Sudan: North Kordofan Rural Development Project (NKRDP)

Transcription

1 Sudan: North Kordofan Rural Development Project (NKRDP) Loan Number 01-SD Project Id. 10 Board Date April 1999 Effectiveness Date June 2000 Original Closing Date December 2007 Final Closing Date December 2008 Total Project Cost USD(M) USD million IFAD loan USD (M) USD 10.8 million Cofinanciers (if any) USD 9.10 million from IsDB; USD 1.19 million from beneficiaries; USD 3.80 million from GoS; a IFAD's grant of USD 0.7 million under SOF facility. Implementing Agency State of North Kordofan (SNK) was the Lead implementing agency. It will establish a PMU and constituted a Project Board of Directors to steer the project implementation. Principal Components The goal of the project was to improve the quality of life and enhance the resilience of the poor communities to drought and natural calamities to achieve food security. The specific objectives were to: i) increase the capacity of village communities for planning, executing and managing development schemes through formal and on-thejob training, and through the provision of the required technical assistance; b) establish, at local council and provincial levels, support systems to assist communities in the development process emphasising efficiency and cost-effectiveness; c) foster communal natural resource management to support sustainable utilization of these resources through appropriate enabling environment and enactment of appropriate policy measures with full participation and agreement of the local and village councils; d) evolve sustainable participatory informal and formal financial institutions for saving mobilization, credit supply and financial advice and linkage to the formal banking sector. Project components were: i) Community Development; ii) Natural Resources Utilisation and Development; iii) Rural Financial Services; iv) Project Management and Local Capacity Building; v) El Obeid - Bara Road. Project Performance Design The NKRDP was originally identified and appraised by IFAD in 1990 and 199 respectively and reappraised in NKRDP was designed as a state project, to be implemented by North Kordofan State agencies, in line with devolution of authority and responsibility for development under Government decentralisation policies. The NKDRP adopted a village based integrated approach that relied on community participation. NKRDP took stock of lessons learnt from the implementation of other projects in the country portfolio. These lessons were fully integrated into the NKRDP cycle. However, the design was fairly complex; it had many components and subcomponents, with an unbalance between the components in terms of shares in allocated project budget and implementation efforts. The design made simplistic assumptions about the implementation capacity of the state administration, underestimated the risks and overlooked the difficulties associated with harmonizing the project implementation with the decentralised directives of the government. In addition, the project lacked a systemic approach in the design of the M&E system. The M&E was not envisaged as results based and thus very little use was made of the Logframe which remained the same since it was amended early in the project implementation. Implementation Project effectiveness was delayed by nearly a year, with staffing and establishment of the PMU being one of the many reasons for this delay. In addition, the project had to face early difficulties with respect to the adoption of a community-based, demand-driven participatory and decentralised implementation approach. Several changes and adjustments were recommended in project's design by the 200 mid-term review (MTR) and were endorsed by IFAD and approved by the GoS. These changes were introduced to adapt the course of project implementation to reflect field realities, respond to emerging and pressing demands by the beneficiaries and/or to address some imperfections in the project design. There was also a reallocation of loan proceeds between loan categories. As part of these changes, at 200 MTR the number of targeted villages was reduced from 320 villages downwards to 280 villages to take into consideration the limitations in terms of implementation capacity and the need for consolidation of activities at community level. In addition, the agreed 7 km extension of the El-Obeid Bara road recommended at MTR was not implemented due to the delays in state financing of the base structure. Upon the recommendation of the MTR in 200, the loan closing date was extended by one year until December

2 Relevance The strategy and approach of NKRDP were relevant as they are today for guiding project implementation in empowering rural communities, alleviation of rural poverty and improvement of food security. They fit well within the framework of IFAD mandate and the 2002 COSOP for Sudan. In addition, the project took into account most of the recommendations made by IFAD's Country Portfolio Review of Effectiveness The project achievement of its objectives set at appraisal presents a mixed figure. As far as community development, NKRDP completed the social mobilisation, animation and training in 306 villages exceeding the revised appraisal of 280 villages set by the MTR. It provided village communities with the technical and organisational and managerial skills to plan, mobilise funding and implement social and environmental sub-projects and services. In addition, despite some initial difficulties, NKRDP provided capacity building and training to locality and RAUs staff and also fully supported the decentralization of the agricultural extension services in the state. On the other hand, project achievements fell short with regard to the natural resources utilisation and development component, mainly due to wide village coverage, limited practical training of the extension team, and inadequate integration of technological packages and poor planning and monitoring of extension activities. As far as rural finance services, the overall performance of the pilot activity was encouraging. On average, the established 173 Sanduqs have generated profits consistently and the earning from their portfolio ranged between 2%-30% during However, the Sanduqs have not yet realised their full potential, by transforming most of the interests earned into higher yields. In addition, as far as the ABS, its profit margin was between %-10 on the rural portfolio, with quite low repayment rates standing at 6%. The project has reduced absolute and relative poverty by a 20%. Efficiency The total project expenditures reached USD 23.6 million largely on target with the estimated project costs at appraisal. Overall, the project was efficiently implemented achieving largely the targeted outputs without cost overruns or major deviation or reallocation of funds. However, it should be noted that the cost of the project management component registered considerable cost overrun estimated at 86% of which 37% increase in investment categories and 3% increase in recurrent costs. The reason was a considerable increase in the staff of the localities and RAUs. The project economic internal rate of return, EIRR, at appraisal was estimated at 1.%; however, for this calculation, the cost of the Al-Obeid Bara road was not included. The PCR adopted a conservative approach by including all project investment costs (thus including the costs of Al-Obeid Bara road, but excluding taxes duties and price contingencies); it reports an EIRR at completion estimated at 16%. Partner Performance IFAD NKRDP was one of the first projects to be directly supervised by IFAD. At this regard, IFAD was highly supportive of the project and very responsive to meeting its administrative and technical needs. IFAD provided regularly a very close supervision and implementation support, thus contributing significantly to the quick uptake and adoption by the PMU. IFAD's approach and procedures were fully understood and adopted by the State Administration at all levels. The supervision missions were timely conducted with comprehensive reports and relevant recommendations. Cooperating Institution IFAD-direct supervision. Government The GoS, at the federal and state level, fulfilled its obligations concerning the provision of counterpart funding as per the estimates set at appraisal. It also committed to the decentralization of agricultural services and took care of the monitoring project performance through the regular monitoring visits by the Federal Ministries of Finance and Agriculture. In addition, both state and federal governments committed to the replication of the project approach and its financing. The Project Board Directors (PBD) was set and met at least twice a year, it was supportive of the project management unit (PMU) and effective in resolving conflicts as well as solving technical problems. The PMU accomplished its duties satisfactorily. It delivered expected and good quality output in a timely manner. The project manager was successful in forming and maintaining a cohesive and motivated small core staff with a high team spirit. The project benefitted from good coordination and linkage among the state, the localities, RAUs and village authorities. Low project staff turnover also played a role. NGO/Other The NKRDP established partnerships with WFP and NGOs for the delivery of water services. This helped bridge the great need in this area and the lack of earmarked resources in the project budget for this purpose. Cofinancier(s) IsDB has remained a constructive and loyal partner of IFAD in Sudan. However, its contribution to project follow-up and supervision was modest. 3 8

3 Combined Partner Performance Rural Poverty Impact Physical Assets The average value of physical assets has increased by approximately 100% for 0% of the target group. In addition, project's households benefitted from an increase in the livestock ownership, in the range of 16-30%. The project contributed to establish water harvesting structures (hafirs, hods and sowbats), hand pumps and lining of wells. Land reclamation blocks and demarcated stock routes also contributed to enhance endowment of physical assets at community level. Financial Assets NKRDP piloted a rural finance model that combines the use of the Sanduqs as financial intermediaries and expands the outreach the ABS services. As a result, about 90% of the households in the beneficiary villages report that bank finance and sanduq are now more accessible and 20% of households report having managed to realise savings. In addition, the households average value of the assets increased from the equivalent of SSP 100 to SSP 800. The household farm income has increased by 20% compared to non-beneficiary households, whereas the non-farm income increased by 1% compared to non-beneficiary households. As a result of improved cropped area and livestock herd increase, the total income increased by 32% and household expenditure by 28%. Food Security Within this domain, the PCR data is quite scant. Beneficiaries' food security improved due to increases in staple food crops, number of livestock and milk. The PCR mentions that expenditures on food items increased by an average of more than 0%. Environment The project had a positive impact on the environment. Project's beneficiaries embraced environmentally-friendly practices such as tree planting, conservation and protection of water resources and use of alternative sources of energy. In addition, the project reintroduced the practice of rotational use of the land and vegetation; and fostered communal land resource management in the sustainable utilisation and treatment of arable, grazing and forest areas and prevention of excessive pressures of the past. Human Assets In terms of human assets, the project strongly contributed to improving the quality of life of beneficiaries. Training was provided to beneficiaries on different topics such as nutrition, life skills, first aid, home economics, income generating activities. In addition, better access to safe water was provided to more than 100 households. Consequently, water consumption increased by 3% and time spent to fetch water reduced by 3% to the benefit of women and children. Project's beneficiaries benefitted also from higher investments in education, through the construction and rehabilitation of schools as well as the availability of literacy programmes. As a result, there was an increase of the children school enrolment and the reduction of dropout rates. Finally, the project also contributed to improve beneficiaries' health, as more than 80% of the households have had access to midwives and basic health care through village health assistants. Social Capital and Empowerment Ag. Productivity Institutions and Services The project contributed in a tangible way to the empowerment process of the communities through reinforcement of social capital. There has been a high change in people s organizations capabilities which is reflected by the Community Capability Index (CCI), which has risen from 6 per cent without the programme to 68.6 per cent with the programme interventions. The capacity of the communities reached by the project was improved in terms of: i) seeking and establishing partnership and networks; ii) sharing and managing information and knowledge; iii) resolving problems and conflicts; iv) implementing and or attracting investment for community based projects. The project triggered self-propelled dynamics in which the villages play a significant role in identifying their needs and take part in financing and implementing key community-based sub-projects (such as schools, water supply). Project's impact on agriculture productivity is positive. Cropped land with improved seeds increased by 0% and vegetable production increased twofold. This was partly a result of the improvement of prices and marketing of produce induced by the construction of the Bara Al-Obeid road. In addition, 70-80% of beneficiaries used improved seeds. Yields of staple food crops increased by an average of 0%, the number of livestock increased by 16%-30%, milk yield by more than 100% and fattening cycle reduced by more than 0%. The NKRDP contributed positively to the regulatory and policy environment through the formulation of two policies ratified by the state legislature: i) the legislation on Village Development Committees (VDCs); ii) the legislation on participatory management of water points, which allows the establishment of and the transfer of operation and maintenance to Water Users Committees. The project also supported the implementation of the decentralization of the extension services at the Rural Administrative Units level. 9

4 Markets The construction of the 7 km feeder road connecting Al Obeid to Bara benefitted 3000 households by improving access to markets and thus the marketability of produce, as well as reducing transportation cost expenditure on vehicle operation and maintenance as well as fuel consumption. The road is also generating new economic opportunities as evidenced by the establishment of new businesses (such as the gas stations, the poultry farms, the agricultural services centres, etc.). Rural Poverty Impact Overarching Factors Innovation Within the Sudanese context, NKRDP implemented some important innovations, such as: i) Introduction of the participatory approach in an area like North Kordofan where top-down approach prevailed and community based initiatives were basically inexistent; ii) working with the State administrative apparatus and adopting the project implementation to fit with this young structure; iii) decentralisation of the extension services; iv) creation and exploiting potential synergies between ongoing IFAD projects in Sudan. In addition, as far as the Sanduq, these have been existing in the rural area of Sudan for decades; what the project did was to graft a modern notion of Sanduqs on the traditional system while keeping it simple, autonomous, self-managed and fully understandable. Finally, the project facilitated the adoption of certain technological innovations such as supplementary feeding, better and timely access to animal vaccination and treatment, water harvesting and introduction of high yield crop varieties. Replicability and Scalingup Innovation, Replicability and Scaling-up Sustainability and Ownership Targeting Gender The central and state authorities have decided to embrace the project philosophy and approach by preparing a new phase of NKRDP, largely financed by the state Government, to sustain its activities in the existing villages and replicate them in 200 new villages over the period In addition, the implementation of the decentralization of the extension teams to the RAUs level has been replicated in the rest of the State of North Kordofan. The project developed an exit strategy in 2006 and initiated the handover of the project activities to the concerned agencies as of June In addition, given the positive project results on income and poverty, the State Ministries of Agriculture and Finance, in collaboration with the NKRDP have developed a year sustainability project to consolidate the NKRDP activities in 306 villages and replicate its activities to cover an additional 200 villages in Bara and Um Ruwaba. The RAU extension teams will be responsible for the implementation of project activities. At the time of the PCR, the sustainability project and its budget were still to be approved by the State. With regard to Sanduqs, although they have generated a positive trend in profits, this is unlikely to be sustainable due to poor portfolio diversification, low repayment rate and weak management of delinquencies. The project area was selected by IFAD missions in consultation with and full agreement of Federal and State Government for concentration of deprived population, relative lack of development but reasonable potential. The project was initially based on non-exclusionary village targeting as the target group included nearly all the population of the two localities covered by the project, as well as a minority of town dwellers. At implementation, exclusionary village targeting was applied based on specific criteria, most critical of which is the village size. This led to exclusion of small villages of less than 0 households which were found to be the neediest. However, this was later revised to introduce a quota of 60 villages to include small size and poor communities. The selection of Rural Administrative Units and Village participating in the project was made by State authorities and the PMU. The need and preparedness of communities for participation were the main determinant factors to select new villages from project interventions. The project reached out 370 women, whose status has improved significantly. Women status has improved significantly and 90% of them were given access to midwives, health assistants, agricultural extension workers, paravets, education, home economics basic health care, rural finance and commercial banking system. In addition, women constituted 22% of the borrowers from formal credit. As a project's result, men became more receptive of women participation in all community affairs, more opportunities were given to women particularly in the village development committees. Women participation exceeded 60% in capacity building and training activities and stood at 33% for household investment and community sub-projects. 0

5 Overall Performance Estimated number of beneficiaries The NKRDP was expected to reach out to 320 communities in Bara and Um Ruwaba localities: direct beneficiaries of agricultural activities were estimated at households, indirect beneficiaries of the project were estimated at households. The targets were revised downwards to 280 villages at MTR to take into consideration the limitations in terms of implementation capacity and the need for consolidation of activities at community level. PCR Quality Scope Overall, PCR complies with guidelines. However, annexes II, III, IV, VIII are missing. Quality The PCR is rich in information but not always well structured and is it sometimes left to the reader to bring some of the thoughts to the point. Lessons Lessons learnt have been drafted mainly in terms of recommendations. They could have benefitted from a more in-depth reflection. 1