FINAL EVALUATION REPORT

Reducing Village Vulnerability in Ethiopia (REVIVE)    

2003-2005

MARCH 2006

Submitted by: 

Judith E. Ofori. BA, Dip.Ed, ACIS, MBA.							
International Consultant &Team Leader
Tel: +44 208 310 0430
Fax: +44 208 312 4020
Email: judithofori@yahoo.co.uk

Tafari Bekele. Msc.
National Consultant
Tel: +251 911 208379
Email: greentef@telecom.net.et

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………… 3

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS …………………………………………. 4 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT  ……………………………………………………………………  6

1.	EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ……………………………………………………………… 7

2.	INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND ………………………………..16
2.1	Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… 16
2.2	Description of REVIVE Project areas ……………………………………….   17
2.3	Background  ……………………………………………………………………   18

3.	SUMMARY OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES/COMPONENTS ………………………. 18
3.1	Project Objectives ………………………………………………………………. 18
3.2	Project Components ……………………………………………………………. 20

4.	OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION ………………………………………………… 20

5.	VALUATION METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………. 20
5.1	Methodology and Approach ……………………………………………………. 20
5.2	Data Collection and information about Relevant Issues …………………….. 21	

6.	RESULTS OF THE EVALUATION ……………………………………………………. 24
6.1	South Gondar (Lay Gayint woreda) ……………………………………………. 24
6.2	West Hararghe (Chiro and Doba woredas ……………………………………. 46	
6.3	East Hararghe (Badeno and Kurfa Chelle Woreda) …………………………. 63

7.	COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE THREE PROJECT AREAS ……………….. 90
7.1	Selection of Activities ……………………………………………………………. 90
7.2	Quality of the Activities ………………………………………………………….. 91
7.3	Dissemination versus concentration of activities ……………………………..  91
7.4	Effectiveness ……………………………………………………………………... 93

8.	ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT DESIGN ………………………………… ……….. 98

9.	SUSTAINABILITY OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS ………………. 100

10.	CROSS CUTTING ISSUES …………………………………………………………. 104
10.1	Stakeholder Participation, Partnership and Institutional Linkages .…  104
10.2	Community Empowerment ………………………………………………  104
10.3	Gender Equality, Equity and Empowerment of Women ………………  105
10.4	Socio-cultural Behaviour and Issues ………………………………….…  106

11.	MONITORING AND EVALUATION ………………………………………………… 108
11.1	Monitoring …………………………………………………………………. 108
11.2	Evaluation …………………………………………………………………. 109

12.	BENEFICIARIES VIEWS …………………………………………………………….. 110

13.	CHALLENGES ………………………………………………………………………… 112
	13.1	Organisational/General ………………………………………………….. 112
	13.2	Component 1: community based risk management ………………….. 113
		13.3	Component 2: health, sanitation and nutrition behaviours …………… 113
	13.4	Component 3: Promotion & Protection of Agricultural Production …... 113
	13.5	Component 4: Improved Household Resources, CSSGs and IGAs … 114

14.	LESSONS LEARNT ………………………………………………………………….. 114
	14.1	Organisational/General ………………………………………………….. 114
	14.2	Component 1: Community Based Risk Management ………………… 115
	14.3	Component 2: Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Behaviours …………. 115
	14.4	Component 3: Promotion & Protection of Agricultural Production ….. 116
	14.5	Component 4: Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs …. 116

15.	CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………… 117
	15.1	Organisational/General ………………………………………………….. 117
	15.2	Component 1: Community Based Risk Management ………………… 118
	15.3	Component 2: Health, sanitation and nutrition behaviours …………… 119
	15.4	Component 3: Promotion & Protection of Agricultural Production …... 120
	15.5	Component 4: Improved Household Resources, CSSGs and IGAs … 121

16.	RECOMMENDATIONS ……………………………………………………………… 121
	16.1	Organisational/General …………………………………………………... 121
	16.2	Component 1: Community Based Risk Management …………………. 122
	16.3	Component 2: Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Behaviours ………….. 122
	16.4	Component3: Promotion & Protection of Agricultural Production ……. 123
	16.5	Component 4: Improved Household Resources, CSSGs and IGAs … 124

	APPENDICES
1 -	Map of Project areas 
2 -	Evaluation terms of reference
3 -	Sample HH questionnaire 
4 -	Summary of collated HH questionnaire
5 - 	Sample FGD questions 
6 -	Training and capacity building provided
7 -	People met/key informants interviewed
8 -	Documents reviewed
9  - 	Saint/Feast Days

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: 	Selection of kebeles and household numbers for HHS …………………………………22
Table 2:	focus group participation ……………………………………………………………………23
Table 3:	Functioning Community Based Risk Management (South Gondar) ………………….. 24
Table 4:	Households Able to Cope with Shocks (South Gondar) ……………………………….. 25
Table 5: 	Selected watersheds and their area (South Gondar) …………………………………… 27
Table 6: 	Type and amount of seedlings produced and planted (South Gondar) ………………. 28
Table 7:	Effective Community PA Woreda Zone Partnership (South Gondar) …………………. 28
Table 8: 	Health and Nutrition behaviours (South Gondar) ………………………………………..  30 
Table 9:	Hygiene & Sanitation (South Gondar) ……………………………………………………. 31
Table 10:	Water supply activities South Gondar (South Gondar) …………………………………. 31
Table 11:	Reduction of Pre-and Post Harvest Losses (South Gondar) …………………………… 35
Table 12:	Improved farming methods adopted (South Gondar) …………………………………… 37
Table 13:	Dry land farming technologies adopted South Gondar (South Gondar) ………………. 38
Table 14:	Improved Household Resource Management Practices (South Gondar) …………….. 40
Table 15:	Increased Access to and Income from IGAs (South Gondar) ………………………….. 43
Table 16:	Increased organisational capacity on IGAs (South Gondar) ……………………………. 43
Table 17:	 Functioning Community Based Risk Management (West Hararghe) …………………. 46
Table 18:	Households able to cope with shocks (West Hararghe) ………………………………… 48
Table 19:	Effective Community PA-Woreda-Zone Partnership (West Hararghe) ………………… 50
Table 20:	Households Showing Improved Care and Better Feeding Practices for Women of Reproductive Age and Children of 0-2 Years. (West Hararghe) ……………………….. 51
Table 21:	Increased Access to, and Use of, Well Managed Sources of Water and Latrines of Households in the Targeted Areas. (West Hararghe) …………………………………… 52
Table 22:	Reduce Pre- and Post Harvest Losses (West Hararghe) ……………………………….  54
Table 23:	Improved farming methods adopted (West Hararghe) ………………………………….. 55
Table 24: 	Dry land farming technologies adopted (West Hararghe) ………………………………. 57
Table 25:	Increased Access to and Income from IGAs (West Hararghe) …………………………. 58
Table 26:	Increased Organisational Capacity in IGAs (West Hararghe) …………………………… 60
Table 27:	Functioning Community Based Risk Management (East Hararghe) …………………… 65
Table 28:	Households Able to Cope with Shocks (East Hararghe) ………………………………… 66
Table 29:	Effective Community PA Woreda Zone Partnership (East Hararghe) …………………. 70
Table 30:	Equipment bought for woreda offices (East Hararghe) ………………………………….. 71
Table 31:	Households improve care and feeding practices for women of reproductive age and children of 0-2 years of age (East Hararghe). …………………………………………….. 71
Table 32:	Increased Access to Water and Sanitation and better Hygiene Practices 
(East Hararghe) ……………………………………………………………………………… 74
Table 33:	Reduce pre-and post harvest losses (East Hararghe) …………………………………… 77
Table 34:	Improved farming methods adopted (East Hararghe) ……………………………………. 79
Table 35:	Dry land farming technologies adopted (East Hararghe) ………………………………… 81
Table 36:	Early maturing and high yielding seeds (East Hararghe) ………………………………… 81
Table 37:	Fruit and multi purpose seedlings (East Hararghe) ………………………………………. 82
Table 38:	Improved Household Resource Management Practices (East Hararghe) ……………… 83
Table 39:	Increased Access to Income from Income Generation Activities (East Hararghe) ........ 85
Table 40:	Increased organisational capacity on income generation activities. (East Hararghe) … 86
Table 41:	Increased capacity of woreda and PA level institutions and implementing 
partners (East Hararghe). …………………………………………………………………… 87
Table 42:	South Gondar – summary of training and capacity building programmes  .................. 101
Table 43:	 West Hararghe – summary of training and capacity building programmes …………. 101
Table 44:	 East Hararghe – summary of training and capacity building programmes …………... 101

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 

ABG		Asset Building Group
BFIFBC	Baby Friendly Initiative & Feeding Centre
ACD		Assistant Country Director
ATL		Assistant Team Leader
AWP		Annual work plan
BoA		Bureau of Agriculture
CBO		Community Based Organisation
CD		Country Director
CEFIS		CARE Ethiopia Food Information System
CFW		Cash-for-Work
CO		Country Office
COPE		Client Oriented Provider Efficiency
CPAR		Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief
CRS		Catholic Relief Services
CS		Cooperating Sponsor
CSSG		Community Self-help Savings Group
CSTC		Community Skill Training Centre
DA		Development Assistance
DAP		Development Activity Proposal
DHS		Demographic and Health Survey
DPPB		Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Bureau
DPPC		Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Commission
EA		Extension Agent
EDAC 	Ethiopia Development Assistance Consortium
EGS		Employment Generation Scheme
ET		Evaluation Team
ETB 		Ethiopian Birr
FFS		Farmers’ Field School
FFW		Food-for-Work
FGD		Focus group discussion
FHH		Female-headed household
FHI		Food for the Hungry International
FY		Fiscal Year
GFDRE	Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 
GO		Government office
GRAD		Garamuleta Rehabilitation and Development Project
HH		Household
HHS		Household Survey
HIBRET	Household Income Building and Rural Empowerment Through Transformation
HLS		Household Livelihood Security
HIV		Human Immune-Deficiency Virus
IEC/BBC	Information, Education, Communication/Behavior Change Communication
IGA		Income Generating Activity
IPM		Integrated Pest Management
IR		Intermediate Result
LD		Line Department
LRSP		Long Range Strategic Plan
Masl		Metres above (mean) sea level
M&E		Monitoring and Evaluation 
MED		Mitigate the Effects of Disasters (USAID SO)
MICAH	Micronutrient and Health Project
MIS		Management Information System
MOH		Ministry of Health
MoU		Memorandum of understanding
NGO		Non-Governmental Organization
NPDPM	National Policy for Disaster Prevention Management
OoC		Office of Cooperative Promotion
ORDA		Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara
OSHO		Oromo Self-Help Organization
PA		Peasant Association/Administration
PLA		Participatory Learning & Action
PRA		Participatory Rural Appraisal
RP		REVIVE Project
SIDA		Swedish International Development Agency
SO                 Strategic Objective
SOW              Scope of Work
SWC              Soil & Water Conservation
TBA		Traditional Birth Assistant
TL		Team Leader
USAID	United States Agency for International Development
USD		United States Dollar
VDC		Village Development Committee
WATSAN	Water and Sanitation Committee

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Evaluation Team Leader wishes to thank CARE Ethiopia for giving the team the opportunity to undertake this exercise. 

Special thanks go to Azmella Molla for being there to answer questions. A big thank you goes to Amdie Kidawolde the DME team leader, for pointing the team in the right direction and being for there to resolve any issues. I acknowledge the leadership of Faheen Khan and the professional advice and guidance from Dr. Afurika Juvenal. Sincere thanks to Asmare Ayele for his comments. To Wasihum Andualem, accept my gratitude for all the effort in ensuring that the team got all the documents needed for the evaluation exercise. Special thanks to Yitnayet, the Savings Advisor for so clearly explaining all the CSSG issues.

In addition, I wish to pay special tribute to the numerous beneficiaries who through their stories illustrated in the case studies brought the project alive in the report.

I wish to acknowledge Dawit Teka, our excellent driver who drove us through some of the near impassable roads and made it all look so easy and made us feel safe.

In conclusion I would like to thank Marcy Vigoda, the Country Director for ensuring that the team were all right. I wish her the best of luck in her new assignment.

Judith E. Ofori. BA, Dip.Ed, ACIS, MBA.							

1.	EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

1.1	BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION: According to the Population Reference Bureau’s (PRB) ‘Country Profile’, Ethiopia's population in mid 2005 was 77,431,000 million people. On the Human Development Index Ethiopia ranks 170th in the list of 177 developing countries. It is estimated that 26.3% of that population live on an income of less than US$ l per day which places Ethiopia 99th out of 103 countries on the Human Poverty Index. Using the criteria established under the Millennium Development Goals, 94% of the population do not have access to proper sanitation and 78% do not have access to water that is safe to drink. Further 47% of the population are undernourished, 47% of children less than 5 years old are under weight and 15% of infants have low birth weight. 

The NGO ‘CARE Ethiopia’ has been working in Ethiopia since 1984 and was started as a re-action to the famine of that year. The mission of CARE Ethiopia is to work with Communities and Institutions together with individuals to make a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty in the country. There are currently 11 active CARE Projects in the country in the reproductive and primary health, water and sanitation, capacity building and empowerment Sectors as well as ‘Rural Livelihood Development’.

1.2	PROJECT OBJECTIVES, DESIGN, OBJECTIVES AND COMPONENTS: The REVIVE project was designed using participatory approach involving project beneficiaries, Woreda and Peasant Administration (PA) officials to help reduce the vulnerability to food and nutritional insecurity of approximately 20,000 households (or 90,000 people) in five Woredas of the South Gondar, East Hararghe and West Hararghe Zones. Following a Problem Analysis and Needs Assessment, CARE identified and set 4 objectives for the project. These were defined under the headings of: 1) Humanitarian Assistance (Disaster Mitigation), 2) Health and Nutrition, 3) Agriculture and 4) Natural Resources Micro-Enterprise Development. The 4 components detailing project activities were designed to meet the objectives set, these are: 1) Emergency Mitigation, 2) Health, Nutrition and Sanitation, Agricultural Development and 4) Savings and Income Generating Activities.

1.3	THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION was to examine the performance of the REVIVE project over the three years of its existence to date. Although planned to last for five years from 2003 to 2007 was phased out in the middle of its lifespan on the advice of USAID, the Donor.  Despite this the evaluation is important in that it enables the relevance, effectiveness and sustainability of the Project to be assessed so that useful lessons and recommendations can be drawn and used when considering future programming.

1.4	EVALUATION METHODOLOGY: The Evaluation exercise was participatory. The evaluation team (ET) interviewed and consulted all the key stakeholders including beneficiary communities, project managers, field staff, DAs, local government officers, as well as responsible CARE and ORDA staff. In addition the ET employed the following evaluation methods to achieve the objectives set. Project proposals; baseline, quarterly, annual and terminal reports, as well as other relevant documents were reviewed and analysed. A household survey (HS) covering 180 HHs (60 each in South Gondar, East and West Hararghe) with 63 FHH and 117 MHH was undertaken. The collated analysis of the results is included in Appendix 4 of this report.  Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) using semi structured questions and ‘Face to Face’ exchanges were conducted in 2 sample Kebeles in each of the 5 Project Woredas. In these FGDs 663 beneficiaries (270 women and 393 men) participated. The ET visited Project areas to observe activities undertaken and made field visits to assess the technical feasibility of the activities as well as to verify how far the project activities met the objectives set.

1.5	RESULTS OF THE EVALUATION: The results are discussed in separate sections one for each of the 3 project areas of South Gondar; West Hararghe and then East Hararghe, in the order in which the project areas were visited by the ET. 

1.5.1	SOUTH GONDAR: Component I: Enhancement of Community Based Risk Management (CBRM): Here the Project has implemented most the activities planned with varying levels of success although most of the activities met 100% of the implementation plan.  

Community Based Risk Management Committees each of 9 members have been formed in each of the targeted Kebeles and members had been trained in project plan preparation, risk management and familiarisation with the NPDPM. To counteract perennial shocks, the project formed 86 savings/asset creation groups with 1,245 HHs (113.73% of the plan).  The Project developed 7 watershed areas using IWSM methods to restore, improve and protect resources in the areas and 839,496 fodder and tree seedlings of various varieties were planted.  
Soil and Water Conservation (SWC): the project has undertaken different soil and water conservation activities including the construction of stone bunds cut off drains, soil bunds, terraces and check dams. In addition, vegetation, grass and trees was planted on 84 km of bunds (120% of the plan) and on 9.1 km of gullies (91% of the plan). The SWC activities were reported to have helped in reducing soil erosion and landslides. 
Water Harvesting; 12 ponds, each with a capacity of 3,000 metric cubes were constructed for livestock and irrigation for vegetable production, 7 of the ponds are supported with cattle troughs for livestock. To improve accessibility to some of the remotest areas, 10 km of ‘all weather’ RR10 was constructed.

Component 2: Health and Nutrition Improvement: As in component I, most of the planned activities were implemented. 
Improved Health and Nutrition of Women of Reproductive Age: the project started with a baseline data collection exercise, in which a number of lactating mothers were interviewed. The outcomes of the interviews confirmed the anecdotal evidence that most mothers did not give their babies colostrum but immediately after birth fed their babies water, sometimes  from contaminated sources, whilst others diluted cereals and even butter mixed with water which resulted in the children succumbing to disease, malnutrition (due to poor dieting) and in some cases death. To bring about positive behavioural change the project embarked on sensitisation and training. Community Animators were trained and went on to train community groups whilst peer support groups were formed to support the beneficiaries. A pilot ‘Baby Friendly Feeding Initiative & Feeding Practice Centre’ was built where mothers were trained in health and nutrition matter. 
Hygiene and sanitation, one of the most important achievements of the project was in making the community aware of the need for personal hygiene and encouraging them to construct their own latrines. The project worked with the community to construct Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines (VIPLs) for 9 community groups including 3 schools. Sanitation clubs were set up in schools, and the community was supported to construct 542 pit latrines, which was a five fold increase on the planned 100. Beneficiaries spoke of the benefits of the latrines, emphasising the health gain from better sanitation as well as the privacy of using the latrines in a culture where it is culturally unacceptable to see women attending the call of nature. The promotion of Fuel Efficient stoves (FES) was also successful. 250 stoves were constructed of the planned 100 (250% increase) and the women spoke of the benefits of using these installations. 
Development of Safe Water Supply; the Project developed 6 water schemes as planned; 2 spring developments benefiting 130 HHs; 2 hand dug wells plus  spring development and roof catchment schemes. Beneficiaries spoke of how, previously, they used to fetch water from unprotected sources, which at times they had to share with animals. There are however areas that have no water schemes and where severe water problems persist.

Component 3: Protecting and Promoting Agricultural Productivity: Reduction of Pre and Post Harvest Losses; an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) manual was produced and training provided in IPM and the ‘Management of Crop Loss’ to all the targeted Kebeles with the objective of increasing the farmers knowledge of the improved techniques, 5 new Farmers Field Schools (FFS), specialising in IPM, were established in 5 Kebeles and farmers were selected and trained at these schools. The Project built 24 improved local storage facilities to improve storage whilst reducing pre and post harvest loss. It was reported that these storage facilities reduced contamination and rodent damage and saved time and labour by estimated 50%. Improved Farming Methods, training was given to Community Animators and farmers in a number of areas including SWC, agro-forestry and agricultural extension.  Farmers spoke of the major benefits derived from the application of the improved farming practices which resulted in improved cultivation methods and subsequent increase in yields.  
Dry Land Farming Technologies, the project introduced highland fruits including apples, pears and plum seedlings in 2 nurseries.  The project also undertook small scale irrigation schemes in Sinchera (70% completed) and Damot each with the capacity for irrigating between 15 and 20 hectares that are calculated to benefit 40 and 75 HHs respectively.  The training in and introduction of drip irrigation technology is another success of the project, with the technology farmers who previously were unable to grow one crop cycle a year due to scarce and erratic rainfall are now able to grow two or even three crops per year and now harvest enough food to feed their families as well as to sell the surplus.

Component 4: Improved Savings and Income Generating Activities, This component started with improving household resource management practices. Working with the community, the Project identified ‘wasteful practices’ of uneconomic and wasteful spending on the many religious days/festivals as well as the high cost of conflict that often resulted in people deliberately burning and destroying property of neighbours. Together with the community, strategies were developed to address the identified wasteful practices and through effective promotion and training, the Project was able to set up 188 savings groups (CSSGs) with 3,486 members (1,294 male and 2,174 female). At the close of project, the CSSGs had a total Capital of 167,304 birr, of which 124,306 birr is on loan to members. Beneficiaries spoke of the advantages of belonging to CSSGs include learning to save and the benefits of immediate access to loans at low interest rates. Many used the loans to buy during harvest time and sell at lean season thus making a reasonable profit.  It was reported that the success of the CSSGs has upset money lenders and even the Zone’s biggest infull with initials (MFI), the Amhara Credit and Savings Institution (ACSI) - as people no longer go to formal institutions that charge 10% interest on their loans, which is double the highest rate charged CSSGs.  

1.5.2	WEST HARARGHE: Over all the Project has delivered less than South Gondar and East Hararghe. Project managers attribute the low achievement in many areas to the early phasing out of the Project where they assert that plan was still in the sensitising phase. The fact is all the Project areas worked to the same time table. 

Component I: Community Based Risk Management, Community based Risk Management Committees; the project established 88 village level CBRMCs (33 in Doba and 55 in Chiro woredas). It was reported that, in addition, CBRMCs were established at Woreda level. The committees were trained in community based early warning data collection, data analysis and risk management. On extension education in emergency preparedness and mitigation only 30% of the planned activity level was achieved. Before termination the Project had conducted 96 awareness creating sessions (38% of the plan) but managed to form 68 asset building groups (136% of the plan), enabling beneficiaries to restock their depleted assets. 
Soil and Water Conservation; 66 meters of check dam and 8 km of soil bund all on degraded land were constructed. Access Road Construction and Maintenance, a 10 km access road from Gille to the main Chiro asphalt road was constructed. This road lacked ford and culverts to allow cross drainage and the quality was found to be below the Roads Department RR10 minimum standard.

Component 2: Health and Nutrition Promotion, The success of the implementation of these activities was mixed, with low achievement rates in some areas. Improved Health and Nutrition of Women of Reproductive Age, even though, the training and sensitisation activities were low (no IEC materials or the ‘Health & Nutrition Manual’ were produced, and only 13% of the target for education of mothers on health and nutrition was achieved), the positive message got through to the targeted communities. The traditional practices of breastfeeding were the same as in South Gondar. The Project did well in promoting increased production from home gardening 102% of the targeted training courses; and mass education session on health and nutrition where 99% of the number targeted were held. Beneficiaries spoke enthusiastically of the benefits gained from the training, in particular the positive changes they observe when they fed their children properly.  
Hygiene and Sanitation, the Project reported that 227 pit latrines (92% of the plan) were constructed. Beneficiaries confirmed that they had learnt about health and sanitation, maintaining personal hygiene, garbage clearance and disposal, using waste for composting and other environmental sanitation issues. 
Development of Safe Water Supply; access to clean and protected water remains a major problem in the area. Beneficiaries from three out of four Kebeles that took part in the FGDs have no protected water. Although there were no water development schemes in the plan, the project has undertaken 2 spring developments with 4 distribution points in Lencha Wedessa and Walikituna.

Component 3: Protecting and Promoting Agricultural Productivity: Reduction of Pre and Post Harvest Losses; in collaboration with SCF-UK the Project trained staff and Woreda officials in Integrated Pest Management but only achieved 23% of the people required to meet the requirements of planned target. These people, it was intended, should go on to train Community Animators and members of the community so it was understandable that only 14 training sessions were held which was only 9% of the planned target. The project however did construct, for demonstration purposes 24 improved storage facilities, which was 4 more than the target of 20, these were reported to have reduce pre and post harvest losses by 30-40%. 
Improved Farming Methods; the Project was unable to produce the ‘Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) Training Manual’ or to train staff and Community Animators in improved SWC methodologies, resulting in failure to introduce improved farming practices to the area. 
There were however 22 sessions of mass education on SWC although this was only 9% of the plan. The project trained some farmers in the use of drip irrigation kit, 88 drip kits were provided to farmers, but unfortunately they were not widely adopted. The failure to produce the SWC manual was the cause of the extremely poor performance of the Project, when measured in Community Benefits, in this area.
Dry Land Farming Technology; the Project managed to train only 16 (2%) of the planned 1,000 personnel, there was no demonstration of use of dray land farming technologies and only 9 mass education sessions (23%)  took place. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Melkassa Agriculture Research Centre, the Project managed to make available 389 Qt of improved varieties seeds (1,295% of the planned 30 Qt). The demonstration of water harvesting technology has not been successful in this area.

Component 4: Improved Savings and Income Generating Activities, This component started with the intention of improving household resource management practices. Working with the community, the project identified ‘wasteful practices’ of uneconomic and wasteful spending on weddings and funerals, harvest ceremonies and the money and time spent chewing chat and developed strategies to deal with these practices. At the close of project, 76 saving groups of 545 men and 907 women (38% male and 62% female) had been formed. The savings at the end of 2004 were 38,815 birr of this, 33,744 birr had been loaned to members at varying interest rates ranging from 4% to 10% as dictated by individual CSSG by-laws. The formation of CSSGs has brought marked changes in the lives of all participating individuals. Beneficiaries talk of how they have been saved from local money lenders who charge interest rates ranging from 50% -100% in Mishigi & Waltane. Others told, with a feeling of pride and achievement, that for the first time in their lives they had managed to save a small amount of money.
 
1.5.3	EAST HARARGHE: East Hararghe like South Gondar has achieved and in a number of instances exceeded the targets set in most of the activity areas. 
Component 1: Community Based Risk Management, Risk Management Committees; there were 84 CBRMCs formed in the 2 Woredas and training given in early warning and NPDPM. Further training was given to the 4,320 HHs (130% of the plan) in emergency preparation and mitigation. 
Households Ability to Cope with Shock; the project used CBRMC members to train 4,609 HHs (138.3%) in asset building and saving schemes as a result 119 cash or grain savings groups (475% of the planned 25) were formed. To improve accessibility to remote areas, a total of 12.82 km of road pavement was constructed in the project operational areas.
Soil and Water Conservation; the Project undertook stone bund and hill side terrace construction through the Food for Work initiative. 

Component 2: Health and Nutrition Promotion. Improved Health and Nutrition of Women of Reproductive Age; the women of  East Hararghe as in the other areas also practice harmful traditional feeding methods for the newborn and babies which results in malnutrition and stunted growth. The project trained 136 animators (151% of the planned 90) who trained 6,130 beneficiaries (51.1% of the planned 12,000) in good health and nutrition practices. Two other successes of the project were the promotion of vegetable gardening (1,579 of the planned 1,000) and the adoption of FES by 1,602 HHs (320% increase on the planned 500). 
Hygiene and Sanitation; the project has developed 6 of the planned 9 water (67%) three each in the Badeno and Kurfa Chele Woredas. The schemes have provided 14 water distribution points, 13 wash basins, 11 cattle troughs and 2 reservoirs which have given access to clean water supply to a total of 8,152 households, 40,760 humans and 20,870 head of livestock. Another success of the project is the promotion and adoption of ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPLs), at the close of the project 1,962 VIPLs were constructed of the planned 1,000 a 196% achievement. It was reported that in the village of Bossowa in Rare Janeta, 300 households out of 320 have constructed their own VIPLs and that the remaining 20 households are of elderly and/or infirm who use neighbours facilities.
Development of Safe Water Supplies; the Project only managed to construct 6 of the planned 9 water schemes, which was a very low target in the first place, for an area where the lack of water is a primary concern for all the population at all times and has only managed to provide clean water to approximately 40,700 people and 40,750 head of cattle. 

Component 3: Protecting and Promoting Agricultural Productivity. Reduction of Pre and Post Harvest Losses; an integrated Pest Control Manual was produced, by a Consultant, that was directly relevant to the area and was used very successfully to used to train 38 members of the staffs of the Department of Agriculture and CARE; 95% of target number; to go on to train IPM Trainers in both theoretical and practical sessions. These trainers in turn trained 130 Agricultural Animators and Development Agents and have overseen the provision of training to 5,766 households; 192% of the initial target, in the 11 targeted Kebeles. As a result it is reported that there has been a substantial decrease in pre and post harvest loss of crops across the targeted area which is a notable success. 
Improved Farming Methods; seven Farmers Field Schools were organised to extend the knowledge of both new and traditional methods of pest control and though they were not regular or frequent enough it did succeed in bringing the participants attention to the value of traditional farming practices provided that they are used correctly. Unfortunately the sustainability of the FFS is in doubt as there appears to be no involved managers.
Dry Land Farming Techniques; improved varieties of seed, mostly early maturing and pest resistant vegetable varieties, were distributed to farmers as the Project’s contribution to the ‘Revolving Fund’ and whilst the seed was returned twice the severe dry spell in an already vulnerable area has interrupted the sequence. Training was provided to 19 Government and CARE staff by Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre which made a considerable contribution to the dissemination of the knowledge of dry land farming.  
Soil and Water Conservation; A total of 147 Agricultural Animators which is 57 more than was called for in the Project plan were trained in improved soil and water conservation techniques and they in turn trained 4,044 farmers under the Agricultural Education Extension scheme. Again this is a substantial increase in the planned number of 3,000. Application of the techniques and an almost immediate increase in their use together with the use of deep and repetitive ploughing has resulted in the brining into production of previously useless hill land.
Access Road Construction; To improve accessibility of the remote areas, a total of 12.82 Kms all-weather RR10 standard road pavement was constructed in the five REVIVE operational Kebeles.

Component 4: Households to Increase and Diversify On & Off Farm Income to meet Basic Needs and to Build their Asset Base. Improved Household Resource Management; from the initial survey it was discovered that chewing chat was the greatest waste of time and household income and that it was pervasive throughout the area. It also proved the most difficult to counter as it was a habit ingrained in the population over several generations. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Project efforts have been quite successful in reducing the use in some areas. Further success has been registered in the reduction of the time and money spent on religious and other ceremonies.
Improved Savings and Income Generation; the formation of Community Self-help Saving Groups has not only encouraged even the poorest to save but has provided a focus for other economic activities which have, together improved the standard of living for the participants. During the Project to date 70 CSSGs have been formed and the majority of the participants have received some training in Financial Management and Leadership.
Increased Income from Entrepreneurial Activities; the availability of loans from the CBSGs has allowed a considerable increase if profitable trading activity by providing cash for participants to buy or store crops in the harvest season and sell them at a profit in times of shortage. 

1.6	COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT IN THE THREE PROJECT AREAS: The objectives of the Project in the 3 Projects areas were the same but they were implemented in totally different ways and each area presented unique problems resulting in a substantial variation in the outputs.
One of the causes of the variation was the looseness of the design and specification of the quality that was required of physically measurable items and installations. 
Access road construction in the three areas is a case in point, the roads were all required to be to RR10 standard and those in South Gondar and East Hararghe achieved that standard though by two different construction techniques whilst the one in West Hararghe has no fords or culverts and will be totally useless in the rainy season. The reason for the variation in construction methods was not immediately clear and warrants further investigation. 
The design of the Water Conservation components of the Project took little account of the variation of the total water availability in the different areas and did not require integration of all the individual inputs that were needed to ensure integrated schemes whilst the components aggregate impact on the water shortage was woefully under provided.
East Hararghe was most effective in the promotion of VIPLs and the use of FES and South Gondar has emerged as the most effective in engaging the community to participate in CSSGs.

1.7	ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT DESIGN: REVIVE is one project that most if not all the key stakeholders believe was well designed. CARE adopted a full participatory in needs assessment and developing the project proposal. With a clearly defined problem analysis, on which the project objectives and goals were set. An intervention strategy was developed. The various components’ delivery mechanisms and activities laid out. A staffing plan showing the management structure, roles and responsibilities of various staff, management and co-ordinating systems. A monitoring and evaluation plan detailing indicators was developed. Looking at the technical proposal, the only element missing is a section for sustainability plans that would require all project areas to develop a sustainability plan for their areas and sub-project components/activities. Another element missing from the project proposal is the provision of opportunity to exchange and share learning experiences or arranging study tours for both beneficiaries and project staff. There was no provision or opportunity for the three areas to physically travel to other sites to share and learn new techniques, observe how well or badly particular activities are doing as well as learning new/better problem solving mechanisms.. 

1.8	SUSTAINABILITY OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS: To ensure the sustainability of project activities and the benefits accruing there from REVIVE undertook series of training programmes and capacity building activities with all project beneficiaries. Joint training was undertaken with Woreda officials to strengthen the capacities of local government enabling them to support beneficiary communities when the project ends and CARE staff are not available to offer day to day support to beneficiaries. 
The establishment of CBRMCs, DCs and VDCs to lead and engage the beneficiaries in Community Action Planning will, it is hoped, ensure continued involvement, interest, engagement and implementing activities when the Project is complete, because the community is firmly in charge of the projects. 
During FGDs an overwhelming majority of the participants vowed to continue with the activities even without CARE’s support and assistance. This is a clear and positive sustainability indicator.
Beneficiaries speak of the knowledge acquired, the benefits of the intervention and the positive behavioural changes the project has brought to their lives. The overwhelming adoption of improved farming methods, the use of FES, the construction and use of VIPLs as well as huge numbers of people participating in CSSGs with their activities being replicated in areas outside the REVIVE target areas clearly show that there is a strong possibility that a considerable number of the organisations will survive and prosper.

1.9	CROSS CUTTING ISSUES: Full stakeholder participation and beneficiary involvement was the approach CARE adopted in the planning and implementation of the project. The 3 project areas developed their own unique ways of in engaging beneficiaries and other key stakeholders in the project life. Training programmes were conducted with CARE staff, project beneficiaries and woreda staff. WDCs were set up with representatives of the various departments, PA and REVIVE. Panel monitoring were planned and conducted with all stakeholders.
Community Empowerment: Through participatory development approach, the community has been involved in all aspects of project development and implementation. The Project has given the communities a voice and a conviction to believe in them selves and their ability to do things for themselves, shaking off the dependency state they have found themselves in and moving to self reliance. 

1.10	CHALLENGES: The major challenges of the project were said to be the dependency syndrome of the community. Ethiopia has for the past two and half decades depended on relief and food aid. Convincing the project beneficiaries to participate in activities without relief was difficult. There was such resistance from the communities as there were NGOs operating the areas who were still providing relief and trying to convince the community to participate in FFW was difficult. The project managers claim the new approach of facilitating had internal and external challenges. The internal challenge came from staff who were required to change both their attitude and the way that things were done, changing from implementers to facilitators. The external challenge was from woreda officials who were used to CARE bringing emergency response and the beneficiaries who always received the relief.

1.11	LESSONS LEARNT: The project has demonstrated that NGOs can make a difference by working with women, the poorest and the most marginalised people of the society if the people are empowered to take advantage of the opportunities created for them. With the right support and encouragement, women who have participated in the Project have demonstrated their skill, knowledge, resilience, experience and ability to find solutions to problems to take responsibilities and to share valuable ideas. REVIVE has demonstrated that communities can effectively lead their own development if they are supported through training and given the right tools, their capacities will be utilised expanded.

1.12	CONCLUSIONS: Over all the Project has been very successful in addressing the identified needs of the communities in the targeted areas. CARE’s partnership with ORDA, a national NGO, local to the area of operation in Lay Gayint woreda has been successful in organising and delivering the project activities. 
The reliance on one Donor for the funding of the whole of one big project is a risk for any NGO. In this case, beneficiaries were adversely affected by the decision of the Donor (USAID) to shift the funding to another project. The result was closure the project half way through its cycle 
In conclusion, project beneficiaries without exception believe the REVIVE was a very good project and expressed their disappointment that the project was ended prematurely in no uncertain terms. The Views expressed by project beneficiaries, and even some woreda officials, at the end of the project demonstrate the strength of feeling about the loss of something very valuable, and in some cases, the feeling was that of betrayal.

1.13	RECOMMENDATIONS: The challenges and lessons learnt in planning and delivery of REVIVE, should be serve as guide in the implementation of the HIBRET programme.
It is highly recommended that the good practices and success stories of the REVIVE Project should be documented and replicated in other areas in particular in the implementation of the HIBRET programme.
The reliance on one major donor to finance a big project can be risky, as the withdrawal of the Donor could force the project to close abruptly leaving beneficiaries in the lurch with a lack of trust in ‘authority’ and NGOs in general. It is recommended that in view of the lesson learnt when USAID decided  to divert the funding for REVIVE to HIBRET, CARE should re-examine its fund raising policy and diversify funding for very big projects.  

2.	INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND

2.1	INTRODUCTION 
According to the Population Reference Bureau’s (PRB) ‘Country Profile’, Ethiopia's population in mid 2005 was 77,431,000 million people. The UNDP 2005 Human Development Report (HDR) ranks Ethiopia 170th in the list of 177 developing countries on the Human Development Index (HDI). 

