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Gendered Enterprise and Markets Programme Annual Report 2015 1 | Page GENDERED ENTERPRISE AND MARKETS PROGRAMME ANNUAL REPORT May 2014 April 2015

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Gendered Enterprise and Markets Programme – Annual Report 2015 1 | P a g e

GENDERED ENTERPRISE AND MARKETS

PROGRAMME

ANNUAL REPORT

May 2014 – April 2015

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UK Aid Match Annual Review

The Annual Review assesses and rates outputs using the following rating scale.

Description Scale

Outputs substantially exceeded expectation A++

Outputs moderately exceeded expectation A+

Outputs met expectation A

Outputs moderately did not meet expectation B

Outputs substantially did not meet expectation C

A: SUMMARY

Name of grant holder: Oxfam Great Britain

Project title: Increasing women smallholder farmers‟ agency and leadership in rural livelihoods in Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Zambia

Project Value: £5,000,000 Review Date: May 2015

Start Date: 1 May 2014 End Date: 30 April 2017

A.1 Summary of progress since last review

At the end of the first year, the project in all three countries is mostly on target, despite a few minor setbacks early on. In the inception period, countries completed hiring and training of project staff; selection of, and contract signing with partners; and selection of target beneficiary groups and regions based on prior analysis done alongside selected partners. In total, 141 PGs have been engaged in the projects so far, within which 90% of the leadership positions are held by women. These are working in dairy and soya value chains in Zambia, dairy in Bangladesh and fruit and vegetable production in Tajikistan. A significant focus of activities in the first year has been on research, with all three countries conducting in-depth contextual analysis (using selected methods from Oxfam‟s „GEM toolkit‟. See A2 for details) to establish project direction and ensure the effective design of activities. All countries have undertaken analysis of their market systems; mapping opportunities and

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blockages within selected value chains, as well as identifying key players with whom to engage. Guided by this, all countries have been working on developing effective relationships with private sector and government actors involved in the value chain. In each country, project staff have organised and attended multiple multi stakeholder forums, conferences and networking events, garnering support for project activities and promoting the role of SHFs within the market system. This has had some early success, for example in Tajikistan where the authorities have shown their support by offering land for a training and development centre, offices for a local partner, and space within District Authority Buildings for the Legal Centres. Potential major product buyers, and service providers have been identified as a result of these activities and negotiations with buyers are underway in all three countries. Research and needs analysis also informed the design, content and delivery methods of the training and capacity support delivered to SHFs this year and in coming years. Topics selected are wide-ranging, but in all countries training focused mostly on agricultural production and market activities in the first year. As the contexts of each project are so different, agricultural outputs and training impact vary at the end of the first year: In Bangladesh, the project is part of a larger programme, REE-CALL (Resilience through Economic Empowerment, Climate Change Adaptation, Leadership and Learning), that supports extremely vulnerable farmers working in various markets. Although the PGs formed are new, all members were already established dairy farmers. Here, several PGs are beginning to show improvements in milk quality and quantity as a result of their involvement in the project. In Zambia, where dairy farming is being introduced to smallholders with no prior experience using Heifer Zambia‟s pass-on-the-gift approach, 50 families have received one in-calf cow each. The first cows will begin milking in June 2015. In soya production, 930 farmers planted following receiving trainings, but results won‟t be seen until the coming harvest. In Tajikistan, the time-frame of activities meant that farmers weren‟t able to implement techniques learnt from training for their current fruit and vegetable crop and will begin using their training next season. In addition, in Tajikistan, research has led to the design of agricultural legal training and information service centres, and supplementary mobile legal clinics that target women who find it difficult to travel. Demand for these services, and other trainings offered across the countries have been significant and we have surpassed the target number of SHFs who received training this year. All 141 PGs involved have also been provided with operational capacity building support and, already, 44 (PLUS TAJ NUMBER WHEN IT COMES) have demonstrated „an improved capacity to function‟ collectively in their market environments. In Tajikistan and Zambia, this is evidenced by the fact that SHFs are completing their own market research to identify and negotiate deals with potential buyers. In Zambia, 4 PG cooperatives are also developing business plans for Milk Collection Centres in their communities. Despite being early in the project cycle, improved operational capacity in terms of advocacy and influencing activities is already visible in Bangladesh and Zambia, with PGs successfully lobbying local authorities and private sector actors for additional services, including „women-friendly transport‟ in Bangladesh and free herbicide training in Zambia. At this stage in the project, Oxfam have been working alongside partners and community members to develop and implement advocacy strategies, and provide platforms from which SHFs can successfully engage with multiple stakeholders. These will become a bigger feature of the project in the coming years.

In the second half of the year, monitoring and evaluation workshops were held in Tajikistan and Zambia that resulted in the completion of results chains, and design of monitoring plans for the

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future of the project. Over the remainder of the project period, all countries aim to develop more systematic means of collecting and analysing information, alongside processes for reflection, learning and re-planning at both output and outcome levels. **It should be noted that, for this year‟s DFID annual report, monitoring and learning has occurred in a mixture of ways that could be classified as informal right up to systematic and formal. Overall, and certainly for outcome level data, this collection has been more in the nature of informal project level observational visits by Oxfam and partner staff, where, in the case of Zambia and Tajikistan, there have been opportunities to obtain beneficiary feedback. The collection and analysis of activity level output information has, by its nature, involved more formal regular systematic processes.

NB.Whilst country teams have information about outcomes; there is more work to do at both the country and global levels to improve the systematic and routine collection of outcome level data. This should improve the quality of the evidence behind our results reporting in the following years.

A.2 Summary of lessons learnt since last review

Multi-stakeholder involvement: Both Tajikistan and Zambia report finding that early engagement with community representatives, the private sector and government representatives through regular communication, and invitations to input on design, has been beneficial for project activities. This has created a good platform for future influencing as well as generated meaningful private sector investment and access to smallholder finance in Zambia. In Tajikistan, the authorities have shown their support by offering land for a training and development centre, offices for a local partner, and space within District Authority Buildings for the Legal Centres. These relationships will be developed in the coming years. Research: Several research projects have been conducted in the three countries in the last 12 months. Findings from these have influenced project design and implementation. Market mapping and market analysis -- All countries have done in depth analysis of market systems to identify potential buyers, sellers, blockages and opportunities. In the inception period, Oxfam and partners had identified potential buyers but during the year, through multi-stakeholder involvement and further market research, decisions were made to reach out to multiple different buyers who show an interest. As mentioned above, in Zambia, farmers themselves have also begun conducting their own market research to identify and approach buyers that they may find more suitable.

