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Tana-Beles WME - Quarterly Report 30 September 2009 (June – September 2009) 1 Introduction 11 Project start-up and deployment of the technical assistance team Tana-Beles WME -project became effective on 24 May 2009, when the project agreement between Governments of Ethiopia (Ministry of Water Affairs) and Finland (Embassy of Finland) was signed. The agreement was ratified by State Minister Ahmed Shide and Ambassador Kirsti Aarnio on 27 May 2009. The deployment of technical assistance (TA) team to the field started on 1 June 2009, when Dr. Veli Pohjonen (Team leader) and Dr. Mikaela Kruskopf (Water resources monitoring adviser) arrived in Addis Ababa. After initial meetings and necessary administrative arrangements in Addis Ababa they continued to the duty station Bahir Dar on 8 June. Ato Lakew Desta (Capacity building and networking advisor) assumed duties on 7 June 2009 and arrived in Bahir Dar on 8 June 2009. Ato Samson Gebremariam (GIS and database expert) assumed duties in Bahir Dar on 11 June and Ato Gete Assefaw (Monitoring & evaluation adviser) on 25 June 2009. The first short term consultant Dr. Kevin Kimmage (for watershed monitoring and evaluation) arrived on 22 June 2009 for the first, 3 weeks’ period of his consultancy. 12 Kick-off meetings In the beginning of the project two project kick-off meetings were arranged. The first was held (at national level) in the Embassy of Finland on 3 June 2009 (present: Ato Alemayehu Tafesse [MoWR], Ms. Sanna Takala [Acting ambassador, Embassy of Finland], Ms. Martha Solomon [Water advisor, Embassy of Finland], Dr. Mikaela Kruskopf and Dr. Veli Pohjonen). The second kick-off meeting was held (at regional level) in Bahir Dar on 12 June 2009 (present: Ato Mastewal Ejigu [Regional Project Coordinator, BoWRD], Ato Aderaw [Project Coordinator, Component B2 Flood management], Ato Alehegne Dagnew [Project Coordinator, Component B1 Watershed development], Dr. Mikaela Kruskopf, Ato Lakew Desta, Ato Samson Gebremariam and Dr. Veli Pohjonen). The kick-off meetings yielded a proposal to establish for the Tana-Beles WME project management a separate Technical Committee between the Regional Steering Committee and the Project Management Team. The Technical Committee would have decided on medium level technical issues, typically outsourcing of parts of baseline surveys, recruiting the short term consultants and accepting minor budget revisions. In July 2009 this proposal was however replaced by another management setup: the already established Regional Project Coordination Unit (RPCU, with members Ato Alehegne Dagnew, Ato Mastewal Ejigu, Ato Alemnew Alelign [Process owner,

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Natural Resources Development in BoARD]) will take care of these decisions, instead of Technical Committee. 13 Introductory tour to project woredas Ato Alehegne Dagnew (Project coordinator, Component B1 Watershed Development) led an introductory tour to project woredas between 12-19 June 2009. All the TA team members (assumed duties by then) participated in the field trips. Mecha woreda, with field visit to lower courses of Jema River, behind Koga dam, was visited on 12 June 2009. Sekela woreda, with field visits to upper parts of Jema watershed, was visited on 16 June 2009. Farta woreda and the South Gondar zone were visited on 18 June 2009. Estie woreda and Dera woreda were visited on 19 June 2009. In all woredas the administrative and technical staff (present in the office on the day in question) were met, a gathering of the staff was arranged in woreda office meeting room, Ato Alehegne gave an introductory presentation of TA team and team leader Veli Pohjonen an introductory speech on the Tana-Beles WME project, on its importance in the woredas, on the present status and on the future, welcomed cooperation with the woreda staff. During the introductory woreda tours Dr. Mikaela Kruskopf, Ato Mastewal and Ato Samson carried out an initial site selection of river gauging and water sampling stations. The sampling stations were selected with the following three principles

(i) majority of the samplings stations (finally 9 out of 12) had to be representative sites in project area micro watersheds and minority (finally 3 out of 12) in the reference areas, in the neighbouring micro watersheds

(ii) each sampling station had to be in the outlet of the small river collecting waters from a micro watershed (normally 200 – 1000 ha, finally they were between 383 – 961 ha)

(iii) Selection of locations had preferably to be integrated to existing watershed development plans.

14 Inception report According to the project agreement the first two months of the Tana – Beles WME project belong to the Inception Phase. The Inception Report was due by the end of July 2009. During the inception phase an essential short term consultancy (for monitoring and evaluation, by Dr. Kevin Kimmage) was carried out and the report of that consultancy was used as a partial input for the inception report. The inception report was prepared as a group work between the TA team members and the Watershed Development B1 project coordinator. Comments to the first draft (of 15 July 2009) were received from RPCU, NPCU, Embassy of Finland and World Bank (Tana-Beles project), and they were incorporated in the second version (of 31 July 2009) of the Inception Report (file: “2009 07 31 Inception Report combined.pdf”).