The HDI focuses on 3 dimensions of development; living a long life, being educated and having a decent standard of living.  It is estimated that 26.3% of that population live below of US$ l per day and placed Ethiopia 99th out of 103 countries on the Human Poverty Index. 
Under the Millennium Development Goals, only 6% of the population have access to improved sanitation, 22% has access to improved water source, 47% of the population is undernourished, 47% of children under 5 years old are under weight and 15% of infants have low birth weight. The figures and consideration underlying those indices are sobering; HIV/AIDS affects 6.4% of adults, one of every six children dies before age 5.  Ethiopia ranks 134 out of 140 countries on the Gender Development Index (the GDI measures the average achievement reflecting the inequalities between men and women in life expectancy, adult literacy and decent standard of living). The GDI was introduced by the UN in 1995 to capture the differences between the achievements of men and women. The adult literacy rate is 33.8% for females and 49.2% for males; life expectancy is 48.7% for females and 46.6% for males.

The NGO ‘CARE Ethiopia’ has been working in Ethiopia since 1984 and was started as a re-action to the famine of that year. Then CARE implemented a massive relief operation which started in East Hararghe and lasted for almost a decade. It has since been expanded to provide both emergency and development aid in various sectors and several locations throughout the country. A substantial effort has been made in the last few years to strengthen the links between relief and development using the ‘Household Livelihood Security Framework’ and a ‘Rights Based Approach’.  

The mission of CARE Ethiopia is to work with Communities and Institutions together with individuals to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty in the country. As one of the most prominent International NGOs in the country, CARE has developed a Long-Range Strategic Plan which is a statement of ‘Strategic Intent for Ethiopia’ for the period July 2001 to June 2006.  This is built on development trends observed and projected for Ethiopia, on the vision and mission of CARE International as well as CARE USA, and most importantly, on CARE Ethiopia’s experience and expertise (CARE Ethiopia, 2004). 

There are currently 11 active CARE Projects in the country in the reproductive and primary health, water and sanitation, capacity building and empowerment Sectors as well as ‘Rural Livelihood Development’. Specific projects are ‘Family Planning HIV/AIDS Phase II’, ‘Urban HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control’, ‘Strengthening Communities through Partnership’ ‘BESO/SCOPE’, ‘Child Health Initiatives for Lasting Change’, ‘HIV/AIDS Project for Youth’ concentrated in Bahir Dar. In addition there are ‘The Millennium Water Programme’, ‘Positive Change: Children, Communities & Care Programme (PC3)’, ‘HIBRET’ and ‘The Pastoral Livelihood Initiative’.

2.2	DESCRIPTION OF THE REVIVE PROJECT AREAS.

The REVIVE project areas are the 5 ‘Woredas’ of Badeno and Kurfa Chelle in East Hararghe; Chiro and Doba in West Hararghe and Lay Gayint in South Gondar. A map showing the project areas is included in the appendices of this Report. In Lay Gayint about 21% of the community is in urban areas, whereas all the others are in rural areas, with agriculture as their main occupation. 

The primary occupation in the villages is agriculture and, with the exception of Chiro where 20% of the land area supports forestry as the primary occupation but crop production is considered the first most important activity. In West Hararghe, (Chiro and Doba) the second most usual occupation is agriculture (livestock and crop production). In Lay Gayint, the second most important occupation for 50% of the villages is trading and about 29% is also engaged in the provision of services. In East Hararghe too the majority of the villages, particularly those of Kurfa Chelle are engaged in activities other than agriculture, like services, paid work, trade and handcrafts. 

In terms of population density, Kurfa Chelle is very dense and that of West Hararghe is also considered to be ‘High’ in comparison to the country in general. However in Lay Gayint, despite the flat topography and the cool nature of climate and its suitability for agro-ecology, where the land would be expected to be suitable for settlement, population density is low and only about 21% of the villages are densely populated. 

The topography of most of the villages in Hararghe (88%) are in hilly or mountain terrain as they are mainly part of the Chercher mountain chain of the eastern part of the country. However in Lay Gayint about 61% of the villages are in flat areas. It is accepted that the topography of an area does have an impact on development and the amount and nature of the development works that are required. As hills and mountains usually limit the accessibility to the communities and as roads are the key to the provision of both aid and development assistance there are problems in meeting the requirements of the communities in these areas. 

In terms of road access, none of the villages in the project area has access to paved asphalt roads. All the villages in Kurfa Chelle and about one third in Doba are on good dirt roads but the majority of the villages in Badeno have very poor roads and thus have difficulty in accessing the nearest towns, particularly during rainy seasons. It was reported that there are some villages in Chiro, Doba and Lay Gayint that did not have any link to the nearest town, except by footpaths, before the Project intervention. Access roads, with bridges in some cases’ have been constructed by the Project. The usual means of transport to the nearest town in Hararghe from these villages was always by foot although, because of the topography of the area around Lay Gayint, it was possible to use donkey and oxen drawn carts. 

In Ethiopia the traditional classification of agro-ecolgy, although dependent to a large extent on altitude, is a good indication to the type of crops/livestock potential. About two-thirds of the farms in Lay Gayint and Bedeno districts are located at more than 2300 Metres above Sea Level (masl) indicating the cool agro-ecology of this particular area. Conversely about 63% of the farms in Kurfacalle are located below 1500 masl, Projects in these low lying areas are at greater Risk because of the low and erratic nature of rainfall on which their agriculture depends. Most of the farms surveyed in East Hararghe were in the highlands (>1500 masl) however in Kurfacalle only about 37% of the surveyed farms are located above 1500 masl.

2.3	BACKGROUND

It is accepted that over the past 3 decades the International Community has provided Ethiopia with food aid and other relief support but unfortunately there has been no discernible decrease in malnutrition or the scope and scale of food insecurity.  

The immediate and underlying causes of food and nutritional insecurity in the targeted communities of Badeno, Chiro, Doba, Laygaint and Kurfa Chelle were identified as follows:
1.	Recurrent droughts have depleted households’ productive assets and their ability to respond to and recover from shocks;
2.	Poor health and nutritional status, especially among women and young children, has weakened productive capacity and resistance to disease;
3.	Traditional agriculture-based livelihood systems no longer provide adequately for household needs in most years; and
4.	Alternative income sources render low returns and there is limited capacity, including literacy and numeracy, and opportunity for developing new, more viable, livelihood systems.

The pervasive lack of empowerment among the rural population, particularly women was identified as a crosscutting factor inter-related to the factors above identified.  It was also identified that past, and current, relief and development efforts have exacerbated this situation by largely excluding community participation in project planning and implementation; except when a labour force was required.  This has, on a number of occasions, led to inappropriate interventions, as well as sending a message to the International Community that the local communities are incapable of solving their own problems and improving their own living standards. 

In order to redress this inappropriate way of development intervention CARE adopted a participatory approach involving the beneficiary communities and all key stakeholders in needs assessment/problem analysis, development, planning and implementation of the project. Close consultation with the beneficiary communities in the planning of project activities has resulted in effective participation and ownership by the beneficiaries of the REVIVE project which CARE took the time to foster through their participatory approach.

3.	SUMMARY OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND COMPONENTS

3.1	PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Following a Problem Analysis and Needs Assessment, CARE identified and set 4 objectives for the project. These were defined under the headings of: Humanitarian Assistance (Disaster Mitigation), Health and Nutrition, Agriculture and Natural Resources Micro-Enterprise Development. 

Objective 1 – Enhancement of Community- based Risk Management:  
10,000 households in specifically targeted communities to be introduced to the skills required to manage the debilitating effects of periodic acute shocks so that they will be able to survive without depleting productive household or community assets.

1.1	Community-based committees (CBC) to be formed and shown how to make an effective contribution to Disaster early-warning, Disaster preparedness and Disaster mitigation on an ongoing basis.
1.2	Households to be skilled to successfully cope with shocks as they occur.
1.3	DPPC committees, at Woreda level, to be shown how to predict, prepare for, mitigate and respond to emergencies in a more timely and effective manner.

Objective 2 – Improve the Health and Nutrition among women of reproductive age: 18,000 women of reproductive age and 18,000 children under two years of age in the target areas would have improved their nutritional status, and 28% of target women would have acquired basic literacy skills.

2.1	Households to be shown how to improve care and feeding practices for women of reproductive age and for children 0-2 years old.
2.2	Households in target areas to be shown how to increase access to, and the use of,   sources of safe water, apply appropriate hygienic practices and manage the water sources..

Objective 3 – Protecting and Promoting Agricultural Productivity: 
9,000 Households to be shown how to increase agricultural production and productivity.

3.1	  Households to be encouraged to adopt improved practices for minimizing pre- and post-   harvest crop losses.
3.2 Households to be shown how to improve cropping practices in a sustainable manner without further depleting the natural resource base.
3.3	Households in moisture deficit areas to be shown how to implement appropriate dry land farming technologies that promote land and labour productivity.

Objective 4 – Income Generation and Savings Expansion: 
2,000 women and men to be encouraged to increase and diversify both ‘On- & Off-Farm’ income to meet their basic needs and build their personal asset base. 

4.1	Poor households (especially female-headed households (FHH) and the landless) to be shown how to improve the management of household resources.
4.2 	Women and men to be encouraged to investigate and apply the skills of accessing Markets for their produce and to maximise their earnings from IGA’s.
4.3 	Community Based Organisations (CBO’s) to be empowered to provide financial and technical services to entrepreneurs for sustainable Projects on an ongoing basis.

A comprehensive set of project outputs and activities are linked to each of these intermediate objectives.  Details of outputs and their linkages to higher-level goals, as well as their impact and the performance indicators, were included in the Project Logical Framework.  

3.2	PROJECT COMPONENTS:	

The REVIVE project had the following four components and activities: 

1)	Emergency Mitigation: 
Training of Community Committees (CC’s) in the understanding and implementation of Disaster Early Warning and Disaster Mitigation Schemes together with the design of community-based Disaster Mitigation Projects. Training CC’s to instigate and manage Personal Savings Schemes; 

2)	Health and Nutrition: 
The installation of water and sanitation infrastructures together with training for local management committees as well as Nutrition and Hygiene training for community groups, especially women. 

3)	Agriculture Development: 
Farmer training including the dissemination of technology developed specifically for areas of recurring drought to ensure improved agricultural productivity and the decrease of pre-and post-harvest food losses. Training farmers in the development of small-scale irrigation schemes.
 
4)	Income Generation: 
The promotion of off-farm income generation activities and the training of beneficiaries in marketable skills. Planning and implementing community awareness campaigns and training beneficiaries in intra-household resource management.

4.	OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION

The objective of this evaluation is to examine the performance of the REVIVE project over the three years of its existence to date. Although planned to last for five years /2003 – 2007/ it has been phased out in the middle of its lifespan on the advice of USAID, the donor.  Despite this the evaluation is important in that it enables the relevance, effectiveness and sustainability of the project to be assessed so that useful lessons and recommendations can be drawn and used when considering future programming. 

5.	EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

5.1	METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

The Evaluation exercise was participatory. The evaluation team interviewed and consulted all the key stakeholders including beneficiary communities, project managers, field staff, DAs, local government officers, as well as responsible CARE and ORDA staff. 
Further  information that contributed to the evaluation was obtained as follows:

Initial Consultation and ‘Briefing’: With CARE on the overall background and context of the project which expanded upon the briefing on the evaluation exercise.

Document Review: This entailed the critical analysis of the original project proposals, baseline survey, quarterly/annual reports, activity reports and all other relevant documents to that could make the evaluation representative. A full list if documents reviewed is included in ‘Appendix 7’ of this report.

Development of Data Collection Methods: The following basic data collection methods were used to ensure accurate and comprehensive collection of necessary primary and secondary data. 
•	A questionnaire consisting of 61 questions was developed based substantially on the intermediate result indicators under the four project objectives.
•	A ‘Checklist’ of questions relating to issues to be raised during focus group discussions and in the structured and semi-structured interviews that were to take place with key community informants and government officers. 
Prior to starting the collection of data these methods were discussed with CARE to ensure the incorporation of their comments and any suggested modifications. 
Copies of these questionnaires are included in Appendix 3 of this report.

5.2	DATA COLLECTION AND INFORMATION ABOUT RELEVANT ISSUES. 

In order to collect and analyse as much relevant primary and secondary data and additional information from as many sources as possible the following methods were used: 

Questionnaire Survey: The questionnaire survey was used in 10 purposely-selected kebeles (two kebeles from each targeted woreda). The kebeles were selected because they were believed to be representative of all targeted kebeles in the woredas within which REVIVE has been operating. For this purpose 60 sample households were selected project areas of East Hararghe, West Hararghe and Lay Gayint, a total of 180 households, were interviewed.  

So that an unbiased and representative estimation of the information obtained, a three-stage random sampling methodology was used which was based on the agro-ecological representation and was proportional to the size of the sample household.
•	The first stage was the selection of two sample kebeles within each of the targeted woreda. 
•	The second stage was a random selection of villages within each of the selected kebeles using the proportional size or number of the households in each kebele, 
•	The third stage was the random selection of households to be included in the sampling frame. The final selection of the 180 households (East Hararghe 60 HHs, West Hararghe 60HHs and Lay Gayint 60HHs) was chosen using the random walk method.

Training for the task of data collection and standardisation of the methods of posing the questions and completing the household questionnaire the training lasting half a day was given to each team of five data enumerators and one supervisor who were deployed in each program area. 

The consultants checked for deviation from the questionnaire and overall consistency of the questionnaire before proceeding with data entry. However, the samples of 180 households were not intended to be statistically representative of the entire kebeles or all household groups residing in the kebeles. 

Table 1: Selection of kebeles and household numbers for HHS

		HH	
		FHH	MHH	Total	
Lay-Gayint HH Survey	
Lay-Gayint	Titra (kebele 04)	12	18	30	
	Gobgob (kebele 01)	14	16	30	
Sub total	26	34	60	
East Hararghe HH Survey	
Kurfa Chelle	Hula Jeneta	6	9	15	
	Cheffe Aneni	5	10	15	
Bedeno	Rare Jeneta	5	10	15	
	Tirtiro Mangudo	4	11	15	
Sub total		20	40	60	
Wast Hararghe HH Survey	
Chiro 	Wachu Eltoke	4	11	15	
	Wachu Hormat	5	16	21	
Doba	Waltane	3	9	12	
	Lencha Wedesa	5	7	12	
Sub total		17	43	60	
Grand total		63	117	180	

Key Informant Interviews: In order to gather views and opinions of all stakeholders about the planning, implementation and effectiveness of the project semi structured interviews with the following key informant groups were conducted:
•	Meetings and discussions were held with relevant CARE and ORDA’s staff in Addis Ababa, Bahirdar and the other project sites.
•	Meetings and discussions were held with the relevant Woreda Office of Rural Development, Office of Agriculture, Cooperative Promotion and Development Desk, Water and Mines Desk, DPP and Food Security Desk, and Natural Resource Conservation and Land Use.
•	Key community informants: 
-	Members of Woreda Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee (WDDPC)
-	Members of various Community Based Committee’s  (CBCs)
-	Village Development Committee Members
-	Water Supply Committee members
-	Local Market men and women were also interviewed.

Focus Group Discussions: Focus Group discussions using the Semi Structured Interview technique were conducted in 2 sample kebeles selected from each Woreda. Selection of Kebeles for the purpose of the focused group discussion took into account their accessibility and the differences in their agro-ecology and the activity interventions. 
The focused group discussions involved the participation of farmers (men and women farmers), women’s groups and, where they existed, youth groups, together with ‘key informants’ such as Village Elders. To ensure thorough coverage 2 focus groups were organized in each of the sample kebeles with each group addressing 2 of the project objective. (i.e. Group I covering objectives 1&3 and Group II covering objectives 2 &4)

Table 2:	 FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPATION
		GENDER	
		FEMALE	MALE	Total	
Lay Gayint	
Gaint  Woreda	Titira (kebele 04)	25	32	57	
	Gobgob (kebele 01)	38	46	84	
Total 	63	78	141	
West Hararghe	
	Wachu Eltoke	28	57	85	
	Wachu Hormat	53	68	121	
	Waltane	24	26	50	
	Lencha Wedesa	30	28	58	
Total	135	179	314	
East Hararghe	
Kurfa Chelle	Hula Jeneta	14	23	37	
	Cheffe Aneni	22	39	61	
Bedeno	Tirtiro Mangudo	25	51	76	
	Rare Jeneta	11	23	34	
Total	72	136	208	
Grand Total	270	393	663	

Direct observation of field activities: Field visits were undertaken in order to gain first-hand views and impressions of the progress made in the implementation of the project activities. 
The evaluation team assessed technical feasibility and performance as well as verified the extent to which the project results contributed towards achievement of the project objectives. These visits involved direct observation of infrastructures and assets created and important actions, activities and events within the target community. 

6.	RESULTS OF THE EVALUATION

This is the analysis of the combination of the results of literature review, key informant interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s), direct observations gained when visiting the project sites, interviews with project managers, staff and beneficiaries together with woreda and zonal officials.

The results were discussed according to the 3 project areas, South Gondar, West Hararghe and then East Hararghe, in the order in which the project areas were visited.

The project was designed in 4 main components with sub-components. The analysis addressed each of the components to verify whether the planned activities/outputs were achieved. 

6.1	SOUTH GONDAR (Lay Gayint Woreda)

The Evaluation Team (ET) was well received and the project manager and his team gave a comprehensive briefing on the South Gondar project where 4 specialist staff had the responsibility for leading the implementation of all 4 components of the project. Each of the lead staff gave a detailed account on the implementation and the performance of component for which they were responsible. 

Training was given to 10 enumerators so that they could undertake the HHS in the randomly pre-selected sample villages in the 2 kebeles of Gobgob and Titira. In each village every 6th person was interviewed and 57 out of the 60 required questionnaires were completed and returned. 

The ET visited 2 kebeles for FGD’s – 01 Gobgob and 04 Titira. They also visited a number of activity sites: Pond construction in Kebele 02, Megobia;  Drip Irrigation and Highland Fruits in Gobgob; Irrigation at Kebele 3 in Sinchera: the Highland Fruit Multiplication Unit in  Kebele 4 in Yedoro and Drip Irrigation in Kebele 4 in Damot.

6.1.1		Enhancement of Community- based Risk Management:  

Objective 1 – Enhancement of Community- based Risk Management:  
10,000 households in specifically targeted communities to be introduced to the skills required to manage the debilitating effects of periodic acute shocks so that they will be able to survive without depleting productive household or community assets.

Table 3.  Functioning Community Based Risk Management (South Gondar)
				 Achievement	
				Qty	%	
1	Train CBRM-c in project plan preparation 	Person 	63	63	100	
2	Follow up and support CBRM-c	Freq.	11	11	100	
3	Train households in emergency mitigation 	Person	100	102	102	
4	Establish common understanding on the role of CBRM-c	Person	68	68	100	
5	Farmers experience sharing tour 	Person	45	38	84.44	

CBRMC’s consisting of 9 members were established in each of the targeted Kebeles. The committee members were elected based on the selection criteria agreed during the training on risk management held at Debre tabor.

In order to reinforce farmer’s capacity to plan and implement the various activities within this objective various training and awareness creation activities have been carried out. Among these the following are to be mentioned. 
·	Training was given to 63 members of CBRMC’s (100% of the plan ) Project Plan Preparation 
·	Three days training on risk management was provided to 16 participants (7 were woreda officials, 7 were from ORDA and 2 were CARE experts) at Debre Tabo provided by CARE-Addis.
·	Farta Woreda has considerable experience of watershed based soil and water conservation (SWC) practices so it was chosen to host a 3-day experience sharing tour for 38 farmers (84.44% of the plan) from the targeted Kebeles. As a result of the experience sharing tour, the participants were convinced of the effectiveness of the practices and developed a firm commitment to applying the improved SWC practices that they had witnessed.
•	The functions of the CBRMC’s were established as: -	
-	Coordinating and leading development activities.
-	Collection of the early warning information related to rainfall, water, and the health of crop and livestock.
-	Identifying food security problems and prioritising action with full participation of the Community 
-	Identifying the root causes to the food insecurity of their Community and it’s vulnerability.
-	Targeting potential beneficiaries for food for work (FFW) activities.

Throughout the discussions with the target communities, the CBRMC’s involvement in all the specified activities was effective in strengthening the preparedness capacity of the community and their ability to warn various disaster threats in advance. They also demonstrated that the communities could now prepare projects backed by proper identification. Further they accepted that priority should be given to food security problems as an essential strategic element and a major pre-condition to disaster preparedness activities. 

Table 4. Households Able to Cope with Shocks (Lay Gayint woreda)

				 Achievement	Reasons for deviation	
				Qty	%		
1	Developing targeting criteria and model 	 No. 	1	1	100		
2	Train households in saving scheme 	Person	1034	1176	113.73		
3	Train women in fuel wood saving stoves 	 Person	48	48	100		
4	Train CBRM-c in targeting and watershed committee on asset creation  & early warning 	Person 
	126	138	109.52		
5	Work out FFW  project design 	No. 	1	1	100		
6	Soil and water conservation 						
A	Purchase of equipment 	Ls.	1	1	100		
B	Practical training to SWC foremen 	Person 	42	60	142.85		
C	Train DAs in Agro forestry & SWC	Person	14	14	100		
D	Fanny - juu construction 	Km	105	113.94	108.50		
E	Stone faced soil bund construction 	Km	40	36.321	90.80		
F	Stone bund construction 	Km	40	67.4	168.50		
G	Check dam construction	M3	8 000	9 385.4	117.31		
H	Cut off drain construction	M3	6 000	10 693.72	178.22		
I	Water way construction 	M3	10 000	13 149.42	131.49		
J	Planting biological material on bunds 	Km	70	84	120		
K	Planting on gullies 	Km	10	9.1	91		
L	Cattle trough construction	No.	9	7	77.78		
M	water harvesting structure Construction
Ø	Small ponds
Ø	Large ponds	 
No. 
No.	
25
4	
5
12	
20
300	- late budget release and early onset of the rainy season.
- Early phase out of the
 project	
N	Provision of FFW tool for the community 	Ls.	1	1	100		
           1.2.7	Managing central nursery 						
A	Leguminous tree seedling production	 No. 	250 000	393 544	157.42		
B	Eucalyptus tree seedling production 	 No.	300 000	311 760	103.92		
C	Train traditional tree seedling producers 	
Person	
35	
35	
100		
D	Provide tools for traditional tree seedling producers 	Provision	1	1	100		
1.2.8	Refreshment training for grain saving group 	Person	1 142	1 349	118.13		
1.2.9	Review meeting for saving group advisors 	Person	100	198	198		

The South Gondar REVIVE project has formed 86 savings/assets creation groups (totalling 1245 households). Of these 1,176 Households (HH’s) (113.73 % of the plan) from the seven-project intervention Kebeles were provided training on HH saving schemes. 
Further in order to promote HH’s capacity to cope with Shocks, training was also given to:  
•	A total of  48 women  (100 % of the plan) were trained to use wood fuel saving stoves of traditional types
•	Early warning (EW) and Emergency Mitigation course were provided for 63 CBRM-C/59 M&4F/ and 15 watershed committees for five days.
•	14 development agents (DAs) / 11 Male and 3 Female/ (100% of the plan) were given training on Agro-forestry and SWC.
•	A total of 138 members of CBRMC’s (109.52 % of the plan) were trained in targeting potential beneficiaries together with watershed committees on Asset Creation & Early Warning Systems.
  
Integrated Watershed Management (IWSM): In order to improve supervision and technical assistance and maximise the impact of the different activities under the four project objectives, the project followed IWSM in all the seven target areas. 
This method was decided so that advantage could be taken of the benefits derived from natural resource interactions and inter-relationships within the watershed. 
As a result the community was helped to maximise the benefits from its activities by considering how one activity can improve several conditions within the watershed and to determine the most effective time and place to implement action.  Seven watersheds were identified, delineated and the activities planned under the four REVIVE Project Objectives were implemented.

 Table 5:  Selected watersheds and their area (South Gondar)

SN	Name of the watershed	Kebeles	Area of the watershed in hectares	
1	Fenta Minch	Gob gob(01)	335	
2	Haya wuha	Mequabiya(02)	981.25	
3	Ytijo	Hagergenet(03)	781.25	
4	Korefta	Titra(04)	1012.25	
5	Sinako	Addis amba(07)	1481.25	
6	Eregreg Midir	Zuramba(08)	212.5	
7	Chefa	Aqabet(09)	368.75	
	Total		5172.25	

In all the seven selected watersheds, the community established a Watershed Committee with seven members. These committees, working closely with the people who had an interest in the watershed’s resources, developed a viable Action Plan which outlined the specific activities and locations, with target dates and specified the people who were to be involved, to either restore, improve or protect watershed resources. These Action Plans were prioritized and tempered according to the time, money, and resources available. 
 
Soil and Water Conservation: Prior to the implementation of the various FFW/ABS activities 60 selected farmers (142.85% of the plan) who would act as foremen/women and contour markers were trained by extension agents and supervisors.

Under the FFW program, different soil and water conservation activities such as stone bunds, cut off drains, soil bunds, terraces and check dams were constructed. In addition attempts have been made to support the different physical soil conservation structures with biological measures such as the planting of vegetation, grass and trees on 84 km of bunds (120% of the plan) and on 9.1 km of gullies (91% of the plan).

Most of the FFW activities implemented were in line with the Food Security Strategy for moisture stress areas. Soil and water conservation structures were constructed to generally acceptable technical standards (in Mequabia) and were found currently to be in good condition. These activities have assisted farmers in reducing soil erosion and landslides.  Solely as example, though based on unchecked evidence, cut off drains constructed in Mequabia are said to have protected downstream fields and infrastructure from severe runoff/floods from degraded hillsides. 
 
The quality and sustainability of employment generating schemes (EGS) relating to the construction of new and the maintenance of existing stone and soil bunds and the planting of seedlings were encouraging. During the community discussion most of the respondents expressed the intention to maintain and manage the assets created through the FFW activities. 

Maintenance arrangements of SWC assets are satisfactory in some locations and partly satisfactory in others. Therefore, more attention to maintenance is required to be achieved by the formation of groups and the introduction of improved management techniques for moisture and fertility management.

Water Harvesting: Twelve ponds, each with a capacity of 3,000 metric cubes, were constructed for livestock and vegetable production purposes. Seven of these ponds were supported with cattle troughs for livestock watering. 2 of the ponds built in Kebele 2 (Mequabia,) and Kebele 9 were visited and both ponds were seen to have collected water to their full designed capacity at the time of the evaluation. Further the community had mobilised labour and material free of payment for constructing wooden fence, plants, grass and shrubs around the ponds. The community living around the ponds has been using the collected water for vegetable production and watering cattle. As a result of the success these ponds which were built as a result of the REVIVE initiative, other NGOs and government programs have already started disseminating the technology widely in the Woredas.

In the first year of the Project 5 hemispherical HH owned water-harvesting structures (20 % of the plan) each with capacity 50-60 M3 were constructed for demonstration purposes.  The evaluation team visited the pond constructed in kebele 8 which was full of water and being used for irrigation purposes by the owner at time of the visit. These structures are constructed at household level and are meant for Supplementary (life saving) Irrigation for field crops as well as for vegetable gardening where conditions are favourable.

Tree seedling production and Plantation: In the 7 watersheds in the targeted Kebeles 839,496 fodder and tree seedlings of various types were planted. Further 35 traditional tree seedling producers selected from the 7 watersheds were given four days of training on improved methods of nursery production and management techniques. As a result those trained have established their own private tree and fruit nurseries. The evaluation team met one of the trained farmers in Gobgob Kebele who had produced 16,000 different seedling in one year and had sold over Birr 1,136.  

Table 6: 	 Type and amount of seedlings produced and planted 

Type		Planted	
		potted	Bare	Total	
Tree Lucerne	No.	124606	241727	366333	
Phalaries	No.	45900	47262	93162	
Tolfsque	No.	58958	 283	59241	
Vetiver	No.	1000	  -	1000	
Sesbnia	No.	8000	  -	8000	
Eucalyptus globules	No.	311760	  -	311760	
Total	No.	550224	 289272	 839496	

Table 7:	 Effective Community PA Woreda Zone Partnership (Lay Gayint)

				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Train PA leaders in project planning and monitoring 	Person 	49	49	100	
2	Train partner experts & ORDA staff on EW	Person	25	21	84	
3	Provide basic tools for line offices	Birr	18 000	18 000	100	
4	 Training land certification committee and PA leaders on land certification process 	Person	126	126	100	
5	Workshop to evaluating the land certification 	Person	112	112	100	
6	Land registration	No.	88 869	73 059	82.20	
7	Land ownership registration 	No.	28 596	23 701	82.88	
8	First stage ownership
Certificate Provision	No.	28 349	19 813	69.89	
9	Training land survey for men 	No.	41	41	100	
10	Selected material (gravel) transportation for surfacing 6km road	M3	3 600	3 600	100	
11	Ford construction	No.	29	28	96.55	
12	Road construction	Km	20	20	100	
	Cross cutting activities 					
1	Integrated watershed management training to ORDA, WOoRD. WoA, experts DAs, & EPs	Person	38	38	100	
2	Organizing watershed committee at PA level 	No.	8	8	100	
3	Identification of water shade 	
No.	
8	
8	
100	
4	Organizing water shade committee at Woreda level 	No.	2	2	100	
5	Experience sharing tour to wadla (North wollo) to visit water harvesting activity 	Person 	22	22	100

Training in Familiarisation with NPDPM: During the Fiscal Year 2003, programme partners at Woreda level have been actively involved in providing training to community representatives, particularly in familiarising stakeholders with the National Policy on Disaster Prevention and Management. Training over a 5 day period was given to 45 Woreda DPP Committee members and other Woreda government staff and as a result awareness of the NPDPM plan and its intention was enhanced together with the appreciation of the need for beneficiary targeting to expand the understanding of the plan. As a result of the training the need for integrated planning for FFW/EGS beneficiaries was further enhanced among the various partners. The project also supported the Woreda DPPD by providing five rain gauge stations as basic early warning equipment as planned.  This represents 100% achievement.  

Access road Construction: To improve accessibility of the target areas 10 Km of access road was constructed and 3.5 Km of road was maintained, under the FFW/ABS program. The road constructed from Gobgob to Zagoch (6.5 km) which is an ‘all weather’ RR10 standard road surfaced with gravel and supported with Irish bridges, small crossing fords, side drains and one substantial bridge across a river was visited during the evaluation. Linkages created as result of the large bridge which provided access to several remote communities and Kebeles and have much improved the socio-economic development of the beneficiary communities were much appreciated by the communities. 

As a direct result of the new access roads and the linkages created within, and between villages and Kebeles,  the local economy has been stimulated by the provision of technical assistance, supervision and other socio-economic support services to the previously 
communities. This has created further opportunities through the integration of the rural population into active involvement in rural economy. 

Almost all the respondents said that in the future they would maintain and manage the assets created through the road maintenance activities. However, there are no clearly established arrangements for repair and maintenance so it would appear that it is necessary to increase the formation and training of beneficiary/user groups. 

Objective 2 – Improved Health and Nutrition of Women of Reproductive Age: 
18,000 women of reproductive age and 18,000 children under two years of age in the target areas would have improved their nutritional status, and 28% of target women would have acquired basic literacy skills.

Table 8: Health and Nutrition behaviours (South Gondar)

	Activities	unit	planned	achieved	Percentage
%	Comment/s 	
1	Development of IEC materials 	No.	4,038	4,030	99.8		
2	Launching baby friendly initiation 	Person	24	25	104.17	More people were trained because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
3	Training of community health Animators 	
Person	
21	
23	
109.52	More people were trained because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
4	Uniform for newly trained health animators	No.	60	60	100		
5	Purchasing cooking utensils for BFIFPc	
Variety	
-	
1			
6	Training of community support peer groups 	
Person	
21	
23	
109.52	More people were trained because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
7	Training of mothers on Health & Nutrition 	
Person	
3 920	
4 090	
104.34		
8	Supervise & support community health Animators 	
Freq. 	
14	
15	
107.14		
9	Health sessions to mothers to prevent malnutrition	
Persons 	
70	
70	
100		
10	Promotion of vegetable gardening	person		50			
11	Training mothers on fuel efficient stove production and usage	person	35	40	114.29	More people were trained because of decrease in fees per trainee.	
12	Promotion of fuel efficient stove	person	100	250			

In this component was started by a baseline data collection exercise in which 160 of the targeted group of pregnant and lactating women together with mothers of children less than 3 years old were interviewed. 
The outcome of the interviews confirmed the existing anecdotal evidence that mothers did not give colostrum to their new born babies on the first day (in some cases, the first 3 days) of their lives. 
Instead, the babies are given water, often from contaminated sources, which lead to them becoming ill which, in conjunction with poor diet and low or non-existent immunisation they are prone to succumb to disease, malnutrition and even death. All mothers present at FGD’s confirmed this practice.

To bring positive behavioural change to the target beneficiaries, the project produced IEC materials to raise awareness within the community on breast-feeding, the use of clean water, personal and environmental hygiene, the use of latrines as well as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention as a crosscutting issue. The project reported that it had produced and distributed 4,030 of the planned 4,038 IEC materials to the targeted beneficiaries.

Of the planned 21 Community Health Animators (HA’s) and Community Support Peer Groups (CSPG’s) the project trained 23 HA’s and 23 CSPG’s. On completion of their training the HA’s were each required to train at least 20 members of the community. Those who participated in the FGD’s confirmed receiving the training and going on to train members of the community. 

Subjects covered in these training sessions included exclusive breast feeding for 6 months, the benefits of colostrums’, the use of complementary feeding, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, diarrhoea prevention and control. In addition the use of clean water and the need for the elimination of sources of contamination were promoted and the dangers of communicable diseases and their prevention were discussed as was the use of vegetables with vegetable garden preparation and care as well as the use of, and the benefits derived from, fuel-efficient stoves.

As a pilot the project constructed a ‘Baby Friendly Feeding Initiative and Feeding Practice Centre’ (BFIFPC) and supplied the centre with cooking utensils. Mothers were trained at the centre in breast feeding and taught how to cook vegetables and other supplementary foods. 
Other training was in health, sanitation and the importance of good nutrition. An importand step was in the provision of uniforms for 35 Health Communicators to identify them as they go about their work within the community.

A woman from Gobgob
“Before Revive, when we have our children, we either give them water or a small amount of butter, at times you mixed the water with a little bit of yeast. We never give them colostrum because of ‘mekosher’ (explained as stomach upset) which makes the babies go to toilet and we thought that was bad for the babies. This has all stopped now that we know how good colostrum is and we have seen our children change and grow nicely since we started practising what we learnt at the training”. 

Everybody present at all the FGD’s said that they had received some training and spoke of the benefits of the training which resulted in changes in their children’s health.

Table 9:	Hygiene & Sanitation (South Gondar) 
 	 Activities 	Unit	planned	achieved	Percentage %	comments	
1	Train village hygiene and sanitation communicators 	

Person	

10	

15	

150	More persons are trained because of a decrease in expense per trainee.	
2	VIPLC per household level 	
No.	
10	
13	
130	Because of a high demand by the community.	
3	Organise  train SSC	No.	7	7	100		
4	Refreshment training for SSC	No.	27	28	103.7		
5	Develop IEC material 

	No.	1 335	3 000	224.72	Because of decrease in printing price.	
6	Uniform for community Health communicators 	No.	35	35	100		
7	Educate HHs on basic hygiene and sanitation 	
Person	
1,200	
1,200	
100		
8	Construction of refuse pit (solid waste disposal)	No.	100	150	150		
9	Construction of traditional pit latrine	No.	100	542	542		
10	VIPL mold purchasing	No.	2	2	100		
11	Slab production and distribution to promote VIPL construction	No.	100	100	100		
	OTHERS						
1	BFIFPC construction as a pilot program	No.	-	1			
2	VIPLC in organizations	No.	-	2			
3	Bill board stand for VIPLC in 1995 E.C.	No.	-	9			
4	Billboard stand for BFIFPC	No.	-	1			
5	Refreshment training for community health workers	Person 	95	95	100		
6	Refreshment training for health animators and mothers’ peer groups	
Person	
-	
41	
		
7	 Data collection for GMP in the pilot project area	
No.	
-	
3		144 children have been weighted and recorded with improvement.	

To promote hygiene and sanitation, the project constructed 9 community VIPLs for the community groups, 3 of these were in Gobgob Kebele and 1 each for the junior secondary school, the elementary school and the community itself. One VIPL was built in Mequabia Kebele for the elementary school together with 3 in Hagere Genet Kebele, one each for the junior secondary school, the clinic and the community itself. Zurumba Kebele now has 2 facilities, built for the Sali elementary school and the Sali village.

As planned, the project organised and provided training to the 7 Schools Sanitation Clubs (SSC’s). To aid the construction of these VIPLs, the project bought 2 concrete moulds that it used to produce slabs. At the close of project, 100 slabs had been produced for distribution to promote and aid the construction of more VIPLs. In return and in the growing spirit of co-operation the community provided materials including eucalyptus poles, grass for roofing, nails, cement and clay, as well as labour. As a direct result of the training and sensitisation, together with the impact of the benefits to the communities conferred by the installations, people adopted the technology and started building their own VIPLs. The project assisted 13 HHs with concrete slabs to in construct their own VIPLs, which was 3 more than planned, and many other beneficiaries have constructed ordinary pit latrines. The project reported that 542 traditional pit latrines had been constructed which was a five-fold increase on the planned 100. Many FGD participants spoke of the benefits of building the VIPLs, emphasising the health gain from better sanitation as well as increased privacy which in a community where it is culturally unacceptable to see women attending to the call of nature, is very important. 

