Improving nutrition and household food security in Manica … · 2011. 3. 29. · Chimoio (Manica...

Improving nutrition and household food security in Manica Province, Mozambique GCP/MOZ/027/BEL

Mid-term Tripartite Evaluation Mission

Final Report

September 2006

Mid-term Tripartite Evaluation, GCP/MOZ/027/BEL final report

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1 2 Background and Context 1 3 Assessment of Project Objectives and Design 3 3.A Justification 3 3.B Objectives 4 3.C Project Design 5 4 Assessment of Project Implementation, Efficiency and Management 5 4.A Project Budget and Expenditure 6 4.B Activities and Outputs 6 4.B.1 Capacity building at institutional and community level 6 4.B.2 Nutrition Security 7 4.B.3 Natural Resources Management 10 4.B.4 Micro-projects 11 4.B.5 Monitoring system 12 4.C Government Support 13 4.D Project Management 13 4.E Technical and Operational Backstopping 14 5 Assessment of Results and Effectiveness 14 5.A Effects and Impact 14 5.B Sustainability and Environmental Impact of Results 17 5.B.1 Institutional sustainability 17 5.B.2 Economic sustainability 18 5.B.3 Environmental sustainability 18 5.C Gender Equity in Project Implementation and Results 19 5.D Cost-effectiveness 19 5.E Major factors affecting project results 20 6 Conclusions and Recommendations 20 6.A Conclusions 20 6.B Recommendations 20 7 Lessons Learned 23 Annex I: Terms of Reference for the Evaluation 1 Annex II: Projeto de Segurança alimentar e nutricional das familias na Provincia de Manica, GCP/MOZ/027/BEL, Reunião tripartida, 23/06/06 1 Annex III: Formações no âmbito da implementação das actividades de segurança alimentar e nutricional 1


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Abbreviations APO Associate Professional Officer BSF Belgian Survival Fund CAP Community Action Planning CBNRM Community-Based Natural Resources Management CMP Community Micro-Projects CTA Chief Technical Advisor DDA District Department of Agriculture FAOR FAO Representation FNS Food and Nutrition Security FNSMP Food and Nutrition Security Micro-Project GCP Government Cooperative Programme GoM Government of the Republic of Mozambique HQ Headquarters IGMP Income-generation micro-project JFFLS Junior Farmer Field and Life School (Projeto celeiros de vida) LTU Lead Technical Unit MoA Ministry of Agriculture MP Micro-project MTE Mid-Term Evaluation NPPC National Project Personnel Contract NRM Natural Resources Management NTE Not to be Exceeded (date) OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children PSA Personal Service Agreement PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal ProDoc Project Document SETSAN Secretaria Técnica para a Segurança Alimentaria e Nutricional

(Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security) TA Technical Assistance TCDC Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries TCAP FAO service managing direct relations with donors TCP Technical Co-operation Programme of FAO TEM Tripartite Evaluation Mission TPR Tripartite Review Meeting UNDP United Nations Development Programme USAID United States Agency for International Development WFP World Food Programme (United Nations)


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Executive Summary Overall view

1. The Mid-term Tripartite Evaluation (MTE) of the project Improving Nutrition and

Household Food Security in Manica Province, Mozambique (GCP/MOZ/027/BEL) took place in the period 12-23 June 2006. The team assembled in Maputo, held meetings with the FAO Representation, the donor and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Then it travelled to Chimoio, Manica Province, where it met with the Project team and set off to Macossa and Tambara Districts (five days). Further meetings were held in Chimoio upon return, with the team and project partners. An extended preliminary summary was discussed on the occasion of the project Tripartite Review meeting (TPR) on June 23, in Chimoio and a final draft was circulated to all stakeholders at the end of July. Comments stemming from both occasions were integrated, when pertinent, into the MTE report.

2. The Project Document (ProDoc) for GCP/MOZ/027/BEL was signed in May 2002, in the framework of the Belgian Survival Fund-FAO Programme, with a budget of approximately US$ 4.3 millions and an initial time-span of four years. Presently the Project is planned to be operational until December 2007. Areas for intervention were Chimoio (Manica province capital) urban and peri-urban poor neighbourhoods and Macossa District. Since mid-2005, also Tambara District was included.

3. Since the Project was formulated, GoM gave further impulse to decentralize development planning to district, sub-district and community level, this be carried out through a participatory approach. Further, the concentration of a number of FAO implemented projects in Manica and in the neighbouring Sofala Province led the FAO Representation to launch in the two provinces a Programme Approach, pooling together the resources made available by all projects.

Main findings and conclusions

4. The Project wanted to tackle food and nutrition insecurity and alleviate poverty. The

policy environment was helpful in taking decentralisation further down to district and community level. Management, including FAO procedures for disbursement of project funds, was weak and negatively affected project implementation.

5. Project results at the time of the MTE were still very mixed: many activities still need support and adjustments, others need to take off immediately, others could be introduced to ensure sustainability of what presently on-going. More in detail:

• the NRM component is on the right track and has achieved some positive outcomes; more efforts will be necessary to consolidate the NRM Committees and to ensure that benefits spread in the communities, and that sustainable management of natural resources take place also outside the hunting areas, game ranches and their buffer zones;

• the nutrition component lagged behind and it requires more resources and attention;

• participatory processes are often flawed and seem to capture mostly the voices and interest of few influential members of interested communities;

• only few micro-projects are solid; there is a huge need for capacity building on technical and organizational feasibility, economic sustainability, market analysis, etc.

6. In spite of these negative factors, the Project has proved so far to be flexible and ready


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to adapt to changing circumstances, whether external or internal. The Project team has been composed with adequate skills and competences, and the experience gained so far should not be dispersed. Moreover, the Programme Approach adopted by FAO in Manica and Sofala provinces opens up new challenges and opportunities for development of synergies and cost-effective use of resources shared among projects.

Main Recommendations

To all stakeholders

7. The MTE recommends that a budget neutral extension of the Project life be granted,

until June-July 2008, to allow two more complete years to start and consolidate activities at the different levels.

8. The Project has to concentrate efforts on a number of issues, namely participatory methodologies for planning and implementation, and integration of nutrition activities at all levels, including the development of nutrition educational materials.

To the Government of Mozambique

9. The MTE recommends that the GoM fully appreciates the extent of direct and indirect

costs incurred by communities when they are evicted in one way or another from coutadas and protected areas. Adequate compensatory measures should be offered by the Government and its partners, in terms of social services, support to sustainable development, and the like, to compensate these communities for the economic and environmental services they provide to the country as a whole.

10. The MTE recommends that the spirit of learning opportunity be safeguarded in the implementation of school gardens, also from a curriculum point of view and in terms of teachers’ skills.

To FAO

11. The MTE recommends strongly that the newly proposed administrative procedures for

project management, be approved and made operational as soon as possible, to allow proper disbursement of Project funds and implementation of activities, as per the 2006 Plan of Work.

To the Project, including Budget Holder and Lead Technical Unit

12. The MTE recommends strongly that the present post of nutritionist expert be continued

until project NTE date. In addition to this post, the Project should recruit in each district a nutrition facilitator (paid by the project), who under the guidance and supervision of the Project nutritionist, should carry out commonly agreed field work. It would be advisable that women facilitators be recruited for these positions, to facilitate communication with women in beneficiaries’ households. Among the facilitators’ tasks, there would be the full integration of nutrition improvement activities in the Community Action Planning process.

13. The MTE recommends strongly that in-depth refresher trainings take place for Project and partners’ staff, on participatory approaches, methods and tools, social


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differentiation in rural communities, improved targeting methods for vulnerable beneficiaries, etc.

14. The MTE recommends strongly that the concept and mechanisms for the identification and development of income-generating micro-projects be revised in depth, introducing the principles of business plans, market opportunities, saving and credit, technical and organizational feasibility, etc. A micro-credit/finance institution among those best reputed in the country and available to work in the Project districts, should be contracted to set-up credit and saving groups, train and assist them in managing their accounts, etc. If necessary, a specific consultancy should also be provided.

15. The MTE recommends strongly extending literacy and numeracy training beyond urban groups, to rural areas. All micro-project beneficiaries and women participants in particular, should be given the opportunity to participate in these.

16. The MTE recommends that under the Programme Approach, Farmer Field Schools be introduced and established with more emphasis in Macossa and Tambara districts.

17. The MTE recommends supporting schools with functioning school gardens, inspired by the model of JFFLS, to promote better nutrition and life skills. Within the same spirit, JFFLS should be promoted in the Project Districts, extending the concept also to non-gardening activities such as pottery, sewing, weaving, etc.

18. The MTE recommends careful review and revision, as necessary, of the manuals for School Gardens, for Nutrition for Primary Schools and for JFFLS to ensure they are appropriately targeted, avoid duplication and are complementary to each other in terms approaches and technical content.

19. The MTE recommends that the recently proposed monitoring system be applied, expanding it to include result-based and impact indicators, participatory indicators of impact. The baseline survey carried out in 2004 should be adjusted and applied again, to provide information on changes, if any, and their causes. The base-line survey foreseen for Tambara and other Districts should be carried out in such a way as to provide food security status of families at different points in time. It is also recommended that the Project collaborates with Manica Province SETSAN on monitoring of results and impact.

20. The MTE strongly recommends that the Project look more in detail at natural resources management and environmental issues, in particular:

• alternative uses of available natural resources in the hunting and buffer zones should be investigated, with a view at identifying new income-generating activities, be these related to eco- and cultural tourism or direct use of available natural resources;

• sustainable NRM and water harvesting or saving practices, including Conservation Agriculture should be a leading principle of all activities the Project carries out or supports, aimed at production for both home consumption and market, also in the multiple zone areas;


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1 Introduction 21. The Mid-term Tripartite Evaluation (MTE) of the project Improving Nutrition and

Household Food Security in Manica Province, Mozambique (GCP/MOZ/027/BEL) was intended to provide the government, FAO and the donor with information on the relevance of the project, on the efficiency of the project implementation, on the efficacy, impact and sustainability of the results accomplished, and with recommendations on eventual steps necessary to consolidate progress and ensure achievement of objectives. Terms of Reference (ToRs) were discussed with all stakeholders and finalized accordingly (Annex I).

22. The ProDoc, as per all BSF-FAO projects, foresaw that a beneficiary impact assessment be carried out before an external evaluation take place, to provide the latter with more in-depth analysis of project results and impact. In September 2005, FAO Evaluation Service funded and launched the Evaluation of FAO Cooperation Programme in Mozambique 2001-2005. This wide ranging exercise included among others, the study of the impact on food security of different interventions in Macossa District1, GCP/MOZ/027/BEL being the most important. When drafting the ToRs for the MTE, the parties agreed that the Impact study would be referred to as a beneficiary assessment. The MTE verified its own findings against the impact study’s analysis and conclusions, to find out they match to a large extent.

23. The members of the MTE team were Ms Fannie De Boer, representing the donor Belgian Survival Fund (BSF); Mr Raúl Cumba, representing the Government of Mozambique (GoM); Ms Tullia Aiazzi, representing FAO and team leader. The team as a whole provided all required competences and experience.

24. The MTE took place in the period 12-23 June 2006. The team assembled in Maputo, held meetings with the FAO Representation, the donor and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Then it travelled to Chimoio, Manica Province, where it met with the Project team and set off to Macossa and Tambara Districts (five days). Further meetings were held in Chimoio upon return, with the team and project partners. An extended preliminary summary was discussed on the occasion of the project Tripartite Review meeting (TPR) on June 23, in Chimoio and a final draft was circulated to all stakeholders in early August. Comments stemming from both occasions were integrated, when pertinent, into the present final MTE report.

