January 2016

Policy Dialogue and Aid Effectiveness Promotion in the Agriculture and Forestry Sector

Lao PDR

Prepared by the SWG-ARD Secretariat ,Department of Planning and Cooperation,

Ministry of Agriculture and ForestryLao People’s Democratic Republic

Content

Vientiane Declaration (I and II)

Round Table Meeting and SWG-ARD Structure

SWG-ARD – Core Functions

Policy Think Tank

SWG-ARD – Secretariat

Progress and Achievements

Challenges, Lessons Learnt, Way Forward and Recommendations

Vientiane DeclarationAid Effectiveness

The coordination of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Lao PDR follows the principles of the Vientiane Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.The Vientiane Declaration was signed by the Government of Lao PDR (GoL) and 22 Development Partners (DPs) at the Round Table Meeting in November 2006.Similar to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), but with a specific focus on Lao PDR, the Vientiane Declaration aims to improve aid effectiveness based on five principles:

Ownership: Government exercises effective leadership over the development policies, strategies and coordinates development actions.Alignment: Partners align with the Government's strategies & use strengthened Government regulations & procedures.Harmonization: Partners’ actions are more harmonized, transparent and collectively effective.Managing for Results: Refers to resource’s management of and to improving decision-making for results.Mutual Accountability: Both Government and Partners are accountable for development results.

Vientiane Declaration IIPartnership for Effective Development Cooperation

The Vientiane Declaration was revised in 2015 with the main objective to better reflect the Lao Context in evolution.The consultation started in May 2015 and a newVientiane Declaration (VD II) was endorsed by theGovernment of Lao PDR and a range of the country’s development partners at the 12th HighLevel RTM on 27th November 2015. The VD II will guide development cooperation in Lao PDR to 2025.In Addition to the 5 principles embeded in the VD, the VD II includes commitments to: - Bolster the role of the NA and local administration in development planning;- Increase the fight against corruption, tax evasion and other illicit flows;- Increase engagement with other developing countries in the Round Table Process;- Develop an inclusive financial sector;- Help private business align it’s actions with public aims to encourage more public and private

partnerships for development;- Create new networks for knowledge exchange and green technology transfer. The VD II highlights the ‘catalytic’ role of ODA and places strong emphasis on boosting taxes and other domestic revenues, increasing cooperation with developing countries, increasing knowledge, technology transfer & closer work with business & civil society.

Round Table Meeting and SWG-ARDStructure and Composition

IFAD-COSOP / Vientiane / June 12, 2015

SWG-ARD – Core functions (1)

3. Track and align ODA and mobilize resources: In partnership with the DIC and using the Aid Management Platform (AMP), ensure that externally financed programs, projects and technical assistance is accurately recorded. Analyze whether existing and future resources are aligned with the national priorities as set out in the NSEDP and sector strategy. Identify financing gaps, develop and implement resource mobilization strategy, seeking advice from the MPI and MoF.4. Program-based approach: explore opportunities to move towards a more programmatic approach within the sector. The main elements of the PBA include a comprehensive policy framework, common monitoring framework, partnership and dialogue structure, agreed institutional arrangements and responsibilities and a capacity development component.5. Monitoring sector strategy implementation: strengthen mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the sector strategy in terms of inputs, outputs and development results. If progress has been made to a jointly owned sector strategy, then develop a joint monitoring and evaluation framework for this and implement it.

1. Sector strategy formulation: contribute to the formulation of the sector strategy and NSEDP and to the development of associated legislation if required.2. Strategy costing, prioritization and sequencing: assist in the costing of the strategy, help prioritize and sequence the required investments taking account of the total resources predicted to be available for the sector from domestic resources, Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

SWG-ARD – Core functions (2)

6. Capacity Development: jointly assess current capacities to develop, implement and monitor sector strategy, develop and finance a capacity development strategy in response to institutional, organizational or individual capacity gaps. Ensure adequate Secretariat capacity to support the SWG in achieving its roles at the policy, operational/technical and sub-group levels. 7. Cross-sectoral and sub-national coordination: ensure coordination with other ministries and SWGs on sector policy or implementation issues that cut across ministries or between national, provincial and district levels. This should ensure that gender, environment & other cross-cutting issues are taken into account in policy & strategy development, implementation & monitoring.8. Share information: ensure effective and transparent sharing of sector information, including SWG agencies, minutes, analyses, ODA financing and ensure materials are posted on sector ministry website and/or dedicated page of the Round Table Meeting website.9. Contribute to RTM: prepare inputs to the RTM drawing on guidance from MPI.10. VD-Country Action Plan: review the VD-CAP and identify which of the actions are most relevant to the sector. Identify baseline and target for actions, assign responsibilities to ministry staff and DPs for implementation. Monitor progress, providing updates to MPI/DIC.

All the roles listed above are among the actions set out in the VD-CAP. There are others, such as harmonization of donor reporting requirements, harmonization of procurement procedures, and progress towards multi-year financial commitments.

The Policy Think Tank (PTT)

The PTT aims to be a key center to ensure that policy research is undertaken with greater sensitivity to local socio-economic and agro-ecological conditions and that the findings and recommendations are used for policy development.

