways.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: Price Waterhouse is implementing the Regional Telecommunications Restructuring Program. The International Telecommunication Union provides technical assistance to SATCC through two telecommunications specialists in policy and data base management. The Morrison Knudson Corporation assisted SATCC in undertaking a needs assessment, feasibility study and conceptual design for RSIS. Abt Associates conducted the regional consultation process that led to the development of the Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology; Nathan Associates drafted the Protocol document.
Major Result indicators:
Baseline Target2
Reduced rail transport costs. TBD TBD
Increased annual net tons carried/km on SADC railways. TBD TBD
Increased return on invested capital in SADC railways. TBD TBD
Increased level of investment in the public TBD TBD
telecommunications operators.
Increased price competitiveness between US & SADC TBD TBD
telecom operators.
Increased levels of intra-regional telephone traffic. TBD TBD
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