China - Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project : environmental impact assessment (Vol. 5 of 7) : Xinjiang beneficiary participation manual

E614 Volume 5 The World Bank China Integrated Pastoral Development Project Xinjiang Project Area A Handbook for Beneficiaries Participation FILE COPY Xinjiang Project Management Office For The World Bank China Integrated Pastoral Development Project March 2002   Contents I The Objectives of Preparing the Handbook and Activities 2 The Beneficiary Groups Directory Beneficiaries Indirect Beneficiaries 3 The Strategies of the Beneficiary Participation 3.1 The Preparing Stage of the Project Establishment of Information Sharing Channel Project Work Group Participation in the Design, of the Project Preparation of Village Development Plan 3.2 The Implementation Stage of the Project The Operation of Small Grants Technical Training Establishment of Associations Protection of the Pastures Enhancement of Women's Consciousness for Participation 4 Monitory and Assessment 5 Timetable for Activities   A Handbook For Beneficiaries Participation Xinjiang Project Area The World Bank China Integrated Pastoral Development Project 1 The Objectives of Preparing the Handbook and Activities The World Bank China Xinjiang Integrated pastoral Project aims at enhancing the integrated productivity and raising the living standard of farmers and herders through improving the competitive power of the livestock products and the management of livestock production and while maintaining the sustainable use of the natural resources in the project areas of Xinjiang. The participation of the beneficiaries of the project in the preparation, design, implementation and evaluation of the project is a basic objective as well as an active measure for the success of the project. And it is held that the successful implementation of the project is based on the active participation of the beneficiaries (mainly herders and farmers). Therefore, it'is a target of the project to raise the ability of them to be active participating in the project. It is the objective of designing the present "Handbook" to formalize, regulate the process .of consultation of the affected groups so that it becomes a controlling dynamic in order to the relevant beneficiaries to participate. This is a strategy that allows the project participants to control and share the project and resources. And it also aims at reducing the societal cost of the implementation process and reduce and diminish the negative impacts that the project might desert, and at narrowing the gap between the rich and poor, and the differences in ethnic groups and gender. 2 The Beneficiary Groups The identification of the beneficiary groups is important in identifying the social and economic effects of the Project.. And the beneficiary groups can be identified as the first(basic) groups and the secondary. groups according to how much they are affected by the Project itself. The firs groups are those people and institutions that are directly affected by the Project, and the Second refer to those that may be affected indirectly during the Project implementation  30 counties and three Stub Breeding Sheep Stub Farms have applied for the participation of the project, and they are the direct beneficiaries. And they are in the vast land of the region with the population of, taking up % of the total of Xinjiang. And the beneficiary groups can be classified as I)the herders and farmers of the project areas; 2) the women that are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry production; 3) the minority ethnic groups of the project areas; 4) non-government organizations; 5)those enterprises, various stations, commercial companies and private companies; 6) government departments. So far as the present Project is concerned, the beneficiary groups can be classified as the following: The Direct Beneficiaries groups Including (1 ) Those farmers and herders that are offered small loans(stakeholders) by which they are benefited through use of the loans and accepting training that they obtain better means for their development. (2) The institutions that accept the Project loans, such as the Breeding Farms, the Stud Stock Farms and Farms run by the relevant counties or the Xiangs. These institutions, with the loans and by organizing their projects or participating in the project to improve the breeding and pastures, will improve the livestock production and services and to raise the income of their own employees. (3 ) The administrative offices and stations for animal husbandry and the PMOs of the counties, such as the Veterinary Stations and Grassland Management Stations, will be benefited by improve their working conditions and the qualities of their staff with the operative money and training programs through participating the management of the Project. And they also benefit with the income by the Project by offering better and more services to the farmers and herders. (4) The women of the Project areas. They are usually in the weak positions in family resource distribution, consumption and obtaining the services at home and in the societies due to the influences of the tradition. With the implementation of the Project, they will improve their social status as the society and families may attach importance to their roles in raising folding animals and to their roles in the Project, for the project will emphasize the training work for them to participate in the Project, All this will certainly improve their social status and ability for taking part in production in the society. Meanwhile the increase of their income will change their positions at home. The Indirect Beneficiaries ( 1 ) The govemments and the relevant departments under them. As the Project will promote the livestock production in the counties and Xiangs and there will be an 4  increase in the income of the people of these counties, they will enjoy a higher respect and trust by the people. At the same time the Project may offer new sources for taxation., which will in turn benefit these government