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The inception report (2nd version) was sent to RPCU, NPCU, Embassy of Finland and World Bank (Tana-Beles project). Some more consultations and inputs ensued in September 2009. These will be incorporated into the final inception report and then discussed in the subsequent Regional Steering Committee meeting for Tana-Beles Integrated Watershed Development and other related projects. 15 Revised Project Document During the project inception phase (two first months) a revised Project Document for Tana-Beles WME was prepared. It is an amalgamation of the three submitted project document proposals which were designed during the project preparation and tendering phase (early 2009). The amalgamated Project Document and the corresponding updated Work Plan were submitted for comments (together with the draft Inception report) to RPCU, NPCU, Embassy of Finland and World Bank (Tana-Beles project) on 15 July 2009. After receiving the comments the second version was sent on 31 July 2009. The corresponding files are for the Project Document file: “2009 07 31 Tana-Beles WME Project Document.pdf” and for the Work Plan file: “2009 07 31 Work Plan.xls”. The revised Project Document and Work Plan, with possible amendments are to be presented for approval of the subsequent Regional Steering Committee meeting for Tana-Beles Integrated Watershed Development and other related projects. 2 Review of the past quarter (Jun-Sep 2009) against Work Plan and Results 2 1 Project management and WME project start up (point 1. in WP) 2 11 Establishment of project offices, logistics and administrative procedures (point 1.1 in WP) Establishment of Project office (1.1.4) was finalized in the beginning of July, after a transit arrangement in Abbay Basin office rooms in Bahir Dar. The project office (with 6 desks and the basic furniture) is now situated on the second floor of the BoARD main building in Bahir Dar. Procurement of the two project vehicles (1.1.5) was started at the end of May 2009, as a first activity after signing of the formal documents between governments of Ethiopia and Finland. The progress in procuring, clearing and forwarding of the vehicles has been remarkably slower than was anticipated. The various problems on the way of clearing the vehicles have been described in June, July and August monthly reports. It is, however, expected that the procurement process of the project vehicles can be brought to the final end during the next quarter. The unexpectedly slow processing for the project vehicles has an effect in the project budget as the period for the rental vehicles has to be extended correspondingly.

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Procurement, clearing, forwarding and installation of project computers (1.1.6) were also slower than expected. The project computers finally arrived to the project office with the following exceptional administrative manner. By bilateral development cooperation and project agreements between Ethiopia and Finland the project equipment should be duty and tax free. When the project computers came to Bole International airport, they got – for some administrative reason – stuck for several weeks in the airport customs, despite lengthy discussions and letters from various Ministries and from the Embassy of Finland. The situation became stalemate and started to hamper project office activities in Bahir Dar. The stalemate could be opened only at an exceptional administrative manner: the taxes (about 8000 Birr) had to be paid in advance at the customs, but with a condition that corresponding amount can be reclaimed back to project, using bilateral and project agreements as justification. It is expected that this process can be finalized by the end of the next quarter. Opening of Project Bank account (1.1.7) took also longer time than anticipated. The case was finally solved when both Embassy of Finland and Ministry of Water Resources justified to Ethiopian National Bank why a special arrangement is needed to open a temporary Bank Account for the project. After the National Bank issued the permission, a foreign currency account was possible to open in Dashen Bank Addis Ababa, and Birr account in Dashen Bank Bahir Dar. 2 12 Preparation and initiation (point 1.2 in WP) All proposed three Tana-Beles WME project documents (by Niras-Orgut, Ramboll and Finnish Consulting Group FCG) were analyzed in a comparative manner. A new, amalgamated draft Project Document, including updated Work Plan, was prepared in the first half of July (1.2.1). On 15 July 2009 it was sent for comments to Regional and National Tana-Beles project authorities (RPCU, NPCU) and to Embassy of Finland. Comments for the draft new Project Document, were received and they were incorporated to the 2nd version of the new Project Document. The new, revised project document (version 2) was prepared, and it was delivered on 31 July 2009 to Regional and National Tana-Beles project authorities (RPCU, NPCU) and to Embassy of Finland. The next step was to forward the commented and revised Project Document to Regional Steering Committee (1.2.2). The mobilization plan (1.2.3) for the Short Term Consultants was first adjusted when Dr. Kevin Kimmage carried out (22.6. – 14.7.2009) the first part of his short term consultancy on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E). The next Short Term Consultant in pipeline is for the Hydrology (1.2.7). The TORs have been approved by RPCU, and the consultant is expected to carry out his mission in October – November 2009. Purchase of equipment and material for baseline studies (1.2.5) has been under planning, especially from the angle of possible use of Trust Fund for these procurements. The Trust Fund Agreement between Finland and World Bank was signed in July. Consequently the 17 July 2009 was defined as the date after which use of Tana-Beles Trust Fund is potentially possible for M&E baseline studies. The probable use of the Trust Fund will be on a reimbursable payment basis, and all the time following the World Bank procurement guidelines.

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New baseline study methodology (1.2.6) for hydrological survey has been put into practice in which more emphasis has been given to Village based hydrological monitoring – or later called Micro watershed based hydrological monitoring. The approach has also been discussed with ENTRO / Dr. Solomon Abate for harmonization with Eastern Nile (IDEN) projects. The methodology will be reviewed with the coming Short Term Consultancy in hydrology. Baseline study methodology for Socio-economic study has been reviewed while updating the questionnaire. Gap identification of current M&E practices (1.2.14) was done as a team work during the Short Term Consultancy in Monitoring & Evaluation (by Dr. Kevin Kimage) and the TA team. After he completed the mission (14.7.2009) the national TA team members made a subsequent gap identification field visit to all Project woredas. The Project Inception report (1.2.15) was sent as first on 15 July 2009 to RPCU, NPCU, Embassy of Finland and World Bank (Addis Ababa office). Within two weeks comments were received from every level. They were incorporated to the 2nd version of the report, which was sent on 31 July 2009. Altogether eighteen Project Management Team (PMT) meetings (one every Monday morning), with one page minutes each, have been held (1.2.16). Proposal for Technical Committee with TOR (1.2.17) was forwarded to NPCU. However, it was found out that the contractual matters, planned for Technical Committee, could as well be handled by the Regional Project Coordination Unit (RPCU). This decision finalized the setup for medium level decisions in the Tana-Beles WME (typical example TORs for short term consultancy) as follows:

