From:                              Snipes, Kate [Kate.Snipes@fas.usda.gov]
Sent:                               Wednesday, December 05, 2012 6:55 AM
To:                                   Evans, Don (FAS)
Subject:                          FW: Malawi round up
 
Don, Sorry I didn’t, see below.
 
From: Snipes, Kate
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 4:41 PM
To: 'Hinkle, Amanda FAS'
Subject: FW: Malawi round up

 
 
-----Original
Message----From: Snipes, Kate
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2012 12:23 PM
To: 'wentzel.mitchell@fas.usda.gov'; 'shari.kosco@fas.usda.gov'; 'colin.miller@fas.usda.gov';
'Ron.Croushorn@fas.usda.gov'
Subject: Malawi round up
A brief summary of my FFP and MGD meetings in Malawi:
Land of Lakes is doing a good job on start up, eager to take suggestions, and
all and all is working hard to set up a good program.  It is
farmerfocused and driven, not central planned.  Derek is very engaged
with US EMB, Econ section and AID and I have no concerns on coordination.
I didn't know before this visit that WFP Malawi has by far the most progressive
WFP leadership in the region.  They are more strategic, and looking
toward
capacity building and institutional change. Impressive.  Although they are
working with a real emergency in the south, the kind of
emergency they want to
mitigate in the future.  They also combine local purchasing into school
feeding as a part, which is a good thing as well.
I also met the Minister of Education speaking specifically about school
feeding.  They have a long way to go, but dedicated over 30 percent of
budget to education, and part is for school feeding, and I am impressed by the
high level of commitment to have Malawians build their capacity to
take on more
schools.  It makes it more attractive for the WFP program, and I feel even
better about us endorsing it.   
I could find no tangible evidence for AID and the EMB issues with Planet AID-
aside from the fact they (local DAPP reps) were overly aggressive
and almost
considered as stalking AID.  Both the ECON officer and I were frank with
Marie about this.  The college opening was very well-done
and included the
VP.   In terms of farmers groups, they also seem fine, and their
reach was wide.  I think the AMB was impressed with them and the
teachers
college.  The AID Mission has a lot of issues and a clear bias against them,
but I believe aside from over persistence, they seem to be
unfounded.  Our
lack of a full eval hurts Planet Aid, and I recommend one, as I noted
before.  Not an IG type of inquiry, but a results eval. 
In summary, given the level of need but also the government openness and
progressiveness I think we should seriously considering Malawi on the
priority
list for FFPr and MGD for next year.  I also believe Planet Aid and FAS
would benefit from a results- oriented, impact M and E assessment
of their
program in Malawi.  Not an audit but a goal focused/results review,
quantifying results and doing a thorough program impact assessment.  
It remains on the top of my list for that kind of review in the region.
Lastly, our investment in Malawi has been greater than AID's in ag for several
years, $100 million committed from 2006-2015.  The Ambassador
continues to
be baffled by our lack of presence,  She said they have a part time person
for a few hundred thousand dollar program.  It isn't
unreasonable to
ask.  My response is that I have recommended a second American and either
a regional food aid monitor or much more frequent
visits and assessments from
eval teams.  I told her once the budget, farm bill issue is resolved, I
hoped to have an answer on my requests.  That said,
the Embassy wants our
programs and supports them and in this case they are a significant part of
their portfolio. 
All and all, support from EMB leadership, ECON, and AID is strong, making for a
good partnership.
Let me know if you have any questions! Kate

 
This
email is UNCLASSIFIED.

 

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