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Water for a food-secure world
IFAD agricultural water management investments in “challenging contexts”: IFAD
context, commonalities across countries, & recommendations
June 2012Douglas J Merrey
Consultant to IWMI
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Overview
• The IWMI Project on water management in “challenging contexts”
• IFAD’s organization: structure, culture, reforms• Case studies: Analytical framework• Common findings• Recommendations & way forward
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Improving Sustainability of Impacts of Agricultural Water Management Interventions
in Challenging Contexts• “Challenging”: post-conflict, weak institutions• 5 countries (Nepal, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Burkina
Faso, Ghana)– Case studies of IFAD AWM investment projects– Fieldwork, analysis, development of guidelines,
recommendations, training modules
• Goal: Help IFAD improve project quality
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
IFAD Context• Investments target agricultural development
for lifting people out of poverty– Next 3 years: $4.6B to lift 80m people– Rhetorical emphasis: improve equity, gender,
“learning organization”– Recent analysis—Significant scaling up of AWM
investments in recent COSOPs: +/-25% of total investments
– Does IFAD have the technical capacity to support this level of investment?
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Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Observations-IFAD• IFAD reform process: decentralization of
responsibility to CPMs [& CPMs to countries]– Direct responsibility for policy dialogue, planning,
implementation at program & project level• Replaces contracting out eg, to World Bank, UNOPS• Dependence on consultants—”intellectual capital” and
pathway to influencing IFAD investments
– Weak technical support from HQ• PTA as “the enemy”—quality reviews of new projects at
a late stage: “gatekeeper”• Process to change this—IWMI project contributes
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Defining context…
SYSTEM OF
STUDY
CONTEXT(local and macro)
Targeted communityTargeted resourceAWM interventionImplementing agencyFunding agencyRecipient government
Institutional contextBiophysical contextPolitical-economic contextCultural contextDiscursive contextExternal actors
OUTCOMES
Livelihood improvementSustainaibilityFairness& legitimacyAdaptabilityResilienceAgricultural growth
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Analytical Framework
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Broad Challenges from Research
• Partial and poorly directed ‘community’ participation and buy-in
• Poor communication: within donor agencies and between projects and government implementers
• Unbalanced attention to ‘hardware’ than ‘software’• Lack of downward accountability [ie, to clients]• Weaknesses in design, supervision and monitoring• Not multi-sectoral—work in sectoral “silos”
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Broad Challenges cont’d• Inadequate technical support– Lack of expertise for using community driven development
approaches– Poor integration with other project components
(marketing)
• Limited implementation of laws and policies• Gender inequity• Weak local institutions [elite capture]
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Design & Implementation• Project design: well crafted on paper, but goals fail to
match reality; proposal design team external; weak consultative/participatory approach
• No continuity design to implementation team• Infrastructure design and construction: often faulty;
challenges in personnel capacity – few well-trained engineers
• Supervision focuses in financial & physical progress not achieving project goals [poverty, livelihoods, equity]
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Delays
• Start-ups extremely slow: bureaucratic process; funds disbursement; changes in costs
• Politicization of project: taints procurement; tendering; implementation;
• Capacity challenges on part of local government project staff to meet project criteria
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Operation & maintenance, sustainability, productivity
• Community hand-over and ownership• Funds for maintenance insufficient• Training/capacity • Disengagement after hand-over
Lack of sustained productivity
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Recommendations • Project design include adequate time and
funds for capacity building• Project design process should be more
consultative – with national programs and with communities– “Ownership” at national, local government,
community levels
• Promote multi-sectoral involvement in design & implementation
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Recommendations
• Find solutions to recurring problems – – Capture and share lessons learned– Learning process should be built into projects– Improve KM across projects, countries, regions
• Invest in strengthening local institutions– Engage with government, stakeholders– Training on engaging with communities and adapting
project design and implementation to local context
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Recommendations• Test new approaches to address gender and
other social equity issues: more than quotas• Design mechanisms for more downward
accountability– M&E– Stronger role of FO in contracting for infrastructure
• Build on existing institutions & knowledge• Continued and targeting engagement after
hand-over
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Way forward• Strengthen capacity of regular consultants—
IFAD “intellectual capital”– Consultant roster under development—intended
to support CPMs and projects– IWMI learning module on community
engagement-to be tested in Nepal, Ghana– IWMI & PTA--Major Consultant Learning Event
planned for November in Rome• Promote innovative types of investments
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Thank you!