institutions. (2) Those herders who raise sheep though they are not directly involved in the project. They will benefit form technical training, improvement of pasture and marketing, better quality services and fall of the breeding price. (3) The aged and children. The implementation of the Project will improve the living standard as there will be an increase in the family income. Then the aged and children will be better cared and children will get better education, the period of which may be extended. And the nutrition needed by children in their development may be improved and increased. And it is possible that some of the elderly farmers who are engaged in raising sheep are beneficiaries. (4) The factories and businesses run by the counties and Xiangs as we 11 as those private enterprises. The may be benefited by producing equipment and other materials that the project need for implementation work. (5) Those that are doing transportation and business. With the implementation of the Project, the markets will develop better and there may be an increasing demands for transportation and services so that these people may get better income than before. (6) The town people and some farmers. As the livestock production will develop and there will be more products from the project areas, they may be benefited as the prices of meat drop (7) The project officers and those consultants who offer their service to the Project, who will benefit from the implementation of the project. . From their own interests, the beneficiaries expect that the project will be successfully implemented. And this needs the coordination of their interests so as to ensure their equal rights to participate in, the project and to obtain good results by making good use of the loans For the present project, the major beneficiaries are farmers( including those who obtain the loans and who raise sheep) and herders who benefit from the improved livestock production conditions. It is the main purpose of the Handbook that how to help them, as individuals, put forward their demands, hope and participate in the decision-making, and finally develop in a better way. 3 The Strategies of the Beneficiary Participation The activities of the beneficiaries are designed according the stages of the implementation of the project 3.1 The Preparatory Stage of the Project In this stage, the following activities are the essential. 5  To establish the channels for sharing information In order to encourage beneficiaries to take an active part in the project, it is quite necessary to ensure the rights of the potential beneficiaries to share the information about it , At the present time, there have been channels for information sharing, exchanges and feedback because of the SA members' field survey activities. However, it is not enough and the possible beneficiaries hope there will be more channels with more information about the Project. The following should be done in order to satisfy them: 1): The Regional PMO organizes the experts and Project stuff to write pamphlets and to mak visual media materials that contain the information about the sources, objectives, scope, organization work, implementation and its schedules as well as the procedure for complaining and access to the loans, pasture improvement, training for technology and marketing and publicize them through the TV Stations, Broadcasting Stations, and Newspapers to the local people through the medium of the relevant counties. What should be emphasized in doing so is the use of the languages of minority ethnic groups concerned. 2): Meetings about the Project at the three levels, the county, Xiang and village, should be held for publicizing the basic information about the project. And those leaders of Xiangs and villages who attend the meeting should spread the information to the villagers. The Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Stations of Xiang and their staff undertake the responsibilities to report and spread the information about the projects and they should report the information about the progress of the project implementation to the County Administration of Animal Husbandry. 3) As there are many women and old people do not regularly attend the village meetings, it is almost impossible for them obtain the information from the above channels, the pamphlets like "the Project Information", bulletin or the posters containing the information which the County PMOs have produced should be printed in the local ethnic languages and be handed to the households. In the project counties of South Xinjiang, these materials should be printed in Uygur while in the project counties of North Xinjiang, there materials should be printed in Kazakh, Chinese and Mongolian languages. Step 4: The continuous exchanges of information among the participants should be organized mainly through meetings which are the most frequent and formal methods for information spreading. The bulletins and pamphlets should be circulated at least once half a year at the preparatory stage and once a year at the stage of the project implementation. The information circulated after the project starts should not only contain that about the progress of the project, but should offer the examples of those participants who are successful in participation fore the others. 