|
Objectives
The project aimed at raising the living standards of a rapidly
increasing population while arresting land degradation resulting from
an influx of refugees from the drought-stricken northern regions.
Activities
The planned project activities were:
- the construction of wateryards along the stock routes was given the
highest priority;
- the provision of veterinary services so as to minimize the trade
impediments due to livestock epidemic diseases and reduce the risk of
infectious diseases among exported animals;
- project administration;
- technical assistance, including vegetation monitoring services to
support decisions regarding the use or non-use of the routes depending
on the availability of grazing.
Objectives
The goal was to stimulate meat production among traditional
meat producers and to meet the demand of urban and export markets by ensuring
flows of marketed livestock, with minimal trekking losses, from the project
areas.
The economic policy aspect of the project rationale – to increase
the volume of livestock trade – revolved around the fact that the
high net foreign-exchange earnings from the exportation of livestock and
livestock products were threatened because of the growing domestic, especially
urban, demand.
The project also aimed to provide more of a balance in regional development
as it would assist parts of Sudan that are less well endowed than are
those parts of the country benefiting from irrigated development. Furthermore,
in the project area, population growth was putting pressure on the land,
and the income from periodic sales of livestock might be the only source
of funds so that subsistence farmers could invest in crop inputs and good
husbandry practices to protect soils.
Specifically, the project set out to renew and extend water supplies
and veterinary services along livestock trade routes. The estimated financial
benefits that would accrue to livestock raisers and traders included a
reduction in livestock holding costs, a reduction in trekking weight losses
and a reduction in livestock mortality during trekking.
Outcome
The project achieved its main goal of establishing wateryards along the
livestock market route, and the number of animals trekking on the route
increased. The construction of veterinary service stations was seriously
delayed and eventually downsized. It was estimated that there was sufficient
demand for water from livestock traders, as well as from local inhabitants,
in almost all 50 of the operating wateryards, but water prices were a
key issue that, at the time, jeopardized financial viability of the privatized
Livestock Route Company (LRC).
The distribution of the wateryards was well planned and enabled the animals
to obtain water, thereby reducing losses due to mortality and lower weights.
The project also had a positive impact by diminishing the trek times along
the route, cutting trekking and holding costs and boosting the marketable
meat value and the incomes of pastoralists and livestock traders.
Organizations and people
| It was recognized that the
Government of Sudan needed to be relieved of the growing burden
of the development of rural water supplies and their efficient operation
and maintenance. Thus, an innovative organizational arrangement
was established that was endorsed by the Government and that could
serve as a model for future development projects. The project would
be implemented over a five-year period by the Livestock and Meat
Marketing Corporation on behalf of the LRC. The LRC would eventually
operate the wateryards as a commercial venture owned by the project
beneficiaries, thus ensuring the continuation of the operation and
the effective maintenance of the facilities after implementation. |
Planned |
|
Achieved |
To establish a private
company, the LRC, to implement the project. The Government of
Sudan was to sell 80% of its equity holdings in the LRC to livestock
traders and producers by 1989.
To provide technical assistance and staff training
consisting of 50 person-months for a hydrologist and a chief engineer,
68 person-months of short-term international consultancy, and
staff training in administration and engine mechanics. |
|
The privatization of
the LRC was seriously delayed, and the commitment of the Government
to the project in general and to the privatization of the LRC
was often questioned. The privatization process that was outlined
during project design had not been fulfilled by 1989, when the
Government replaced the director of the LRC, thereby undermining
the authority and financial management capacity of the company.
However, by 1992, there had been notable improvements both in
the operational and financial management of the company and in
the commitment of the Government to the privatization.
Four international consultants were recruited through the project
to fill the posts of chief engineer, hydrologist and supervising
civil engineer. The chief engineer stayed with the project for
about 36 months, and the other two positions were filled for 30
months by one company. The hydrologist position was filled for
equal periods of time by two candidates. In addition, three senior
staff were trained in project implementation, and several short
courses for mechanics were carried out. |
Access
to inputs and infrastructure
| The Sudanese
economy relied heavily on the commerce in and the exportation
of livestock as a source of foreign currency. The development
of water sources along traditional trekking routes to livestock
markets was a very interesting proposition. There were initially
concerns about the condition of the rangelands along the route
and also about the technical viability of the project, i.e.,
the availability of water, on the main northern route. Thus,
the parallel development of a secondary dry season route in
the less arid southern part of the project area was also endorsed.
