Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP)

Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP)

GENDER ANDINFRASTRUCTURE USING THE PARTICIPATORY INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROJECT (PIWAMP) EXPERIENCE

THE GAMBIA FACT FILE:

POPULATION – 1.6 million (2006 estimates) with a density of 128/square KM and increasing annually by 2.8%

AREA – 1.1 million hectares of which 56% (558000 hectares) is arable but only 37% cultivated.

CONTRIBUTION OF AGRICULTURE

The Agricultural and Natural Resources sector is the most dominant of the sectors in the rural and agrarian economy of the Gambia which houses over 50 percent of the population of the country. It produces about 50 percent of the national food supplies, employs over 70 percent of the active labour force, contributes significantly to foreign exchange earnings and makes up about 30 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Gambia produces just over 50 per cent self reliant sufficiency in its food needs. National requirements for the country’s major staple food rice presently stand at 160,000MT while the country produces only about 7,400 MT or 4.9 per cent. Total Cereal consumption was recorded at 291,000 MT in 2007, while production was 181,400MT the same year, leaving a gap of 150,000MT. Such cereal gaps have always been covered mainly by commercial imports of rice and wheat flour.

GENDER AND AGRICULTURE

Women in The Gambia make up 51% of the population, the majority of who dwell in the rural areas and are engaged in rural agriculture. It is estimated that women head 18% of the rural households. They represent 50% of the agricultural labour force, 70% of the unskilled agricultural labour force and produce about 40% of the total agriculture production. In the area of crop production women produce 99% of up-land rice. They contribute substantially to the production of both food and cash crops. Traditional lowland rice is mainly women's responsibility.

GENDER AND DIVISION OF LABOUR IN AGRICULTURE

Agriculture activities are divided between cash crops (groundnuts and vegetables) and food crops (coarse grains and rice). The gender division of labor in the Gambia changed throughout the years and was based on individual agricultural tasks. The commercialization of groundnuts led to the change that men grew groundnuts and the coarse grains on upland fields during the rainy season, because the groundnut production is the main source of foreign exchange and therefore the men had control on most of the cash income through agriculture. The women, on the other hand, planted in low-lying areas; they grew rice in the rainy season and vegetables in the dry season. The produce is predominantly for home consumption. There are many changes within the family now that women grow cash crop and there is a significant increase in women’s income from cash cropping.

The upland areas are owned and cultivated by men, but the supervision and day-to-day operations are carried out by women. In the low-lying areas, women manage their own land themselves, or with a small group of female relatives. They get their land mostly from one-time cash payment to the landholders, and this is seen by the landholders as a temporary arrangement. Also the majority of plots changing hands were passed matrilineally, from mother to daughter.

GOVERNMENT POLICY

Agriculture - GOTG has declared the Agricultural and Natural Resources (ANR) sector as a priority for the achievements of PRSP II, MDGs (PRSP/MDG 1 – half the World hunger by 2015) and Vision 2020 targets in the shortest possible times.

Gender - The Government, in acknowledgement of the vital role of women in the socio-economic development process, has taken some measures to correct the disadvantaged situation of women. The National Women’s Council Act, enacted in 1980, and established National Women’s Council to advice government on women’s affairs and a Women’s Bureau established to implement decisions of the Council..

POLICTY TARGETS

Agriculture

  • Improve and sustain levels of food and nutrition security by 20% in 2011 from the level in 2009.
  • Increase the contribution of ANR sector from 30% to 40% by 2011.

Gender

The National Policy for Advancement of Gambian Women focuses on mainstreaming women’s issues into the national development process and setting goals and strategies for enabling women to have equal access to education, adequate health care, finance, employment opportunities and bridge gaps of traditional gender based inequalities and deprivation.

MAJOR CONSTRAINTS TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

The upland watershed ecosystem has been disturbed and degraded largely due to deforestation and extended periods of shifting cultivation. This has come as a result of pressure on land resources, high population growth rate and density, high immigration rates and high demand in general for increasing cultivated area under food and export crops. There is evidence of reduced water infiltration; high water runoff rates; drying of inland valleys and river tributaries and less water availability for crops and livestock. In the lowlands, where many investments in agriculture take place, siltation and sedimentation are threatening the sustainability of the works. Lowland rice still offers interesting development opportunities for the rural poor and demand for water retention and tidal access activities remain high. Further, Uplands farmers are under considerable pressure from shortage of land due to increasing populations and declining soil fertility.

JUSTIFICATION FOR PIWAMP

It is as a consequence of the above constraints that the African Development Bank Group using Nigeria Trust Fund resources and IFAD, following official invitations received from the Government, prepared separate integrated watershed management projects in June 2002 and June 2003 respectively; and with some overlapping appraised a Participatory integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP) in November/December 2003.