3-2 The Project Working Group(PWG) 6  It is necessary to organize the Project Working Group (PWG) at Xiang level to manage the matters like the project implementation at the Xiang level and granting the loans to the villages. The PWG should consist of one Xiang leader, leaders of the stations of Veterinary, Pasture Management, and Animal Husbandry Management, a Xiang PMO staff as well as the representatives of the villagers, the number of them should be recommended by the Village associations and villagers themselves, no less than 50% of the members in number. There should be reasonable proportion of the members from minority ethnic groups and women. And one person, from the above three stations, should be arranged in charge of the daily affairs of PWG The other members are concurrent. It is necessary to establish the Village Project Implementation Executive Group (VPIEG), whose main tasks are to manage and grant loans to households, to supervise the process and to feed back the effects of the loans use and the repayment, and the suggestions and opinions of the villagers to the project. The VPIEG may consist of 2 village leaders, 3 representatives of villagers. The number of women should be no less than 30% and in the multi-ethnic villages there should be the reasonable proportion of the members from all the ethnic groups, All the members should be elected by the Associations. There is a partially subordinate relation among the county PMO, Xiang PWG and VPIEG and at the same time they have certain independent power to make decisions about the implementation of the project at different levels respectively. Meanwhile they must work under the leadership of the government of the same level and the under supervision by the monitoring offices. 3-3 To Establish the Association of Livestock Production The Association of Livestock Production is an organization participated voluntarily and managed by the villagers. It is a long-term organization at village level. It can organize its activities at non-fixed period . After the project is over, it can still exist and function as a non-official economic organization. However, it is imperative to avoid institutional conflicts between the Association and the local Xiang government and the Village Council. The main duties of the Association are as the following: 1) To supervise and control the granting and use of loans at village level. And to ensure the realization of the rights of villagers in the participation of the project. 2) To organize and participate in the technology training in animal husbandry production and technology services, such as to invite the model households to train the others villagers, to organize the members to participate in the training programs offered by the government offices. In Maigeti County, farmers hope to refine the local sheep species "Daolang Sheep" and raise 7  them to increase their income, so there has been a great need for breeding. However, at the moment the technique of artificial breeding is good enough to do so. So the Association can offer the service by organizing the villagers to use the breeding sheep, or to raise the funds to buy them to offer the service by reasonable charge. This can not only benefit the villagers, but also help with the operation of the Association and continue its function. 3) To offer the service of selling and buying, such as providing the villagers with the marketing information, organizing the selling animal activities. 4) To manage the pasture. In the project villages that possess the natural pastures, the Association helps the Village Council and the Station of Pasture Management supervise and manage the number of livestock number of each household( there is a clear regulation on the capacity of pastures at project counties). For those households whose number of livestock is beyond the capacity, the Association should persuade them to fold them or sell the those beyond. And the Association has the power to supervise the government and the Station in the management and use of the pastures. In case that there are some problems , the association can choose the proper way to complain to the authorities; and it can join the other organizations in the activities of preventing the outsiders from stealing or damaging the pastures resources; The Departments of Pasture Management at County and Xiang Level should arrange their staff to help the association and offer lectures about the Grassland Law and pasture protection and improvement, and help it to legal access to complaints and to coordinate the relations with Village Councils. 5) To offer advice to the government offices on pasture protection, building of hay and fodder bases, market management, prevention and treatment of animal diseases. 6) To recommend or recall the members of the VPIEG. If there are 10 Association members jointly propose to recall a certain unqualified VPIEG member, then the Association should organize a meeting with all the members attending and if more than half of the members agree, then recall is go into effect. The Association is organized by following the procedure below: Step 1: The County PMO selects 3 villages with better production condition and the active attitude of its villagers to it to make experiment on establishing the Association. Step 2: At the experimental village, the County Project Working Group calls a meeting with attendance of the Xiang and village leaders and villagers to discuss the necessity for the association, its functions and the possible benefits it brings to the village livestock production. 8  Step 3: After 1-2 weeks, a formal meeting is organized with the attendance of those who will participate in the association to discuss the Regulations of the Association, including the purpose, ways for activities and tasks, the rights and responsibilities of the members, the procedures to the membership and the relation with the Village Council, and to elect the Association leaders. Step 4: The County PMO and representatives from the government offices concerned summarize the experience and shortcomings in the work of the experimental villages and spread them to other project villages, which, in turn, can organize their own associations with the permission of the government office concerned. 