I.   Basic Project Data

Type of Evaluation:	Final
Project Number:	BEN/93/C01
Program Title:	Support to Local Development in East Borgou and West Atacora / PADEL
Govt. Executing Agency:	State Ministry Responsible for Governmental Action, the Plan, Development and Outlook, Division of Regional Planning and Promotion of Basic Initiatives ( DPRPIB )
Executing Agent:	UN Office of Project Services
UN Cooperating Organization:	N/A
Sector:	Integrated Rural Development (0410)
Sub-sector:	N/A
Project approval date:	October 1995
Project start date:	June 1996
Project end date:	June 2001
Evaluation date:	November 2001
Project Budget
UNCDF:	US$   3,320,100
UNDP:	1,903,030
Government:	18,750
Beneficiaries:	575,000
Total Project Budget:	5,816,880
Actual Expenditures at Evaluation:	$ 2,107,126

II.   Background

The Support for Local Development (PADEL) project is being implemented in ten sub-prefectures of two non-contiguous geographic areas with very different socio-economic characteristics: Borgou-East and Atacora-West. In 1993, the total population of the intervention area was estimated at 460,000 inhabitants with approximately 60% residing in the rather rugged area of Atacora-West and 40% residing in the plains of Borgou-East. While agricultural production in Borgou is characterized by the predominance of cotton crops, subsistence food farming is predominant in Atacora, an area marked by low population density, low rainfall and ferruginous soil that is not very fertile. Although the geographic unit made up by these two areas is considered to be the country's main "food basin" (this area is responsible for close to 80% of the cattle production, 60% of small ruminant stock and 85% of poultry production), poverty nevertheless persists there.

In 1993, when the project was formulated, the choice of the two areas of intervention was more particularly motivated by the UNCDF's report of the particularly arduous survival conditions of the populations and by the absence of any other development project, except for an animal husbandry project in Borgou and a village development project in Atacora. The Support for Local Development project is part of a dual intent to reduce poverty and support local development. Its intervention strategy is based on the principle of the participation of target groups in all stages of local development, taking into account the resources available and the most urgent needs of the target groups and by encouraging joint action to allow the involvement of governmental and non-governmental institutions, the beneficiaries and sponsors.

III.   The Project

Development Objectives

The project pursues the objective of grass-roots development and promotion of the essential functions of local communities.

Immediate objectives

The three following immediate objectives were assigned to the project :

1. To improve the living conditions of the populations and boost grass-roots economic growth by establishing an adequate funding tool
2. To increase the initiative and management capabilities of the local communities in local economic and social life;
3. To promote micro-sized enterprises by facilitating access to the appropriate financial services.

Outputs

The anticipated outputs of the project are :

Outputs related to Immediate Objective 1

• The existence of local development plans;
• The creation of socio-economic infrastructures (400 ha of developed lowlands; increase in the surface area of food and truck farming; completion of around ten retaining reservoirs, etc.)
• Functioning community and vocational groups;
• Natural environment conservation actions in many villages, defined in the context of the terms of action of the development committees

Outputs related to Immediate Objective 2

• Project support in the local communities;
• Durability of the actions undertaken and construction of local capabilities.

Outputs related to Immediate Objective 3

• The development of suitable funding tools for promoting micro-sized enterprises in a rural and semi-urban setting.

To achieve these objectives, three separate funds were made available to the populations :

• A Village Development Fund (VDF) intended to fund community infrastructures
• A Local Investment Fund (LIF) intended to fund communal socio-economic infrastructures and reinforce the communal institution.
• Private Initiative Promotion Fund (PIPF) intended to support private or group initiatives to develop their micro-sized enterprises.

IV.   Evaluation Findings

Evaluation of the Results

Concerning the infrastructure component, the level of achievement is satisfactory overall. Out of 45 micro-infrastructure projects planned in connection with six Communal Development Plans and two three-year investment plans, 39 were completed at the time of the evaluation or were well on the way to being completed. Nine schools have been built, opened and already recognized by the State. Patient rates for the two health centers are high and continue to grow. These health centers are incorporated into the existing health system and should, as a result, benefit from State support following the withdrawal of the UNCDF. Two markets were built, as well as 16 market sheds, three shops, seven storage warehouses; all being strongly solicited by the merchants. As part of the "socio-economic infrastructures" component, the areas useable for food farming and truck farming have increased by 63 hectares and 50 hectares of lowlands have been developed, which is quite far from the 400 hectares projected, but seems more realistic in light of the local realities. Finally, 22.7 kilometers of road was built in Atacora-West and 20.5 kilometers were built in Borgou-East, which provided access to nearby communities. As part of the natural environment conservation efforts, anti-erosion actions were taken for 50 hectares of fields in production, 10 nurseries were set up and 80 producers trained in cultivation using draft animals. Finally, a platform for settling disputes was established with the participation of all the users of a classified forest. In order to strengthen the negotiation and decision-making capabilities of the village communities, the project established 22 Development Committees, 14 Village Development Committees (VDC) and eight Communal Development Committees (CDC). However, the development committees and the management committees are not yet completely able to manage and maintain the infrastructures constructed, and they are not yet seasoned in managing the planning of local development.

