LAO UPLANDS FOOD SECURITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (LUFSIP) Sub-component 3a

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I. Background
The Lao Uplands Food Security Improvement Project is a response to food insecurity in the Lao PDR uplands as a result of low crop productivity, isolation from services and inadequate agricultural infrastructure, all compounded by both the recent food and global economic crisis. It also responds to a request from the Government to contribute to its efforts to respond to the damage caused by Cyclone Ketsana on September 29, 2009 by supporting the restoration of food security and rural infrastructures in three southern provinces.
The proposed project is funded by the International Development Agency (IDA) and the European Food Facility (EFF) of the European Union (EU) through a grant of US$14.6 million (US$4.6million from EU contribution and US$10 million from IDA contribution) during a 4 years expected implementation period (2010-2014). The project agreement was officially signed between the Ministry of Finance and the donors on 4th June 2010. However, the Financing Agreement became effective from the 31st August 2010 onwards. The project would provide financing from both the World Bank through the pilot Crisis Response Window and the European Union through the Global Food Crisis Response Program. In the first two years of the project, the EU resources was directed specifically to most of the community grant for infrastructure under the Component 3 and the civil works, goods, consultancy services and project supervision of provinces supported by EU in the north and Savannakhet uplands in the center of the country.
The LUFSIP comprises of 4 main components:
1. Support to Conservation Agriculture Stations and Seed Multiplication Centers;
2. Support to improved Farms Systems for Food Security;
3. Support for Rural Infrastructure Improvement and Community-led Recovery;
4. Project Coordination and Management.
The Component 3, with a total envelope of US$7.92 million, has been executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and coordinated by the Department of Planning (DoP) of MAF. Actual implementation of the project activities has been carried out by relevant MAF agencies, and the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF).
II. Project key data
IDA
• Grant No: H561-LA
• Financing Agreement signed on 4 June 2010
• 6,600,000 SDR or 10,000,000 USD
• Effective Date: 30 August 2010
• Closing Date: 31 December 2014
EU FCRR TF
• Grant No: TF097058
• Grant Agreement signed on 4 June 2010
• 3,360,000 Euro (currently estimated at 4,600,000 USD)
• Closing date: 31 December 2011
• Disbursement deadline 29 February 2012
III. Project Development Objective
Sub-component 3a - contribute to improved food security of rural households in selected poor villages in upland areas in the Project Provinces by demonstrating and implementing improved rice-based farming systems; and
Sub-component 3b - address recovery needs of cyclone-affected households in the Sekong, Saravanh and Attapeu provinces.
IV. Project Components
The Component 3, with a total envelope of US$7.92 million is divided in two sub-components:
Sub-component 3a - The sub-component 3a provides sub-grant and technical assistance to support small community infrastructures in order to improve agricultural livelihoods and food security. The project includes 17 of the 47 priority district for poverty reduction in 5 provinces (Houaphan, Luang Namtha, Xiengkhouang, Savannakhet and Xekong) with a budget of US$3.73 million.
Sub-component 3b - Supports community-led recovery through the restoration of rural infrastructure, including rehabilitation and repairs of damaged irrigation systems, in 13 cyclone affected districts of Saravanh, Xekong and Attapeu provinces with a total envelope of US$4.19 million.
V. Overall Project Implementation Progress
1. Activities undertaken
The implementation of sub-component 3a during the 2011-2012 (second year of the project) will be active in 15 target districts of 4 provinces (Huaphanh, Luangnamtha, Xiengkhouang and Savannakhet) where 90 sub-projects will be financed and implemented. By the end of the reporting period, despite the delay of the project launching, some progress has been made. Details of progress can be seen in annex 1 of this report.
The number of sub-projects and budget were changed from the previous report due to the fact that the plan was revised on the basis of the sub-project’s eligibility. After the final revision, the following sub-projects will be financed and implemented:

Table 1: Number of sub-projects and budget of sub-component 3a (2011-2012) by sub-project type
Sub-project Type #Sub-project #Budget (USD)
Public Works and Transportation 20 363,901
Road construction 11 177,840
Road renovation 5 110,169
Bridge construction 3 66,300
Culvert 1 9,591
Agriculture and Forestry 70 1,032,591
Irrigation construction 10 134,966
Irrigation renovation 17 166,580
Weir construction 16 289,215
Weir renovation 6 105,947
Barb fence 17 287,340
Other (Fish pond, bio gas, low voltage electricity) 4 48,543
Total 90 1,396,493
Source: Engineering Division (November 2012)
Table 2: Number of sub-projects and budget of sub-component 3a (2011-2012) by province
Province #Sub-project #Budget (USD)
Huaphanh 46 632,679
Luangnamtha 18 293,148
Xiengkhouang 8 119,740
Savannakhet 18 350,925
Total 90 1,396,493
Source: Engineering Division (November 2012)
Table 3: Achievements / Results in terms of indicators