34 Participating in the Design of the Project The channels for the participation in decision-making by herders and farmers may be as the following: * To offer their opinions for the project design; * To participate in the process of the small loan granting; * To participate in the VPIEG in order to decide how to implement the project at the village. It is a most difficult matter that the opinions of herders and farmers are accepted and even are put into practice. So they should have their own say about the project design that is closely related to their direct interests, such as turning some farmland into hay-land, selection of hay species and species for breeding, pasture improvement and management, the source for the money to repay the loans ( a part may be repaid by raising the taxation fees), the operation of small loan granting, and the labor put for the project, etc. . The Regional PMO suggests that the following should be the procedure by which r the herders and farmers participate in the design of the project: Step 1: To make the information about the design of the Project and other matters known to villagers 15 days ahead before it is to be implemented. Step 2: To collect the responses to the project from the villagers and present them to the XPG and then the XPG feedbacks them to the CPWG. Step 3: To make decisions about whether changes have to make for specific items of the Project implementation: The final decisions should be approved by the Village Council or the Xiang Government. Those that are difficult to decide by the Village or the Xiang should be presented to the CPWG and the County Government for final approval. Step 4: The CPWG feedbacks the decisions, whether agreeing on changes or not, to the Xiang PWG, then to XPIEG and to the villagers. And the same feedback routes are used for feeding back the opinions of the villagers to the CPG: the government should pass them on to the XPG and VPIEG then they inform the 9  beneficiaries. It is very ideal to establish this feedback system for the Project implementation at the grass root units. Step 5: To ensure the institutional operation of the participation by beneficiaries: it is important to keep all of them informed about the progress made and to feedback their suggestions and to make necessary changes, at least once half a year when the project is implemented. 3-5 Preparing the Village Development Plan The county PMO selects five villages in the project areas for designing the Village Development Plan. Step 1: To collect the suggestions: A group that consists of the representatives of the CPWG, Xiang PWG hold talks with villagers, collecting their ideas about the objectives, scope of the project and the activities that the project may support, the financial conditions and repayment, and the roles of the beneficiaries. And detailed information needed for the design should be collected through the discussions and the villagers should be encouraged to ask questions, for which the clear answers should be given by the group. And their expectations from the project and the items they will choose should be collected, too. And the notes about the talk should be taken with the list of the participants. Step 2: The CPWG and the Department of Animal Husbandry together with an expert group, analyze the suggestions and information collected and discuss the specific items and activities designed for the VDP. Of the items, the effect capacity and the sustainability of the Project are the most important targets. Step 3: The Preparing Group holds another discussion with the villagers and designs the specific activities of the VDP, in the process, the villagers make ranking on their focus items and time for the implementation of the VDP.. Step 4: The Preparing Group finalizes the VDP and makes studies on the feasibility of the sample in the whole project area of the county and prefecture. The Stage of the Project Implementation The Operation of Small Loan Granting As the project covers so large an area and the conditions of the 30 counties are greatly different, so the small loan granted to the households should be based on the county as the unit. And the operation procedure must be designed according the condition of each project county. And the herders and farmers of the project areas expect the loans very urgently. However, as there are differences in the facts that each household has its starting point, demands and ability for development and every household has its expectation for the period fro repayment, too, a flexible system should be established that allow each 10  household to decide the repayment period according to its demands and ability. And the repayment and interest collected from the participants can be re-granted to other households, increasing the turnover of the funds to help more villagers. Step 1: The VPIEG consults the villagers for the opinions about the amount, period, application procedure, the way of obtaining the loans(from the World Bank to the households), plans ~to use the loans, the ways to irepay, etc., through calling a meeting of all the villagers, and organizing small discussions with the influential, and knowledged old people, and visiting the weak groups( such as women, the poor families) . And report about the opinions of the villagers should be made and presented to the Xiang PWG, and the Xiang PWG collect the reports from all the villages concerned and makes its report and presents it to the CPWG. Then the CPWG makes a design based the report and obtains the recognition of the County PMO and the permission of the Regional PMO. Step 2: The information about the loan granting(the objectives, interest, period, amount, the application procedure ) should be publicized to all those who want to apply for them through various channels, such as TV programs, broadcasting, meetings, posters or bulletins. It should be stressed that loans with the interest should be repaid and there will be some risk for the loans. Step 3: Each applicant presents his or her application and development plan. Then the VPIEG discusses about whether he or she really needs the loans, the applicants' plans and feasibility of his or her plan for development and finally decisions are made about whether they are really in need of the loans( This is also an opportunity for their participation and learning from each other ) the necessity of th. Then the list of possible stakeholders and the amount of loans they can be granted are decided. And discussions must be held with those possible stakeholders that might have difficulties in repayment about the ways by which they can develop better, and specific development items should be made for them. Finally, the