TIRANA - January 20, 2012 - Today the World Bank Country Manager Kseniya Lvovksy, together with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tokli Thomai was among farmers of Fier district to participate in the final activity on monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of rural supportive schemes in this district. This innovative project was supported by the World Bank and British Council under the Development Marketplace Program for better governance and accountability and it was implemented by EPER, local NGO in close coperation with beneficiaries, experts and policy makers in the regional office as well as in the Ministry of Agriculture, local government, civil society and academics from the University of Agriculture.
The project team presented the main findings and recommendations of their work, highlighting the positive impact of the supportive rural schemes, the high level of transparency and information access. Based on findings they proposed some improved standards in evaluation and monitoring of this supportive schemes. "This is an excellent example of improving accountability and effectiveness of government programs through an independent evaluation by civil society" said Kseniya Lvovsky, the World Bank Country Manager. The Deputy Minister Tokli Thomai congratulated the project team and announced that the amount for grant financing will be doubled for this year. Questions and answers followed the presentations. Answering the farmers' concern on irrigation and drainage capacities, Ms Lvovsky informed them about an upcoming project on irrigation and water resource management.