Legal research findings -- Analysis of legislation and legal practices provided valuable insights on where the law restricts, or has the potential to safeguard, women‟s rights in Tajikistan. It also revealed that both women and men have difficulties in accessing information and legal advice on all topics, not just regarding economic activities. These findings have helped inform LWLs activities for the coming years. As well as providing services through the Legal Clinics, LWL is also responding to the finding that women find transport to the clinics difficult, by providing village outreach activities delivered by mobile legal teams.

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The Rapid Care Analysis -- In both Zambia and Bangladesh, Rapid Care Analysis focus groups revealed that unpaid care work -- the burden of which primarily falls on women -- is at its most strenuous during peak project dairy and soya production months. In both countries, Oxfam and partners are working with the communities on finding, and advocating for, solutions to this intensification of labour at community and policy level. More efforts will be made in recognising the issue of care when designing and adapting future project activities. PCVA/VRA -- Community led research using the PCVA/VRA tools have been done in Tajikistan and Bangladesh in the past year. These have helped identify specific vulnerabilities and risks that villages may face from climatic and non-climatic shocks.

A.3 Summarise any changes that need to be made to the project plan

N/A

B: PERFORMANCE AND CONCLUSIONS

B.1 Outcome statement:

1. Smallholder farmer (SHF) women have increased decision-making power in Producer Groups (PGs), including taking on leadership roles.

B.2 Performance

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

1.1 Percentage of decision-making positions in PGs, or Higher level PGs held by women.

Milestone %

Achievement %

Zambia 90% 88 %

Tajikistan 0% 52%

Bangladesh 100 % 100 %

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Women in all three countries have taken on leadership positions within PGs and higher level PGs. In the 20 dairy and soya PGs engaged with so far in Zambia, the most important decision-making roles --chairperson, secretary and treasurer -- are all held by women. Women chair 17 of the 22 soya PGs, and fill 85 of the total 112 most important decision making roles. As a result of their positions here, some of these women have been appointed to sit on the Camp Agriculture Committee, where they input on how the government should manage its Farmer Input Support Programme (government programme where smallholder farmers who are members of cooperatives can access inputs at a subsidised rate from government e.g. seed and fertilisers, to rural communities mainly for maize production). In all 84 PGs in Bangladesh, the 252 most important decision-making roles -- chairperson, secretary and treasurer -- are all held by women. Women members are involved in decision making at all levels of the group‟s operation, such as operating the milk collection centres (MCCs) and negotiating deals with input suppliers and private sector buyers. In Tajikistan, of the 5 newly established PGs all have women leaders, while in 3 of the 10 existing PGs included in this project new women secretaries have been appointed.

B.3 Are there any changes you will make to the project to achieve this outcome?

Tajikistan: In year two, Oxfam and partners will make increased efforts at identifying and offering additional training to potential women leaders. Exchange visits with established women‟s PGs are also planned.

B.1 Outcome statement:

2. Improvements in the quality and/or quantity of production of agricultural product(s).

B.2 Performance

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

2.1 Proportion (%) of PGs who report improvements in product quality, disaggregated by group type (women led groups / non-women-led groups)

Milestone

%

Achievement

%

Zambia

71% (8 women led, 22 men led)

Too early to observe*

Tajikistan 0% Too early to observe*

Bangladesh 18% (all women led) 28% (All women led)

2.2 Proportion (%) of PGs who report increase in product yield, disaggregated by group type (women led groups / non-women-led-groups)

Milestone

%

Achievement

%

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Zambia 100% Too early to observe*

Tajikistan 0% Too early to observe*

Bangladesh 18% (all women led) 28% (All women led)

In Bangladesh, 42 of the 84 established PGs have established MCCs. In 24 of these MCCs, farmers have reported a 20-25% average increase in milk production per cow. Average fat content in milk has also risen from 2.5-2.8 to 3.0-3.2% in the last year. These product increase results are currently based on anecdotal evidence, while changes in fat content (which reflects quality) are based on spot-checks done by partners with MCCs. *In Zambia and Tajikistan there are no official results for this outcome at this stage; ● In Zambia, the first 20 animals were distributed in December 2014, and the remaining 30 in

May 2015. Milking will begin, at the earliest, in June 2015 and the health of the cows at this point indicates that milk production increase will occur. Soya crops will be harvested, and results will be collected in June and sold shortly thereafter to processors. From observations, there has been some improvement in crop quality as a result of the PG trainings, however poor rainfall in the region this season may have had a negative impact on the yield.

● Project activities began after the start of the crop season in Tajikistan and therefore will not affect this season‟s yield.

B.3 Are there any changes you will make to the project to achieve this outcome?

None. More substantial results are expected during this year.

B.1 Outcome statement:

3. SHFs have greater capacity to respond and adapt to risks, including climate extremes and slow onset changes.

B.2 Performance

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

3.1 Number of SHFs implementing climate resilient measures following training, including for example improved irrigation, climate resilient farming techniques, etc.

Milestone Achievement

Women Men Women Men

Zambia 675 225 683 251

Tajikistan 300 300 210 378

Bangladesh 180 120 278 107

3.2 Number of communities within which project SHFs are located conducting resilience

Milestone

Achievement

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measures

Zambia 42 20

Tajikistan 0 12

Bangladesh 84 84

These numbers come from partners and Oxfam observations and discussions with community members. All milestones in indicator 3.1 have been exceeded as a result of the greater-than-expected training delivered (see output 2). Outcome milestones for Zambia were not achieved as this milestone was properly understood at the time the projection was made. Farmers in 20 PGs in Zambia have employed crop diversification techniques as a result of the training they have received. Techniques taken up include planting crops with different maturity dates, and planting more drought tolerant crops. 23 SHFs within these groups have also reported planting crops that will serve as supplementary fodder for their cattle during the dry season, thus protecting them from a risk of food shortage. In Bangladesh, data from partners (collected through observation) shows that 385 of the 839 farmers trained on climate resilient dairy farming measures are employing what they have learnt. 19 Resilience Action Groups have been formed at union level in order to lobby local authorities on climatic risk reduction measures, following application of the PCVA and VRA tools. In Tajikistan PCVA training was implemented in the communities, and during monitoring visits with Community-Based organization leaders have learnt that village-level plan is already being implemented in 12 communities.

B.3 Are there any changes you will make to the project to achieve this outcome?

None. The monitoring will continue during year 2 and feedback/support will be provided to the PGs and/or SHFs through training as required.

B.1 Outcome statement:

4. PGs have the capacity to take collective action and learning.

B.2 Performance

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

4.1 Number of PGs or higher level PGs that show 'improved capacity to function', collectively to meet their stated purpose.

