Rwanda - Integrated Forestry and Livestock Development Project

* ,* >,Document of 4* The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 9480 PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT RWANDA INTEGRATED FORESTRY AND LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT (CREDIT 1039-RW) APRIL 12, 1991 Agriculture Operations Division South-Central and Indian Ocean Department Africa Region This doe. .ient has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only In the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  ABBREVIATIONS ERR Economic Rate of Return GDP Gross Domestic Product ICB International Competitive Bidding IDA International Development Association MAI Mean Annual Increment OED Operations Evaluation Department OVAPAM Parastatal operating in a semi-irid zone with pastoralists PMU Project Management Unit SAR Staff Appraisal Report  THE WORLD BANK FR om U ONY Washinston. D.C. 20433 USA. April 12, 1991 MEMORANDUM TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS AND THE PRESIDENT SUBJECTs Project Completion Report on RWANDA Integrated Forestry and Livestock Development (Credit 1039-RW) Attached, for information, is a copy of a report entitled 'Project Completion Report on Rwanda - Integrated Forestry and Livestock Development (Credit 1039-RW)l prepared by the Africa Regional Office with Part IX of the report contributed by the Borrower. No audit of this project has been made by the Operations Evaluation Department at this time. Attachment This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients onbY in the pefornuace of their offiial duties Is contents may not othemwse be disclosed without Wol Dank authorton.  FOR OMCIAL USE ONLY PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT RVAND& INTEGRATED FORESTRY AND LIVESTOCK PROJECT (Credit 1039-RW) Table of Contents Pa8e No. Preface ..... ................................... ................... i Evaluation Summary ........................ ............ iii PART I: BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION .................. 1 I. Project Identity .............................. . 3 II. Background ............................................... 3 III. Forestry and Livestock Sub-sectors ....................... 3 IV. Project Objectives and Description ....................... 4 V. Project Design and Organization ....... . ...... 4 VI. Project Implementation ................ 5 VII. Project Results ............... 6 VIII. Government and Technical Assistance Performances ......... 7 IX. Bank Performance .... 8 X. Project Sustainability .................................. . 9 PART II: COMMENTS RECEIVED FROM THE BORROWER .....11 Letter from the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry ........................................... 13 Comments on the End-of-Phase Report ..................... 15 PART III: SUMMARY OF STATISTICAL DATA 17 TABLES: 1. Agriculture-Related IDA Credits 19 2. Project Timetable ................ 20 3. Cumulative Estimated and Actual Disbursements ............ 21 4. Project Implementation ................................... 22 5. Project Costs and Financing .............................. 23 SA. Project Cost and Financing by Category ................. 23 SB. Estimated and Actual Exchange Rates .................... 24 5C. Estimated and Actual Price Contingencies ............... 25 6. Economic Rate of Return ................................ 26 7. Status of Selected Covenants ............................. 27 8. Use of IDA Resoarces .................28 8A. Staff Inputs ...................... 28 8B. Mission Data ...................... 29 MAP: Project Areas, IBRD 14528R This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  - i - PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT RWANDA INTEGRATED PORESTRY AND LIVESTOCK PROJECT (Credit 1039-RW) PREFACE This is the Proiect Completion Report (PCR) for the Integrated Forestry and Livestock Project in Rwanda, for which Credit 1039-RW in the amount of US$21.00 million was approved on June 5, 1980. The loan was closed on June 30, 1987. It was fully disbursed and the last disbursement was on March 24, 1987. The PCR was jointly prepared by the Agriculture Operations Division of the Africa Regional Office (Evaluation Summary, Parts I and III) and the Borrower (Part II). Preparation of this PCR was started during the Bank's final supervision mission of the project in March 1987, and is based, inter alia, on the Staff Appraisal Report, the Loan, Guarantee, and Project Agreements, supervision reports, correspondence between the Bank and the Borrower, and internal Bank memoranda.  - iii - PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT RWANDA INTEGRATED FORESTRY AND LIVESTOCK PROJECT (Credit 1039-RW) Evaluation Summary Oblectives 1. The basic concept behind the project was to assist the Rwandese Government to increase the fuelwood supply base, enabling better conservation of the few remaining national forests, to strengthen the institutions serving the forestry sector and to establish a long-term program for 'orestry development. This was seen as particularly acute in Rwanda, where a high dependence on wood as the primary source of fuel goes together with extremely high population densities, putting enormous pressure ou the available wood resource. Implementation Experience 2. The Bank and the Rwandese Government were in full agreement on this basic concept; the Government strongly supported project actions in this area during implementation, and the project shows excellent results: a clear forestry policy has been formulated; forestry services have been strengthened and have achieved a reputation for efficiency; and physical (plantation) targets were reached well ahead of schedule. It should be noted that the Gishwati pasture development component, which turned to be the one controversial component, was not part of the project during preparation and was only added at appraisal time at Government insistence, on the reasonable argument that in order to conserve the Gishwati natural forest, it would be necessary to get the native cattle out of the forest, and in order to make it attractive for cattle owners tn a) so, alternative pasture areas would have to be established. Results 3. With hindsight, it is clear that the Gishwati pastures component suffered from insufficient preparation. Excellent climatic conditions existed for establishing very productive high altitude pastures, and the technology had been proven in neighboring Zaire; had this potential been correctly estimated, it would have been also clear that low productivity native cattle would be unable to capitalize on this potential, and grade cattle would be needed. Also, had the socia. affinities in the region as well as the consequences of an artificially high milk price been better understood, it could have been foreseen that private interests from the outside would have come in. In the project as designed, no milk processing equipment was thought to be required, no purchase of grade cattle was foreseen and no cost recovery mechanisms were built in, which all turned out to be serious issues during implementation, creating tensions between Bank and Government. Moreover, supervision missioas during the first three years saw progress on the Gishwati component as an immense success; they essentially focussed on the physical implementation (rate of pasture establishment, pasture  - iv - quality, grade cattle introduction, milk production) but failed to realize that the implemented component was totally different from its initial design. Sustainability 4. In the end, project implementation was on the whole successful with an overall ERR of 16 percent, with the forestry components much higher (28-29 percent) than the pastures component (5 percent). Even the latter has been due mainly to the high cost of pasture establishment, the initially low stocking rate of pastures, and milk pricing problems, which are issues that can be solved over time. The real questions still open are those concerned with equitvs the extent to which outside interests have benefitted from the project at the expense of local farmers, and related cost recovery problems. An OED impact study on these questions is strongly recommended. Findings and Lessons Learned 5. The lessons from this project have been the following: (a) Rwanda's traditions of community works programs (UMUGANDA) had been directed by the government toward reforestation, the digging of lateral trenches to save top soil and conserve rainwater and the planting of hedge rows. The forestry components of this project were so successful because they reenforced the government's ongoing program and commitment. (b) It is risky to introduce new components into a project at a relatively late stage, as in view of the pressures to conclude and incomplete information, they have a high probability of failure or of becoming controversial. (c) Supervision missions need to be staffed over time by persons with different expertise, so that problems over a broader spectrum can be identified in a timely fashion. ;d) The problems which the Bank had to deal with during implementation have significantly influenced the follow-up project designt much more attention has been paid to cost recovery issues, milk pricing and marketing policies and land tenure problems. They also have had the benefit of initiating an open although often controversial dialogue with Government on these issues. Vhtile the immediate impact of this one component was largely negative, they have contributed to a better understanding of the underlying problems in Rwandese society, and may well contribute to future policy changes.  BRIEF DESCRIPrION AND ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION  -3- J. ERICl: IDlc