25. The MTE thanks all those who contributed to facilitate its work and its understanding of the project, including the groups met in Macossa, Tambara and Chimoio.

2 Background and Context 26. Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest countries. Agriculture represents about 30%

of the country GDP, and is a source of livelihood for 88% of the population. The conclusion of the war, changed government economic policy and the restoration of rural marketing networks permitted a significant growth in output. But the growth of incomes and food production has failed to go hand in hand with significant improvements in nutritional status. Agricultural productivity, largely unchanged in recent years, remains well below the regional average.

1 Impact assessment of community based natural resources management for food security: case study of Macossa District, Francesca Declich, March 2006


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27. Mozambique was one of the first countries to engage in the World Bank’s promoted Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP) process. A first plan was set for 2001-2005, which included targeting of “fundamental areas of action” likely to have most impact on the poor, including agriculture and rural development, through income-generating opportunities, education, health, basic infrastructure, good governance, macro-economic and financial management. Agriculture and rural development are specifically identified as focus areas to reduce the vulnerability of the poor.

28. A National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition was launched in 1998, its main objective being to guarantee that all Mozambicans have continuous access to adequate food needed for a healthy and active life. The Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health had played an important role in putting food security issues on the national agenda, particularly with regard to recognising the critical linkages between the agriculture, nutrition and health sectors.

29. Although the role of capsule distribution as a short-term solution to the vitamin A deficiency problem is acknowledged, the National Strategy to Combat Micronutrient Deficiencies, integral part of the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition, strongly advocates the development of alternative approaches to dealing with vitamin A deficiency. Concentration on dietary-based approaches that simultaneously address the need for greater energy intake as well as improved diet quality are most appropriate for Mozambicans and are in accordance with the stated goals.

30. The Belgian Survival Fund was established in 1983 and collaboration with FAO started immediately afterward, in 1984 with a project in Kenya. The FAO-BSF partnership was extended in 1995 with a second project entitled “Improving Household Food Security and Nutrition in the Luapula Valley, Zambia”. A similar project commenced in Ethiopia in 1999.

31. Both organizations have the common objective of alleviating problems of malnutrition and its underlying causes, including household food insecurity and poverty, among vulnerable population groups in a sustained manner. The Programme seeks lasting improvements in household food security and nutrition: emphasis is placed on people’s participation and empowerment, through promotion of community-centred action planning processes

32. Supported countries were identified for inclusion in the FAO-BSF programme, on the basis of their level on malnutrition and food insecurity. Mozambique was the next choice and the Project idea was developed in 2001.

33. Since the Project was formulated, a major change in GoM policy with a direct and positive effect on its thrust, was the drive to decentralize development planning to district, sub-district (Administrative Post) and community level, this be carried out through a participatory approach. Technical Teams (equipas técnicas) were to be set up in all Districts, including all relevant public services, responsible for integrated planning, implementation and monitoring of development actions from the community to the district level. The Project had indeed advocated and set up a similar working group in Macossa, thus preceding the official policy.

34. During the Project’s life, a number of other FAO implemented projects were funded in Manica and in the neighbouring Sofala Province, including the recently started BSF-funded project aimed at households and people who are vulnerable in the context of HIV/AIDS (GCP/MOZ/079/BEL). This led the FAO Representation to launch in the two provinces a Programme Approach, pooling together the resources made available by all FAO projects operating in the area. A technical team was set up, and two


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Provincial coordinators recruited. Expected positive outcomes would be cost-effective use of human resources and equipment, synergies and wider scope for diffusion of results and experience stemming from any single project.

35. Furthermore, other relevant FAO projects ongoing during the same period turned out to be very pertinent, in particular a sequence of initiatives aimed at supporting the Government in the formulation and application of national laws on Land and Forest and Wildlife use, including their application rules and regulations.

36. The Project Document (ProDoc) for GCP/MOZ/027/BEL was signed in May 2002, with a budget of approximately US$ 4.3 millions and an initial time-span of four years. Presently the Project is planned to be operational until December 2007.

3 Assessment of Project Objectives and Design 3.A Justification 37. The indicators of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition in rural and urban

Mozambique, were, and still are justification solid enough to provide direct support to decentralised government structures and communities, in the form of capacity building and inputs. Thus, the core thrust of the Project was well founded.

38. Further, by the time of this Project formulation, encouraging results were stemming out of the BSF-FAO projects in Zambia and Ethiopia, in that tackling capacity building at different levels and improving Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) at household level, would be appropriate and adequate also in Mozambique. Indeed, this double thronged approach should allow tackling the four elements of FNS - availability, access, stability and utilization - under circumstances of high prevalence of subsistence agriculture and limited off-farm income opportunities, weak institutional capacity, low levels of education and chronic malnutrition.

39. The parties involved had agreed up-front that the Project would intervene at the same time in a rural district and in a urban/peri-urban area, both with high incidence of malnutrition and poverty, located at all-the-year round accessible sites, relatively close to allow easier communication. The high prevalence of poverty aggravating factors in urban/peri-urban areas such as HIV/AIDS, lack of traditional solidarity networks, fast growth of urban population, etc. were reasons strong enough indeed, to include urban communities among Project beneficiaries.

40. According to the 1997 Demographic and Health Survey, Manica province showed one of the highest values for chronic under-nutrition. The Manica Province Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SETSAN) had identified four districts in Manica province as particularly vulnerable to food insecurity, namely Guro, Tambara, Machaze and Macossa. Further, the Province head town Chimoio maintained still strong links with agricultural activities: cereal and horticultural production would be pursued on micro and small scale, in home gardens or in the immediate outskirts of the town, for both home consumption and market-oriented production. No data existed at the moment the project started, on poverty and food and nutrition security profiles for Chimoio, when the project started.

41. Thus, two sites were selected in collaboration with government: low income peri-urban areas of the Municipality of Chimoio and Macossa district, aiming at covering the whole of Macossa (approximately 17,000 people) and peri-urban low-income


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neighbourhoods in Chimoio (approximately 26,000). 3.B Objectives 42. The overall development objective was “To improve household food security and

nutrition, and reduce absolute poverty in rural and urban areas of Mozambique”. The intermediate objective was “Improve in sustainable ways household food security, nutrition and livelihoods of food-insecure and vulnerable population groups, through integrated community-based actions, and institutional capacity development at community, district, provincial and national levels”.

43. Four immediate objectives were set, each with a sub-set of outputs and activities, centred respectively on:

• institutional capacity building;

• improve year-round access to nutritious foods and household incomes through diversified and increased agricultural and livestock production;

• enhancing knowledge and promoting behavioural change related to key food, nutrition and health issues,

• setting up a participatory information system for monitoring and evaluation. 44. These Project objectives were the same as in the on-going BSF-FAO experiences in

Zambia and Ethiopia. This could be called a blue-print approach, though they were comprehensive enough not to be out of context even in Mozambique. The pre-set approach proved to be a short-coming in Macossa though: the ProDoc mentioned the existence of hunting areas (coutadas) taking up about 60% (80% in reality) of the whole territory, but no measure of any kind was foreseen to tackle this issue.

45. An important safeguard existed however through the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercises carried out among the activities of TCP/MOZ/0167 (see below) by the NGO MAGARIRO with the support of the NGO ANSA. The PRAs showed that the existence of coutadas in Macossa district territory affected food security and access to resources. A final restitution and planning seminar in early 2003 stressed the need to integrate natural resources management in the project.

46. Action was taken immediately by the Project, and a new Objective 4 was formulated: “To improve household food security and nutrition through increased community participation in the sustainable management of natural resources”. In April 2003, a Natural Resources Management (NRM) specialist was recruited, a staff of the FAO implemented project “Community Forestry and Wildlife Management” (GCP/MOZ/056/NET). This initiative had worked extensively on the various aspects of Community-based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) between 1997 and 2003.

47. Parties concerned were consulted informally to approve such a change. Formal endorsement came on the occasion of the first TPR meeting of GCP/MOZ/027/BEL on 17 November 2003. In the same occasion, the TPR agreed on the geographical expansion of the project to another district, still to be identified. This happened by mid-2005, through a decision by the Province Governor to include Tambara District. This is located in the northern-most tip of the Province and is completely isolated from the rest of the country from December to March approximately, due to absence of bridges over large river bodies.


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3.C Project Design 48. The BSF-funded Project was formulated through an FAO-funded Technical

Cooperation Programme (TCP) initiative, TCP/MOZ/0167 (9167) “Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Improving Nutrition and Household Food Security”. This was implemented over the period May 2001 and April 2003, with a total budget of US$ 359,968. Activities were to include training on participatory methodologies for GoM staff at province and district level, fine tuning to local circumstances of PRA methods, elaboration of a Project Document (ProDoc) for BSF funding in Manica province. These were fulfilled to a large extent, thanks also to the involvement of the national NGOs MAGARIRO and ANSA.

49. As already explained, the initial project design did not give any consideration to the existence of hunting areas in Macossa. The inclusion of early PRA exercises in the project design and strategy, however, helped in spotting soon the oversight and immediate action was taken to compensate for it, also in terms of resources made available to the component.

50. BSF-FAO Project activities were to focus on capacity building on a number of issues, technical and methodological, and on the use of planning participatory processes through which to reach out the most vulnerable and food-insecure, with whom to implement micro-projects at community and group level. No definition of vulnerability and food-insecurity exists however in the ProDoc, apart from a reference to widow-headed households in Chimoio. This omission may have lead later on, to loose targeting criteria, and to consider everyone equally poor, thus ending up in support being mainly directed to leaders and influential community members. This may have also affected indirectly, poor micro-projects results and sustainability.

51. A National Project Coordinator (NPC), possibly the Provincial Director of Agriculture, was to be responsible for ensuring day-to-day project implementation on behalf of the Government. A Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) was to manage the Project on behalf of FAO. Technical support was to be provided through partnerships administered through Letters of Agreement (LoAs), backstopping and consultancies, project staff. A District Facilitator was posted in Macossa, to promote project activities.

52. The Project Steering and Coordinating Committee was identified in the Province SETSAN, also chaired by the same Provincial Director/NPC; mechanisms were to be defined at project’s inception. This eventually did not work due to a number of reasons, among which possibly lack of capacities of the Province SETSAN office. The MTE considered that the NPC could not indeed be at the same time chair of the supervising and steering body of a project, and its manager.

53. Overall, the project set-up mirrored quite closely the first phase of the Zambia BSF-FAO projects and made provision for the necessary expertise and authority at field level to start a new initiative. Nevertheless, the weakness of the supervisory and coordinating body, compounded to the weak structure of some line-ministries at District level, namely the Ministry of Health, may have contributed to low involvement of the latter and low performance of the nutrition security component.

4 Assessment of Project Implementation, Efficiency and Management


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4.A Project Budget and Expenditure 54. The three parties involved agreed to contribute to the Project implementation as

follows: the Donor’s commitment was US$ 4,353,438.00; GoM was to contribute US$ 100,656 and FAO, US$ 722,473. The MTE did not find in documents made available, the detailed ProDoc budget.

55. GoM’s contribution was to be provided through staff time at Province and District level, and office accommodation. All commitments seem to have been largely met.

56. FAO’s contribution was provided through TCP/MOZ/167, for a total amount of US$ 360,744. The ProDoc states that more inputs would be provided during the project period.

57. During Project’s life, three Budget Revisions (BR) were approved, the last one in December 2005 (BR C). Major changes against the Oracle/DataWareHouse budget at Project’s inception (BR A) were: -20% in salaries of professional staff (-20%), -43% in contracts, -24% in training, -20% in technical backstopping, threefold increase in general service staff, twofold increase in consultants, expendable equipment and general operating expenses. In June 2006, 18 months before actual NTE date, project budget as reported in DataWareHouse was US$ 4,034,840 and total delivery amounted to 65% of this figure (US$ 2,635,372). Within this budget (BR C), personnel costs including consultants and backstopping, represent about 35.5%. Travel accounts for about 10% of budget.