3a Expected Outputs in 2014 Outputs in 2012 (Up to 3rd quarter 2012)
1 About 100 agricultural sub-projects financed every year under the component, of which at least 5 in each target district 90 agricultural sub-projects are financed for the fiscal year of 2011-2012.
2 At least 80% of beneficiary communities satisfied with impact of sub-projects To assess the communities’ satisfaction towards the impact of sub-projects, the sub-projects must be completed and used.
Initially, number of beneficiaries is provided. Details of beneficiaries are provided in a spreadsheet attached to this report.
3 Collaboration between MAF and PRF is institutionalized/ mainstreamed into PRF’s implementation process Technical standard of the MAF was applied to the PRF sub-projects.
Additionally, the Agreement on the cooperation between the MAF and PRF is drafted and discussed. However, final agreement is not yet reached. The PRF team planned to have a meeting with the MAF to finalize the agreement.
2. Implementation progress as of December 2012
In the last three months, the team has continued to implement the 90 sub-projects where 51 sub-projects were initiated with the completion of 10 sub-projects and 41 sub-projects were under progress. All sub-projects are expected to complete by the end of February 2013 according to the schedule.
90 sub-projects are those related to the development of rural agriculture infrastructure. The sub-projects include 16 new roads, 3 new bridges, 14 new irrigations, 14 rehabilitation irrigations, 16 new weirs, 5 rehabilitation weirs, 1 new culvert, 1 new biogas plant, 1 new low voltage grid and transformation, 17 new animal fences and 2 fish ponds. These sub-projects are located in 15 districts of 4 provinces, 46 are in Huaphan, 8 in Xiengkhuang, 18 in Luangnamtha and 18 in Savanakhet which include of 125 villages, 9,561 households and 21,741 females.
Initially, within the rural agriculture infrastructure sub-projects implementation plan, PRF had set some activities related to sub-projects. The main objective of the activity is to ensure that the communities are able to manage and protect their local environment, sub-project maintenance and increase income generation. The allocated budget of related activities is around US$500 – 1,200 and is provided into the sub-project budget in a packet. The training activities will commence after the money transfer has been transferred to the Kumban account. The concerning sectors will have to prepare their training proposal for each topic and payment detail to the PRF for approval. The related activities include: environmental impact, forest conservation, fish conservation, watershed conservation, forage plantation, animal mineral production and animal vaccination training.
Some planned training activities have been taken out since the budget is exceeding the budget ceiling of US$1.5 million. On the other hand, it requires more involvement from both the PRF team and concerned sector. The remain activities are those trainings related to the animal feeding area which will include the forage plantation, animal mineral production and animal vaccination training.
There are a total of 17 sub-projects regarding the providing of barb fence of which 11 sub-projects are in Huaphanh, 2 in Luangnamtha, 2 in Xiengkhouang and 2 in Savannakhet. The provided barb fence will allow communities to set the animal feeding areas for the cattle of 2,347. The beneficiaries will include 17 villages, 1,309 households, 6,540 villages of which 3,540 are female. The approximate cost of the cattle is 5,867,500,000 kip. The PRF team together with the technical officers from the District Agricultural Office has completed the training plan and the actual training will be conducted after the completion of the infrastructure sub-projects.
Concerning the construction of the Bio Gas Plant, Savannakhet, the location of the sub-project has planned to organize a training regarding the use of the bio gas and the study tour to learn from the model household who has showed the effective use of bio gas and generated income from the bio gas waste.
In order to improve the capacity of the LUFSIP team and the technical officers of the District Agricultural Office in 17 districts, the team has planned the training on the use of GPS to measure the production and animal feeding areas and use of the basic map drawing program. The objective of the training is to enable the team to be able to perform the basic task regarding the measurement, map drawing. The plan was submitted to the Planning Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in September 2012; however, the plan is not yet approved.
Table 4: Implementation progress as of December 2012 by sector

Sector 0% <50% >50% 100% Total
Public Works and Transportation (road to production areas) 19 - - 1 20
Agriculture 55 5 4 5 69
Energy - 0 1 1
Total 74 5 5 6 90
Source: Monitoring and Evaluation Division (January 2013)
Table 5: Implementation progress as of December 2012 by province

Province 0% <50% >50% 100% Total
Huaphanh 46 - - - 46
Luangnamtha 7 1 4 6 18
Xiengkhouang 8 - - - 8
Savannakhet 13 4 1 - 18
Total 74 5 5 6 90
Source: Monitoring and Evaluation Division (January 2013)
3. Disbursement status
Table 6: Disbursement during the quarter (Oct – Dec 2012)
Disbursement by component Sub-component 3a
Sub-project grants 24,942.40
Consulting services (Internal) 14,502.11
Goods and Vehicles -
Civil Works -
Incremental Operating Cost 5,177.71
Training, IEC, Socialization
Total 44,622.22
Source: Finance and Administration Division (January 2013)
Table 7: Disbursement status (Cumulative) as of December 2012
Disbursement by component Sub-component 3a
Sub-project grants 2,136,301.12
Consulting services (Internal) 70,274.09
Goods and Vehicles 44,146.50
Civil Works -
Incremental Operating Cost 86,866.44
Training, IEC, Socialization 25,163.43
Total 2,362,751.58
Source: Finance and Administration Division (January 2013)

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