SPECIAL PROGRAMME FOR FOOD SECURITY

Extension of Phase I

Phase I embodies the concept of "progressivity" with the explicit intent that Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) demonstration activities should be progressively broadened in response to demand, to the extent that institutional capacities and resources allow. Phase I usually starts in only a few sites. The Extension of Phase I to additional new sites will provide farmers in more of the country's agro-ecological and administrative zones with an opportunity to test and refine proven and promising techniques and approaches. During the Extension of Phase I, the range of components could also be broadened to respond to farmers' expressed needs, including those of urban and peri-urban agriculture, and to address infrastructure and institutional constraints such as limited skills in storage, marketing, rural finance and support services.

The programme for the Extension of Phase I is based on the formulation of an Extension Master Plan (EMP). The EMP is essential not only to expedite the implementation of an extended SPFS where funding is already available, but also to attract funding from various sources (Government, financial institutions and bilateral and multi-lateral donors). The process to define the Extension of Phase I involves the following six steps:

(i) Review achievements and constraints of Phase I, drawing relevant lessons of experience;
(ii) Develop a strategic view for the Extension of Phase I (including food security priorities by agro-ecological zone, assessing the scope for replicability of successful innovations, defining priority criteria for extension of SPFS activities);
(iii) Prepare "best practice" reference modules (based on proven successful innovations);
(iv) Review/strengthen institutional capacity for the extension of the Programme (based on Phase I arrangements);
(v) Define criteria for the use of a Food Security Fund from which community level projects would be financed; and
(vi) Develop a Medium-Term Financial Plan for the extension of the Programme.

Evidence is emerging from the experience of the SPFS in a number of countries, which suggests that a successful Extension of Phase I requires a genuine community participation in the identification of opportunities and constraints and testing of practical solutions. The following points merit special consideration:

(i) Most successful innovations which work well on a small-scale, encounter a progressively broadening range of socio-economic, institutional and policy constraints when they are scaled up (major constraints requiring interventions can be expected to include marketing and storage, access infrastructure, rural finance, land tenure and the knowledge of skills and supporting services);
(ii) A decentralized institutional capacity is required which is capable of responding to people's needs and to plan and operate an extended programme in a way which secures farmers' participation and encourages creativity;
(iii) Building into SPFS the capacity to respond financially to the needs expressed by communities and remove bottlenecks. What is needed is a flexible funding mechanism which provides resources for site-specific investments, especially on-farm investments related to testing of innovations, identified through participatory planning and dialogue between shareholders (farmers, local and national institutions, donors); which provides also resources for interventions to address constraints, especially of an infrastructural and institutional nature, mainly at district and regional levels; and
(iv) Ensuring political commitment from Government and stakeholders at national and local levels to create the conditions for large-scale replication of development approaches in preparation of Phase II.


For details covering the formulation of SPFS Extension of Phase I projects see:

For complete information on SPFS project formulation and implementation see: