Support to sustainable development of the oncho-freed zones

Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) Programme de lutte contre l'onchocercose en Afrique de l'Ouest JOINT PROGRAMME COMMITTEE JPC Office of the Chairman CCP COMITE CONJOINT DU PROGRAMME Bureau du Pr6sident JOINT PROGRAMME COMMITTEE Twenty-second session Washington D.C., 10 - l1 December 2001 JPC22,7 OzuGINAL: ENGLISH December 2001 Provisional agenda item l0 SUPPORT TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ONCHO-FREED ZONES Support to Sustainable Development of Onchocerciasis-Freed Zones: Status Report for 22"d Session of the Joint Programme Committee Washington D.C., December 2001 Overview of 2001 Actions. Pilot lnvestment Projects Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) ... Technical Co-Operation Proj ects (TCPs) Socio-Economic Development Programme........ Inception Project Proj ect Obj ective and Rationale............. Immediate Objectives End of Proj ect Situation.......... Beneficiaries Implementation and Inputs ...... Follow Up in 2002.... Annexes. Strategies Underlying Inception Proj ect Design...... Inception Proj ect Outputs and Activities ............. Sites for support to livelihoods diversification 1 1 1 2 2 3 J 5 6 7 7 8 IA. .... A-l .... A-1 .... A-4 Overview of 2001 Actions P i lot I nvestment P rojects By December 2000, projects had been formulated for Benin, Burkina Faso, C6te d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal During 2001 projects were completed for Ghana, Togo, Guinea-Bissau Funding status - Guinea co-developed and funded by IFAD Ghana co-developed and funded by UNDP Specia/ Programme for Food Security (SPFS) SPFS is fully operational in seven countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, C6te d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal SPFS formulation underway or completed in remaining three - Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Togo In May 2001, a letter was sent to all FAO Representatives, asking them to take the necessary steps to encourage and assist the government in including as a priority and as much as possible Onchocerciasis-freed zones. All Representatives were asked to report on steps taken. JPC 22.7 Date: l1 December 2001I Several confirmed that: (a) coordination has been established between SPFS and Onchocerciasis follow up, (b) several SPFS sites are located in OFZs. Notable examples include: Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso Technical Co-Operation Projects (TCPs) Complementary support is being provided through FAO's technical co-operation programme. Although the technical co-operation projects (TCPs) are not focused specifically on the Onchocerciasis-freed zones, most provide indirect support. Examples of country level TCPs in 2001 with spill-over benefits for the OFZs include o Emergency supply food crop seeds - Burkina Faso, Niger o Emergency relief and rehabilitation - Sierra Leone o Promotion date palms, rubber commercialization - Niger o Training in weed control - Togo o Water control - Togo, Guinea Bissau, Benin o Improvement in traditional poultry - Senegal o Reinforcement of decentralized institutional capacity - Senegal o Strategic action plans for agricultural sector - Senegal o Restructuring ministries of agriculture, frsh, natural resources - Guinea-Bissau o Development of aquaculture - Guinea o National food and nutrition policy - Guinea Socio-Ec o n o m i c D evel opm e nt P rog ram me lnception Project Inception project formulation started in February. The project document is complete and at the stage ofinternal review and approval. Donor materials Briefing documents were prepared on the Socio-Economic Development Programme and Inception Project. Letters were sent to OCP donor countries seeking expression of interest. Countries contacted include, among others: Denmark, Germany, United States, Kuwait, Japan, France. Sponsoring agencies Briefing materials were shared with UNDP, World Bank, African Development Bank, IFAD Follow up discussions are now underway with UNDP, World Bank and IFAD. The 95th meeting of the Committee of Sponsoring Agencies was held at FAO headquarters in Rome. An update was presented to the CSA on the Inception Project and efforts to mobilize resources. The CSA gave useful background information on OCP activities in the 1980s and comments on the Inception Project design, which were incorporated into future drafts. 