Mozambique - Food Security Capacity Building Project

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 19502 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE FOOD SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (Credit 2487-MOZ) June 30, 1999 Macroeconomics 1 Africa Region 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.  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit = Metical (pl. Meticais) US$1 = 3,000 Meticais (at time of appraisal, March, 1993) US$1 = 12,475 Meticais (at time of ICR, June 1999) US$1= SDR 0.747 (at time of ICR, June 1999) FISCAL YEAR OF BORROWER January I to December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CFA Centro de Forma,co Agraria CNP Centro Nacional de Plano DPDS Departamento de Populacao e Desenvolvimento Social EDI Economic Development Institute ESRP Economic and Social Recovery Program FAO Food and Agriculture Organization IAF Inquerito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condicoes de Vida IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute INE Instituto Nacional de Estatistica MPF Ministerio do Plano e Financas NGO Non-Governmental Organization PAU Poverty Alleviation Unit PPA Participatory Poverty Assessment PES Plano Econ6mico e Social SADC Southern African Development Community SDA Social Dimensions of Adjustment UEM Universidade Eduardo Mondlane USAID United States Agency for International Development Vice President: Callisto E. Madavo, AFRVP Country Director: Phyllis Pomerantz, AFC02 Sector Manager: Sudhir Shetty, AFTM1 Team Leader: Jehan Arulpragasam, AFTMI  FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY MOZAMBIQUE FOOD SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING (Cr. 2487-MOZ) IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT Table of Contents Page No. PREFACE EVALUATION SUMMARY Planned Outcome and Program Objectives ................................................. i Achievement of Program Objectives and Assessment of Outcomes .................... i Implementation Experience ......................................... ............. ii Key Lessons Learnt ....................................................... iii-iv PART I: PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT ............................. ...... 1-12 A. Background ...................................................... I B. Planned Outcome and Project Objectives ............................................... 2 C. Achievement of Objectives ...................................................... 3 D. Assessment of Outcome ....................................................... 6 E. Implementation Experience ...................................................... 7 F. Project Sustainability ...................................................... 9 G. Bank Performance. ...................................................... 10 H. Borrower Performance ...................................................... 11 I. Key Lessons Learnt ...................................................... 11 PART 11: STATISTICAL ANNEXES ................................ ....................... 13-21 Table 1: Summary of Assessments Table 2: Related Bank Credits and Loans Table 3: Project Timetable Table 4: Credit Disbursements: Cumulative Estimated and Actual Table 5: Key Indicators for Project Implementation Table 6: Key Indicators for Project Operations Table 7: Studies Included in the Project Table 8A: Project Costs Table 8B: Project Financing Table 10: Status of Legal Covenants Table 11: Compliance with Operational Manual Statements Table 12: Bank Resources: Staff Inputs Table 13: Bank Resources Missions APPENDICES A. ICR NISSION AIDE-MEMOIRE B. BORROWER EVALUATION REPORT - DPDS C. BORROWER EVALUATIONS REPORT -UEM 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 authonization.  MOZAMBIQUE FOOD SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (Credit 2487-MOZ) IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT PREFACE This is the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for the Food Security Capacity Building Project in Mozambique, for which Credit 2487-MZ in the amount of SDR 4.6 million was approved in April 1993, and made effective in February 1994. The credit was closed on December 31, 1998, ten months after the original closing date. At the time of the extension SDR 914,000 was cancelled. Final disbursement took place on May th 11 , and a balance of SDR 857,691 is to be canceled. The ICR was prepared by Jocelyn Mason (Consultant), under the guidance of Jehan Arulpragasam, Economist and Task Team Leader, AFTM1, and reviewed by Sudhir Shetty, Acting Sector Manager, AFTM1, and Phyllis Pomerantz, Country Director for Mozambique. The borrower provided comments that are included as appendices to the ICR. Preparation of this ICR was begun during the Bank's final supervision/completion mission, February 1999. It is based on material in the project file. The borrower contributed to preparation of the ICR by inviting the Bank mission to a project evaluation seminar, and by contributing its own evaluation report.  MOZAMBIQUE FOOD SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (Credit 2487 - MOZ) IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT Evaluation Summary Planned Outcome and Project Objectives 1. The outcome aimed for from the Food Security Capacity Building Project was to strengthen national capacity to confront and deter the major causes of food insecurity and poverty in Mozambique through the formulation and implementation of food security policies and programs. The project's objectives aimed at achieving this outcome were to: (i) establish a strong institutional focal point for food security policy development and coordination of strategy implementation; (ii) improve understanding of food security issues and responses among decision-makers and staff of relevant sectoral ministries; and (iii) incorporate research on and teaching of food security-related issues in university and pre-service vocational training programs. 2. To strengthen the focal point for the development and implementation of food security policy, the project aimed to (i) provide the Poverty Alleviation Unit (PAU) of the National Planning Commission (CNP) with the staff, equipment and other resources to monitor and address poverty and household food insecurity issues; (ii) provide short and long-term foreign and local technical assistance to the PAU; (iii) provide short- and long- term overseas fellowships for PAU staff; (iv) provide funds for policy research; and (v) support analysis and dissemination of food security information. 3. To increase national awareness of food security issues and to train personnel to address these issues, the project was intended to (i) support the holding of two national conferences on food security and a number of smaller workshops on specific issues; (ii) provide a limited number of study tours to neighboring countries; (iii) support the development of a program of in-service training in food security for managerial and technical staff of relevant line ministries at the central, provincial and district levels, working primarily through the Ministry of Agriculture's Training Center (Centro de Forma,co Agrario, CFA); and (iv) support the development and implementation of a course in nutrition and food security at the Health Sciences Institute in Maputo. 4. To strengthen the food security content of pre-service training programs, the project was designed to support improvements in research and teaching and provide textbooks and computer equipment to the Faculty of Agronomy of Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM).  - ii - Achievement of Objectives and Assessment of Outcome 5. The Food Security Capacity Building Project was designed ancl then implemented over a critical phase of Mozambique's history. The project's design, based on analytical work done prior to its identification in 1992, focussed on addressing the food security needs of an impoverished economy emerging from war. The project's effectiveness in 1994 coincided with the establishment of Mozambique's first post-war Government, and the project's implementation has covered a phase in which the orientation of policy shifted from shorter-term rehabilitation and food security concerns to longer-term poverty alleviation objectives. This project's main legacy, despite some weaknesses, has been its effectiveness in developing the analytical orientation and building the local institutional and technical capacity which has resulted in the development of Government policy on the issues of poverty and food security through this defining period in Mozambican history. 6. The project was successful in achieving its overall objectives, despite its failure to undertake formal training to the extent originally envisaged under the project. The Department of Population and Social Development (DPDS) at the M:inistry of Planning and Finance (MPF) has been and is undertaking policy development and analysis functions in close coordination with other government and non-government institutions. It is in a position to formulate and help implement food security policies and programs, as well as influence Government policy more broadly in favor of poverty alleviation. With support from the project, the Govemment designed several strategic policy documents in the area of food security, population, and poverty, and has completed a number of key pieces of analytical work orienting Govemment policy. Principal among the latter is the first national Poverty Assessment, which resulted from substantial field work, including the first national household expenditure survey. Awareness among policy makers on the issues of food security and poverty has increased significantly; a small cadre of local staff benefited from considerable technical training and experience; and a number of workshops and seminars took place. Finally, the project has enabled UEM to become the focal point for pre-service training and research on poverty and food security issues. 7. The project was also successful in achieving its planned outcomLe of strengthening national capacity to confront food insecurity and poverty in Mozambique, specifically through the establishment of a focal poverty unit and the formulation cf poverty and food security policies and programs. The analytical work that the PAU and the DPDS undertook now provides a good foundation of knowledge about poverty in Mozambique where previously there was none. The project has also spurred a close coordination between the staff at UEM and within the Government. The success in developing institutional capacity and technical capacity was achieved despite limited implementation of the formal training envisaged under the project. Substantial overseas training of govemment officials did not take place, and a formal in-service training program was not developed under the project as intended. Nevertheless, the project achieved its outcomes and primary objectives by resorting more heavily on on-the-job training and short-term training for technical capacity building. The project's impact on the implementation of policy is more difficult to assess, however. Given institutional changes that are still  - 111 - taking place, and the lag between design of strategy and its implementation, it is too early to determine the project's ultimate impact in program implementation. Implementation Experience 8. The project was identified in early 1992 and went to the Board in April 1993. The project only became effective, however, in February 1994, due in large part to delays in putting the necessary institutional arrangements in place. The project closed on December 31, 1998, after an extension of one year from the original closing date. 9. Implementation of this project was successful overall, although moderated by poor implementation in the area of formal training. The reasons for the project's success are that (i) the project emerged from a dialogue with the Government which began in 1987; (ii) there was strong commitment and continued involvement of some key individuals within Government as well as good long term consultants; (iii) the right balance was struck between timely delivery of outputs, the sophistication of research undertaken, and ensuring that Mozambican nationals learnt from the experience; (iv) implementation was flexible, allowing for the project to adapt to changing circumstances; (v) participation from outside the Ministry was well coordinated in the work of the PAU and the DPDS; and (vi) the project was managed through a centralized organizational structure. The main reasons for the failure of formal training under the project included (i) the shortage of qualified staff in the Government that precluded the release of those best suited to undertake training and (ii) the failure of CFA to evolve as a pre-training center. As a result, only about 60 percent of the credit was disbursed, with the most significant deviation of actual disbursements from appraisal estimates being in the area of training. 10. In terms of sustainability, the project has established a focal point in Government for poverty analysis and policy formulation whose institutional sustainability seems secure. The training and experience gained by Government staff through in-service training will continue to benefit policy development. Moreover, the UEM will continue to be in a position to offer in-service courses. However, while the prospects for the institutional sustainability of the UEM component also appear good, its financial sustainability will depend on external financing and is therefore less certain. In summary, although the sustainability of the outcomes of this project seem promising, capacity building is inherently a long-term undertaking and may require longer-term support than the standard Bank project. Key Lessons Learnt 11. Several lessons may be learnt from the experience of this project. They are: Project simplicity, clear objectives, and flexible design are important to project success, particularly where capacity constraints and rapid change are present. Government ownership is vital to the success of building institutional capacity, during both design and implementation. A design informed by the expressed needs of highly placed Government officials, and flexibility in the implementation of the project to fit evolving Government strategies, are important.  -iv - * Striking the right balance between timely delivery of outputs and in depth research on the one hand, and ensuring that nationals learnt from the experience on the other, is especially important and depends both on careful Bank supervision and on an understanding and commitment to capacity building on the part of the implementing agency. * One-off capacity building projects are inherently less suitable instruments to undertake human capacity building in severely capacity and financially constrained countries. A longer-term, programmatic approach, integrated into the development of investment programs, would help ensure the sustainability of outcomes. * In countries with very low capacity and weak public sectors, short-term and on- the-job training is often more appropriate for Government officials than longer- term training abroad (such as Masters degrees). The candidates for these programs are rare commodities within the Government, have high existing work loads, and are difficult to replace, even on a temporary basis. * TA can only be successful where there are counterparts detailed specifically to benefit from it. Moreover, the effectiveness of technical assistance is dependent on both quality of the TA and the relationships between the technical advisors and the Borrower officials as counterparts. Where these conditions are met, long-term TA in a highly capacity constrained country can have positive effects.  