United Nations Capital Development Fund

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

Burkina Faso

I. Basic Project Data

Project Number:	BKF/85/C01
Project Title:	Construction of a hillside dam and agricultural water development
UN Cooperating Agency:	UNDP/OPS
Government Executing Agency:	National Office of Dams and Agricultural Water Development (ONBAH) and Ministry of Agriculture
Sector:	Agriculture
Sub-Sector:	Irrigation
UNCDF Budget:	US$ 790.393
UNDP Budget:	15,000
Community Contribution:	In man-days
Gov't. Budget:	117,000
Total Budget:	922,393
UNCDF Expenditures at Evaluation:	710,282
Date Project Approved:	May 1986 (revised in Aug 1989)
Date Project Began:	Nov 1986
Date Project Evaluated:	Feb-Mar 1997
Type of Evaluation:	Ex-Post

II. Background

Agriculture is the mainstay of Burkina Faso's economy and accounts for a third of its GDP. Faced with a serious grain deficit, the Government's priorities are rural development and food self-sufficiency through intensification and an expanded output of irrigation districts, increasing the use of draught animals in farming, the organization of agricultural markets, and strengthening the marketing system. In this context, that the Government of Burkina Faso requested assistance from UNCDF in the early 1980s.

The target area of the project is situated in the southern part of the Sahelian zone, in Oubritega province. Climatic conditions in the area are difficult and farming there is based on traditional rain-fed methods. The region lacks any substantive infrastructure improvements, and the grain deficit in relation to minimum requirements is estimated to be 35%.

As formulated in 1986, the project entailed the construction of four dams and the development of an irrigation district covering an area of 50 ha. The project objectives were, however, revised downward and a project agreement signed in August 1989 limited its objectives to the construction of a single dam and the development of an irrigation district covering 20 ha. in the village of Gaskey, in Pabré department, situated 45 km north of Ouagadougou.

III. The Project

The project, whose duration was initially set at three years, generally aimed at increasing the area's output of food crops in order to promote the Government's targets for food self-sufficiency, and improve the economic and social condition of the project's target population.

The project, which has benefited around 800 people, had two immediate objectives: (1) construction of infrastructure works and equipment (hillside dam equipped with an intake device, a room for meetings and training activities, a storeroom, access paths); and (2) development and operation of an irrigation area downstream of the dam, which during the rainy season would cover 20 ha. for raising food crops (rice, sorghum, maize) and in the dry season would cover 10 ha. for market produce. During the implementation of the project, supplementary infrastructure works considered essential were financed by UNCDF: a borehole with hand-pump, a rice shelling and grain-milling unit for the women's groups and a Health and Social Advancement Centre (Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale [CSPS]).

IV. Purpose of the Evaluation

The ex-post evaluation sought to review the design, implementation, results and socio-economic impact of the project on the direct and indirect beneficiaries. Particular attention was to be paid to the project's effectiveness in achieving its immediate objectives by determining the degree to which existing technical and institutional capacities were strengthened and the efficiency of the project's implementation and management. Lastly, the mission was to identify the chief factors which promoted or hindered the production of planned outputs or consolidation of achievements, the impact (planned or otherwise) on target groups and the project's sustainability. Specific proposals were to be formulated to improve the quality and efficiency of future projects in this sector.

V. Findings of the Evaluation

A. Assessment of results achieved

The mission found that, in spite of delays in implementation (10 years instead of the scheduled 3), the project has been a solid success insofar as it produced all the planned results and was able to evolve from a conventional infrastructure and equipment project into an integrated rural development project. The following results, representing varying degrees of success, were noted:

Infrastructure and equipment:

The construction of the dam, the irrigation district, the storeroom and the training classroom, implemented by ONBAH, were completed in 1989. As regards the additional infrastructures, the drilling of a borehole and provision of a hand-pump were completed in 1990; the shelling unit, completed in 1993, is still in operation. In addition, the Health and Social Advancement Centre (CSPS), started at the request of the beneficiaries, began its operations in May 1996 and has since averaged about 500 patients a month. The mission found that virtually all the infrastructure works and equipment were constructed according to the best prevailing standards, that they were in good condition, and were operating satisfactorily under the responsibility of the group and its members.

Development of the irrigation district:

Placed under the responsibility of the "SENS" project and started in 1989, the development of irrigated areas included several activities: raising the awareness of beneficiaries and setting up approximately 100 farmers (each given 0.2 ha plots); technical supervision of the farmers to bring the plots under cultivation (the initial planting yielded poor results since few of the farmers had graded their fields properly, but the second planting was better supervised and thus produced a better yield); training of farmers (literacy activities, organization, farming methods, maintenance), which benefited around 30 individuals per year over a six-year period and motivated the women more than the men; and the establishment of a revolving fund at a level equivalent to US$ 22,000.