list of possible stakeholders, together with the data of the amount of loans, the period for repayment, is made and reported to the county PMOs. Step 4: The CPWG and PMO organize the granting activities, and loans should be directly granted to the applicants by the supervision of a ing loans to the applicants can be done by an authorized unit that is supervised by an authoritative institution, or are granted by the Xiang Credit Cooperative. And a working group consists of the representatives of the county PMO the institutions that granted the loans, and the villagers is organized to check the results. Sampling should be done to check whether the granting activities are strictly and properly organized. The result should be reported to the PMO that is responsible to report it to the Bank. Step 5: In the January and February every year of the project implementation, the VPIEG takes the responsibility to convene meetings of the villager groups, and at the meetings, the stakeholders report about howv they use the loans and the gains, and the II  other stakeholders make comments on their report and elect the model stakeholder(s). Quite a lot of communities in the project areas are multi-ethnic ones, which is more visible in North Xinjiang than South Xinjiang. Although the ethnic equality and unity are the dominant ethnic relations of the communities, those ethnic groups with smaller size of population in a community, due to their less access to resources, may be in a weak position to obtain the loans. Therefore, there must be institutional measures so as to ensure their equal opportunities to obtain the loans. In the villages where there are few ethnic groups, the loans can be granted by the proportion of the household number either based on the total amount of the loan, or based on the number of the households. And the VPIEG decides who can obtain then loan candidates according the comments of the villagers on the conditions of the applicants. In the villagers where there are many ethnic groups but the size of their population is in great disparity, certain amount of the loans should be specially arranged for the households of the ethnic groups whose population size is smaller. Technological Training The contents of training programs include the knowledge and technologies of modem technology of livestock production and marketing knowledge and techniques. The education level of the farmers and herders of the project areas is generally low and some of them, especially those over 50 years old are, in fact, illiterate and this situation in many ways leads to little access to the modem technology of animal husbandry production. An many of the farmers and herders do not venture to participate in use of new technologies in their livestock production, rather, they would maintain the old ways which they believe stable. What is worse, they lack the knowledge and techniques in marketing, which naturally results in the difficulty in selling their products in the changing markets and separation of their production from the developing markets. All this, it is believed, are an important factors that will influence the projects to obtain the maximum effects. Therefore, the enhancement of training work in the two fields and improvement in the quality of human resources of the project areas will be vital for the success of the project. There are many ways to carry out the training work. Method 1: To Include the training programs of the project in the training programs organized and conducted by the Department of Science and Technology at three levels: region, prefecture and county, and make good use of the resources for technological training work that exist the project areas. Method 2: To organize the technology-aid groups the Project. This is should be implemented by the Regional PMO through inviting specialists in Urumqi to join the groups and give TV lectures to the beneficiaries of the Project and by the county PMO through inviting specialists of the counties to offer in-spot lectures and spread the new technologies suitable for the implementation of the project. And pamphlets, articles 12  about the technologies written and printed in the minority ethnic languages should be spread to the villages and households of the project areas. Step 1: The specialists and professionals to be involved in the training work should be trained in the participatory training approaches and surveys must be done to understand the project design and what the beneficiaries need for their livestock production. Then they select those technologies suitable to the local condition and participate in the training work It is important to raise the interests and enthusiasm of the farmers and herders for the training programs and help them to solve the difficulties in their production. And it is necessary to establish an effective feedback system so that the technology-aid groups and other specialists can learn as early as possible about what is needed by the beneficiaries in terms of training contents and methods and offer them what they really need in tome. Step 2: The best time for the project training programs is winter when the farmers and herders are less busy. The beneficiaries who participate in the training work should be informed about the contents and methods of the training program and be informed to prepare what they are going to ask the specialists. Step 3: Different types of the training programs should be designed and conducted. 1) General Training Program: publicizing the basic items of the technologies among all the trainees. 