MOZAMBIQUE FOOD SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (Credit 2487-MOZ) IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT PART I - PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT A. BACKGROUND 1. The Food Security Capacity Building Project was designed and then implemented over a critical phase of Mozambique's history. The project's design, based on analytical work done prior to its identification in 1992, focussed on addressing the food security needs of an impoverished economy emerging from war. The project's effectiveness in 1994 coincided with the establishment of Mozambique's first post-war Government, and the project's implementation has covered a phase in which the orientation of policy shifted from shorter-term rehabilitation and food security concerns to longer-term poverty alleviation objectives. This project's main legacy, despite some weaknesses, has been its effectiveness in developing the analytical orientation and building the local institutional and technical capacity which has resulted in the development of Government policy on the issues of poverty and food security through this defining period in Mozambican history. 2. When the Food Security Capacity Building project was designed in the early 1990s, Mozambique was still in a civil war that had resulted in widespread destruction and displacement of refugees. Economic mismanagement during the 1980s, including distorting exchange, trade and pricing policies, had contributed to the collapse in domestic production, and to shortages and high parallel market prices for food and other consumer goods. In 1987 the Government commenced a gradual but comprehensive Economic and Social Recovery Program with the support of the Bank and other external partners. The reform program was generously supported by external aid partners, including through substantial food aid aimed at maintaining subsistence food consumption levels as well as through numerous safety net programs. In 1992, as much as 72 percent of total national cereals consumption was supplied through food aid. 3. The need for strengthened national capacity to undertake policy analysis and to coordinate policies and programs in the area of food security and poverty was increasingly evident with the increased support for programs designed to address food security concerns in the early 1990s. The Food Security Study, undertaken by the Bank in 1989, stressed the need for appropriate management of food aid resources and design of safety net strategies to simultaneously protect the food insecure and allow for the transition to domestic production'. Sound Government policy was required to mitigate the potential negative impact of food aid on prices and production, to rationalize existing safety nets and government interventions to alleviate poverty, and to appropriately utilize food aid counterpart funds in the budget. In addition, given the multiplicity of donor l Mozambique: Food Security Study, October 12, 1989, World Bank, Report No. 7963-MOZ.  - 2 - interventions in the area of food security and poverty reduction, there was an urgent need to build government ownership and improve coordination of government policies and programs in these areas. it was recognized that the Government would require enhanced institutional capacity to develop, implement, monitor, and modify policy. It is these gaps that the Food Security Capacity Building project was designed to address. B. PLANNED OUTCOME AND PROJECT OBJECTIVES 4. The outcome aimed for from the Food Security Capacity Building Project was to strengthen national capacity to confront and deter the major causes of food insecurity and poverty in Mozambique through the formulation and implementation of food security policies and programs. The project's objectives, aimed at achieving this outcome, were to (i) establish a strong institutional focal point for food security policy development and coordination of strategy; (ii) improve understanding of food security issues and responses among decision-makers and staff of relevant sectoral ministries; and (iii) incorporate research on and teaching of food security-related issues in university and pre-service vocational training programs. 5. To strengthen the focal point for the development and implementation of food security policy, the project aimed to (i) provide the then recently established Poverty Alleviation Unit (PAU) of the National Planning Commission (CNP) with the staff, equipment and other resources necessary to monitor and address poverty and household food insecurity issues; (ii) provide short and long-term foreign and local technical assistance to the PAU; (iii) provide short- and long-term overseas fellowships for PAU staff, (iv) provide funds for policy research; and (v) support analysis and dissemination of food security information. 6. To increase national awareness of food security issues and to train personnel to address these issues, the project was intended to (i) support the holding of two national conferences on food security and a number of smaller workshops on specific issues; (ii) provide a limited number of study tours to neighboring countries; (iii) support the development of a program of in-service training in food security for managerial and technical staff of relevant line ministries at the central, provincial and district levels, working primarily through the Ministry of Agriculture's Training Center (Centro de Formagao Agrario, CFA); and (iv) support the development and implementation of a course in nutrition and food security at the Health Sciences Institute in Maputo. 7. To strengthen the food security content of relevant pre-service training programs, the project was designed to support research and teaching improvements at and provide textbooks and computer equipment to the Faculty of Agronomy of Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM). C. ACHIEVEMENT OF OBJECTIVES 8. The project was successful in achieving its overall objectives of establishing an institutional focal point for food security policy and strategy, enhancing understanding and capacity in the area of food security among policy makers, and integrating research and teaching in these issues at the university and in the policy-making arena. Moreover, the project flexibly supported the Government in shifting its policy focus from food  security in the emergency and reconstruction phase immediately following the war, to a policy focused on broader poverty and development concerns. The achievement of these objectives can be attributed largely to the project's strength in building institutional capacity in the area of food security and poverty at the Ministry of Planning and Finance and at the University, as well as to strong ownership of the project by these institutions. The Department of Population and Social Development (DPDS) at the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MPF), with the support of the project, has been and is undertaking policy development and analysis functions in close coordination with other government and non-government institutions; it has completed important analytical work and strategic documents defining government policy in the areas of food security, poverty, and population. The project has enabled the university (Universidade Edoardo Mondlane, UEM) to become the focal point nationally for pre-service training and research on poverty and food security issues. Effective technical assistance to both DPDS and UEM, with substantial on-the-job training that took place under the project, contributed to the project's success despite the fact that little of the planned training abroad and formal in- service training occurred as planned, resulting in low disbursements under the project. 