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Investment Components

Component 1: Infrastructure and Livelihoods Development in a Decentralized Context.
   Sub-Component 1-a: Infrastructure Investment.
   Sub-Component 1-b: Equal and Sustainable Access to Development Benefits.
   Sub-Component 1-c: Local Institution Building and Community Empowerment.
Component 2: Rural Economic Transformation
   Sub-Component 2-a: Support for Agricultural, Livestock and Forest Development.
   Sub-Component 2-b: Rural Enterprise Development.
   Sub-Component 2-c: Rural Financial Services.
Component 3: Programme Management

Component 1: Infrastructure and Livelihoods Development in a Decentralized Context

This first component, representing a Programme investment of approximately USD 22.65 million (without contingencies) during the four-year second phase, comprises four sub-components: (i) Infrastructure Investment, (ii) Equal and Sustainable Access to Development Benefits, (iii) District Institution Building and (iv) Province Institution Building.

Sub-Component 1-a: Infrastructure Investment (USD 17.9 million)

The first sub-component replaces the previous component, Rural Infrastructure, but combines the financing for water and roads within a flexible financing facility. The financing facility will be divided into two funds: the District Infrastructure Investment Fund (DIIF) and the Provincial Water and Roads Balancing Fund. In addition, financing is also provided for road maintenance, technical assistance and monitoring environmental impact of the water and roads programme.

DIIF will be the main source for Programme investment in rural infrastructure for the districts. Financing will be made available to each district through an allocation based on a simple and transparent set of criteria including: population, need (level of access to water, roads, and other infrastructure facilities) and district management capacity. The scoring of the last criterion will depend on the district’s capacity and performance in planning, implementing and ensuring the ongoing operation and maintenance of the infrastructure financed the previous year from DIIF resources.

Provincial Water and Roads Balancing Fund. As the amount of funding available for investment in economic infrastructure – in particularly water and to an extent feeder roads – is most likely to be more than the districts could manage effectively with their current and foreseeable implementation capacity, a provincial-level Balancing Fund would be established to provide flexibility and to allow the Programme in consultation with provincial experts to either facilitate implementation directly or to allocate money to those districts that have demonstrated both the need and capacity to use them productively.

Sub-Component 1-b: Equal and Sustainable Access to Development Benefits (USD 2.7 million).

The district is the focal point for coordinating actions to deal with cross-cutting themes, including: (i) Social and Economic Integration of the Poor, (ii) Gender Mainstreaming and Women’s Empowerment, (iii) Unity and Reconciliation, (iv) Land Tenure/Management, and (v) Environment.

In support of social and economic integration of the poor, the Programme will institute a process of poverty mapping in each district that will form part of a strategic framework for the Programme to:
(i) establish a typology of vulnerability factors and poverty inducing processes;
(ii) identify different segments of poor/vulnerable within rural communities and how the Programme activities can best target them;
(iii) identify how these segments of the communities can most effectively be reached within the institutional/cultural framework of the communities; and
(iv) determine the impact of gender, HIV/AIDS, land security and other factors that influence poverty.

In contrast to the largely stand-alone support provided for in the original Programme, a balanced and proactive programme to promote gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment would be introduced into the Programme in the second phase.

To promote unity and reconciliation and a culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and to ensure that programme activities can contribute to these national goals, the programme will finance district delegates of the National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation (NCUR), in accordance with its national strategy.

The Programme’s aim for its Land Sector Strategy is to strengthen the capacity of districts to manage land and other natural resources effectively and sustainably. It will provide support to land policy implementation through: (i) strengthened land-use planning capacities at the district and provincial levels; (ii) land tenure security for poor rural households in support of implementation of National Land Policy and National Land Act; (iii) land tenure safeguards in UCRIDP; and (iv) developed and strengthened local land dispute resolution through support to the NCUR.

For environment, the Programme will require that environmental assessments form part of the criteria for Programme infrastructure and where risk of environmental degradation is indicated, measures to address the concerns would be recommended. These mitigating measures would be built into the contracts of the service providers/engineering firms. Furthermore, an annual environmental evaluation would be instituted.

Sub- Component 1-c: Local Institution Building and Community Empowerment (USD 1.9 million).

An important part of programme support is to build up the management capacity of the districts, to improve their ability to develop functioning partnerships with the communities, and to create the means to allow the districts to take on the responsibilities delegated to them under the government’s decentralisation policy. Support will be provided under the component in six broad areas: (i) local development planning, (ii) facilitation and community capacity building, (iii) investment delivery, (iv) accountable and transparent management of resources, (v) equal and secure access to development benefits, and (vi) support to the rural economy. The majority of this support will be provided in the form of a flexible funding facility that each district would draw on based on an annual assessment of its capacity.Provincial Institution Building The provinces are mandated to assist the districts in fulfilling their responsibilities, particularly with regard to programme implementation, local development planning, investment delivery, accountable and transparent management of resources, equal and secure access to development benefits, and promotion of economic and social development. To facilitate this support this sub-component will finance a number of experts for the PCU to be based in the provincial offices of the participating departments, including: a land planning/GIS team, a water engineer and a civil engineer, a water NGO and short-term assistance.