United Nations Capital Development Fund

Project Evaluation Summaries
Prepared by the Policy, Planning and Evaluation Unit (PPEU)

Benin

I. Basic Project Data

Project Number:	BEN/88/C03 - BEN/88/014
Project Title:	Improving Living Conditions in Aguégués
Cooperating Agency:	United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Government Executing Agency:	Ministry of Planning and Economic Restructuring
Sector:	Integrated rural development
Sub-Sector:	Agricultural financing and rural credit
UNCDF Budget:	US$ 4,192,076
UNDP Budget:	1,040,400
WFP Budget:	370,400
Gov't. Budget:	54,600
Contributions by benefactors:	53,000
Total Budget:	5,710,746
Total Expenditures at Evaluation:	3,773,727
Actual UNCDF Expenditures at Evaluation:	3,028,098
Date Project Approved:	May 1992
Date Project Began:	January 1993
Date Project Evaluated:	November 1997
Type of Evaluation:	Mid-term

II. Background

The Government of Benin has faced a very difficult economic and financial situation since 1983. In 1989, with the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Government put a structural adjustment programme (SAP) into operation in an effort to restore macroeconomic balances. The reforms undertaken as part of the SAP produced adverse social consequences which the Government has tried to address through its Programme for the Social Dimension of Development (Programme de dimension sociale du développement). This programme was designed to protect vulnerable groups by improving basic infrastructure and expanding social services.

The sub-prefecture of Aguégués, the site of this project, includes three communes with a population of 20,000 inhabitants in an area of 52 km2, only a very small part of which is inhabited. This inaccessible territory is situated in the low part of the valley of the Ouémé River. The remaining area consists of nothing but swamps and stretches of water. The small amount of land above the water level is flooded from time to time. Moreover, during the seasonal high-water periods of the Ouémé, from July to December, the sub-prefecture becomes truly isolated. Access roads are therefore not passable in all seasons. The condition of the basic infrastructure gives cause for concern; school facilities are dilapidated or inadequate, and there is no reliable source of drinking water. Furthermore, the lagoon waters are invaded by water hyacinths, which interfere with navigation and fishing.

III. The Project

The development objective of this project was to give the people of Aguégués the means to improve their livelihoods while preserving respect for the natural environment. The immediate objectives were the following:

To establish the necessary infrastructure to make the sub-prefecture more accessible and capable of providing the best possible services for primary health and education;
To develop income-generating activities through the diversification and expansion of production, and by improving marketing and transport conditions;
To protect and preserve the environment by making people more aware of the importance of protecting natural resources; and
To restore the capacity of local structures to initiate, promote and carry out development activities.

IV. Findings of the Evaluation Team

The mission found it difficult to determine the extent to which the objectives are being attained, given that the evaluation was conducted at mid-term. However, the mission did find that all the components of the project have been implemented or are in the process of being carried out. There are measurable improvements in the environmental situation (natural resources, etc.) and in living conditions (better access to means of transport). However, there are a number of problems pertaining to the management of the project, the lack of participation by the communities and the lack of commitment from some of the partners.

A. Assessment of results achieved

Making the sub-prefecture more accessible:

There has been a high level of community participation in the construction of the embankments (preparing the terrain and resolving the problem of disposing excavated earth). Apart from a few technical questions (for example, the erosion of the embankment slopes, the restoration of feeder roads, etc.), the works (three embankments and one landing stage) that have been carried out are of good quality. However, no maintenance structure has been put into place, and no steps have yet been taken to measure the use of the embankments. However, the mission noted that the people are very well satisfied with the infrastructure.

Improvement of the basic infrastructures:

The absence of adequate financial data made it impossible to calculate the quality-to-cost ratio of the infrastructure (buildings for health, educational and administrative purposes). A French NGO (Association française des volontaires de progrès), which had been entrusted with ensuring community participation, concerned itself solely with the study, execution and monitoring of the works. There was no discernible maintenance activity. The socio-economic study and the setting up of an MIS have not been carried out. The mission noted serious technical problems in all of the buildings (for example, windows that let in the rain, roofs that leaked, buildings that nearly collapsed under the wind and latrines placed too close to the classrooms).

Sustainable Management of Natural Resources:

The project has promoted the awareness of the importance of local forest resources both in terms of the environment, and issues related to socio-economic and energy considerations. In addition, the project has trained people in techniques for planting mangroves and tree nurseries for existing as well as new species. A reforestation programme has been started, but it is too early to assess its impact. The mission also noted a good mastery of the techniques taught by the project.

The Village Capital Development Fund (Fonds d’équipement villageois) and its sub-components:

The mission noted that satisfactory information is available on the training courses but none concerning their impact on the increase in income. Due to a lack of staff, there has been no technical monitoring of the groups or the microenterprises. The credit segment proved to be a setback, because the population did not clearly understand that loans, unlike grants, have to be repaid. This microcredit sub-component has been transferred to the UNCDF-financed regional credit project (RAF/94/C01). In the mission’s opinion, the suspension of credit is likely to harm agricultural development in the target area.