Milestone

Achievement

Zambia 26 14

Tajikistan 0 6

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Bangladesh 30 24

4.2 Number of events or forums (national and sub-national) attended or established, wherein PGs or Higher level PGs are present with the intent to influence policies, attitudes or behaviours of stakeholders

Milestone

Achievement

Zambia 11 10

Tajikistan 4 19

Bangladesh 0 0

Not all PGs in Zambia and Bangladesh have begun to function as quickly as initially expected in year 1 (as illustrated in the targets being lower than the milestones). Nevertheless there has been some progress in this whereby some have shown an „improved capacity to function‟ although this ability is projected to be improved in year 2. Following are some illustrative examples;

● In Tajikistan, 6 PGs have already begun negotiating a relationship with a 5 star hotel in the capital following their attendance at an Oxfam organised event promoting investments in smallholder agriculture. PG representatives have also been attending various forums on the role of women in agriculture and food security, water and partnership building.

● In Bangladesh, 42 of the PGs have reached a level of production that has enabled them to establish MCCs and 24 of them have begun milk trading with formal milk buyers such as regional and national milk processing companies (Rangpur Dairy, PRAN, Day Fresh) as well as local milk processors. The MCCs enable them to bargain collectively with these buyers and shop around for the best price, so early reports indicate an improved income.

● In Zambia, 12 PGs completed their own market research to identify and approach suitable buyers for their soya produce, and representatives from 3 dairy PGs are finalisin a business proposal to receive funding for an MCC.

Some PGs have already had success in lobbying government and private sector entities for additional services and inputs:

● 209 soya PG members in Zambia successfully persuaded AGRICROP (an agro-chemicals company) to provide them with free herbicide training and products. Two other PGs have successfully lobbied the Ministry of Education to resink a borehole that had been previously removed.

● In Bangladesh 84 PGs are supporting communities to establish Resilience Action Groups

that develop action plans to put forth to local government and get it included in annual budgetary planning. Similarly, PG members are advocating with the livestock department to push for greater provision of different extension services.

B.3 Are there any changes you will make to the project to achieve this outcome?

None

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C: DETAILED OUTPUT SCORING C.1

Output statement

PGs formed and capacity building services provided

Output number

1 Output Score A

Risk: Medium Impact weighting (%):

35%

Risk revised since last AR?

N/A first year

Impact weighting % revised since last AR?

N/A first year

C.2

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

1.1 Number of PGs (T1) and higher level PGs (T2) established (of which women-led)

Milestone

Achievement

Tajikistan 10 PGs 5 T1 PGs (All women-led)

Zambia 22 T1 PGs

4 T2 PGs

22 T1 PGs (17 women-led) 4 T2 PG/higher level PG (All women-led)

Bangladesh 84 T1 PGs 84 T1 PGs (All women-led)

1.2 Number of PGs, and higher level PGs (T2) PGs (existing and established) provided with capacity building support initiatives specifically aimed at the functioning of a PG.

Milestone + % of total PGs

Achievement +% of total PGs

Established

Pre-existing

Established Pre-existing

Tajikistan 5 10 5 (100%) 10 (100%)

Zambia 22 T1 PGs

4 T2 PG

20 T1 PGs

22 (100%) 4 T2 PGs

20 (100%)

Bangladesh 84 n/a 84 (100%) n/a

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C.3 Comments on progress towards output targets

Targets have been achieved in all countries except Tajikistan; progress on this year‟s milestone was held up by delays in the project start date, and a longer than planned-for inception period. Also, establishment of this initial 5 took longer than expected as trust-building amongst the members and a good understanding of a market-based approach took a long time to establish. A decision was therefore made to prioritise the quality and functionality of a smaller number of groups over quantity in the first year. In Zambia the 4 „higher level‟ PGs, which are cooperatives, provide a number of supportive roles for the member PGs. One of those which is not yet established are the milk collection centres (MCCs) which were originally planned for construction in Y1, but which have been postponed to the beginning of year 2 as the business proposals took longer than expected to write up and review. Hence it was decided that the construction of the MCCs shouldn‟t begin until their viability was assessed through these revised business plans. Although there is variation in detail (and country context), in all three countries PGs are established with partner guidance to assess community interest and ability to produce the identified good, as well as the impact it would have on their livelihoods by selling it. Based on this community members are selected (focusing on women) and a governance structure is established.

In Bangladesh the capacity building of the 84 PGs is focused on their ability to support members based on assessment of their needs; PGs conduct regular monthly meetings to update and document ongoing activities. Partners have trained PGs on business planning, entrepreneurship, improving production, community health and on how to run PCVA and VRA exercises - these help define their mitigation strategies against vulnerabilities and identify the sector specific risks and ways to minimize them. PGs also lead on establishing a number of subgroups - for further details see description for outcome 4. In Zambia, 22 soya PGs have been formed by SAP while Heifer have identified 20 existing dairy and soya PGs and established a partnership with them to help build their capacity. Capacity building for both sectors involves building the PGs‟ ability to support members on agricultural and dairy production as well as manage finance and the governance structure. In soya, PGs are able to support members to access input services, while in dairy Heifer support them on how to look after cows, fodder and independently run the „pass on the gift‟ system. „Pass on the gift‟ is a model developed by Heifer international for community-based distribution of resources. In Tajikistan, both new PGs are being established as well as existing ones from previous project work being rolled in to continue their capacity building. Of a total 20 PGs planned for the first year, 5 new ones have been established and 10 pre-existing ones have been included. All locations for the total 50 PGs that the project intends to work with over with the three years have been selected, and market opportunities are being identified. This should ensure milestones are met in year two.

C.4 Describe how have you addressed feedback from DFID on this output following your last report or 6 monthly review meeting?

During DFID feedback it was suggested to include a measure on quality, as well as quantity, of PGs

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and higher level PGs established. As such indicator 1.2 was included to monitor the support provided to the PGs.

C.5 Are there any changes you will make to achieve this output?

There are no structural or significant changes. Where targets have not been met it is predicted that these will be caught up with in the second year.

C.1

Output statement

SHFs (women and men) reached with training and/or participatory research

Output number

2 Output Score A++

Risk: Low Impact weighting (%):

35%

Risk revised since last AR?

N/A first year

Impact weighting % revised since last AR?

