Project outcome targets must be set at appropriate levels and risks must be recognized and appropriately mitigated. The evaluation recognized that this was the first agribusiness project done by ADB private sector operations since 1985 and that familiarity with contract farming may have been limited at the time of appraisal. The target of 25,000 contract farmers for SAL’s operations appears to have been formulated based solely on the starch plant’s capacity, rather than on specific analysis of likely farmer participation. No risk in the appraisal is noted regarding farmer participation; rather, the appraisal found that the contract farmers would be the mitigation to the risk of raw materials as PRAN would source its own raw materials. The contractual arrangements appear to be standard and fair practice for contract farming and PRAN’s experience with contract farming was established and significant, but greater analysis farmers’ willingness to participate in growing a new crop was needed and appropriate support planned for and provided to produce sufficient quantities of cassava to support the plant’s operations at full capacity. At the time of appraisal, PRAN had 42,000 farmers under contract across all of its crops; therefore, to target an additional 25,000 farmers to support SAL’s starch operations seemed very ambitious. The project set a target of 500 employees at the factory. It is unclear how this target was arrived at as factory operations typically require a known number of staff. At present, the factories are operating at two-thirds capacity with 190 staff, so the target of 500 employees is not going to be achieved. The evaluation recognizes that setting the gender target for factory workers at 30% was an important addition to the project design, encouraging SAL management to focus on this development outcome and to bring more women into the workforce.
Sylvan Agriculture Limited PRAN Agribusiness Project