IFAD partnership strategy

Presentation to informal seminar of Executive Board

12 December 2011

Background and process• Consultation document of Eighth Replenishment committed IFAD to prepare partnership

strategy• Strategic Framework 2011-2015 reconfirmed the importance of partnerships for IFAD’s

work – one of its ‘principles of engagement’• Initial work towards strategy – Information Note to Executive Board Sept. 2011, led from

NALO• Policy Reference Group for strategy established Oct. 2011, met twice to date

• Interviews with staff and managers; meetings with Resource Mobilisation and Partnerships Office (RMP), with CPM focus group; research and initial consultation with IFAD partners; mapping of IFAD’s existing partnerships; review of key documentation, including IOE work

• The Partnering Initiative (TPI) – specialised NGO – supporting the in-house work• Presentation of preliminary ideas to Informal Seminar of Executive Board Dec. 2011 – for

discussion and views• Sharing of draft strategy document for comments, and presentation of final version to

Executive Board in 2012

Partnerships are integral to IFAD’s workIFAD works with many sorts of partners, in virtually all aspects of its work:

• Partnerships exist at global/corporate, regional and national/local levels• Many officialised through MOUs, agreements; but also many less formal

IFAD also draws on its experience, reputation and networks to broker partnerships: • Between governments and RPOs/ private sector; for south-south learning• Growing role in increasingly complex and differentiated world• Offers scope to enhance IFAD’s value to governments and other stakeholders

• Resource mobilization, scaling up• Programmes and projects• Policy dialogue• KMI, lesson learning• Communications• Administrative efficiency• Institutional representation/

credibility

• Member governments• NGOs / foundations• Civil society / farmers’ organizations• International organizations (RBAs, other

UN, CGIAR)• Bilateral/multilateral devt. organizations• Policy research institutions/universities• Regional organizations• Private sector

So why an IFAD partnership strategy?

• A rapidly changing external environment:– Complex development issues require broad or multi-sectoral expertise, and

new, knowledge-intensive ways of working– Need for scalable solutions for substantial impact on rural poverty– Evolving Aid Effectiveness agenda – Busan focus on partnerships

• In this context, partnerships can enable IFAD to:– Focus on what it is mandated to do and does best– Leverage external resources to complement its own programme of work– Better achieve its strategic objectives

• Building on what IFAD already does, a more strategic approach to partnerships can help the organization: – To be more selective, and give focus, direction and guidance to development

and management of partnerships– To maximise efficiency and effectiveness of partnerships in achieving its

strategic objectives

Definition of partnershipsPartnerships are defined here as:

Collaborative relationships between institutional actors that combine their complementary strengths and resources and work together in a transparent, equitable and mutually beneficial way to achieve a common goal or undertake specific tasks. Partners share the risks, responsibilities, resources and benefits of that collaboration and learn from it through regular monitoring and review.

Note:• Partnerships are not an end in themselves; rather a vehicle to achieve a defined

objective• Not all relationships are partnerships:

– A contract is not a partnership – Collaboration is not necessarily a partnership– Some networks are partnerships, others may not be

• The definition includes elements that are useful for prioritising and managing partnerships, less so for classifying them

• Some ambiguity will remain as collaborations develop and change

Partnership SWOT for IFAD

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

from research interviews, focus groups meetings, views of external partners, and recent ARRI and CLE evaluation data

Strengths Weaknesses

• High level of co-financing in IFAD country programmes

• Strong partnerships with many member countries – particularly from Lists A and C

• Innovative partnerships – e.g. PPPs in Uganda, Sao Tome; Spanish loan

• Unique partnerships with Rural Producers’ Organizations – Farmers’ Forum, regional and country levels

• With long-term commitment to countries, IFAD trusted as partnership broker by governments

• Comparative advantage recognised by potential partners – there is interest in partnering with IFAD

• Good (and improving) rating from IFAD partners

• Lack of common institutional understanding / vision; ad hoc, non-strategic development of partnerships; and lack of explicit, coherent management of partnerships

• Lack of institutional visibility, and inadequate outreach to potential partners (branding, marketing)

• Partnerships with member states uneven: e.g. insufficient attention to partnerships for List B / transforming List C member countries

• A limited number of IFAD partnerships perhaps bring limited benefits relative to their costs

• Lack of country presence to sustain country-level partnerships

Opportunities Threats

• Learn from past successes and failures• Build a common institutional vision and

develop pro-active strategic approach to partnerships

• Commitment to strengthening Resource Mobilisation and Partnership Office

• Country offices create new opportunities for partnership development

• Potential to expand partnerships with e.g. the private sector, RBAs, List B/ transforming List C member countries

• Global concern for agricultural production and food security

• Evolving Aid Effectiveness agenda leads more RD stakeholders to explore partnering options

• Lack of effective partnerships will limit IFAD’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives

• Lack of partnership incentives at all levels in some other institutions can make partnering difficult

• IFAD unable to show others that it can be a preferred partner for them – requires results to be achieved, ‘IFAD brand’, partnership approach, as well as marketing of all these

• Competition from other IFIs and development agencies

Lessons from beyond IFAD• Benchmarking of good practices elsewhere – and in particular the approaches and

practices of IFIs – will provide lessons and shape IFAD’s strategic approach.