PARTICIPATORY INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROJECT

PIWAMP is a $US 17.5 million agricultural development project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. The project will be implemented over a period of six years (2006- 2012)for the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) funded activities, while it will be eight years for the IFAD sponsored activities(2006- 2014). The main projects expected outputs are:

• Capacity of the institutions (service providers that are mainly Government Agencies) and the beneficiaries involved is enhanced;

• Communities are trained and empowered in natural resources management;

• Production and productivity are increased in the project area on a sustainable basis; and

• Access to the market infrastructure and inputs are improved.

Components - The project has three components: 1) Watershed development; 2) Capacity building and; 3) Project management which includes monitoring and evaluation.

Project Goal - The goal of the project is to reduce poverty and enhance household food security.

Some of the targets set during the appraisal of the project include:

- Incomes of lowland farmers increase by 129% from 1,574GMD by PY8

- Incomes of upland farmers increase by 28% from 3,593 GMD by PY8

- Lowland & Swamp production increased by 237% from 12, 584 MT by PY8.

- Upland production increased by 32% from 2,122 MT by PY8.

- Food import reduced by 25% by PY8.

Project Objective – Increase land productivity and reduce soil erosion in a sustainable manner.

-Lowland rice yield increase from 1.3 to 3.5 MT / ha by PY4;

-Upland rice yield increase from 1.1 to 1.7 MT/ha by PY4;

- Total production will increase at least: by 344 MT of uplands rice; 5,900 MT of sorghum and millet; 3,000 MT of groundnut; 2,000 MT of maize; and 31,000 MT of Lowland and Swamp rice by PY8.

Project Outputs

1) CapacityBuilding

- Communities sensitised, trained and empowered;

- Service providers, staff and beneficiaries trained

Groups: 40 sensitization workshops, 200 Awareness campaigns, 200 Training sessions in participatory approach, 27 Sessions in Gender issues and 8 PLARs held.

- In service: 12 courses each held in Land use mapping, Soil & water conservation and Conservation farming; 6 courses each held in PRA, Forest and livestock management; 3 courses held in Gender analysis; 24 courses held in Adaptive research and 2 in Seed multiplication. One 10 days Study tour and AMTA training organized.

- Farmers: 16 courses each held in Soil Water and Farming conservation techniques; as well as in Community forestry and Rangeland management techniques. 125 farmer to farmer field visits organized.

- One HIV/Aids and one Malaria campaigns organized.

- Equipment acquired.

2) Watershed Development

- Lowland Water Management schemes and Swamps

- Uplands management and Conservation farming

- Integrated water management

- Nurseries and Community Forestry management

- Livestock water supply and market infrastructure

- Incremental crop production by PY 8 of: Early Millet/Sorghum: 1,048 tons; Maize: 318 tons; Upland Rice: 53 tons; Lowland rice: 26,580 tons.

- By PY6: 1,800 km of contour bunds and 3,600 km of grass plantation realised; 120 no. gullies controlled; 120 km of causeways and bridges executed; 4,207 m of spillways constructed and 3,220 m upgraded.

- Increase in forest cover of 1,150 ha by PY6; 5 nurseries established.

- 15 no. water points improved by PY6

- Spot rehabilitation of 100 km of village roads by PY6.

PROJECT STRATIGY/APPROACH

The project strategy is derived from lesson of its predecessor project, LADEP. These include:

  • Demand driven approach - Selection of project sites will be on a participatory and demand-driven basis;
  • Requirement of beneficiary labour for construction - Landowners could not develop the land without the entire community’s labour contribution. They are willing to share the rice land with farmers who contributed their labour. Through this strategy, satellite villages from upland communities can access lowland rice land by collaborating with the owning villages in water retention and tidal swamp access works.Thus, access to land will become less troublesomeby leaving land reallocation to the communities themselves.
  • Covering the entire watershed (both uplands and lowlands) - As LADEP did not address upland erosion, the sustainability of the structures in the lowlands could be threatened by siltation and deposit of sand in some cases. In case of erosion, it is necessary to treat the entire watershed, starting from the crests downward. Treating only the upland areas adjacent to the lowlands cannot stop erosion. On the uplands, physical conservation measures need to be combined with biological measures such as vegetative hedgerows to stabilize the bunds.

SERVICE PROVIDERS/IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS

For the execution of project activities and acquisition of M&E information, the Project Management Unit (PMU) signs annual agreements with seven implementing Agencies called Service Providers. These are The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), The Soil and Water Management Services (SWMS), The Department of Community Development (DCD), The Department of Forestry (DoF), The Animal Health and Production Services (AHPS), The Planning Services (PS), The Communication, Extension, Education Services (CEES), and The National Environment Agency (NEA). Each Service Provider has designated a focal point as entry point to work with the project.