A woman from Gobgob:
“Before building our own toilet in the compound, I and many other women had to wait till it is dark to go to the toilet in the bush. Even when it is very bad; you cannot go, because a woman cannot be seen going to the toilet in the bush. Imagine when we had bad water and we always suffered from diarrheoa. Thanks to REVIVE, now I don’t have to wait till the evening or even walk to the bush to find a place where nobody will see me, I have a toilet in my own house”.

To enhance the understanding of the link between sanitation, hygiene and health the project produced IEC materials that were distributed to the community. 
It was reported that, due to a reduction in printing costs, it more than doubled the number originally planned – from 1335 to 3,000, which is a 225% achievement. In addition, 1,200 HH’s were ‘educated’ in basic hygiene.

One of the single most important achievements of the project was in making the community aware of the need for personal hygiene and encouraging them to construct their own latrines. The FGD participants speak of an unbelievable behaviour change, and an increased awareness of the need to improve sanitation and subsequently to improved family health. 

To ensure the sustainability of the project, follow-on training and refresher courses were organised for Health Animators and mothers’ peer groups which were attended by 41 people. In addition 50 women participated in vegetable gardening after receiving training and some seed crops from the project. These women and others speak of the changes in their lives after the training they received in supplementary and breast feeding as well as the benefits from growing their own vegetables.

One woman from Titiro 
“I used to give all my babies water mixed with teff powder when they were born for three days. They always suffered from diarrhoea. Now I know why, after my training, me and all the women in the village now practice exclusive breast feeding, we were tought to breast feed for six months and then start giving other supplementary food. I give wheat, orange, porridge, milk and vegetables. Even REVIVE gave me seeds and helped me with the garden. My children are healthy and none of them has diarrhoea. My baby was weighed and they told me he is very healthy and I can see he is much heavier than his elder siblings at that age”.

The project reported that it has participated in a pilot baby-weighing programme in which 144 babies were weighed and all the babies recorded weight gains.

FGD participants spoke glowingly of the training they received on the benefits of using fuel-efficient stoves (FES). The project had demonstrated the construction of the FES’s and at the close of the project 250 women were reported to have constructed and use their own stoves. This is a 250 % increase in the planned 100. 

A woman from Titira FGD
“Before we learnt about FES, I used to travel long distances twice every week to look for fuel wood. There are days when I have to travel very far as you cannot get wood around any more. When I come, I have to cook and there are times when you have to go and fetch water down in the valley. To be able to do all these, I had to get up very early in the morning and there are days when I cannot do the two. Now with my stove, I do not have to go and look for the wood twice a week, but once. I am spending more time on the farm” 

A woman from Gobgob FGD
“This stove is very good. I used to go to the bush twice a week with my friends. Now we only go once. With my other stove, we used up wood very quickly. There was also smoke everywhere. My eyes and the children’s eyes were always running. Now the smoke escapes through the vent, all watery eyes is gone and also our clothes no longer smell of smoke. The room is also tidier and nice”.

At the FGD, women who are using the stoves said the benefits of using the stoves are threefold, which is a considerable reduction in the use of fuel wood. In some cases, this is as much as 50%; a reduction in the time spent in travelling to find fuel wood and the consequent reduction in effort required thus allowing more time to be spent with families and/or on the farm. They added that, with their reduced trips to the bush, they were helping to sustain the endangered environment. Thirdly, there is considerable reduction in air contamination in the house and the problems it brought because now the reduced smoke escapes through a properly constructed vent in the wall which has stopped smoke getting into their eyes and noses with a reduction in respiratory infections.

Table 10:	Water supply activities. South Gondar (South Gondar)

   	Activities	Unit	planned	achieved	Percentage %	comment	
1	Feasibility study and design	No.	10	10	100		
2	Organise  WATSANs	Persons.	15	15	100		
3	Training of WATSANs	persons	25	20	80		
4	Roof catchments at school (in school compound)	No.	1	1	100		
5	Hand dug well construction	No.	4	2	50		
7	Spring development	No.	1	2	200		
8	Maintenance of spring	No. 	-	2			
9	Purchase of steam stabilizer (Auto clave)	
No.	
1	
0	
0	Not found in the market	
10	Provision of tools and spare parts	Ls.	1	0	0		
11	Capacity building for woreda and project office experts	persons	4	5	125	More people trained because there was decrease in  fees	
12	Orientation of ORDA (Head & project office) experts on water quality test	persons	10	10	100		
13	Purchase of equipment for engineering works	
Set	
1	
1	
100		

To increase the awareness of the need for clean water and the prevention of contamination as well as to ensure the community ownership and maintenance of proposed water development activities, the project planned to organise 15 ‘Water and Sanitation Committees’ (WATSANs). As a result 20 out of 25 members of the WATSANs were trained in sanitation management and the maintenance of the water structures as well as personal and environmental hygiene. 

The project has developed 6 water schemes as planned; 2 spring developments in Mequabea benefiting 130 HH’s; a hand dug well in Fenta Minch, benefiting 200 HH’s and another hand dug well in Akabet Elementary school benefiting 786 pupils and staff. There is also a spring development in Mftegna benefiting 45 HHs and a roof catchment development at Taffigot Elementary School that benefits 313 pupils and their teachers.

FGD’s spoke of how, previously, they had to fetch water from unprotected sources, which at times they had to share with animals.  However with the development of ‘Water Points’ (WP)in their communities they now have access to good drinking water. It is not everyone at the FGD’s that currently has access to a protected water source as in Gobgob, even though there is a constructed WP, half the people at the FGD, said they still got their water from unprotected sources, which are closer to them than the WP. It takes these people only 30 minutes round trip to get water from the unprotected spring but 2 hours from the WP. Those who now have access to the WP spoke of its benefits and the changes it had made to their lives. 

A man from Gobgob
“Previously we used to drink the same water from the spring with our cattle. The water was always dirty as the cattle went to toilet into the water. There were always flies everywhere and our children were always sick with stomach troubles and diarrhoea. Now that we have the water distribution point, we get very clean water. There is no disease. We were taught how to clean our hands properly. Now we have water to bath, for our animals and we wash our clothes too. Our women and children do not have to travel very long distances to get water. Thanks to REVIVE”.

There is no spring development in Kebele 4 where the last 2 FGD’s took place. Respondents said that it takes them 2-3 hours round trip to get water. Most people said they lived uphill and had to travel downhill to fetch water. In the dry season, the water dries up and they have to travel further downhill and spend more time, sometimes 4-5 hours in search of water. When asked how much water they used, they said, 40 to 50 litres a day per household. 

One woman in Titira FGD:
“We have no water. Everyday we have to travel for three hours looking for water. I take my donkey and go with my daughter to get as much water as we can for the house. There are times that we go all day but don’t find water. The project has taught us to wash hands and clothes and clean our surroundings, but how can you do that when there is no water. Even the animals do not get the water. We share the water with animals and that is never enough. We need water. Please let REVIVE get us some water like in other kebeles”.

The shortage of water is very severe in Kebele 4, and it was evident people desperately need water. When asked how often they had a bath, they responded that for adults, once a year, children below 3 years of age it averaged a bath every 3 days, but after 3 years of age it is considered that they should join the adults!

As part of partnership development and capacity building for Woreda and Project Office experts, the project organised joint training sessions in various water and sanitation subjects for 5 people. As planned there was also orientation of 10 ORDA Head and Project Office staff on the subject of ‘Water Quality Testing.

6.1.3	 Protecting and promoting Agricultural Productivity

Objective 3 – Protecting and promoting Agricultural Productivity
 9,000 households to be shown how to increase agricultural production and productivity.

Table 11:	Reduction of Pre-and Post Harvest Losses (South Gondar)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Prioritize main causes to be addressed	No.	3	1	33	
2	Adopt farmers field school methodology for IPM-agricultural extension	No.	7	5	71	
3	Prepare agricultural extension manual on IPM-FFS	No	1	1	100	
4	Train MOA /ORDA staffs in IPM-FFs agricultural extension	Person	16	27	168	
5	Train community animators in IPM- Agr- extension	Person	40	14	35	
6	Train farmers in reduction of pre and post crop harvest losses	Person	300	209	69	
7	 Promote Appropriate cereals and vegetables storage facility	No.	16	24	150	
8	Train Farmers on IPM-FFS 	Person	150	120	80	

A preliminary assessment of the causes of crop loss and its impact on the lives of the beneficiaries was conducted in 3 sample Kebeles across the whole operational area of the seven intervention Kebeles. 
The survey focused on:
•	Identifying the Major crops of the area
•	These were shown to be wheat, barley, horse bean, field pea, potato in order of priority
•	Establishing the Agricultural calendar of the various major crops:
•	This produced a grid which shows the appropriate time of the year for land preparation, planting, thinning, weeding, harvesting and threshing of each crop.
•	Yield loss agents: 
•	Farmers believed that the most important crop yield loss agents were pests like rats; “mesek” a chafer Soil-born worm and Stem Rust in order of distribution and damage caused.
•	Seasonal distribution (occurrence of pests)
•	1. Rats: their population increases during the seasons July -August and then from January - July.
•	2. Stem rust (fungal disease): in wheat and barley is severing especially during September, October and November.
•	3. Soil born pest: in Laygaint’s case, a chafer “mesek” is an important soil born pest. Its infestation period is from June to August, reaching its peak infestation in July.

On the basis of this assessment it was reported that an ‘Agricultural Extension Manual IPM-FFS was prepared by a consultant. Unfortunately the manual was not made available to the evaluation team. Training in IPM however was only implemented after the preparation and distribution of the manual.  

Training in the techniques of IPM which included both theoretical and practical session was given for the staffs of 27 Office of Agriculture and ORDA.  (168% of the plan). To further advance the knowledge of IPM-FFS derived from the Agricultural experts an additional 5 days training on IPM was given to 4 staff from ORDA and 3 from woreda BoA In addition 14 Agricultural Animators (AAs) (35 % of the plan) from the kebeles were then trained in IPM. The training was completed in 5 days and the topics covered included: Types of crop pests, The Economic Importance of Pest Controlling Mechanisms (biological, physical, mechanical and chemical together with cultivation techniques). 

Subsequently the trained AAs with the assistance of DAs provided extension education in IPM and in ‘Pre and Post Harvest Crop Loss Management’ to 209 HHs (69 % of the plan) in all the 11 targeted kebeles. As a result, community awareness of IPM and the techniques of reducing pre and post harvest crop losses has improved. Further, in order to make increase the farmer’s knowledge of the techniques of IPM, 5 new FFS’s were established in 5 kebeles. For each Farmers Field School 25 farmers were selected to be trained in the updated techniques. In total 120 farmers (80% of the plan) were further trained on IPM-FFS. 

The project built 24 improved local storage facilities to promote improved storage and reduction of post harvest loss and installed them in 24 different households. The improved stores (especially those with three compartments for different crops) were constructed for demonstration purposes on a cost-sharing basis with the farmers. In discussion with the beneficiaries it was agreed that the structures had: 
1	Reduced rodent damage
2	Saved time and labour by an estimated 50%
3	Reduced contamination by minimising the ingress of dust and grit.

As a result of the farmers’ increased awareness of the causes of post harvest losses the demand for the storage facilities has increased considerably. Unfortunately due to the relatively high cost of construction very few of the farmers have made any attempt to replicate the stores on their own initiative. 

Some local initiatives were made to encourage and support farmers to experiment in the preparation of traditional medicines for controlling pests with some success. A traditional rodent poison is prepared by soaking wild garlic in to cow urine for seven days then mixing with the fermented mixture ‘Injera’ the staple Ethiopian food. The resulting product is then put on ‘rat runs’ and was found to have some degree of success in controlling rodents. It is considered that farmers could significantly reduce crop loss both in the field and in grain stores by using this method as it is made from easily available local ingredients and would amply repay the farmers efforts in preparation.

Table 12:	Improved farming methods adopted (South Gondar)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Train MoA staffs on SWC, agro forestry and agri-extension	Person	6	13	216	
2	Train farmers in SWC and Agro forestry	Person	229	269	117	
3	Train community Animators in SWC, Agro -forestry and agri-extension	Person	40	34	85	
4	Small scale irrigation development 					
5	Study and design 	   No.	2	2	100	
6	Construction 	   No.	2	2	100	
7	Train farmers on mgt of irrigation structure and on water utilization	Person	60	60	100	

In order to increase knowledge and understanding on the different improved technologies 13 experts and DAs (216% of the plan) were trained for 8 days on improved Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) and Agro Forestry practices. 
Using these trained experts 269 farmers (117% of the plan) and 34 Community Animators (CA’s) (85% of the plan) have received, through the Agricultural Extension Education Programme, practical training and improved their skills in conservation-based farming techniques.

As a result increasing awareness and the adoption of new and improved methods much improved farming practices were observed. The awareness was particularly evident in the FGD, where farmers frequently discussed the major benefits obtained from the application of improved farming practices which resulted in:
·	Improved cultivation methods that included the need for repeated ploughing, deeper ploughing and weeding
·	Contour ploughing and the incorporation of appropriate conservation practices for cultivating steep lands, 
·	Crop rotation and inter-cropping with legumes to allow nutrient recycling, 
·	Run off farming and moisture conservation.
·	Seed selection to obtain appropriate quality and purity
·	Controlled grazing and proper land use practices 
·	Increased use of crop residue and dung for ameliorating soil fertility rather than using it to meet household energy needs, 
·	The need for undertaking market assessment before marketing farm produce 

A sample of farmers interviewed in Titra and Gobgob PA’s were found to be fully aware of the various improved farming practices and expressed positive attitudes during the FGD’s to the introduced changes because they saw the benefits of: 
·	Soil moisture conservation which enhanced the fertility of the land.
·	Reduced soil loss from farmland 
·	Further improved soil fertility as a result of increased application of manure /compost and increased crop production. 

However the efforts of the project to introduce, identify and demonstrate the use of improved seeds of early maturing varieties of grains and legumes, more nutritious crops and pest resistant varieties of current grains were found to be inadequate. 

Table 13:	 Dry land farming technologies adopted South Gondar (South 	Gondar)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Identify old and promote feasible dry land technology 	 No.	1	1	100	
2	Train MoA /ORDA staffs in technology transfer and dissemination	Person	15	50	333	
3 	Demonstrate the use of dry land farming technology	No.	2	1	50	
4	Establish highland fruit nursery 	No.	1	2	200	
5	Provision of drip kits	No.	180	130	72	
6	Train farmers on the use of dry land farming technology	Person	300	243	81	

Introduction of High-land Fruits: The project established 2 highland fruit nurseries for the purpose of demonstration, double what was planned. The evaluation team visited both nurseries the one in Kebele 2 (Mequabia) and the one in kebele 3.  In these nurseries several different varieties of highland fruits were introduced; 4,130 apples, 850 pear, 900 plum, 6,049 root stock seedlings from the Chencha Woreda of the SNNPR and 810 apple seedlings imported from Spain.

Of the seedlings purchased and imported: 1,030 apples, 712 pears, 150 plum and 6,049 root stock seedlings were planted in the demonstration sites, where as, 3,100 apple, 750 plum and 138 pear seedlings were distributed to 283 (263 male and 20 women) farmers which they planted in their own homestead and irrigatable lands. These fruits which by themselves are of significant cash income sources, planted along soil and stone bunds, are, with other conservation measures expected to further enhance the productivity of th. e land
Introducing these high value fruit trees has diversified sources of income for farmers and as a result they are expected to contribute to a reduction of their vulnerability to the adverse impact on production shortfall in poor cropping years.

Further, the project has introduced some medicinal plants and biological pesticides like Artmisia and pyrethrum side by side with high land fruit tree production. It is anticipated that these biological pesticides will be distributed to the community for their propagation and multiplication.

Development of Small Scale Irrigation Schemes:The project has facilitated the construction of two small scale irrigation diversions at Damot and Sinchira. The Damot irrigation Scheme has the capacity of irrigating 20 hectares to benefit 75 HH. This irrigation scheme was completed at the time of the visit but had not started operation due to technical fault in the water lifting mechanism. 

As no feasibility study had been carried out for any of the irrigation schemes proposed by the project the Damot irrigation scheme had focused on the dam construction without taking in to account the topographic situation of the area and it found great difficulty in lifting the water and distributing it to the fields. This resulted in the system needing a water lifting device for which there was no provision and which will increase the costs by a considerable amount. Unfortunately the irrigation scheme is at a standstill and will not be operational until additional water lifting devices are obtained and installed. 

Part of this failure is due to inadequate technical capacity of the Woreda and lack of technical backstopping from ORDA. In fact there has been little input to the project in terms of the provision of technical support to construct the irrigation scheme despite a prior request from the Woreda for technical support from the zone but since there was no response it was forced to design and construct the scheme on its own.

In Sinchira an Irrigation Diversion Structure complete with a night storage facility and the capacity to irrigate 15 Ha was under construction.  This scheme will benefit 40 HH and at the time of the visit 70 % of the construction work had been completed. In the areas around both irrigation schemes Water User’s Co-operatives have been established and to improve their knowledge and skills in the use of irrigation 111 farmers and 20 Community Animators had been trained in improved irrigation farming practices and management. To facilitate the implementation of the introduced technologies 50qt of potato tuber and 30qt of forage seeds were distributed to the participants in these training sessions.

Drip Irrigation technology: To promote moisture conservation and efficient utilization of available surface water for production purposes the project has introduced improved drip irrigation technology in the area. Training in the use of the improved methods and practices was given to 50 WRDA and ORDA extension agents and supervisors. In addition 15 BoA and ORDA staff with 3 farmers participated in an experience sharing tour to the Girana valley development project in Kobbo, where there is considerable experience in the improved drip irrigation technology.  

The project provided 130 farmers with free drip-kits (72 % of the plan) for demonstration purposes and 243 farmers (81 % of the plan) were trained on practical application and utilization of these kits. Each drip kit involved 15 metres of plastic hose which can drip irrigate two small plots of land each of 10m X 2 m. 

Some farmers who received the practical training and the drip kits were seen growing vegetables in their backyard and some used it for fruit tree seedling production. Different Drip irrigation schemes supported under the project were visited in Keble 03, Kebele 04 and Kebele 02. In general the initiative was seen to be successful in its acceptance and replication
The drip irrigation technology is enabling farmers, who previously were unable to grow even one crop per year with any degree of certainty because of erratic rainfall, to grow at least two vegetable crops per year as illustrated in the case study below. Now farmers are to harvest enough to feed the family throughout the year and to have a surplus to sell.  There are many more who want to have the drip kits on a cost sharing basis.

Ewnete is a farmer in Kebele 03 he is 40 years old and has a family of 7 to support. He has received the drip irrigation kit and been given training in its use.  He practised the drip irrigation by drawing water from a source of about 200 m away from his field. He also has a system of barrels which enable him to store water which is used to irrigate individual plants through the dripping hose. He also uses manure and compost to fertilize the soil and uses traditional pesticide to protect crops from pest infestation. His holistic management system is unique in the area. Ewnete told the team that he was grateful for the ‘good technical advice’ he had received from ORDA as a result of which he has been able to produce and harvest vegetables three times a year.

The main reason for the technology’s success, as expressed by the farmers themselves, is the relatively low technical capacity that the drip irrigation demands and the flexibility of its application to specific areas and water sources. In particular, beneficiary communities were adequately consulted about the technical, organizational, and managerial dimensions of the scheme before its introduction and their concerns were addressed in time.  Of particular importance in this regard is the training given to the beneficiaries on the appropriate use of the technology so that they can shoulder the responsibility of managing the schemes and deciding on the proper utilization of their water resources.  

6.1.4 	Income Generation and savings improved

Objective 4 – Income Generation and savings improved: 
2,000 women and men are to be encouraged to increase and diversify both ‘On- & Off-Farm’ income to meet their basic needs and build their personal asset base. 

Table 14:	Improved Household Resource Management Practices (South Gondar)

	Activities	Unit	Planned	Achieved	Percentage %	comments	
1	Conduct research into wasteful practices
(using FGD method)	No.	1	1	100		
2	Train saving advisors on CSSGs	
Persons	
7	
7	
100		
3	Train households on efficient use of resources	
Persons	
200	
176	
100		
4	Organise volunteers in CSSGs	
No	
21	
188	
895.23	High demand by the community was the reason for over accomplishment.	
5	Supervise and support saving advisors	
No.	
56	
21	
37.5	The reason for low accomplishment was time constraint
	
6	Organise awareness creation training on conflict management	

Person	

700	

685	

97.86		
7	Prepare and issue IEC materials on saving	
No.	
800	
800	
100	300posters
500 brochures	
8	ToT for ORDA and counter part government staff on CSSGs	

Person	

3	

7	

233.33	The need to increase trainees was the reason for over accomplishment.	
9 	Train CSSGs by saving advisors	
Person	
21	
56	
266.67	Because of High demand by the community	
10	ToT for ORDA and counter part government staff on conflict management	

Person	

10	

0	

0	Time constraint was the reason for not accomplished	
4.1.11	Refreshment training for grain saving group	No.	1142	1494	130.82	Because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
4.1.12	Review meetings for savings advisors	No.	100	198	198	Because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
4.1.13	Supporting cattle fattening groups	No.	1	0	0	Lack of grazing land	
4.1.14	Monthly Review meetings for savings advisors	No.	10	41	410	Because of decrease in expense per trainee.	
4.1.15	Monitoring, Evaluation and organisational learning	

No.	

1	

0	

0	Time constraint was the reason for not accomplished	

In order to identify and prioritise wasteful practices that needed to be addressed by the communities, a team of ORDA and Woreda staff conducted a survey using FGD methods to discuss what the communities identified as ‘wasteful practices’. The practices identified were placed into 2 categories, internal and external factors. 
Internal factors identified included uneconomic and wasteful spending on the many religious holidays and festivals and high spending on death related charges for the churches and for funeral ceremonies.  External factors resulting in the excessive spending of resources were identified among which conflict among local people resulting in deliberate burning of houses, grain and other assets featured prominently. Others were preventable outbreaks of livestock diseases resulting in animal losses together with the incidence of human diseases that force people to spend more money on drugs and other treatments.

In consultation with the community ORDA suggested some strategies that could be used in addressing these identified wasteful practices.  Included were minimising spending on religious days and socio-cultural activities like weddings and funerals. Advice was given on the efficient use of available HH resources, which was supported by planned use of these resources. The project also promoted and encouraged the habit and practice of saving by reducing domestic consumption. 

The project trained 176 HHs of the planned 200 (80%) in efficient use of resources. The training covered home economics, the efficient use of household and community resources, the planning and introduction of savings and credit facilities as well as the planning and delivery of community action plans. In addition, the project produced and distributed 300 posters and 500 brochures denouncing wasteful practices and promoting savings and resource management. 

Many FGD participants confirmed attending training on efficient use of resources and realised they were spending too much on religious celebrations and funeral expenses. They spoke of the many Saint’s Days on which work is prohibited and on which church attendance is mandatory and on which new clothes and presents for family and friends are expected. A list of the Saint’s and Feast Days is included in the Appendix of this report.

Training was provided for 7 ORDA and woreda staff as CSSG TOT (4 more than the planned 3), who then trained 7 Savings Advisors. Due to effective promotion and consultation the project was able to set up 188 savings groups (CSSGs) with 3,486 members (1,294 male and 2,174 female). At the close of project, the CSSG’s had a total Capital of 167,304 birr, of which 124,306 birr is on loan to members. 

Most, if not all, the respondents in the FDG’s belonged to at least one CSSG although there were some who belonged to 2 or even 3 groups. They all spoke of their beneficial experiences of membership of CSSG’s, the most important being that they were able to make their own bylaws and using their own vision to set their own achievement goals. The by-laws set amounts to be contributed, time of contribution, the interest rates and the repayment period as well as penalties for defaulting. All groups had a secretary, treasurer, 2 money counters and a separate key holder. Another common feature is that all the saving is non-grain based and all group members are of similar economic status. To all participants CSSG membership has made an immediate &/or very positive impact on their lives especially as it prevents them from the extortionate rates and terrible treatment they had previously received from moneylenders in case of default.

A man from Gobgob FGD
“Before the CSSG, when you are in trouble and you need money, you have to go to the moneylender (the rich farmer in the village). You don’t even go alone, you have to take somebody who is respected to go and plead on your behalf. As introduction, you have to go and weed his farm for 4 to 5 days before you know if you are getting the loan. Then you need a guarantor for the loan, normally a family member who is ‘respected’ before you can get the loan. This is very difficult as nobody wants to be responsible for your loan, so after all the ‘introductory’ work of 4 – 5 days free weeding, you might not even get the loan”.

Other people speak of how their children have been taken by moneylenders when they failed to pay back their loans on time. Some families speak of having as many as 4 children working for moneylenders because they had not paid back their loans on time. One family that had 5 children taken by the moneylender for defaulting on 200 birr who made the children work for a total of 30 birr a month (6 birr per child per month) to ensure that the 200 birr loan, with interest, was paid back in one year. This particular family was fortunate as some loans take 4 years to payback  and the children are made to work  for the moneylender for the whole period. 

Another man from Titira FGD
“When you need a loan for the rich moneylender, if he agrees to give you the loan, there is the big interest rate that he doubles every month. I once took a loan when my wife was sick and was expecting our baby. The moneylender told me the interest rate was 20% for the first month, if I did not pay, it doubled to 40% in the third month then it went to 80%. My wife was still sick so I could not pay. The man took 3 of my children to work on his farm until I paid. It took me over one year to pay and all this time, he had my children working on his farm, the youngest who was too small to plough was made a shepherd boy to look after his goats and sheep. Now both my wife and I belong to CSSGs and when we need a loan, we get it and we start paying back after 3 months at 5% interest rate. I don’t have to work for anyone and my children don’t have to pay for my debts”.

People at FGD’s spoke of the advantages of belonging to CSSG’s. These include learning to save and the benefits of immediate access to loans at low interest rates. Many used the loans to buy during harvest time and sell at lean season thus making a reasonable profit.

The successes of the CSSG’s has upset money lenders and even the Zone’s major financial Institution – The Amhara Credit and Savings Institution (ACSI) - as people are no longer going to them for their loans which have a 10% rate which is double that charged by the CSSG’s.
 
Table 15:	 Increased Access to and Income from IGAs (South Gondar)

	Activities	Unit 	planned	achieved	Percentage
%	Comment/s	
1 	Conduct market survey to identify viable marketable skills	
No.	
1	
1	
100		
2	Training of project and woreda staff in IGAs, Savings and Credit Schemes. 	
No.	
15	
15	
100		
3	Train men and women on different marketable skills 	
Person	
40	
40	
100		
4	Monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning	
No.	
1	
0	
0	Time constraint was the reason for not accomplished	

To identify viable marketable skills in the area, the project undertook a survey which was the basis on which the training and strategy development of the IGA sub-component of the project was developed. 

The CARE Income Advisor trained 15 people, including project staff and their Woreda counterparts on income strategy as well as savings and credit schemes. 40 Women Animators were subsequently trained on different marketing skills and who then went on to train the communities. It was reported that 176 HH’s were trained in IGA activities.

The project planned 1 monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning exercise, but due to the early termination of the project, this could not take place. There however have been lessons learnt in implementing the project.

From participating in CSSG’s many beneficiaries speak of taking loans to engage in IGAs. Others spoke of taking a loan to use in the production of vegetables using ‘Drip Feed’ technology and then selling the produce in the market for a profit.

Table 16:	Increased organisational capacity on IGAs (South Gondar) 

	Activities	unit	planned	achieved	Percentage
%	Comment/s	
1	Train CBO leaders on income generation strategy	
Person	
30	
21	
70	
	
2	Conduct assessment on organisational capacity   and traditional saving and credit experiences	
No.	
1	
1	
100		
3	Develop strengthening plan for CBOs	No.	4	4	100		
4	Monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning	
No.	
1	
0	
0		

In order to ensure sustainability of the newly established income generating activities, the project selected leaders from 21 CBOs and trained them on IGA strategy, development and management. For a CBO to be selected, it had to have an active Credit & Savings Scheme or be willing to have one in the foreseeable future. Qualifying CBOs should also be Idirs, Iquibs or legally registered ‘Farmers Co-operatives’ established by local communities. At least 2 CBOs were selected from each Kebele for the training. 

The project reported that 4 CBOs had developed programmes to strengthen their capacity so that they could engage further in Income Generating activities. Due to the curtailment of the Project the planned monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning exercise could not take place.

6.1.5	Challenges: South Gondar (Lay Gayint woreda)

•	Delays in budget disbursement affected the smooth implementation of the project.
•	For the South Gondar project, lack of transport to visit communities as frequently as necessary reduced the efficiency of the input. The promised motor cycles did not arrive until the project had closed.
•	The ‘Dependency Syndrome’ of the communities was exceedingly difficult to change as was convincing the beneficiaries to participate without payment in some form. There was considerable resistance from some of the communities because other NGO’s operating the South Gondar were still providing relief without any action or work contribution by the recipients.
•	High turnover of government staff was a problem in all the Project areas. 
•	Most if not all the Project areas had been provided with Famine Relief for a considerable time which created a dependency mind set that was very difficult to change to one of Community Co-operation. 
•	There was initial resistance from the community in South Gondar to follow the watershed approach. 
•	When planning the Project insufficient attention was paid to ‘Animal Husbandry’ which has proved to be vital to the area development.
•	The necessary change of attitude to the wasteful use of resources was a difficult instil.
•	Some savings groups were still expecting support from outside bodies, the issue of dependency remains a challenge to this initiative.
•	Some groups saved so much money, but not enough members took loans whilst others lacked enough capital to enable them to make loans to members.

6.1.6	Lessons Learnt: South Gondar (Lay Gayint woreda)

•	Application of the ‘Watershed Approach’ in South Gondar was a vital factor in improving the integration and of the different activities required to meet the four project objectives and helped the communities to take advantage of the benefits derived from the inter-relationships of natural resources within the watershed.
•	The CBRMC community based structure at village level was found to be an effective method of transferring best practices and new technologies in the fight against food insecurity.  
•	The facilitating role played by project staff, instead of a role that replaced the local government structure, has maximized the sustainability of the positive project results.
•	Identification of the main wasteful practices and the consensus reached with the community allowed the problems to be successfully addressed.
•	Time spent on convincing the community that time is a resource was not wasted. The participants came to realise that spending a lot of time on religious festivals, weddings and other celebrations was not only wasting money but also time as a resource. Time that could better be spent on their farms, with their families or in profitable 
•	With good organisation, sensitisation, training and support, even the poorest can save and build assets.
•	CSSGs had increased the sense of self-worth/self esteem from the poorest within the community.
•	It became clear that with adequate support the community, particularly members of savings groups, developed and improved their skills in managing risks pertaining to income generating and economic activities as well as managing their loans.
•	Informing and engaging the communities in planning before any changes were introduced resulted in quicker and better results and more enthusiastic participation.
•	Delay in implementing any activity has adverse results on the community morale and interest.
•	Close follow-up, supervision, monitoring and evaluation identifies’ problems that occur and allows fast action to contain the problem and retain the trust of the communities.
•	Awareness creation within the community is essential. One considerable accomplishment by the Project has been to bring Illiterate rural women to understand that the link between the use of less fuel wood in their fuel-efficient stoves really has an effect on the climate in their area.
•	Peoples mind set and behaviour can be changed through education.

6.1.7	Recommendations: South Gondar (Lay Gayint woreda)

•	To ensure the smooth implementation of the project, delays in budget disbursement should be avoided in future project implementation, also all logistical provisions and support should be provided on time to the projects.
•	There should be continuous support and sensitisation of communities to wean them off decades of dependency on relief and to gradually enable them to grow into self reliance. 
•	High turnover of government staff will continue to be a challenge and project designs must take this into consideration and develop strategies to minimise the impact. 
•	To ensure a holistic approach to tackling food security problems, future food security projects should include a substantial animal husbandry component, which was absent from the REVIVE project.
1	In order to strengthen capacity and improve program monitoring and management, documentation and reporting should be improved and systematized. This is important to enable the building of capacity and the improvement of effective and efficient implementation. Adequate documentation, available when required, is a basic requirement for impact assessment and institutional learning.
2	There is a need to promote application of the watershed management approach for planning and implementation of the different project activities, so as to improve integration among isolated works/activities at different interventions. 
3	The preparation of off-the-shelf projects should be promoted through the training of, and collaboration with, the various stakeholders. 
4	CARE and ORDA in collaboration with the regional governments should make an overall Training Needs Assessment (TNA) and develop training action plans for food security related policies. 
5	More effort should be made in improving the technical capacity of woreda government staff with greater emphasis on community-based training programmes, at village and sub-kebele levels, to plan and implement similar programs more effectively in the future.
6	The technical knowledge and skills of farmers and DA’s, particularly in the integration of physical and biological conservation measures, need to be promoted and upgraded.
7	Post distribution monitoring and follow up mechanisms need to be established to understand problems as they occur and take corrective measures where necessary. In this regard the capacity of CARE, ORDA and their implementing partners should be strengthened by adequate staffing and clearly established systems. 

6.2	WEST HARARGHE  (Chiro and Doba Woredas)

The ET was well received and an overall briefing was given to the team on the different components of the WH RP. Training was provided to 10 enumerators who were to undertake the HHS’s in 11 villages of Godere, Nole, Debbe-in-Wachu, Eltoke PA, Chifito, Adabor, Dega, Chabsa-in-Wachu, Hormat, Misreta and Argajji-in-Waltane, Mechessa, Mishigi and Argoba-in-Lencha Wedessa. A total of 60 HH’s were randomly selected (17 FHH and 43 MHH) for the survey. The team visited 4 PA’s (Wachu Eltoke and Wachu Hormat in Chiro Woreda, Waltane and Lencha Wedessa in Doba) for Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s) as well as visiting and observing various project sites and activities. 

In Chiro Woreda, FGD’s took place in Wachu Eltoke and Wachu Hormat Woredas. The first was in the village of Adabor and the second at the outskirts of Debbe. However, beneficiaries from both Gondere and Nole attended and participated in the discussions. 
FGD’s took place in the village of Misreta, in Waltane PA and Mechessa, Mishigi, Argoba in Lencha Wedesa PA.

The Summary that follows incorporates all the information gathered from the team’s briefings, the documents’ review, discussions with Project staff, Team visits to sites, key informant interviews, meetings with Woreda officials as well as the comments made at the FGD’s.

6.2.1	Component 1 - Community Based Risk Management

Objective 1 
3,300 of the poorest households in targeted communities are to be shown how to manage the debilitating effects of periodic acute shocks without depleting productive household or community assets.

In order to achieve the specified results the Project together with its partners at Woreda level carried out activities covering three intermediate objectives within the overall objective:

Table 17:	 Functioning Community Based Risk Management (West Hararghe)
				 Achievement	
				Qty	%	
1	Establish CBRM committees at Village level	No.	88	
88	99	
2	Training CARE and WDPPC staff on CBEW&RM & Familiarizing NPDMP	No	70	
58	83	
3	Training to CBRMC's on CBEWS data collection, analysis and disim.& RM	Person	80	
261	326	
4	Extension education on emergency preparedness and Mitigation	Sessions	250	
74	30	
5	Establish Woreda Level project Co-ordinating Team (WPCT)	No	2	

(2)	100	

Two familiarization workshops were conducted in order to create awareness of the National Policy on Disaster Prevention and Management (NPDPM) and related food security strategies among the Project staff and the Government counterpart staff’s. In these workshops a total 58 staff (83 % of the plan) drawn from the Chirro and Dobba Woredas DPPD, the Agricultural Development Office and CARE participated.  

In 88 Communities in the 10 targeted PA’s there are established and operational Community Based Risk Management Committees (CBRMCs) (33 in Doba and 55 in Chiro woredas). These CBRMCs in both Woredas are performing the functions of: 
1	Coordinating and leading development activities.
•	Collecting early warning information relating to rainfall, water, and the crop and livestock situation.
•	Acting with the full co-operation of the Communities, Identifying food security problems and prioritizing action to redress any problems
•	Identifying the basic causes of local food insecurity and assessing the communities’ vulnerability.
•	Targeting beneficiaries for FFW initiatives.

CBRMC’s were also established at each Kebele level by incorporating representatives from village CBRMC’s and other respected people in the area such as school teachers. However these Kebele CBRMCs were not as effective in their operation when compared to those in the villages. Seven days training on community based early warning data collection, data analysis & dissemination and risk management was provided to 261 members of village level CBRMCs (3 from each of the 88 villages). 
Further training was given to farmers to increase their level of awareness and understanding of the objectives of REVIVE particularly of Objective #1. Unfortunately due to the early phasing out, the project only achieved 74 sessions (30 % of the plan) of the Village Level Extension Education on the subject of ‘Emergency Preparedness and Mitigation’. 

Awareness of CBRMC’s was improved as a result of these training sessions.  This is a fact reflected in the discussions with focus groups within each the community where questions were asked about the roles of the communities in the various functions of the CBRMCs. 

An ‘Early Warning Reporting Format’ was prepared by the Project and distributed to CBRM groups with the intention that the Forms would be completed each month by the groups and sent to the Woredas by the ‘Extension Agents’. This arrangement has proved quite valuable to the extent that some of the indicators of the 2004 crisis were observed by the CBRM’s in the villages of Tokuma Meta Lencha and Lencho Wodessa which then warned the Woredas and so ensured the approval for immediate intervention. 