2TPC22.7 Date: 1l December 2001 Country-level contacts A letter was sent to all FAO Representatives asking that they share briefing materials with Govemments and local donor representatives, for information and to seek reactions and expressions of interest GIS characterization Assembly of geographic information and preparation of GIS maps started in May. Maps available to date include: major farming systems, length of growing period, arable land, rivers, elevation, livestock density, roads, major environmental constraints, country and sub-national boundaries, and temperature. SED programme document A draft programme document was prepared in August-September. The programme document will be reconciled with final version of Inception Project, and circulated along with the Inception Project document. lnception Project The main activity during the year was preparation of the Inception Project for the Socio- economic Development Programme for the Onchocercaisis-Freed Zones in West Africa. The estimated cost of the Inception Project is US dollars 2.1 million, for which Belgium has earmarked 50 million Belgium Francs (about US$ 1.1 million). The project document was recently completed and is now being reviewed for internal approval, and is being circulated informally for external comments. An overview of the Inception Project follows.l Project Objective and Rationale The objective of the Inception Project is to establish a regional socio-economic development (SED) prograrnme for the Onchocerciasis freed zones. The core problem to be addressed by the SED progralrune, and therefore the Inception Project, is the low level and high vulnerability of livelihoods of OFZ communities. Nearly 30 years after Onchocerciasis was controlled in some areas and 15 years since substantial control was achieved throughout most of the OCP areas, there remain important parts of the Onchocerciasis-freed zones in which communities have lower living standards and food security compared to elsewhere in the OCP counries even though most ofthe zones have average to above average potential. Corresponding to the core problem, the developmental goal of the socio-economic development prograflrme will be to ensure that livelihoods, most specifically food security and farm household income, in the OFZs meet or exceed levels in West Africa outside the Onchocerciasis-freed zones while also ensuring that the OFZs contribute to meeting national and regional requirements for food, fibre and feed. The main purpose and value addition of the SED programme will be to strengthen collaboration and ensure synergies in order to accelerate economic development in the OFZs. I The rest of this section is adapted from the suulmary of the Inception Project document. 3nc 22.7 Date: ll December200l There are a number of reasons why the establishment of a regional programme can improve synergies and efficiency in supporting socio-economic development of the onchocerciasis freed zones. These include, among others: 1. A number of the same major constraints on socio-economic development are found in most of the OFZs. These include the following: o weak agricultural advisory and support services; . limited access to essential social services; o uncertain land use right and associated conflicts; o insufficient economic infrastructure; o weak organization of communities and producers; o economic and social disruptions from seasonal migration; o growth of production through extension of area cultivation; o related degradation ofnatural resources. 2. Comparable rural development strategies are being pursued in all the OCP countries. All OCP countries are actively confronting the challenge of increasing rural incomes in the context of market-based development. They are paying increased attention to essential services, policies and infrastructure for fostering sustainable development. They are committed to decentralization and devolution policies and are engaging civil society and the private sector as partners in development. ln the light of the above, there are tremendous, as yet largely untapped, opportunities for exchanging lessons, building on success stories, and providing mutual support through exchange of resource people. 3. There have been over the past two decades many multilateral and bilateral assistance projects and substantial mobilization of financial support for agricultural and rural development in the OCP countries. The assistance, however, has notably declined during the past five years, and has been far ranging in its scope with little concerted action or attention to synergies. Relatively few projects have been targeted to the OFZs and the projects impacting on the OFZs were not designed specifically in response to the problems and opportunities stemming from the immigration of populations into underdeveloped OFZs. During the past decade, the problems of the zones have been over-shadowed by concern with larger level macro economic reform. There now seems to be a complacency and assumption that the zones can be handled sufficiently as part of mainstreamed poverty planning and programmes. In this context, reactivating attention to the onchocerciasis freed zones is similar to the challenge of raising awareness about gender in development. Mainstreaming is the eventual aim but in the short term building partnerships and refocusing attention on the specific needs of these zones has high potential for addressing the needs of particularly vulnerable populations - while also contributing to meeting national economic development and food security goals. 