N/A first year

C.2

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

2.1 Number of SHFs (women and men) who have received training (agriculture, livestock, financial literacy, legal etc.)

Milestone

Achievement

Women Men

Tajikistan 600 545 96

Zambia 1000 1,293 1,129

Bangladesh 700 894 231

2.2 Proportion (%) from a sample of SHF (women and men) who have achieved relevant skills in key areas (as judged by the tests of knowledge and use)

Milestone

%

Achievement

%

Tajikistan n/a n/a

Zambia n/a n/a

Bangladesh n/a n/a

C.3 Comments on progress towards output targets

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Categories of trainings delivered Zambia Bangladesh Tajikistan

Agronomy, planning and quality control Y Y

Gender based leadership and business management*

Y Y Y

Livestock, dairy and fodder management Y Y

Assertiveness and confidence-building Y

Climate risk and adaptation Y Y** Y

Entrepreneurship training for MCC leaders Y

Volunteer search and rescue Y

Legal rights on access to land and water*** Y

* PG leaders only. **Includes PCVA and VRA for PG leaders. *** Also includes legal training on topics around farming, family rights and women‟s rights in society.

Training targets have been exceeded in all three countries as in Tajikistan there has been greater than expected interest in the trainings, and in Zambia and Bangladesh the trainings have been opened up to allow for other community members not originally targeted to also participate. The table above provides a summary overview of the types of trainings being provided by partners (together with local input service providers). Not all beneficiaries are receiving all of these trainings in each country; this is defined by the need (such as PG leaders receiving gender-based leadership and management skills training) and the interest of the beneficiaries. Indicator 2.2 was introduced after feedback from DFID but a formal mechanism for evaluating skills achievement has not yet been finalised and put in place – except by the Tajik partners LWL (which conduct written pre- and post-training evaluations of knowledge gained) which show a 68% increase. However, informal mechanisms of observation (as described in outcomes 1, 3 and 4) illustrate results due to the training sessions, which suggests that the training material is being absorbed by the participants. Also (and as mentioned in section D.2) training materials were developed based on assessing the needs and interests of the community members, as well as based on prior experience. For example, in Tajikistan research showed that participants were mostly interested in training on land and water rights, and access to economic resources. Complementary to this, trainers determined that access to the land and water are the priority problems among women; this determined how training materials were developed and, given rural women‟s lack of mobility, the established legal clinics are mobile, to be able to travel to various communities. The training materials in Bangladesh and Zambia are similarly based on evaluations and discussions with community members, as well as based on results from the RCA and PCVA, alongside partners‟ prior experience in working with rural communities in the soya and dairy sectors.

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C.4 Describe how have you addressed feedback from DFID on this output following your last report or 6 monthly review meeting?

During feedback, DFID noted that there were no indicators to assess the outcome of trainings provided. Based on this, indicator 2.2 was introduced in the output section to track the transfer of knowledge and the subsequent use of the new skills by farmers.

C.5 Are there any changes you will make to achieve this output?

While the training milestones have been substantially exceeded, countries will continue to provide „open-access‟ training so that others interested can attend; Bangladesh are exploring developing their early adaptors/model farmers as „change makers‟. This may include offering them more training and an opportunity to set up their farms as model farms having all the essential information for efficient dairy production. Similarly, based on the large interest from community members in Tajikistan, they plan to assess how to reach more people with legal trainings.

C.1

Output statement

Oxfam GB and its implementing partners develop and implement an advocacy strategy to address barriers and opportunities for SHF access to markets, including particular barriers for women

Output number

3 Output Score A+

Risk: Medium Impact weighting (%):

35%

Risk revised since last AR?

N/A first year

Impact weighting % revised since last AR?

N/A first year

C.2

Indicator

May 2014 – April 2015

Number of advocacy interventions conducted directly by Oxfam GB and/or its implementing partners.

Milestone

Achievement

Tajikistan 4 8

Zambia 6 10

Bangladesh 5 5

Zambia Bangladesh

Tajikistan

(1) Multilateral meetings involving private sector actors and/or local, regional/national government representatives organised by Oxfam or partners

1 2 2

Bilateral meetings with input or credit service providers 8 3

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to build relationships with rural communities

Thematic (agriculture, gender) events, conferences, working groups attended

1 4

Bi- and multilateral meetings with donors, UN agencies attended

2

C.3 Comments on progress towards output targets

The targets have been surpassed here and countries are now in the process of further developing national advocacy and influencing plans based on the initial research and relationship building done during this first year. „Advocacy‟ can broadly be defined as activities that are intended to engage with and build relationships with key stakeholders with the intention to change attitudes, behaviours and/or practices of those stakeholders and so improve the operating environment for smallholder farmers, especially women. It is recognised that „advocacy interventions‟ is a fairly wide category which has been chosen to include widely diverging activities within each of the three countries – as illustrated in the table above. In all three countries the first year research on the market sectors, results from community-based tools and consultations with communities help inform the key barriers and opportunities that smallholders, and especially women, face in becoming empowered through access to markets. Based on this, advocacy strategies are being further developed and which will be implemented in years 2 and 3 through the types of forums listed above. So at this stage, no major advocacy interventions have been conducted directly by Oxfam or partners. Instead, focus in the first year has been on creating enabling environments and platforms for future influencing, as well as building the capacity of PGs to do influencing. A few illustrative examples are provided below;

In Tajikistan a number of meetings and events have been organized with government at various levels, which has led to the Committee for Women and Family Affairs of Tajikistan to advocate for public budget for legal clinics (see section E.2). Oxfam in Tajikistan have been particularly active in engaging with public officials and other donors as it is key in the country to gain buy-in from government officials, and keep them informed, for projects to continue successfully. In Bangladesh and Zambia there has been preparatory work and sub-national meetings with private sector buyers, input and credit service providers, local civil servants and local government representatives which will serve as the basis for developing multi-stakeholder processes in years 2 and 3.

C.4 Describe how have you addressed feedback from DFID on this output following your last report or 6 monthly review meeting?

DFID indicated that the advocacy work was not sufficiently captured in the logframe. As such this output was adjusted to more accurately capture the various events being attended or organized to influence key stakeholders during the project.

C.5 Are there any changes you will make to achieve this output?

No major changes are planned. However, the delivery itself will change in the second year as the advocacy strategy is substantiated and implemented. The basis for the strategies are based on participatory engagement with community members as well as from the RCAs, PCVA/VRAs and

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other research and mapping exercises completed this year, or planned for early next year.

D: VALUE FOR MONEY D.1 Economy: What has been done this year to drive down costs of project inputs while maintaining the required standards of quality?

Procurement policy across all countries is similar; this includes a public and fair bidding process to acquire goods (such as training materials and venue-hiring) and services (such as consultants and facilitators) that are selected based on a review of quality vs. cost. Furthermore, salaries in each country are regularly benchmarked against those of comparable organizations. Where required, partners receive support on financials, logistics and HR to help build capacity. Further country-specific examples are as follows: Through negotiations with the authorities, Tajikistan has saved money by securing rent-free premises for Negsikol in Kulyab, land allocation for Training and Demonstration Centre, and offices for five legal clinics in five districts. In Zambia, Heifer and SAP have respectively set up project management committees and training of farmer facilitators to ensure that all members of the groups are active, assisted and peer monitor one another (which helps both in terms of cost-saving so that the partners themselves are not the only backstop on monitoring for quality control, and supports sustainability beyond the project life-cycle).