Community Needs Assessments (CNAs) were conducted in all the targeted villages to identify the root causes of their vulnerability to food shortages in the area using a Community Action Planning Exercise in which the whole village community gather and discuss the current situation and prepare plans using simplified planning procedures.  
These CNAs were facilitated by the Extension Agents and the CBRMCs and included:
1	A range of measures to be implemented under the FFW 
2	Lists and description of all necessary activities timed to coincide with the seasonal calendar 
3	A list of the training required to cope with the specified activities. 
4	Resource mapping.

The plans were developed and prepared for the period to April 2006 with the expectation that they would be revised during April for the following months. 
A preliminary assessment was made of the progress achieved in the identification of the root causes of some of the agricultural problems. From the information gained in assessment it was possible to identify potential demonstration areas.  Wealth ranking exercises were conducted in target communities to discover where there was most need for support under the different project objectives.

Table 18:	Households able to cope with shocks (West Hararghe)
				 Achievement	
				Qty	%	
						
1	Train CBRM Committees (targeting/asset creation)	No	114
	
0	
0	
2	Awareness creation in saving schemes (Com)	Sessions	250 	
96	
38	
3	Saving group formation (cash & food)	No	50	
68	
136	
4	Provision of hand tools to Pas.(Lump sum) (	N0	10	
0	
0	

 96 ‘Awareness Creating Sessions’ were held (38% of the plan) involving 540 households as a result of which 68 Asset Building Groups (ABGs) were formed (136% of the plan). Savings from food payments received from the ABS (Asset Building Scheme) allowed many participants to restock their depleted assets by purchasing goats, heifers, sheep and some of the improved breeds of chicken. It was reported that some 319 households restocked their depleted assets, as a result of in-kind savings from the household’s portion of food payment from the ABS. Consequently, it was reported that those who participated in these saving schemes purchased 224 goats, 20 heifer, 59 sheep and 78 chickens of the improved breeds. 

Biksa Abdi, from Lencho Wodesa of Mishigi village :
“I managed to save 30 % from the grain I received through FFW/ABS and finally got Birr 150 with which I bought one goat. The goat gave birth to twins, two times and now I have five goats”. 

Another farmer from the same village said that he had been able to save Birr 150.
“In the same period that I received this amount my wife was seriously sick and admitted in Chiro Hospital for surgery. Because of this saved money I was able to save my wife other wise my wife could have died with out getting the service”.	

During the focused group discussion in Wacho-Hormat kebele a farmer called Asfaw Indere confirmed that he had participated in one of the  Asset Building Groups (ABGs) in which they has  been able to save up to Birr 2000 as a group with which they bought oxen , sheep and goats. 	

Mussa Mohamed , Wacho Hormat Kebele, in Ababor village, age 45
“I was save 50% from the food grain I received through FFW and finally I managed to save more than 10 qt of wheat grain. Using the saved grain from the FFW I have been able to buy a heifer for fattening and sell the fattened bull. I build a house using corrugated iron. Without the ABG this would have been impossible. However since there were not any FFW activities carried out since December 2004 in our Kebele the ABG is dismantled and it is no more functional. 	

Though there was an effort to initially establish an ABG in Wacho Eltoke and Waltane Kebeles (Misreta Village), it did not succeed and the ABG never did function. The reason given was that the number of days that they were engaged in FFW was limited and the food they were receiving was too little not even adequate to cover their family food needs. Though there have not been assets created as a result of the failure of ABS it was however confirmed that it has contributed in preventing loss of productive household assets. According to the focus group discussions and WDPPCs, there was no unusual disposal of household assets in both years. 

Soil and Water Conservation Activities: Under the ABS program, construction and maintenance of different soil and water conservation projects resulted in the construction of 122.7 km stone faced soil bund, 66 meters of check dam and 8 km of soil bund all on degraded land. The soil and water conservation structures were built to generally acceptable technical standards and were found to be in good condition when seen. Most of the SWC activities implemented under the FFW were in line with the food security strategy for moisture stress areas. However the integration of physical with biological measures to aid water conservation was very limited. 

In Weltane Kebele, Misreta Village it was observed that stone filled check dam constructions were supported with some plantation. The check dams have assisted in the rehabilitation of big Gullies in the villages and saved lots of farmland from further damage. However the farmer’s have requested technical support in terms of design and material such as gabion-mesh wire for effective rehabilitation of the gullies.

Access Road Construction and maintenance: In both Chiro and Doba Woredas, new access roads were constructed and existing ones were maintained under the FFW/ABS. The construction and maintenance was mainly focused on the creation or improving access to remote villages (roads connecting villages within each Kebele and those connecting villages in different Kebeles). 

A 10 km access road constructed from Gille to the main asphalt road was observed in Wacho Hormat Kebele and found to be of generally good quality. However the road as constructed lacks fords and culverts to allow for cross drainage along some of its sections. In general, in order to meet at least the minimum rural access road standards of RR10 and improve accessibility to the area on a sustainable basis, the constructed roads need technical improvement in the following areas.
-	Simple cross drainage structures where needed.
-	Construction of side drainage ditches.
-	Application of selected graded materials to create a standard surface
-	Wider space for turning.

Table 19:	Effective Community PA-Woreda-Zone Partnership (West Hararghe)

				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Familiarize counterparts on NPDPM (workshop) (58 staff trained)	No	3	2	67	
2	Train counterparts on EGS/FFW project design	Person	40	0	0	
3	Train counterparts on Early Warning data management	Person	40	0	0	
4	Develop EGS Shelf plans	No	50	5	10	
5	Establish rain gauge station & provide the rain gauges	N0	10	5	50	
6	Support woreda/PA offices (supplies with motor bikes)	N0	2	0	0	
7	Promote gender awareness among community leaders	Sessions	200	70	10	

In order to create and strengthen partnership as well as to create equal understanding among all project partners, 2 NPDPM familiarization workshops (67% 0f the plan) were conducted. In these training workshops 58 staff from the concerned Government line offices, together with PA leaders and community representatives were trained on the basic principles of the NPDPM and the Community Based Early Warning System.

To demonstrate the appropriate integrated Catchments Rehabilitation Approach, the following five catchment plans were prepared, in collaboration with the Woreda’s concerned LD’s which resulted in the ability to implement the various FFW interventions in a coordinated and integrated manner.

Woreda	Kebele	Sub-Catchments	
Doba	Woltane	Gondere	
	Woltikuma Wjine	Gollagode	
	Lencho Wodessa	Tulla billa and Wadendo Fechatu	
Chiro	Wach hormat	Bore	
		Deke Chebssa	

Five Rain gauge stations (50 % of the plan) were established in the following five sites. The installations were carried out in 2005 by the Ethiopian Meteorology Agency, and the stations are currently being managed by the respective Woreda Office of Agriculture.

Woreda	Keble	
Chiro	Beka	
	Wacho Weltane	
Doba	Doba towen	
	Tokuma Meta Lencha	
	Kerero	

One of the major disappointments of the Project was that only 70 community leaders representing only 10% of the planned numbers participated in Gender Equity Awareness Promotion Education and even these showed scant interest in promoting Gender equity at traditional and cultural events. 

6.2.2	Strategic Objective 2 (West Hararghe)

3,000 women of reproductive age and 3,000 children under 2 years of age in the target areas to have improved nutrition status. 

Table 20:	Households Showing Improved Care and Better Feeding Practices for Women of Reproductive Age and Children of 0-2 Years. (West Hararghe)
Activities	Unit	planned	accomplished	Percentage %	
1	Develop IEC on nutrition & health (Posters)	N0	10000	0	0	
2	Develop appropriate extension manual on health and nutrition	No	1	0	0	
3	Training to CARE and MOH staff on Health and nutrition strategy	No	40	21	53	
4	Train community health nutrition animators	No	100	40	40	
5	Educate mothers on health & nutrition	No	1000	128	13	
6	Promotion of home garden (vegetables)	HH	300	308	102	
7	Mass education on health and nutrition	Sessions	150	149	99	

During the 4 FGD’s, all participants confirmed that they had received training in health, breast feeding, supplementary baby feeding and good childcare practices. Mothers’ in particular spoke of how in accordance with traditional practices, they disposed of their colostrum, after giving birth, thinking it was bad for their new-born babies, but rather fed them with butter, water mixed with sugar or water mixed with yeast. Their belief was that when children ‘run’ they were getting rid of first waste not knowing that it was a self-induced sickness. This diarrhoea can sometimes result in serious ill health and even cause death. 
Women said, since REVIVE intervention, they now exclusively breast-feed their children for at least the first six months before introducing them to supplementary foods. Some women said they have breast-fed their children for between two and three years or until they become pregnant again. 

Training in Health & Nutrition Strategy was provided for 21 CARE and MOH staff. The project reported training 200 FHH in exclusive breast feeding awareness sessions. One positive outcome of the REVIVE intervention is that the incidence of diarrhoea has drastically reduced from two to three episodes a day to almost none at all according to participants at the FGDs. However, the few episodes that do occur in Chiro and Waltane PA of Doba could be attributed to unprotected water sources in the areas.  

There was mass education on health and nutrition. Men and women spoke of the .benefits they gained from the training they received in health and nutrition, in particular the benefits they observed from feeding children with vegetables and how they had helped in establishing vegetable farms. In conjunction with another CARE initiative, the MICAH programme, farmers were provided with carrot, tomato, beetroot and cabbage seeds at subsidised prices. They and their families were also given vitamin A and de-worming tablets. At the close of project, 308 beneficiaries had established vegetable gardens. 

Participants in the FGD’s spoke of how they saw visible changes in their children when they started feeding them with balanced diet of supplements vegetables including beans, sorghum, maize, peas, haricot beans and chick-peas with the vitamin and de-worming tablets provided by the complementary MICAH project. They also spoke of how malnourished and stunted their children had been before the start of the distribution where some had protruded and enlarged stomachs probably suffering from Kwashiorkor, all of which had changed with the intervention of REVIVE.

Table 21:	Increased Access to, and Use of, Well Managed Sources of Water and Latrines of Households in the Targeted Areas. (West Hararghe)
Activities	unit	planned	achieved	Percentage
%	
1	Establish water and sanitation committees	No	15	6	40	
2	Train water and sanitation committee (7perso/committee)	Person	105	28	27	
3	Train water system caretakers (3 persons per scheme)	Person	45	12	27	
4	Supply/provision of maintenance tools & spare parts to water points	Set	15	0	0	
5	Improved ventilated latrine construction (VIP)	No	300	277	92	
6	PROWWESS training (CARE & counterpart staff)	No	40	0	0	
7	Promotion of fuel efficient stove to HH	HH	150	65	43	
8	Mass education on hygiene & sanitation	Sessions	250	132	53	

Access to clean and protected source of drinking water remains a major problem in the West Haraghe project area. Beneficiaries from three out of four Kebeles that took part in the FGDs in Chiro and Doba have no protected water. Although no water development schemes were included in the West Haraghe area of intervention the Project has undertaken 2 spring developments with 4 distribution points in Lencha Wedessa and Walikituna. These 4 distribution points are connected with pipes, 4 kilometres long at farthest point, and have cattle troughs in Gedoni, Hufufa and Mechessa in Lencha Wedessa and Metake Shatiko in Walikituna PAs respectively. 

The pipeline connected to the Gedoni distribution point (the nearest to the reservoir) has been broken by flood so it is not currently operational. However beneficiaries are collecting water from the broken pipe. Farmers and HH’s who have no water development projects spend a very long time each day  in fetching water from the various unprotected sources and the times spent on a round trip range from 30 minutes to 6 hours. People from Gondere and Debe spend 30 minutes fetching water from a hand dug well; which was provided by the government whilst in Nole and Ababor, it is an hour. Whilst it takes only 15 minutes to get to the unprotected spring in Misreta, people have to wait long periods to draw the water. Participants in FGD’s spoke of waiting, at times, for as long as 6 hours at times before filing a 40 litre container as the water from the spring comes in driblets. 

Beneficiaries in Mechessa and Mishigi where 2 water points have been installed said that it now takes them on average 15 to 30 minutes round trip to fetch water depending on which part of the village they lived whereas before the development of the water points they were spending as much as 4 hours round trip to get their water from unprotected sources. 

Apart from the residents of Wachu Eltoke, all participating PA’s have WATSAN’s. Participants in FGD’s from Wachu Eltoke said they only have one committee, the CBDMC that facilitated all project activities whether it is health, water, sanitation, nutrition or agriculture. In the other parts of the area there are 6 WATSAN’s each of which has between five and seven members. The gender composition of the groups is on average 3 women and 4 men with the only exception being in  Misreta where 5 member Watsan committee is composed entirely of men. When asked why there are no women on the committee, the representatives at the FGD replied, ‘the women were not around when they were forming the committee’. 

Training in management, sanitation and the maintenance of the water structures was provided for 28 WATSAN members and 12 Water System Caretakers. Each of the communities with the water points that were interviewed said every HH contributes one birr per month towards its maintenance. The water points in Mishigi serves 230 HHs and about a thousand cattle from 2 villages and the one from Hujufa serves 142 HHs. In total 666 HHs have benefited from the water development projects.

Nearly every participant in the FGD reported having participated in some form of hygiene and sanitation or awareness raising training. The Project reported having 132 hygiene and sanitation sessions across the target beneficiary areas, a claim that was largely confirmed in the FGDs. Participants spoke of being trained in maintaining personal hygiene, garbage clearance and disposal, using waste for composting and other environmental sanitation issues.  They also  reported that they had changed their behaviours and attitudes towards personal hygiene after participating in training programmes and with improved access to, and availability of, clean water. 

In the PAs where there are no water development projects, people speak of having a bath once a month and people in Misreta FGD said they even have to travel to a spring in another village to take a bath.  In contrast, Mishigi FGD’s said they have changed from having a bath once a month to once a week since they got the water distribution point in their village. 

As part of sanitation and environmental health training, the communities were supported and encouraged to construct pit latrines. The Project reported that 227 pit latrines (PL’s) had been constructed. Beneficiaries confirmed that they had learnt about health and sanitation and the importance of proper disposal of household waste. Many HH’s reported constructing their own PL’s and in some cases neighbours come together to construct and share one facility. The team visited several villages and observed the new PL’s.

Even though awareness was raised on the benefits of using Fuel Efficient Stoves (FESs), and training given in their construction the adoption and use of the stoves varies across the areas. From Wachu Eltoke FGD, only 2 people were reported to have constructed an FES and one is already broken and unusable. The scenario is different in Mishigi where about a quarter of the women present at the FGD said that they had constructed stoves and used them regularly. The ET visited homes of 5 women in the neighbouring villages where they spoke of the benefits of their use and saw the stoves installed with one of them being used to cook at the time of the visit. 

6.2.3  Strategic Objective 3 

Objective 3 –3000 households to have increased agricultural production and productivity.

Table 22:	Reduce Pre- and Post Harvest Losses (West Hararghe)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Prepare IPM Ag Extension manual	Manual	1	0	0	
2	IEC materials on IPM Ag Extension (poster)	N0	10000	0	0	
3	Train MOA & CARE staff in IPM Ag Extension Method	No	40	9	23	
4	Train community animators in IMP Ag Ext Methodology	No	50	0	0	
5	Mass education in pre & post harvest loses	Sessions	250	34	14	
6	Demonstrate storage facilities (Demonstration)	No	
20	24	120	
7	Mass education on cereal and vegetable storage	Sessions	150	14	9	

Training in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was given to 9 BOA & CARE staff (23 % of the plan) in collaboration with SCF-UK and the Woreda government. Based on this training some efforts have been made to create further awareness of the need to adopt and use the IPM system within the community by conducting 34 sessions of mass education. 
As a result, awareness of appropriate pre- and post-harvest pest management practices was promoted throughout the Woreda. The success of this training was reflected in the preliminary participatory assessment undertaken to identify the major causal factors contributing to pre and post harvest by the extent of the information gathered from the community in the targeted Kebeles. 

It was initially envisaged that one IPM manual with IEC materials and one Farmer Field School (FFS) be established as a mechanism for promoting the value of IPM as well as to share traditional farmers knowledge and locally successful innovations. However the FFS has not been established and as a result the Project has not done much to create or facilitate an environment in which farmers can value and share traditional farmers’ knowledge and locally successful innovations. There have been some success in conducting 14 different mass education sessions (9 % of the Plan ) in pre & post harvest losses and the production and protection of cereal and vegetable crops which has gone some way in enhancing farmers understanding. 

Some farmers in two Kebeles; Lencho Wodessa and Tokuma Metalencha have made some efforts to apply the principals of the pre and post harvest pest management research by encouraging and supporting farmers to experiment with traditional pesticides for controlling Aphids and Sock-borer. In this regard traditional pesticide prepared by mixing Datura arboria (Aste-faris), Tobacco leaf, Sensel, White onion, soap, etc. was found to be particularly successful in destroying Aphids from Tomato and cabbage.  

Asfaaw Inderyas , Wachohormat kebele, Ababor village, has applied these different mixes and was successful destroying Kishkish (pest) from his tomato	

For demonstration purposes 24 improved storages (120 % of the plans) have been constructed incorporating refinements and improvements to traditional practices. In this regard the project has supported the selected farmers through provision of corrugated iron sheet and nails and the remaining cost including wooden polls and skilled labour has been covered by the farmers themselves. 

The evaluation team visited two improved stores in Waltane and had discussions with the owners who agreed that these stores allowed farmers to store a number of different seeds until the next planting season. Farmers have stated that these stores are simple controlled environment stores which allowed them to keep produce for up to seven months without spoiling.  This means that they can sell there produce when the market price rises. This is expected to have a very big impact if the number of stores in the region is increased and will be a major assistance in reducing the pre & post harvest loss of crops which is historically running at 30-40%.

To improve the quality and timeliness of emergency response the Project constructed one high quality warehouse with a capacity of 300Metric Tonnes  (100% of the plan) in Doba Woreda which will ensure a secure location for food storage and reduce travelling distance for beneficiaries.

Table 23:	Improved farming methods adopted (West Hararghe)
	Activities	Unit	Plan	 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	
Prepare Ag Extension for SWC (Technical Manual)

Train MOA & CARE staff in SWC Ag Extension Methodologies

Train community animators in SWC Ag Ext Methodology
	No	1	
0	0	
2		Person	40	
0	0	
3		Animator	100	
0	0	
4	Mass education on SWC 	Sessions	250	
22	9	
5	Tree and fruit seedling production in 000''	N0	1000	
187	19	
6	Drip irrigation Technology  transformation training	Person	0	
23	0	
7	Training on poultry production & management of farmers and CARE staffs	Person	0	
17	0	

With the aim of improving farming methods in the targeted Kebeles there was a plan to train Community Animators in SWC Agricultural Extension Methodology, prepare an Agricultural Extension Technical Manual for SWC and to train MOA & CARE staff in SWC Agricultural Extension Methodologies. However these plans have not been implemented resulting in a failure to introduce improved farming practices to the area through training and other extension services.

Only 22 sessions of the Mass Education Programs on Soil and Water Conservation (9 % of the plan) were provided in Chiro and Dobe Woredas. Project managers said the early phasing out of the project was the reason for the very low achievement.

To introduce small-scale irrigation systems, primarily for nutritious foods and market crops, 23 farmers were trained in the practical application of drip irrigation technology including the appropriate application and utilization of the necessary Drip Kits. This action has been further supported with the provision of 88 drip-kits to 88 farmers on free handout for demonstration purposes. 
Each drip kit comprises of 15 meter plastic hose which can drip irrigate two small plots of land of 10X2 m. Though the Drip Kits were widely distributed they were not adopted. The causes of the rejection were:  
•	Inadequate technical backstopping and follow up from the Projects supervisors 
•	Inadequate training on the use of the kits to solve local practical problems. (One farmer complained that the water in the area is so sandy and dirty that he has a problem of the pipes clogging.) 
•	Inadequate training on the production and protection of high value crops like vegetable which are highly exposed to different pest infestation 

Mohammed Yuya,  
This farmer has a pond constructed at a cost of Birr 8,000 and has produced different vegetable crops using the drip irrigation technique.  By selling tomato at Birr 1170 he has been able to buy one goat which is now multiplied to 8 goats bringing an income of Birr 2000.  Mohammed Yuya has 3 children of which 2 are of school age one 8 and another 9. He explained that he had not been able to cover the cost of school books for his children, before the installation of the new technology but now as result of the vegetable production he has sufficient income to cover their school needs.

The pond constructed in his farm together with the drilling technology has served as a demonstration field and as a result many farmers from the neighbouring PA’s are reported to have visited his farm.	

Innovative drip irrigation was observed in the farm of W/ro Misra, where she used empty oil cans for drip-irrigation by transporting water from a long distances. By putting one oil can in every Papaya tree she has been able to produce over fruiting 46 papaya trees.	

Poultry production and management training was provided for 17 persons drawn from CARE staff and model farmers and to improve their awareness arrangement were made to visit  improved poultry production facilities in Asebe Teferi agricultural Collage. It was after this visit that the Project started to facilitate the introduction to the different target Kebeles of improved poultry breeds for egg and propagation. In total 22 farmers benefited from improved breeds of chicken that were supplied by Woreda Agricultural office on a loan basis or were able to purchase the birds, which was facilitated by CARE and the Project.

One tree and fruit nursery managed by the government was identified in Metalencha PA which is 6 km from Doba town. CARE has assisted the management by covering all expenses related to tree production in 2003 and 2004 in this nursery. As a result of this support REVIVE has managed to produce 187,000 fruits tree seedlings (19 % of the plan). Project managers attribute the low achievement to the early phasing out of the project. Out of this 103,103 seedlings were produced in 2003 and the other 83,897 in 2004. All the seedlings produced were distributed to over 5,675 farmers for planting in the operation area. In 2004 a survival count of the trees that were planted in 2003 was carried out by the Project and it was found that only 67% had survived which is relatively poor compared to the national average of 85-90 %.

Table 24: 	Dry land farming technologies adopted (West Hararghe)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Train MOA & CARE staff in technology transfer & dissemination	Person	1000	16	2	
2	Train community animators in tech transfer & dissemination	Animator	0	0	0	
4	Mass education on the use of  dry land farming technology	Sessions	40	9	23	
5	Demonstrate use of dry land farming technology (Demon.site)) (FFS)	No	100	2	0	
6	Promote & disseminate dry-land farming techniques to individual farmers	HH	250	80	32	
7	Provision of improved seed varieties	Qt	30	389	1295	

Dry land Farming technology Adopted: In total 16 BOA & CARE staffs (2% of the plan) were trained in dry land technologies at Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre for five days. The training covered major topics the development and use of improved seeds, early maturing crop varieties, crops with increased nutritional value, pest resistant varieties of common crops, the production of fruit trees, and improved irrigation and farming techniques. 

To improve the seed supply of the targeted kebeles of the two woredas efforts were made to create access to improved seeds for different HHs. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre and the Project to make available to the Project improved varieties of Haricot bean, Sorghum and Maize. Following this a total of 389 Qt (1295 % of the plan) of improved seed varieties of sorghum, maize and haricot bean was distributed to 4,224 poor households through the Revolving Fund. Except for the sorghum seed, which is no longer available due to crop failure in last year dry spell in the area, the CBRMC’s are still facilitating the seed resource transfer among the community members.

Further, 26 farmers in Chiro & 54 farmers in Doba woreda were selected as Seed Multipliers and supplied with 4300 kg of seed to be planted in 43 hectares of land for demonstration and seed multiplication purposes. The seed was provided to be used as a Revolving Fund (RF) on the basis of an agreement made among farmers, WOAO, CBRMC and CARE in order to repay the credit extended to farmers and to expand the practice.

CARE has provided access to training for groups of farmers wishing to grow vegetables that has allowed 90 households to benefit from two improved varieties of sweet potato introduced by the project which were brought from Awassa agricultural research centre. These varieties are very rich in vitamin A and the taste is much liked by the local people.

Introduction of forage species was conducted with the help of a technical Consultant and a   total of 31 farmers, 9 from Wachu Hormat, 22 from Walkituma Wajin and Walkituma Ibsa were selected and provided with improved forages to be grown on their plots and for them to function as a seed multipliers and to be used as seed source in the area. These farmers were selected in an attempt to incorporate the knowledge and experiences of researchers in the subject of livestock feed which has the potential to improve the lives of target beneficiaries and which could also help households to earn additional income from the sale of seed. However this has not been successful mainly due to shortage of water and lack of follow-up from the Project.

Demonstration of water harvesting technology: In order to demonstrate improved water harvesting technology to the community three micro ponds each with a capacity of 40-50 m3 were constructed by farmers in Doba Woreda. The Project supported the construction by the provision of industrial products such as wire mesh, iron bar and cement for plastering the ponds and making inlet and outlet structures. Two of the ponds implemented in Waltane Kebele were visited by the ETand while one of the ponds had collected water to its full capacity the other was empty and not functional at time of the evaluation. 

Although the intention behind these ponds is good, the evaluation team observed that a lot needs to be done to assure efficient and sustained use of the structures. It has been generally observed that there was inadequate technical support to the community in terms which require advice on pond site selection to ensure that they are in areas of appropriate soil texture, in the use of the necessary structure and catchments to feed the ponds. As a result the communities targeted under the various water harvesting programmes have not yet been able to tap water from the ponds for their horticulture and agriculture activities. 

 One pond having a capacity of 40-50 M3 owned by obo Sheni Amedi was visited. 
 At the time of the visit the pond was dry and it was observed that he had a problem with.
-	An inadequate catchment area
-	A lack of an appropriate inlet structure 
Inappropriate site selection (soil texture and structure)	

6.2.4	Strategic Objective 4 (West Hararghe)

650 HHs to increase and diversify on & off farm income to meet basic needs and build their asset base.

Table 25:	Increased Access to and Income from IGAs (West Hararghe)

Activities	unit	planned	accomplished	Percentage
%	
1	Train CARE & counterpart staff on resource management	Person	40	0	0	
2	Train community groups on resource management	Person	0	33	0	
3	Train HHs on efficient use of domestic resources	HH	0	0	0	

In many parts of Ethiopian society they have what may be referred to as ‘wasteful practices’; WH is no exception. The Project identified extravagant spending on weddings (usually held after harvest) and funerals, the number of harvest ceremonies and the money spent on buying, together with time spent, idly chewing chat (a soporific drug grown locally) as well as excessive drinking of alcohol. In addition to mass sensitisation and awareness raising, 30 community groups were trained in various forms of resource management. 

The Project adopted a step by step approach to educating the community by sensitively discussing the amount of money and food spent on weddings and funerals and the need to reduce such expenditure. Beneficiaries were reminded that they live in food insecure areas and it is therefore necessary to save food and spend less on ceremonies. 

People who indulged in the favourite ‘chat-chewing’ pass time were persuaded to reduce the amount of chat they chewed, thus saving not only money but time which could otherwise be used in other gainful activities. It was said by 2 men in the Ababor FGD that after the ‘education’ from the CF, they reduced consumption of chat from 2 birr a day, to 1 birr, thus saving on average 30 birr a month, they are now putting this money into their savings group. Two other men said they had stopped chewing chat completely which they would not have contemplated before RP, others said, they are trying to stop, but find it difficult but that they will persevere.

As part of the resource management training, beneficiaries were persuaded not to sell their produce at harvest time, when the market is saturated and prices are very low. Instead, they were advised to store the harvest and sell in the lean season when prices are high by using the principle of market dynamics of demand and supply. They were also urged to come together as a group (a sort of co-operative) and sell their produce to brokers, giving them bigger bargaining power to negotiate better prices and at the same time eliminating the middle man who comes to buy from them and sells on to brokers. In Doba, where haricot beans is a very high value cash crop, pre RP, brokers and even government co-ops buy the crops very cheaply from farmers at harvest and sell at huge profits. 

The project advised farmers to store, and keep, their produce for a couple of months after harvest before selling at bigger profits. Even blackmail and intimidation have been used by powerful merchants with warehouse facilities to pressurise farmers by saying that if they did not sell their produce to them at the low prices ruling at harvest he would shut his warehouse and their produce would rot. 

A holistic approach to resource management was adopted, proper utilisation of all resources was emphasised in sensitisation and training sessions to ensure sustainability.  Communities were taught proper land management (soil and water conservation) as well as managing their time as a resource (spending less time chewing chat), reducing spending (saving money) and to appreciate the health gain from the reduction in chat and alcohol consumption. FGD participants confirm Project reports of attitudinal changes towards resource management and utilisation and expressed gratitude to the Project for facilitating this positive change.

Table 25:	Increased Access to and Income from IGAs (West Hararghe)

	Activities	unit	planned	accomplished	Percentage
%	
1	Train CARE & counterpart staff on IGAs.	Person	300	26	9	
2	Train CBO on income generation	No	150	10	7	
3	Train HHs in marketable skills	Person	0	0	0	
4	Mass education in income generation 	Sessions	40	55	138	
5	Provision of start-up capital to trained HHs (women)	HH	60	0	0	
6	Train  saving groups on selection, planning &management of IGA	Person	0	25	0	
7	Train saving promoters on community self help saving groups methodology	Person	0	12	0	

At the close of project 76 saving groups of 545 men and 907 women (38% male and 62% female) had been formed. The average size of the groups is about 20 people, even though there are a few that have 15 members. The general level of savings is between 1 & 2 birr per month. The savings at the end of 2004 is 38,815 ETB of this, 33,744 ETB had been loaned to members at varying interest rates ranging from 4% to 10% as dictated by individual CSSG by-laws. 

The formation of CSSG’s has brought marked changes in the lives of all participating individuals. Beneficiaries talk of how they have been saved from local moneylenders who charge interest rates ranging from 50% -100% (Mishigi & Waltane FGDs). Others told, with a feeling of pride and achievement, that for the first time in their lives they had managed to save a small amount of money.  Whilst most of the CSSG’s saved money, the participants at the Ababor FGD said that their savings was in farm produce (grains) and a percentage of the FFW rations. According to them, each member saved about 50kg of grain for 6 months which the group then sold at lean times making some profit, normally 60-80%, in some cases doubling their investment. 

All participants in CSSG’ spoke of the benefits that they had received from the various IGA training sessions that they had attended.  Group members take loans and undertake petty trading. Women speak of buying milk, butter, eggs and other farm produce from the villages, selling these at Chiro and bringing back coffee, tea, sugar, candles, oil, salt and other high value goods to sell in their villages. Almost every one said they made on average 50% profit on their investment (using 100 birr loan to buy things to sell and realising 150 birr). After selling the goods, they repay their loans and the accrued interest and use the profit to increase their expenditure on their children and other household needs. Some beneficiaries used moneys from the CSSG’s to buy goats and chicken for reproduction and then sell-on the offspring.  Some groups buy oxen, which they fatten for 6 months and sell at huge profits. One man said he used his money from the savings group to buy an ox, which he fattened and sold for 3000 ETB. With the money he built a corrugated iron sheet house and moved from his 2 huts. 

Whilst most of the CSSG members vow to continue the savings activities the Ababor grains CSSG has discontinued. When asked why, they said, their saving were in grains and with the phasing out of the programme, they have nowhere to store the grains. Disappointment verging on anger was expressed by some farmers when the storage facility in Doba was taken away. The grains they stored at home were being infested by pests and although they tried to rent an alternative store it had proved too expensive and uneconomical. Despite this setback they were determined to find another solution and form another form of saving. The other money saving groups in the PA however, promise to continue with their activities even without the assistance of CF’s as they have received enough training to enable them to be independent. This confirms that the training given by the CSSG’s is adequate and will ensure sustainability even after the cessation of support from the Project.

In addition to cash savings, the groups have social funds into which a small amount of money is contributed weekly or fortnightly. This fund is used to support members either in time of distress in sickness or death and in times of happiness when celebrating the birth or marriage of a relative.

Table 26:	Increased Organisational Capacity in IGAs. (West Hararghe)
	Activities	unit	planned	accomplished	Percentage
%	
1	Conduct organisational assessment (with baseline survey)	No	200	0	0	
2	Train CARE & counterpart staff on Financial Management	Person	450	29	6	
3	Train CBOs on Financial Management and Bookkeeping 	Person	0	40	0	
4	Provision of transport (Motor bikes) to Woreda offices	No	1	0	0	

To ensure increased organisational capacity for IGA activities training in financial management and bookkeeping was provided for 13 CARE staff, 12 CF’s, 2 DA’s and 2 staff from the Co-op office.

By participating in the CSSGs and IGAs many rural poor people have been given the opportunity to save mainly money but also grains. The latter they sell to their advantage during the lean season and with the profit they are more able to manage shocks. 
Many beneficiaries tell stories of how the CSSG programme literally ‘delivered’ them from extortionate moneylenders and restored their dignity.

6.2.5	Challenges (West Hararghe)

·	The fact that the Project was working in only 10 Kebeles in each of the zones, whiles government officials had over  50 Kebeles to support made it difficult for  Government officials to give REVIVE the  time and attention that the Project needed and expected.
·	Animal Husbandry or Livestock Development was not adequately considered as a component of food security program in the REVIVE Project Proposal.
·	Inadequate follow-up of some of the Project activities such as the production of IPM and SWC manuals.
•	The decision that was made to stop the project mid-way through its allotted time and replace it with another, as yet undefined, Project was very difficult to accept by Project management and staff. They found it exceedingly difficult to ‘deliver’ the bad news to the community that they had worked so hard to convince and engage.
•	The bottom-up approach of Project implementation, moving from service delivery to a role of facilitator, was a challenge to Project staff. 
•	The new approach had internal and external challenges. The internal challenge was that staff had to relinquish the power to ‘command’ action and now had to facilitate the action at the speed and timing of the community. 
•	The external challenges were from both Woreda officials, who were used to CARE bringing emergency response, and also from the beneficiaries who previously had always received relief and could not understand why the change had happened.
•	The populations overwhelming reliance on chat has remained a challenge which is a waste of both money in buying the drug and the time spent under its influence
•	Reaching and benefiting the very poorest households in the remote areas was and will continue to be a considerable challenge. Though the CSSGs are an extremely valuable initiative, as currently constituted they do not cater for the poorest of the poor who, though they may be willing to join, can not afford the 1 or 2 birr  to save as required by CSSGs. 
•	The groups, by their specification as self-help and self-governing entities, pose a recurring problem as the members personal strengths, experience and abilities vary considerably.  The less capable groups will need a lot more support to be sustainable without the input from CARE.
•	Leadership within the groups could also be a problem as, in some cases, their self-governing by-laws have not stipulated rotation of Office Holders and therefore there is always the danger of people of strong personal presence or influence in the locality could hold power for extended periods. Apart from the obvious possibility of malfeasance this arrangement denies the opportunity of experience gain to other, possibly very capable, people which in turn introduces a doubt about the sustainability of these groups.
•	The lack of linkage with formal institutions does not give the CSSGs any power to demand protection and support from PA officials.
•	It was alleged that some savings groups’ were being forced by politicians and woreda officials to transform themselves into co-operatives when they had neither the wish nor the capacity to make the change.

6.2.6	Lessons learnt (West Hararghe)

•	Some of the targeted community after being educated to realise that time is a resource still  sit about chewing chat without realising that they are wasting time as a resource as well as the money they spend buying the drug. More effort must be applied to the education programme.
•	By using the established simple and flexible of format CSSGs ensured that the poorest people in the community were able to form groups, make their own by-laws, save money and have access to loans which they previously had been unable to do.
•	The bottom-up approach of the Project won the trust of the people and created ownership enabling many poor people in the community to join the groups and save some of the small amount of money they earned.
•	The community’s perception has been changed over time as they now experience the benefits of saving small amounts of money regularly in a group which has given them through loans, access to larger amounts of money to invest in profitable ventures. Women are now saving on their own, in consultation with or in conjunction with their husbands.
•	Training given to traditional Birth Attendants, Health Animators and Mothers' Groups increased mothers’ health awareness and changed their attitudes towards colostrum and encouraged exclusive breast feeding. 
•	The promotion of vegetable gardening has contributed to the improvement in families’ dietary needs and provision.
•	There has been a positive behaviour change in personal hygiene and environmental health when the community has access to clean water. People who used to bath once a month or less now have baths every week.
•	There has been a marked behaviour change in health and sanitation following the training of communities in improved health and sanitation methods and the provision, by communities themselves, of VIPL’s and waste disposal facilities.

6.2.7	Recommendation (West Hararghe)

·	Project managers should understand that the Woreda officials have many more Kebeles to supervise outside the areas covered by REVIVE. In future, joint working proposals should note this and plan activities that accommodate this fact.
·	Future Food Security Projects should include Animal Husbandry or Livestock Development components to cover all aspects of food and nutrition.
·	To ensure the sustainability of all projects, there should be adequate supervision of the implementation of Project activities especially the development of IPM and SWC manuals, 
•	In the unlikely event that CARE should stop a Project mid-way and replace it with another, Project staff and beneficiaries should be briefed sensitively and be kept well informed at all times to ensure that the disappointment is eased/lessened. 
•	The programmes that are designed to increase the awareness of the dangers of using chat should be strengthened and increased. Future projects should incorporate this as a  cross-cutting issue and introduce new and effective strategies to deal with the ‘chat reliance’ syndrome  and other wasteful practices. 
•	Strategies should be developed to access and accommodate the very poorest who may be willing to participate in activities like CSSG’s but are too poor so to do.  
•	The less capable CSSG’s groups should be given additional support and strategies put in place to ensure their sustainability after the Project ends and without CARE’s day to day assistance.
•	Groups should be encouraged to rotate the leadership to ensure that not only dominant people take the leadership position to enable all members to develop the skill and experience that will ensure the sustainability of the groups in the future.
•	To ensure support of, and protection from, government and Woreda officials, future savings programmes should have some linkage with formal institutions, in particular the Co-operative office.