4. Regional and local level co-operation is particularly essential for addressing transnational population movements and shared resources. Many of the OFZs are adjacent to or run across national boundaries. People in these zones share common property resources and there is frequent movement of human and livestock populations, and plant and animal genetic material, across borders. Nevertheless, there has been little attention to transnational issues in the many developmental prograrnmes and projects put in place over the past 30 years. 4TPC22.7 Date: 11 December 2001 5. Relatively little information is available on the economic, agricultural, forestry, fishery and livestock carrying capacity of the OFZs. An improved flow of information through collaboration and partnership can reinforce decision making for socio-economic development at all levels. Since farming systems, agro-ecologies, population movements, etc. all cross national boundaries, there are clear economies of scale and efficiencies to be gained through collaboration on data assembly and information exchange. In summary, there has been a lack of effective partnerships, co-operation and concerted action at regional, national and sub-national levels with the result that there has been a failure to build the public and private institutions, policies and socio-economic services and infrastructure that, together, create an enabling environment for self-reliant and sustainable development driven by economic actors in the OFZs. In the specific context of socio-economic development of the OFZs, the circumstances are sufficiently similar and potential spillover benefits so great that even national and local efforts to develop a common agenda and coherent action will benefit from participation in a broader regional partnership. lmmediate Objectives The overall objective of the lnception Project is establishment of the regional socio-economic development programme. The Inception Project has three immediate objectives: l. Establish a institutional partnership framework; 2. Facilitate information flow and exchanges for decision-making and; 3. Initiate action on two SEDP entry points - livelihoods diversification in underdeveloped OFZs and co-management of transhumant migration and shared resources in transboundary OFZs. The first objective of the Inception Project is to build a stable and sustainable regional partnership and institutional framework, as was instrumental in the success of the OCP. This is urgent because the OCP itself will end in 2002. The nature of the prograrnme partnership, however, will have to be quite different than in the OCP. There needs to be flexibility for separate complementary initiatives, while also nurturing common will, partrrership spirit, and critical mass financing, as was so instrumental to OCP success. One of the important activities of the Inception Project will be to explore options and develop consensus on the best, and most cost-effective, way to organize the partnership among the OCP counkies and with donor countries, without creating a new strucfure or large separate prograrnme office. The second objective of the Inception Project will be to get started building a flexible and cost- effective information system and network for supporting decision making by the future progralnme parbrers and stakeholder organizations. In order to support decision making by prospective prograrnme partners, available data will be collected and charcterization reports prepared for the OFZs, including GIS mapping. The Inception Project will lay the basis for information exchange through identification of innovative and successful experiences in supporting socio-economic development, and by assembling an inventory of potential 5TPC22,7 Date: 1l December 2001 beneficiary and support organizations for SED. This information will be incorporated as part of an integrated database platform. The third objective of the Inception Project will be to initiate action on two of the highest priority socio-economic development issues identified during the past many years of consultation and planning. The two entry points on which action will be initiated are, first, strengthening of cooperation on transhumance and shared watersheds and, second, supporting livelihoods diversification in a limited number of high priority underdeveloped OFZs. Obviously, local level work on livelihoods diversification, and associated work directed as building essential services and socio-economic infrastructure, cannot be initiated at many locations within the timeframe and resources of the lnception Project. The strategy of the Inception project in this respect will be to focus on the highest priority target areas in the OFZs of each country identified by FAO's Investment Centre during participatory formulation of pilot investment project. In essentially all countries, the target sites are among the poorest even within the OFZs, yet have reasonable to good prospects for socio-economic development. They are heavily constrained by lack of services and infrastrucfure, mainly feeder roads and in some cases bridges across major rivers. In most, there is a pronounced immigration suggesting that there is local appreciation of the future developmental potential of the targeted sites. Equally important, during the formulation process, diversification, support services and infrastructure were identified as priorities. There is thus substantial scope for improving coherence and sharing lessons across sites while initiating work on priorities already established by the relevant stakeholders. End of Project Situation The Inception Project will not be, and is not intended to be, a sufficient and stand-alone intervention in support of socio-economic development of the OFZs. Rather, as indicated, the Inception Project will establish a regional programme dedicated to addressing socio-economic development of the OFZs. Although the optimum utilization of project results will depend on the actual establishment of the SEDP, the project is expected to have several short term benefits even if the regional programme is not established. 