9. Coordination and policy development. Under this component, the project successfully strengthened a policy unit within MPF to become an effective focal point for poverty analysis, policy formulation, and coordination. The PAU was housed from the start at the National Planning Commission to ensure a close link between the analysis of poverty and food security issues and the design of policy at the Government's main ministry for economic policy formulation. Given its capacity, the PAU was soon also given responsibility for other issues related to poverty for the Ministry and began taking on new responsibilities not originally envisaged as part of the project, such as population issues. When the Ministry of Planning was merged with the Ministry of Finance to create the Ministry of Planning and Finance in 1995, the PAU was also transformed, joining a population unit to create the Population and Social Development Department (DPDS), a permanent department within the Directorate of Planning and Budget in the Ministry. This not only ensured the assimilation of poverty and food security concerns into the main policy making branch of government, but guaranteed that the benefits in terms of training and experience gained during project implementation remained in the government. 10. The PAU and the DPDS have helped generate major pieces of analytical work, policies and strategies that the Council of Ministers has approved and the Government has adopted as formal policy. The analytical work was undertaken by local professionals with support from consultants, and included work on rural and urban poverty profiles, work on a participatory poverty assessment, undertaking the household consumption survey, and studies of the formal and informal safety nets. This analytical and policy work has culminated in: * A Poverty Reduction Strategy in 1995, presented by the Government at the Consultative Group meeting that year, and remains the Government's official policy stance to date; * A Population Policy, in 1998; * A Food Security Policy and Strategy, in 1997;  - 4 - * A review of the formal safety nets in 1997 which led to a review of the targeting mechanisms and the targeted groups within-the primary formal safety net program (GAPVU); * The first national Poverty Assessment in 1998, which resulted from substantial field work, including the first national household expenditure survey, also financed by the project; * A Poverty Action Plan, a first draft of which was completed in December 1998 under the project. 11. Located within the Directorate for Planning and Budget, DPDS has brought a poverty perspective to bear in effectively implementing important line-responsibilities within the Ministry of Planning and Finance. For example, DPDS is now involved in the annual inter-ministerial budget discussions and in the process of formulating the medium- term expenditure framework, reviewing sectoral programs for their impacts on poverty. DPDS has also had a major responsibility in preparing the social component of the Government's annual economic and social plan (Plano Economico e Social, PES), monitoring progress of this component of the plan, and preparing the Ministry's quarterly report on the PES to the Assembly. Dialogue among Government's policy-making agencies is also being informed by the work of DPDS, and this dialogue is expected to be enhanced further with the dissemination and discussion of the Government's Poverty Assessment and Poverty Action Plan in 1999. 12. With support from the project, DPDS has also been successful in putting into place the consensus building and coordinating mechanisms needed for successful policy development, implementation and ongoing review. Workshops and seminars at the national and provincial levels played an important role, especially in the development of the Food Security Strategy and the Population Policy, in ensuring that the concepts were broadly understood and the emerging strategies informed by stakeholder concerns. For example, the process of developing a food security strategy instigated a wide-ranging debate on the issue, led to a better understanding of food security concepts, and created a consensus on a market-based strategy. Inter-ministerial coordinating committees were also involved in discussions and development of the Food Security Strategy, the Population Policy, and the Poverty Assessment. DPDS prepares occasional briefs for the Ministry of Planning and Finance and the Cabinet on issues of policy related to poverty and social policy. As a result, with project support, DPDS has succeeded in generating widespread discussion and sensitization of policymakers to the issue of food security while developing a consensus on national policy. 13. The Government has also been somewhat successful, although less so, in disseminating data, analytical work, and policy outputs under the project to interested users of this information. Data gathered under the project has been useful in the design of programs. The information collected as part of the development of nutritional profiles at the district level in rural areas, for example, has been used by NGOs to develop or refine their food security programs; and in Niassa Province, where commercialization was shown to be one of the main food security problems, OXFAM developed a program to extend credit to local merchants. DPDS has also put in place a poverty database incorporating a wide range of data from various line ministries but the database does not  appear to be widely utilized. As a next step, DPDS is selecting monitorable indicators of poverty. Data synthesized from this database and analytical work undertaken by DPDS is published twice a year in a bulletin, entitled Enfoque, available to the public. Although the delayed completion of the Poverty Assessment and Poverty Action Plan had not permitted their widespread dissemination and discussion prior to the closure of the project, it is expected that this will be an important activity for DPDS this year. 14. In service awareness creation and training. The success of this component was mixed. Good working relations between DPDS and the sector ministries enhanced the project's impact in raising in-service awareness on food security and poverty issues across Government. As planned under the project's design, numerous workshops and seminars contributed to the dissemination and discussion of concepts and strategies. A national conference on Food Security, at which some of the findings of the Poverty Assessment were presented, took place in October 1998; a major seminar on the Food Security Strategy took place in November 1997. Both were attended by high level professional government officials, academics, and representatives of NGOs and the private sector, as well as students from the University. 