D.2 Efficiency: How do you ensure resources (inputs) are used efficiently to maximise the results achieved?

Most inputs in this first year that provide tangible results are around training on agricultural and/or livestock practice, legal rights and establishment and management of PGs. Training material has been developed by the partners and with Oxfam guidance based on engagement with community members to understand their specific preferences, and the pre-existing experience of the partners themselves (all of whom were contracted because of their proven experience in this area). Where pre-existing experience wasn‟t sufficient, such as on legal training for rural communities in Tajikistan, research was conducted on priority areas that guided the development of the training material. In all three countries, the partners have involved local district officers (as well as locally-based lawyers in Tajikistan) that have prior experience in training. This minimises costs on training-of-trainers sessions and ensures the training materials are developed with their input. District officers and partners‟ intimate knowledge and established trust with the communities also helps us to identify and address challenges that individual farmers face and allows them to encourage additional support or assistance from PG members (as a localised and cost-free form of aftercare). Additionally, in Zambia, community animal health workers are trained to provide first aid to cows, which reduces veterinary costs to project areas, and speeds up response times. Prior to any training, a participant list is obtained from the communities concerned and invited stakeholders to ensure the budget is set for a realistic anticipated amount of participants. The resources procured, e.g. training materials, are accounted for through attendance lists and any unused materials are returned to be used later. This year, the higher-than-expected interest and

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participation in the trainings (as reported in output 2) reduced unit costs per trainer and resources used. The training sessions are predominantly held in the communities themselves. This has multiple benefits in terms of efficiency, and cuts down on costs for accommodation, meals and transport refunds, and minimises cancellations. In Bangladesh, training quality feedback is immediately requested at the end of each session, as well as through later follow-up by the trainers. In Zambia, a system for evaluating training for PGs and post-training application of agreed principles is being developed as a cooperative assessment tool for Heifer and a PG assessment tool for SAP (the two partners).

D.3 Are there multiplier effects from this project?

Achieving spill-over through leveraging and local buy-in is one of the core areas of the project; advocacy efforts at regional and national level complement local-level implementation through partners, which is intended to achieve a greater scale of change than could be accomplished by Oxfam and the partners alone. After one year there are a few available results (as described directly below) as the advocacy work is still either in planning or early stages of implementation (described further down). Initial results:

● At local level, as mentioned in the previous section, the „open access‟ training sessions has meant greater numbers than anticipated are being trained. Collaboration with local district officers (or lawyers) means a greater absorption of the training material which is predicted to then be used outside of project-funded training sessions with other communities.

● Bangladesh’s partners have observed that skills are being adopted by those not included in the training sessions, meaning that learning is being disseminated within communities by those who are trained. While this is not currently formally being monitored, it may be introduced in their MEL planning going forward.

● In Zambia, the partner, Heifer, have co-invested £294,910 (a third of DFID‟s funding for the Zambia component) into the project from their own resources. Within the project, Heifer‟s „pass on the gift‟ model is being applied, meaning that soya and dairy farmers have an obligation to pass on a portion of what they have received (e.g. a female calf or part of the harvest) from the project to another vulnerable family. As a result the benefits of the project will naturally grow over time, both during and beyond the project.

Ongoing work: The projects in all three countries are embedded in their Economic Justice strategies which are funded by multiple donor contracts; this means there is natural spillover and efficiency gains through the parallel ongoing work. In addition, as mentioned at the beginning of this section, the project work includes advocacy efforts which leverage the partners‟ and Oxfam‟s ongoing work through their EJ strategy, as illustrated in the following examples;

● In Tajikistan, Oxfam participates in the National Working Group on Agriculture (supported by government and donors) which promotes agricultural production and reforms, enables experience sharing in value chain sectors, and coordinates activities between donors, INGOs and local authorities. It also contributes to implementing the National Strategy for Food Security and National Strategy of Developing Agricultural Sector. Oxfam is very active in the gender task forces organized by EBRD and the State Committee of Investment. These

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platforms are used to promote models for women economic leadership, equal and fair access to resources, the market based approach and to advocate for more focus on smallholder farmers, especially women.

● In Bangladesh, the dairy work is part of an overall programme called REE-CALL (Resilience through Economic Empowerment, Climate Change Adaptation, Leadership and Learning) that supports extremely poor and vulnerable communities that are hardest hit by the increasingly stronger annual floods. As well as dairy, REE-CALL works on crab, maize, duck and chilli sectors, and lessons learned from these different sectors are being used to develop advocacy strategies that will be implemented in years 2 and 3 of this project.

● Similarly to Bangladesh, Zambia is developing multi-stakeholder forums and networking platforms. These will be used to engage members from the business community in dairy and soya with an aim to get co-investment into the business models being developed and attract greater public and private sector interest to the copperbelt region. Lessons learned are being drawn from Oxfam‟s dairy enterprise experience in Sri Lanka.

E. SUSTAINABILITY E.1 What have you done during this reporting period to ensure that positive changes to people's’ lives will be sustained beyond the lifetime of the grant? What additional plans are there for the next reporting period to increase sustainability?

The overarching strategy of Oxfam‟s approach in market-based livelihoods is to help smallholders access markets that can sustain a source of income and empowerment beyond the lifetime of the project. As such, sustainability, from the research and training to the advocacy, is reflected in all of the work being done in this project. All of the sectors chosen by the countries to work on have a high domestic demand, are „women-friendly‟ and have risk-exposure to climate impact that is either minimal or manageable. The model being applied to build a sustained link between the smallholder producers and buyers is similar in the three countries; capacity-building with specific communities has begun in the first year, while wider advocacy to improve the (women) smallholder operating environment is being established. More detail on the sustainability of the local-level work is provided below, while an explanation of the wider advocacy work can be found under the „ongoing work‟ header in section D.3 and output 3. Individual training by partners and local actors has begun to build technical capacity, negotiating skills, awareness of climate risks and greater access to public resources in the rural communities. The PGs being established act as a conduit to the collection of raw produce for sales, as well as the identification of common needs (quality seeds, specific training, veterinary support, etc.) of the members, and act as a semi-formal means of collaboration. Given the focus on women‟s empowerment, the PG is one means of building support networks (and so build confidence) between women members through discussion on agricultural, livestock and/or household care responsibilities. The PGs establish a sustainable connection between individual smallholders and the next tier up, e.g. a processor, which refines the product; in all three countries processors are identified that are either already, or are interested in, purchasing these raw goods from the PGs. The projects are helping both facilitate this connection, as well as build a stronger relationship, so that farmers better understand the quality and quantity needs of the processors, and buyers are incentivised to invest in farmer training and support.