The condition of existing water sources was less than satisfactory.
There were more than 600 wells in the project area, most abstracting
from four sedimentary formations which underlay about 60% of
the northern stock route and 50% of the dry season route. Though
most wells were equipped with diesel-operated lift pumps with
a long record of proven reliability in Sudan, many yielded less
than the designed production due to aging equipment.
|
| Planned |
|
Achieved |
| To construct 59 wateryards
with about 83 tube wells on two main routes over a distance
of about 2 000 km. The wateryards were to be equipped with water-storage
tanks, selling facilities, staff housing, vehicles for delivery
of supplies, and radio equipment. People who live close to the
wateryards would have access to them, as would the transhumants
on seasonal migration.
To establish facilities for project administration, including
the construction of an office, store and staff housing in El
Obeid, the provision of vehicles, equipment and incremental
staff.
|
|
The construction of
wateryards was the most important component of the project.
At project completion, 50 wateryards were operating, and two
had been completed, but were inoperative due to security concerns.
Notwithstanding the success of implementation, some of the problems
observed were as follows:
Disputes over the specifications and the quality of the installed
pumping engines delayed implementation. Eventually, the LRC
managed to obtain from the manufacturer the replacement of 36
already installed engines and the modification of 31 that had
not yet been installed.
An exploration drilling programme was not carried out prior
to production drilling. As a consequence, at the end of 1988,
only about half the boreholes that had been drilled were considered
capable of producing water, and in order to complete the network
eight new locations for wateryards had to be identified. Donors
had to divert credit from other projects to finance this operation.
The final report of the hydrologists concluded that appropriate
exploration drilling would have been a more efficient and cost-effective
approach.
The construction of the LRC office in El Obeid
was not carried out. Instead, offices were rented instead. Staffing
targets were fulfilled, and vehicles and equipment were procured. |
Rangeland resources
| Range conditions were generally
poor to very poor along the greater part of the existing trade
routes and around all major water points and settlements. |
| Planned
|
|
Achieved
|
| To monitor and evaluate
range conditions and trends along and adjacent to the stock
routes so as to define the status of vegetation and seek patterns
of use on the routes to promote improvement in vegetative density
and quality. |
|
A report on range
conditions and the impact of water development was commissioned
in 1987. The report concluded that wateryard locations were
based largely along existing routes without regard to range
conditions. However, traders were using considerable judgement
in their choice of routes, and there was sufficient flexibility
to permit deviations depending on the availability of water
and grazing. Where the project would increase these options,
this would have a favourable effect by spreading the intensity
of range use. The need for the establishment of a range-monitoring
system and the appointment of range staff was also stressed
in the report.
By 1991, two professional staff had been allocated
to rangeland monitoring, the collection of range condition data
and oversight of the execution of a green-fencing programme.
The findings of the 1987 report on impact were
reaffirmed in the Project Completion Report, which stated that
the wateryards caused little or no damage to the environment.
There was evidence that the growth of vegetation near some yards
was better than the growth in more distant areas. It was surmised
that there were two reasons for this: the soil fertility in
these areas was high due to the accumulation of animal manure,
and the provision of water encouraged cattle movement earlier
in the year, thereby reducing the grazing pressure on rangelands
in the south-west.
|
Livestock health
| There is no information available
on the health of animals trekking the stock routes or the impact
of the project on animal health. However, the project recorded a
success in the reduction of weight loss and mortalities. The rationale
behind the establishment of veterinary stations along the stock
routes was to avoid the spread of animal diseases, especially among
animals that would be exported. |
| Planned
|
|
Achieved
|
| To establish veterinary service stations
equipped with office buildings, staff housing, drugs, vehicles and
equipment. |
|
Higher priority was given to the creation
of wateryards rather than to veterinary services. Because of delays
in tendering civil works for the project in general and because
of the already stretched implementation capacity of the LRC, it
was decided that the number of veterinary clinics should be reduced.
However, by project completion, none of the buildings for the veterinary
stations had been built. |
Lessons learned
- Government interference hindered the privatization process. The
Government should have enforced regulations on the provision of basic
services (such as water), while safeguarding the financial viability
and managerial autonomy of the private companies that procure the
services.
- Water use was not adequately monitored. In the absence of water
meters, it was not possible to measure the cost of water during various
seasons.