CONTRIBUTION OF PIWAMP TO BEST PRACTICES IN GENDER AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The table below provides a summary of achievements registered by the project from inception in 2006 to 2010.

Summary of Achievements 2006-2010

Component / Indicator / Units / Appraisal projection 2006 / Cumulative achievement 2010 / % of achievement 2010
Total project / Number of persons receiving project services / men / undetermined / 67943 / undetermined
women / undetermined / 72491 / undetermined
total / 164310 / 140434 / 85.46
Institutional strengthening/capacity building at watershed level / Number of persons trained by gender / men / undetermined / 1942 / undetermined
women / undetermined / 1954 / undetermined
total / undetermined / 3896 / undetermined
Number of groups operational / VFA / 140 / 50 / 36
WFC / 105 / 03 / 02
Number of community groups at national and divisional level having women at decision making level / DLFA / 32 / 5 / 15.6
Number of people trained in HIV/AIDS, malaria, sanitation & nutrition / men / 7200 / 2400 / 33
women / 10800 / 3600 / 33
Infrastructure/watershed development / Dikes / m / 76750 / 68838 / 90
Spillways / m / 2425 / 3035 / 125
Bridges / m / 3008 / 1342 / 44.6
Bunds / km / 720 / 157 / 27.5
Gully plugs / number / 840 / 692 / 83
Causeways / m / 100 / 19 / 19
Land improved through soil and water measures / ha / 17143 / 5800 / 33* 2009
Number of schemes successfully implemented and maintained by communities / number / undetermined / 35 / undetermined
Inter-village road improved / km / 200 / 174 / 87
% of incremental rice production from new and updated sites / % / undetermined / undetermined / undetermined
Number of farmers reporting production/yield increases / undetermined / undetermined / undetermined / undetermined

MAJOR CONSTRAINTS

Repetitive and Protracted Changes in Project Management at Critical Times of Implementation in 2009 and 2010

The project has experienced severe interruptions resulting from protracted changes in management in 2009 and 2010 all of which occurred during the most critical periods of infrastructural implementation. This culminated into the delaying of disbursements with the eventual consequences of non implementation of activities across the board during the last two quarters of 2009 and 2010. The most affected activities by this upheaval are: the bridge construction where work has stopped on 345m of brides which are in different stages of construction at 15 sites and 43 spillways with total length of 440m that have been marked out in 8 communities, but could not be constructed. Due to lack of funds, the hectares of land improved in 2010 could not be measured to quantify percentage improvement for the year.

  • High Attrition Rate of Senior Staff

M&EOfficer – changed three times

Community Mobilisation Officer – changed twice with over one year vacancy between the two changes

  • Lack of Complementary Support

Land development and reclamation not complemented by credit support presents a serious constraint in increasing meaningful participation in the farming sector.

  • Late Purchase of Heavy Duty Machinery

Delay in the purchase of motor graders and shovels stifled the implementation of major activities like: Contour bunds construction, site planning and selection

  • Limited Availability of Field Equipments/Machinery

Twelve tractors, 4 disc, 2 harrows, 2 levellers, 8 trailers and 2 chisel ploughs bought could not meet the demand of the communities for soil and water conservation works.

  • Inadequacy of Capacity of Service Provider

The Planning Services particularly was incapacitated as a result of the restructuring of the agricultural sector. Most of the highly trained staff left for other institutions, thereby limiting the ability to carry out their major tasks with PIWAMP in the areas of crop and data collection and monitoring and evaluation. More than 30% of the indicators of PIWAMP should have been derived from these activities.

  • Lack of Foundation Material for Bridges

The bridge construction work was constrained by lack of truck chassis as bridge foundation, a recommendation from the engineer

  • Non Implementation of Major Important CapacityBuilding Activities

More than 14 major activities which are very critical to the overall success and sustainability of the project have not been implemented during 2010. These are: (1) Sensitization Workshops; (2) Awareness Campaigns; (3) Participatory Rural Appraisal; (4) Gender Mainstreaming and Analysis; (5) Farmer Training; (6) Training of Trainers for the Multidisplinary Facilitation Teams (MDFT); (7) Soil and Water Conservation Training; (8) Conservation Farming; (9) Forestry Management; (10) Rangeland Management; (11) Adaptive Research; (12) Agro Forestry Research; (13) Study Tour; (14) Farmer to Farmer Visit; etc.

These activities combined create understanding in project beneficiaries about the aims and objectives and procedures of the project in order to elicit popular participation in project activities. On the other hand, the trainings help to build local capacities on participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This boils down to the empowering of the primary beneficiaries to identify available natural resources and prioritize local problems for solution by using both external and indigenous resources. It also inculcates the spirit of ownership as well as sharing of benefits from such resources.