1. At a minimum, there will be increased awareness of the problems and information on the requirements of socio-economic development in the OFZs. This information can and should feed directly into the development of national PRSPs. 2. Stakeholder dialogue and meetings during the Inception Project will lead to improved collaboration and co-operation of organizations active in the OFZs even if supplemental resources are not generated for the OFZs through a regional prograrnme. 3. Action plans for livelihoods diversification in the underdeveloped OFZs will be partially implemented before the end of the project and, due to the participatory and multi-stakeholder approach to be used, the OFZ communities and collaborating local organizations are expected to follow through, if necessary, using their own resources. 4. The Inception Project will provide an opportunity for regional, national and sub-national dialogue, exchange of experiences, and drawing lessons relating to community-driven planning for enhancing livelihoods in the underdeveloped, high potential OFZs. 6TPC 22.7 Date: 1l December 2001 Beneficiaries The main direct beneficiaries of the results of the Inception Project will be the prospective prograrnme partners, including representatives of the 11 OCP countries. The project responses to the expressed interests of the OCP member countries in two key respects: (a) begins establishing the partnerships at regional, national and local levels as needed for reinforcing capacity and mobilising resources, and (b) gives a framework for improving coherence, relevance and effectiveness OFZ prograrnmes and projects - leading to broad-based sustainable development in the OFZs. As a result of the project, OCP member countries and donors will have sufficient information for making informed decisions on follow up actions and resource commitments. NGOs, farrner associations and relevant public units with on-going or potential activities in the OFZs also will be direct beneficiaries of project results. Local organizations and communities in a small number of locations in ten targeted underdeveloped OFZs and nvo transboundary OFZs will be the direct beneficiaries of catalytic technical and financial support on a demand- responsive basis in order to initiate operational action which they have themselves identified as priorities. lmplementation and lnputs The project will be managed by a fulltime project manager located at FAO's Regional Office for Africa. A national project officer (I.IPO) will provide managerial and implementation support in each participating country. The lead ministry will be determined in consultation with each OCP country, normally expected to be the ministry responsible for agriculture. The lead ministry will reconfirm (or appoint as necessary) a national project co-ordinator. International consultants will be needed for investigation and appraisal of partner interest and costs for SEDP govemance, funding facilities, management, and staffing; GIS mapping and preparation of the OFZ charucterization report; design and development of a multi-faceted information system platform; and organization of regional appraisals on institutional capacity and regional meeting relating to hanshumance migration, co-management of shared watersheds, and cross-border trade. National consultants will be needed for: assembly of characterization data on OFZs, inventory and appraisal of developmental approaches and experiences, appraisal of capacity building needs for information sharing and communications, appraisal of institutional capacity and frarneworks relating to hanshumance migration and co-management of shared watersheds, and cross-border trade, and economic appraisal of comparative advantage, competitiveness and investrnent requirements in targeted underdeveloped OFZs. Other major inputs will include travel support, meeting costs, and some computers. The proposed donor contribution budget for lnception Project is summarized in the table below. The start-up budget for the Belgium contribution is shown in the third column. 