6.3	SECTION 3: EAST HARARGHE (Bedeno and Kurfa chelle Woredas)

The team was once again well received with briefing from the REVIVE Project Manager, who was on his way to AA and handed over the team to Ato Fakadu Assefa, the M&E officer. Meetings were arranged with Kurfa Chelle Woreda officers, the first meeting had to be re-scheduled, as only the Woreda admin officer was available. 

A team of 5 enumerators was trained to undertake the HHS’s in 15 villages of Toba, Robeyo, Golla in Hulla Janeta PA, Gelan, Amero, Hadama, Adam, Hassen in Cheffe Aneni, Eja Kello, Doyo, Gadulla, Ahira and Oilo in Rare Jeneta, Korme, Hachira and Abobo in T. Mangudo.  A total of 60 HH’s were randomly selected (20 FHH and 40 MHH) for the survey. The team visited 4 PA’s (Hulla Janeta and Cheffe Ameni in Kurfa Chelle Woreda, Rare Jefeta and T. Mangudo in Bedeno) for FGD’s as well as visiting and observing various Project sites and activities. 

FGD’s took place in the village of Adam, in Cheffe Aneni PA and Robeyo village in Hula Jeneta PA of Kurfa Chelle Woreda. For Badeno Woreda, FGD’s took place in Hachira village in Tirtiro Mengudo PA and Gadulla village in Rare Jeneta PA. There was an unexpected emergency in Gadulla, which took people to a private meeting, as such, there were not enough people to participate in a FGD. In order not to waste the opportunity, it was decided to undertake a key informant interview with some of the community leaders. This interview was held with the chair of PA development committee, chairs of the CBRMC (PA and village respectively), a VDC member and an ordinary member of the community. As the meeting progressed, other members of the community joined the meeting, in the end there were about 34 people in the group.

The outcome of the briefings, review of relevant documents, discussions with project staff, site visits, key informant interviews, meetings with Woreda officials as well as representations in FGD’s are summarised below.

In Kurfa Chelle, 7 officers including the Head of Agriculture and Rural Development who hosted and chaired the meeting. The other officers include, Women Affairs Officer, Co-op Department’s rep., Head of DPP and Food Security and representative from Admin office. 

The various officers spoke about the role and involvement of their respective departments with the Project and everybody who spoke was generally very supportive of the REVIVE Project. 
In summary, it was agreed that the Project had achieved its goals/objectives and created experience sharing between CARE, the Woreda and the community. Special mention was made of the early warning system, capacity building, different and improved agriculture methods, the rising gender awareness and the empowerment of women through their involvement in committees. 
Particular mention was made of CSSG’s and the benefits that its membership and involvement brought to the poorest of the community. The team welcomed the positive comments from the Woreda staff and asked for their opinion of the challenges still to be faced and the lessons that had been learnt from participating in the Project.

Challenges or gaps as they put it included the lack of consultation by CARE with the Woredas before the drip irrigation system was introduced. They also made the point that sweet potatoes were introduced by MICAH not by REVIVE. It was said in their defence that Care staff assumed that Woreda staff were always busy as they have many more Kebeles to supervise. Whilst this is very true it was not so in this instance. Frustration was also expressed that the phasing out of the RP was not well communicated to the Woreda officers. Other issues raised include the early warning system and CBRMC. 

Recommendations for the REVIVE Project and all future collaborative ventures included supporting and promoting the CSSG’s to register as legal entities so that they could open bank accounts and so be able to attract bigger capital for the benefit of members. If projects are phased out suddenly, the government should be asked to take over some of the components/activities, of successful projects such as those started by RP.

Discussions were also held with 7 Woreda officials in Badeno. In attendance were 3 officials from Agriculture and Rural Development office, 1 official each from Health, Administration and Women Affairs. The officers spoke very warmly of the RP, in particular, the uniqueness of the project, allowing the community to make its own plans based on their needs and in effect taking ownership of the project. Positive comments were made the Project components. 

On health, water and sanitation, the REVIVE was commended for achieving a lot in the 5 participating Woredas. The perennial water problem has been partially solved for those communities with water distribution point developments. Households have constructed their own pit latrines, almost all of them ventilated, improved pit (VIP) latrines. ‘This we want to use as a model for other villages/Kebeles in the Woreda’, the organisation of the community and training and facilitation for WATSAN’s was excellent’ said one official. ‘The government has been trying to solve the water problems for the community but failed,  if REVIVE had the chance to remain, the communities’ water problems could have been solved as the government has not got the capacity to achieve this’, he added.

The official lamented on the non completion of some other physical activities, ‘it is like lighting a candle and keeping it indoors – when the light is needed outside’.

To the official from Rural Development, the biggest achievement of RP is the targeting of the poorest within the community in savings, IGA’s and asset creation. With these initiatives, the communities say “even the poor can save and create asset”. 

On health and nutrition, the officials commended the training in awareness raising, exclusive breast-feeding, supplementary feeding, and the support in vegetable gardening (with the Woredas assisting in demonstrating which vegetables can be eaten raw and which ones should be cooked as well as how to cook the vegetables). He said the women now even knew the components of the food supplements, the need for vegetables as well as their nutritional values.

One of the best achievements of the RP was the creation of a sense of ownership within the community in all the Project activities. The value of the creation of a team spirit in all exercises from the wealth ranking to road building, forming of CSSG’s was highly valued as well as the other activities that in effect, built the communities’ collective capacities as well as those of Woreda staff (health, agriculture, women affairs and rural development) thereby aiding the integration of the programmes with government plans.

6.3.1	Community Based Risk Management 

Objective 1: 3,300 poorest households in targeted communities to be trained to manage the debilitating effects of periodic acute shocks without depleting productive household or community assets.

Table 27:	Functioning Community Based Risk Management (East Hararghe) 

				 Achievement	
				Qty	%	
1	Establish CBRM committees at PA level	No.	10	11	110	
2	Training to CBRMCs on NPDPM and Planning	No.	10	11	110	
3	Training to CARE staff and partners on community based early
warning and risk management.	No.	40	44	110	
4	Train CBRMCs on data collection, analysis and dissemination	No	10	11	110	
5	Ext. education to HHs on emergency preparedness & mitigation	HH	3,333	4320	130	

There were established 84 Community Based Risk Management Committees (CBRMC) that became operational in 11 target PAs. Except in Cheffe Aneni PA where one CBRMC was established per two villages. Further it was found that CBRMC’s were established in each village of the 10 PA’s both in Kurfa Chelle and Badeno Woredas. 
These CBRMC’s performed the functions of: 
•	Coordinating and leading development activities.
•	Collection of the early warning information relating to rainfall, water, crop, livestock and Human Health and other factors affecting food security which threatened the Livelihood of the community.
•	Identifying food security problems and prioritizing them with the full participation of the Community 
•	Identifying the root causes to food insecurity within the Community and its vulnerability. 
•	Undertaking all targeting activities in the community specifically FFW activities, relief distribution, supplementary food, Seed provision, Revolving fund, etc.

In order to have functional CBRM committees at both Kebele and village level together with the establishment of new, and the strengthening of existing DPP structures at PA level has been carried out. 

Accordingly, a total of 595 committee members of which 264 (44%) are women from 84 villages of the 11 PA’s were trained for three days on early warning data collection and analysis. The training was facilitated by Woreda trained partner staffs in both Kurfa Chele and Bedeno woredas of East Hararghe. As a result many farmers have increased awareness and knowledge of the importance of community based early warning systems. Early warning indicators (including those that are traditional and which come from indigenous knowledge) and tools for collecting and monitoring rainfall, livestock and human diseases and related EW data which they can put to immediate use were explained and demonstrated.

Further a total of 595 committee members from the 11 target PA’s were trained on the basic principles and modalities of the NPDPM. In this regard, CBRMC members have acquired the skills they need to plan and implement EGS and ABS schemes. They have also acquired targeting and related monitoring skills together with a knowledge of collection methods. Extended education to enhance emergency preparedness & mitigation was given to 4320 households (130 % of the plan) using trained CBRMC members. As a result, the committees have been instrumental in the overall implementation of the Project and the implementation and monitoring of the development efforts of their respective PA’s and Villages. They have now acquired the skills to facilitate community based targeting, community action plan development, implementation and monitoring, and contribute to educating the community in risk management and mitigation and asset creation. They now have regular monitoring schedules and meetings and are active members of the PA and village level DPP organisation. 

Table 28:	Households Able to Cope with Shocks (East Hararghe)

				 Achievement	
				Qty	%	
1	Formation of savings groups (cash/grain)	No	25	119	
476	
2	Training to CBRMCs on targeting and asset creation.	No	10	11	
110	
3	Extension education to house holds in savings schemes	HH	3,333	4609	
138.3	
4	Stone face soil bund construction.	Km	500	171.8	34.4	
5	Hill side terrace construction.	Km	200	116.7	58.4	
6	Check dam construction.	Meter	500	336.4	67.3	
7	Stone bund construction.	Km	200	29.5	14.8	
8	Soil bund construction.	Km	500	16	3.2	
9	Provision of EGS/FFW tools.	No	Lump	0	0	

Using trained CBRMCs members’ 4609 households (138.3% of the plan) were trained on Asset Building and Saving Schemes through extension education. As a result a total of 1,978 most vulnerable HH’s which were identified during the wealth ranking exercise have participated in asset creation activities forming a total of 119 groups (476 % of the target for the whole of the expected life of the project). The asset building groups (ABG’s) have their own specific objectives, established by National laws for the implementation of their plans. In all the villages ABG’s were organized based on the proximity of the participants within villages, though in one Kebele (Hula jeneta), where they are organized on ‘asset interest’ with an Oxen Group (20 Birr), Goat Group (Birr 20) and Sheep Group (Birr 10). 
However ABGs were not established in Cheffe Aneni PA as the project was not involved in FFW activities of the PA. The FFW aspect of this particular PA was covered under the World Bank assisted DPRD program. Out of the total 1978 Asset Building Group participants’ 1895HH’s have created 2,024 different assets (goat, ox, cow, heifer, calf, donkey beehives, house and generator). In addition to building their capacity to absorb shocks as they happen those participants who purchased oxen, were able to cultivate their land at the ‘right’ time which therefore will result in increasing the productivity of their farm. 

This success supported the efforts to build the capacity of this chronically food insecure area and to preserve, diversify and grow their household assets to the point where they can maintain viable livelihoods. Many ABS participants said that REVIVE enabled them to create new assets and prevent asset depletion and improve their capacity to resist any shock without any external assistance.  

Some households, who had no livestock before the REVIVE Project have become owners of between three and six livestock as a direct result of the ASSET Building initiatives. 

Mohammed Adem, who lives in Tirtiro Mangudo kebele, is an Asset building scheme participant.  He had participated in five rounds of road construction and saved 600 Birr from FFW payment with which bought two cows at a cost of Birr 250 &350 about one year ago.  Currently, both have conceived and expect to deliver soon. He said that thanks to REVIVE I am now the owner of livestock. I hadn’t any livestock before REVIVE not even a chicken.  

W/ro Zeineb Abdulahi, who lives in Tirtiro Mangudo ran a female headed HH with 4 children and is Asset Building Scheme participant.  She said that she was extremely poor to the extent of being unable to feed her children. She was identified in the poorest of the poor wealth rank and targeted to participate in two rounds of ABS/FFW. As a result of her participation in road construction she saved 500 Birr from FFW payment and bought two cows about one year ago.  Currently, one cow has delivered and the other has conceived and expects to deliver soon which made the family owners of four livestock. She said that now I am able to feed my children thanks to REVIVE which made me the owner of livestock. Zeineb noted that there are many households in her Kebele who have created assets and become owners of between two and five livestock. Now these people can cope with shock, she said. 

Activities undertaken by FFW/ABS participants: Besides individual asset building, ABS participants were engaged on development activities, which contributed to the building of community assets such as environmental protection activities and the rehabilitation of degraded lands.   

To help communities identify, prioritize and organize solutions to their problems and to co-operate in establishing a comprehensive action plan training for the process of action planning has been undertaken in all targeted villages. Trained CBRMC members assisted by extension agents facilitated the whole planning process. Further, before embarking in to the various FFW/ABS works various skill enhancing training like masonry, contour marking, and work measurement was given to group leaders. 

To improve accessibility of the target areas, a total of 12.82 Kms of  road pavement was constructed in the five REVIVE operational Kebeles out of which  more than 5km is  in Rare Jeneta linking  Furda to Golla  and another 5 km is in Tirtiro mangudo linking Awseida to Aferfata.  Beneficiaries have however requested that the road should not be stopped in Golla but be extended to Watter which is the main market centre for the area including Kebeles and villages that are not within the remit of REVIVE. The constructed roads are all-weather RR10 standard and paved with stone and supported with cross drainage structures in two selected spots. The road pavement interrupts at different intervals depending on the topography covering all stretches of road lengths which are susceptible to damage during the rainy seasons and was found to be of good quality for its standard.  

Observations were made at irregular intervals of the constructed road and included checking alignments (gradient and curvature) surfacing width and shape, surfacing thickness and uniformity, and drainage structures. It was considered that in the 5 km stretch that was checked the roads were well aligned below the maximum gradient of 12% and horizontal radius curvature more than the minimum requirement of 15m.

In general, linkages were enhanced as a result of the access roads created within, and between, villages and Kebeles thus stimulating socio-economic development of the beneficiary communities. These are a few of the findings in terms of direct and indirect impacts experienced by respondents as a result of the access roads constructed in the targeted Kebeles.

Examples of  the road  impacts from FG participants in Tirtiro Mangudu and Rare Jrneta  PAs :
·	Previously we were carrying our chat and other farm produce to market on our backs or the backs of our donkeys, but now trucks are coming to our front door and as a result our products reach the market on the required quality, quantity and time. 
·	As a result of the access created through the constructed road we are now receiving improved extension services and closer supervision by Woreda government experts. Particularly we are getting improved responses to local level emergencies like assessment and control of epidemics and pests from the Woreda.
·	Previously we have to carry sick people all the way to the Woreda health centre now due to the road, vehicles are coming and we can easily reach health services”. 
·	We are able to generate additional income due to the improved access created to market our agricultural production particularly potato. However, since it is not extended to water which is the main market for all of us in the area, we couldn’t take full advantage of the road constructed.	

Soil and Water Conservation Activities: SWC is a major aspect of the Asset building Services (ABS) component of the programme. It includes: construction of different physical structures such as Stone faced soil bund, stone and soil bund, check dam, and Hill side terrace construction on hillside which are prone to water erosion. Prior to the implementation of the SWC activities of the programme, selected farmers which act as for/women/men and contour markers were trained by extension agents and supervisors.

All the FFW activities and the areas for intervention are selected, prioritized and approved through discussion at the Community Action Planning Sessions. In deciding on the area to be treated more attention was given to the degree of vulnerability of the land to soil erosion than to the ownership of land by the communities. Participants frequently discuss the issues in depth before deciding upon the priorities. 

SWC interventions, through FFW have been conducted in all the 11 PA’s of the programme area, focusing mainly on communally-owned degraded lands. These places are hillsides, recognized to be sources of hazardous run-off for down-stream farm lands. 
Most of the construction activities have been carried out on a micro catchments basis identified during the community Action Planning Sessions. 

The SWC activities in all the 11 Kebeles were designed through FFW activities or by Asset Building Scheme participants
–	171.82 Km of stone faced soil bund (34.4% of the planned 500 Km) 
–	116.7 Km of Hill side terrace construction ( 58.4% of the planned 200 Km)
–	336.4 Metres of check dam construction (67.3 % of the planned 500) 
–	29.5 km of stone bund (14.8% of the plan 200) and 
–	16 km of soil bund (3.2% of the plan 500)  
Though there was a plan to provide hand tools to FFW participants this has not been realized due to huge stock in both Woredas. 

The main reason for the low achievement in the construction of the stone faced soil bund was the termination of the project. However the construction of soil bund is very far behind the planned schedule. This was explained by the low adoption rate of the this particular technique for highly degraded communal lands on which the Project focused as a priority. The exception to this has been check dam construction. The main reason for the higher percentage of check dam construction was the magnitude of the problem related to gully erosion in the area which demanded more gully rehabilitation and reclamation works. 
Based on the past two years experience, there is a need to promote the use of gabion mesh wire to support the gully rehabilitation and reclamation techniques in order to address the severe land degradation problems in the areas. 

Wage payments were delayed in almost all Kebeles covered at focus group discussions. There were times when payments were delayed for two months. This happened when approval of FFW works was delayed for not meeting the required standards. Payments were subsequently made when there was a confirmed improvement of the quality of the FFW work. Another constraining factor in the timely payment of food was the time taken by Woreda officials to finalize lists of beneficiaries and to authorize payments. The evaluation team had noted that Woredas are understaffed and therefore could not visit all FFW sites and approve the work done in the short time available. 

Table 29:	Effective Community PA Woreda Zone Partnership (East Hararghe)
				Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Familization of government partners on NPDPM	No	40	44	110	
2	Training to partners on EGS/FFW/CFW design, monitoring & evaluation	No	40	20	50	
3	Training to partners on community based early warning and data collection and management.	No	40	40	100	
4	Provide basic supplies/equipments to Pas/woredas/zone	No	xxx			
5	Establish/strengthen rain gauge stations to be managed by MOA DAs.	No	5	5	100	
6	Development of EGS shelf plans	No	50			
7	Policy learning and analysis workshops (Advocacy).	No	xxx			

Under this sub objective the project tried to address the capacity gap so as to enhance the capacity of partners at Woreda level in the areas of early warning and emergency response.

To familiarize people with the NPDPM and to enhance its implementation, the following training schemes were provided to Woreda DPPC members and concerned LD personnel.
•	National Policies on Disaster prevention and management, (100% of the plan 40)
•	Early warning data collection, analysis and dissemination, (100% of the plan 40)
•	Participatory Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, (50% of the plan 40)
In addition workshops were held on the subjects of National (policy learning???) that are pertinent to rural development and gender issues. 

As a result of these training schemes for Woreda partners the following achievements are recorded:
1	Improved co-operation and co-ordination in disaster management among Woreda Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committees (DPPC’s) and LD’s.
2	Improved awareness of NPDPM and the acceptance of their roles and responsibilities by the Woreda DPPC’s and LD’s.
3	The DPPC capacity for co-ordination in implementing NPDPM was strengthened at the Woreda levels. 
4	This has been substantiated by the panel monitoring team formed by the beneficiary farmers and representatives from different sector offices of the Woreda government. This team carried out two intensive field visits (in July, 2004 and November, 2005) to monitor and supervise the implementation, status and performance of the various objectives of the project. 
5	In general, the finding of the monitoring panel showed that there is improved household capacity to absorb or resist shocks on their own without any external assistance, despite the occurrence of various disasters. 
6	To strengthen the Woreda early warning capacity 5 rain gauges were purchased and installed in 5 PA’s (100% of the plan), 2 in Kurfachele and 3 in Bedeno, . Installation of the rain gauges and the provision of the required training for the DA’s who manage the rain gauge stations at the PA’s were carried out by the National Metrological Agency.

To improve the quality and timeliness of emergency responses the Project constructed one warehouse with a capacity of 300MT (100% of the plan) in Kurfachele Woreda at a community centre. The warehouse construction was of high quality, ensuring a secure location for food storage and reduced travelling distance for beneficiaries from around 15 Km to less than 5 Km. One other warehouse with a capacity of 500MT was also renovated in the same Woreda and as a result of these activities the storage capacity of the Woreda increased by 500MT.

The plan to develop an EGS Shelf Plan has not been implemented as the project mainly focused on community action plans. However training on Participatory Plan Development was a component of the training for partners.Bedeno Woreda DPPC.

To support of the strengthening the physical capacity of the woreda government, the following office equipment and materials were bought and are ready to be delivered to Bedeno Woreda DPPC.  

	Table 30:	Equipment bought for woreda offices (East Hararghe)
	
No	Equipment /Material	unit	Quantity	
1.	Wooden Shelf	No	4	
2.	Tables with two pockets	“ “	5	
3.	Office chairs	“ “	30	
4.	Bench chairs	“ “	10	
5.	Computer with printer and accessories	“ “	1	
6.	Motorcycles	“  “	2	

6.3.2	Strategic Objective 2

 3,000 women of reproductive age and 3,000 children under 2 years of age in the target areas to have improved nutrition status. (East Hararghe)

Table 31:	Households improve care and feeding practices for women of reproductive age and children of 0-2 years of age (East Hararghe).

	Activities	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	percentage	
1	Train community animators on health and nutrition	No	90	136	151.1	
2	Nutrition ext. education to women and men	No	12,000	6130	51.1	
3	Promotion of vegetable gardening	No	1,000	1579	157.9	
4	Promotion of fuel-efficient stoves.	HH	500	1602	320.4	
5	Feeding lactating/pregnant women and malnourished children 	No	8400	4244	50.50	

The project started with sensitisation of the community through the training of 136 Health and Nutrition Animators which was 50% more than the target for the entire project life. Health and Nutrition Animators present at FGD’s spoke of receiving training in sanitation, disposal of household waste, personal hygiene, the cleaning of water containers and stop cocks. Other training schemes were delivered in childcare and nutrition which covered exclusive breast-feeding for six months and the care of lactating and pregnant women. Also emphasized were the value of good nutrition and the need to introduce cereals, pulses, eggs and milk to the household diets. 

Almost all the women spoke of how they used to feed their new-born children with either milk for boys and water for girls (in Hula Jeneta) for the first three days of their lives. When asked why the distinction in different food for boys and girls, the answer was, “boys are brave and needed to be strong and the water is to calm the women in later life”. The situation is reversed in Badeno where girls were given milk to ‘create mercy’ and boys water to quench their thirst and ‘cool’ their hearts. Some of the ‘bad’ practices included feeding the new-born babies with butter mixed with water or sugar diluted with water. Never before did mothers give their new-born babies colostrum, which they believed was not good for the babies. In other cases mothers left their children with other women who breast-fed them while the mothers went to the farm or market. At 3 months old, the children were introduced to supplementary food of Injera and anything that the adult members of the HH ate. The result of these inappropriate practices were the children were very malnourished and frequently suffered from diarrhoea and other childhood diseases such as protruding stomachs as at that age they are unable to digest the inappropriate food that they have eaten.  The training the mothers received has changed all their perceptions.

One woman from FGD in Cheffe Aneni
“To cure the protruding stomach and indigestion problems, mothers/adults used to push a stick through the anal cavity into the sick child’s belly and stir the intestines to bring out the faeces or undigested food. They probed the child’s stomach with the stick until he/she bleeds and they believe then they are  cured. All the protruding stomach was due to malnutrition and infectious diseases. All these practices have ceased since the training we received from the RP. Can you imagine what we used to do to our children? Now with de-worming tablets, good nutrition and good water the children do not even have protruding stomachs. Thanks to REVIVE.

Nearly all participants present at the FGDs said that they had received help in the form of seeds for planting their vegetable gardens. This is evidenced in the Project Activity Report that stated that 157.9% of the target had been achieved (1,579 people taking on vegetable gardening against the planned target of 1,000)

All FGD participants told how they had planted carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, beet root, Irish potatoes and some said that they used drip irrigation in their gardens. Others said due to water shortage they only plant the vegetables twice a year during the raining seasons of March-May and June-September. They also said that those who have access to water, could, and do, plant 3 times a year. A few participants said that they sold the surplus vegetables but most told how they used the produce to feed their families. 

The project have provided 4,244 children and pregnant and lactating mothers with CSB for 3 months a year for the past 2 years. Even though this is only 50% of the target FGD respondents’ spoke of marked changes in the health of their children. They also spoke of pregnant women being given iron tablets and children eating well and growing nicely.

One man from Hula Jeneta FGD said:
“Previously there was a piece of land in the village that was reserved for graveyard for children. About 70% of the children die before they are one year old, now that piece of land is redundant. Lively and healthy children now play on this piece of land. We have not buried a single child since we started feeding the children properly. No child has a protruding stomach; our village now has a chance to develop as our children are our future”.

According to the East Hararghe REVIVE Project terminal report, even though a nutrition survey hasn’t been conducted recently in the area, quotes anecdotal evidence from Health Institutions and the community that indicates that there is a significant reduction in the level of malnutrition since  REVIVE intervention. 

The project also promoted mother to mother support groups that gave support to each other particularly in discussing and understanding the causes of malnutrition which they previously believed was a common natural childhood disease. The mother to mother support group is another forum for discussing other cross cutting issues including family planning, other health matters and community development issues in addition to its prime function of mutually supporting and promoting domestic and socio cultural activities. 

The overwhelming success of the Project has been the sensitisation of the public to the benefits of using fuel-efficient stoves (FES) showing how they should be constructed and thereby achieving a very high adoption rate which is most remarkable in Badeno. The construction involves using clay to build the internal structure whilst drilling a hole through the wall and inserting an old corrugated iron sheet (a crude sort of chimney) for discharging smoke outside. 

The Project reported having to demonstrate the construction FES’s only once to the animators who were then to train other women in their own PA’s. Of the planned 500 households to recognise the benefits of the usage of the installations 1,602 (320%) have now constructed and are using FESs. FGD participants at Rare Jeneta said that in the village of Oilo, the adoption of the FES is 101 out of a total of 104 households.

Some of the benefits recounted by the women include the reduction of fuel wood usage by 50%. This means that the backbreaking job of women travelling long distances to fetch fuel wood is drastically reduced. 
Secondly the problem of smoke inhalation and its associated respiratory problems including eye irritation, which could lead to sight problems in later life, has been greatly reduced if not eliminated where the FES is properly constructed. Women also spoke of their animals being free from the smoke and, last but not least, the risk of injury to their children of burnt lower legs has been greatly reduced.

A woman from Robeyo village
“I used to go out twice a week to look for fuel wood. There are times that it took me more than 6 hours including traveling long distances. When I get back, my back hurts and I have to cook. The smoke gets into my eyes, at times I am so tired that I cry, but nobody knows I am crying, as the smoke is in my eyes and they all think it is the smoke. Now that I have this stove, there is no longer any tears in my eyes, either from the smoke or from tiredness.

The greatest health benefits derived from the use of FESs is to mothers and small children who mostly use the kitchen for cooking while the children play around the cooking area. Smoke inhalation related health problems and the risk of flames burning children (and even the mothers) are greatly reduced.

A woman from Hachira village
“My daughter and I will go out twice a week, we will travel at times over 8 kilometres without food to look for fuel wood. When we have to travel that far to look for the wood, by the time we get back, it is dark; the rest of the family will be waiting and hungry. Now I only go out once a week and have enough wood to cook. My small child was once burnt when he crawled near the old traditional stove, which I had. Now the new stove is compact, there is no danger. Even we have all stopped smelling of smoke due to the smoke vent that sends the smoke outside”.

Table 32:	Increased Access to Water and Sanitation and better Hygiene Practices (East Hararghe)
	Activities	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	percentage	
1	Extension education to women and men on sanitation and
hygiene practices.	No	12,000	7882	65.7	
2	Organise and train WATSANs	No	25	14	56.0	
3	Organise and train water caretakers.	No	100	56	56.0	
4	Organise and train water committees at PA level.	No	10	5	50.0	
5	Spring development with on spot and gravity systems	No.	9	6	66	
6	Shallow well development with related structures	No.	1	0	0	
7	Refresher training to the three committees: WATSANs care takers and water committees.	No	35	0	0.0	
8	Promotion of VIP latrines	No	1000	1962	196.2	
9	Water systems spare parts to LDs for handing over of completed water schemes.	No	xxx		#VALUE!	

Second only to food and nutrition is the need for clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene practices, which directly affect the health of the community. This sub-component, through its planned activities, addressed these community needs. The project sensitised the community through the establishment and training of WATSAN’s and Health Animators who went on to train and sensitise the community on the need for improved sanitation and hygiene practices together with other health related issues. 
All FGD participants spoke of either being an Animator or having received some training from the Project. Training included personal hygiene, environmental care, sanitation and proper disposal of household waste as well as how disease spreads due to unhygienic conditions in the home.

One man from Cheffe Aneni FGD
“Before REVIVE, because there was no water, we never use to wash our clothes and children’s clothes. When children soiled their clothes, we just dried the clothes in the sun until the faeces is dry and we scrap it off and reuse the clothes. The children use to fall sick because they were breathing these bad things, they had terrible respiratory problems and even worse stomach upsets. Thanks to REVIVE our children are now healthy, we have now changed our old and bad cultural practices like massaging the belly to reduce the size of  a child whose stomach is swollen due to malnutrition thinking is we massaged the stomach hard enough, the swelling will go down”.

Of the targeted 12,000 men and women to be educated in improved sanitation and hygiene practices, the Project reported reaching 7,882 (65.7%) at the time of termination. 
There had been 14 WATSAN committees formed (56% of the target of 25)  in 5 PA’s in Kurfa Chele and Bedeno Woredas. 5 Water Committees (50% of the target of 10) have been established in 5 PA’s in Kurfachell and Bedeno Woredas.  It was reported that in one PA, Badeno (Tirtiro mangudo), there were already water committees so there was no need for these.  Fourteen other WATSAN committees were trained in various water and sanitation subjects with some training being delivered by the Zonal water desk as well as the Woreda health and water desks.

The project has developed 6 water schemes of the planned 9 (67%), three each in the Badeno and Kurfa Chele Woredas. The schemes comprise of 14 water distribution points, 13 wash basins, 11 cattle troughs 2 reservoirs each with 25 cubic meter capacity, in Cheffe Aneni and Harawa Belina, together with 2 smaller reservoirs of 5 and 7 cubic meter in Tirtiro Mangudo. At the farthest, the project laid 9 kilometres of pipe. The community is reported to have contributed a total of 146,500 ETB in cash and 513,266 ETB in labour towards the construction of these schemes. The completion of the schemes has, according to the EH terminal report, given access to clean water supply to 8,152 households  40,760 humans and 20,870 head of livestock. 

All participants at FGD’s have their own individual and collective stories about the hardship of not having access to clean water. To communities who now have the water schemes, people spoke of walking for miles looking for water in the past and then, if they were lucky, having to accept muddy water from ponds, that they shared with animals, or from unprotected springs. Most of the water sources dried up during the dry season, which meant communities had to travel even farther in search of water.

One woman in Cheffe Aneni village FGD
“Before the development of this water distribution point, it used to take us 6 hours in the wet season to get water from the pond, which we were using with the animals. In the dry season the pond dried out and we had to go even further down in the valley to find water. Now it is around 5 to 10 minutes, 15 minutes from the farthest point in the village”. 

Another participant from Cheffe Aneni village FGD
“We used to have a bath once in every 2 months. There was not enough water to cook or drink let alone bath. We never washed our clothes; they just grew old and got torn. Now we  can even have a bath twice a day if we want(and he laughs out loudly) and we were taught to wash our clothes. We now look nice and feel good”.

Another participant from Cheffe Aneni village FGD
“The health gain for the community is unbelievable. Our children were affected by parasites and disease because of dirty water. Now all that is gone, no more diarrhoea, tape worm and stomach troubles in either adults or children. We are all relieved from all that”.

One woman in Hachira village FGD
“We used to leave the house very early in the morning as it used to take us 6-7 hours to get water back home. Most of the women were beaten by their husbands for being late in getting home and cooking their food. I know of a woman who died in child birth because there was no water. Many children die at birth because there is no water to clean them properly. Now there is water all the hardship is gone”.

Considering the situation in Tirtira Mengudo and Rare Jeneta PA’s in Badeno Woreda; in the Tirtira Mengudo PA area there is a water scheme in which the 7 villages in the PA benefit and participants in the FGD’s told that, as a result of the training provided in conjunction with the water scheme they now had their baths once a week when it was once every 2 months pre REVIVE intervention. Although Rare Jeneta does not have a water scheme developed by the RP FGD participants informed the ET that they had been trained to boil their water before drinking. They had also been instructed in the basics of personal and environmental hygiene to prevent communicable diseases. 

 The success of the promotion and adoption of Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines (VIPLs) has been remarkable. At the close of project, 1,962 VIPLs were constructed of the 1,000 planned a 196% achievement. These are all VIPLs not ordinary pit latrines. The approach used by the project in promoting the VIPLs has been a technical demonstration of the technology to the communities complemented by consistent education and sensitisation on environmental sanitation, personal hygiene and the disease cycle. Visits were arranged to PAs that were doing well and the fact that CBRMC’s and village development committees added the construction of VIPLs to their development plans assisted a great deal in the adoption rate.  Villagers speak of the environmental benefits of which they became aware when they adopted VIPLs.

A man from Tirtiro Mungudo PA FGD
“Every one in my village has a VIPL because of education we had from our community facilitators. Previously no one could sit under a tree in the village as people excreted everywhere .Now you can sit under a tree and have a rest as the whole place is clean. Previously the cows were eating from contaminated fields as there was excreta everywhere but nowadays the cows eat pure grass and they give healthy milk which is good for us.

Another woman from Tirtiro Mungudo PA FGD
Women previously disposed of their children’s faeces in vegetable gardens. When we eat the vegetables we get amoeba and other infections resulting in diarrhoea, stomach infections and other diseases, now all that has gone. 

Villagers from Bossowa in Rare Jeneta who participated in the FGD said 300 HHs out 320 HHs in their village have constructed their own individual VIPLs. The 20 HHs that do not have the VIPLs are the elderly and infirm who use their neighbour’s facilities.

6.3.	Strategic Objective 3

Objective 3 –3000 households have increased agricultural production and productivity.

Table 33:	Reduce pre-and post harvest losses (East Hararghe)
				Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Prioritize main causes to be addressed by communities by undertaking
an assessment of the causes in 10 PAs.	PAs	10	5	50	
2	Prepare an IPM agricultural extension manual.	No	1	1	100	
3	Prepare a behavioural change communication material for IPM
extension activities.	No	1		0	
4	Train MOA and CARE staffs on IPM	No	40	38	95	
5	Train agricultural animators on IPM	No	90	130	144.4	
6	Agricultural extension education to farmers on pre and post harvest
crop losses management.	HH	3000	5766	192.2	
7	Promote appropriate cereal and vegetables preservation/storage
techniques and facilities.	HH	200	66	33	
8	Provide farm oxen to farmers for timely farming.	No	300	27	9	

The ‘IPM Agricultural Extension Manual’ was prepared by a professional consultant who was a specialist in the area of crop protection and IPM. This manual was supplied and used for the ‘Training of Trainers’ programme. However, the plan to prepare behavioural change communication material for IPM extension activities has not been realized. This as a result has constrained the effective (systematic, regular and frequent) implementation of the IPM extension. Training of Trainers (TOT) in IPM, including both theoretical and practical sessions was given to 38 Office of Agriculture and CARE staffs (95 % of the plan). 

Those who took part in the TOT have subsequently trained 130 Agricultural Animators and Development Agents on IPM (144.4 % of the plan). The training was for 5 days and the topics covered included the types of crop pests and the economic importance of biological, physical, mechanical, chemical pest control mechanisms as well as the need to use appropriate improved cultivation methods.  

Agricultural Animators with the assistance of Extension Agents have provided extension education on (IPM) and pre and post harvest crop loss management to 5,766 HHs in all the 11 targeted Kebeles (192 % 0f the plan). As a result, community awareness of IPM and reduced pre and post harvest crop losses has improved (community information). The extension education programmes in this area did not include promotion and use of improved grain storage facilities. 

However, 66 HHs were trained on appropriate cereal and vegetables preservation and storage techniques and facilties through mass education. The farmers, during the focus group discussion at Cheffe Anene, expressed satisfaction at having learnt about the techniques but regretted that nobody had constructed the improved stores because of the scarcity of wood in the surrounding area.

The Project had undertaken initial assessment to identify the major causes of pre and post harvest loses which involved different farmers from five PAs and in 5 sampled Kebeles.  The findings of the assessment have identified Stock borer, Striga Weeds, late and poor land preparation, drought, insufficient fertilizer, Weevils, Rodents and lose storage pit as major causes of the losses.

Some attempts were also made to organize 7 Field schools; one in each of the seven PA’s dealing in the prevention and management of ‘stock borer’, a disease affecting pepper growth. Although they were not regular and frequent these extension education forums did promote awareness of the pest and disseminated the knowledge of traditional and new methods together with new products that controlled the problem.
 
As a result farmers have been encouraged to detect and report infestation and to undertake training and research on the use of different local plants as pesticides and encouraging and supporting farmers to experiment with traditional remedies for controlling Sock-borer and Huddu (Huddu is the local name for a worm that attacks Haricot beans, Chat and Sorghum). The traditional remedy for Huddu infestation is a pesticide prepared by mixing Datura Arboria (Benji or Aste-faris varieties), cattle urine, pepper and salt and then storing the mixture in a deep hole for 2 weeks. It has been found to be particularly successful in destroying Sock borer as well as Huddu. This local pesticide is now widely used in the Project areas visited.

Abdulhamid Mohammed from Cheffe Anene, said that: “I had 3 Timad of Haricot beans of which 2 Timad were attacked by Huudu and destroyed, but I have been able to save the remaining third Timad by spraying the mixture, about which I learned from REVIVE, on my crops. 	