(i) The document is first sent over email for comments to RPCU members. (ii) Members have maximum 2 weeks time to comment the document either over email or in

a meeting to be arranged. (iii) After two weeks the chairman of RPCU uses the committee’s voice in the next PMT

meeting. (iv) The PMT meeting minutes are signed by all members present. (v) A copy of the signed PMT meeting minutes us used as a supporting document in

processing further the issue in need medium level management decisions. 2 2 Indicator finalization and Baseline studies (Result 1) 2 21 Indicator development process Indicator development process (2.1) was completed as a part of the Short Term Consultancy in Monitoring & Evaluation). The new set of indicators has been presented both in the Consultancy Report and in the Inception Report. The documents have been sent to RPCU and NPCU (2.1.6. and 2.1.7).

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Based on comments to the Inception Report, from World Bank side especially, it was understood that the indicator development process must be continued. The set of indicators need still to be processed during the second part of Kevin Kimmage’s consultancy and the coinciding World Bank / Embassy of Finland Tana-Beles project supervision mission (both in November 2009). 22 Hydrological baseline studies (point 2.2) The hydrology baseline measurements were carried out as far as possible during the rainy season of 2009 (June – September). During the first project year (rainy season 2009) the hydrology baseline was geared towards Village Based Monitoring in the upper reaches of the sub watersheds, as the time between the project start and the onset of the rains was too short for more permanent sedimentation monitoring. Micro watershed Based Monitoring Programme (2.2.7-2.2.14). The design, identification of stations, establishment of stations, procurements, start-up and training relating to the Micro watershed Based Monitoring Programme (MWMP) has taken nearly all of the time of the Water Resources Monitoring Adviser during the rainy season 2009. The status of the MWMP near the end of rainy season 2009 (30.8.2009) is:

• Budget proposal for the MWMP prepared and submitted • 9 stations identified, established and set up (4 in Farta, 2 in Sekela, one each in Dera, Este

and Mecha woreda) • Simple water analysis instruments procured and distributed to site managers • Woreda or Kebele experts introduced to the MWMP methods • Site managers identified in collaboration with Kebele staff • Training given to all site managers in presence of Woreda or Kebele staff (2.2.10) • First samples received from all stations • Samples stored temporarily, negotiations with Bahir Dar University are pending (2.2.9,

2.2.11) due to minor budget revision needs • Aluminum sulphate (Al2SO4) for the analyses has been procured (from Finland)

Set up of permanent stations in collaboration with hydrology department / A1 component (2.2.2, 2.2.3) Study visit to Mekelle University hydrological sites provided a good example of how permanent stations could be designed. Information on available measurement equipment has been collected and listed. Discussions between BoWRM, hydrology department B/D, and BoARD were done at the beginning of September 2009 to plan the site identification programme and the procurement proposal for needed equipment. A1 component is not yet active, but coordination with A1 will start as soon as the component becomes active.

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Short term consultancies for hydrological baseline study (2.2.1). The TORs for the hydrology baseline study have been revised several times mainly due to general delays in the approval procedures of the medium term management decisions (see Chapter 2.12.). Consequently the start up of the short term consultancy was delayed until mid October. The summary of the lengthy recruitment process of the consultant processed is as follows:

(i) In the optimal case this fundamental consultancy should have been started before the rains, e.g. 1.6.2009 simultaneously with the project start-up.

(ii) The search of a suitable short-term consultant started in May 2009, well before the TA team was launched to the field. The consultant (Mr. Peter Baur) who finally in October started the task, was identified on 14 May 2009.

(iii) The modalities and the chain of decision making, how to initiate the hydrology short term consultancy as soon as possible was one of the main agendas in the first kick-off meeting in the Embassy of Finland, Addis Ababa, on 3 June 2009 and in the second kick-off meeting in Bahir Dar on 12 June 2009.

(iv) These meetings yielded a proposal to establish a special Technical Committee below Regional Steering Committee that would approve and decide issues like TORs and deployment of short term consultants.

(v) The TORs for the Technical Committee were prepared on 21 June 2009 and send for comments and approval to the Regional and National Project Coordination Units (RPCU and NPCU).

(vi) The concept of Technical Committee was discussed with the Tana-Beles National Project Coordinator (Ato Fekahmed) on 17 July 2009. In that discussion the proposal was remodified so that for the contractual matters (like for short term consultancies) a better option would be to establish a coordination unit for Watershed Development WME. The coordination unit would have consisted of the following members: Ato Alehegne Dagnew (chairman, focal person B1), Ato Mastewal Ejigu (Tana – Beles regional project coordinator), Ato Aderaw (focal person B2) and Dr. Veli Pohjonen or his deputy (secretary; representing the TA team and being the link to Embassy of Finland).

(vii) Later in July 2009 it was decided by the BoARD that the already existing Regional Project Coordination Unit for Watershed Development B1 should decide for all the contractual matters described above. The RPCU consists of following members Ato Alehegne Dagnew (Chairman, Project Coordinator for B1, Ato Mastewal Ejigu (Tana – Beles regional project coordinator), Ato Alemnew (Process Owner, Natural Resources / Watershed development B1 and Ato Aderaw (project coordinator for B2).