• Preliminary lessons from other organizations about harnessing and managing partnerships for strategic impact include the following:

– Strategy: Of the main IFI’s (WB and RDBs), only the AfDB has any form of partnership strategy, though this is limited to a statement of objectives. AsDB has a series of documents for specific partnership types. Elsewhere, partnership strategies have been developed by UN agencies (UNICEF) and CGIAR centres (ILRI).

– Structure: All main IFIs have an office with responsibilities for formal, financially-based partnerships and resource mobilization. Most large corporate players have a dedicated partnership unit.

– Practice: WHO partnership agreements include a requirement to review the partnership performance, its value to WHO, and continued demand for/alternatives to it. UNESCO’s simple, compelling World Heritage Sites programme has offered strong opportunities for partnerships with governments and private sector. In corporate sector, strong brand management underpins partnership efforts.

Rationale and objectives of a strategic approach paper

The rationale• IFAD works with so many different partners, for so many different purposes, that a single

organizational strategy may add little value• Instead, a strategic approach paper would provide guidance for different types of

partnership, yet not seek to impose single partnership model

The objective of the strategic approach paper will be to assist IFAD to be more selective in its partnerships, and enable managers and staff to develop and manage partnerships more effectively and efficiently, so as to better achieve IFAD’s overall strategic objectives. It will provide greater clarity about:• Why IFAD should enter into specific partnerships• What it wants those partnerships to achieve • Which organizations to partner with• How to develop and manage the partnerships• Who in IFAD is responsible for these activities• When partnership isn’t the right option

Proposed typology of partnerships

Partnership types Examples Levels of partnerships

Main partners

Programmes and projects (CMR 1-3)

Private sector devt., climate change, KMI, nat. level policy dialogue, scaling-up

National, regional

Member governments, RPOs, NGOs, private sector, development partners, UN agencies

Global policy dialogue (CMR 8)

Food price volatility, CFS, Global Donor Platform on RD, gender

Global, regional

International organizations, research organizations, member governments

Resource mobilization (CMR 10)

Replenishment, Supplementary funds, Spanish loan

Global Member governments, foundations

Organizational efficiency (CMR 4-7)

RBA joint procurement, UN joint pension plan

Corporate IFIs, UN agencies

Partnership types defined relative to IFAD’s Corporate Management Results, considered critical to achieving IFAD’s overall strategic priorities

The strategic approach paper will use the following descriptive typology to aggregate IFAD’s partnerships; activities will be prioritised under each type:

The paper will also highlight the following:

That while there are vastly different sorts of partnerships with a wide variety of partners, under all four partnership types:• Focus needs to be on development impact for rural poverty reduction, as

defined in the Strategic Framework 2011-2015 • Scaling-up is a priority: it will be central to expanded impact• Issues of knowledge management and innovation – of learning – are critical• IFAD can offer substantial value added acting as a broker/facilitator of

partnerships• There is need to review new and renewed partnerships for their

contribution to IFAD objectives, and discontinue those whose costs outweigh the benefits

• It is important to strengthen IFAD’s capacity to effectively manage partnerships

Strengthening IFAD’s capacity to effectively manage partnerships

RESOURCE EXAMPLE

Tools/Instruments Develop criteria for partnership assessment and selection (shared objectives, clear agenda, capacity of partner, value for money, etc.)

Systems Define e.g. institutional responsibilities for developing, managing, monitoring and reviewing partnerships; the role of RMP; incentives for partnership development

Processes Internalise partnerships in business processes, in e.g. project design or HR competencies

Training Strengthen skills of key staff in partnership management, partnership brokerage

Learning Integrate review and capturing lessons from partnerships, evaluating the strategy

The strategic approach paper will provide guidance to IFAD on how to effectively manage partnerships, with attention given to the following areas:

Questions to Executive Board members

• What partnership experiences can you share that would be helpful to IFAD?

• What do you see as the key challenges and opportunities of partnerships for IFAD?

• Is the proposal to develop a strategic approach paper an appropriate one?

• What do you see as its key elements?