There has also been experiments with anti rodent pesticide prepared by mixing a local plant called Ashita Jeldessa (komerie), sisal and cereal to be planted near rodent holes. The experiment was found successful and applied by the communities in Rare- Jeneta as a trial of its effectiveness. However, due to inadequate follow-up and weak extension system the FFS have not been successful in promoting farmers research or of extending the use of traditional knowledge in a sustainable manner. 

Provision of oxen to needy farmers: Another critical input that the Project attempted to address was the grave and widespread shortage of Oxen in the Food insecure areas. The project has provided 27 oxen to farmers to operate on revolving fund basis and the arrangements made for ensuring repayments were based on the existing local tradition of oxen-sharing. Accordingly the revolving fund contribution was ‘in kind’ to a group of three persons. 

The first stage of which was that one person  in the group was given the beast to look after and  ‘own’ with all three members of the group working with the oxen on all farming activities until the oxen is ready for sale at twofold of its initial price. 

The group then purchases a second Oxen with part of the profit from the sale of the first and gives it to the second member of the group to ‘own’ the process continues with all three still working together and when the second Oxen is sold the third group member receives an oxen and they still work together until it is sold at a profit. At this point the Project will form another group and donate another oxen on the same conditions as those for the first group.  Currently it was reported that, each of the 27 beneficiaries targeted in the first stage has transferred one ox to the second beneficiary under the terms and conditions of the group ‘by-laws’.

 As a result the first round beneficiaries have become the owner of oxen, and all the participants, 81 farmers (27X3) have undertaken farming activities on time.  

Adem Umer from Chefe Annene PA who is poor said that he has 4 children “I couldn’t feed them and the life of my family was between life and death. Finally I was selected for the REVIVE oxen revolving fund and received Birr 930 to be repaid within one year. I fattened the oxen in my backyard for almost a year and finally was able to sell the fattened bull for Birr 3,000. I bought other oxen with Birr 930 and gave it to Ato Dafer Mohammed who has already started the fattening and expected sale at good price and transfer another ox to Ato Dina Shihamid with in a year. I am now owner of one ox and 9 goats and I have some extra money I saved from the sale with which I am in the process of constructing a house with corrugated iron sheet, of which I was dreaming for a long time.  Now my family is changed we are happy and live in a good conditions”.	

Table 34:	Improved farming methods adopted (East Hararghe)
				 Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Promotion of organic manuring /compost preparation.	No	1000	1310	131	
2	Train agri. Animators on improved soil and water conservation practices.	No	90	147	163.3	
3	Train CARE and partners staffs on improved soil and water conserv-
ation techniques and practices.	No	40	 -	-	
4	Agricultural extension education to farmer on improved soil and
water conservation practices and techniques.	HH	3000	4044	134.8	
5	Soil bund construction.	Km	200	33.8	16.9	
6	Stone face soil bund construction.	Km	200	20	10	
7	Hill side terrace construction.	Km	100	15	15	
8	Check dam construction.	Meter	500	1415	283	
9	Stone bund construction.	Km	100	24.61	24.6	
10	Bund/terrace stabilization biologically.	Km	100	 0	0	
11	Tree/forage/fruits seedlings production in 2 central nurseries.	000	500	46.754	9.4	
12	Tree/forage seedlings production in private nurseries.	000	40	7.344	18.4	

Promotion of the Use of Organic Manure: The Project has been supporting individual households and farmers’ groups in compost preparation and green manure applications, through extension education and demonstration. As a result, more than 1,310 HHs ( 131% of the plan) have prepared and used compost. Such compost making and distribution activities are now increasing and even expanding to the adjacent Kebeles like Rasa-jeneta and Ija Biya Kebeles. To this end consideration needs to be given to gradually introduce ‘leys’ as an intercrop to be used for biomass which is a  rare commodity in many of the targeted areas where competitive uses prevail.  This could be planned as part of, and in conjunction with, the safety net programme.  

Improved Soil and water conservation techniques and practices: To increase farmers' awareness and capacity and to facilitate adoption of improved and sustainable agricultural technologies, training on improved soil and water conservation techniques and practices was given for 147 Agricultural Animators (163.3 % of the plan). The training of the Animators was supported with practical training on the different conservation-based farming techniques and they were subsequently used in Agricultural Extension Education course to train 4,044 farmers (134.8 % of the plan) on conservation-based farming techniques by integrating indigenous knowledge which can be put to immediate use.
. 
As a result an increasing awareness and the adoption of new and improved farming methods and practices has been observed:   examples of which are:
·	Cultivation of steep lands with appropriate conservation practices, 
·	Removal of sorghum stock before cultivation as an appropriate pest control practice. 
·	Repeated ploughing (2-3 times before sowing) to the required depth (using Dengora) to reduce runoff and maximize infiltration.

One farmer said “Previously I was using only one ox and ploughed only once to cultivate the land for sowing. Now as a result of the education from the REVIVE I am using a pair of oxen and cultivate three times before sowing. Since then overland flow has decreased infiltration of water to the soil increased enhancing moisture conservation to the crop in my land. As a result my production from the same size of land increased from 2-3 Qt to 6-7Qt”.	

·	Increased awareness in runoff farming through flood diversion to agricultural farms 
·	Crop rotation and inter cropping with legumes to allow nutrient recycling, 
·	Controlled grazing and proper land use practices 
·	Increased use of crop residue and dung for increasing soil fertility rather than using it to meet household energy needs, 

The following impacts were recorded from the focus group discussions with the communities.
1	Soil moisture conservation was enhanced
2	Reduced soil loss from farmland 
3	Improved soil fertility as a result of increased application of manure and compost.
4	 increased capacity of the crop /moisture relationship. 

Farmers further reported increased yields as a result of the combination between moisture harvesting and reduced soil loss. A farmer named Adem Umer Chefe Anene kebele for example witnessed yield increment from 2-3 qt to as high as 6-7 qt  from his field. 

Different SWC structures have been constructed in the 11 Kebeles of the REVIVE operational areas including: 
1	33.8 Km of soil bund (16.9% of the planned 200), 
2	15 Km hill side terrace,  (for which there was no target set)
3	20 Km of stone faced soil bund  (for which there was no target set) 
4	24.61 Km of stone bund,   (for which no was no target set)
5	1,415 Metres of check dam (for which there was no target set)

Various studies indicate that soil conservation technologies are more readily adopted if they provide useful by-products such as fodder, fuel-wood, fruits and biomass that can be used in adjacent fields. Particularly in Kurfa Chelle, efforts were made to demonstrate the integration of physical SWC structures with biological measures by planting trees on hillside terraces. However, these initiatives need to be expanded and strengthened by identifying and incorporating multipurpose trees like Shiferaw & Pigeon-pea which have better resilience to local conditions. There should also be more initiatives to ensure soil fertility improvement and promote Agro-forestry practices by the integration of selected types of trees and shrubs into local farming systems 

Unfortunately plans to establish 2 nurseries and produce 500,000 Tree/forage/fruits seedlings and promote 40 private nurseries to produce 40,000 Tree/forage/fruits seedlings did not come to fruition. However 11, 288 trees, fruit trees and other multi purpose trees were raised in the government nursery and were provided to 2,822 farmers at subsidized price.  

Table 35:	Dry land farming technologies adopted (East Hararghe)
				Achievement	
				Qty.	%	
1	Identify potentially feasible technologies.	No	xxx			
2	Train agricultural animators on dry land techniques.	No	25			
4	Train CARE and partners on dry land farming techniques.	No	40	19	47.5	
5	Early maturing and drought tolerant seeds to 1,500HHs	Qtl	500	79.85	16	
6	Dry land agricultural extension education to farmers.	No	1500	403	27	
7	Demonstrate use of dry land farming techniques.	No	xxx			

Under this sub-objectives it was envisaged that the project would identify and demonstrate the use of appropriate technologies and improved seeds of early maturing and pest resistant varieties of more nutritious crops in addition to demonstrating improved irrigation practices and labour-saving devices for the production of fruit bearing trees. To meet this sub-objective 19 GOV & CARE staff (11 CARE and 8 MOA DAs ) were trained for five days in dry land technologies at Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre. 

A total of 1,369 farmers received the following amount of improved varieties (Early maturing and high yielding) of wheat, sorghum and Haricot Bean seeds. 

Table 36: Early maturing and high yielding seeds (East Hararghe)
Type of Seeds	Varity 	Quantity  (Kg)	
Sorghum 	Gubiye and Meko	300	
Wheat	Tritikale	1800	
Haricot bean	Mexican Varity	5685	

The seed was provided to be used as a ‘Revolving Fund’ on the basis of an agreement made among farmers, WOAO, CBRMC and CARE that ensured repayment of the credit and facilitated the monitoring and follow-up process. The Sorghum and Haricot bean seed distributed to farmers was retuned twice but in the second round, due to a prolonged dry spell in the area, the farmers could not return the seed and as a result the revolving seed initiative has been interrupted. The CBRMC’s are still facilitating the ‘Wheat Seed Resource Transfer’ among the community members.

Distribution of improved wheat seed seems very insignificant to bring the required impact in the short term for example in Rare Jeneta PA the distribution rate was 1 person per village or 10 farmers in the whole PA. This initiative was designed with the assumption that seed will eventually be sufficient to provide enough for the whole area through ‘Farmer to Farmer’ distribution however taking the area’s proneness to different adverse climatic conditions and the high adulteration rate of the seed it would appear that the quantity of seed provided and the rate of multiplication is totally inadequate in this area.  

Though there was distribution of improved sorghum seed in the Cheffe Anene PA the amount didn’t revolve for more than two years as a result of the recent dry spell which damaged crops in the field. In general as a result of the diversification of cropping and use of improved and early maturing crop varieties food production has increased and made the Project area more self sufficient in food  and less vulnerable to drought

The following fruit and multi purpose trees produced in the government nursery were distributed to farmers at subsidized prices. 

	Table 37: fruit and multi purpose seedlings (East Hararghe)
Type of
Fruit tree	Price
Birr/seedling	Type of Multipurpose  tree	Price
Birr/seedling	
Mango 	0.2	Sesbaniya sesban	free	
Avocado	0.2	Accacia Saligna	“    ”	
Orange	0.2	Accacia Albida	“    ”	
Lemon	0.2	Doviales	“    ”	
Papaya	0.1	Juniperous	“    ”	
		Coffee	--------	

Drip Irrigation Technology: To promote Drip Irrigation Technology (DIT) training was given to 6 CARE Extension Agents and supervisors and until the date of the evaluation Government staffs from the Woredas have not been involved in DIT training.

To introduce small-scale irrigation systems, primarily for nutritious foods and market crops, 64 farmers were trained in the practical application of DIT which included the use of Drip Kits. This has been further supported by the donation of drip-kits to 64 farmers for demonstration purposes. Each drip kit comprises 15 M of plastic hose which can drip irrigate two small plots of land of 10X2 m. All farmers who received the practical training and the drip kits have made some attempts to grow at least one product. Some kits have been used for vegetable production in backyards and some for fruit tree seedling production. 
This initiative was not successful in bringing the required adoption and replication due to: 
1	Inadequate technical backstopping and follow-up from the Projects supervisors 
2	Inadequate training on the management of the kits to address practical problems that affected farmers in different areas particularly in areas where there is a serious shortage of water. 
3	Inadequate training in the production and protection of high value crops like vegetables which are exposed to different pest infestations. 

Ato Shumedin Ahemed is a farmer in Cheffe Anene PA with a family of 5 to support who said that; “I received the dripping kit and irrigated two small plots of land and produced different vegetables including Red beat, carrot onion.  I consumed all what I have produced. However, due to the recent shortage of rainfall in the area I couldn’t apply the technology and returned the kit to the Kebele.  There are 30 people in our Kebele who received the kit from the project, but for reason I mentioned earlier all have returned the kits and it is now stored in the PA store. 	

Area Enclosure: Area closure is an important land rehabilitation method and one which requires the least input. As a result of this intervention communities in the Rasa Jeneta and Hula Jeneta PA’s of Kurfachelle Woreda have enclosed 45 Ha of hilly areas which were highly degraded and unsuitable for any cultivation or other productive uses. The enclosed area has been treated with SWC measures like hillside terrace and planted with 16,764 various exotic plant species. Communities have subsequently developed their own by-laws regarding the management of the closed area including the use of grass, and protection by guarding. 

The evaluation team visited Kurfa Gutu hill enclosures in Hulla Jeneta PA where the enclosed areas have been treated with hillside terraces and planted with various exotic species, mainly Acacia Saligna, Accacia Albia and Juniperus Procera. There is a guard employed by the community who is paid in food the amount that has been agreed as the FFW norm for a watchman for enclosed area. 
The assessment of the enclosed sites that were sampled suggests that the natural regeneration of many plant species is improving which that indicates the potential of this initiative and shows clear differences between enclosed areas and open lands. There are also considerable differences between plantation sites and adjacent untreated areas.

6.3.4	Strategic Objective 4 (East Hararghe)

650 Households to increase and diversify ‘On & Off’ farm income to meet basic needs and build their asset base. (East Hararghe)

Table 38:	Improved Household Resource Management Practices (East Hararghe)
	Activities	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	Percentage
%	
	Improved house holds resources management					
1	Undertake study and prioritise wasteful and best practices to be 
adressed by communities.	No	1	1	100.0	
2	Develop strategy to address wasteful and best practices by communities.	No	1	1	100.0	
3	Train CARE and partners staffs on community facilitation skills.	No	40	25	62.5	
4	Extension education to HHs in efficient utilization of domestic resource.	HH	667	1156	173.3	
5	Organise forum for community discussions on their development issues 
and possible IGA options.	No	30	11	36.7	
6	Training to community animators on income generation, savings and 
resources management.	No	30	9	30.0	
7	Establish  community self Help saving  groups 	No		111		

In order to assist Households to improve their resource management, the Project undertook a study to quantify and qualify the so-called wasteful practices in which the communities indulge as well as the ‘best practices’ within the community. Using the outcome of the study, strategies were developed and adopted to reduce, and if possible to eradicate, the identified wasteful practices and communities were urged to adopt the best practices.  The practices that were identified included: extravagant expenditure on marriage and funeral ceremonies, the sale of crops in times of plenty, dependency on external resources and poor attitude towards saving. 
Best practices including community cohesion, a positive attitude towards organising people into self help groups, (which was aided by and the presence of existing community self help groups) assisted in organising the community to participate in CSSGs.  
The formation of these groups gave the communities the ability to take part in, and profit from, the intensive and extensive training in the efficient utilisation of domestic resources. 

25 CARE staff and relevant partners in both Kurfachele and Bedeno Woredas, attended a training course and were trained in facilitation skills of the planned 40 (62.5%). The course also included staff working at community level. These people went on to train 9 Animators who are intended to train members of community groups in income generation and savings and resource management. They will also go on to assist Savings Promoters to support CSSGs. Of the planned 667 Households that were targeted 1,156 actually attended the training and/or sensitization sessions which is a 173% increase in the planned activity level.

Each CSSG is required to undergo 8 months of intensive training to enable them to understand, operate and train others in the management of Savings Groups. The curriculum for this training course includes: financial recording, loan management and conflict management. 
The project has successfully established 70 CSSGs with a total membership of 1,175 people (303 men and 872 women) with total capital of 50, 256 birr.

Most FGD participants belong to CSSGs. They speak of group numbers ranging from 14 to 20 but in a few cases 24 and 25 members in either single sex or mixed groups. Beneficiaries spoke of group by-laws and of interest rates of about 10% payable after three months of taking the loan.

Many people explained that they never thought that they would be able save at any time in their lives because they believed that they were too poor however, thanks to REVIVE and the introduction of CSSGs they are now able to save and even have access to loans, which was almost impossible before.

A farmer from Tirtiro Mengudo PA
Before REVIVE, getting a loan when you were in real need was difficult. You had to go to your neighbour or a rich person in the community and beg. If it is a rich member of the community, you have to take your friends or relatives with you to beg for you and you are humiliated. When you take the loan, the moneylender can call you anytime to work on his land until the loan is repaid. If the loan is from a neighbour, he can demand it back anytime even if you do not have the money to pay.

Even non-members of CSSGs spoke of the benefits that membership brought to their families and in some cases saved families from starvation. 

A farmer from Tirtiro Mengudo PA
“My wife was part of a CSSG, I had no money to buy seeds. My wife took a loan of 200 birr from her savings group, she used 100 birr for petty trading and gave me 100birr to buy bean seeds. My harvest produced 100-kg bag, which I sold for 800birr as well as what we ate at home and seed for planting in the next season. My wife made 300birr from her petty trading and paid back the loan. Without the loan from the savings group I don’t know what we would have done. I am now planning to join a CSSG too”.

Table 39: Increased Access to Income from Income Generation Activities

	Activities	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	Percentage
%	
1	Undertake potential marketable skills identification study.	No	1	1	100	
2	Training to women and men of saving  groups on marketable skills
at recognised skills training centres.	No	200	40	20.0	
3	Provide start up capital to achieve savings and credit groups formed.	USD	xxx	0	0.0	
4	Promote IGA extension education to savings and credit group members on IGA options and its management.	HH	667	825	123.7	
5	Build capacity of marketable skills training centres.	USD	xxx	0	0.0	
6	Promotion of dairy goats by women farmers.	No	100	37	37.0	
7	Promotion of chicken by women farmers.	No	100	20	20.0	
8	Promotion of honey bees by HHs.	HH	100	0	0.0	
9	Promotion of forage development by HHs.	HH	155	30	19	

The activities within this sub component started with the assessment of potential marketable skills and an inventory of income generating activities and marketing channels that was carried out in through discussion with the communities. 
The findings of the study guided the implementation of the Project activities which included encouraging community based saving groups to use their own savings on appropriate and profitable income generation activities, such as small petty trading of vegetables, livestock products, shoots and crops. The findings of the study also acknowledged the presence of existing small businesses, mostly petty trading in most of the Project areas. 

The only attractive marketable skills found by the study in the defined areas were masonry skills, important for house and road construction works Until recently, there were no training centres in the area providing such kind of training so that instead of taking beneficiaries to training centres marketable centres as indicated in the Project proposal REVIVE provided on the job training for 40 men (20% of the plan) in road pavement skills in Badeno by allowing local skilled labourers to demonstrate, to trainee beneficiaries, how the work should be done. 

The technical staff then certifies the work when the right competence levels are attained and the work is completed. Many participants in the Rare Jeneta FGD spoke of participating in road construction in which they earned a reasonable income, albeit in FFW grains. 

One man from Rare Jeneta
“I was one of the people who worked on the roads. Before REVIVE, I did not have any skills, I thought, I could never do anything like that in my life, but after the training, I worked with other people from the village. I was paid in grains. I earned 17-20 bags of 50kgs each. I saved some of the wheat from the FFW payment and sold some, which earned me 900 birr, which I used to buy a young bull which. I fattened and sold for 2,800 birr. I am going to buy some more bulls and fatten them for sale and build a house with iron sheet roofing. 

Some of the CSSGs had not secured co-op registration and therefore had no legal status because of which the Project was unable to provide any start-up capital during the project period as Government policy requires registration of all CSSGs with the Co-operative Department.

According to Project reports some poor women’s groups, including a few CSSGs, were not able to engage in income generating activities. As they had totally depleted their household assets they were provided with ‘in kind’ starting capital in the form of goats and chicken in a Revolving Fund in which the members rear the stock and transfer the offspring among each other.  
Woreda officials and PA committee members stated that this had proved to be empowering process in which groups, with at least 3 members, got together to develop their own by laws and fix the time of transfer of the first offspring(s) from the original recipient to the second and the third as well as establishing clear roles and responsibilities of the partners. When all three group members have received one offspring each Woreda officers form another sub group from the original big group members and continue with the Revolving Fund programme. 
At the time of the assessment 37 women have benefited from the provision of dairy goats and 20 women have been provided with 60 chickens under this scheme (37% and 20% of the plan respectively).  According to the Project terminal report, 65% of the participants in the in the goat Revolving Fund has received the first transfer of goats to the transferred to the second recipient. 

Instead of the planned 667 Households the Project was able to promote IGA extension education, to savings and credit group members, on the options available to them and the management of their groups, to 825 HHs (124% achievement). Many beneficiaries from FGDs spoke of the benefits the training had given them relating to savings and to making choices in their IGAs. 

The Project was unable to accomplish the promotion of honeybees as planned due to lack of the necessary materials.  
Due to the early termination of the project, the forage development activity could not be implemented and has been left to the MOA to undertake. The Project provided the Woreda with seed and training to facilitate this activity. 
As part of the co-operation and partnership agreements between the Project and Woreda, 30 females were trained by MOA experts on forage development and management in support of the participants of the goat Revolving Fund. 

Table 40: Increased Organisational Capacity for Income Generation Activities. (East Hararghe)
	Activities	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	Percentage
%	
1	Training to CBOs on financial management and book keeping.	No	30	0	0.0	
2	Provide CBOs and cooperative with supplies.	No	30	40	133.33	
3	Provide start up capital to CBOs and co-operatives.	No	30	0	0.0	
4	Organise and conduct PA level visibility and networking events for CSSG	No	5	2	40.0
	
5	Assist formation of CSSGs to establish network at least at PA level 	No	5	2	40.0	

Under this sub objective the project has witnessed the implementation of supporting activities to ensure the continuing capacity building initiatives started by the project. These included human asset building through the training of partners in CSSG management in addition to the increase in the physical assets of Woreda level institutions. It also included the growing networking between CSSG groups which were enhancing their visibility at PA level. 

Of the 70 CSSG groups formed during the project period 17 groups in Tirtiro Mangudo and Goro Wedo PA’s of Bedeno Woreda formed PA level networks to enhance their visibility and strengthen solidarity between the groups. 
The formalisation of this networking activity was marked with a ceremony in the presence of community members and Woreda officials during which group members were presented with certificates signed by both CARE and Woreda officials. The ceremony included stage dramas, role-plays and poetry readings prepared by the groups and the sending of messages to all the residents of the area. 
This stage is the second stage of the actions required (recommended) that lead to the formation of Cooperative Unions the establishment of which is a Policy of the incumbent Government. The certificates attest the group’s completion of the training module that is a pre-qualification to forming a Co-operative.  

Further training and capacity building was given to CSSG network groups on Financial Management and Leadership. Financial recording books and stationery have also been provided to CSSG groups during the initial stage of their formation to encourage and enhance the quality of their records.   

Table 41: Increased Capacity of Woreda and PA level Institutions. 
	Increased capacity of woreda and PA level institutions and implementing partners.	Unit of measure	Project life plan	Project achievement	Percentage
%	
1	Project and financial management training for partners	No	6	0	0.00	
2	Participatory project planning, M& E TOT training	No	30	48	160.0	
3	Gender mainstreaming for partners and community 	No	50	142	284	
4	Provision of motor cycle	No	2	2	100.0	
5	Improved office equipment & facilities at woreda and community 					
6	Provide start up capital to CBOs and cooperatives.	No	30		0.0	

The project was unable to provide project and financial management training for partners as was planned due to the early phasing out of the project.
 
Training of 142 people, which was 284% of the planned 50 participants, on the gender aspect of development, discrimination and abuses was provided to partners at Woreda level. These training courses included a study of the existing government policy towards women and an examination of current court cases involving abuses of women nearly all of which occurred in rural communities. 

As part of capacity building at initiative at Woreda level, the Project conducted a workshop for partners focusing on the study of existing Government policies that were relevant co-operation and rural development during which 48 people were trained in ‘Project Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation’ as well as being trained as trainers which was 160% of the 30 planned.

As the CSSGs have not been legally registered with the Co-operative Department and there were no Banks or other Financial Institutions in the area to receive and disperse funds to the groups none were able to receive start up Capital or grants during the Project period. 

To strengthen the capacity of the Rural Development and the Co-operative Departments and enable them continue to support, effectively, all Project beneficiaries but in particular the CSSGs, the Project purchased a modest amount of equipment for them including 2 motor cycles, wooden shelves, 5 office tables and 30 chairs, 10 bench chairs as well as a computer and printer with accessories. Though these items have yet to be presented 2 staff have been trained in computer operation. 

Challenges
•	The wide area of coverage together and the remoteness of some of the targeted communities together with the very bad roads made easy access a challenge.
•	At the beginning of the Project all partners were focussed on the main objectives however towards the end the focus had shifted to their own priority areas. 
•	The successful implementation of the Project objectives depended to a large extent on the ability to change the behaviour of the beneficiaries which takes a long time to accomplish. The short time span, the result of the truncation of the Project, has inevitably affected outcomes and the impact most Project activities.
•	Decades of dependency on relief have made it difficult to change attitudes of beneficiaries. The sudden change from expecting and receiving regular food hand-outs to having to accept the ‘Food for Work’ initiative was a major shock for most villagers.
•	The overwhelming reliance on chat with the attendant economic effects has remained a major challenge. 
•	Targeting and reaching the very poorest has remained a challenge due to the remoteness of their villages, which is seen as a contributory cause of their poverty, The development of access will be one of the major challenges with which future development projects will faced.
•	The low literacy level of some of the groups (CSSGs) is a challenge as they find it difficult to keep proper records and cope with the more complex management problems as they grow and expand.
•	Animal Husbandry or Livestock Development were components of the Project that were not adequately considered and not accorded the level of importance that they should command as an essential part of food security program of REVIVE. 
        
Lessons learnt
•	REVIVE has demonstrated that with the right support, even the poorest members of the community have a vision to improve their lives through their own efforts.  This has been demonstrated by the growing number of saving group members.
•	The Co-operative Office has not the legal framework, and perhaps not the institutional capacity, to accommodate the CSSGs in their present format.
•	Even though some of the groups have grown ‘big’ enough and may want to increase their capital by borrowing from, or saving with, formal financial institutions, this action is not allowed under the self governing nature or the groups and access to additional, funds is therefore denied to them. To access funds from established financial institutions the groups would have to register with the Co-operative office which is not possible under the current structure.  
•	It became very apparent that even the poorest communities’ can initiate, and contribute to, their own development with the right training and a modicum of support. 
•	Mothers who have been trained have shown a noticeable change in attitude from the old, traditional health and nutrition beliefs and practices, to the adoption of exclusive breast feeding and the take –up of colostrum which with the use of supplementary foods has shown substantial health gains for their children.
•	Promotion of vegetable gardening contributed positively to families’ dietary needs and in some cases, surplus vegetables were able to be sold to earn additional income for the families.
•	There has been a positive behaviour change after training in personal hygiene and environmental health when the community have access to clean water; people who used to bath once a month now have baths every week.
•	Positive behaviour changes occur when the community is trained in improved health and sanitation methods. This is evidenced by the overwhelming numbers of community members building their own VIPLs and waste disposal facilities.
•	The Asset and Income Groups formed through REVIVE have created a forum for the community to discuss all its development concerns. 
•	Panel monitoring was a very useful experience in bringing all stakeholders together for regular monitoring of Project activities.
•	Development of a joint action plan between the Project, the various sector offices of the Woreda Government and the beneficiaries has promoted the participation of all stakeholders where each have been given, and accepted, specific tasks, duties and responsibilities. 
•	The planning process followed at the community level the effective promotion of community participation together with the assurance that ownership of the assets created would remain with the community.
•	Though the IPM intervention was limited although the impact on overall crop production and protection has been enormous and needs to be strengthened through the ‘Safety Net’ process. 

Recommendations
•	The success of the use of Project staff as facilitators instead of implementers should be continued in future programmes.  
•	There should be closer working relationships and partnerships with local government offices by establishing and using action planning forums to clearly identify actions and areas of responsibility as well as the allocation of resources. 
•	There is a need to further improve the capacities of local communities in the planning and managing use of to plan, and manage the use of water points.
•	More attention should be given to solving the current water supply problems experienced in many Kebeles.  Proper attention must also be given to the identification of sites with water potential, to their accessibility, and manageability in order to ensure sustainability.
•	There is a need to introduce an intensive farming system, with improved adaptive techniques, to increase the productivity and sustainability of as much of the available farmland as possible to ensure household food security.
•	In order to gradually relieve the population pressures on the land, there is a need to strengthen the family planning services with awareness-building efforts.
•	The overwhelming reliance on chat and wasting of resources would remain a challenge in the project area. Future projects should include strategies that address these issues.  
•	The provision of logistics (motor cycles, vehicles) should be kept to the defined time schedule to enable the Project to meet their targets.
•	More effort should be made to reach the very poorest communities in the remote parts of the areas by bringing forward the road building and water conservation projects.
•	Greater support is needed by potential beneficiaries who because of abject poverty, even though they may be interested and willing, do not have the money to save and participate in CSSGs.
•	Proper planning should be done with government officials who are occupied with their own regular activities to ensure that they participate if and when they are required to. In addition, the high turnover of staff should be taken into account when planning projects and strategies put in place to deal with the situation. 
•	Animal Husbandry or Livestock Development should be considered as integral components of all future food security programs. 

7.	COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE THREE PROJECT AREAS

The three projects were designed with the same objectives and components. Most of the activities are the same and there are only very slight variations in types and activity levels in the three areas.

The evaluation exercise has however noticed wide variations in the ability of the implementers to meet the targets set. The quality of output in certain areas also varies greatly as does the application of resources, so this section will address particular outputs and activity levels that vary greatly between areas. 
All activities have been devised to contribute directly and/or indirectly to improve the long-term food security status of chronically poor households through increased availability of and access to food and other household assets.

7.1	SELECTION OF ACTIVITIES

Activities to be implemented through the REVIVE are regularly reported to have been selected through a consultative process, mainly based on the initiative of the Project experts which are then discussed and approved at community level. It is considered to be an essential pre-condition that community participation in the selection of activities be included in the work-plan so that there is a sense of ‘Ownership’ of the initiatives by the communities that benefit from them. Such sense of ownership has been shown to play a major role in the effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention.

It is however difficult for an outsider to discern how strong has been the involvement at grass-roots level in the selection of the activities to be implemented. Indeed, the impression resulting from meetings with beneficiaries and communities that were meant to benefit or to be affected by them in any way reveals different degrees of involvement and participation of the communities in the selection process. 

In the case of East and West Harerghe the work-plans appear to be the result of a proper consultative process but this is less evident in the case of Lay Gayint.
The Action Planning exercises undertaken in West and East Hararghe involved the whole community of each village in all the targeted areas, gathering to discuss and prepare plans, using simplified planning procedures. 

7.2	QUALITY OF THE ACTIVITIES

The quality of the activities undertaken in the targeted areas appears to be mixed. It became apparent that the same type of activity carried out in different Woredas gave substantially different results and in some cases there was a considerable difference between the quality of performance of similar tasks within the same Woreda.
Whilst some of the differences can be accounted for by the difference in climate conditions and accessibility there remains a serious question of the capacity of the implementers and the assistance given by zonal and woreda officials.  
As an example on this, three rural road access activities be compared (Lay Gayint Woreda in South Gonder, Chiro Woreda in West Harerghe, Bedeno woreda in East Hararghe). 
In all the three cases the inadequate road system had been identified as a major constraint to access to markets and essential services such as education and health facilities. 
Therefore, in all the three Woredas new access and feeder roads have been constructed, focusing on the creation or improvement of access to remote villages (villages of each Kebele and the interconnecting of villages in different Kebeles). 
However in each of the three schemes a totally different approach had been followed which has resulted in totally different quality of the activities and therefore of the output.

In Lay Gayint Woreda, construction of 10 kilometers of road was planned to connect Gobgob to Zagoch. The road construction used FFW to cover the cost of unskilled labour. The Project salaries of the required skilled manpower such as masons and surveyors and also the necessary materials required for construction of fords and culverts for cross drainage works. The road is built to RR10 standard, which is an all weather construction and as a result the linkages created in and between “villages” and Kebeles have stimulated local development. In particular the new bridge across the river has, it is reported, created additional opportunities by integrating the rural populations that were previously totally separated and denied involvement in the wider rural economy.

In Bedeno woreda, construction of 12.82 kilometers of paved road linking Furda to Golla was constructed using FFW to cover the cost of unskilled labour whilst the Project covered the cost of salaries for skilled manpower such as masons and surveyors as well as the materials including cement, sand and reinforcing bars. As a result of the construction of this ‘All Weather Road’ the access that has been created within, and between “villages” and Kebeles has stimulated local development by facilitating the provision of technical assistance, the supervision and support of local initiatives together with other socio-economic support services for the linked communities. This has further created opportunities by integrating the rural population and allowing them to become active in the local rural economy. In particular, due to the road access market integration was enhanced and access to social services including health, education promoted. This has helped to generate additional income from sale of the increased production of vegetables and the advantage that has been taken of the new road by local entrepreneurs to provide transport for goods to market and access by the local population to health and education services.

In Chiro Woreda the project has supported local communities in the construction of labour intensive feeder roads through FFW. An access road of 10 km has been constructed to connect Gille to the main asphalt road leading to the Woreda capital.  The access road is a dirty road and is not even supported with stone pavement or the construction of embankment works to avoid road slippage during the rainy seasons.  The quality of the feeder road is much below the RR10 standard specified by the Rural Road Construction Authority. Technical support from the project was inadequate and there was no woreda or zonal government back up. The total resource allocated to the sector, by the Project, was in the form of food which was used as wages for the unskilled labour under the FFW programme but there was no provision for construction materials by either the woreda or zonal governments. As a result: 
•	Fords and culverts for cross drainage were not included in the construction and as a result overland flow of water from the hillsides has already created gullies along the several road sections and made them impassable.
•	Due to improper soil compaction, the non-inclusion of side drains along the road and inadequate protection of the hillsides, some road sections were seen exposed to severe soil erosion and gully formation. 

This case can be considered among the worst failures of any part of the Project that was visited by the team and provided a good example of how the well intentioned activities of REVIVE can be negated by the lack of the expected co-operation and integrated support from other partners. In the opinion of the team the major causes of failure of part of the Project was  a combination of:
•	A lack of the beneficiaries’ sense of ownership of the initiative;
•	Lack of the technical and management capacity (it is salutary to note that  management and technical support for the road construction in Bedeno Woreda was very high and was in evidence throughout the construction);
•	A Very short sighted approach by Woreda officials level (It was reported that the woreda administration considered that the major beneficiaries of road building scheme would be the people who provided the labour which reveals a noticeable confusion between inputs and outcomes as well as a biased preference towards immediate individual benefits and the potential major mid-term advantages for the entire community).

7.3	DISSEMINATION VERSUS CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVITIES

REVIVE has provided employment opportunities to a large number of households to increase their income. At the same time, it has as contributed to the creation of a large number of permanent and semi permanent physical assets which have made and will continue to make an enormous contribution to the rehabilitation of the environment and the productivity of moisture-deficit areas in the targeted regions.

In particular natural resource conservation in the targeted Woredas, which are in general moisture-stress areas, have benefited greatly from activities of the REVIVE programme and still have an enormous potential to contribute to improving the natural environment. 

The Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) works implemented under the ‘Integrated Watershed and Catchments’’ schemes proved to be more effective in reducing soil erosion and conserving water than those carried out in a rather isolated and scattered manner. 
In Lay Gayint Woreda, the project followed the integrated watershed management approach in all the seven target areas. As a result it helped to improve integration among the different activities under the four project objectives particularly in terms of natural resource management. It also helped to take advantage of the benefits from the natural inter-relationships of the natural resources within the watershed, which has further helped to improve supervision and technical assistance and maximize the impact of the different activities under the four project objectives. 
On the contrary, the team feels very strongly that the use of Project resources to implement scattered activities in a way that does not help to integrate different complementary activities, within the watershed, is an ineffective strategy.
Though there is a conceptual understanding on the need for the watershed-based approach, the plans and implementation of both West and East Hararghe target Woredas did not define, in a practical way, the mechanism for effective integration of various interventions. 
It is considered imperative that such integration needs to be increased in all ways but in particular by the identification and integration, into the main plan, of small scale sub-watersheds and also by focusing interventions on specific geographical areas and populations in a way that will bring pronounced benefits to a larger number of people. 

7.4	EFFECTIVENESS

7.4.1	Component 1: Community Based Risk Management

In terms of establishing CBRMCs and providing the required training in community based risk management to CARE and partner staff in all the project areas the success has been more than satisfactory and has exceeded targets set. Therefore it can be concluded that the programme was effective and that benefits planned will exceed expectations. 

Following the initial awareness training, courses provided to CARE & Woreda staff and Woreda level partners on the functions of CBRM Committees and the related disaster preparedness and mitigation initiatives these staffs have been actively involved in providing training to community representatives, particularly with regard to familiarization with the National policy on disaster prevention and management.
 
The Project has been supported, in all the three Project areas, by Animators and has then supported the Woreda DPPD by providing rain gauge stations as basic early warning equipment. Large numbers of DPPC and Line Department (LD) staff have been trained in all three component areas. As a result the Project has increased the effectiveness of the activities of Woreda DPPC. Co-ordination between DPPC and LD staff has been promoted through training and practical emergency response activities, especially in areas of EWS and FFW/ABS

In general, REVIVE activities have been effective in energizing the government Food Security Structure, through training and the provision of infrastructure. However, the ability of the Woredas is limited by a drastic shortage of trained staff and transport facilities which has seriously affected their effective participation in the monitoring and follow-up activities. 

It has been reported consistently that while local capacity for implementation of some of the REVIVE activities, such as the survey and design of the irrigation scheme in Lay Gayint, remains a serious problem, the zonal governments were not able, or not willing, to provide the required technical backstopping to the Woreda when requested. 

