The provision of services is divided into the three stages:
- Thematic studies: (a) value chains, (b) policies and strategies, (c) investment planning and (d) financing;
- Information gathering & analysis of other thematic reports (concurrently with stage 1)
- Drafting of final products: synthesis of thematic studies and the SF, GAP and RPD.
(a)Value chains: value chain mapping in each country including analysis of opportunities and challenges and ongoing trends ++ establish a frame of reference for the equipment and related infrastructure needed for the process of developing production for value chain equipment and infrastructure ++ develop a costed 5 year plan for strengthening the value chains in each country and to provide cohesive regional support.
(b) Policies and Strategies: comparative analysis of policies, strategies, institutional framework and investment plans across the 6 countries ++ analysis of each country’s respective M&E system for policies and strategies ++ analysis of respective roles of CILSS, WAEMU and ECOWAS and capacity building requirements to improve their interventions on policy development++ draft a costed 5 year plan to strengthen he value chains in each country and provide cohesive regional support.
(c) Investment Planning: analysis of both public and private investment for hydro-agricultural development and on country and river basin project portfolios ++ classification of investments financing based on 5 types of irrigation development named in the Dakar Declaration ++ comparative analysis of profitability, performance and potential of these different types of development taking the characteristics of the different Sahel areas into account, notably with regards to accessibility to water resources and to markets.
(d) Financing: inventory of stakeholders involved in financing the development of irrigation ++ analysis of problems linked to public and private funding in the development of irrigation ++ identification of alternative financing methods such as leasing, group credit, contract farming etc. ++ propositions for a future regional project following a results based approach ++ identification of actions in order to attract investments and strengthen the capacity of commercial banks and microfinance institutions with regards to financing irrigation