15. The Centro de Forma,ao Agraria (CFA), however, never fulfilled its role as the main in-service training facility for food security and poverty issues, despite a promising start. Study trips to assess training needs among provincial staff did take place, and some training modules were developed by consultants. However, capacity weaknesses within the CFA, frequent changes in personnel, and lack of commitment within its leadership explain this failure. This component also appears to have suffered from a lack of commitment and adequate attention by Bank staff. 16. Other formal long-term in-service training planned under the project also did not take place, including two long-term (Master's level) fellowships under the first component, four short-term fellowships aimed at the senior PAU staff, and the study abroad proposed for UEM faculty. Short-term in-service training was undertaken. Staff of the DPDS took a number of briefer study trips abroad, including courses at Sussex University in the United Kingdom, at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in the United Sates, and courses held by EDI in South Africa. 17. The project was more successful in providing informal in-service training. Key staff at DNPO and DPDS, including the eventual National Director of Budget and Planning benefited substantially from the training and seminars undertaken jointly with technical assistance under the project. The benefits of on-the-job training and capacity building at DPDS would have been even greater if the unit had been staffed with more government officials than the 3 to 5 that staffed the unit through most of the project, highlighting the obvious importance to the success of a capacity building project that there be national counterparts in place to benefit from such capacity building. In addition, to the significant on-the-job training undertaken by IFPRI in Maputo for DPDS staff, course materials prepared by EDI were also translated into Portuguese, which were then used for training in Mozambique. 18. Pre-service training. This component has been successful. Where previously there was no Faculty at the University that provided specialized training in food security and poverty issues, now there is. After getting off to a slow start, implementation of this  - 6 - component improved considerably with the appointment of a new Dean who had been involved in the development of the project from the start, and in late 1996 and early 1997 progress began to be made. Since then, the UJEM has become the focal point for training and research on food security. The UEM's Faculty of Agronomy has changed the curricula to incorporate food security and poverty issues. The Faculty has expanded the number of staff working on Food Security related issues from one person in 1995 to ten people in 1998. Curricula were revised to include issues of food security, while the teaching format was updated. In addition, the Faculty is developing a Masters Program which they intend to submit for approval to the University Council. UEM has also been recognized within SADC as a regional center of excellence providing post-graduate courses on food security policy, and has delivered a course for lusophone countries in SADC. The planned cooperative arrangements between UEM and other regional and international universities, however, was not achieved during the time span of the project. 19. Coordination between VEM and DPDS, as well as other ministries, was an important objective of the faculty and is one of the notable successes of this component. Students from the Faculty were placed on short-term internship-style assignments in DPDS and the line ministries. The close link between UEM and DPDS has increased the participation of Mozambican nationals in policy relevant research. It also increased the capacity building effects of the technical assistance at both UEM and DPDS, which worked in close coordination to the benefit of both institutions. It has also provided the Government's policy making units with an important pool of young trained talent, particularly important in a public sector in which rapid turnover is the norm. As a significant change to the way the project was originally envisaged, the Dean requested that the UEM also engage IFPRI to support their activities under the project. This not only had a positive effect on strengthening the Faculty of Agronomy's food security activities, but also facilitated the coordination of the research done for DPDS. D. ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME 20. The project was generally successful in achieving its planned outcome of strengthening national capacity to confront food insecurity and poverty in Mozambique, despite low disbursement levels due to disappointing evolution of the formal training component of the project. Importantly, the project supported analysis and the formulation of key policies and strategies on food security and poverty and built institutional and technical capacity in these areas. Formal project outputs, although limited in number, were important to defining Government strategy and policy. The fact that project activities were fully subsumed into the Government's work-program, while making it difficult to isolate specific project accomplishments from general Government accomplishments, contributed to a high degree of ownership and to the likely sustainability of project activities. 21. The project successfully strengthened the technical capacity of a unit which has formulated Government's policies on poverty, food security, and population, while also building a consensus on these issues and strategies. With the project's support, the unit was strengthened to also play a mainstreamed role, through its input into the budgetary process and the design, monitoring, and reporting of the Government's social and economic plan, in the formulation of Government policy.  22. The project's impact on the implementation of policy is more difficult to assess. Institutional changes within Government, while appropriate, lessened the direct role of DPDS, and thereby the project, in the actual implementation of policies and programs. DPDS has been given more responsibility for oversight and coordination on poverty issues and policies while program implementation has been delegated to other institutions. For example, a new National Institute for Social Action (INAS) within the Ministry for Coordination of Social Action (MICAS) took on the responsibility of actual implementation of safety net and other social programs; implementation of the household survey was moved to the National Institute of Statistics; and implementation of food security policies and programs are likely to be moved to the Ministry of Agriculture. Given these institutional changes and the lag between design of strategy and its implementation, it is too early to determine the project's ultimate impact in program implementation. 23. The analytical work that the PAU and the DPDS undertook now provides a good foundation of knowledge about poverty in Mozambique where previously there was none. The Poverty Assessment in particular, although faulted to some extent because of weaknesses in design and implementation, provides the basis for a better understanding of the geographic and gender dimensions of poverty. This work also had a powerful capacity building impact, by providing the opportunity for Mozambican officials to gain invaluable experience in collecting and analyzing data. 24. The project raised awareness among key decision makers of poverty and food security issues, including at the critical National Director level. It also provided exposure to a range of food security issues to technical personnel from line ministries at the central, provincial and district levels. National awareness beyond a fairly small elite of decision makers within and outside Government was not achieved, but in the context of Mozambique this was probably overly ambitious and of questionable practicality. 