Main findings and conclusions
Evaluation purpose and scope
This is the second Country Portfolio
Evaluation (CPE) undertaken by the Fund. Its purpose is to contribute
to better project design and implementation building on the substantial
amount of experience accumulated by the Fund in The Sudan.
To this effect, the CPE endeavoured
to provide solid comparative information on the most essential aspects
of project performance and their relevance to IFAD's concerns. Since the
CPE is oriented towards drawing general lessons of experience, it does
not attempt to pinpoint problems in any specific project, nor does it
pretend to substitute proper evaluations of single projects.
In spite of the vast areas involved,
the evaluation mission visited six of the eight projects supported by
the Fund./ The Southern Region Agriculture Project (SRAP) was
not visited for security reasons, nor was the Southern Roseires Agricultural
Development Project (SRADP) since it had become effective only two months
earlier and thus its field activities had not yet commenced.
The evaluation report consists of ten
chapters grouped under three general sections, viz., programme features
and delivery, main results by major field of intervention and policy implications
for IFAD. The first section provides an overview of the IFAD country programme
since its inception, putting it into perspective with the evolution of
the national context (Chapters II and III). Chapter IV concludes this
section by analysing project implementation performance in relation to
organizational structures and the institutional framework.
The second part of the report (Chapters
V to VIII) presents the results of detailed field investigations of irrigation
and rural water supply rehabilitation and development, research and extension
and agricultural credit, the major fields of IFAD's intervention in the
country.
On the basis of the above, the last
section of the report discusses the specific issue of the impact of beneficiaries'
participation patterns on project performance (Chapter IX). Conclusions
are drawn on the determinants of beneficiaries' participation and on how
projects can promote it in practical terms. This discussion forms the
cornerstone of the evaluation's recommendations covering the various fields
of activities (Chapter X).
The portfolio
IFAD has supported eight projects in
The Sudan, seven of which are cofinanced. The total cost of the projects
is equivalent to USD 330 million, IFAD's share amounting to USD 85 million
or 26%. IFAD's contribution to interventions in rainfed agriculture and
livestock amounted to 60%, compared to 40% for irrigated agriculture (not
taking into account the White Nile Agricultural Services project, approved
after this evaluation took place).
To a large extent, the programme has
been shaped by successive shifts in the Government of The Sudan's policies
and priorities. As the programme gained some degree of autonomy and specificity
it also gave more importance to rainfed agriculture as from the second
half of the 1980s. At the same time, the average project size decreased
markedly.
Implementation effectiveness
The projects have been designed and
implemented against a general country background of continuing economic
decline which has been further exacerbated by the recurrence of droughts,
food shortages, famines and civil war. This has resulted in widespread
poverty compounded by a general collapse in the public services which
were expected to host the projects. Not surprisingly, project implementation
faced considerable delays and projects were thus frequently extended.
Project duration varied between 5.4 and 8.6 years. Loan disbursement profiles
show that the pace of implementation has slowed over time.
A summary of project performance by
major field of activity is presented in the following sections and includes:
irrigagation rehabilitation, drinking water supply, technology development
and dissemination, and rural credit.
i)
Irrigation Rehabilitation
The rehabilitation works as well as
the supply of spare parts, fuel, and equipment have kept public schemes
operational, albeit at a low level of efficiency. Without rehabilitation,
a number of farmers who would not have been in a position to shift to
individual systems of irrigation would have been compelled to give up
farming for lack of irrigation water.
Although private farmers will continue
to face problems related to shortages of spare parts, private irrigated
farms are more sustainable than the public schemes, particularly farms
pumping water directly from rivers. However, in some areas, particularly
in the upper terraces of the Nile, because of increasing salinity and
a drop in the level of the water table, the farmers are in a less sustainable
situation.
In public schemes, cost recovery has
not been achieved in spite of the recent hefty increases in water rates.
Water charges have been underestimated and collection rates are low. As
a result neither Northern Agricultural Production Corporation nor New
Halfa Agricultural Production Corporation (the parastatals in charge of
irrigation water supply that have been supported under IFAD loans) is
financially self-sustaining.
Inadequate maintenance contributes
to the poor performance of public schemes. The deterioration of the existing
distribution systems and pumping equipment results in water shortages
and thus in low yields and outputs. As a result, the rehabilitation effect
has generally been short-lived.
ii)
Drinking Water Supply
In South Darfur, the implementation
of the drinking water infrastructure rehabilitation programme has been
satisisfactory (85% of target wateryards rehabilitated and 71% of water
tanks replaced). However, the overall wateryard system efficiency, including
rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated wateryards, remains fairly low.