(viii) In August 2009 the modalities for expedited decision making in RPCU for Tana-Beles WME contractual matters were solved. The decision making proceeds according to the following steps, using as an example the approval of short term consultancy TORs. (1) TA team and Niras home office prepare the draft TORs. (2) The draft TORs are sent over email to RPCU with copy to NPCU and Embassy of Finland. (3) RPCU has two weeks time to comment the TORs, over email or by calling a separate meeting. (4) After two weeks the chairman of the RPCU uses “RPCUs voice” in the subsequent (Monday) Tana-Beles WME Project Management Team (PMT) meeting, where the TORs are approved either in the original or in revised form. (5) Copy of signed PMT meeting minutes is sent to RPCU, Embassy of Finland and Niras home office to process the issue to the deployment of the consultant to the field.

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(ix) This process was completed by the end of August 2009. The selection of the candidate out of three Niras home office proposed ones, and the approval of the selection by RPCU was completed by the end of September 2009.

(x) The selected and approved consultant (Mr. Peter Baur) arrived in Ethiopia on 14 October 2009. The process took five months.

Due to the lengthy process in deployment of the short term consultant and passing of the 2009 rainy season, the prioritization of the hydrological baseline study TORs was redirected to accommodate the progress in Micro watershed Based Monitoring Programme (MBMP). In addition there was a shift in priority towards literature survey, modelling and in-depth surveys for special topics such as bed load sampling. Once the Short Term Consultant is fielded, more focus will be put on the planning of the permanent sediment monitoring sites, and possible modifications of the MBMP. 2 23 Natural resources baseline study (point 2.3) The preparations for Natural resources baseline study have been initiated by identification of the important indicators on to which the project will have immediate effect or long term impact. The natural resources indicator set has been developed by the project GIS adviser, Ato Samson and the Capacity Building and Networking Adviser Ato Lakew. The set of indicators and availability of satellite imagery and other GIS-related material, affected the final content of TORs (2.3.1). 2 24 Socio-economic baseline study – primary information collection (point 2.4) The socio-economic baseline study has been outsourced. The standard tendering process used in Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development in Amhara Region was used. Based on the approved TORs (2.4.1) the tendering documents were prepared, and the tendering was announced in national newspaper (Ethiopian Herald) on 11.8.2009. The deadline for the tenders was 31.8.2009. The selection criteria for the evaluation of tenders were prepared by the project M & E adviser together with the project coordinator. BoARD nominated a special evaluation committee to evaluate the tenders both technically and financially. The committee had two members from BoARD and one member from TA team (Ato Getie Asfaw). The evaluation committee has had several meetings during September 2009, and the results are expected to become ready by mid October 2008 (updated comment on 5.11.2009: the evaluation process was completed on 21 October 2009 and the results were sent for approval to Embassy of Finland on 23 October 2009). 2 3 Monitoring and evaluation subsystems (point 3) 2 31 Result 2: Designing M & E system (point 3.1) The design of M & E system (3.1.3) was partly covered by the short term consultancy of Dr. Kevin Kimmage. He left his 1st level report on 21.7.2009 (file: 2009 07 21 Kevin Kimmage Report Part

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1.doc). Simultaneously, previous and current M&E and MIS systems used within Watershed Management especially in Amhara region, were analyzed (3.1.1). An efficient M & E system is essentially based on clear logical framework and its objectively verifiable indicators. The full new (proposed) logical framework has been presented both in the Inception report and in the consultancy report for Monitoring & Evaluation. Summaries on the new (proposed) indicators are presented in the following Tables. Table 1 is for Goal and Objective indicators.

Narrative for Table 1. No status data is available by 30.9.2009. There are six indicators for Goal and Objectives. The indicators are typically quite broad and long-lasting, like Per cent of the population below poverty line is reduced from baseline (end 2008) data of 65 % to 40 % in ten years; that is on average 2.5 per cent units a year. In four cases out of ten the baseline data is already available. In two cases out of ten the baseline data is to be provided by the Socio-Economic baseline survey. No information on Goal and Objective indicators at 30.9.200, is yet available. Table 2 is for Outcome indicators. They are altogether 17. Eight of them have baseline data (zero) available. Nine out of seventeen must be defined by Socio-economic or Natural resources baseline surveys. No information on Outcome indicators is available on 30.9.2009.

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Narrative for Table 2. No status data is available by 30.9.2009. Table 3 is for Output indicators. They are altogether 47. There is baseline data ( = zero) for 22 output indicators. The data have to be acquired by Socio-Economic or Natural Resources baseline surveys for 25 output indicators. Information has started to flow for 7 output indicators out of the total 47. Using purely arithmetical, linear estimation it can be calculated that 20 per cent of the Tana-Beles project time has lapsed. Based on this the following evaluation on the project progress can be made Output 511 (no 26) 13 per cent (behind) Output 521 (no 27) 7 per cent (behind) Output 523 (no 29) 1 per cent (behind) Output 612 (no 37) 15 per cent (behind) Output 621 (no 39) 20 per cent (in time) Output 622 (no 40) 1 per cent (behind) Output 623 (no 41) 38 per cent (ahead)