All members of CBRMCs that were trained in targeting, emergency preparedness and mitigation were selected from the communities.  Except in West Hararghe further training in asset creation and related EGS/FFW and project design have been given to all CBRMC members in the project areas. 

As a result new Assett Saving Groups (ASGs) have been established, 86 in Lay Gayint; 119 in East Hararghe; and 68 in West Hararghe as a result of which the efforts to build up the capabilities of the chronically food insecure part have received additional support to preserve, diversify and grow their household assets to the point where they can maintain viable livelihoods. Many ABS participants said that REVIVE enabled them to create new assets, minimise asset depletion and improve their capacity to resist any shock with out any external assistance.  

In addition to building their capacity to absorb shocks as they happen, those participants, who purchased oxen, were able to cultivate their land at the right time which ultimately results in increasing the productivity of their farms

REVIVE has created of employment opportunities to a large number of households and consequently increased family income. At the same time, it has assisted in the creation of number of permanent physical assets that have made an enormous contribution to environmental rehabilitation and productivity in moisture-deficit areas of the targeted regions.

In particular the work undertaken to increase and conserve natural resources in the REVIVE-targeted Woredas, which are in general moisture-stress areas, the activities of the program has made an enormous contribution to improving the natural environment. 

The Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) works implemented under the ‘Integrated Watershed or Catchments Schemes’ (as practiced in the Lay Gayint project) proved to be more effective, in reducing soil erosion and conserving water, than those carried out in a rather isolated and scattered manner in other areas. 

7.4.2      Component 2: Health, Sanitation and nutrition behaviours.

In all the 3 areas of operation, the availability of water remains a serious problem. Even though the project has developed some water schemes giving project beneficiaries access to clean and protected sources of water, the number of schemes for which provision has been made is still far below that projected and certainly below a sustainable minimum. 
It is the opinion of the team that the effectiveness of this particular activity and the level of intervention is too low.
 
One of the areas in which the project has been very effective and successful is in sensitising the community and building their capacity through awareness raising and the numerous training programmes. Through training and sensitisation, project beneficiaries have shown positive behaviour change from old and traditional methods of feeding their new born babies and have adopted exclusive breast feeding, adoption of supplementary proper supplementary feeding of their children. Improvement in dietary needs and provision for the whole family through the promotion and adoption of vegetable gardening that has improved the health and nutrition of the beneficiary communities. 

Another successful outcome of the project is, REVIVE has managed to in positively change the behaviour of beneficiaries in personal hygiene and environmental health through effective sensitisation and made possible through providing access to clean and protected water. Through sensitisation, people who used to have a bath once a month, now wash every week. Beneficiaries speak of the positive changes the project has brought into their lives.

Through engagement, training and sensitisation, many communities are now aware of the importance of health and sanitation issues and have built their own latrines and waste disposal facilities. The campaign on health and sanitation, particularly in the construction and usage of ventilated pit latrines has been most effective in East Hararghe where the number of beneficiaries adopting the VIPLs is double what the project planned. Of the planned 1.000 VIPLs, 1,962 people built their own (196% achievement) and many more people have constructed ordinary pit latrines. Every FGD participant said they have at least participated in 2 training programmes in health, nutrition and/or sanitation.

Awareness has been created within the community so that even illiterate rural women understand the reasons behind the use of fuel-efficient stoves and have built and are using them. Not only do the FESs use less fuel wood and reduce the depletion of the forests and assist in reducing land loss but they reduce the users work burden and saves them from smoke inhalation problems which is a health gain for the whole family. The sensitisation in East Hararghe has been most effective with a resultant adoption rate was 320% of the planned activity levels.

7.4.3	Component 3: Protecting and Improving Agricultural Production and Productivity

Considerable effort was made to train farmers and create greater awareness of the value of the use of traditional knowledge and on new methods of IPM. With the exception of areas in West Hararghe there were successful  training courses provided for community animators  who went of to train farmers in IPM and other agricultural extension technologies that them to recognise the signs of land depletion and to take preventative action. Training was also given on the use of local plants as safe alternatives to expensive and sometimes dangerous, modern pesticides and in improved grain and produce storage structures. 
Following the community animator training, mass education on pre and post harvest loss reduction technologies have been given to most of the targeted communities and to Woreda experts and DAs who were then able to monitor the progress of the IPM activities.

As a result awareness of IPM practices increased among farmers, which has been reflected in the growing preparation and application of traditional pesticides and rodent poisons that have produced a considerable impact in reducing pre and post harvest loss. 
The efforts made to promote improved storage in Lay Gayint and West Hararghe through encouraging and supporting the construction of improved stores for demonstration purposes farmer’s awareness of the extent of post harvest and the ways that the losses can be reduced, has been successfully raised.  
Unfortunately there has not been any effort made towards replicating and extending the success to other communities, farmers have indicated their appreciation of the stores but the high cost of construction of the improved stores is considered to be the major reason for such a low level of replication.

Cultivation of steep lands in the absence of conservation practices, poor farming practices and continuous cropping without nutrient recycling together with overgrazing and improper land use are among the causes for accelerated soil erosion in all REVIVE targeted Woredas. In addition, crop residue and dung are increasingly being used to meet rural household energy needs, rather than being used for soil fertility hence there has been decreased agricultural productivity. 

The Project sought to address these problems and to improve farming methods and increase the rate of the adoption of new methods and techniques in the three Project areas. In both Lay Gayint and East Hararghe the activities have been notably successful and the targets set met or exceeded For example, the targets for the training of MOA and CARE staff and Community Animators in improved SWC, agro-forestry, agricultural extension, the preparation of organic manure and compost preparation were more than achieved.
Unfortunately the target for seedling production in East Hararghe fell far below the target for that area but the successes in other areas meant that the overall target of the Project had been achieved. As a result there is increasing awareness and adoption of new and improved methods the promoted techniques and sustainable agricultural technologies in general have been observed in the Project areas. 

Some encouraging results were achieved in the introduction of Drip Irrigation Technology in all the three project areas where selected farmers in each of the project areas; 64 in East Hararghe, 23 in West Hararghe and 130 in Lay Gayint;  were trained in practical application of drip irrigation technology. Further the Project provided drip kits to 88 selected farmers in West Hararghe, 130 farmers in Lay Gayint and 64 farmers in East Hararghe. 
In West Hararghe the number of drip kits distributed is much higher than the number of farmers trained to use them which clearly shows the inadequacy of the training organisation. The drip kits comprises of 15 meter plastic hose and a water supply tank or bucket which can drip irrigate two small plots of land. The water supply tanks which used 200 litre barrels were found to be more effective than the small water buckets supplied in West and East Hararghe. Though the drip irrigation technology promotions in Lay Gayint seem successful it is not so successful in East and West Hararghe for several reasons:
•	Inadequate follow-up and backstopping service from the Projects supervisors who should have demonstrated the use of the kits in the field to solve the practical problems faced by the recipients. (One farmer complained that there was [and is] a serious shortage of water in the area and he couldn’t use the kit supplied).
•	Inadequate training of farmers in the proper installation and management of the system related to the integrated production and protection techniques of dry land vegetable production. 
•	A serious shortage of water of a reliable quality
It is recommended that in future any drip irrigation promotional work should be supported with complementary water harvesting techniques to increase water availability in the target areas.

Improved seeds of early maturing crop varieties have been distributed to promote the use of improve farming practices. In this regard in 79.85 quintal In East Hararghe 79.85 quintal were distributed which was only 16% of the plan and in West Hararghe the distribution of only 389qt which 12.95% of the plan was achieved. There was no distribution of improved seeds in Lay Gayint Woreda as there were adequate sources of improved seeds of the required highland varieties. 
It was intended that the seed would be provided to farmers to be used as a ‘Revolving Fund’ on the basis of agreements made among farmers, WOAO, CBRMC and CARE to enable them to repay the credit extended to them. In both West and East Hararghe the Sorghum and Haricot Bean seed distributed to farmers was retuned twice but in the second round, due to dry spell in the area, the farmers could not return the seed and as a result the seed Revolving Fund is at a standstill. Farmer to Farmer multiplication and distribution of the improved seed varieties and their contacts with Research Stations is very good and lessons should be drawn on the way the Revolving Fund was set-up and managed as the indications are that in this area the farmers will be able to continue with the initiatives to be drawn as this is expected to allow them to continue once the Project ends.

7.4.4	COMPONENT 4: Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs.

Engaging and sensitising the poorest, land less, women and other marginalised groups in the communities to enable them to participate successfully in CSSGs can be said to have been effective. At the close of the project, ORDA had been able to establish 188 CSSGs in Lay Gayint with a total membership of 3,486 people (1,294 men and 2,174 women) with total capital of 167,304 birr. West Hararghe had 76 savings groups of 545 men and 907 women with total capital of 38,815 birr.  East Hararghe had 70 CSSGs with a total membership of 1,175 people (303 men and 872 women) with total capital of 50, 256 birr. With these results Lay Gayint has emerged as the most effective and East Hararghe the least effective in engaging the community in CSSGs.

The Project working with the community to identify wasteful practices and assisting the community in ways of solving their problem has been most successful and has contributed much to an increase to the well being of the participants. The community in general have realised that time is a resource and that sitting idly chewing chat is not only wasting money, but time that could other wise be spent on profitable ventures. 

There was some evidence in West Hararghe that the chat-chewing message was getting through to people. The team had FGD participants saying they have listened to their community facilitators and extension officers and as a direct result some people have reduced their consumption of chat by 50%, saving the money they spent on chat by 1 birr per day and investing that money with their CSSGs (1 birr a day for a month, which is 30 birr savings). There was no evidence in East Hararghe that the chat-chewing message had been given let alone it been heard and chat chewing remains a  serious resource wastage issue in both these areas. 

The issues are different in Lay Gayint where wasting resources is about the time, money and food people spend on the various religious festivals and other celebrations. These resources especially food and money spent on these celebrations should be saved as they live in food insecure areas and there is a great need for the communities to manage their resources better. As in West Hararghe, it appears the message has been getting through to the beneficiaries as they confirmed during FGDs that they are aware of their wasteful practices and are now working hard to manage their resources better.

The project has demonstrated that with the right support, even the poorest people in every community, can save and build assets. The message to these marginalised people was clear and presented well enough to convince the targeted people, in substantial numbers to start saving and build their assets.

CARE’s policy of mainstreaming gender and empowering women in all their projects has been very effective in this component as more women than men participated in the CSSGs. With the involvement of women in the CSSGs, the traditional dominance of men in financial decision making is changing with Women becoming self reliant and able to support themselves and their children without necessarily of calling on their husbands for financial support. This has fully met CARE’s objectives in empowering women and those marginalised in society. 

8.	ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT DESIGN

REVIVE is one project that most, if not all, key stakeholders believe has been well designed. CARE adopted a full participatory approach in undertaking a needs assessment and developing the project proposal which brought together CARE’s senior management and their technical staff, community representatives from the target areas, government counterparts, and technical assistance from regional and headquarters offices. 
There was a long and detailed consultation process with representative of the targeted communities through a PRA/PLA exercise conducted with local government counterparts’ with participation, over several days and nights, at the community level. There followed a series of discussions and analyses conducted with counterparts at Woreda and Zonal levels, the results of which allowed  the design team to define objectives with due regard to key constraints identified during problem analysis. The process is summarized in Chapter 4 of this report.  Intervention strategies were then devised based on best practices and CARE’s experience in addition to the community ideas put forward during the consultation process and the input from counterparts and technical specialists.  

As a result of the Needs Assessment and Problem Analysis, the four key components were identified and agreed as the best intervention possible to address the chronic food insecurity problem of the targeted areas. 

As a technical proposal, the project was very well designed, with a clearly stated problem analysis, on which the project objectives and goals were set. An intervention strategy was developed with the various components’, delivery mechanisms and activities clearly stated. A staffing plan showing the management structure, the roles and responsibilities of staff, the management and co-ordination of the selected systems as well as the relationships with Ethiopian organisations which were partners in the Project. An exit strategy was defined and a monitoring and evaluation plan, detailing the indicators to be used was developed. 

Looking at the technical proposal, the only element missing is a section for sustainability plans that would require all project areas to develop a sustainability plan for their areas and sub-project components/activities.
Another element missing from the project proposal is the provision of opportunities for participants to exchange and share learning experiences by arranging study tours for both beneficiaries and project staff. Neither was there provision for participants from any of the three areas to physically travel to other sites to share and learn new techniques and observe, for themselves, how well or how badly particular activities compare with similar activities in their in other areas. 
This section is to review whether the intervention was successful in addressing the needs of the community, whether the resources allocated were adequate in achieving the objectives set, and in delivering the activities planned, in all the components.

Based on the evidence of activities delivered, feedback received from project beneficiaries, interviews with project staff and other key stakeholders, the activity levels on the whole and resources allocated to implementing them were adequate. 
However, there are some activities that were felt to be too low to meet the needs of, or have a real impact on, the targeted communities. There were also some instances where it was felt that some crucial activities were missed. Some of these will be hi-lighted and discussed.

Objective 1 – 10,000 households in targeted communities manage the debilitating effects of periodic acute shocks without depleting productive household or community assets.

The proposal did not specify methods for delivering activities thus there was no consistency in the implementation of any given set of activities which resulted in differing qualities of output. 
A case in point is the construction of access roads. South Gondar constructed 10 kilometres of road from Gobgob to Zagoch to RR10 standard (an all weather type road) using sand cement and reinforcement bars to construct  fords and culverts for cross drainage along  sections of the road.  
In East Hararghe the construction of 12.82 kilometres road linking Furda to Golla is a good quality all year road.  In addition to using sand cement and reinforcement bars to construct fords and culverts for cross drainage as was done in South Gondar, the roads are stone paved stone making them more durable. 
In West Hararghe, the 10 kilometre access road from Gille to the main asphalt road is a dirt road that has not been supported with any stone pavements or embankments to prevent slippage during the rainy season. The quality of the road has been accessed by the technical expert of the evaluation team as being far below the RR10 road standard established by the Rural Road Construction Authority. The inclusion, in the project proposal, of a defined standard for the roads would have prevented such varying quality of output.

Even though networks and strong relationship were established between the Project and the local organisations, there was no formal linkage with Woreda offices although all the five Woreda offices have worked, with varying degrees of closeness and co-operation with the Project. The exact relationships as well as the roles and responsibilities of Woreda officers should have been stipulated in the project document. Without a formal connection with the Woreda offices, the sustainability of some of the project activities could be threatened as there is no obligation on the government bodies to take over the activities or even offer any tangible support or assistance to the beneficiaries when CARE support ends. 

Objective 2 – 18,000 women of reproductive age and 18,000 children under two years of age in the target areas have improved their nutritional status.

Beneficiaries and other key stakeholders felt the development and provision of safe drinking water was woefully inadequate for the three Project areas. 
In Laygaint the 3 springs, 2 hand-dug wells and 1 roof catchment system for a beneficiary population of 60,000 was wholly inadequate only giving a miniscule 643 households (1,875 people) and 1,081 school pupils access to clean and protected water. 

In West Hararghe, the Project proposal did not have any water development activities which is dire, as the lack of access to clean and protected sources of water is a major problem in the areas. The Project however had undertaken 2 spring developments with the installation of 4 water distribution points, which again is extremely low as only 666 household consisting of some 3,330 people have access to a safe water supply. 

The situation in East Hararghe is similar, where there were the Project planned 9 water development projects only 6 of which were completed. 

Objective 3 – 9,000 households have increased agricultural production and productivity.
.
As a food security project, the exclusion of livestock Development or Animal Husbandry as part of this component has limited the project capacity to address the totality of the food and nutrition requirement which is an integral part of food security problem. 
Farmers commented adversely on the exclusion the incorporation of which would have their skill and knowledge base.

Objective 4 – 2,000 women increase and diversify on- and off-farm income to meet basic needs and build their asset base.

The CSSGs were seen by all stakeholders as a major success that succeeded in addressing the crucial needs of the poorest in the community, women, the land less and other marginalised groups, to save and have access to cheaper loans. 
The limitation of this design is the isolation of the CSSG which have no linkage to formal institutions. To acerbate this limitation is the lack of a viable strategy that would allow the CSSGs to adjust themselves should they grow and want, or need, to graduate to an MFI.

9.	SUSTAINABILITY OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS

The establishment of CBRMCs, DCs and VDCs to lead and engage the beneficiaries in Community Action Planning ensured continued involvement, interest, and engagement of the community in implementing the Project and placed the community firmly in the position of owning the Project. 

To ensure the sustainability of project activities and benefits to the targeted communities REVIVE instituted a series of training programmes and capacity building activities for all Project beneficiaries in the three Project areas. Joint training was undertaken with Woreda officials to strengthen the capacities of local government enabling them to support targeted communities when the project ends The tables below illustrate the types of training and capacity building support given to Project beneficiary communities and Woreda partners in designated areas. More detailed tables specifying the numbers of people trained, the gender specific data of participant, the length of training naming the PAs where the training took place are included in Appendix 6 of this report. 
 
Table 42:	South Gondar – summary of training and capacity building programmes 

	Programme Title	
1	HH (farmers) in savings schemes	
2	National Policy for disaster Prevention management	
3	Training in pre and post harvest losses	
4	Training (farmers) in Soil and Water Conservation/agro forestry	
5	Training (animators) in Soil and Water Conservation/agro forestry	
6	Training (farmers)  in efficient use of resources	
7	Training (farmers) in conflict management	
8	Training (farmers) of savings advisors in savings advisors in savings group establishment	
9	Training (farmers)  in marketable skills	
10	Training of ORDA/Woreda staff in IPM -FFS	
11	Training (farmers) in IPM-FFS	
12	Training (farmers) in irrigation management and water utilisation	
13	Training of ORDA/Woreda staff in technology transfer and dissemination	
14	Training (farmers) in use of dry land farming	
15	CBRMC Training in project plan preparation	
16	Training (farmers) in emergency mitigation	
17	Training (women) in fuel wood saving stoves	
18	CBRMC Training in targeting, watershed and asset creation	
19	Training (farmers) traditional tree seedling producers	
20	Training of PA leaders in project planning and monitoring	
21	Training of land certification and PA leaders	
22	Training of land certification foremen	

Table 43:	 West Hararghe – summary of training and capacity building programmes 
	Programme Title	
1	Health & Nutrition for Animators	
2	Health & Nutrition for mothers	
3	CBRM training for CBRMC 	
4	CBRM training for CBRMC	
5	CBRM training for CBRMC	
6	Poultry training for farmers	
7	Water management training for WATSAN committees	
8	Water management and basic techniques training for caretakers	

Table 44:	 East Hararghe – summary of training and capacity building programmes 
	Programme Title	
1	Training of CBRMCs in data collection, analysis and dissemination	
2	Training of CBRMCs in NPDPM and planning	
3	Training of CBRMCs in targeting and asset creation	
4	Training of woreda partners in community based early warning and data collection and management	
5	Training of woreda partners EGS/FFW/CFW design, monitoring and evaluation I	
6	Training of community animators in Health and Nutrition I	
7	Training of community animators in Health and Nutrition II	
8	Training of agricultural animators in soil and water conservation techniques and practices I	
9	Training of agricultural animators in soil and water conservation techniques and practices II	
10	Training of agricultural animators in IPM I	
11	Training of agricultural animators in IPM II	
12	Training of woreda partners and CARE staff in Dry land farming techniques	
13	Training of MOA and CARE staff in IPM	
14	Training of water caretakers	
15	Training of WATSANS	
16	Training of water committees	
17	Training of farmers in NPDPM	
18	Training of CARE staff and woreda partners in community based early warning and Risk management	
19	Training of community animators in income generation, savings and resource management I	
20	Training of community in facilitation skills, savings and loan	
21	Training of community in participatory project planning, M&E	
22	Training of woreda partners and community in gender mainstreaming	
23	Training of PA leaders in Advocacy policy learning and analysis	
24	Training of woreda partners EGS/FFW/CFW design, monitoring and evaluation II	

Through sensitisation, training and capacity building the beneficiaries have acquired necessary skills and know how to undertake the various activities. The benefits derived from the project have been noted and appreciated and communities have stated how beneficial the intervention has been. The beneficiaries during FGDs have vowed to continue with the activities even without the support of CARE. This is a clear and positive sustainability indicator.

At FGDs, beneficiaries’ spoke of the knowledge acquired, the benefits of the intervention and the positive behavioural changes that the project has brought to their lives. One such success of a positive behaviour changes is in personal hygiene and environmental health. People, who used to bath once a month, now wash every week. Another positive change is the shift from old and traditional methods of feeding new born babies with water, butter and water mixed with sugar to adopting colostrum and exclusive breast feeding together with the  adoption of proper supplementary feeding of their children. Improvement in dietary needs and provision for the whole family through the promotion and adoption of vegetable gardening has improved the health and nutrition of the communities. The communities will carry on with these activities and continue to enjoy the benefits.

The overwhelming adoption of the use of fuel-efficient stoves by 1,602 households which is 320% of planned 500 in East Hararghe is worthy of note. The benefits of using the FES were noted by beneficiates, even villages that were outside the targeted areas have started adopting the FES. This replication will continue within the communities far beyond the original REVIVE project areas. 
Another notable sustainability objective achieved by the Project is full awareness of the stoves value so that now even illiterate rural women know that by using fuel-efficient stoves, they use less fuel wood. This does not only reduce their work burden, it saves them from health damaging smoke inhalation. The fact that they use less fuel wood is contributing to reducing the depletion of the forest, thus contributing to a more sustainable environment.

Through training the beneficiaries in improved farming methods, the project has begun to have a positive impact on the areas with farmers realising increase food production. Increasing awareness and the adoption of new and improved farming methods and practices, which have been embraced by the beneficiaries has made a substantial impact on the food production of the participants. Improved practices in which farmers mentioned the most at FGDs were: 
•	The cultivation of steep lands with appropriate conservation practices, 
•	The removal of sorghum stock before cultivation as an appropriate pest control practice 
•	Repeated ploughing (2-3 times before sowing) to the required depth (using Dengora) to reduce runoff and maximize infiltration. 
The results of these improved methods have made the areas less vulnerable to drought and with the increase in food production, the target areas are becoming less food insecure.  
It is believed that even with the ending of the project, farmers will continue use these methods and so ensure sustainability.

The Project trained farmers in new techniques to reduce pre and post harvest losses and encouraged them to use traditional knowledge and experiment with and develop traditional non-chemical pesticides and rodent poisons. The resulting mixtures were used with some success and it is believed that the new ideas have been added to the fund of traditional knowledge.  
The experience of farmers in all the project sites on IPM is good and will ensure that farmers will continue using a mix of traditional and new methods acquired through the training. Farmers spoke of reducing pre and post harvest losses by 50-60% using the skills and knowledge acquired. 

During FGDs towards the end of the Evaluation it was evident that the CBRMCs, VDCs, DCs, WATSANs and SWCs have demonstrated the skill, ability and willingness to continue with their roles and responsibilities after the end of the Project activities to ensure that the benefits are not lost to the community. All the committees that were established at local level, have good gender balance and representation, a good sense of cooperation and have the trust of the community. Their roles and responsibilities, stipulated in by-laws, include resolving conflict within the community and the ability to solve internally and externally generated conflict is one major indictor of sustainability. The majority of CBRMCS and the various DCs have developed their confidence and are tackling their duties without any partiality. They tell their members and the community openly “you deserve this for such and such reason; you do not deserve this for such and such reasons”.’ And the way that they carry out their duties gives great reassurance that the majority will survive and prosper. 

Convincing the poorest, land less, women and other marginalised groups to participate in CSSGs can be said to be one of the most successful activities of the Project. At the close of the project, a total of 334 CSSGs were established (188 in South Gondar, 76 in West Haraghe and 70 in East Haraghe). Project beneficiaries spoke of the benefits of their participation in the saving groups. FGD participants said they would continue with the CSSGs, people who are not members said they would join savings groups in their communities or start their own.  It was reported that some communities outside REVIVE targeted areas have started their own CSSGs. There is however the problem of leadership that could challenge the sustainability of some of the groups; in groups where leadership is not rotated, members get disgruntled as they are denied the opportunity to acquire the relevant skills and exposure.

There are a few issues that could threaten the sustainability of some of the project activities and subsequently the benefits to the community. As discussed under project design, these include the absence of a specific requirement for all areas to produce Sustainability Plans for respective project activities, which is a major omission from what was other wise an excellent Project plan.  Another that is even more likely to lead to problems is that the CBRMCs and DCs are not formally linked to the upper government structures as they was originally expected. It was reported that some woreda officers and the DPPC commented that the CBRMCs are only responsible to CARE and their reports never reach woreda offices. The CSSGs lack of formal linkage with the Co-operative office does not give groups any protection or support from woreda officials. 

Community and stakeholder participation in project implementation is another key indicator of sustainability. Beneficiary involvement and partnership working with PAs and woreda officials creates a conducive environment not only for implementation of projects but ensuring its sustainability. CARE through REVIVE adopted participatory approach that engaged the people, enabling the community to take ownership of the project thus ensuring its sustainability.  

10	CROSS CUTTING ISSUES

10.1	STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION, PARTNERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL LINKAGE/S:

The Project started with community mobilisation and sensitisation. To engage, retain and ensure ownership of the project, CARE adopted a participatory approach by involving all key stake-holders in initial problem analysis, development and implementation of the Project. The principle of participatory development requires the full involvement of the community in all stages of implementation, which is what REVIVE, did and what has been to the key to successful implementation.

All three project areas developed their own ways of engaging all the key stake-holders in the Project implementation In East Hararghe, a woreda Development Committee(WDC) was set up consisting of REVIVE staff and representatives from the  departments of : Administration, Capacity Building, Rural Development, Health, Women’s Affair, DPPC, Co-operatives and Natural Resource with the Vice chairman of the woredas administration acting as Leader of the committee with a member of the  CARE REVIVE staff acting as Secretary. A memorandum of understanding in which the roles and responsibility of each party was defined was signed by representatives of the   woredas, Badeno and Kurfa Chele. 
Two major roles of the Committee were:
•	To ensure full participation of all stakeholders during the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation stages of the REVIVE projects.
•	Co-ordinating and guiding PA level development committees. 

As demonstrated in the 2 Panel Monitoring events that took place in East and West Hararghe, members of the WDC were fully represented on the panel and participated in the monitoring and evaluation visits. 

In both South Gondar and West Hararghe, where there were no formal WDC formations, ad hoc local institutional linkages were created as the project worked with different local institutions and organisations and the Project forged strong relationships with and between VDCs, CBRMCs, WATSAN, PAs, and other CBOs. It is believed that these linkages have formed a sound basis for maintaining and replicating the project outputs without the presence of CARE. 
Despite these strong relationships between the project and the local organisations the sustainability of some of the Project activities may be in doubt there is no formal link with woreda offices in South Gondar and West Hararghe. 
It should be noted that there is no obligation on behalf of the regional, zonal or woreda government department or to take over the activities of, or even offer any tangible support or assistance to, any organisation set up by the Project. 

10.2	COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT 

After the establishment of WDC, then came formation of the development committee at PA level. The organisation of the PA committee required that each member was to be a dweller in the village, a person who respects the community and is also respected by the community and person who has a sense of self reliance.  It was expected that at least one member of the committee should be able to read and write and that the committee should have a gender balance.  The PA committees have the responsibility of holding meetings with the whole community to identify the needs and plan activities to meet those needs of the community. The idea of community empowerment and self-reliance was enshrined in the REVIVE project.  

WDCs were formed to ensure community empowerment and to guarantee that there were horizontal as well as vertical linkages to secure community participation and to promote community decision making at all levels, and all stages, of the Project. 

Through training, mass education, awareness raising and sensitisation, the community has been involved in all aspects of Project development and implementation. A true participation has been achieved through consultation, joint planning, decision making and participation of the community in all processes of project implementation’. Through this participatory approach, the communities were able to identify, analyse problems that affect their living condition and prepare action plans to effect solutions to their common problems.

The Project has given the communities a voice and a conviction to believe in them selves and their ability to do things for themselves, shaking off the dependency state they have found themselves in and moving to self reliance. During the evaluation exercise, FGD participants spoke of their commitment to continue with the Project activities even without CARE’s support. To show the fundamental success of the Project plan CSSGs are being replicated in non REVIVE areas and  Women and the very poor are now the proud owners of household assets that they never thought they would ever own. The communities have been given the skills and ability to do things for themselves. 

10.3	GENDER EQUALITY, EQUITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

CARE, in its Long Range Strategic Plan (LRSP) committed itself to ensure that better mainstream gender issues were included in its programming and to recruit women for staff positions that traditionally have been filled almost exclusively by men. The organisation’s gender strategy and action plan support this objective of strengthening gender-sensitive programming and diversifying CARE’s staff composition. As part of this objective, the REVIVE project included in its activities gender awareness programmes and the commitment to include women representatives in all involved CBOs and PA level committees. As illustrated under Community Empowerment, the representation of women on WDCs and VDCs was a pre-requisite for the formation of the respective development committees. The women’s participation in development committees gave them a feeling of empowerment especially when they were involved in saving and credit activities, IGAs, EGS and ABS. 

One advantage that REVIVE had over past projects was that this Project had dedicated a lot of resources to the improvement of hygiene, water access, health and nutrition that are traditionally areas with which women deal.  There has been a fair representation of women on VDCs, CBRMCs, WATSAN, PAs, and other CBOs which ensures that the voices of women are heard and that the female perspective of community needs and opportunities is represented in action planning and decision making.  

In West Hararghe, the project has demonstrated its commitment to gender equality by employing women as 50% of its group of 10 Community Facilitators which ensured empathy with women beneficiaries. The high proportion of women participating in the project could be attributed to the gender representation on the CFs. 

Women outnumber men in CSSGs in the three project areas. Of the 188 CSSGs in South Gondar with a total membership of 3,486 people, 62% are women (2,174 women and 1,294 men). West Hararghe had 76 savings groups with 1,452 members had 62.5%  women (545 men and 907 women) and East Hararghe with 70 CSSGs with a total membership of 1,175 had 74% women (303 men and 872 women). With the participation of women in CSSGs, the traditional dominance of men in financial decision making is fast receding allowing the voices of the women to be heard as they participate in decision making in their respective households and communities.

Women are becoming much more self reliant and some are now able to support themselves and their children without necessarily going to their husbands for financial support. The evaluation exercise heard men testifying to their wife’s membership of CSSGs that literally saved their families from starvation as illustrated in this West Hararghe case study.

A farmer from Tirtiro Mengudo PA 
“My wife was part of a CSSG, I had no money to buy seeds. My wife took a loan of 200 birr from her savings group, she used 100 birr for petty trading and gave me 100birr to buy beans seeds. My harvest produced 100-kg bag, which I sold for 800birr as well as what we ate at home and seed for planting in the next season. My wife made 300birr from her petty trading and paid back the loan. Without the loan from the savings group I don’t know what we would have done. I am now planning to join a CSSG too.

In South Gondar, when FGD participants were asked about decision making and the role of women in community development, the men in two separate FGDs said even though the women are working hard and contributing to their families and the development of the community “min set biyawik, bewond yalik” meaning it doesn’t matter what women know, the final decision lies with men. 
With views like this in some communities the message of gender equality still has some journey to make before reaching the desired destination.  

10.4	SOCIO-CULTURAL BEHAVIOUR AND ISSUES

The issue of socio-cultural behaviour, traditional values and cultural practices can always be a challenge to development intervention and project implementation. REVIVE encountered some such challenges but through awareness raising, training and capacity building activities, strategies were developed to address the identified issues.
As discussed in the report some of the issues are common to all the project areas in particular the traditional practice of not giving new born babies colostrum for the first three days of their lives. With the training received from the project the practice has changed in all project areas. This is aptly presented in this case study:  

A woman from West Haraghe (sic)
According to our tradition, we never breast feed newborn baby until after 3 days, since we believe that the first mother’s milk called silga (colostrum) is unhealthy for the baby. After three days when the silga is gone we begin to breastfeed. The mother confines herself in the house for 40 days as maternity rest. During this time we give atimit and other food for the baby with out good hygiene. Two of my kids had gone through this practice. After the training we changed our practice a lot. We were told that the silga is very important for the baby. I gave birth to a baby boy after I got the training (from REVIVE). I started to breastfeed this one not too long time after I gave birth. Until six month my baby fully fed on my breast. After six month I began to give him complementary food. We learnt how to make good food for our kids. I now observed lots of difference among my previous children and this one. The later one is so strong, grew rapidly, and has no sickness. You see, they taught us to improve our ways of doing using our own materials”.

The Project has been successful in changing the behaviour of beneficiaries in personal hygiene and environmental health through providing access to clean and protected water sources. Through sensitisation, people who used to a bath once a month, now wash every week. The horrendous traditional ways of treating malnourished children with protruding stomachs as reported by FGD participants in East Hararghe (daily massaging the stomachs to reduce in size and inserting sticks into their anal cavities to relieve them of constipation) has totally ceased. There has also been a considerable improvement in sanitation with beneficiaries adopting the construction of pit latrines and VIPLs in many areas (particularly East Hararghe). 
 
Gender roles, responsibilities and relations are another area that socio-cultural practices were a challenge to development as most of Africa has the patriarchal system and Ethiopia is no exception. In some places, women like children can be seen but not heard and all decision making, whether on domestic or community matters is by men. The case study below from West Hararghe illustrates other traditional practices that affect gender relations.

(sic)
“Earlier, with my husband, we have lots problems. He decides on every resource we have. He sells crops and animals any time he likes. I did not know how much money he gets out of this sale and I always feel uneasy and unhappy that we do not have peace at home. After the sale he used to give me small amount of money, which I cannot allocate for all the things at home. Yet he does not trust me on my expenses.  Now after CARE began to teach us how to manage our resources the behaviour of my husband changed for good. We both began to save, I am a member a saving group and my husband saves through FFW. We stopped selling our assets untimely. Now I borrow money, do some trading to make money. He knows how much I save, how much I borrow and how much my profit is. I no more just wait for him to give me money. I can get money and expend on necessary things my self. We also began to trust one another”.

Through the training provided by REVIVE, there is a marked change in the traditional way of resource management. Women’s roles and responsibilities have changed for the better and as illustrated in the case study above Women through these interventions are being empowered. 

 (sic)
“You know, when we first started to organize this saving group, we started with few of our men folk. When we decided that we contribute two birr per month, they stopped participating. Their main reason was that they relate small things to women. They said that ‘we do not want to play with 2 birr. We are not women.’ But, these days, when they understand that we are making, money, they regretted their action. Some of the men applied to become members. They now understand that small money could be helpful through time. And women have a lot of sense and we know how to manage; only the men never gave us a chance. But because of REVIVE, they now know and are following us”.

The positive change in attitude towards wasteful traditional practices and the better ability to improve resource management is assisting households to improve their economic well being and is a sure sign of the success of this aspect of the Project. Likewise changes in the traditional attitudes towards women has gone a long way to improve gender equality and the empowerment of women.

11.	MONITORING AND EVALUATION

11.1	MONITORING

To ensure that all project activities and expected outputs were delivered as planned three monitoring methods and two evaluations were proposed as part of the Project proposal.  The monitoring methods were output monitoring, panel monitoring and sentinel monitoring.

Output Monitoring: Extension officers in the three project areas collected activity data on Project performance which was used by their offices to produce quarterly and annual reports. These reports were required to be sent regularly to the monitoring and evaluation department at CARE headquarters in Addis for organisational monitoring and further scrutiny to ensure that the activities were being delivered as planned.  This monitoring approach is specifically focused on data collection, analysis and reporting on Project activities, including inputs as well as outputs. 

At both CARE Addis and Project implementation offices, the evaluation team reviewed the quarterly and annual reports as part of this Final Evaluation. All the project sites produced their quarterly and annual reports as expected which were received in Addis in a relatively timely manner. The quality of activity data collected and analysed varied across the three areas and unfortunately there had been no standard format for these reports which meant that it was difficult for the analysis teams to compare data from one area with that from another.
It is strongly recommended that in future uniform reporting formats be designed and that their use be made mandatory. 

The evaluation team noticed missing information and incomplete activity data in the various reports from the three project sites and constantly had to ask for the missing information. Even though this happened in all the three areas, West Hararghe comes in for particular criticism. The evaluation team brought this to the attention to the Project managers at all the defaulting sites.

Panel Monitoring: Panel Monitoring was planned as a participatory biannual Project activity to enable the managers could assess the degree of accuracy in the progress monitoring activities and to ensure that field activities were properly implemented to bring about defined project outputs. It also allowed them to change community and institutional practices and behaviours should that be necessary. The proposed panel of monitors was designed to include all key stakeholders as well as Project expects in the four components (Water Engineers, Sanitarians, Nutritionists, Health, Agriculture, Early Warning and IGA experts). This was intended to ensure and extend the participation of community members and stakeholders participation in the regular Project management meetings which strengthened the participatory approach to project development and implementation.