As part of the Training and Support for Communal Management component, two simplified Urban Land Registers (ULR) were established in Nikki and in Tanguiéta. They made it possible to identify all the existing land rights, to locate allotments on the parcel plans and to develop the index of property owners of the city parcels with the ultimate objective of making it possible to establish connections between the tax file and the land file. The project also supported the training of 120 sub-prefectoral agents in order to strengthen their skills in the development and management of municipal services.

The establishment of the Private Initiatives Promotion Fund created a favorable environment for promoting private initiatives. The project thus made available to the network of the Local Crédit Agricole Credit Fund (CLCAM) a total of 120 million FCFA. In all, 2,793 loan applications were approved for a total of 144.3 million FCFA. The project also supported the creation of 18 women's groups whose members were trained in managing new income producing activities.

Achievement of Outcomes

The project undeniably succeeded in creating a social and economic dynamic and in initiating participatory development, all elements that are likely to make a positive contribution to improving the living conditions of the populations and to ensuring a certain boost in the growth of economic activities. This is an important benefit given the level of destitution, isolation and poverty that characterized the locations of the intervention area. The participation of the beneficiaries in the various infrastructure planning, implementation and management stages appears to be a source of great pride for the populations who seem to have acquired the conviction that they have the power, through collective action, to improve their lot. Furthermore, many activities aimed at increasing the productive potential of the natural resources while preserving them allowed the diversification of the beneficiaries' food supply (truck farming), an increase in farmable areas, improved soil fertility (fight against erosion) and access to additional income sources (poultry farming, truck farming, nurseries, fish stocking, etc.)

The actions undertaken truly improved the capabilities of the local communities for taking initiatives and local management. The adoption of the Urban Land Registers contributed to a better knowledge of the assets of the local communities, to an improvement in the method of land management and to the mobilization of financial resources in view of the population's contribution to funding the infrastructures. Thus, over the period from 1998 to 2000, the level of local taxes collected doubled in Tanguiéta and tripled in Nikki. However, the sustainability of this tool is not yet guaranteed. At the community level, the different structures put in place for sustainable management of local development still seem fragile.

The principal success of the project was to directly affect population groups rarely targeted by microfinancing institutions - the poor and women - because the amounts concerned - very small loans- are too small. The variety of the resulting activities, the large number of borrowers, and the high repayment rate are all elements that clearly show the viability of this type of mechanism for creating a shift to small-scale enterprises. The evaluation team was able to note that the revenues of some poor women had increased significantly, and the impact on the improvement of their social status seems important.

Evaluation of the Project design

The project is totally relevant with respect to the needs of the beneficiary populations, and its orientation is perfectly suited to the priority options of Benin's government, particularly the reduction of poverty, local development and decentralization. Its intervention strategy and the connections among the various objectives are coherent, even though some of the headings are imprecise and others are superfluous. The main weakness of the project document concerns the total absence of indicators, which would have served as qualitative and quantitative benchmarks for evaluating the proper progress of the project. It must also be noted that the only anticipated result defined with precision ("400 hectares of lowlands developed "), was completely unrealistic. Moreover, the size of the project intervention area seems to have been disproportionate to the means allocated to the project. This resulted in numerous delays in carrying out the activities and created a generally lower performance level than expected, both from the standpoint of the quantity of the results achieved and their quality.

V.   Recommendations

A transitional period of a maximum of two years (2002-2003) is recommended in order to strengthen the project assets in order to plan a new, more consistent program when decentralization in Benin is more complete. This transitional phase would include components specifically targeting tax decentralization, institutional support for the future municipalities and reinforcement of the capabilities of NGOs and local enterprises. During the transitional period, an analysis of the current situation in the two intervention areas and the lessons learned from the project should be performed. After the transition period, an expanded participatory program should be developed with reducing poverty, the firm rooting of democracy (management and transparent operation of the Municipality and of its bodies) and the promotion of a diversified local economy as the main objectives. The tracking-evaluating system must be included as an inherent component of the project.

VI.   Lessons drawn from the experience

The project's five-year execution period made it possible to test the introduction of the concept of local development in these two sub-regions of Benin, but it was too short to ensure the reproducibility of the tangible results obtained. Participatory development wagers on the psychological and physical commitment of the populations at all the stages of the process to finally arrive at the total empowerment of the groups targeted. The populations concerned must, therefore, be in a decision-making position - individual or joint, with respect to each operation and major activity of development. For example, they must not only be capable of deciding on the activities of their Development Plan, but also on the choice of the implementors, and must participate actively in negotiating performance contracts.

The human factor is at the core of participatory development. As a consequence, those responsible for PADEL type projects must always be conscious of the complexity of human beings and of group demonstrations. The designers of projects of this type must keep in mind that the sustainable development they seek to achieve requires a long learning curve filled with ups and downs, the support provided by the project often being the only constant in a changing and complex environment. So, in order to ensure the sustainability of the benefits achieved, participatory development projects must be implemented over a much longer period than is the case in most international development.

VII.   Evaluation team

Mr. Paul Bertrand, Anthropologist, International consultant, Head of mission
Mr. Antoine Zangba, Representative of the oversight Ministry.
Messrs. David Godonou Houinsa, National consultant
Pamphile Sossou, National consultant