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Narrative for Table 3. Line 26: Planning has started in 21 communities, not necessarily completed yet. Line 27: Gully rehabilitation is based on a quarter of a century experience on Soil and Water conservation. Of this ongoing, year-to year activity 30 ha (out of 452) were recorded to have been accomplished during the Tana-Beles project. Line 29: See Line 27 (above). Out of 53,285 ha of cultivated 589 ha were recorded by 30.9.2009 to have been under soil and water conservation measures. Line 37: TA team estimation on 30.9.2009, but need follow-up if conservation requirements have been met. Line 39: Nursery establishment has continued especially as farmers’ own small enterprises. Out of targeted 20 nurseries 4 were in operation before the 2009 rains. Line 40: Community forest establishment was started at the onset of 2009 rains. Out of targeted 3000 ha the first 30 ha were planted during the first rainy season (2009). The data is based on the number of produced and delivered seedlings, on assumption that planting density was 10,000 seedlings per hectare and on survival rate of 100 per cent. The data is to be verified by later field surveys. Line 41: Individual farmers’ woodlots were planted at rate of 754 ha, out of the total target of 2000 ha. The data is based on the number of produced and delivered seedlings, on assumption that planting density was 10,000 seedlings per hectare and on survival rate of 100 per cent. The data is to be verified by later field surveys. For majority of output indicator lines the status data of 30.9.2009 is not available yet. Similarly to output and other indicators a table for the status of input indicators can be drawn (Table 4). The major inputs for the Watershed Development B1 are, according to the PAD: (a) 35.08 million USD through World Bank and farmers’ in-kind contribution, and (b) 1.5 mill EURO through Government of Finland for bilateral contribution in Watershed Monitoring & Evaluation.

Narrative for Table 4.

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Line 1 and Line 2: 300,000 Birr transferred in Feb 2009 and 6,719,547 in July 2009 Line 3 and Line 4: As per Component B1 Status report September 2009 Line 5: Total of Line 2 + Line 4 Line 6 and Line 7: The data is based on financial reporting on occurred expenses. The allocation of Watershed Development B1 funds can be divided in two parts

(i) World Bank payments through NPCU to BoARD (ii) Farmers in-kind inputs to the project

By adding these two lines together (in dollars, line 2 + line 4) the total usage of funds results. It is to be compared to the B1 total budget over five years: 35,08 million US dollars. By the end of September 2009 the estimated use of funds is 1,259 mill. USD. It is 3.6 per cent of the total budget. The Tana-Beles Watershed Monitoring & Evaluation (WME) has a total (bilateral) budget of 1.5 mill. EURO. By the end of August 2009 a total of 0.163 mill. EURO was used. It is 10.9 per cent of the total budget. The tables 1-4 are part of the WME Monitoring & Evaluation system. The system is still (30.9.2009) under design. The set of indicators will most probably be changed during the short term consultancy in Monitoring & Evaluation (by Kevin Kimmage), in November 2009. Consequently, the content of tables 1-4 will be revised for the next quarterly report. The Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVI) and selection of practical Mean of Verification are the basis of Monitoring and Evaluation system. Consequently a considerable set of initial activities and inputs were allocated for development of the set of Indicators. The first International Short Term Consultant in the project (Dr. Kevin Kimmage) was decided to recruit just for this task. The first part of his consultancy concentrated in clarifying the logical framework (including the set of indicators) of Component B1. The second part to be carried out in November concentrates in fine tuning the indicators, especially so that they are also objectively verifiable. ***** Results-based M&E systems planned for Tana-Beles Watershed Development B1 have been compared by linkages (3.1.10) with MERET, SLM and SafetyNet projects. It has been found out that Tana-Beles B1 has more emphasis in sustainability as compared to many other projects. Especially it is a matter of how to include farmers’ own work as in-kind input to the project. In the Tana-Beles B1 the farmers’ own inputs are calculated at high level of in-kind funding. Consequently, farmers are not paid by the project funds, for their own work. This is exceptional as the common project way has been and it still seems to be is that farmers are paid in cash even for their own work. This difference between various projects is apt to raise confusion with the main stakeholders, the farmers.

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Development of conceptual framework for web-based project management tools (3.1.12) was delayed due to late arrival of TA team laptops. Design of conceptual Framework for MIS and Geodatabase systems (3.1.13) has been started by the GIS adviser (Ato Samson). First project area boundaries (with Subwatersheds, Woredas and Kebeles) were redefined using GIS techniques. An example of the GIS outputs is seen in Annex. 2 32 Result 3: BoARD implementing M & E systems and MIS (point 3.2) The activities are scheduled to start in September 2009. 2 33 Result 4: Capacity building (point 3.3) Preparation of the capacity and learning needs assessment and subsequent plan (point 3.3.1) was a partial fulfilment of Dr. Kevin Kimage’s consultancy, and as a team work between him and Ato Lakew. 2 34 Result 5: Information sharing (point 3.4) Cooperation et coordination with other related projects is part of the networking in Tana-Beles WME. Besides mutual contacts between TA team members and projects a “harmonization” workshop was arranged on 20.11.2009 1 under the title: Common workshop for current and ongoing program staff on best practices of watershed monitoring and evaluation. It was participated by the following projects or organizations: MERET, EIDP, SLMP, TBIWRDP, IFAD, SUN, ASSP and SWISHA List of participants and the project or program were the following: No Project/Program Name of the Participants 1 Managing Environmental Resources for Enhancing

Transitions to Better Livelihoods (MERET) Birara Chekol

2 Ethiopian Irrigation and Drainage Project (EIDP) Birhanu Ayichew 3 Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP) Enideg Dires 4 Tana-Beles WME K. Kimmage, Getie Assefaw,

