Tanzania - Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project

Report No. PID9771 Project Name Tanzania-Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) (@) Region Africa Sector Water and Sanitation Project ID TZPE47762 Borrower Government of Tanzania (GOT) Implementing agency Ministry of Water Contact person: Mr. Bakari A. Mahiza Permanent Secretary Sokoine Drive/Mkwepu P. 0. Box 9153 Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam , Tanzania Telephone: (255) 22-2120281, Fax:(255) 22-2139847 Email: rwssp@africaonline.co.tz Date this PID prepared May 15, 2000 (Initial) / August 30, 2001 (Updated) Project appraisal date October 2001 Projected Board date December 2001 Country and Sector Background Despite significant investment in the RWSS sector since the early 1970s, only about 50t of the rural population has access to a reliable water supply service and over 30t of rural water schemes are not functioning properly. Support was provided in a fragmented fashion, and little emphasis was placed on sustainability. The 1991 national water policy indicated a clear departure from the era of "free water" launched in 1967, by introducing the principle of cost sharing between the Government and the communities and transferring to village water committees the responsibility to operate their WSS schemes. The revised national water policy developed in 1999 emphasizes: ? a demand-responsive approach whereby communities choose service levels based on their perceived needs and ability to pay; ? an upfront contribution to capital costs and the full financing of O&M costs by communities as a means to foster ownership of the project; ? implementation and management of schemes by communities with the assistance of local governments, NGOs and the private sector. Project Objectives The Project development objective is to ensure improved and sustained access to water and sanitation services in rural communities in Tanzania. This will be accomplished through the implementation of the new rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) sector policy and the development of a national RWSS program. To this end, the Project will support a decentralized and demand responsive delivery mechanism for basic RWSS services and build the necessary institutional foundation for implementing the national RWSS program both at the central and local governments levels. The Project will thus support the CAS objective of reducing poverty and improving health condition of vulnerable groups in rural settlements. The project will also focus attention on HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation measures in project districts and among the various stakeholders. It will also support the Government's decentralization policy and enhanced community participation in local  infrastructure provision as well as the participation of the private sector in service delivery. Project Description The project will have three main components: (i) Development of a district implementation model initially in the three districts of Rufiji (Coastal Region), Mpwapwa (Dodoma region), and Kilosa (Morogoro Region) and gradually expanding to about 12 out of Tanzania's 115 districts. Activities would include: (a) support to the establishment and strengthening of operational capacity of District Water and Sanitation Teams (DWSTs) to prepare district RWSS plans and appraise RWSS projects identified by communities; (b) support to the establishment of District RWSS Funds to finance the construction of new RWSS schemes, the rehabilitation and expansion of existing systems and possibly other water related small scale infrastructure investments, and (c) the assistance to communities in the proper management and operation of these systems. The component will also include provision of equipment to districts, hygiene education and promotion of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation measures. Activities under this component will be coordinated with that of the IDA-financed Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) project. Also an "innovation window" for new ideas in RWSS delivery mechanisms will be provided in selected districts. (ii) Construction of RWSS schemes (Community Sub-projects) in about 250 communities in about 12 districts including the construction or the rehabilitation of existing open wells, drilled boreholes equipped with hand pumps, powered pumps and solar pumps, spring tapping, transmission lines, distribution systems, reservoirs, latrines and community sanitation facilities. (iii) Institutional strengthening and development of National RWSS Program: including: (a) support to stakeholder consultative process on the strategy for scaling up towards a National RWSS Program; (b) technical assistance to the preparation of the National RWSS program the development of a management information system (MIS) for tracking lessons learned from the Project; (c) assistance to the RWSS sector institutional restructuring and building of the capacity of key stakeholders (MOW, NGOs, consultants and private sector suppliers of goods and services) and (d) meeting of Project management costs. Project Implementation Schedule Implementation of the Project is expected to take about four years. During the first year, construction activities would be initiated in communities of the three initial districts that would have expressed interest in participating in the Project as well as promotion of the Project outside of the three initial districts. Consultation with stakeholders would also continue. The Project Coordination Unit would be established and implementation agents (DWST, NGOs and consultants) would be selected soon after appraisal of the Project. The next 36 month period would focus on building RWSS schemes and expanding the district implementation model to other districts. The strategy for implementing the National RWSS Program would be developed based on actual implementation experience and the outcome of the stakeholder consultation. Project Financing A rough estimate places the total project cost at around US$21 million, of -2 -  which IDA will finance around US$19 million. The communities together with Government of Tanzania will be expected to contribute 5-109 of the investment costs. Co-financing with other external support agencies will be sought during project preparation to meet the gap in financing. Project Implementation Project oversight. The Ministry of Water and Livestock Development (MWLD) will be responsible for the overall implementation of the project. MWLD has established a multi-stakeholder Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to oversee project preparation and implementation, maintain contact with other projects, facilitate sharing of experiences, and make recommendations for policy review and dissemination. Project implementation arrangements. MWLD through its Rural Water Supply Department (RWSD) will devote staff for supporting participating districts to: (a) establish a DWST; (b) prepare a District