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While the work described above is ongoing, in addition the following country-specific examples will be established in the coming year;

● In Zambia, cooperatives are being formed for dairy and soya bean marketing and seed bank management. These will support training on how to engage with government or private sector. Soya bean production committees/farmer facilitators are also being established to monitor production, harvesting, quality aggregation. As part of Heifer‟s “pass on the gift” model, these will also be responsible for ensuring all the farmers pass on the seed to other farmers. Oxfam is also working on establishing an independently functioning agribusiness incubator that is aimed at achieving scale, attract financial investment and so increase impact in a sustainable way.

● In Tajikistan, Training and Demonstration Centres will be established, where women PGs can learn about new varieties of seeds and new methods of growing fruits and vegetables, can store harvest and find potential buyers. In the Centre, farmers will receive resilience training that will help smallholders to manage future risk. The Centre has a potential to grow into fee-based extension service provider and this is one avenue that will be explored.

● In Bangladesh, the formation of the MCCs will enable dairy to be sold both informally and formally (to larger-scale processors) and encourage greater investment in quality milk production. MCCs will also act as a communication platform between buyers and individual SHFs and so help build a greater mutual understanding of one anothers‟ needs. Feed and fodder banks will be established under each MCC to ensure more consistently available feed outside of the monsoon season, and thus a more continual supply of dairy.

E.2 If the project is introducing new or improved services that need to continue beyond the life of the grant, what have you done / what are the plans to ensure the sustainability of the service?

Given the nature of the project work, this question around new services being sustained beyond the project is partly answered in section E.1. Also, as this is the first year, most of the focus has been on setting up and beginning initial operations, while in years 2 and 3 there will be a greater focus on ensuring these operations are sustainable without project support. Some key examples are illustrative of this; In Tajikistan two types of support services are being introduced to support women PGs:

● The example in section E.1 of the Training and Demonstration Centre will provide a number of improved services, such as introducing new climate-resilient seed varieties, extension service provision and free-of-charge extension packages to support agricultural start ups. After harvest, farmers will also be able to use the centre and store, wash, sort, grade and pack their produce. While women PG members who established this project will receive a discount, they and other smallholders will ultimately need to pay the centre for these services, so that it becomes a sustainable business cooperative.

● Similarly, five legal clinics have already been established wherein technical and consultative support is provided by local lawyers through seminars and trainings. The cost of these have been estimated and shared with the authorities with an aim to include them in national budgets. While this is ongoing, the Committee for Women and Family Affairs of Tajikistan already support the idea, and have confirmed an interest to take over the centers and begin lobbying with the Government for the budget.

In Zambia, the sustainability of various services is illustrated in a number of examples: ● The MCCs that are being established are projected to become viable entities that, apart from

milk collection, also provide input services to smallholders for a fee.

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● In section D2, collaborative work is described between Oxfam and partners with publicly-funded local district officers wherein they are involved in capacity building trainings and PG mobilization. Similarly, PGs will engage with publicly funded meteorological stations through resilience action groups, to provide weather information to farmers. The close collaboration with publicly funded services will help ensure sustainable services.

● PGs will be encouraged to register and open bank accounts as a means to collect and transparently redistribute income from crop sales, so illustrating the value-added of PG membership. PG leaders will also act as community and group extension officers and so ensure knowledge and experience remains with the communities.

● Alongside PGs, existing savings groups help build a capital base for farmers to use as collateral to financial lending institutions. The staff from the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health conduct training and monitor the group savings and facilitate the sharing of dividends at appointed times.

In Bangladesh, public service provision is being improved by helping establish relationships between PGs and the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) as well as improving linkages with district-level service providers. Private sector linkages are also being developed; Rangpur Dairy (a local-level dairy processing company) is already purchasing from established MCCs and the project work is looking to link more processing companies with the communities. Similarly, local private input suppliers are providing paid services to the communities. Communities are also receiving artificial insemination services that help improve the next generation‟s dairy output. Oxfam and partners are looking to connect the communities to micro-finance as well.

F. EQUITY (GENDER & DIVERSITY)

F.1 How are you ensuring that marginalised groups are benefitting from your project (e.g. landless, disabled, elderly)?

The project work already focuses on marginalized communities and, within them, women who are typically excluded from being able to gain training and support despite being involved in (potentially) income-generating activities. How the projects focus on women is explained in section F.2 while the following describes the context of their marginalization; In Bangladesh, the REE-CALL programme is focused on marginalized communities in the northern and southern delta regions of the country, whose lives and livelihoods are particularly hard-hit by increasing strength and frequency of floods every year. While these rural communities are used to dealing with „regular‟ flooding, and indeed require it to replenish the arable land, climate change has contributed to increasingly high water and unpredictable times of the year. The communities and the sectors (dairy, crab, maize, chilli, duck) were chosen because of their market potential and women‟s involvement, with dairy being the most likely to be able to scale up. In Zambia, many rural community members used to work in the copper mines (hence the name „Copperbelt region‟) but have since been laid off, as the mines themselves have been privatised and scaled down due to depletion of their resources. As a result, there is little in the way of private or public infrastructure to support access to markets for agriculture or livestock. The agricultural regions are more to the south and most SHFs in the region had traditionally only been producing for household consumption. Oxfam and partners work with the communities themselves to ensure there is no segregation between smallholder, regardless of status, by reviewing the community members proposed to be involved in the project during group meetings. Criteria is set to ensure a

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heterogeneous selection of members that includes the elderly, physically challenged, and other vulnerable people within their groups. In Tajikistan, Khatlon region is one of the most economically deprived and infrastructural undeveloped areas in the country. There is little export market potential due to limited access to Afghanistan, and the harsh winter limits access to larger domestic markets like in the capital. Further to this, while women are not traditionally recognised as the breadwinners of the household, they are expected to support the family while their husbands are working in Russia.

F.2 How are you ensuring that women and girls are benefiting?

Women‟s economic empowerment is one of the focus areas of the overall GEM programme, which has driven the design of the country projects. This is reflected in the proportion of women involved in the project work (see outcome 1 and output 2) and women PGs being set up and ensured that they play a role in leadership positions. The sectors chosen were also chosen as ones wherein women play an important role. In addition, all countries have (or in Tajikistan‟s case, will) conducted rapid care analysis (RCA) studies to identify how much time women and men are involved in household and other care responsibilities; the RCAs completed in Bangladesh and Zambia serve, in part, to identify how care work responsibilities may restrict the participation of women in the project, and limit the benefits they may receive from participating. The RCAs also consider the responsibilities that fall on girls, and the impact this can have on them. Both men and women participate in the focus groups and, in both countries, they have led to increased discussion between the genders on the roles of women in the household and community, and increased awareness on the scale and intensity of women‟s unpaid work.