25. The project has spurred a close coordination between the staff working on food security issues at UEM and within the Government. This symbiotic relationship between the two institutions will ensure, on the one hand, that Government policy is informed by research, and on the other that the UEM's work is supported and framed by the demands of policy makers. The relationship between UEM and Government is also providing Government with a pool of potential employees among the cadre of students who undertake policy-relevant academic work at the University in the areas of food security and poverty. E. IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCE 26. This project was, on the whole, implemented successfully and effectively. Although the project's failure to develop any formal in-service training or to support training abroad lowered disbursements and moderated the success of the project's implementation record, these weaknesses did not in the event prevent the project from achieving its planned outcome. 27. The project's success can be attributed to several factors. First, the project itself was the culmination of work begun seven years before effectiveness. The project emerged from a dialogue with the Government which began in 1987. The thread of this dialogue  - 8 - coursed through two structural adjustment operations and the SDA project as well as considerable analytical work. Although contributing to the considerable delay between approval and effectiveness, diverse positions in the policy dialogue were able to agree to broadly accepted planned outcomes and tangible objectives; adequate institutional arrangements were made; and the individuals upon whom the project depended were integrated into the process. The project, therefore, was able to benefit from not only a maturing partnership but also from partners on both the Bank and the Government side who were increasingly familiar with the problems. 28. Second, personnel and management mattered. The strength and commitment and continued involvement of some key individuals within Government was principal among the reasons for the success of the project. In addition, the project benefited from good long term consultants, funded through FAO and bilateral donors as well as IDA. Because of the strong leadership from the Mozambican authorities, the long-term consultancies were managed with a minimum of support from Bank staff, and a positive dynamic emerged of trust and loyalty that ran between the consultants and the Govemment. 29. Third, implementation was slowed to a pace that contributed to capacity building. The authorities were determined that the project - a capacity building project with an emphasis on analytical tasks -- be implemented at a pace that permitted civil servants to be involved in and learn from the work. Striking the right balance -- between timely delivery of outputs, the sophistication of research undertaken, and ensuring that Mozambican nationals learnt from the experience -- was a particularly important accomplishment of this project. As a result, the experience gained from this project and the training provided to make it possible have been assimilated by the Government. 30. Fourth, the specific nature of the project objectives, combined with flexible implementation by the Mozambican authorities and the Bank, contributed to success in implementation. The fact that the desired outcome of the project was especially clearly articulated in the project documents and on the part of the Mozambican authorities was critical to enabling this flexibility. Moreover, the project limited itself to a short list of focussed objectives, albeit with a potentially large impact. This simultaneously avoided overextending scarce capacity and allowed, in terms of the pace of implementation and the activities undertaken, for the project to hew more closely to the Government's evolving plan to achieve its objectives. For example, the project continued its support of its original .objectives through the evolution of PAU to DPDS and the expansion of DPDS' responsibilities to be the principal monitor of the PES. 31. Fifth, the authorities responsible for the project were especially successful in coordinating participation from outside the Ministry in the work of the PAU and the DPDS. Throughout the process of developing the analytical work, staff from several other ministries, faculty and students at the University, representatives from NGO groups and from the private sector were involved through seminars and workshops. 32. Finally, the project gained considerable benefits in terms of coordination and focus of project activities from a centralized organizational structure. Given the generally weak coordination between organs of the government in Mozambique, having the various components controlled by one principal agency had the benefit of ensuring coherence, coordination, and re-enforcement of effort among the components. The cost of this  structure, however, was that the responsibility for controlling the financial resources overburdened DPDS, leading to administrative bottlenecks. 33. The main weakness of the project was the disappointing evolution of the training components of the project. In particular, little of the planned formal in-service training took place, including training overseas. The project's poor disbursement record was due primarily to this reason. Of the credit amount of an SDR equivalent of about $6 million, only about 60 percent was disbursed, with the most significant deviation from appraisal estimates being in the area of training. Only about 70 percent of financing originally allocated to pre-service training and only 15 percent of financing allocated to in-service training were disbursed.2 The main reasons for formal training not being implemented as planned under the project were that (i) the shortage of qualified staff in the Government precluded the release of those best suited to undertake formal training and (ii) the CFA failed to evolve as a pre-training center. The project was nevertheless flexible in supporting on-the-job and short-term training instead of formal in-service training to achieve the desired capacity building outcomes. This fact and the large share of unutilized funds under the credit from the in-service training components suggest a possible over-emphasis, during project design, of the importance and viability of formal in-service training for capacity building as well as an over-estimate of the resources required for such training. 34. Second, the project could have had even more input and impact in the policy making process had the unit's input been sought on Mozambique's ambitious, broader agenda for economic reform, including, for example, tax and trade reform and cashew reform. Some form of formal review of policy by DPDS might have been included as part of the department's original remit. This shortcoming has been addressed with the Government's recent commitment to establish a systematic technical review process of the impact of key policies on poverty. 