7nc 22.7 Date: 11 December 2001 Description Total Inception Project US Dollars Start-Up Contribution US Dollars Manager (International) 298,008 I17,000 Total International Consultants 232,500 150,000 Total Administrative Support 20,000 18,000 Total National Consultants 585,000 305,000 Total Duty Travel 98,000 58,000 Total GOE 50,000 45,000 Total Supplies and Materials 369,400 I10,000 Total Equipment 66,000 16,000 Total Training 160,000 160,000 Sub+otal 1,880,908 979,000 Support costs (13%) 244,518 127,270 Total Costs 2,125,426 1,106,270 Follow Up in 2002 Before the end of December 2001, the Inception Project document will be reviewed, finalized and approved internally by FAO. By mid-January, the socio-economic development prograrnme document will be reconciled with the Inception Project and finalized. The Inception Project and socio-economic development programme documents will be circulated for information and comments to the OCP countries, potential donors, and sponsoring agencies. In early February, FAO will convene in Rome a meeting of OCP and donor country representatives in order to brief them on the SED programme and Inception Project. Belgium would like assurance that other donor countries and sponsoring agencies are interested in principle in the proposal for a regional programme before finalizing its commitnent to finance the Inception Project. In addition, the estimated fulIbudget of the Inception Project is US dollars 2.1 million, and so an effort will be made to mobilize the balance of nearly one million USD beyond the Belgium funds. As soon as final agreement is reached with the Government of Belgium, the Inception Project will be made operational; hopefully, by March 2001. 8TPC22.7 Date: 1l December 2001 Annexes Sfra fegies U n d e rl y i n g I n cepti o n P roj e ct D e si g n lnception Project Outputs and Activities Inccpaloo ProJcct objcctiver SEDP lint phuc prloriticc SEDP rtrrtcglcs Second pluse-' broaden scopc and cxpand parher roles . Third -1 : phasc:.- , ir'ilevolvii? '-snd main- " stream t . suPportif&oFa' ^l : Establish programme frarnework and partrerships Planning end programming cepacity srcngthcncd and multi-stakcholder alliances formed Divcrsc uscr marugemcnt information systcm fully cstablishcd and opo-rtional Rcinforce infornution fl ows ro support dccision making Effective mechanisms in place for capitalizin& building syncrgies, rnd cxchanging lessors Cap.city of OFZ communitics, loel authorities rnd civil socicty for communi ty-driven dcvclopnrat sucngthened Prognmmc to srengthen coopcration on tranhumencc ud sharcd watershcds established and opentional Projccts to build esscntial scrviccs and infi'asructure in support of livelihoods enhancancnt establishcd in tergctcd undcrdcvcloped OFZs Mainsrcaming effcctive planning end programming for OFZ at all lcvels Promoting and supporting usc of good practices for irproving rurel livelihoods developmcnt in mdcndevelopcd oFzs Establishing thc foundetions for sustainablc , Related to establishi the mme framework and rtnershi Output l. I : Programme partnerships established Activity 1.1.1: Operational planning and co-ordination of inception project implementation, including a meeting of counbry representatives for operational planning, and appointnent of national facilitators for project co- ordination, implementation, communications, and financial management. National workshops on plarudng and programme formulation for the oFZs involving NGOs, farmer associations, the private sector and relevant public institutions in order improve understanding and raise awareness of market- driven development, draw lessons from on-going and past programmes, clariff roles and responsibilities, consider co-ordination mechanisms, and address re-orientation and targeting of complementary prograrnmes. Activity 1.1.2: Activity 1.1.3 Consultations and dialogue with partrrer counkies, potential sponsoring agencies and selected donors for SEDP awareness raising, advocacy, information and viewpoint exchange, and resource mobilization. nc 22.7 A-1 Date: ll December2001 _lnitietc action on SEDP cnhy. 'poins ' ': Output 1,2: Programme framework developed Activity 1.2.1 Investigation and appraisal of partner interests and costs relating to SEDP governance, funding facilities, programme management and implementation, staffing, monitoring and evaluation,leading to a report presenting options and a proposal on the SED programme framework ActiYity 1.2.2: Regional programme meeting with country representatives, donors and other partners for appraisal ofinception project outputs, review and endorsement of the programme framework, and agreement to establish the SED programme. Activity 1.2.3: Preparation of SED programme framework and enabling documents following regional programme meeting. Related to reinforcin information flows Output 2.1: Characterisation of the OFZs. Activity 2.1.1: Assembly and synthesis of available data on population and settlement patterns, farming systems characteristics, land, water and vegetation resources, economic infrastructure, and household characteristics. Activity 2.1.2: Preparation of GIS maps and a characterizationreport on the OFZs for the regional programme meeting. Output 2.2: Inventory of developmental initiatives and organizations Acnviry 2.2.1: Identification and appraisal ofexperiences, approaches, and success stories in OCP countries relating to: (a) community action planning, (b) livelihoods