58. A rough estimate of funds reaching directly and indirectly communities indicates 36% of the budget, by summing up contracts, training, equipment and inputs. It could be argued further that personnel and consultant costs are indirect support to communities, but a precise accounting of time use should be made to reach a more accurate figure.

59. All field activities in Macossa and Tambara Districts, as well as the great majority in Chimoio urban and peri-urban areas, are funded through the Project budget. Project human resources, on the other hand, may be funded also through the other projects coming under the FAO Programme in Manica and Sofala, as much as staff paid by the Project budget, contributes to implementation of activities outside Macossa, Tambara and Chimoio.

4.B Activities and Outputs 60. Annexes II and III contain the detailed list of project activities and outputs, as presented

by the Project staff on the occasion of the TPR in Chimoio on 23 June 2006. The MTE could not assess directly all of them due to time and seasonal constraints (e.g. Inputs Trade Fairs take place towards the end of the calendar year). Thus, the following sub-chapters contain comments on those activities and outputs the MTE could analyse directly, unless otherwise specified.

4.B.1 Capacity building at institutional and community level

61. Capacity building of Project staff and partner institutions is carried out through formal

training events, seminars, interaction and backstopping at all levels. A complete list of formal events is in Annex III.

62. There was evidence that main topics of training across the board were participatory methodology and approaches, which started with the TCP activities aimed at GoM


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Provincial staff. A more recent event mentioned was the Tambara District training on participatory planning for the District Technical team. Training was also provided on subject matters related to technical innovations, such as animal traction. Nutrition training is discussed below.

63. Overall, approximately 275 staff participated into training events on different subjects, since 2002. Due to the extremely high rate of GoM staff turn-over, many if not most of these may have left the Project areas. This means that on one hand, the Project efforts on capacity building may benefit other provinces and districts in the country, though it becomes impossible to assess their result. On the other hand, every year new staff has to be trained on a number of topics, to raise their capacities up to the required level to contribute effectively to project activities. This does not contribute to smooth project implementation and drains resources from the project budget.

64. At community level, capacity building was mainly carried out through micro-projects and the Natural Resources Management component, in particular within the set-up of NRM Committees. Participants tend to remember and appreciate formal training events to different extents, but a lot of skills building happens also in informal settings, through meetings and discussion with the Project facilitators and GoM staff. Approximately 240 people took part into these training sessions, 38 of whom were women.

65. Exchange visits also took place between groups within the Province, as well as training on micro-enterprise development and management for micro-project participants. None of the two seems to have produced lasting results.

4.B.2 Nutrition Security

66. The ProDoc presented nutrition information, education and communication as a major

input to achieve its Immediate Objective 3. Overall, not many activities on nutrition promotion were carried out, to the extent that the Impact assessment study in Macossa did not find any evidence of nutrition promotion activities. A short-term international consultancy took place in 2004, carried out an analysis and formulated recommendations, including a nutrition education strategy. None of these were implemented so far: the Project lacked continuity in the presence of a nutritionist until August 2005, because of the unsatisfactory performance of the initially recruited long-term consultant.

67. Weaknesses notwithstanding, first steps toward a better understanding of the problem were as follows: i) in 2001-2002, during the inception phase profiles of the different Project sites (for Chimoio 8 barrios; Macossa District 6 communities) were elaborated, focusing on natural resources, social structure, seasonal food availability, nutrition, well-being and activity pattern. The profiles were used as an input to formulate the development strategies for the different sites; ii) in 2004, a base line survey was carried out in Macossa and Chimoio, including data on the nutritional status of the population, which could serve to assess future changes; iii) a proposal was made for a Nutrition Education Strategy (Charity Dirorimwe, 2004).

68. The base line was done in June 2004, taking a sample from the population of the project area. At that time, post-harvest period of a good production year, people had access to food whereas usually during the months December – February, around 20% of the households do experience a food shortage (baseline survey report). This fact should be taken into account when planning the follow-up of the baseline, which should be done preferably during the same period as the first survey round. To measure the nutritional


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status, anthropometric data of under fives were included. Unfortunately, data were not reported according to international measuring and reporting standards (usage of stunting, period for exclusive breast-feeding). In the opinion of the MTE, the baseline missed the opportunity to measure dietary intake through for example, measuring dietary diversification (International Food Policy Research Institute- IFPRI – guidelines). According to the ProDoc, a number of activities were aimed at diversifying dietary intake (nutrition education, cultivation of vegetables, promotion of orange fleshed sweet potatoes, income generating activities. etc.). A baseline in the current dietary pattern would have been instrumental in measuring the impact of some of these activities, considering that anthropometric measures are less suitable for this purpose.

69. The 2004 international consultancy elaborated also the component of school gardens, grounded on the vision that school garden based activities would lead to direct improvements in knowledge, skills, and behaviour around food and nutrition among primary school girl and boy children and their families in Macossa and City of Chimoio Districts. The MTE’s observations on the school garden visited at a boarding school in Macossa Sede are as follows: vegetables grown (tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions) were used to supplement the meals served at the boarding school. The students taking care of the gardens did receive some skill training on the cultivation but did not have any nutritional knowledge on the importance of vegetables in the diet. Further, the students were not particularly interested in the activity and looked at it as an extra burden to their workload.

70. The Project contributed financially to a limited extent, to Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS), established to provide Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) with farming and life skills. The approach is based on an experiential learning process, and on making informed decisions about local options in the field of agriculture, food processing and nutrition. Schools provide one meal to all children, made available so far through international food aid and supplemented with the vegetables the children grow. Thanks to this, and to the attractive curriculum of JFFLS, OVCs are stimulated to attend both the regular school and the extra classes (3 times per week) of the JFFLS. At one visited JFFLS in Macossa, children seemed to enjoy very much the approach. There seemed to be a good mix in training on farming skills and nutrition. In Tambara, a school director who had been exposed previously to JFFLS, has introduced it into his present school, seeking inputs and technical assistance from the local District Direction of Agriculture (DDA). The Project is also assisting with technical backstopping.

71. Currently the project is involved in finalising a one year curriculum to integrate farming skills with life skills in which attention for food, nutrition, HIV/AIDS and hygiene would be included. The Project nutritionist has been involved in the development of the materials. In addition, graduates of the JFFLS will receive additional assistance in income generating activities. A possible suggestion could be to explore and propose potential income-generating micro-projects, to assist the families and caretakers of OVCs.

72. Helen Keller International (HKI) was contracted in 2003 through LOA 002/07/08/03, to develop training materials on food and nutrition security for primary schools. Current status was that some of the work books and the teacher training manuals had been cleared by Rome and were ready for field testing. The remainder of the work books and manuals were still in a draft state and will need clearance from FAO Leading Technical Unit (LTU).

73. The current materials developed should be broadened to reflect at all grades, issues like


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eating habits and socio-cultural influences, nutrition and personal health, food production, processing and distribution, food preservation and storage and food preparation. For the higher grades there should be a synergy between the training materials developed for the Primary Schools, the manual for the School Garden and the materials developed for the JFFLS schools.

74. Despite the fact that the development of the materials suffered serious delays, the MTE thinks it would be worthwhile to proceed with their development. The case of BSF-FAO project in Zambia tells that such materials are very useful: the introduction of nutrition and health issues in the curriculum of Primary Schools can be very beneficial for pupils, teachers and parents to increase their knowledge on food, nutrition and health and to promote positive attitudes and behavioural changes towards improved dietary habits and food utilisation. Taking in account all the work HKI has done to develop the educational materials and their keen interest to proceed with it, it is worthwhile to explore if they could develop this further, under close supervision of the LTU and FAOR., Materials developed in Zambia, they were introduced successfully, could be a valuable example.

75. The Project is supporting two theatre groups, in Chimoio and Macossa Sede respectively, to disseminate messages through theatre performances on common problems associated with NRM (illegal hunting, bush fires, illegal cutting of trees etc) and with nutrition, care and health issues (proper care for pregnant mothers, diarrhoea, feeding practices, balanced diet, hygiene etc.). Theatre performances also took place during the Inputs Trade Fairs organized in the District.

76. The theatre group in Macossa gave a lively presentation for the MTE’s benefit. No involvement of the public into the play was foreseen, though the actors stated that usually after the play, they discussed with the audience, under facilitation of the health sector technician, on the issues raised in the play. One of the main problems mentioned by the theatre groups was the lack of transport to perform on a regular basis in the different communities: the last performance outside Macossa had taken place sometime in 2005. Theatre is an excellent way to create awareness on the different issues, but not much beyond this stage. A more active way (active drama) to draw the public into the play could be worth trying.

77. Another way mentioned to relay messages to a wider audience was the use of radio broadcasting for nutrition education, which however covers only Chimoio and its near surroundings. The broadcast was suspended due to the absence of nutrition expertise within the project. With the FAO nutritionist in place, discussions are going on to resume the broadcast. If these should have a positive outcome, the Project may consider getting some technical support to produce appropriate messages.

78. The ProDoc foresaw that all micro project groups should receive nutrition education to improve consumption of balanced family meals and dietary diversification, including nutritionally sound weaning foods for small children. The activity is included in the nutritionist’s work-plan for 2006 (see 4.D below). Considering that the captive audience would be easily accessible and work could be linked with income generation and/or increased food availability, for example through horticulture, this is a lost opportunity up to now. Further, food preparation sessions in Macossa district are listed under project activities, though the MTE saw no evidence of this.

79. Low level of attention was also given to nutrition in the Community Action Planning (CAP), possibly because of low awareness and knowledge on nutritional issues among the district technical teams responsible for the planning. Also, it is unlikely that a


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community unaware of nutrition/health issues, will identify nutrition as their main problem at community level.

80. Last, Output 3.3 in the ProDoc foresaw the establishment of a community-based growth monitoring and nutrition promotion system. In the Zambia BSF-FAO project, trained community nutrition promoters (volunteers) are responsible for running these activities, and an exchange of experience could be sought. The MTE considers it might have a huge potential also in Mozambique. Taking into account the high rates of malnutrition (around 50% of all under-fives partaking in the baseline were considered malnourished) and the high rates of not exclusively breastfeeding combined with poor weaning practices, growth monitoring and counselling of the caretakers by growth faltering could have a great impact. The development of appropriate weaning food based on locally available food stuffs, taking into account seasonality, could also be integrated.

4.B.3 Natural Resources Management

81. In spite of the fact that NRM had not been initially included among Project objectives,

this component has been extremely important in contributing to positive Project results in Macossa District. The Project played a key role in negotiating between communities and private operators of existing coutadas and game ranches, thanks also to the technical backstopping and support from FAO implemented projects, namely GCP/MOZ/081/NET for the training of judges on land, forest and wildlife legislations. Activities and results of this component are well acknowledged and appreciated by all stakeholders.

82. The re-zoning (zoneamento) of Coutada 9 was carried out through the Project, along with the set-up and training of the Natural Resources Management Committees in and around the hunting and buffer areas. Awareness, sensitization and training activities on NRM are bringing about changes in attitudes and practices: decreased uncontrolled fires and poaching, as well as a different perception of the value of local available natural resources by the local communities.

83. Nevertheless, there is still confusion about the respective roles of actors involved: the Committees and their guards (fiscais), the Police and the Judiciary system. This is also due to lack of awareness and information at Police level about the legislations and their application modalities. These aspects are already tackled partly by the Project.