In addition, following are country-specific examples; In Bangladesh, the communities also run Let Her Decide and Participate (LHDP) projects that address violence against women, restrictions on women‟s mobility and other behavioural or cultural norms that maintain inequality between the sexes. They have also helped set up “women-friendly” transport -- women-friendly means that additional facilities are provided to make transport more accessible for them, such as a passenger shed with toilet at certain stopping points, shelter for women and children from rain and sun, and a ramp onto and off of the boat.

In Tajikistan, the partner LWL provides legal clinic support to build understanding and awareness around women‟s land and other legal rights. In Zambia, gender and leadership training builds confidence in women for leadership positions and prompts discussions between women and men on working more closely together. Results from the RCA will be used as part of a national „‟I care about her‟‟ campaign to incorporate men in GBV interventions in communities.

F.3 How are you encouraging beneficiaries to participate in decision making in this project?

Apart from identifying sectors in which community members themselves (especially women) believe

they could benefit from most, the RCA (described in section F.2) and PCVA/VRA tools (both are

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community-based exercises to assess risk and consider mitigation strategies) are designed to draw

out feedback and discussion with community members, so as to collect their feedback as part of

project design.

In addition, the establishment of PGs is – in part – meant as a focal point to collect smallholder

demands of input service provision and technical support. The PGs are intended to be able to

empower smallholders in relation to buyers and other stakeholders through collective action. Their

views and constraints will be captured during the project and promoted through multi-stakeholder

processes such as national and sub-national platforms.

G: RISK

G.1 What actions have been taken to mitigate against identified risks this year? Were any risks realised, and what actions did you take?

Risk Mitigation

Bangladesh

Flooding Several disaster risk reduction measures against flooding

have been taken under the project interventions, including

re-connecting roads, culverts, raising flood shelters and cow

shed. These were implemented as a result of the PCVA and

VRA tool results, and the learning from these were

disseminated through trainings to build the capacity on

disaster risk reduction and management.

Disease outbreak in

cows

Sufficient vaccines have been obtained by PG members and

administered through a vaccination schedule this year,

despite a scarcity of vaccines in the government supply

chain. As such, none of the PG member‟s cows were

affected during any of the four major disease outbreaks that

happened in the region this year.

Zambia Unfavourable climatic conditions

The soya seed that was distributed was drought resistant

and in some cases early maturing varieties were given to

SHFs

Policies not friendly

for small scale

farmers

· Formation of producer associations to increase the voice of farmers

· SHFs have become members of the Dairy Association of Zambia where they have access to market information and other business development services

Lack of storage

facilities for milk

Dairy cooperative unions are in the process of developing

business plans that would help in sustaining the Milk

Collection Centers that would be used for chilling the milk

before supplying to the processor.

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Price fluctuations for

inputs and farmers‟

produce

Informal linkages have been formed with input and output

markets by the PGs

Tajikistan Natural disasters PCVA tool being applied to identify main risks and develop

mitigation strategies that the community can implement.

Shrinking civil society

space

Authorities may take a negative attitude towards working

with I/NGO due to decreasing space for civil society. Oxfam

and partners are regularly communicating with various

authorities keeping them informed about the progress and

value that project is bringing.

G.2 Have any new risks emerged and if so, what has been done to mitigate against them?

Risk Mitigation

Bangladesh

Hortal (political disruption that forces closure of shops and public transport)

The longest lasting hortal in Bangladesh‟s history (50+ days)

took place in March-April which caused disruptions of dairy

supply chains and a drop in prices. To mitigate this dairy PGs

have been developing formal linkage and with the local milk

buyers/alternative market like local sweet shops, large milk

collectors, tea shops etc. as an alternative marketing

strategy.

Tajikistan

Large-scale male migration return

An estimated 1m Tajik men work in Russia, a portion of

whom may return given the flagging Russian economy, which

could disrupt project implementation, both due to more men

(wanting to) be involved, and a decrease in income. We are

reviewing possibilities of involving men in the project while

not disturbing its primary objective and maintaining the trust

within the WPGs. Additional measure could be to extend

legal trainings to couples and train them on family legislation,

rights of women, marital property, access to land, etc that will

show them benefit of working together but also men to

realise that there are consequences for not allowing women

to participate, violence in marriage, divorce options, etc.

Oxfam is also communicating on this issue with other actors

through its engagement in various forums and following up

on what others are doing.

Staff turnover High staff turnover due to launch of UN and USAID contracts.

Recruiting is ongoing, but this has delayed some

implementation.

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Thematic integration and

partner capacity

Partners were not used to taking an integrated approach that

includes field implementation, multi-level influencing and

policy, and further developing of women economic

leadership. This has taken more capacity building than

anticipated and delayed some project implementation.

G.3 Have you identified significant new risks in the next reporting period that would affect successful delivery of the expected results?

There are no significant new risks identified other than those described in sections G.1 and G.2, some of which are ongoing.

G.4 Has the overall level of risk changed, if so how and why?

The risks matrix is revised, including those in sections G.1 and G.2 and attached.

G.5 What have you done to implement the recommendations of the DFID Due Diligence assessment and what action is outstanding?

A due diligence was done on Oxfam‟s PPA, which DFID considered sufficient. The following is an update of how partner evaluations were followed up with from the beginning of the contract, where necessary; Bangladesh. The partners were first assessed in 2010 at the start of the REE-CALL programme (of which this project is a part). Subsequently each year a capacity assessment (programmatic and financial) and strategic fitness assessment of all partners is completed and, as required, feedback and support is given by Oxfam. There are no notable issues with the partners. Zambia. There are some minor capacity constraints with partners on financial reporting. Oxfam is supporting their teams to help them with this. Tajikistan. Initially LWL struggled with financial reporting. The finance and project teams have worked with their accountant to develop the systems to better comply with reporting.

G.6 Describe any incidents of alleged fraud or corruption

No incidents.

G.7 Quality of financial management

Financial management checks of partners vary per country; a summary of these procedures is as follows; Bangladesh have multiple financial monitoring mechanisms as follows;

● Half-yearly finance monitoring by the project finance/account

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● Ad-hoc financial monitoring by core finance department of Oxfam ● Monthly financial review and feedback sharing by project finance/accounts and programme

officer ● Financial monitoring feedback sharing with team as well core management team ● External and independent audit at the end of each year.