WSS Plan (DWSP) endorsing policy principles; and (c) establishing a District WSS Fund to which the Project would make financial contributions. Communities would be the beneficiaries of funds and be responsible for identifying, designing, applying for financing, contracting, operating and maintaining systems; in case where projects cover several communities (boreholes, gravity schemes), the DWST could contract on behalf of communities and obtain assistance of local consultants for supervising construction. To be eligible, communities would be required to provide a minimum upfront cash contribution of 5t of the estimated project cost and prepare a management plan, emphasizing financial sustainability. Local intermediaries (NGOs and small consulting firms) would assist communities in the above tasks and be paid a share of the project cost. DWSTs would appraise the soundness of applications submitted by communities and select projects eligible for financing following guidelines agreed upon by the District Social Services Committees (DSSC) and the RWSD and stipulated in the DWSP. Apart from the minimum social, financial and technical criteria, all projects would also be appraised against environmental safeguards and poverty impacts in order to ensure that less served communities, usually the poorest, are supported. The RWSD would also, in parallel to the testing of the district implementation model, engage specialized consultants for: (a) consulting stakeholders during the preparation of the National RWSS Program; (b) restructuring MWRD-RWSD mandate in the RWSS sector; (c) building the capacity of all implementing agents and intermediaries; and (d) putting in place a management information system (MIS) system for documenting lessons learned during Project implementation. Project Sustainability The sustainability of the water and sanitation facilities rests on two key elements: ? Community willingness and capacity to manage and sustain WSS services: under the Project, communities would manage the whole process by selecting the type of service they want to obtain, applying for financing, contributing towards the capital cost, contracting for construction and operating and maintaining the RWSS systems; ? Availability of goods and services on the local market: this would be achieved by working through district and regional-based NGO and private - 3 -  organizations. The Project would include intensive capacity building to help these agencies respond to community demand help implement longer term incentives to keep these agencies functioning. Lessons learned from Past Operations in the Country/Sector The review of selected bilateral (e.g. NEDA, GTZ) and NGOs (e.g. Wateraid, SNV) managed projects in the country carried out during the preparation of the RWSS policy, lessons from regional projects, contributions made during the global RWSS conference held in Washington in May 1998, results of project preparation work, and input from the Bank's RWSS Thematic Group, provide the following lessons: ? The importance of community involvement is well established in several bilateral and NGO managed projects implemented in Tanzania and well accepted by communities; ? In order to enhance the demand-based approach, communities should apply for funding only when they have met participation criteria, and in particular collected capital cost contribution; ? Community willingness to pay for services is often much higher than expected, but this is often not reflected in government cost sharing policies, which always provide high levels of subsidies; ? Communities need assistance in planning facilities, training and deciding how to manage them; ? The private sector usually responds well; competition between suppliers should be enhanced and alternative ways of packaging participatory and construction activities should be considered to improve service. Better ways for ensuring spare parts availability in the local market should also be developed; ? Sustainability relies greatly on the capacity of the WSS committee to assume their functions; training should start very early in the project cycle; and ? More attention must be given to gender considerations, sanitation and hygiene education components so as to achieve lasting results; women have a greater role in decision making and are better empowered to facilitate community action. Environmental Aspects The project objective is to improve environmental conditions in rural areas of Tanzania by providing reliable water supply to the rural population and thus improved health and environmental conditions. The project does not anticipate any major negative environmental impacts. The project is designed to sensitize communities to the potential environmental issues of their subprojects, and train them in maintenance and sustainable operations of water and sanitation facilities. The project will also have procedures to mitigate any adverse environmental impacts of current and incremental waste water disposal that may occur, and provide for the protection of existing water sources as well as for future sources. An environmental analysis was conducted in the three initial districts and was publicly disclosed in Tanzania ahead of project appraisal. Environmental safeguards have been incorporated into the project design and focus on environmentally sound criteria for siting boreholes and wells, construction methods for well-heads and aprons, waste water disposal techniques, and appropriate on-site latrine location. All sub-projects will have to meet environmental standards as described in the Project Implementation Manual (PIM). The PIM includes a section covering environmental criteria for subproject appraisal, - 4 -  environmental requirements for contractors, and will use existing environmental guidelines for watershed management and related issues. The approach applied in this project, when properly implemented, will achieve the set project objective with positive or minimal negative environmental impacts. HIV/AIDS Prevention The project will establish the HIV/AIDS prevalence in active districts and in conjunction with the necessary district and health authorities design necessary interventions among stakeholders in the sub-project sites. Program Objectives Categories This project is anticipated to improve the establish capacity for implementing decentralized demand responsive water supply and sanitation services provision in the country consistent with the new RWSS policy. It will enhance community management and sustainability of systems and help the government build the necessary consensus and a strategy for a multi-donor National RWSS Program. The project can be expected to support the broader objective of sustained poverty reduction, growth and human development. Contact Point: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Alain Locussol Task Manager 202 473-37140 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. This PID was processed by the InfoShop during the week ending September 21, 2001. - 5 -