Samson G/Mariam, M.Kruskopf 5 International Fund for Agricultural Development

(IFAD) Molla Tafere

6 Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources for Improved Food Security (SUN)

Simachew Kassahun, Wubeshet Legesse, Tefera Tegegna

7 Agricultural Sector Support Project/Program Werkneh Andargie 8 Sustainable Water Harvesting and Institutional

Strengthening in Amhara (SWHISA) Yohannes Afework

1 This topic has been added to the 2nd version of the 1st Quarterly Report (24.11.2009)

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Major topics of the Monitoring & evaluation covered in the workshop, were the best practices and lessons learned. The gaps and future directions in M&E were also addressed. Except EIDP and SWHISA all the participants made power point presentations on existing practices of M&E (planning and indicator setting, data collection and management, reporting, quality assurance). EIDP is a newly starting project and SWHISA also recently initiated watershed projects in the region. According to the presentations and subsequent discussions made by the participants there are a lot of communalities in terms of the objectives of the projects, challenges and constraints faced and identified gaps. For many of the programs or projects the M&E system is used as designed at Federal level which is mostly conventional. GTZ SUN/SLMP uses an approach called Eco-pop, however its technical details were not presented. Tana-Beles WME is believed to have moved ahead in terms of designing a computerized M&E system. However, there is a long way to go in terms of refining, testing, validating and harmonizing to the entire monitoring and evaluation systems. For the activity planning, implementation and its aggregating at different levels it was mentioned that it should not be a double counting, but rather it needs further refinement. All the participants agreed and proposed that such regular meeting, experience sharing and harmonization between various projects would be of great value and importance. It was proposed that RPCU or the Planning Department or Process Owner would be logical institution to call such regular meetings in order. Example of new spatial presentation of watershed and catchments (3.4.1) is seen in Annex. GIS – based information sharing is continued by the project GIS adviser Ato Samson. 2 35 Result 6: M & E Institutionalization (point 3.5) The activities are scheduled to start in April 2010. 3 Financial report 3 1 Bilateral funds The progress in the use of bilateral funds for Tana-Beles WME by the end of August 2009 (during the period 1.6.-31.8.2009, which is during the 3 months out of 7 in 2009) has been summarized in Tables 5 and 6. It should be noted, however, that these are estimates only at field office of Bahir Dar. The final accounts are later to be verified and approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland (Helsinki). The total expenditure has been 106 430 Euros, which is 11 per cent of the total budget (Table 5). It is also some 31 per cent of the 2009 as per 31.8.2009. The deviations from the original budget are shown in Table 6.

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Narrative for the budget lines (in Table 6) is as follows: In the collective line Management (TA-team and home office) there are apparent savings of 26,352 Euro. These savings may not be real, as the invoicing from the home office to MFA may not be updated yet. 121 Unspecified international consultants. There seem to be savings (26,272 €) in the budget line. This will not be the case as all the planned Short term consultants have not been deployed yet. 122 Unspecified national consultants. The saving 5,858 € is true as the national short term consultants have not been recruited yet. The first apparent of them is under selection but due to lengthy processes the consultant cannot start the work before end of November 2009. 211 International travel, experts shows overspending of 738 €. This is explained by the initial deployment cost. It happened only in the beginning (3 months) of the project. 212 International travel, dependants shows savings of 1,286 €. The dependants had not arrived in Ethiopia yet by 31.8.2009. 213 Domestic flights shows savings of 1388 €. This is true saving as the number of project meetings in Addis Ababa has been less than anticipated. 214 Housing + guard (TL) shows over expenditure of 1,055 €. This is explained by the common practice in Bahir Dar that the house rent must be paid beforehand as 6 months advance. 215 Housing + guard (Int Expert) shows savings of 434 €. This is true saving as that house was “inherited” from RWSP Junior Programme Officer with earlier agreed costs. 216 House renovations shows savings of 4,249 €. This is a true saving as the original house renovations were included in the first rental payment. 217 Household amenities shows savings of 2,576 €. This is not true saving, as all the household amenities were not acquired or invoiced yet by 31.8.2009. 218 Hotels, long-term. This shows over expenditure of 707 €. This is a true cost as Team Leader had to reside in hotel in Bahir Dar longer than anticipated. 219 DSA long-term. This shows over expenditure of 853 €. This is true cost as the original deployment time in Addis Ababa and field travels were longer than originally planned. 220 Freight of personal goods. This shows over expenditure of 441 €. This is not true case, as the cost happens only once in the beginning of the project. 221 Permit and legal fees shows savings of 383 €. This is true saving, but will be needed in the clearing and forwarding process of project items.

