World Bank Group Timeline
IDA approves five projects designed to assist cash crop production in FY70
World Bank Group focus on the agricultural sector increased substantially in the two years following the arrival of President McNamara in 1968. In addition to an increase in the amount of funds directed towards agriculture, both the Bank and IDA made efforts to diversify their approach. In 1970, IDA approves five general agricultural development projects to Indonesia, Papua and New Guinea, Ghana, and two to Ethiopia that aim to assist cash crop production and transform agriculture from a subsistence activity to an income-earning one. Investments of this nature often involve small loan amounts (FY70 projects of this type ranged from $3.1 million to $17 million) and may require lengthy preparatory work. But, when successful, the projects they fund will help smallholders to increase their output and earnings.
Resource Gallery
Credit signing for Papua New Guinea Agricultural Development Project
Jan. 30, 1970
Pictured are Australian Ambassador Sir Keith Waller and World Bank Group Vice President Simon Aldewereld (1727102; Credit: The World Bank).
Interview with Stephen Eccles
Interview date: March 23, 1994
Eccles discusses the agriculture and rural development sectors in the 1970s on page 7-8 of the transcript.
Girls playing in school yard
June 1972
Girls play in a schoolyard at Buvussi Village public school, part of the Dagi Valley Oil Palm Settlement Scheme in West New Britain in Papua New Guinea (1727102; Credit: The World Bank).
Ethiopia Wolamo Agricultural Development Project
P000670: Approved June 30, 1970
The profile contains project and financial information, and lists of project documents and archival records.
Credit signing for Ghana Cocoa Project
June 26, 1970
Pictured are (left to right) Mohammed Younos Rafik, Alternate ED for Ghana; Ghanaian Ambassador Ebenezer Moses Debrah; and World Bank Group Vice President J. Burke Knapp (1721646; Credit: The World Bank).
Credit signing for Indonesia Second North Sumatra Agricultural Estates Project
June 15, 1970
Pictured are Ambassador Soedjatmoko and World Bank Group Vice President Simon Aldewereld (1723775; Credit: The World Bank).
Indonesia Agricultural Estates Project
P003707: Approved June 30, 1970
The profile contains project and financial information, and lists of project documents and archival records.
Memo from C. R. de Silva to files
Aug. 27, 1969
The memo reports that the North Sumatra Estates Project was approved by the Board and stresses the importance of agricultural projects in Indonesia (1787118).
Credit signing for Ethiopia Setit Humera agricultural development project
May 28, 1970
Pictured are (left to right) Mr. Donatien Bihute, Alternate ED for Ethiopia; Ethiopian Ambassador Dr. Haile Minasse; and World Bank Group Vice President J. Burke Knapp (1721397; Credit: The World Bank).