The project plan proposed a bi-annual assessment during the life of the Project but there were only panel monitoring visits to 2 of the project sites East and West Hararghe in June 2004 and November 2005.  A panel of 15 people including representatives of zonal and woreda officers developed a checklist for the monitoring, undertook key informant interviews, site visits, observations as well as reviewing various project documents and reports. A report on the monitoring visit was produced and shared with partners that participated in the monitoring. South Gondar (Lay Gayint) had a different arrangement which required quarterly review meetings involving CARE, ORDA (the implementing agency) Woreda officials and PA leaders. The meetings were to monitor and review project activities and outputs as well as to resolve any issues that might affect the smooth running of the Project. These meetings were inconsistent because of the unavailability of senior project managers from both CARE and ORDA. However there were regular monthly consultative meetings to monitor progress of work between the project office in Lay Gayint and CARE office in South Gondar. 

A Sentinel Surveillance Program (SSP): This method was proposed specifically for component 2 of the programme to monitor trends and changes in the health and nutritional status of mothers and children participating in the project. Outcomes were to be used to adjust project implementation mechanisms to enhance impact and learn the way households were behaving and coping in terms of child and mother’s health under different circumstances. Lessons learnt were to be used to enhance nutrition and the quality of the health programme. Unfortunately there is no record that any of the intended meetings ever took place.
 
The respective project managers, various experts in the organisation as well as the DME team were expected to undertake regular visits to monitor the efficiency, effectiveness and smooth running of the Project activities. Sector experts like the IGA officer and counter colleagues did pay regular visits to the Project sites and at the start of the Projects regular quarterly visits were made to discuss the many challenges and to propose strategies and training programmes to deal with any problems.

11.2	EVALUATION

The evaluation activities planned for the project life were Baseline Survey, Midterm Review and Terminal Evaluation.

The main intention of the Baseline Survey was to collect data and prepare a report indicating the pre-project situation which was undertaken in 2003. The result of this was used for to determine the Project intervention, targeting and implementation strategy and was intended to serve as a bench mark from which to measure the effect and level of changes and impacts brought about by the Project at the end of its allotted span. This evaluation team however did not find the baseline information at any of the Project sites.

Due to the early termination of the project, the Midterm Evaluation planned for February 2005 with the objective to collect and analyse Project data and to produce a report on project implementation, organisation and Project cycle management could not take place. 

In its place, the Terminal Evaluation is taking place to with the main responsibility assess the over all Project performance. The terms of reference for this evaluation are attached as Appendix 2 of this report. 

12.	 VIEWS OF BENEFICIARIES AND KEY INFORMANTS

After every FGD, beneficiaries were asked to comment on their experiences of participating in the project as well as their views on the early termination of the project. These are some of the comments made and the views expressed and are quoted verbatim:

•	“We are disappointed about the abrupt ending of the RP as there were many activities for which we had a lot of training then the project ended”. West Hararghe (WH).
•	“Terminating REVIVE is like a mother breast feeding a child, knowing it is good for the child and then stops and starts giving the child yeast” (Safety Net Programme). WH
•	“If it is possible, please continue with the Project, if it is not possible, please give the activities to another NGO to continue as the Project was very good and you cannot throw a good thing away”. WH
•	“RP within a very short time made great changes in our lives, if it stayed for the 5 years it was planned for, the changes would have been a lot greater”. WH
•	“We are very interested in getting irrigation, now that REVIVE is gone, do you know any donors? Please let them come and continue, as the water point REVIVE built for us is for drinking only, not for farming”. WH
•	“RP gave the community lots of opportunities – training, engaging and facilitating activities, in future any project coming to the area should be designed and prepared as REVIVE”. EH
•	“REVIVE is very good, we are disappointed it is gone, we are not interested in Safety Net”. WH.
•	“RP was planned for 5 years, but has been stopped, but we have had a lot of training so we will continue with the activities, because they are all good for the community”. WH.
•	“RP is better than Safety Net. FFW payments are with REVIVE as people are paid according to the work they do, not the size of their families, so there is no incentive to work”. WH
•	“When REVIVE started, we were told it was a partnership with the community. What kind of partnership is this when you are not told if you want it to end. Do come and do things like that with the community”. WH
•	“We all benefited from CSSGs, health and nutrition, it was a very good project, taking it away is like lying to the community”. East Hararghe (EH).
•	“We are disappointed that the project ended when it did. The first years were for preparation and integration and we the community were getting really involved, they stopped the project”. EH
•	“The government always lies to us, CARE came and we believe them as they are always good, not like the government then they also lie to us”. EH.
•	“RP was like a mirror we were using to look at ourselves, now that they have taken away the mirror, how can we see ourselves and what we are doing wrong?”. EH.
•	“RP was a 5-year plan, which changed our lives in 2 years, and then it was stopped. The community needs explanation for failing it”. EH
•	“All our needs have not been fulfilled, we were brought from darkness to light, and stopping the project is like taking us back to the darkness we came from”. EH
•	“Stopping the project is like a student being sent to college and half way through the college closes and he is not allowed any more education. The denial hurts”. EH.
•	“You cannot take away REVIVE, tell us who took away the project. He should come and explain to the community. If he does not know it, he has hurt the development of the community”. EH
•	“People have created various assets, about 13 people I know now have oxen who could never have owned a chicken. All those who participated in asset building now have assets. I know people who have 2 oxen and built iron sheet roofing houses. The project has only addressed the category three people, the poorest of the poor. It was good, they are lifted out of poverty, but what about the other 2 categories, the poorer and the poor? Do you want them to remain without any assets?” EH
•	“Government is trying to solve the water problems for the community, but if RP had been given the chance to remain, the water problems could have been solved for the community, as the government has not got the capacity to do it”. Woreda officials (WO).
•	“The roads constructed by the project are so good, you will not believe it, opening access to remote areas but it has not been completed. Goods cannot get to the market. It is like lighting a candle and keeping it indoors when the light is needed outside in the darkness. The project has to continue and these good roads completed. The communities feel let down and are complaining”. WO
•	“The uniqueness of the RP is the community makes its own plan based on their needs and they take ownership of the project.” WO
•	“We benefited from many things, especially how to have a vision and make our own plan. CARE promised us 5 years project, the first year was for teaching us how to plan, then they trained us and now that we have started the activities, they stopped the project. Our people are asking questions, is it our problem, the governments or CARE? We need explanation”. EH
•	“The project constructed a good road to the border of Karsa where there is the big market. What good is that to us if we can travel to the end of the road but not get to the market? Why did they do that?” EH
•	“People have started contributing money towards activities like water development and roads then the project was stopped. The community will like to know why?” EH
•	“We have so many springs (8) but none of them is developed, we planned to develop 5 of them, but CARE let us down”. EH
•	“We made so many plans with CARE. We planned road construction, water development, soil conservation, check dam construction and others. If the aim of RP is to change the livelihood of the communities, why was it stopped?” EH
•	“We appreciate the work done by RP, we could not believe it when the said, it was ending, we hoped and even prayed it will continue”. LG
•	“REVIVE gave us ordinary and poor people the chance to express our own ideas and form a savings group and now have a chance to make a living. We will like the project to continue. LG”
•	“After RP, the farmers are now using improved technology to improve their farming activities and a big change in savings habit. We do not want to hear of HIBRET or Safety Net or any other thing”. LG
•	“The best thing that the project has done is teaching us to stop old and bad practices. Feeding the children colostrum is as good as injection when they are ill, they just get better and better and look good”. LG
•	“The project brought good things to our lives. It taught to stop the harmful practices like cutting tonsils, going to the health centre instead of traditional healers, who take your money and deceive you”. LG
•	“ORDA delivering all components is a good thing and should continue. We have never seen one organisation doing nutrition, health, building roads, building dams, irrigation and saving schemes. They should continue the good work”. LG
•	“People selected us as committee members and they want to know why the project has stopped. We need REVIVE for 10 years not 5 years, so you cannot stop the project after 2.5 years”. LG
•	“Even though the project is stopped, we have learnt a lot, health and nutrition, family planning, HIV/AIDS, CSSGs and IGAs. There are many projects here, but REVIVE was different as it had the community interest and involved the community. Why should it be RP that is stopped?” LG

13.	CHALLENGES 

13.1	CHALLENGES – Organisational/General 

•	Delays in budget disbursement affected the smooth implementation of the project and in some cases caused a temporary cessation of work.
•	Lack of transport to visit communities as frequently as needed was an important failing. Promised motor cycles did not arrive until the Project closed.
•	Dependency syndrome of the community. Convincing the beneficiaries to participate without relief was difficult. There was such resistance from the communities as other NGOs operating the areas were still providing relief and trying to convince them to participate in FFW was difficult.
•	The project managers claim the new approach had internal and external challenges. The internal challenge came from staff who were required to change both their attitude and the way that things were done. The external challenge was from woreda officials who were used to CARE bringing emergency response and the beneficiaries who always received the relief.
•	The proposed partnership with the woreda officials did not work effectively in all the Project areas because of high turnover of woreda staff, which coupled with the capacity limitations of the woreda offices was a serious challenge. It is necessary to note that each woreda had on average 50 kebeles to manage whilst the average for REVIVE is 10 kebeles. Also last year’s elections took the officials focus to other things rather than the project.
•	The decision made to end the project mid way and replace it with another was very difficult to accept, even by project management staff, this led to a lack of ‘will’ to deliver the bad news to the community with whom they had worked hard to obtain their trust.

13.2	CHALLENGES: COMPONENT 1: Community Based Risk Management

•	In all Project areas, CBRMCs  have not been functional since January, 2004  
•	Inadequate transport facilities during the first half of the project period made it impossible for ORDA monitor the Project activities effectively.  
•	Unavailability of improved seeds from the research stations for highland crop varieties like barley, peas and chickpea caused the failure of the Project in some areas.
•	The fact that the project was working in only 10 Kebeles didn’t attract the attention of the government to work in partnership.
•	Most of the conservation activities were focused on physical interventions with inadequate emphasis to biological conservation measures and the issues of appropriate land management and use caused implementation and sustainability problems. 
•	 During focus group discussions complaints were made to the team of evaluators that there was two months delay in the payment of wages to participant in the FFW and ABS programmes. However on some occasions these payments had been delayed by the decision of WDPPCs because monitoring reports were delayed or unsatisfactory.

13.3	CHALLENGES: COMPONENT 2: Health, Sanitation and nutrition behaviours.

•	The bottom-up approach of project implementation moving from service delivery to a facilitation role was a challenge to Project staff.
•	The wide area of coverage together with the remoteness of some of the targeted communities over very bad roads made access a challenge.
•	Unlike during the beginning of the project, in which there was participation by active partners it become very difficult the latter stages of the Project to get them focused.
•	In many of the project objectives the out come required more changes in human behavioural than the injection of either material or support mechanisms. Unfortunately the reduced time span of the Project has inevitably adversely affected the results, particularly in health and nutrition.
•	Decades of dependency on relief made it difficult for participants to accept that they had to work before they were paid. 

13.4	CHALLENGES: COMPONENT 3: Promotion and Protection of Agricultural Production

•	Lack of proper documentation and reporting: Proper reporting and systematic documentation are important to build capacity and improve effective and efficient implementation. While a lot of strengths could be observed in logistics and commodity/beneficiary status, information on the processes of the implementation of FFW/EGS strategies as well as gender classified data were highly limited or non existent.
•	High turnover of Government staff made it difficult to follow-up and monitor of some of the Project activities. 
•	Lack of learning and experience sharing mechanisms:  partners were struggling to implement the REVIVE programme based on their own experiences. There was no forum (even between CARE and ORDA) where they could share experiences and learn new techniques or better problem solving mechanisms. 
•	There was an inadequate technical and financial feasibility study of the Damot and Sinchira irrigation schemes in Lay Gayint during the initial planning stage. 
•	The baseline information prepared by FANTA was not site specific but categorized on agency basis which, as result was not able to be applied by the Project. In fact at time of the evaluation, the baseline report was not available in any of the project sites.   
•	Animal Husbandry and Livestock Development was not adequately considered as a component of the food security program in the REVIVE project.
•	The project proposal is well organized and has foreseen very interesting project results however some of the results, such as the IPM programme, are not achievable within a period of three years.  
•	The inability to sustain the Seed Revolving Fund due to inadequate management of the institutional set up.

13.5	CHALLENGES: COMPONENT 4: Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs.
•	The culture of dependency and wasteful use of resources was a difficult one to break.
•	 Disintegration of some of the groups due to social conflicts that could not be resolved.
•	The Dependency Culture is still a serious problem with some groups still expecting support from outside bodies.
•	Some groups saved too much money with the members reluctant to borrow whilst others lacked enough capital to make other than small loans for members.
•	The overwhelming reliance on chat has remained a challenge. 
•	Reaching the very poorest who have the very minimum of disposable income that precludes them, though fully accepting the need,  regularly saving  the 1 or 2 birr that is required. 
•	The very nature of the groups, which are self-help and self-governing is a challenge to some of the groups as strength, capability and ability to manage varies. The less capable groups would need a lot more support to achieve sustainability without CARE’s assistance.
•	The issue of leadership could also be a problem to the groups, as in some cases, their self-governing by-laws have not stipulated rotation, which leaves the management of the group in the hands of dominant personalities and denying others the opportunity to gain experience.
•	Some CSSGs lack the linkage with formal institutions that would give them protection from and support by PA officials.
•	Other groups’ are being forced by politicians and Woreda officials to transform themselves into co-operatives without their agreement or the capacity to make the change. 

14.	LESSONS LEARNT 

14.1	LESSONS LEARNT – Organisational/General
•	A well designed and well resourced Project, with adequate training and capacity building as an integral part of the project implementation, would ensure that beneficiaries acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to participate successfully in delivering project activities.
•	Despite the extensive area covered and the vast scope of the work involved in delivering the project, it was realised that, working and organising people in small groups (village level) is effective and can bring attitudinal, economic and social change to a large number of people.
•	Delays in receiving budgetary and logistical support leads to delays in starting planned activities and the delays in completing the activities. In the case of REVIVE which was phased out half way through its projected life span, these delays affected the delivery of certain activities disproportionately.
•	One of the reasons for the success of REVIVE was its adoption of a true participatory approach and engaging project beneficiaries and woreda officials in the planning and implementation of the project. This ensured support by woreda officials and ownership of the project by the beneficiaries.
•	NGOs can make a difference by working with women, the poorest and the most marginalised people of the society if the people are empowered to take advantage of the opportunities created for them.
•	Women who have participated in the Project have demonstrated their skill, knowledge, resilience, experience and ability to find solutions to problems to take responsibilities and to share valuable ideas. This was witnessed in community action planning sessions and was again demonstrated in the successful CSSG activities that was mostly undertaken by women. 
•	REVIVE has demonstrated that communities can effectively lead their own development if they are supported and their capacities are utilised and expanded.

14.2	LESSONS LEARNT - COMPONENT 1: Community Based Risk Management
•	Application of watershed approach has helped to improve integration among the different activities under the four project objectives. It has also helped communities to take advantage of the benefits derived from the inter-relationships of natural resources within the watershed
•	The CBRMC community based structure at Village level was found to be an effective mechanism for transferring best practices and improved technologies to assist in overcoming the challenges of food insecurity.  
•	A practical demonstration of the capacity of one CBRMC was their ability to warn the Doba Woreda on the 2004 looming crisis well in advance and enable the CBRMC to make an immediate response by organizing intervention of EGS instead of using FFW was noted.
•	Community Action planning (CAP) exercises in which the whole village community gather and discuss and prepare plans using simplified planning procedures should be taken as very good lessons to be replicated to other areas.
•	The effect of training given in REVIVE areas has already been noted and started in some non REVIVE areas.
•	The Asset and Income Groups formed through REVIVE have crated a forum for community discussion of all its development concerns. 
•	Panel monitoring implemented in East and West Hararghe proved a very useful experience in bringing all stakeholders together for regularly monitoring of the project activities.

14.3	LESSONS LEARNT - COMPONENT 2: Health, Sanitation and nutrition behaviours.
•	Proper sensitisation and engaging the community in planning ensured better participation.
•	No delay in implementing the activities is good for the community.
•	Close follow-up, supervision, monitoring and evaluation identifies’ problems quickly so that they can be solved keeping the programme on schedule.
•	The creation of awareness in the community has lead to illiterate rural women understanding the implications on the environment of using FEW stoves.
•	 People’s behaviour can be changed by education.
•	Training given to traditional birth attendants and Health Animators as well as to positive deviant mother’s groups increased all mothers’ awareness of potential health problems and changed attitudes towards colostrum and exclusive breast feeding. 
•	The promotion of vegetable gardening has contributed to the improvement in families’ dietary provision.
•	Positive behaviour changes in personal hygiene and environmental health have occurred when the community have access to clean water. 
•	Positive behaviour change in all aspects of health and sanitation occurs when the community is trained in improved health and sanitation methods. 

14.4	LESSONS LEARNT - COMPONENT 3: Promotion and Protection of Agricultural Production
•	The facilitating role played by ORDA instead of replacing the local government structure has maximized the sustainability of the project outputs.
•	In order to improve adoption and replication of the drip irrigation technology as demonstrated in Lay Gayint woreda there must be: 
•	Intensive technical backstopping and follow up from the Projects supervisors 
•	Training on the use the kits and how practical problems raised by farmers can be solved.
•	Integration and coordination between the project and other government sector offices.
•	Though the IPM intervention was limited, the impact on the overall crop production and protection system of the area is enormous.
•	The Safety Net system should be brought in to ensure sustainability of the IPM.
•	Improved seed distribution in both East and West Hararghe particularly that of wheat and Haricot beans was too small to bring significant impact.  
•	Development of joint action plan between the Project and the various sector offices of the Woreda government in East Hararghe has  promoted participation of all stakeholders with specific tasks, duties and responsibilities  
•	The fact that most of the capacity building assistance was at lower community level has maximized effectiveness of the program.
 
14.5	LESSONS LEARNT - COMPONENT 4: Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs.
•	Wasteful practices can be identified and consensus reached with the community on the measures required to minimise the problem.
•	The community can be educated to realise that time is a resource and spending a lot of time on religious festivals, weddings and other celebrations is not only wasting money but time as an irreplaceable resource. 
•	With good organisation, sensitisation, training and support, even the poorest can save and build assets.
•	CSSGs were the principal instigators of the increase in the sense of self-worth and self esteem of the poorest within the community.
•	With good support, the community, particularly members of savings groups can develop skills better management skills to be used in the management of loans and other activities.
•	The project has demonstrated that with the right support, even the poorest members of the community have a vision to grow and improve their life through their own effort.  
•	The Co-operative Office has no legal framework or perhaps the institutional capacity to accommodate the CSSGs in their present format.
•	Even though some of the groups have grown ‘big’ enough and may want increase their capital by borrowing from, or saving with, formal financial institutions, the self governing nature or the groups does not allow this and access to more funding is denied.
•	 Most people in the wider community are capable of being educated to realise that time is a resource and that sitting about chewing chat is not only wasting money but time as a resource that could be spent on a profitable venture.
•	 The simplicity and flexibility of format of the CSSGs ensured that the poorest people are able to form a group, make their own by-laws, saving money and getting access to loans.
•	The bottom-up approach of the Project won the trust of the people and created ownership enabling many poor people in the community to join the groups and save money.
•	The community’s perception has been changed over time as they experience the benefits of saving small amounts of money regularly in a group. 
•	Women are saving on their own, in consultation with or in conjunction with their husbands.

15.	CONCLUSIONS  

15.1	CONCLUSIONS: ORGANISATIONAL/GENERAL
•	The success of the Project was due, to a substantial extent, to the attention that was paid by CARE to fostering the ‘ownership’ of the Project by its beneficiaries and other stakeholders.  
•	Technically, the project was well designed in 4 components and was targeted to assist 90,000 people in 18,000 households by reducing chronic food vulnerability. In general it was resourced but the activities planned in certain components were too low and precluded the successful completion of the objective. This is most evident in Component 2, in which the provision of water development schemes in all the project areas was no adequate to meet the needs of most of the targeted communities.
•	The amount of awareness raising, sensitisation, training and capacity building was adequate enough to ensure that project beneficiaries understood the issues, modified their individual and community attitudes and acquired the new skills necessary to successfully implement the project.
•	Even though, REVIVE was replaced by another project, HIBRET, the abrupt ending of the project midway through its life cycle has left most of its activities uncompleted resulting in difficulties in assessing the Project’s actual impact on the communities.
•	Over all the Project has been very successful in addressing the identified needs of the communities in the targeted areas even though the outcome/implementation results are mixed across the 3 project areas.
•	CARE’s partnership with ORDA, a national NGO, local to the area of operation in Lay Gayint woreda has been successful in organising and delivering the project activities. 
•	The reliance on one Donor for the funding of the whole of one Project is a risk for any NGO. In this case, beneficiaries and staff were adversely affected by the decision of the Donor to shift the funding to another project. The result was that CARE had no choice but to end the programme half way through its cycle with the attendant negative effects. 
•	In conclusion, project beneficiaries without exception believe the REVIVE was a very good project and expressed their disappointment that the project was ended prematurely in no uncertain terms. The Views expressed by project beneficiaries, and even Woreda officials, at the end of the Project demonstrate the strength of feeling about the loss of something very valuable, and in some cases, the feeling was that of betrayal. (See section 12).

15.2	CONCLUSIONS: COMPONENT 1 - Community Based Risk Management
•	CBRM committees established both at kebele and village level were functional and contributed to strengthening the preparedness of the community to recognise and act upon advance warning indicators. 
•	Early warning indicators (including those that originate from traditional, indigenous knowledge) and the tools the tools needed for collecting and monitoring rainfall which were put to immediate use with heartening results.
•	The training given to farmers that enabled them to interpret the Early Warning data was an essential component of this sub-objective as it gave them the ability to plan and implement actions in advance of any impending problem.
•	The project through maximising the role of the community in early warning assessment and there participation in local development planning improved the capacity of the community to cope with shocks and respond to emergencies as they occur. 
•	The Project ensured adequate community empowerment, through involvement in conceptualisation and skill training, to allow them to participate effectively in action planning and implementation. However, true empowerment comes after long term effort and from recognition by the communities of the benefits derived from development work. As a result the sustainability of the programs particularly started under the CBRMC is doubtful. Therefore, sustainability and scaling-up of these project-supported activities is a specific concern, making it an obvious focus for future action under the Safety-net programme.
•	Establishment of community-based Asset Building Groups (ABS) established alongside the FFW programs has been effective in encouraging saving, asset creation and asset diversification.
•	In addition to building the capacity to absorb shocks as they happen, those participants, who purchased oxen, were able to cultivate their land at the ‘right’ time which will, ultimately, result in increasing farm productivity.
•	In addition to individual asset building, ABS participants were engaged on development activities, which contributed to community asset building including environmental protection, the rehabilitation of degraded lands and providing access to markets and other social services. The ABS schemes support a variety of private and public works were found effective in building community assets that improve household livelihoods.  
•	Evidence shows that the elements of timeliness and adequacy of the wages are the keys to preventing asset erosion.  Though there were few cases of delay in wage payment, the Project response was generally timely and addressed the neediest. This is as a result of the CBRM approach which has assisted in integrating early warning systems to locally triggered responses to meet local requirements. 
•	In general, the finding of the various monitoring exercises has also shown that there is improved household capacity to absorb and resist shocks on their own without massive external assistance.    
•	The Project has applied the lessons learnt from previous DAP Projects, the most important of which were: to involve the beneficiaries at the needs assessment/planning stage, to get the village level community institutional structure organised at the very beginning of any project and to emphasize the need for awareness creation and training programmes. This has positively affected the overall performance of this Project.
•	Food Aid resources are well integrated into the community development program, designed to improve the long-term agricultural potential of the area.  
•	A dependency mentality has been largely avoided, through community work in addressing food security challenges for the future.  
•	The extent of community participation, particularly the participation of women’s groups, in all stages of the program cycle and activities is very encouraging and leaves evaluators with the confidence that many of the development impacts will be sustained.
•	It is difficult to measure whether the overall objective of food security is achievable or not at this stage as the program time was terminated at the middle of the Project period, and the climatic variables are so wide-ranging.  However, it is the team's impression that considerably more time than three years would be necessary to measure whether the program has built up the capacity of households and communities to cope with disaster-related stress.
•	By training woreda DPPC staff and LD personnel to understand the policy and enhance its implementation the Woreda partner’s capacity to prevent, be prepared for and adequately respond to disasters was enhanced.  
•	The project has established a good working relationship with its partners. The activities are seen very much as joint activities rather than solely a CARE operation. The joint monitoring approach adopted in East and West Harghe through the panel monitoring team organized from the beneficiary farmers and representatives from different sector offices of the Woreda government has been instrumental in the success of this partnership. 

15.3	CONCLUSIONS: COMPONENT 2 - Health, Sanitation and nutrition behaviours.
•	Even though the project has developed some water schemes that give Project beneficiaries access to clean and protected sources of water, the number of schemes planned was far is too low. The problem of water is still very serious in most of the targeted areas.
•	Through training and sensitisation, project beneficiaries have shown positive behavioural change moving from the old, traditional methods of feeding their new born babies to adopting colostrum and exclusive breast feeding together with the adoption of proper supplementary feeding of their children. Improvement in the diet provision for the whole family through the promotion and adoption of vegetable gardening has improved the health and nutrition of the targeted communities.
•	The project has been successful in positively changing the behaviour of beneficiaries in personal hygiene and environmental health by providing access to clean and protected water. 
•	Through engagement, training and sensitisation, communities are aware of health and sanitation issues and are now building their own latrines and waste disposal facilities.
•	Due to the awareness creation initiatives within the community even illiterate rural women now know that, with their fuel-efficient stoves, they use less fuel wood which in turn reduces their work burden but saves them from the health problems caused by smoke inhalation. 

15.4	CONCLUSIONS: COMPONENT 3 - Promotion and Protection of Agricultural Production
•	The farmers training and demonstration centres (farmer’s field schools) proved ideal forums for increasing the appreciation of the best of the traditional practices and implementing the in their own fields.
•	The growth in knowledge and experience of farmers of IPM in all the project sites is encouraging. Some members of the IPM have managed to experiment and develop traditional non-chemical pesticides and rodent poisons which is one of the noteworthy achievements of the Project. What is left untouched is the FFS element of IPM. 
•	It should be noted that almost all FFSs established at early stage of the Project have not survived and efforts to institutionalize the schools by creating linkages with Woreda governments or nearby Research Centre have failed. In future more informed effort should be applied to create and maintain sustainability. 
•	Through its activities, the Project has begun to have a positive impact on increasing the rate at which improved farming practices are being introduced. The main impacts so far have been:
-	An overall increase in food production; to 
-	Diversification of sources of income, 
-	A reduction of the vulnerability of the Project Area to drought, 
-	An improvement in the social infrastructure,
-	A marked change in  the attitudes of farmers, women, the community and local government
•	Increasing awareness and the adoption of new and improved farming practices has been observed resulting in:
Increased cultivation of steep lands with appropriate conservation practices, 
Removal of sorghum stock before cultivation as an appropriate pest control practice. 
An increase in the use of ‘Repetition Ploughing’ (2-3 times before sowing) to the required depth (using Dengora) to reduce runoff and maximize infiltration.
•	Provision of seeds through the ‘Revolving Seed Credit’ system enabled benefiting households to remain in the farming community, to gain additional income and to improve their fall back position in case of future disasters. However the sustainability of some of the revolving seed initiatives is questionable as a considerable amount of seed, especially Wheat and Sorghum, were lost in the dry spell last year. Further taking the areas proneness to different adverse climatic conditions and the high risk of adulteration of the seed in the long term the seed provision should have been increased to involve more farmers.  
•	All farmers who received the practical training and the drip kits have made some attempts to grow at least one product. Some kits were used for vegetable production in backyards and some were used for fruit tree seedling production. Though the drip irrigation technology promotions in Lay Gayint has been successful, it was not so successful in East and West Hararghe because:
-	There was inadequate follow-up and backstopping by the Projects supervisors.
-	There was insufficient training and support in the installation and use of the kits.
-	Training that was given was general and not specific to the different soil and climatic conditions of the farms on which the kits were installed. 
-	Some kits were given to farmers in areas where there was insufficient water to justify their introduction. 
-	There was inadequate training in the integration of related dry land vegetable production and protection techniques. 
-	Farmers, who were given kits for free, were reluctant to ask for assistance or to request repairs for reasons that were not clear.
-	Lack of reliable water resources both from quantity and quality point of view.

15.5	CONCLUSIONS: COMPONENT 4 - Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs.
•	The project working with the community to identify wasteful practices and assisting the community in ways of addressing problem has been helpful. 
•	As most communities exist in a food insecure area it was self evident that the time, money and food that it spent on religious festivals and other celebrations would decrease their dependency on outside aid if it were saved.
•	The project has demonstrated that with the right support, even the poorest people within every community, can save and build assets.
•	The CSSG is said by beneficiaries to be the only community based flexible savings scheme that is accessible to the poorest and the most marginalised of society. With the easy access to, and involvement in, the schemes the poor were able to save money and have access to loans enabling them to manage financial shocks. More importantly membership liberated the poor from exploitation of money lenders.
•	With the involvement of women in the CSSGs, the traditional dominance of men in financial decision making is changing. Women are becoming self reliant, and are able to support themselves and their children without necessarily going back to their husbands for financial support.
•	The areas where CSSG groups started a social fund, in addition to their savings, the social fund element has been instrumental in promoting solidarity and enhancing social cohesion among group. This improves performance and ensures sustainability of those groups as they are more likely to stay together longer since members support each other in times of distress as well as in times of joy. 
•	The early phasing out of the project is a challenge to some of the groups as their capability and strength varies from group to group, the weaker ones will struggle to survive without CARE’s support. The early phasing out of the Project has also prevented the groups from maturing to ‘graduate’ to the next level of development and register with the Co-operative office, which would enable them to access increased capital. 

16	RECOMMENDATIONS

16.1	RECOMMENDATIONS - Organisational/General
•	In addition to good project planning, to avoid delays and ensure smooth implementation of future projects, CARE should ensure that delays in releasing budget allocations and other logistical support should be kept on schedule. 
•	Future project activity levels should be designed to meet the needs of targeted beneficiaries. 
•	In designing future project proposals, a section should be devoted to sustainability issues and the survival of the project after it is completed and handed to the community. 
•	The reliance on one major donor to finance a big project can be risky, as the withdrawal of the Donor could force the project to close abruptly leaving beneficiaries in the lurch with a lack of trust in ‘authority’ and NGOs in general. It is recommended that in view of the lesson learnt when USAID decided  to divert the funding for REVIVE to HIBRET CARE should re-examine its fund raising policy and diversify funding for very big projects.  
•	The challenges and lessons learnt in planning and delivery of REVIVE, should be serve as guide in the implementation of the HIBRET programme.
•	It is highly recommended that the good practices and success stories of the REVIVE Project should be documented and replicated in other areas in particular in the implementation of the HIBRET programme.
•	As the quantity and quality of the various activities delivered vary across the 3 project areas, it is recommended that future projects should include study tours for project managers and staff to regularly visit other project areas and learn from colleagues and beneficiaries who are doing particularly well.
•	CARE should step up its monitoring and evaluation of the various projects to ensure that, the activities are being implemented as scheduled and to the required standard. Close regular and consistent monitoring will identify any implementation difficulties and remedial action taken.
•	CARE should continue to work with, and build the capacities of, Woreda officers and community leaders so that in the unlikely event of another project being terminated halfway through its cycle, the woreda can support communities and continue the implementation of the project.

16.2	RECOMMENDATIONS: COMPONENT 1 - Community Based Risk Management
•	It is strongly recommended that a rapid Capacity Assessment be made of all CBRMCs to identify gaps and take appropriate action to improve their capacity to   sustain their functions.  Ways and means should be find to replicate the lessons learnt in this regard of strengthening the community based Early Warning System as part of the government Safety net strategies.
•	The preparation of off-the-shelf projects should be promoted through training, collaboration of various stakeholders and community participation.
•	It is considered extremely important that action be taken to improve consultation and joint planning within implementing agencies particularly at field level. 
•	Access to improved highland cereal crops seeds through strengthening contacts with Research Stations should be greatly improved.
•	 The design and construction of the roads on such difficult terrain would have benefited from more qualified engineers.  The protocol for handing over roads to Kebeles and Woreda councils and their future maintenance, which relies on the technical expertise and experience of the supervising officers, needs further study;  
•	The ‘Facilitating’ role of CARE in the implementation of projects should be maximized instead of the role replacing that of local government.
•	Closer partnership with local government offices with jointly established action planning committees to clearly identify actions and resources should be encouraged. 
•	Promote the integration within the watershed management of all the isolated water saving and consuming activities to prevent duplication and waste of resources and time. 
•	The preparation of off-the-shelf projects should be promoted through training and, collaboration of various stakeholders together with the participation of the beneficiary communities. 

16.3	RECOMMENDATIONS: COMPONENT 2 - Health, Sanitation and nutrition behaviours.
•	In future programme planning, the number of water schemes to be developed should be adequate to meet the needs of the community as the problem of water is still very serious in most rural communities in Ethiopia.
•	To ensure that a positive behaviour change from old and traditional methods of feeding babies to the adoption of exclusive breast feeding and the adoption of proper supplementary feeding of children continues CARE should increase, if possible, the support provided to the communities through ongoing training and awareness raising events. 
•	For the improvement in personal hygiene and environmental health to continue, CARE should, if possible continue to develop projects that provide access to clean and protected water. 
•	To ensure that positive change in the behaviour of the community continues, the sensitisation, awareness raising and training in health and sanitation should continue even if CARE is not going to develop any water schemes 
•	Continue to promote the health and sanitation messages to the community through the new HIBRET programme. Support the community in building the VIPLs and improved hygiene practices and ensure that Women are supported in building fuel-efficient stoves. The reasons for the low rate of adoption of the health promotion initiatives should be investigated and a high priority accorded to finding and introducing solutions

16.4	RECOMMENDATIONS: COMPONENT 3 - Promotion and Protection of Agricultural Production
•	Improvement of the woreda information system on IPM is part of the institutionalization process of IPM-FFS. It is therefore advisable to start working at woreda level and then to extend the improvements and the experience gained to the Kebeles. Intensive training for the staff of the Department of Agriculture working at all levels should be considered. 
•	In order to address the water shortage problems related to the promotion for drip irrigation technology in the areas 
•	In order to improve adoption and replication of the drip irrigation technology as demonstrated in Lay Gayint there must be. 
-	Intensive technical backstopping and follow up from the projects supervisors 
-	There must be training in the installation and use of the kits and demonstration of the ways of using the kits in different soil and water supply conditions 
-	Selection of areas for drip irrigation demonstration should take minimum water availability as criteria
-	Introduction of the drip irrigation promotion scheme should be promoted with the parallel introduction of different water harvesting techniques such as traditional pond construction and roof catchment installations. 
-	There is a need to increase farmers awareness, and adoption of, new and improved methods of farming practices.
•	Efforts to implementation physical SWC activities should be supported with biological SWC where feasible. 
•	Improving documentation should be introduced to strengthen capacity and standardize program monitoring and management. 
•	More efforts should be made to improve the technical capacity of Woreda government staff and to give more emphasis to community-based training at village and sub-Kebele levels
•	 The technical knowledge and skills of farmers and DAs particularly in the integration of physical and biological conservation measures needs to be promoted.
•	An opportunity has now been created, as a result of recent government shift of direction,  for food security needs to be discussed and understood among potential partners in order to find a way for proper transition with out undermining past efforts. 
•	Post distribution monitoring and follow up mechanisms need to be established to corrective any errors or gaps in the programme. To facilitate this the capacity of CARE and implementing partners should be strengthened by adequate staffing and clearly established systems. 
•	More attention should be given to solving the current water supply problems experienced in many Kebeles of West Hararghe.  Proper attention must also be given to the identification of sites with water potential, to their accessibility and manageability to ensure sustainability.
•	In order to gradually relieve the population pressures on the land, there is a need to strengthen the family planning services in all the three projects sites.
•	The preparation of off-the-shelf projects should be promoted through training, collaboration of various stakeholders, community participation, etc.

16.5	RECOMMENDATIONS: COMPONENT 4 - Improved household resources, CSSGs and IGAs.
•	With the success of CSSGs, it is highly recommended that the scheme be introduced to other areas to enable the desperately poor in other areas who, because of their status in society have no way of saving or access to loans, would also be given the opportunity to save and get loans to start trading or farming efficiently. This would, as illustrated in the experience of current beneficiaries, prevent them from relying on traditional money lenders who exploit them. 
•	To avoid seeing the community slip back into indulging in wasteful practices, CARE should support the community in their efforts to deal with, and combat these practices. As this is a perennial problem, CARE could adopt the approach of including this element in all projects as it did in mainstreaming gender and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention as a cross-cutting issue.
•	CARE should continue supporting the poorest people, within every community, in their attempts to save and build assets 
•	The success of women participating successfully in the CSSGs further re-enforces the message of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. Further support should be given to the communities, especially women’s groups, to encourage and support them in their quest to improve their lives and reduce their reliance on their husbands.
•	The benefits of the social fund aspect of CSSGs should be documented and disseminated. All groups should be encouraged to start a social fund which acts as welfare protection for members and improves performance and ensures sustainability of the group as the groups are more likely to stay together longer when members are able to support each other in times of distress as well as in times of joy.
•	In future the training in diversifying into IGAs and marketing should be intensified to enable more groups to undertake IGAs and successfully market their produce.  
•	In future there should be closer collaboration with the Co-operative office, to ensure that groups get the support they need either in registering to became legal bodies or ensuring that the get the protection as well as access to capital.