84. Through the re-zoning process, four communities who lost part of their territory to the hunting zones could be registered: this entitles them to receive 20% of the taxes paid on proceedings from the hunting areas and game ranches. The communities have not received this amount yet, because the zoning was completed recently; they do not know the actual amount they will receive and they cannot to realize yet the real magnitude of the benefit or of the loss. Also, modalities for its use have still to be tested.

85. In relation to the compensation process, the MTE agrees with the Impact Assessment Study (see footnote 1) statement: “if such opportunity is not dealt with proper skills and is not carefully managed, the entire process may result only in scarce and occasional benefits for the communities, while they become alienated from their land and means of survival”. Equally correct, the report raised the potential ambiguity of the compensation mechanism: communities wish to use this income to create access to social infrastructures and services the Government should provide through its current fiscal policy. In other words, communities may end up paying twice. This entails that communities will have to be advised on how to use that income sustainably, to increase


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their assets and opportunities and not eroding them further. In this process, FAO and the Project should play a key advisory role.

86. Relations between the communities and Coutada 9 operators are improving. The constructive attitude of the operator, who contributed funds already to the communities as a form of pre-indemnity, was a key element. These funds were used so far for the construction of a health-emergency post in one case, and to install a grain-mill in the community. The operator himself acknowledges the importance of FAO in the whole process, to mediate with GoM institutions and to support capacity building in the communities.

87. The zoneamento and negotiation process on-going around Coutada 9 is the only successful example in Mozambique of this kind so far, and experience gained will be highly useful for other similar situations.

88. A few micro-projects proposed by the project are also related to NRM, namely bee-keeping, carpentry and handicraft development. On the other hand, other income-generation micro-projects promoted by DDA with the Project support could be detrimental to sustainable NRM and to health, namely animal traction2 and use of agro-chemicals on vegetable crops, this in the absence of adequate protection and information.

4.B.4 Micro-projects

89. To some extent, micro-projects (MP) were intended to be the shop-window of the

Project at community level. These were funded through the so-called Community Development Fund, a specific budget line set aside for this purpose. MPs were supposed to be identified by beneficiaries through participatory diagnostics, and to be implemented by groups of participants. The Project distinguishes three different main types of MPs, and 35 different variants. Categories are:

• Community Micro-Projects (CMPs) to improve social infrastructures, including water points etc.

• Income Generation Micro-Projects (IGMP), wherein funds, equipment and inputs are provided to a group of beneficiaries to start or strengthen a profit-oriented activity;

• Micro-Projects aimed at improving the household food and nutrition security (FNSMP), wherein the output is intended to be mainly for home-consumption.

90. The Participatory Rural Appraisal exercises carried out in Macossa and Chimoio in

2002 seem to have produced reliable and useful diagnostics of communities’ needs and constraints, as well as possibly adequate mapping of the different social groups in each community, including their different level of vulnerability and poverty. It does not seem however that these studies were later utilized by the Project staff, let alone updated or used as an example for new communities coming under the Project, in the actual identification and formulation of any micro-project. At the end of 2005, a new round of CAP exercises was carried out, to identify new MPs.

91. The MTE visited a number of MPs, mostly IGMPs and confirms to a large extent the findings of the Impact study. In particular:

• the distinction between IGMP and FNSMPs is very blurred and possibly non-existent,

2 Animal traction allows more land to be put under cultivation, which is obtained by slash and burning of the forest. The proper use of agro-chemicals is very difficult to ensure in areas with high illiteracy levels.


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because any produce seems to be used for both home consumption and market, in poor households;

• some confusion exists as well about CMPs: a cereal bank implemented by a small group of beneficiaries, who will make their profit by selling grain stored at a high price, is rather an IGMP, since the number of direct beneficiaries is very limited. On the contrary, if a community committee were established to manage a cereal bank storing produce to be sold at a favourable price to vulnerable households in moments of need, it would then be a CMP;

• the Project is missing an easy and optimal entry-point for reaching out communities on nutritional issues, by the lack of integration of nutrition education in all micro-projects;

• the lack of elementary analysis of possible market outlets for most of the IGMPs products, and of attention to technical sustainability and organizational feasibility (e.g. motor pumps) for IGMPs and FNSMPs, undermine the sustainability of most initiatives and the credibility of the Project and of GoM institutions proposing them;

• the participatory process to identify MPs, especially IGMPs, seems to be flawed and heavily jeopardized by most influential members in the communities: e.g., it was difficult for the MTE to believe that support to a group of 10 carpenters, was the first priority of a whole community;

• the absence of a financial contribution of beneficiaries into IGMPs and FNSMPs, which implies perpetuating a dependence attitude on external aid, represents a missed opportunity for introducing concepts of credit and saving, and increases the risks of diversion of benefits by powerful community members.

92. Further, possibly due also to lack of strong methodological guidance, the Project has

used the Community Development Fund to finance MoA programmes at community level, without a critical analysis of the implications of some of the promoted activities. This applies in particular to free horticultural seed distribution, which fosters the dependence attitude, and to the campaigns for development of goat raising and animal traction, which did not seem to have taken in consideration the presence of trypanosomiasis in a number of locations.

93. A case in point, the apparently accepted request by Macossa Administration for a plough to utilize two available tractors for opening up and tilling land for food production, lacks adequate analysis of environmental, technical, organizational and social implications. The MTE would suggest that these be carried out before granting any approval, to ascertain the pertinence and sustainability of the proposal.

94. Last, mention was often made of faulty treadle pumps: although it is recognized that the technology could be appropriate for some areas, the Mozambique manufactured pumps seem to break very frequently and to be too heavy to be used easily by women. The Provincial Direction for Agriculture had already analysed the weaknesses and the FAOR took adequate note of the problem.

4.B.5 Monitoring system

95. As mentioned above, one of the ProDoc Immediate Objectives aimed at setting up a

participatory M&E system. This notwithstanding, until now monitoring was mainly focused on reporting of activities progress, carried out by Project staff. Although it is evident that this reporting system also implied a feedback mechanism to tackle problems, it was carried out in an informal way, with no use of indicators at any level.


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96. Beneficiaries were supposed to keep a group or community notebook, where they would register activities, problems, outputs, etc. These were properly used in some cases, less so in others, though it is not clear how these would be used by the group itself or by the Project. For the time being, it looks more a formal procedure to be fulfilled, with neither practical nor symbolic value.

97. At the moment of the MTE, a proposal for a monitoring system of activities and outputs had just been finalized. One of its aims seems also to be building up the team’s common working procedures, language and approaches. Again, no indicators of results or impact were included, and there seems to be some confusion, about the concept and use of indicators, the possibility to identify participatory indicators of results and impact with beneficiaries, etc.

4.C Government Support 98. Apart from an initial period during which weak administration at District level

contributed to slow pace of activities and possibly to mismanagement of funds, since 2004 the situation has greatly improved. There is clear evidence of a good level of ownership of Project’s activities, by District Administrations and by the different levels of MoA. The MTE considers that present relations and collaborations between the province and district directorates and local administrations, and the Project, are excellent.

99. As already mentioned the only dissonant the MTE could not help noticing, was the weak relationship between the project and the Ministry of Health (MoH). In most discussion the MTE held at district level, representatives of this ministry were absent. It is not clear whether this was a cause or a consequence of the low profile of nutrition within project activities (see 20).

4.D Project Management 100. The MTE notes that until December 2005, Project leadership was weak and

discontinued. The ProDoc foresaw a Chief Technical Advisor, which was an appropriate measure in consideration of the complexity of the project, remoteness of implementation areas and FAO disbursement procedures (see below). However, initially an Associate Professional Officer (APO) was posted alone3 in Chimoio in November 2002, and she could not operate an FAO imprest account according to FAO rules and regulations. The APO left toward mid 2003, and a CTA arrived in September the same year. According to all stakeholders, management under the CTA’s guidance was slow, lacked leadership and vision and although disbursement was feasible, not much was accomplished. At departure (May 2005), the National Project Coordinator took over, which meant a new slowing down of disbursement procedures. In September, the NPC suffered a serious car accident and coordination responsibility was given to the NRM expert, until December 2005, when the FAO Manica Programme Coordinator took on duty. Since then, the FAO Manica and Sofala technical team has been set up, now presently composed of 6 experts, including national, TCDC and international consultants.

101. Discontinued presence also applies to the Nutrition component, a key pillar of the

3 APOs should be posted to projects where a senior officer can supervise their work and provide guidance


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Project. A sequence of national and international consultants was recruited, but none stayed in place for long and long intervals took place in between. The recruitment in August 2005 of a TCDC nutritionist with a one year contract was an important step toward tackling this key sector, as long as the consultant can remain in post for a longer period.

102. The hiccups in project management caused also a certain degree of loss of institutional memory and absence of follow-up in fields other than the nutrition component. The MTE was informed only through the comments to its final draft report in August 2006 that, two back-stopping missions had been carried out in 2004, respectively on the Community Development Fund and on micro-enterprise development.

103. In spite of difficulties, the Project has proved so far to be flexible and ready to adapt to changing circumstances, whether external or internal. Present staff, most of them in post since December 2005/January 2006, is competent and very committed, and the level of knowledge of the areas of intervention is quite good. The team as such does not seem to have attained a high level of integration and common vision on work ahead, but there are efforts on-going in this sense. Although FAO seems to have taken new measures very recently in this respect, the MTE noted worryingly that all staff were recruited through Personal Service Agreement (PSA): this contractual tool does not allow securing good staff in place for long periods.

104. On the other hand, the implementation of the approved 2006 Work Plan was delayed at the time of the MTE, due to misunderstandings occurred between the BH/the Project and FAO, on procedures to follow for fund disbursement with partner institutions.

105. The MTE is also concerned by the size of the team, against the likely workload from FAO staff that the Programme Approach in Manica and Sofala Provinces, including 8 districts, will require once at full steam.

4.E Technical and Operational Backstopping 106. As mentioned above, apart from the problems raised by a discontinued and weak

leadership, FAO administrative procedures do not allow local disbursement in the absence of an FAO staff member. Further, required endless steps, modalities of disbursement and ceilings applied to Letters of Agreement (LoA), difficult communication from the field to Maputo and Rome, just to mention a few of many obstacles, all militated and still act against smooth implementation of Project activities.

107. In December 2005 and March 2006, a consultancy analysed in depth all administrative and financial procedures, and recommended important changes to these, together with a new contractual tool to replace the LoA. Further, the recent Evaluation of FAO Programme in Mozambique (final report, June 2006) also analysed in great detail, administrative procedures, and its findings and recommendations follow the same principles. No approval of proposed changes was granted however by FAO HQ yet.

5 Assessment of Results and Effectiveness 5.A Effects and Impact 108. Effects and impact have been analysed against the evaluation questions raised in the

Terms of Reference of the MTE. No effects and impact could be discerned in relation to


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the Project Information System, thus this will not be analysed further. Improving year-round access at household level in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to a

variety of nutritious foods, including those rich in micronutrients and fat, and improve

household incomes;

Enhancing communities and household’s knowledge base on food, nutrition and health and

promote positive attitudes and behavioural changes, that result in improved diet quality,

adequate nutritional intakes and better dietary utilization, with a specific focus on young

child and maternal nutrition

109. The Project has succeeded in increasing food security in terms of availability and

access, for the families partaking in the activities. However, on the one hand it is hard if not impossible to assess to what extent this occurred; on the other, stability of food security is still at risk, since people in some locations mentioned that they will still be food insecure for some months this year, in spite of a good harvest. There is no doubt that in Macossa, the regular occurrence of bad production years (drought or floods), which are shocks to food security requiring at least two good harvests to recover, make it almost a chronically food-insecure area. Furthermore, the small scale of Project interventions cannot induce a substantial impact on availability and access to food of the population at large.

