Agriculture Sector Development Program

At appraisal, the social and cost implications of the resettlement plans required in connection with the divestment of the state-owned rubber estates (SOREs) were not fully anticipated. This was a key reason for the 2-year delay in the release of the second tranche of the program loan. The scope and cost of resettlement plans needs to be clearly recognized at the time of project design, since they are time-consuming to prepare and costly to implement.