- The provision of infrastructure that supports the functioning of
markets can have a sustainable, positive impact in the lives of the
rural poor.
- Despite the concerns of the Sudanese Government that conflicts
would arise between sedentary populations and pastoralists along the
dry season route, there has been no report that such conflicts have
occurred, perhaps because local communities have also benefited from
the development of water sources, and apparently their interests have
been considered in the development of the wateryards.
- Opportunities to broaden the revenue sources of the project and
thus achieve financial autonomy and profitability were missed due
to insufficient expertise in livestock management among the project
staff. The livestock consultant’s report was issued late in
the project cycle and identified opportunities for the sale of drugs
and feed, as well as an opportunity for the staff at wateryards to
run a sheep-fattening enterprise during the slack dry season when
very few animals were trekking the route.
- The sustainability and positive impact achieved by this project
are largely due to the fact that the project widened the options of
herders looking for critical inputs for their animals, such as water
and feed, on their way to market. The range was not overgrazed because
(a) the herders had a stronger incentive to keep their animals moving
towards the market rather than staying on the rangeland; (b) the herders
could choose the route they would follow thanks to the good spatial
arrangement of the wateryards; and (c) the development of wateryards
along the southern route provided an alternative route; thus the herders
responded to signals about the availability of fodder and moved the
animals accordingly.
The privatization of the Livestock Route Company proved to be much
more difficult than envisioned in the project design because of the
lack of technical assistance, staff experience in commercial management,
and Government commitment.
- The project has demonstrated a successful model for investment
in water production facilities, as well as successful operation, maintenance
and cost recovery. There is evidence that the success of the Livestock
Route Company has influenced the relevant national policy of the Government
of Sudan. The water department has substantially increased water charges,
and government policy supports the full recovery, from users, of the
costs of water provision. This change in attitude was of major importance
because, according to estimates, about 60% of the wateryards in Sudan
were not operational at any one time due to insufficient revenues
are recovered to meet operating and maintenance costs.
- The integrated approach used in the development of wateryards and
drilling sites:
- involved the communities;
- took account of water and land-use rights;
- established water points at appropriate distances one from
the next;
- relied on and conducted hydrological surveys;
- proved to be sustainable and successful.
|
| Project information |
Total
project cost: USD 19.4 million
Livestock cost (as a percentage of total): not available
Duration: The loan for the project was approved by IFAD in 1984, and
operations commenced in 1985. The project was closed in 1993.
Beneficiaries: There was a wide spectrum of farming systems in the project
area from which animals would be drawn and trekked to market. Producer
incomes varied from about USD 100 to USD 200 (1987 exchange rate). The
project would primarily increase the incomes of transhumants and nomads,
who accounted for 40% of the project area’s population of 4 million.
The main transhumants and nomads were the Baggara people, who were cattle-rearing
and, to a limited extent, sheep-rearing tribes active to the south of
the traditional northern stock route. and the Abbala people, who were
camel and sheep-raising tribes to the north of the northern stock route.
A few transhumant households also existed among some traditionally sedentary
tribes such as the Nuba, the Bediria and the Fur.
The income of pastoralists would be increased by enabling them to market
their cattle over an extended period of time and to overcome the problems
of water and feed shortage along the trade route in the dry season, thus
benefiting from the growing demand for livestock and the higher livestock
prices during that season.
Project area: The Stock Route Project was implemented in an area running from the
west of the country near Nyala, along a distance of about 1 000 km, and
then up to Khartoum. It included a secondary southern route (a dry season
route) and followed the railway line closely for the most part. The project
activities were concentrated mainly in the states of Northern Kordofan
and Southern Darfur, where IFAD activities in Sudan are focused. The project
area is low-rainfall savannah woodland in the south and semi-desert in
the north. It contained 50% (8 million) of the cattle, 50% (11 million)
of the sheep and 55% (7 million and 1.5 million, respectively) of the
goats and camels in Sudan. |
| References |
Project Completion Report, April 1993
Project Supervision Report, Aide-Memoire, September 1992
Livestock Consultant’s Report, September 1992
Project Supervision Report, Aide-Memoire, May 1991
Project Mid-Term Review, Aide-Memoire, November 1989
Report by the Range Management Consultant on the Project’s
Environmental Impact, November 1987
Report and Recommendation of the President to the Executive
Board, September 1984
Staff Appraisal Report, World Bank, August 1984 |
|
|