110. The JFFLS included health/nutrition messages in their classes and the two theatre groups spread to a limited extent, messages concerning health/nutrition/environmental sanitation. Diet diversification may occur to some extent, again at household level, through the horticultural production. All seem to use produce for both home-consumption and market, but no analysis exist of how much goes to each use and if households have changed in a substantive way their dietary patterns. Overall however, due to the weak implementation of the Nutrition component and in the absence, to the knowledge of the MTE of other interventions, it is unlikely that any change occurred in relation to the use of more nutritious food, e.g. fats and oils.

111. Acute food insecurity and malnutrition, no matter how negative they can be from a poverty alleviation perspective, are not however the major issue in the Project Districts. Here, as in most of the country, chronic malnutrition is a much deeper plague, which affects the long term perspectives of development of the country. In this respect, the Project has not been effective at all on the “utilization” factor of the equation, in other words in improving dietary patterns.

Enhancing capacities of service providers, NGO´s and community-based organizations to

plan, implement, monitor/evaluate and co-ordinate community-based household food security

and nutrition interventions.

Enhancing the capacity of local institutions for implementation using locally available

resources and building on past experiences

112. Overall, the Project has been quite active in providing capacity building opportunities to

its partners. Results of these are difficult to see, due possibly to the high mobility of government staff. Still, the MTE considers that on nutrition and on participatory planning methods, there is still a large room for improvement.

113. The capacity to use locally available resources is not developed as it should, nor are the capacities to identify and organize sustainable income-generating activities.


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114. At community level, there is evidence of a positive change of attitudes and behaviour, in relation to sustainable NRM, but not on other issues such as nutrition, improved participatory processes, empowerment of vulnerable groups.

Improving household food security and nutrition through increased community participation

in the sustainable management of natural resources

115. Knowledge and awareness about sustainable NRM within the communities have

increased, and there are promising signs that improved practices are applied and may expand. Much more technical assistance and awareness rising will however be necessary, to ensure that communities get well acquainted with the management principles to be followed.

116. Communities will start receiving sometime in 2006 the 20% levy on operator’s taxes on earnings from hunting; this will be a crucial moment for them to realize the actual dimension of long term costs and benefits of giving up their territory to external investors. The Project and responsible institutions will have a key role then, to help communities to understand what the possible uses of these funds are, how they should be managed, etc.

117. In the medium and long term, activities in this field may well lead to increased food security, although the link between CBNRM, income accruing into community accounts and increased food and nutrition security is not necessarily straightforward. For a number of household, CBNRM may translate into direct income because of their role in use of natural resources, employment for tourism activities, etc. For most however, benefits will be indirect, through social services (e.g. the clinic, a water supply system) identified as necessary by the whole community and paid for from the tax-revenue. The Project will thus have a role and responsibility in further follow-up, to try to ensure that CBRNM brings benefits for most community members.

118. Sustainable natural resources management and environmental sustainability seem to be taken into account only for the hunting and buffer zones, although these principles should be guiding also food production anywhere else in the Project areas of intervention. Risks are that the drive to increase food production, will hide the importance of assessing environmental impact of agricultural and livestock development practices. This will affect in the long term both food production, because of the erosion and pollution of the resource base, as well as the potential attraction of the hunting areas, thus decreasing future incomes of communities concerned.

119. What above will worsen further without proper attention to water-harvesting issues There seems to exist, a range of potentially useful experiences in the country already for home-based tanks. At the same time, the cropping techniques coming under the title of Conservation Agriculture and tested in the country through an FAO TCP, could also be more widely diffused under the Project.

Reaching out to the intended target beneficiaries;

Enhancing the targeting and effectiveness of interventions through the introduction of a

participatory planning and action approach increasing flexibility, responsibility and

institutional capacity in terms of management capacity and resource allocation.

120. The ProDoc established that main beneficiaries should be vulnerable groups in the

communities, and this was the guideline for the participatory diagnostics in the


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communities. In 2004, however, it seems that a decision was made by District authorities that the widespread level of poverty in Macossa, made targeting a useless step.

121. Evidence available seems to disprove the validity of such a decision, at least for a number of activities. Project staff and District level staff, all agree that only a few people can afford paying required sums to receive cattle for tractions and related implements, and even the down-payment required for a goat requires some cash availability. Horticultural seeds distributed free, as well as oil-presses, might have reached in principle most vulnerable families, but again, anecdotal evidence gathered by the MTE and information from the Impact study, challenge also this hypothesis.

122. The nature of the participatory process led by District technical teams at community level does not seem to be able yet to ensure enhanced targeting. Because of the traditional structure of society in rural areas and due to the greater facility of working with community leaders, it is questionable whose are the voices listened to and taken into account, when planning exercises are carried out. This automatically affects the nature of micro-projects selected in a given community, in particular IGMPs and FNSMPs. In spite of a good policy framework and good intentions on the side of those running these processes, the social and cultural constraints are such that more attention and effort should be devoted to identify ways to reach the beneficiaries initially intended, the vulnerable groups, and to improve the process in terms of transparency, accountability and sustainability.

123. The MTE did not have any evidence that Community Action Planning, considered to be the main pillar of the Project, was a process owned by the communities, through which they had gained control over decisions about local development. Indeed, considering that the term “participation” can indicate quite different levels of involvement of interlocutors, the MTE has strong doubts about the participatory nature of the planning process at community level. For example, the concept of empowerment of beneficiaries is virtually absent from any illustration of the planning process by those mandated to lead it. To the contrary, the assistance/dependence attitude is reinforced by the modalities of implementation of micro-projects, in particular IGMPs and FNSMPs. Literacy training, a very empowering tool for poor people and women in particular, was foreseen by the ProDoc for community trainers, associated with training on HIV/AIDS prevention. However, nothing was done so far and 2006 plans include literacy training only for the Chimoio area.

124. In so far effectiveness of interventions is concerned, results are short of expectations partly because of lack of technical and managerial guidance, resulting in poor design of micro-projects, in particular IGMPs. However, poor results are also due to the lack of a supportive environment in rural areas for sustainable local development. The latter is mostly out of control of the Project, but the MTE considers that some attempts could be made at tackling parts of the problem, for example through the promotion of micro-finance in its areas of action.

5.B Sustainability and Environmental Impact of Results 5.B.1 Institutional sustainability

125. The Project model for District level integrated and coordinated planning has proved

sustainable, thanks to the new GoM policy on decentralization. Teams are set-up by


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now in all Districts and down to Administrative post and community, and the Project activity and support to them, should produce long-lasting results. The high turn-over of staff obviously affects sustainability of capacity building work at the District level, but ensures at the same time, spreading of potential project’s results beyond the Province.

126. Perspectives of institutional sustainability for the work done on zoning and negotiation process around the hunting area look bright, in terms of capacities built. More needs to be done, especially in terms of training and sensitization of police forces on the subject, and to accompany the next steps of the process, but the activity is well inscribed in the Project’s plan of work. On the other hand, it is quite clear that the zoneamento activity and work with the communities and license holders, will always be the Government’s responsibility, supported whenever necessary by its partners.

127. The integration of Project’s plan of activity into District Government Strategic Plan would be another element ensuring sustainability of Project thrust. This is however somewhat debatable, since it looks more like the Project has often accepted in the past to finance GoM plans without any added value in terms of technical assistance, critical analysis of their set-up, etc. This was particularly visible in relation to the micro-projects carried out with DDA. These micro-projects look poor in terms of institutional sustainability: they need heavy financial inputs, a well-functioning extension network, availability of equipments and spare parts, none of these likely to be available through government funds for quite some time more.

5.B.2 Economic sustainability

128. With some exception for a few IGMPs in the Green Belt of Chimoio, the MTE’s

assessment of micro-projects in terms of economic sustainability is very low. This even when taking into consideration that in the Project area, an important level of subsidy to promote development and food security is still necessary. This has clear accepted implications on the potential for diffusion and replication of development initiatives, in particular productive micro-projects. However, it cannot imply that IGMPs proposed should not be sustainable from an economic point of view, once the initial financial injection is provided by the Project.

129. The need to ensure economic sustainability of development initiatives does not respond only to the requirements of a market-driven economy. It mostly bears upon the self-confidence of the population involved, its trust in Government institutions, its willingness to take active part in the country development process. Thus, proposing unsustainable IGMPs goes well beyond the simple failure to sell a cabbage crop, since it may have much more lasting consequences.

5.B.3 Environmental sustainability

130. The Project has made good progress in the introduction of sustainable NRM principles

and actions in Macossa area. There is good evidence that sensitization and awareness raising, together with opening up the possibility for communities to earn an income through the sustainable use of resources, has a positive effect on the environment.

131. However, environmental sustainability should be pursued also outside the hunting areas and the buffer zones. Some attention seems to be paid to the introduction of more drought-resistant species and varieties and some mention was made in the Impact study, of Conservation Agriculture trials in Macossa by DDA.


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132. Nevertheless, some of the agricultural activities promoted by DDA and supported by the Project in the multiple use areas, namely expansion of tilled land through slash and burn due to incentives to bovine traction, use of pesticides on horticultural crops, cannot be considered environment friendly practices. This considering that alternatives such as organic agriculture and Integrated Pest Management practices, no tillage, poultry diffusion etc., exist and are by now widely tested and have proven their worth.

133. Further, the MTE notes the absence of actions aimed at water-harvesting system, be these for human, cattle or irrigation purposes.

5.C Gender Equity in Project Implementation and Results 134. The social organization in the District is very traditional, meaning that in public life,

men have more rights to speak up and to make decisions and that women do not enjoy the same rights and access to resources of any kind. In the base line of the area it was mentioned that only 40% of the women are literate, against 55% of the men. Illiteracy is associated with a low level of acceptance of new methods and other information (nutrition education) to improve one’s livelihood.

135. In the micro-projects and in training events, overall male participants outnumber women, although in some associations the contrary applies. Also, the great majority of leaders were men. Project staff is aware of gender issues and claims to raise the topic in their activities. Nevertheless, the MTE could identify only two MPs structured specifically for women, handicraft and poultry breeding. Although gender balanced activities would be ideal, there are social circumstances where gender-based targeting becomes necessary. A case in point, no effort was made to give women participants, basic skills such as literacy, numeracy, technical and management capacity building.

136. The Project has a majority of women staff in the core team, but in the three Project zones, all district coordinators are men. This may be due of course to women’s resistance to be posted to remote districts. This affects the Project capacity to reach out to women, in particular on productive activities mainly implemented by DDA staff, all male, and to integrate specific nutrition and food preparation issues into their messages.

5.D Cost-effectiveness 137. As mentioned above, about 36% of project budget so far reached the intended primary

beneficiaries in the communities. From the point of view of a tax-payer in the donor’s country, this might not be a cost-effective way to work.

138. However, management costs of such a complex project, absorb necessarily many resources: under circumstances of low institutional capacity, support to communities requires that resources be devoted also to dialogue and interaction with government institutions and institutional capacity building. This, in a country where competent national human resources have a high opportunity cost, affects the net amount of resources reaching eventually the communities.

139. The MTE considers the weakest point in cost-effectiveness to be the micro-projects. This applies mainly to the income-generating micro-projects, considering the lack of consideration given in their identification and implementation to organizations feasibility and economic sustainability.


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5.E Major factors affecting project results 140. The decentralization policy was starting to take shape in GoM’s development strategy

when the project was formulated, but the pace of its implementation was still unknown. Although some risk existed that this would not happen, which would have jeopardized the sustainability of the structure set-up at District level, the Project anticipated and benefited eventually of the policy environment favourable to decentralization.

141. FAO in Mozambique had and made available strong technical expertise in the field of NRM and related legislation: this contributed to positive results in this component, making it the most successful so far.