Although the population's participation
was sought, it was poorly organized and the involvement of village committees
in the management of wateryards has been inadequate. While it is not likely
that drinking water supply can be turned into an entirely self-sustained
business, this indeed makes it all the more important to improve the cost-effectiveness
of drinking water supplies.
iii)
Technology Development and Dissemination
There is no conclusive evidence that
IFAD's attempts at promoting adaptive research have yielded any specific
dividends, due to the following factors:
- the lack of a comprehensive analysis
of farrs' needs and constraints led to the formulation of research and
extension programmes that were too ambitious;
- the project designs did not adequately
match programmes to the resources available and did not take fully into
account the difficult living and operating conditions in the areas;
- inability to supply effective, long-term
leadership ; and
- component design was sometimes loose
in that it left the design of the programme to implementing agencies.
iv)
Rural Credit
Credit has been almost exclusively
concerned with on-farm activities. There has been a marked improvement
in the design of credit components from Southern Region Agricultural Project
through Northern Region Agricultural Rehabilitation Project to En Nahud
Cooperative Credit Project and Southern Roseires Agricultural Development
Project. Rural and cooperative credit institutions could be developed
to an operational level.
The most recent projects have made
serious efforts to reach the target groups and provide workable alternatives
to collateral security. Increased access to credit for small farmers was
achieved through both expansion of the geographical coverage of the Agricultural
Bank of Sudan's activities (new branches), and a relaxation of lending
conditions and collateral requirements (introduction of joint liability
as an alternative to individual collateral security). Credit for women
who are heads of households and women in general has also been pioneered
by second generation projects, but women received a limited share of the
total credit disbursed to date. While social constraints are often cited
by outsiders as a major explanatory factor, it is the mission's opinion
that the constraints that actually hamper a greater participation of women
in credit programmes remain to be identified through specific field investigations.
Given the high inflation rate prevailing
in the country, the high cost of administering loans to small farmers
(particularly in rainfed areas), the frequent crop failures and the subsequent
low recovery rates, sustainability emerges as a very pressing issue.
Contribution to poverty alleviation and food security
It is not possible to provide a global
estimate of the total number of direct beneficiaries reached by IFAD-supported
projects, as only four projects have been closed, of which one project,
located in war affected areas, could not be examined. Nevertheless, on
a sample of three projects which lend themselves to such analysis/,
it was found that about 130 000 families or close to one million/
persons, have directly benefited, of which 80 000 (about 600 000 people)
live in the rainfed areas.
The situation shows a contrast between
the rainfed and irrigated project areas. In irrigated areas, the projects
reached a large share of the target population but a relatively small
number of households at an estimated average cost of USD 430/
per direct beneficiary (or USD 3 000 per family). In rainfed areas,
only a marginal proportion of the target population was directly exposed
to the project, but the projects actually reached a larger number of households
and at a very modest unit cost of about USD 80 (or USD 560 per family).
Across the whole portfolio, total project expenditures by actual direct
beneficiary averaged about USD 200.
Thanks to their focus on productive
activities, most projects have had a positive impact on the direct beneficiaries.
Despite their inability to trigger a sustainable path of development,
the projects which have been completed or nearly completed were useful
in providing critical rehabilitation-cum-medium-term assistance to needy
populations, mainly through lifting the foreign exchange constraint on
the import of agricultural inputs and equipment. This had a positive impact
on production and incomes of the direct beneficiaries and, as has been
acknowledged, slowed down the concerned regions' economic decline.
The projects' logistical infrastructure
was also instrumental in supporting emergency assistance provided by other
sources and in maintaining a link between the population and the central
authorities. Notwithstanding the challenge represented by their implementation,
raininfed agriculture investment projects may well represent a viable
option and possiy a competitive one when compared to the lesser-performing
schemes of the irrigated sub-sector.
Beneficiaries' participation
Except for the En Nahud Cooperative
Credit Project, project designers did not generally expect much from beneficiaries'
participation apart from a financial contribution to service costs, and
consequently gave the matter little importance in the formulation of project
strategies. The impoverishment of the population and the near collapse
of essential public services represented severe constraints to the type
of participation considered by the projects.
Nevertheless, the population appears
to have participated beyond expectation, taking into account the prevailing
conditions. For the most participatory activities, beneficiaries' involvement
contributed to a quicker adaptation of the concerned projects to changing
circumstances, improved project management and staff knowledge of the
issues, and enhanced their responsiveness to farmers' expressed needs
and preferences.
In this respect, Non-governmental Organizations'
(NGOs) performance has been satisfactory in the few instances where they
have been entrusted with implementation responsibilities in addition to
their financial contribution. Good management, reasonably attractive conditions
for staff, adequate supply of inputs (including spare parts) and active
technical assistance to farmers from both national and expatriate experts
explain the good progress of these components.
Hence the review of IFAD's experience
in the Sudan reinforces the widely held view that beneficiaries' participation
contributes to better project results, while improving benefit distribution
among the target population. Insufficient participatioion has been
identified as one reason for the lack of sustainability of several interventions.
There is also positive evidence that people's participation tends to strengthen
communities' cohesion and independence. While participation cannot alone
ensure the sustainability of development efforts, it does reduce the risks
involved and create conditions which are favourable to it. These benefits
could have been more evident had project designers and managers been more
open to people's participation.
