The World Bank, with the support of the Gates Foundation and UK, US and Danish governments, has been developing indicators for 'Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture' (BBA), part of a broader Agricultural Transformation Index (ATI).
Having seen the details of the BBA, we welcome much of the content. We believe that the BBA has the potential to promote government actions that can support smallholders, if it gives sufficient attention to the issues that affect them. We have been involved in discussions with the World Bank about the overall process and structure of the BBA, with some positive results. However, we continue to have concerns about some important aspects which are currently excluded from the BBA - for example, sustainability, producer organisations and gender. It is important that organisations with expertise in specific areas covered by the BBA (agricultural inputs, land, rural finance, water, markets, trade, rural energy and transport) provide their comments on the indicators.
We are now encouraging other organisations and individuals to comment on the World Bank's proposals – and our own, based on their expertise and experience. Please see information on the BBA and our own advocacy here. It would be useful if those who send comments and recommendations to the World Bank, including ASFG members, could share these with us so that we can track our combined effort.
If you are interested in joining our collective dialogue with the World Bank, we would be very pleased to hear from you.
Our contact details are:
Claire Hickson: [email protected]
Alison Griffith: [email protected]
Kato Lambrechts: [email protected]
Sarah Montgomery: [email protected]