Technical assistance and training:

The assistance of the CTA responsible for technical oversight of the works was very useful. The involvement of the expert responsible for assisting ONBAH in the technical studies proved to be less justified. Lastly, the training provided to the local population under the "SENS" ("Awareness") project in developing the irrigation district, literacy, and training in organization and administration, were among the chief strengths of the project.

Institutional impact:

An important result of the project was the emergence of a group of producers as an autonomous framework for decision-making, organization and management of production. The Gaskey group includes 89 farmers and 400 women belonging to women's groups. The project demonstrated exceptional management capacity in the areas of administration, supply, credit, water management, participation, self-financing, etc. The project's fields of involvement extend today to all aspects of village life and its performance has been outstanding.

Participation:

The target population participated effectively in the construction of infrastructure and equipment. The mission found the participation and accountability of the beneficiaries to be exceptional (with real capacity for organizational and managerial autonomy demonstrated by the Gaskey group).

Use and maintenance:

With respect to the maintenance of infrastructure and equipment, the Gaskey group established at the outset ad hoc committees specifically responsible for managing certain activities. Training was provided for persons responsible for routine maintenance (masons, electricians) and water fees were charged. However, the future of the project could be in jeopardy if resources are not provided to cover the future maintenance needs of the project's infrastructure and equipment.

Socio-economic impact:

The mission found that the project had helped to create a positive force for socio-economic development in the village and surrounding area by guaranteeing cash income and yields. It developed rice-growing, which had not been very widespread, and introduced a new crop, the green bean. The quantities produced have increased steadily, as has intermediate consumption, while the project has created intensive marketing and processing activities at the local level, with, for green beans, a partnership contract between the group and a local business venture.

B. Assessment of project design

Uncertainty (on the part of the Government and donors) and a poor assessment of the baseline situation (conditions for study and implementation of the project, objectives and activities, responsibilities) characterized the original design and formulation of the project, causing a three-year delay in its implementation. It was only when the project was revised in 1989 that it was adjusted to the needs of the area, reflecting the flexibility of UNCDF, its constant monitoring and the skill and responsibility of the beneficiaries, who drew attention to the project's weaknesses and identified their priority needs.

The mission is of the view that in a country like Burkina Faso, where there are many priorities, it would have been better to devise from the outset a community development or "integrated rural development" approach, which would have provided the many economic and social components.

The technological choices were, on the whole, appropriate. Suited to local conditions, they enabled the national or local structures to make good use of them with minimum outside assistance.

VI. Recommendations

In order to ensure the ongoing impact of the project, the following measures should be taken with the agreement of all the partners:

• Fees should be increased;

• Supplementary training should be provided in the areas of accounts and financial management, infrastructure and equipment maintenance, and water management;

• Sufficient resources (human, material, financial) must be employed to ensure the operation and maintenance of infrastructure and equipment; and

• The State should assume responsibility for dam and spillway maintenance which is beyond the group's capacity.

In order to reinforce the project's indirect positive impact, the Government and the beneficiaries should also plan additional activities. The recommendations include:

• Agreements with growers and market garden farmers downstream from the project;

• Organizing downstream producers;

• Possible sharing in the charges;

• Capacity building for producer groups; and

• More generally, maintaining the interest of the population in irrigated farming.

VII. Policy Implications and Lessons Learned

One of the project's main assets was the flexibility of UNCDF (with regard to formulation and funding), which made it possible to redirect assistance into areas that were not foreseen at the start of the project but which were subsequently identified by beneficiaries as priorities. The project appears to have functioned successfully in accordance with a "rolling programming" of activities. Once initial objectives were achieved, the project embarked upon new, more relevant activities which motivated the beneficiary population and helped to reinforce the original objectives, improving project's overall success.

The experience of the project also reveals that eliciting and organizing the interest and participation of the target population from the outset establishes the conditions for the project's success and survival. The participatory approach made the emergence of the Gaskey group and institution-building possible, and lead to spin-off effects (exceptional capacities for managing and assuming responsibility for various village activities). This was especially true in that the approach takes into account the "development" factor coupled with an integrated package of awareness-raising, accountability and training (functional literacy) activities and the early introduction of accounting and financial management.

VIII. Evaluation Team

The evaluation team consisted of Souleymane Soulama, social economist, and Idrissa Yaya, Rural Engineer.