2) Advanced Training Program: aiming at offering the advanced items of the technologies for those who are specialized experienced in raising animals; and seminars should be organized so as to make it possible for the exchanges between them and the specialists. Special attention should be paid to the training programs offered to the weak groups, such as women, the aged, the poor and the households of the minority ethnic groups whose population size is smaller than the others. For these groups are generally in lack of confidence in their ability and are less enthusiastic in the village affairs as well as in participation. The VPIEGs and Village Councils should do a good job in convincing these people to participate in the training programs. Step 4: Different training programs are offered to the beneficiaries according to their different demands and specific needs. And there should be training programs at different levels in term of the contents and approaches, such as the training for general villagers, for the household specialized in raising a certain type of animals, etc.. Method 3: To publicize the technologies through the channels of media The project should offer cheap or free pamphlets (in Uygur, Kazakh, Mongolian and Chinese languages) for the village leaders and herders and farmers and the TV stations of the project counties should broadcast the programs for publicizing the technologies. Method 4: To select and set model households for the project implementation 13  At each project village, 2-4 model households that are willing to participate in the project should be selected and set as the examples for implementation of the project. These model households should be experienced in raising animals, willing to help and developing well by hard working. And they can offer good examples for the villagers in participating in the project and developing well by use of the new technologies. They are selected through the organization of the VPIEG and by the recommendation of the Association of Livestock production. The project offers them some necessary help by granting the loans and in building their animal pens. This should be done once every year and assessment should be done their modeling role. Those model households fail to the roles should be replaced by new ones. The project and the PMO should offer sufficient funds for the technological training. Protection of Pastures Now, the serious degradation of the natural pastures in Xinjiang have been causing more and more concerns among the governments and the public by the Project. There are many complex causes for the situation but it is believed that the over-human activities, such as the damages because of grabbing the natural resources by outsiders, the governments failures in prohibition of them because of their own interests, lack of reasonable development items which result in over-carrying, over-grazing and extensive farming activities. Farmers and herders are the legal user and beneficiaries of the pasture resources so it is important for them to participate in the management and protection of pastures in order to stop the outsiders from damaging the pastures, to supervise the governments and to control the size of their herds. There are three methods for the work: Method 1: To establish the Village Association for Livestock Production so as to raise the consciousness of the herders and farmers in protecting their pastures. Method 2: To establish the mutual-benefited system between the pastoral and farming areas. This should be done by the local governments or the Associations. The farmers supply their crop straws to herders who, in turn, offer them sheep to be fattened. By doing this, the pressures on the natural pastures can be reduced. Method 3: To offer herders and farmers the knowledge and technologies about pasture protection and improvement, such as the technologies for building artificial hay pastures, growing fine quality grass, controlling the capacity and use of crop straw. 14  Enhancing the Participation Consciousness of Women The women of the project areas are very much interested in the project and they hope they can be both participants and beneficiaries so that they can contribute more to improving the living standard of their families. However, on the one hand, women's participation is not that of themselves as a woman or a group of women., but as a member of the family or as an assistant to the husbands or fathers, which is decided by their weak position in controlling the loans, design of the household development plans and participation in village affairs, on the other hand, as women's role in the livestock production of families," they have a partial power in family-decision-making, their participation is in no doubt a fact. It will not only raise women's status at both villages and their families, but also. contribute a great deal to the implementation of the project if the women's consciousness in participation is enhanced and they are offering more opportunities in doing so. Method 1: Method 1: To raise women's rights in the decision of family loans and their responsibility in use of the loans. Measures should b taken to ensure women' equal access to the project and. For instance, encouraging making decisions by both the husband and wife on participation and signing the loan contract; the participation in training programs by the family members who actually raise or herd the animals. Method 2: The single families with the women as the heads, small in number but poor, should be given equal opportunities on the loans if they want them. Method 3: The number of women who participate in the training programs should be no less than 30% of the total and the gender difference with emphasis on women's psychology, ability and skills in raising animals should be considered in designing training programs. The training should be participatory and it is better to select the female specialists who can use the local ethnic languages to do the training work for women. . 