142. The weak, almost absent management of the Project during almost two years, compounded to the absence of a long-term nutrition expert until mid-2005, has reduced substantively the rate of implementation and affected negatively the quality of some project results.

6 Conclusions and Recommendations 6.A Conclusions 143. The Project wanted to tackle food and nutrition insecurity and alleviate poverty. The

policy environment was helpful in taking decentralisation further down to district and community level. Management, including FAO procedures for funds disbursement, was weak and affected implementation.

144. Project results at the time of the MTE were still very mixed: many activities still need support and adjustments, others need to take off immediately, others could be introduced to ensure sustainability of what is on-going. More in detail:

• the NRM component is on the right track and has achieved some positive outcomes; more efforts will be necessary to consolidate the NRM Committees, ensure benefits spread in the communities, sustainable management of resources take place also outside the hunting areas and game ranches and their buffer zones;

• the nutrition component lagged behind and it requires resources and attention;

• participatory processes are flawed and capture the voices and interest of only few influential members of interested communities;

• only few micro-projects are solid; there is a huge need for capacity building on technical and organizational feasibility, economic sustainability, market analysis, etc.

145. The Project team has been composed with adequate skills and competences, and the

experience gained so far should not be dispersed. Moreover, the Programme Approach adopted by FAO in Manica and Sofala provinces opens up new challenges and opportunities for development of synergies and cost-effective use of resources shared among projects.

6.B Recommendations 146. Recommendations are addressed to each different stakeholder, for ease of reference.


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To all stakeholders

147. The MTE recommends that a budget neutral extension of the Project life be granted,

until June-July 2008, to allow two more complete years to start and consolidate activities at the different levels.

148. Towards the end of 2007, and in any case six months before the future Project agreed closing date, a review should be made with external support of results and impact4, to draw lessons learnt, contribute to the exit strategy, indicate possible follow-ups.

149. The Project has to concentrate efforts on a number of issues, namely participatory methodologies for planning and implementation, and integration of nutrition activities at all levels, including the development of the educational materials.

To the Government of Mozambique

150. The MTE recommends that the GoM appreciates fully the extent of direct and indirect

costs, communities evicted in one way or another from coutadas and protected areas, incur into. Adequate compensatory measures should be offered by the Government and its partners, in terms of social services, support to sustainable development, and the like, to compensate these communities for the economic and environmental services they provide to the country as a whole.

151. The MTE recommends that the spirit of learning opportunity be safeguarded in the implementation of school gardens, also from a curriculum point of view and in terms of teachers’ skills.

152. The MTE suggests that the Manica Province SETSAN involves the Project’s team in carrying out its vulnerability assessment exercises.

153. The MTE suggests that District level staff of line ministries in Macossa and Tambara be appointed to their post for longer periods, at least two years, to allow continuity of collaboration with the Project.

154. The MTE suggests that GoM gives priority to the diffusion of micro-finance institutions in its policies in support of urban and rural poor population.

To the Belgian Survival Fund

155. The MTE recommends that BSF continues its partnership with FAO in Mozambique,

keeping open its present support to the Programme in Sofala and Manica. To FAO

156. The MTE recommends strongly that the newly proposed administrative procedures be

approved and made operational as soon as possible, to allow proper disbursement of Project funds and implementation of activities, as per the 2006 Plan of Work.

157. In the same line as the above, the MTE recommends that attentive analysis be made of cost and benefits of offering PSA contracts to project staff, in order to be able to recruit competent professionals and secure their contribution over the Project’s life.

158. FAO Mozambique should analyse attentively the real requirements in terms of human resources, to implement effectively the Programme in Manica and Sofala, and make

4 A possible model for the review is the Impact Assessment study carried out in Macossa under the framework of the Evaluation of FAO country Programme in Mozambique.


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adequate provisions also in terms of transport means. 159. FAO Mozambique could envisage the development of stronger links and collaboration

with national research institutions, to mainstream their results into field activities under the Programme Approach. Topics on which collaboration should be pursued, would stem from project field work. Among potential issues, attention should be given to water harvesting techniques, use of solar energy for water supply, Conservation Agriculture and environment friendly cropping techniques and post-harvest techniques.

To the Project, including Budget Holder and Leading Technical Unit

160. The MTE recommends strongly that the present post of nutritionist expert be continued

until project NTE date. In addition to this post, the Project should recruit in each district a nutrition facilitator (paid by the project), who under the guidance and supervision of the Project nutritionist, should carry out commonly agreed field work. It would be advisable that women facilitator be recruited for this post. Among their tasks, there would be the full integration of nutrition improvement activities in the Community Action Planning process.

161. The MTE recommends strongly that in-depth refreshment trainings take place for Project and partners’ staff, on participatory approaches, methods and tools, social differentiation in rural communities, improved targeting methods for vulnerable beneficiaries, etc.

162. The MTE recommend strongly that the concept and mechanism of income-generating micro-projects be revised in depth, introducing the principles of business plans, market opportunities, saving and credit, technical and organizational feasibility, etc. A micro-credit/finance institution among those best reputed in the country and available to work in the Project districts, should be contracted to set-up credit and saving groups, train and assist them in managing their accounts, etc. If necessary, a specific consultancy should also be provided.

163. The MTE recommends strongly extending literacy and numeracy training beyond urban groups, to rural areas. All micro-project beneficiaries and women participants in particular, should be given the opportunity to participate in these.

164. The MTE recommends that under the Programme Approach, the Farmer Field Schools concept be developed with more emphasis in Macossa and Tambara districts.

165. The MTE recommends supporting schools with functioning school gardens, inspired in the model of JFFLS, to promote better nutrition and life skills. Within the same spirit, JFFLS should be promoted in the Project Districts, extending the concept also to non-gardening activities such as pottery, sewing, weaving, etc.

166. The MTE recommends development of synergies among the manuals for School Gardens, for Nutrition for Primary Schools and for JFFLS.

167. The MTE recommends that the recently proposed monitoring system be applied, expanding it to include result-based and impact indicators, participatory indicators of impact. The baseline survey carried out in 2004 should be adjusted and applied again, to provide information on changes, if any, and their causes. The base-line survey foreseen for Tambara and other Districts should be carried out in such a way as to provide food security status of families at different points in time. It is also recommended that the Project collaborates with Manica Province SETSAN on monitoring of results and impact.

168. The MTE strongly recommends that the Project look more in detail at natural resources


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management and environmental issues, in particular:

• alternative uses of available natural resources in the hunting and buffer zones should be investigated, with a view at identifying new income-generating activities, be these related to eco- and cultural tourism or direct use of resources;

• sustainable NRM and water harvesting or saving practices, including Conservation Agriculture should be a leading principle of all activities the Project carries out or supports, aimed at production for both home consumption and market, also in the multiple zone areas;

169. The MTE recommends that, together with the Provincial Direction of Agriculture, the

Project settles in larger premises and that improved internet access and communication facilities are set-up.

7 Lessons Learned 170. The PRA exercises carried out at the very beginning of the Project, identified a major

short-coming of the project formulation and indicated measures to overcome it. This procedure should be built into other similar projects, to adjust and fine-tune project interventions to local circumstances, in all cases but especially when a pre-established template for project intervention is applied to a new area.

171. GoM, BSF and FAO proved very flexible and effective in integrating the results from the PRAs into the project design, which allowed offering the appropriate response to a serious problem affecting food-security, in the area of intervention. This is an important feature of project management which deserves attention.

172. Multi-sectoral, complex projects need good management skills to produce expected outputs and attain results. The selection process of a project manager has to be very accurate and include detailed assessment of previous professional experience of candidates. Regular performance assessment, with effective counteracting measures in case of poor results, should be part of BH and LTU management tools and responsibilities.

Annex I: Terms of Reference for the Evaluation

1. PROJECT DETAILS Project Code and Title: GCP/MOZ/027/BEL Improving nutrition and household food security

in Manica Province, Mozambique Executing agency: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Government Implementing Agencies: National level: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Provincial level Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development District Levels: Macossa District Administration and Municipality of Chimoio Collaborating Government Agencies: Ministries of Health, Women and Social Action, Water, Education,

and Finance and Planning Donor Belgian Survival Fund Starting date: 1 May 2002 Finishing date: 31 December 2007 Budget: original US$ 4,353,438. Government Contribution: US$ 100,656. 2. BACKGROUND Project GCP/MOZ/027/BEL – Improving Nutrition and Household Food Security in Manica Province, Mozambique is a follow-up project to TCP/MOZ/0167 - Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Improving Nutrition and Household Food Security. The TCP project was specifically designed to establish the basis for the implementation of the follow-up five-year Trust Fund project in Manica Province which is funded by the Belgian Survival Fund (BSF). The Trust Fund proposal was prepared in 2001 and became operational in May 2002. In October 2003, a first tri-partite review (TPR) meeting was organised to reach final agreement among the three major stakeholders (the Government of Mozambique, the Belgian Survival Fund and FAO) on the content of a revised logical framework which was prepared following an in-depth situation analysis and planning exercise. The project’s objectives are centred on institutional capacity building, increasing access to nutritious foods and income generation among vulnerable groups, and enhancing knowledge and promoting behaviour change related to key food, nutrition and health issues. More

Mid-term Tripartite Evaluation, GCP/MOZ/027/BEL Annex 1

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specifically: The overall development objective is to improve household food security and nutrition, and reduce absolute poverty in rural and urban areas of Mozambique. The immediate objectives, as modified following the preparatory phase were as follows: Enhanced capacities of service providers, NGO´s and community-based organizations to plan, implement, monitor/evaluate and co-ordinate community-based household food security and nutrition interventions Improve year-round access at household level in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to a variety of nutritious foods, including those rich in micronutrients and fat, and improve household incomes To enhance communities and household’s knowledge base on food, nutrition and health and promote positive attitudes and behavioural changes, that result in improved diet quality, adequate nutritional intakes and better dietary utilization, with a specific focus on young child and maternal nutrition To improve household food security and nutrition through increased community participation in the sustainable management of natural resources A project information system established that generates, in participatory ways, the necessary information to monitor progress in meeting essential minimum needs, the achievement of project outputs and the implementation of activities. Information will be used to make appropriate adjustments in project implementation, to evaluate the project’s impacts in line with its objectives, and to contribute to a participatory learning process of how to develop, implement, and monitor and evaluate community-based, participatory household food security, nutrition and poverty reduction program The original target areas were the District of Macossa and the municipality of Chimoio. Since 2005, the project is also operating in Tambara district. The preparatory phase identified vulnerable groups to be targeted by the project in Chimoio as: urban poor without or with minimal access to farm land; HIV/AIDS affected households; and poor urban farmers. While the original project document focussed on the development of the horticulture sector in the Green Zones of Chimoio, the appraisal exercise made clear that part of the vulnerable people had no access to land and additional strategies would therefore be needed to improve their food security and nutrition situation. It was also pointed if the project’s horticultural activities were to be effective, it would have to play a role in the planning of the municipal agriculture zones. For Macossa district, the preparatory phase pointed out that Macossa has three distinct geographical zones, namely the coutadas (80-90% of the district area) which are basically wildlife parks without much agricultural potential, a zone with higher agricultural potential, and a physically isolated zone. The poor typically had less than 0.5 to 0.75 ha of farmland, were badly fed and had to beg and depend on charity to meet their needs. They could only cover 3 to 4 months of their food needs from own production. They were engaged in casual labour and some ran micro-enterprises. The system of coutadas prevents the poor from deriving significant benefits from the abundant natural resources available in the district. The coutadas did not provide income opportunities and prevented investments in agriculture or community forestry. Moreover, the communities did not share in the tax benefits that were supposed to be channelled back to the communities and hence infrastructure and social services are very limited.