35. A third shortcoming applies to the implementation of the household survey (IAF), the largest single undertaking under the project. Undertaken by the National Statistics Institute (INE), an institution that did not benefit from direct technical assistance from the project, the survey experienced some weaknesses in design and implementation. Timely Bank supervision and technical input in the design and implementation phase of the survey were also compromised with the shift of responsibility for the IAF to INE, which was not formally linked to the project. Also, work commenced on a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) was not completed. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY 36. The project has established a focal point in Government for poverty analysis and policy formulation whose institutional sustainability seems secure. The activities of the DPDS, including those related to poverty analysis, monitoring, and policy, are fully 2 At appraisal about $1,330,000 was estimated for pre-service training and about $1,144,000 for in-service training. About $950,000 and about $174,000 respectively were disbursed in these categories, while about $360,000 and about $745,000 respectively were cancelled.  - 10- incorporated into the process of Government. The Government intends to integrate DPDS' functions further into the Ministry's work, by merging DPDS and its staff and the functions and staff of its macro-economic policy unit into a new unit with responsibility, among other things, for a medium term expenditure framework. The change is expected to both broaden the remit of the current staff of DPDS and strengthen the links between the Government's poverty reduction program and its sectoral policies, although there is the danger that, by doing this, the Government may have the opposite effect of weakening the erstwhile DPDS' impact on policy formulation. A Poverty Action Plan is being prepared to follow on from the Poverty Assessment. The Poverty Action Plan is to be integrated with the medium term expenditure framework and integrated into the budget. Further analytical work is also planned, including provincial poverty profiles and a second household consumption survey for 2003. An inter-ministerial committee is being established to coordinate Government policy and maintain its high profile; and a systematic technical review process is to be established that will review the impact of major policy changes on poverty and report to the Council of Ministers. 37. In terms of in-service training, the training and experience gained by Government staff will continue to benefit policy development. The mechanisms for building awareness among decision-makers is also well-established. Moreover, the UIEM will continue to be in a position to offer in-service courses. The CFA component, however, has failed and no other institutionalized in-service training mechanisms were developed. 38. Prospects for the institutional sustainability of the UTEM component also appear sound. By the end of the project the UEM had developed a critical mass of instructors at the Faculty of Agronomy devoted to food security issues, had a numerous student body working on these issues, and had established its preeminence as the locus for training and research on food security issues and for informing government policy. The commitment to this program on the part of the University and the Government appears strong. 39. The financial sustainability of the UEM faculty at its current size, however, is less secure. Although budgetary financing for the Faculty of Agronomy has increased, alternative external funding is being sought by the University to maintain the momentum for food security and poverty research and training activities, including the retention of technical assistance. Given the abundance of external aid financing currently available to Mozambique, the identification of such financing appears promising. Nevertheless, the experience under this component highlights the fact that capacity building, particularly in academic institutions in highly capacity constrained countries, is inherently a long-term undertaking and may require longer term support than the standard Bank project. F. BANK PERFORMANCE 40. Bank performance during the identification and preparation of this project was satisfactory, although marred by over-optimism about the timing of implementation, an overestimation of the funds required, and a possible failure to get the balance right between training individuals abroad and institutional capacity building. While delays and slow implementation were a problem, it appears that the staffs emphasis on a strong institutional arrangement and on flexibility in design contributed positively to the satisfactory outcome of the project. Bank performance during implementation was also satisfactory on the whole. There was an unusually frequent turnover of staff responsible  - I1I - for the project (five including the preparation period), but the effects of this were reduced to a minimum by the presence from project effectiveness to about eight months before project closure of a task member who oversaw the day-to-day activities of the project on the Bank side, managing the task for a period, and later providing assistance to subsequent task team leaders. Nevertheless, the frequent changes in emphasis associated with new team leaders, and a break in the continuity of attention to certain issues such as the CFA, the PPA, and the IAF household survey, are evident. G. BORROWER PERFORMANCE 41. Performance on the Government side was also satisfactory on the whole. Notable was the strong leadership first from the PAU and then from the DPDS. During the early stages of project implementation the PAU, the UEM and the CFA were managed somewhat independently. After delay, and with the decision to bring the UEM component more directly under the oversight of the PAU, the UEM's performance was improved. However, this had the effect of overburdening DPDS somewhat, leading to delays and insufficient attention to some sub-components. A further shortcoming of the borrower's performance was Mozambique's centralized system of contract approvals and handling of project accounts, which overburdens capacity within MPF and the Central Bank and leads to lengthy delays. H. KEY LESSONS LEARNT 42. Several lessons may be learnt from the experience of this project: * Project simplicity, clear objectives, and flexible design are important to project success, particularly where capacity constraints and rapid change are present. * Government ownership is vital to the success of building institutional capacity, during both design and implementation. A design informed by the expressed needs of highly placed Government officials, and flexibility in the implementation of the project to fit evolving Government strategies, are important. * Striking the right balance, between timely delivery of outputs and in depth research on the one hand, and ensuring that nationals learnt from the experience on the other, is especially important and depends both on careful Bank supervision and on an understanding and commitment to capacity building on the part of the implementing agency. * One-off capacity building projects are inherently less suitable instruments to undertake human capacity building in severely capacity and financially constrained countries. A longer-term, programmatic approach integrated into the development of investment programs would help ensure the sustainability of outcomes. * In countries with very low capacity and weak public sectors, short-term and on- the-job training is often more appropriate for Government officials than longer- term training abroad (such as Masters degrees). The candidates for these programs are rare commodities within the Government, have high existing work loads, and are difficult to replace, even on a temporary basis.  - 12 - * TA can only be successful where there are counterparts detailed specifically to benefit from it. Moreover, the effectiveness of technical assistance is dependent on both quality of the TA and the relationships between the technical advisors and the Borrower officials as counterparts. Where these conditions are met, long-term TA in a highly capacity constrained country can have positive effects.  PART H - STATISTICAL ANNEXES Table 1: Summary of Assessments A. Achievement of Project Objectives Assessment Substantial Partial Negligible Not Applicable Categories Macroeconomic Policies X Sector Policies X Financial Objectives X Institutional X development Physical objectives X Gender concerns X Other social objectives X Environmental X Public sector X management Private sector X development Other: Human Capacity X Building B. Project Sustainability Likely Uncertain | Unlikely x C. Bank Performance Stage of Project [ Highly Satisfactory | Satisfactory [ Deficient Cycle Identification X Preparation X Appraisal X Supervision X  -14- E. Assessment of Outcome Highly Satisfactory Marginally Unsatisfactory Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory Unsatisfactory I x I I I Table 2: Related Bank Credits and Loans Preceding Operations Title Health and Nutrition Project Credit no. : 1989-MOZ Year of approval FY89 Amount SDR 21.0 million Purpose : To improve the health and nutrition status of the Mozambican people through (i) policy formulation and management strengthening, and (ii) improving the efficiency and quality of services. Status : closed Title : Legal and Public Sector Capacity Building Credit no. : 2437-MOZ Year of approval : FY93 Amount : SDR 10.9 million Purpose : To build and maintain capacity in key public institutions and skill areas by expanding the supply of well-trained senior planners, policy analysts, managers, and technicians, and by enhancing pay and other incentives and conditions of employment for senior civil servants, by (a) strengthening legal institutions and professional capabilities, and (b) developing public administration and management skills and enhancing civil service personnel systems. Status : ongoing Title : Capacity Building: Human Resources Development Credit no. : 2436-MOZ Year of approval : FY93 Amount : SDR 34.1 million Purpose : To build and maintain capacity in key public institutions and skill areas by expanding the supply of well-trained senior planners, policy analysts, managers, and technicians, and by enhancing pay and other incentives and conditions of employment for senior civil servants, by (a) increasing the quantity and improving the quality of university graduates and strengthening UEM's role as a participant in the development policy dialogue, and (b) improving learning achievement in upper secondary education so as to eliminate the need for remedial training at the University or in the workplace. Status : ongoing  - 15 - Table 3: Project Timetable Steps in project cycle [ Date planned 1 Date actual/estimate Identification 7/91 Preparation 10/91 Appraisal 2/1992 5/9/92 Negotiations 1/1993 3/23/93 Board presentation 9/1992 4/27/93 Signing 5/3/93 5/3/93 Effectiveness 6/1993 2/25/1994 Project completion 2/28/98 6/30/99 Credit closing 02/28/98 12/31/98 Source: Project Files and Bank staff estimates. Not available Table 4: Credit Disbursements: Cumulative Estimated and Actual [FY93 [FY94 I FY95 ] FY96 I FY97 [FY98 [ FY99 Appraisal estimate 0.8 2.7 4.6 5.9 6.4 6.6 6.6 Actual 0.0 0.0 1.6 1.98 2.95 3.89 4.47 Actual as % of estimate 0.0 0.0 34.8 33.6 46.1 58.9 67.7 Date of final disbursement 04/16/99 Source: Bank MIS and staff estimates. Table 5: Key Indicators for Project Implementation Key implementation indicators in the Comments project files+ Analysis and dissemination of poverty and Activities towards this end completed food security information Start up integrated food security and Activity begun and not completed. poverty database Organize two national conferences on food A national conference on the findings of security and hold workshops at the the Poverty Assessment was held in provincial and local levels November 1998; a major seminar on food security took place in November 1997. Numerous smaller conferences and workshops were held through the project period.  - 16 - Implementation of national training and UEM has become the focal point for pre- research program on food security service training and research on poverty and food security issues. In-service training took place under the project but no formal program was established. + The preparation of the project's SAR took place before the development of these indicators had become part of the appraisal process. The project was retrofitted with the above indicators ofproject implementation. Source: Project Files and Bank staff estimates. Table 6: Key Indicators for Project Operation Not applicable. The preparation of the project's SAR took place before the development of these indicators had become part of the appraisal process. The project was retrofitted with the above indicators of project implementation, but no indicators of project operation were included.  - 17 - Table 7: Studies Included in the Project Study Purpose Strategy for Povertv Reduction in To help establish priorities for poverty reduction Mozambique Evaluation of the Social Protection To create a basis of information on which to build a Networks in Mozambique more detailed document that will contribute to the evaluation of the causes of poverty in Mozambique Living Standards and Poverty in Rural To formulate a medium term strategy to reduce Mozambique (Report in support of the poverty Strategy) Evaluation of the Impact of the GAPVU To evaluate: a) the characteristics of recipient families program of GAPVU; b) the impact of the subsidy on diet; c) the projected costs of the program Food Security and Nutrition Action Plan To foster a broader discussion on food security and nutrition. Social Dimensions of Adjustment (SDA) - To evaluate the SDA project and its impact. Final Project Evaluation Report Rural Poverty Profile To evaluate rural poverty particularly the most vulnerable groups as a basis for policy formulation Study of the Informal Sector in Background paper Mozambique ENFOQUE (nos. 1 to 7) Six-monthly bulletin on poverty-related matters Formal Social Protection Networks - To evaluate formal social protection networks Evaluation Report Food Security and Nutrition Strategy Policy document adopted by the Government Understanding Poverty and Well-being in Mozambique's poverty assessment, based largely on Mozambique - The First National the findings of the household survey. Assessment Source: Bank and borrower files  - 18 - Table 8A: Project Costs Item Appraisal Estimate (USSmm) Estimated Actual Costs (US$mm) 9/ Local Foreign costs Total Local Foreign Total Costs costs costs costs Costs Technical Assistance 1. Foreign Consultants 0.1 1.4 1.7 0.4 _ 2. Local Consultants 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.3 Subtotal 0.4 1.7 2.1I 0.7 Fellowships _ 1. Long-term 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.7 2. Short-term 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 Subtotal 0.0 0.6 0.6 0.7 Subtot. TA and Fllwshps 0.4 2.3 2.7 1.4 2.1 3.5 Training _ 1. Local 0.8 0.4 1.2 0.3 2. Study Tours 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 Subtotal Training 1 and 2 0.8 0.5 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.5 3. University 0.1 1.0 1.1 0.0 1.0 Subtotall,2and3 0.9 1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2 1.5 Salaries/Per Diem 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 Studies 0.0 0.4 0.4 0.0 Research Funds |