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311 International travel for short term consultants shows savings of 3,214 €. This is not true saving, as the deployment of short term consultants has been slower than anticipated. 312 Domestic flights for short term consultants shows savings of 1,225 €. This is a true saving, as the need for domestic flight travel has been less than anticipated. 313 DSA’s for short term consultants shows savings of 1,225 €. This is not true saving, similarly to budget line 311. 314 Accommodation for International Short term consultants shows savings of 2,834 €. This is partly true saving, as the lodging cost in Addis Ababa may be lower than originally anticipated. 321 Domestic flights, national consultants shows savings of 411 €. This is a true saving as national consultants have not been deployed yet. 322 DSAs for national consultants shows savings of 977 €. This is a true saving as national consultants have not been deployed yet. 323 Accommodation for national consultants shows savings of 1,800 €. This is a true saving as national consultants have not been deployed yet. 411 International travel for Home Office visits shows savings of 643 €. This is not true saving as Home Office visit was scheduled for September – October. 412 Domestic flight for Home Office visits shows savings of 129 €. This is not true saving as Home Office visit was scheduled for September – October. 413 DSAs for Home Office visits shows savings of 228 €. This is not true saving as Home Office visit was scheduled for September – October. 414 Accommodation for Home Office visits shows savings of 300 €. This is not true saving as Home Office visit was scheduled for September – October. 510 Drivers (2) shows savings of 1,650 €. This is true saving as the drivers have not been recruited before the project vehicles arrive. 520 Office assistant shows savings of 771 €. This is true saving as office assistant has not been recruited yet. 610 Hydrological baseline study shows savings of 379 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed. 620 Socio-Economic baseline studies show savings of 8,364 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed. 630 Village-based monitoring system shows savings of 977 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed.

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640 Process and thematic evaluations shows savings of 857 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed. 650 M & E system training shows savings of 1,288 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed. 660 M & E system development and training shows savings of 429 €. This may not be true saving as these project activities were delayed. 670 Audit is in balance. 711 Vehicles shows over expenditure of 27,000 €. This is not true saving as payment of vehicles is done only once, in the beginning of the project. 712 Vehicle rental shows over expenditure of 4,022 €. This is a true over expenditure as the clearing & forwarding of the two project vehicles has been taken longer time than anticipated. 713 Petrol, service, insurance etc shows savings of 3,375 €. This is true saving as some of these costs are included in the vehicle rental costs. 714 Computers, office equipment shows over expenditure of 5,690 €. This is not true as these equipments are procured in the beginning of the project. 715 Software, SPSS and ArcGis shows savings of 1,286 €. This is not true saving, as these software have not been procured yet and because the true price of ArcGis is over 10,000 €. 716 Communication shows savings of 2,175 €. This is true savings as all planned internet and telephone connections were not needed or they have not been installed yet. 717 Miscellaneous shows savings of 415 €. This is true saving, although minor. In total the Tana-Beles WME project shows savings of 64,464 € at the end of August 2009. Part of these is true savings that can be used as a basis for minor budget revision. 3 3 Progress of Tana Beles Watershed Development B1, including use of counterpart funds Training. The Woreda experts trained 226 kebele and community watershed members and 53 development agents& supervisors. Preparation of participatory land use plan (PLUP) and community action plan (CAP). The strategy in implementation of integrated watershed management component of the project is first to develop participatory land use plan and then identify various development interventions. The plan was to develop PLUP & CAP for 21 micro-watersheds. At the end of September PLUPs have been completed for 18 micro-watersheds; still the quality needs to be improved. Implementation of Soil and Water conservation activities. In parallel with preparation of PLUP and CAP different soil and water conservation activities in the micro-watersheds (Baskura, Zefie,

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Engule and Kentai) have been done. Treatment of 588.95 ha of farmland with soil and stone faced bunds, 12.85 km of check dam constructed on active gullies, 4.82 km of Cut-off drains and 2.23 km of water ways constructed. Similarly maintenance has been made for 319.74 km of bund, 4.28 km of check dam, 4.49 km of cut-off drains, 1.17 km of water ways on 351.37 ha of farm land. The above activities were done through community contribution in the form of labor and local material with the participation 3506 farmers (2340 men & 1166 women). Their contribution in monetary value was estimated at 1.9 million birr. Rehabilitate degraded lands through afforestation, Seedling production has been started at community and individual farmer levels. Thus, nearly 7.80 million seedlings (7.50 million private farmers and 296,000 community seedlings) were raised and planted on private and communal lands. Financial management and utilization. At Regional level the authorized signatories for the project fund are Bureau head, Procurement and Finance Department head and Finance section head. At woreda level the fund is co-managed by office of Finance& Planning and Office of Agriculture and Rural Development. Until end of September 2009 altogether 7,019,547 Birr has been released from Ministry of Water Resources for startup activities. It was done in two phases. The first budget Birr amount 300,000 was released in February 2009 mainly for start up activities. The second budget Birr amount 6,719,547 was released on July 2009 for implementation of community entry points or service facilities. From February 2009 till end of September 2009 the total budget utilized for implementation of various project activities was 292,360.35. In addition to this the communities also contributed more than 2 million Birr for soil and water conservation activities and agroforestry or forestry development activities. The budget distribution and utilization is presented in the table below

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Release and utilization of Watershed Development B1 funds between February 2009 and end of September 2009.

4 Proposal for minor budget revision (Tana-Beles WME main budget) Based on the expected true savings in some budget lines and need for apparent additional funds in other budget lines a minor budget revision is proposed as follows (see also Table 6 above and the related narrative): Total of 5994 Euros to be deducted from the following savings 1388 € from BL 213 Domestic flights 1418 € from BL 314 Accommodation I STC (half of the accrued savings) 411 € from BL 321 Domestic flights N STC 977 € from BL 322 DSAs N STC 1800 € from BL 323 Accommodation N STC Total of 5994 Euros to be added to the followings budget lines 4200 € to BL 712 Vehicle rental (to accommodate delayed arrival of project vehicles) 1794 € to BL 714 Computers, office equipment (to accommodate laser printer and LCD projector) The new Tana-Beles WME budget, after the minor budget revision, is shown in Table 7 (the orange shading is for budget lines of true savings [“from”], the green budget lines are in need of additional funding [“to”].