4 Monitoring and Assessment The monitoring and evaluating system designed for the Project can be used for monitoring and assessing the Beneficiaries Participation. And it is believed necessary to establish there monitoring system which are independent and cooperative: (I ) The Government Monitoring System (County, Xiang and village) (2) The Farmer and Herder Monitoring System (VPIEGs and the Associations) (3) The Project Monitoring System ( the assessment specialists of the World Bank) 15  The Regional and county PMOs are responsible for coordinating and supervising the work of the three systems. The monitoring and assessment conducted by the experts organized by the World Bank are periodical in nature and there should be the experts from Xinjiang minority ethnic groups to be involved in the assessment. The monitoring and assessment conducted by farmers and herders are continuous and the results of monitoring and assessment should be reported by the channels of Associations - VPIEGs - Xiang PWGS county PMOs or of Village Council - Xiang Government - County Government, or of village veterinarian - Xiang Stations of Veterinarian or Pasture Management or Animal Husbandry) l The Administration of Country Animal Husbandry Management. The World Bank and PMOs attach importance to the results of the non-official monitoring and assessment. The results of monitoring and assessment should be publicized in Chinese language and the language(s) of the local minority ethnic groups. The channels for beneficiaries' complaints should be established so as to hear and accept their opinions and suggestions. The PMOs of Counties and Xiangs establish their own regulations for dealing with complains from beneficiaries, including the regulation of the period and procedure. Method 1: Using the existing channels for complaints: Associations - VPIEGs - Xiang PWGS county PMOs or Village Council - Xiang Government - County Government, or village veterinarian Xiang Stations of Veterinarian or Pasture Management or Animal Husbandry) - The Administration of Country Animal Husbandry Management. Method 2: To Work out and print "the Form of Complain and Suggestion about the Project" and circulate them to the VPIEGs so that villagers can complain or offer their suggestions in convenient ways. 5 The Timetable The List of Participatory Items Sub-projects Participatory Activities Protection Participation in making the Regulations of the Herder Associations And improvement of pastures Participation in making the Regulations of the Management of Local Pasturc Resources 16  Participation in construction of the pasture folding, artificial pastures and water supply systems. Participation in the discussions about the problems of pasture degradation and making the plans for improving the degraded pastures. Participation in the training programs for pasture management # and technology of artificial pasture construction and women's participation in the training programs specially designed for them Participation in making the plan about the credit by the herder associations Livestock Participation in the training programs for livestock production technology Production Women's participation in the training programs for livestock production technology System (sheep, specially designed for them cattle, meat ox and goats) Participation in the discussions about the selection of the types of improving breeding species. Participation in shearing and primary processing Participation in the training programs for mutton production technology Selling livestock Participation in making the Regulations of the Selling Groups p of the Herder Associations products Participation in making the plans for raising the market competition ability of wool and mutton Working out the quality index of the products Discussion and establishing the system through which the market information is provided for herders and farmers. Project The PMO staff and assessment staff participate in the training programs for participatory Management, assessment. supervision and evaluation Participation of the representatives of the county offices concerned in making the county project plan. The first round participatory social assessment to learn about the participation and demands of villagers and the officials of the Xiang, villages Participation of the Provincial and county PMO managing staff and assessment staff in the second round SA. The second PRA by the SA experts The mid-term PRA by the SA experts Working out the list of participatory activities and plans. Project supervision 17  Time Activity Objectives Organizer Participants Requirements Fund sources Prepa Establishin Participants' I) PMO I)Media (TV, I)Use the local Project -ring g the understanding 2)leaders of Newspapers, ethnic languages Manage Stage informatio project Xiang and Broadcasting) 2)meetings -ment n sharing Villages 2) the leaders organized by channels and staff of leaders to publicize Xiang Veterinary the information Station and Animal Husbandry Managing Station 2002/ Compiling PNOs PMOs at three (1) Easy and plain Project 10-1 and levels and SA (2) Manage 2 spreading experts Uygur/Kazakh/Mon -ment the Project golian language Informatio according the n Bulletin ethnic distribution (3)Once half a year at the preparing stage and once a year in the implementation stage Establishin Making the specific Regional 7 persons (1) 1-2 females g the county plans and PMO including (2)number of CPWG supervising the county and minority ethnic project county PMO members taking the implementation leaders, experts proper proportion plan and and of the minority supervising the representatives ethnic population loan use by the of stakeholders county stations and stub sheep breeding farms Establishin Responsible for CPWG (I)Xiang (I) proper g the the project officials or proportion of 18  Xiang implementation experts women and PWG at Xiang level (2)representative minority ethnic and distributing s of villagers representatives the loans to (2) no less than villages. pastures 60% of the representatives of villagers (3) A staff in charge. Establishin Supervising the County Voluntary (I)three Project g the individual loan PMO and participation by experimental Managem Livestock granting and CPWG villagers villages ent Production electing and (2)on the full Associatio calling off the discussions by all ns VPIEG members the villagers participating in (3) permitted and organizing approved by the training relevant programs and authorities managing and protecting the pastures; offering services Establishin Responsible for County Members of (1) 6 members Project g the granting loans PMO Associations of consisting of Managem VPIEG to households