Strengthening the participatory mechanisms:

The project has thus far failed to mobilize the community to participate more fully in the programme. Women are most conspicuously underrepresented. Nevertheless, the project has been able to organize activities for promoting literacy and for learning new fish-farming techniques. Women who have participated in the training are now better able to define their problems and to propose solutions. However, the mission noted that the project document did not make sufficient provision for the participation of women: they were not involved in the committees, nor were they involved in fish-processing or in other economic activities. The mission believes that the marginalization of women will have a negative impact on the sustainability of progress obtained through the project, since women’s groups are responsible for the collection and handling of fees and housing rents and the organization of maintenance work.

Management of the project:

The mission noted that the management of both the Project Management Committee and the Project Team was ineffective. The project has also suffered from the weakness of technical management in several components, in particular the Socio-economic Infrastructures component and in the Village Capital Development Fund. The primary reasons for the ineffective management include the fact that the national director is only employed part-time; the absence of a liaison officer; the complete lack of an operating budget; and ongoing disputes concerning authority between departmental chiefs and the sub-prefect.

B. Assessment of project design

Although the concept at the time of formulation was ambitious, it was and remains valid eight years later. However, several factors have been seriously overestimated, such as the people’s participation in community work, for which they do not seem to have any immediate or visible interest. In the particular case of the population of Aguégués, culture and traditions are not favourable a priori to such a commitment. Lack of knowledge about the local situation has resulted in a low level of participation in the work by the beneficiaries and a more rapid deterioration of the investments (because there has been no maintenance).

The commitment on the part of Government workers was also overestimated. It was overly ambitious to assume that Government officials, with different social and economic backgrounds, could work shoulder to shoulder with the target population and agree to share their living conditions.

V. Recommendations

Project document and budget

While the objectives of the project remain valid, a revision of the project document must be made in terms of the expected results, the institutional framework, the system of management and monitoring, the timetable, the budget, the critical assumptions and the individual responsibility of the various participants. These changes should be followed by a revision of the budgets of all the funding partners, including that of the Government, in order to have them reflect the changes made in the project.

Commitment of the national counterpart

The importance of Government contributions to the project and the procedures for their disbursement and utilization should be more clearly defined. Transparency is needed to ensure that the project team is able to coordinate its activities with those of Government officials. Moreover, the ministry should ensure that its officials are present in the communities and that they are committed and motivated.

Participation by the beneficiaries

A special effort should be made to encourage the local population to participate in the various project activities. In addition, efforts should be made to increase awareness within the community. To accomplish these initiatives, a full-time outreach staff person should be recruited directly by the project or through an NGO. In particular, women should be consulted at all stages of the project. At least one gender specialist should be recruited by the project in order to ensure the participation of women. The project should also seek to entrust women’s groups with full responsibility for certain project activities. Moreover, the participatory methodologies should be reevaluated and more closely monitored by the project team.

Institutional framework

The institutional framework should be revised in order to redefine the hierarchical relationships between the project and the Government and to streamline the process for consultation, coordination and decision-making.

Management of the project

The national expert should give greater attention to the management of the project, establish a new overall proposal for the future programming of project activities and obtain the agreement of the partners. This proposal should be accompanied by a quarterly work plan, a financial plan, a timetable and a plan for the recruitment and deployment of the necessary human resources, activity by activity. The proposal should be examined and approved as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the monitoring system should be made operational without delay, and the technical and financial controls should be rigorously tested at all levels.

Partners

It is recommended that UNOPS reaffirm its leadership role in its current capacity as cooperating agent for the project. In addition, if it is possible, the contracts with AFVP should be reexamined. The World Food Programme (WFP) should work in close collaboration with the project team on the planning and execution of the programme.

Project activities

Greater attention should be given to income-producing agricultural and stock-raising activities. The project should continue to work with fishermen. A better survey of the people’s credit needs should also be conducted.

Sustainability

The preparation for the post-project phase and the transfer of responsibilities from the present project should be initiated immediately. To this end, the highest priority should be given to establishing an NGO to take over the tasks of the project team.

VI. Policy Implications and Lessons Learned

The following lessons were captured from the mid-term evaluation of this project:

The institutional structures as described in the project document, as well as the mechanisms for management and monitoring/evaluation are overly ambitious and too complicated. As a result, it will be very difficult to accomplish the objectives as defined in the project document. The primary lesson learned from this experience is to keep a project as simple as possible in the beginning.
UNCDF should not hesitate to take strong action with regard to its partners during the execution of the project if they are delinquent on any of the terms of their contract. This will require a more rigorous monitoring in the awarding of contracts, by UNCDF; and of activities, by the project team.
It is important that the Government’s institutional and financial capacity be subjected to an in-depth analysis before establishing its commitment in the project document. Such an analysis should determine the Government’s capacity to mobilize co-financing, to contract agents for the various activities of the project, and to take charge of maintenance.
The willingness of the beneficiaries to participate has been overestimated because of a failure to understand the local context. The lack of maintenance has led to an accelerated deterioration of the investments. Consequently, it is important to determine at the outset the beneficiaries’ ability to share in the project’s achievements and in their maintenance.
It is important to establish a monitoring and evaluation system as soon as a project is launched. In this case, because no system had been set up, it was not possible to maintain constant monitoring of the work. The absence of a pre-existing M&E system also affected the ability of the evaluation mission to gather enough information to judge the impact of the project.

VII. Evaluation Team

The members of the team responsible for the mission were: Gilles J. Dubuc (engineer and Chief of Mission), Sylvain M. Adjagboni (public works engineer), Luc M. L. Affoyon (fisheries engineer) and Jean Dah-Dovonon (environmental engineer).