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5 Unforeseen delays 5 1 Analysis The Watershed Development Component B1 (as well as the whole TBIWRDP) is about one year old. Its Monitoring & Evaluation component (WME) is over one quarter old (on 30.9.2009). At this point it is already possible to analyse deviations from the plans. Both components have experienced unforeseen delays. In the component B1 majority of the planned watershed development activities could not be started before the 2009 rains. Based on the reported status of indicators only two development activities are in time: establishment of tree nurseries and farm forests. The unforeseen delays in component B1 are mainly due to staff shortage. There was gap in the capacity at all levels Regional – Zonal – Woreda – Kebele. These capacity gaps were noticed by the WME team Gap identification paper of 5.8.2009 (as reported in the Tana-Beles Monthly report for August 2009). The shortages of staff – and the capacity gaps – were unforeseen partly because of the countrywide administrative organisational changes, related to Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). This process is now over, and at least it is not hampering the project activities and causing further delays. The unforeseen delays in component WME are mainly related to baseline studies. The hydrological monitoring ought to have been started well before the rains, say 1.5.2009 in order to get full data set from before, during and after the 2009 rains hydrological effects. This was not possible because the start-up of WME component was delayed to beginning of June. After this unforeseen delay the hydrological monitoring was altered accordingly towards Micro watershed based monitoring. The first full baseline year for the hydrological indicators will be 2010. Another unforeseen delay was experienced in the Socio-economic baseline survey. This survey was decided to be outsourced using national tendering rules. This was a lengthy process – a capacity building exercise – as the recently appointed BoARD staff was not experienced in handling the tendering in sufficiently expedited manner. The high enough quality could not be guaranteed during the process either. The unforeseen delay in WME component is the slow flow of data from Kebeles to Woredas, and to Zones, and to Component B1 headquarters. This can be seen in the Tables 1-3 for the status of indicators. For most of the indicators the data is not available yet. This unforeseen delay is to be avoided when the computerized Monitoring & Evaluation system is in place in the Woredas.

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5 2 Issues likely to arise during the next quarter Socio-economic baseline survey is coming to the implementation phase. The main issue likely to arise is the quality assurance. Natural resource baseline survey is to be initiated. The main issue likely to arise is the modality how the survey is to be carried: as outsourced to a company or as short term consultancy (consultancies). During the following quarter the Monitoring & Evaluation system is to be ready for testing in the Watershed Development B1. The main issue likely to arise is how to secure data flow from the field to the project office. This is partly dependant on the delivery of B1 procured computers to Woredas. 5 3 Recommendations To avoid further delays in implementing both B1 and WME components during the next quarter (1.10.-31.12.2009) the following three recommendations might be of value:

(1) Strengthen capacity by on the job training to ensure flow of monitoring data from Kebeles via Woredas and Zones to B1 Head Office

(2) Initiate Socio-Economic baseline survey in order to get the baseline data for monitoring the output, outcome, objective and goal indicators

(3) Expedite initiation of Natural resources baseline survey in order to get the baseline data for monitoring the output, outcome, objective and goal indicators

6 Plans for the next quarter (1.10.-31.12) against Project Result areas (WME component) 6 1 Result 1: Project Management and WME project start up This result area is almost completed. The major issue lagging behind is the procurement, clearing and forwarding of the two project vehicles. Only the last step is missing: equipping the vehicles with appropriate number plates. This expected to be completed around November, quite probably before the end of December. Another logistics issue is to procure another printer and LCD (overhead) projector for WME project use. This requires a minor budget revision, as described above. 6 2 Result 2: Indicator finalization and baseline studies The set of indicators, as part of project logical framework, is to be finalized based on the second part of the consultancy of the short term Monitoring & Evaluation adviser (Kevin Kimmage). This is expected to happen in November.

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Hydrological baseline study is dependent upon the first part of the short term consultancy mission in hydrology. This expected to happen in October 2009. Socio-Economic baseline study is planned to be carried out during the next quarter. This is dependent on the quality assurance related to the proposed and offered services. Natural resource baseline study is planned to be initiated during the next quarter. This is dependent on the selected modalities of the required study (outsourcing or consulting). 6 3 Result 3: Monitoring and Evaluation subsystems The Monitoring and Evaluation system is essentially dependent on commonly agreed set of Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVIs). They will be fine-tuned and completed during the second part of the consultancy for Monitoring & Evaluation (by Kevin Kimmage). This is expected to happen in November. Pilot level, computerized Monitoring and Evaluation system is expected to be tested in the Regional, Zonal and Woreda level. During the next quarter the Monitoring and Evaluation subsystems are in introductory stage. In December the M & E and MIS framework, Guideline protocols and Tools at Regional, Zonal, Woreda and Kebele are to be piloted. Practical implementation of M & E system and MIS is scheduled to start just after the next quarter (on 1.1.2010). The next quarter is devoted to preparation of various training manuals and materials to be used in B1 training for Zonal, Woreda and Kebele staff. Preparation of Geodatabase and MIS system and the training in their use is scheduled for the next quarter. The implementation phase continues immediately when the B1 component computers for Woredas are in place. 6 4 Result 4: Project Monitoring and Evaluation Project Inception report will be once more revised (to 3rd version) as soon as the final set of indicators have been approved by RPCU. This is expected to happen in December. MIS database draft will be ready during the second quarter, by end of November. Next quarterly report is due by 31.12.2009

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Annex: Example of basic GIS output (Enkulal) for Tana-Beles WME Geodatabase system.