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It was concluded that while agriculture could help to improve the situation, strategies to address structural issues, especially the hunting concessions, social organisation and mobilisation of financial resources would need to accompany the agriculture strategy. The tri-partite review meeting at the end of the preparatory phase therefore agreed to include an additional objective in the project to deal with community-based natural resource management issues. Until mid 2005, the project was managed by a Chief Technical Advisor after which management responsibilities were handed over to the National Project Coordinator (NPC). Shortly after the handing over, the NPC became incapacitated due to an accident and the National Community-based Natural Resources Management officer took over management. As from end of 2005, a Provincial FAO Programme Coordinator for Manica is in place who at the same time serves as Project Coordinator for GCP/MOZ/027/BEL. The purpose of the FAO Programme Coordination post is to improve synergy among FAO’s field activities in the Province and to gradually replace a fragmented project approach with a more integrated programme approach. 3. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS Full details on results for specific objectives and outputs are available from the project’s progress reports. 4. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION As the project has passed mid-term, the evaluation is intended to provide the government, FAO and the donor with information on the relevance of the project, on the efficiency of the project implementation, on the efficacy, impact and sustainability of the results accomplished, and with recommendations on eventual steps necessary to consolidate progress and ensure achievement of objectives. A beneficiary assessment was already carried out in the framework of the FAO Country Evaluation. Salient issues arising from this beneficiary assessment will be analysed more in depth by the evaluation itself. 5. SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION The Evaluation mission will assess the:

a) Relevance of the project to national development priorities and needs.

b) Clarity and realism of the project’s development and immediate objectives, including specification of targets and identification of beneficiaries and prospects for sustainability.

c) Quality, clarity and adequacy of project design including the following:

• Clarity and logical consistency between, inputs, activities, outputs and progress towards achievement of objectives (quality, quantity, and the time-frame);

• Realism and clarity in the specification of prior obligations and prerequisites (assumptions and risks);

• Realism and clarity of external institutional relationships, and in the managerial and


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institutional framework for implementation of work plans;

• Likely cost-effectiveness of the project design and implementation.

d) Efficiency and adequacy of project implementation including:

• Timely availability of funds for FAO and GoM budgets.

• Quality and timeliness of input delivery by both FAO and GoM;

• Managerial, coordination and work efficiency;

• Follow-up on the recommendations and decisions of the various tripartite review meetings;

• Implementation difficulties;

• Adequacy of monitoring and reporting;

• Extent of GoM support and commitment;

• Quality and quantity of administrative and technical support by FAO. Special attention should be given to the capacities and responsibilities of the local partners and the exact role of the DPADR and SETSAN as important partners in the implementation and coordination of the project.

e) Progress towards project results, including a full and systematic assessment of outputs produced to-date (quantity and quality as compared with work plan and progress towards achieving immediate objectives). The evaluation mission will review, the status and quality of work on the following:

• Integrating nutrition and household food security aims and considerations in relevant stakeholder programmes and policies, ensuring that the nutritionally vulnerable are properly targeted.

• Ensuring full community participation in problem identification, planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities.

• Promoting gender-sensitive approaches in project implementation and in the work approaches of the project’s stakeholders.

More specifically, the evaluation will assess progress achieved towards:

• Enhancing capacities of service providers, NGO´s and community-based organizations to plan, implement, monitor/evaluate and co-ordinate community-based household food security and nutrition interventions

• Improving year-round access at household level in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to a variety of nutritious foods, including those rich in micronutrients and fat, and improve household incomes

• Enhancing communities and household’s knowledge base on food, nutrition and health and promote positive attitudes and behavioural changes, that result in improved diet quality, adequate nutritional intakes and better dietary utilization, with a specific focus on young child and maternal nutrition

• Improving household food security and nutrition through increased community participation in the sustainable management of natural resources

• Establishing a project information system that generates, in participatory ways, the necessary information to monitor progress in meeting essential minimum needs, the achievement of project outputs and the implementation of activities


5

• Reaching out to the intended target beneficiaries, including: o Those population groups who are most vulnerable to chronic household food insecurity

and malnutrition o The nutritionally most vulnerable groups, these being from a life cycle perspective

infants and children, children of weaning age, and pregnant and lactating women o NGOs and community support staff at district and provincial levels who are expected to

indirectly benefit through their involvement in capacity building activities

• Enhancing the targeting and effectiveness of interventions through the introduction of a participatory planning and action approach increasing flexibility, responsibility and institutional capacity in terms of management capacity and resource allocation.

• Enhancing the capacity of local institutions for implementation using locally available resources and building on past experiences.

The evaluation mission will assess the implementation of project activities in the new district Tambara. They will gather information on the realism and efficiency of an expansion of the project area. The mission will evaluate the collaboration with the IAC (Chimoio Agricultural Institute).

f) The prospects for sustaining the results of the project by the beneficiaries, government and other institutions after the termination of the project. The evaluation mission should examine in particular the following:

• Institutional and organizational arrangement put in place and support towards organizational capacity building to ensure that community participation will be an integral part of a service delivery strategy of local Ministries and Organisations. In particular, the continuation of the Community Action Planning and the active participation of all community support services in these grass-roots activities;

• Level of development of communities and community Groups in relation to long sustainable management of activities initiated by the project, without external (e.g. GoM and FAO) support;

• Capacity of government and other institutions to sustain support to communities and community Groups from their own resources after project termination;

• Commitment and willingness for host institution to continue providing support to community groups after project termination.

g) The cost-effectiveness of the project. Based on the above analysis the evaluation mission will draw specific conclusions and make proposals for any necessary further action by GoM, FAO and BSF to ensure sustainable development. The mission will also identify the need for any additional assistance that was not foreseen at the start of the project, and that will be required if project outputs and objectives are to be sustained. The mission will draw attention to any lessons of general interest. Any proposal for further assistance should include precise specification of objectives and the major suggested outputs and inputs. 6. COMPOSITION OF THE MISSION


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The mission will comprise of the following persons: Team Leader (FAO), specialist in evaluation, community participation and development;

• Representative nominated by GoM, specialist in agronomy, natural resource management, horticulture and/or participatory extension.

• Community Nutrition specialist - with experience in food-based nutrition programmes, community nutrition education and training, and community empowerment for nutrition improvement (BSF).

Gender issues will be considered by the Community Nutrition Specialist and the GoM nominated representative. All team members should have experience of evaluation and participatory methodologies. They should also be able to undertake multi-disciplinary work and be familiar with concepts of household food security and nutrition. They should also be familiar with gender issues and have working experience in Africa. Team members should be independent and thus have no previous direct involvement with the project either with regard to its formulation, implementation or backstopping. 7. ITINERARY AND TENTATIVE TIMETABLE FOR THE MISSION The mission will take place over a period of two weeks. The Team Leader will be technically briefed by the various FAO units involved in the project (nutrition, crops, horticulture, micro-finance, communication, post-harvest and food technology, gender). The team will travel to Maputo, Mozambique in June 2006 where the Team Leader and the consultant nominated by the donor will join the Government representative for a briefing session with the FAOR and the main implementing ministry (MARD). The team will then travel to Chimoio where it will spend a week carrying out a participatory evaluation with travel to Macossa and eventually Tambara. Since an in-depth assessment of the work in Macossa was carried out very recently (December 2005-Februay 2006) in the framework of the evaluation of FAO programme in Mozambique, the mission will make as much as possible use of the information generated by that exercise. The mission will return to Maputo where it will meet with representatives of other development agencies, and debrief with the FAO Representative. The mission should not attempt to cover every project site but rather aim at getting a more in-depth view of a representative sample of locations. 8. CONSULTATIONS The mission will maintain close liaison with the Representatives of the donor and FAO and the concerned national agencies, as well as with national and international project staff. Although the mission should feel free to discuss with the authorities concerned anything relevant to its assignment, it is not authorised to make any commitments on behalf of the Government, the donor, or FAO.


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9. REPORTING The mission is fully responsible for its independent report, which may not necessarily reflect the views of the Government, the donor or FAO. The report will be written in conformity with the Guidelines of the FAO Evaluation Service. The report will be completed, to the extent possible, in the country and the findings and recommendations fully discussed with all concerned parties and wherever possible consensus achieved with all stakeholders. The mission will also complete the FAO Project Evaluation Questionnaire. The mission leader bears responsibility for finalising the report, which will be submitted to FAO within two weeks of mission completion. FAO will submit the report to the Government and the donor together with its comments.

Annex II: Projeto de Segurança alimentar e nutricional das familias na Provincia de

Manica, GCP/MOZ/027/BEL, Reunião tripartida, 23/06/06 Objectivo Geral

• Melhorar de forma sustentavel a segurança alimentar familiar, a nutrição e a vida de grupos populacionais vulneraveis do ponto de vista alimentar atraves de acções integradas de base comunitaria e desenvolver a capacidade institucional aos niveis comunitarios, distrital provincial e nacional.

• Reduzir a pobreza absoluta nas areas rurais e urbanas de Moçambique. Financiamento e implementadores

• Inicio : 2002

• Fim : 2007

• Finaciado pelo Fundo da Belgica – 4.353.438USD

• Orçamento do Governo Moc-100.656USD

• Orçamento actual: 2.000.000 USD

• Asistencia tecnica : FAO

• Implementado: Governo de Moçambique, ONGs que trabalham na mesma area ou relacionada.

Resultados alcançados Obj1.Desenvolvimento Comunitário-Resultados

• Reforçar as capacidades dos provedores de servicos, ONGs e Organizações de Base Comunitarias (CBOs) para

o planear, o implementar, o monitorar / avaliar e o coordenar intervenções de segurança alimentar e nutricional com base na comunidade.

• Estabelecidas equipas tecnicas para a implementação do projecto-Macossa, Tambara e Chimoio.

• 49 facilitadores treinados nos distritos de Tambara, Macossa e Municipio de Chimoio,

• Estabelecidos e capacitados os 2 Grupos distritais de trabalho 1 para Cidade de Chimoio,

• Foram elaborados perfis comunitarios -8 para os bairros de Chimoio e 6 para as comunidades de Macossa.

• Estabelecido o Fundo de Desenvolvimento Comunitario - instrumento fundamental para a implementação do plano de acção comunitario

• Foi elaborado o documento orientador do funcionamento do F. D. C.

• Foram implementados mais de 105 MPs sendo: o # 65 no distrito de Macossa o # 14 no distrito de Tambara o # 26 no Municipio de Chimoio

• Microprojectos Comunitarios -beneficiarios

• -tração animal- 17 juntas para 11 associações, Chimoio e Macossa,


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o -2 viveiro comunitario, Macossa e Tambara o -abertura de 3 furos de agua – 1400 familias potenciais , o -moageira- 226 familias potenciais, Macossa,

• Microprojectos de geração de rendimento familiar : o 9 -latoaria-9 familias, Macossa e Tambara, o 22 –carpintaria, Macossa e Tambara o 18- artesanato, Macossa e Tambara, (apenas mulheres) o 46-apicultura, Macossa, o 6-transformação das armadilhas em utensilios agricolas), Macossa

• Microprojectos para o melhoramento do estado nutricional e sanitario das familias. o 8 associações de produção agricola beneficiaram-se de bombas pedestrais, Chimoio.

experiencia não positiva em relação à tecnologia) o 300 familias de ex-trabalhadores da Textafrica beneficiram-se de 350 ha de terra e

insumos para a produção agricola. o 22 charruas e 20 carroças beneficiaram a associações de camponeses em Macossa e

Chimoio. Obj.2. Melhorar o acesso, a uma variedade de alimentos nutritivos e melhorar as receitas familiares- Resultados

• Horticola: beneficiarios o 1200 familias, Macossa; 2.000familias, Chimoio; 167 familias, Tambara. o Batata doce polpa alaranjada: 60 familias, Macossa o Mandioca: 215 familias, Macossa; 215 familias, Tambara

• Feiras de insumos agrarios o 5.558 familias beneficiaram-se de insumos: 40% para idosos; 40% viuvas e maes chefe

de familias; 20% deficientes

• Estabelecidos 2 campos de multiplicação de semente em Chimoio: o 1 campo de bata doce polpa alaranjada o 1 campo de mandioca

• Fomento de gado bovino o 50 animais a 25 familias, Macossa o 40 animais, Chimoio

• Fomento de gado caprino o 678 animais beneficiaram mais de 169 familias em Macossa, sendo 28 chefiadas por

mulheres o 192 animais beneficiaram 71 familias, Chimoio

• Produção de ananazeiras-beneficiarios o 57 familias, Macossa; 100 familias, Chimoio

• Chimoio, 7 escolas beneficiaram-se de 810 arvores de fruta e de sombra diversa (laranjeiras, abacateiras, eucaliptos, pinheiros)

• Macossa, estabelecido 1 viveiro comunitario e ja beneficiou 4.754 arvores de fruta e de sombra, 478 familias

• Tambara, estabelecido 1 viveiro comunitario-ainda na fase de preparação das plantas.