diversification and enterprise development, (c) provision of advisory and support services, (d) sustainable intensified and integrated agricultural practices, and (e) resource access and conflict resolution. Acnvi$ 2.2.2 Assembly of information (directory) on potential beneficiary and support organizations for the OFZs, including activities, institutional capacity, resource people, etc. Output 2.3: Programme information manaqement system Activity 2.3.1 Development of a multi-faceted computer-based information system platform for data and information exchange as a starting basis for planning and targeting of development priorities and related interventions. AcnYiv2.3.2: Appraisal of user interests and capacity building needs and costs for establishing data and information sharing, monitoring and evaluation, and communications capacity among partners. Activity 2.3.3: Appraisal of SED stakeholder and end-user interests, capacity building TPC22.7 A-2 Date: 11 December 2001 needs and costs for local level sustainable decision support information systems (including local language material, newspapers and bulletins, information resource centres, radio, farmer information sharing fora, etc.) Activity 2.3.4: Preparation of budget proposal for full development and maintenance of information management system. Related to initiating action on SEDP Entry Points Output 3.1: Proposal for co-ordinated action on hansnational issues affecfing OFZs Activity 3.1.1 Appraisal at national and transnational levels of institutional capacity, policies and regulatory frameworks relating to transhumance migration, transboundary watersheds, and cross-border trade and markets. Activity 3.1.2: Regional meeting to develop a proposal for the SED programme meeting on priority actions and investment requirements relating to transhumance migration, hansboundary watersheds and shared water resources, and cross- border hade and markets. Activity 3.1.3: Technical advice, financial support, and training on a demand responsive basis in order to initiate operational action in selected transboundary OFZ watersheds. Output 3.2: Prooosals for livelihoods in tarseted OFZ communities Activity 3.2.1 Participatory community appraisal of options and priorities for livelihoods diversification, and associated constraints relating to support services, production and post-production technologies, resource access and infrastructure. Actlity 3.2.2 Economic appraisal of the potential comparative advantage of targeted OFZs and related invesEnent, capacity building and policy requirements for improving competitiveness of products from OFZ communities. Activity 3.2.3: Stakeholder meetings involving community representatives, farmer associations, NGOs, the private sector and relevant public institutions to develop actions plans for supporting livelihoods diversification and alleviating related constraints in targeted OFZ communities. Activtty 3.2.4 Technical advice, financial support, site visits and training on a demand responsive basis in order to initiate operational action at targeted sites. TPC22.7 A-3 Date: ll December200l Country and location Circumstances Benin - along River Ou6m6 inZou Department one of poorest areas and most heavily affected, poor rural infrastructure but close proximity to regional markets, high potential natural resources, attracting substantial lm Burkina Faso - northern department of Province of K6n6dougou potential good but low population densities and lack of roads and support services, less addressed by external projects than most areas, attracting recent substantial irymgratlon Cote d'Ivoire - east part of Dabakala Departrnent among least developed areas of country, weak infrastructure and services, low population and not attacting substantial immigration Ghana - parts of West Mamprusi, West Gonja and Wa districts poor physical infrastructure and accessibility but high economic potential Guinea - Kankan, Mandiana and K6rouan6, Haute Guin6e Region low population pressure, good water resources and rainfall Guinea-Bissau - Cotuboel in Bafata region and Sonaco in Gabri region one of poorest regions and most heavily affected, deficit of infrastructure but strong economic potential, attracting immigration Mali - Kangaba area of Koulikoro Region considerable unrealized potential, but inaccessible due to lack ofroads and inadequate agricultural support services, was local displacement and has not been massive resettlement population Niger - parts of Say and Tera districts relatively abundant resources and good food production potential, proximity to Niamey, inadequate infrastructure particularly roads, resource conllicts increasingly evident Senegal - Sal6mata District one of poorest areas of Senegal with poor social and economic services and infrastructure, good potential but low population and lack ofroads Togo - along Mo river, in part of Kara Region and part of Central Region least developed among OFZs in Togo, high potential, attracting immigrants, still isolated with inadequate infrastructure and services Sifes for support to livelihoods diversification JPC22.7 A4 Date: ll December2001