A Policy Think Tank was established by the Government of Lao PDR with support from development partners. Its mission is to guide the country towards economic prosperity and poverty alleviation by developing action ready policy recommendations to address key challenges constraining rural livelihoods. The PTT is located within the Policy Research Centre (PRC) of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI).

The PTT supervises a number of research projects and collaborators. In 2015, the PTT receives funding support mainly from the IFAD and SDC and prepares the establishment of a public-private partnership platform to engage key government ministries, farmers and private sector stakeholders in a dialogue and consensus building exercise to address critical national policy issues that impact actions at the provincial and district levels to support the improvement of livelihoods among the rural poor.

Developing the PTT towards evidence-based policy advice

A multi stakeholder consultation took place on March 1st, 2016 with the main objective to improve coordination mechanisms for engagement and partnership.Main recommendations: Change name, possibly to Policy Advisory Group (PAG)? Coordinate (not conduct) research works Conduct policy assessment and evaluation Bring the PAG closer to the decision makers, directly under Minister / Vice-Minister Create an inter ministerial secretariat linking with other sectors and working groups

SWG-ARD / Vientiane / March, 23, 2016

The SWG-ARD - Secretariat

Role Focal point for meetings organization (logistic, agenda, minutes, content, presentations); Internal and external communication-coordination within the SWG, with other sectors /

ministries (through mails, internet, website, informal communication within the ministry(ies), media, exhibitions and various multi stakeholders meetings.

Facilitate Gov. ownership of the sector development process and dialogue with donors/DPs; Support the SWG-ARD with the drafting and development of critical documents; ODA budgeting and tracking.

Location MAF - Department of Planning and Cooperation (DoPC).Members Director General of the DoPC (chair), Representatives of the chairs, co-chairs &

secretariats of all Sub Sector Working Groups and PTT, Divisions of Planning, Investment, Economic Integration, Project Management.

The Division of International Cooperation acts as secretary of the secretariat.

Challenges and lessons related to the SWG-ARD Secretariat The Secretariat plays a crucial role in facilitating the collaboration and carrying out many day to

day tasks that lay behind good results. The importance of it’s role and the investment of time and resources required are generally underestimated.

Increasing investment in MAF core capacity, especially in the SWG-ARD Secretariat should be considered by the Government. The secretariat should remain embedded in the department and not become a parallel unit.

Progress and achievements

The SWG-ARD’s actual contribution to policy dialogue & strategic planning included: the development of the Agricultural Development Strategy to 2025 and Vision to 2030, the Multi Sectoral Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan and National Nutrition Strategy to 2025, the 8th NSEDP, the Upland Development Strategy, the establishment of the Lao Farmers Network, the joint statement delivered during the High Level Round Table Meeting in November 2015, various documents repository and discussion forums such as LaoFab.

Ownership: the 8th NSEDP formulation was more inclusive and involved a wider range of stakeholders. Alignment: The DPs align more closely their strategies and programs with the NSEDP. The Government is working toward the improvement of public sector management initiatives.Harmonization: The basic building blocks of program based approaches are in place. Efforts to coordinate and facilitate joint missions exist, including joint programming and joint portfolio review.Managing for results: M&E is carried out in a more systematic manner. Reporting on key national development results is done on a more regular basis and comprehensive reviews of NSEDPs happen.Mutual accountability: The RTP provides the Government and the DPs with the opportunity to review NSEDP implementation as well as to discuss critically emerging issues and has become more inclusive.

Challenges and lessons learntWay forward and recommendations

Ownership: Need to invest in the MAF core capacity to manage the SWG effectively, widen participation, expand decentralization and develop coordination processes locally.Alignment: Need to strengthen public financial management, to further the efforts to develop inclusive and transparent reporting on ODA and national budget.Harmonization: PBA use has been growing but is still low despite opportunities.Managing for results: Need to adopt transparent national result frameworks and platforms as common tools among all concerned actors. Mutual accountability: Need to increase the predictability and transparency of development financing (Government & DPs). Need for frameworks that comprise aid and other forms of cooperation. Expand arrangements with neighbors and through triangular cooperation. Better involve the private sector and civil society in the design and implementation of development policies and strategies. Way forward and recommendations: Clarify the strategy to better include the private sector and the civil society. Better collaborate with mining, hydropower and industrial plantations on policies and

practices to improve planning, financing and implementation of the sector strategy. Spread the utilization of some promising initiatives aimed at harmonizing project

management and monitoring tools against sector objectives and indicators. Increase investment in the MAF core capacity and the SWG-ARD Secretariat.

Thank you

SWG-ARD, some contacts and relevant links (Jan 2016)ContactsSecretariat SWG-ARD: swgard.secretariat@gmail.com Secretariat SSWG Uplands: sswgup@gmail.com Secretariat SSWG Agri-Business: subswgab@gmail.com Secretariat SSWG Agro biodiversity: sSWG.ABD@gmail.com Coordinator Policy Think Tank: v.manivong@gmail.comMAF-DIC Mail: laomafdici@yahoo.com RTP Secretariat: rtpsecretariat@gmail.com

Web sitesSWG-ARD: http://swgard.maf.gov.la Round Table Meeting: http://www.rtm.org.la Ministry of Agriculture: http://www.maf.gov.la NAFRI http://www.nafri.org.la NUDP Website: http://www.nudplao.org

All Photographs: IFAD-funded project activities in Lao PDR ©IFAD/GMB Akash