• Produção de oleo alimentar de girassol e gergelim o 20 familias beneficiaram das prensas em Macossa

• Criação de galinhas landim


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o 200 galinhas beneficiaram 60 familias- Chimoio

• Reabilitação de 1 tanque carracicida beneficiando o 30 criadores -Chimoio

Obj 3.Educação nutricional, alimentar, sanitária e comunicação - Resultados

• Estabelecidos grupos de teatro: 1 em Macossa e 1 em Chimoio, para disseminar informação de ENAS.

• 500 familias em Macossa beneficiaram-se de demonstracoes colinarias em Macossa

• 14 e 8 parteiras tradicionais treinados em Macossa e Tambara respectivamente.

• 50 agentes comunitarios treinados em Tambara

• Realizadas 12 sessoes de ENAS-educação nutricional alimentar e sanitaria – Macossa

• 150 crianças beneficiam-se de programa de JFFLS- 60 no Chimoio, 60 em Macossa e 30 em Tambara

• 60 pessoas beneficiaram-se de seminarios de segurança alimentar e nutricional-Chimoio e Macossa

Obj. 4. Melhorar a participação das comunidades locais na gestão sustentável dos recursos naturais - Resultados

• Realizados sessoes de sensibilização aos membros das comunidades locais em MCRN e legislação- 17 em Macossa e 6 em Tambara.

• Criados comites de gestao dos recursos naturais-5 em Macossa e 2 em Tambara.

• Realizado o zoneamento da coutada 9: o Area de utilização multipla o Area de gestao sustentavel comunitaria dos RN. o Area de caça para turismo

• Melhorado o acesso a terra e a outros recursos naturais das comunidades-Macossa.

• Reduzida caça furtiva particularmente dentro da coutada 9.

• Registradas comunidades para receberem o 20% das taxas de exploração florestal e faunistica:

o 2 comunidades em Macossa o 2 comunidades em Tambara

• Comunidades recebem fundos do operador privado resultante dos acordos de partilha de beneficios:

o -Macossa- 285.200.000,00mts o -Tambara-30.000.000,00mts o -Guro-30.000.000,00mts

• Criado um fundo de desenvolvimento comunitario para utilizaram para resolver problemas ligados a SAN:

o -Construção de 1 posto de Socorro-Macossa o -Compra de uma moagem-em processo-Tambara

• Existe maior dialogo entre operadores, comunidade e governo local

• Ha maior entendimento da lei de terra, florestas e fauna bravia, ambiente pelas comunidades.

Obj5.Estabelecimento de um sistema de informação do projecto, necessaria para a


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monitoria e avaliação de accoes de SAN - Resultados

• Desenhado o sistema de monitoria para os microprojecto:

• Nivel dos tecnicos

• Nivel dos facilitadores

• Nivel dos focal points

• Introduzido o sistema de monitoria dos microprojectos a nivel da comunidade -cadernos comunitarios

• Elaborada a carta de acordo com SETSAN para o estabelecimento do sistema de informação no ambito de SAN.

• Elaborado o plano de distribuição de tarefas para os tecnicos.

Annex III: Formações no âmbito da implementação das actividades de segurança alimentar e nutricional

Data de Formação

Local de formação Tema No de participantes Quem facilitou

2002 Macossa Formação de técnicos para o diagnóstico rápido participativo 12 (2 mulheres e 10 homens) MAGARIRO

2002 Chimoio Formação de técnicos para o diagnóstico rápido participativo ? MAGARIRO

2003, 30/5-4 6

Macossa Formação de facilitadores e técnicos dos sectores em matéria de identificação e elaboração de microprojectos de SAN

22 (7 facilitadores comunitários e 2 mulheres)

MAGARIRO e FAO

2003, 16-20/6

Chimoio Formação de facilitadores e técnicos dos sectores em matéria de identificação e elaboração de microprojectos de SAN

17 MAGARIRO e FAO

2003, 2-4/6 Macossa Formação do Grupo Distrital de Trabalho e Comité de Gestão de Chimoio, em matéria de avaliação e aprovaçãõ dos microprojectos de SAN

20 (12 de Macossa e 8 de Chimoio)

MAGARIRO e FAO

2003, 21-23/7

Macossa Formação de Facilitadores e técnicos distritais em maneio comunitário dos recursos naturais e melhoramento da segurança alimentar e nutricional das famílias

22 (1 técnico da ORAM, 1 líder comunitário, 4 facilitadores comunitários e 14 técnicos dos 4 sectores)

FAO, SPFFB e SPGC.

2003, Setembro

Macossa Formação de técnicos dos sectores e facilitadores de microprojectos em matéria de levantamento de CAPP-Conhecimento, atitude,percepções e práticas

12 participantes FAO e DPSaúde

2003, Setembro

Chimoio Formação de técnicos dos sectores e facilitadores de microprojectos em matéria de levantamento de CAPP-Conhecimento, atitude, percepções e práticas

15 participantes FAO e DPSaúde

2003, 22-24/10

Chimoio Formação de técnicos dos sectores do distrito em matéria de desenho de estratégia de Educação nutricional alimentar e Sanitária na província de Manica

29 (5 mulheres e 24 homens) FAO e DPSaúde

2003, Novembro

Macossa sede e Dunda Formação dos lideres comunitários (régulos, fumos, sapandas, cabo terras, chefes do posto administrativo em matéria de Legislação referente a gestão comunitário dos recursos naturais, ( Terra, florestas e fauna bravia, ambiente, decreto 15/2000 etc.

55 (3 mulheres) FAO e SPFFB

2003, Novembro

Macossa Formação do grupo de teatro em matéria de ENAS.(alimentação materno infantil, higiene, maneio comunitário dos recursos naturais, demonstração colinária

15 (10 mulheres e 5 homens) Direcção Provincial de Cultura e Joventude e DP Saúde


2

Data de Formação

Local de formação Tema No de participantes Quem facilitou

2004, Março

Macossa Formação dos facilitadores e beneficiários de microprojectos em matéria de monitoria e avaliação comunitária dos microprojectos (SIPSA-caderno comunitário)

8 facilitadores e 5 grupos de beneficiários de microprojectos

FAO e CEF

2004, 22-25/3

Macossa Formação facilitadores de microprojectos, técnicos dos sectores e beneficiários de microprojectos em matéria de

20 (1 mulher e 19 homens) FAO

2004, 17–22/5o

Mucombedze Formação de técnicos dos sectores e facilitadores de microprojectos em matéria de análise e desenvolvimento de mercado (MAD)

23 (sendo 4 de Macossa, 1 de Tambara, 1 de Chimoio e resto de Sofala, Tete e Zambézia)

FAO (027/BEL e UTF7Moz

2004, 12-17/7

Macossa (Nhaunga, Sawenge e Nhawata)

Formação dos líderes locais e membros dos comités de Gestão dos recursos naturais

67 (sendo 6 muheres e 61 homens) FAO e Administração do distrito

2004 Macossa (Nhaúnga, Nhawata, Sawege e Chiguinhene)

Formação dos membros dos comités de gestão dos recursos naturais em matéria de legislação e organização comunitária

59 (7 mulheres) FAO e SPFFB

2004, Setembro + Novembro

Macossa Formação de apicultores em matéria de produção, processamento e conservação

43 (homens) FAO e SPFFB

2005, 7-11/2

Macossa Formação de extensinistas da DDA e facilitadores comunitários em matéria de identificação e elaboração de microprojectos de SAN

19 (1 mulher) FAO

2005, 9-12/5

Macossa Formação de extensionistas da DDA em matéria de maneio comunitário dos recursos naturais e segurança alimentar.

8 (1 mulher) FAO

2005 Maputo-Magude Formaçao em matéria de processamento e conservação dos alimentos.

6 técnicos da DDA (sendo 3 Tambara e 3 Macossa)

DDA

2006, Março

Chimoio Formação de formadores em SIPSA-Sistema de Planificação Seguimento e Avaliação

25 (sendo 3 facilitadores da FAO) DNFFB/FAO/UTF

2006, 8-19/4

Chimoio Formação de paralegais na área de gestão dos recursos naturais . 25 (sendo 4 tecnicos de Macossa e Tambara 1 da FAO)

CFJJ/FAO

2006, 18-19/05/06

Tambara Formação em segurança alimentar e nutricional das famílias e implementadores das actividades do projecto.

35 (sendo 6 mulheres) FAO

2006, 15-19/05/06

Chimoio Formação em segurança alimentar e nutricional das famílias e implementadores das actividades do projecto.

24 (sendo 6 mulheres) FAO


3

Seminários e Troca de experiências e outros eventos realizados

Data de Formação

Local Tema No de participantes Quem facilitou

2003, 30/9-2/10

Chimoio Seminário para apresentação da proposta da integração da componente de maneio dos recursos naturais no projecto de seguiraança alimentar e nutricional

FAO

2004, Maio Macossa Seminário para apresentação os resultados do estudo do mercado de mel 32 (5 mulheres) FAO

2004, Agosto

Chimoio Seninário sobre harmonização de metodologia de implementaçaão de MCRN dentro das coutadas

FAO/DPT

2004 Niassa Visita de troca de experiência a Reserva do Niassa e projecto de MCRN de Chipanje Chethu 12 (10 lideres locais e membros dos comites de GRN e 2 tecnicos do distrito de Macossa)

FAO

2004 Gorongosa

Visita de troca de experiência aos projectos de MCRN de Canda e Nhambita -Gorongosa 15 membros da comunidade e lideres locais

ORAM

2005 Sofala Visita de troca de experiência aos projectos de MCRN de Mucombedze, Milhão e Gorongosa 12 (10 membros dos comites de GRN e 2 tecnicos do distrito de Macossa)

FAO

2005 Maputo Visita de troca de experiência ao projecto de transformação de armas em exadas do Conselho Cristão de Moçambique.

8 membros do beneficiários de MP de transformação de armadilhas em enxadas.

FAO

2005, Novembro-Dezembro

Manica Troca de experiência dos camponeses do distrito de Tambara no âmbito do treinamento de animais para tracção animal .

9 camponeses DDA

2005, Novembro-Dezembro

Tambara Treinamento de 6 juntas de bois para 3 associações de camponeses de Tambara 24 camponeses (Sabeta e Búzua)

DDA

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Improving nutrition and household food security in Manica … · 2011. 3. 29. · Chimoio (Manica...

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