All of the partners have been trained on and provided with financial software called „Tally‟. Zambia Quarterly financial monitoring visits and regular field visits. The Programme Manager ensures that both financial and progress monitoring is on track and yields satisfactory results before subsequent tranches of funds are released. Tajikistan Oxfam conducted annual review of logistic, finance and HR procedures in partner Neksigol which was found satisfactory. In year 2 OGB will conduct such review in LWL. As part of the quarterly financial reporting, partners submit financial reports confirming level of expenditure before requesting next payment. Oxfam‟s finance department together with country logistics check all financial documents, cross-check and provide feedback if any.

G.8 Have there been any changes to your asset register?

Bangladesh has made one additional purchase. Find attached the updated asset register.

H: MONITORING & EVALUATION H.1

What have you learnt during this reporting period about how best to achieve project outputs and outcome from the following sources of information ?

If applicable, what will you do differently as a result?

Routine project monitoring Tajikistan The project aims to reach a further 35 women‟s producer groups. Work with these groups with involve more efforts being focused on set up of women‟s producer groups (particularly on developing levels of trust and understanding as to what the project seeks to achieve). The order of activities and efforts will shift to focus on rights and access to land as a precursor to developing access to markets.

All countries have provided examples (alongside each of the relevant outputs and outcomes) of where they intend to readjust the project. Below are those that the countries have identified as being key lessons to take forward. Tajikistan Through monitoring visits by Oxfam programme staff and reviews of activity level work with implementing partners, the project has learned the following:

the setting up of women‟s PGs for the business purposes of selling agricultural produce has required more effort than expected particularly in building levels of trust between members and the wider community.

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The concept of collective action for commercial purposes is very unfamiliar and new in this country‟s transition to a market based economy

Women‟s PGs require a basic grounding in rights and access to land and water before effective work on classroom training on production and marketing issues can occur.

Bangladesh Through monitoring visits by Oxfam programme staff together with their partners the project has learned the following:

there are challenges getting inputs provided to disparate PGs due to infrastructure limitations

project beneficiaries have developed their own ideas for increasing their milk product volumes and quality and are seeking assistance as to how to get these (eg artificial insemination to create better cattle breeds, vaccination services)

Zambia Through monitoring visits by Oxfam partner staff a number of lessons have been learnt around types of soya production techniques to encourage farmers to use, and ensure project activities are better timed to match the crop calendar. For example, training in key planting times resulted in low participation

All countries Have appreciated the benefit of having systematic monitoring systems (through its use where it is present and through its absence where reflection has been more challenging without this).

Bangladesh The project will explore ways to:

get more coordination of input provision by creating a type of one stop service centre

get new types of services to producer groups and their members

Zambia For soya producers:

Timing of interventions will be recalibrated to ensure maximum participation; also to ensure inputs are received in good time to be used at optimal planting times.

Starter input seed packages will also include fertilizer and pest and weed management chemicals. Stronger links will be made for their subsequent acquisition from suppliers in future years

New techniques will be encouraged that were shown in the first year to positively affect yield in cases of high rainfall.

Relationships with both buyers and input suppliers will be made stronger through more frequent dialogue (e.g. use of input suppliers in training events etc)

All countries Have concluded that they need more systematic monitoring for years two and three particularly as the numbers of producer groups and beneficiaries increase. They intend to pursue their original plans for monitoring with additional work to improve the overall quality

Internal or independent evaluations/reviews

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you have commissioned (please attach these to your annual review).

All countries Not applicable this year

All countries At the end of year one no independent evaluation/ reviews have been commissioned by any of the countries

Beneficiary feedback Tajikistan/ Bangladesh/Zambia See the section adjacent to routine project monitoring above

Tajikistan As this year Tajikistan relied heavily on its field visits to obtain monitoring information much of this comprised beneficiary feedback. In particular women in PGs, and the communities they are part of, wanted a slower pace to absorb new concepts around developing a market based approach Bangladesh No formal structure or system was developed for use this year for beneficiary feedback however the routine monitoring system does currently allow for partner and Oxfam staff observation of beneficiary take up and use of the project. In this way there is informal dialogue with the beneficiaries as demonstrated in the top part of this section H1, and in output 2 on developing training materials. Zambia Zambia‟s monitoring processes rely heavily on field visits. In these visits there are spaces for dialogue with project stakeholders and beneficiaries.

Other evidence/research about the effectiveness of the type of project you are undertaking

Whilst there is more to do in pulling together some of the research at country and global levels, the following changes are anticipated.

Country level learning All projects used the inception part of the first year to undertake studies and situational analysis in a range of areas that would result in refined or changed programme design at the country levels, particularly in new areas that the GEM approach encourages such as risk and resilience, creating and accessing commercial markets through collective action, gender work at community, PGs and household levels and influencing for systems

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level change. In particular: Both Zambia and Tajikistan conducted market mapping research to understand the value chain in their proposed commodity areas and potential market opportunities. Bangladesh and Zambia conducted action based research into how and on who domestic care work falls and the impact this has on other areas of life. Bangladesh and Tajikistan undertook action based research on areas of risk and strategies for building resilience at individual and community/ state level. Overall learnings across these three countries This is the first time these Oxfam teams and their partners have undertaken such a thorough situational type analysis aimed at improving and refining original proposal level designs. Further it is the first time that a farmer centred project has covered in this holistic way all of the key factors that affect the success of creating sustainable small farmer agricultural businesses. In the past these approaches would have been housed in different projects with staff with focused skills sets. As a result it has been a challenge for the implementing staff in all countries (Oxfam and partners) to absorb both technically and in time terms. In some cases there has also been the challenge of bringing project stakeholders and participants with them in this journey.

The Zambia project has refined its design, expanding the number of market opportunities they will explore on behalf of small soya and milk producers. The Tajik project has narrowed down the focus of the types of fruits and vegetables that provide good market opportunities. The Bangladesh project has added an element of technology introduction for a number of communities with the aim of reducing the time women spend on care work. The Zambia project has set an intention to work with other stakeholders to develop appropriate solutions for reducing the time women and children spend on care work, including finding ways to expand an existing national gender campaign on changing attitudes and practice. The Bangladesh team have innovated upon the method for undertaking this action based research in a way that makes PGs the drivers of a process to get collective action at community level for resilience planning. As a result some countries will be conducting studies in the following years and or exploring ways to refine or change what they do under the project. Where Oxfam encourages using a GEM approach for future projects of this kind, there is a need to consider a much longer inception and possibly project period.

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H.2 Are there any changes you would you like to make to the project logframe? Please explain any changes you would like to make?

We have had a separate dialogue with DFID around amending the DFID log frame. We have made suggestions and then worked with the country level teams through a process that has involved asking country teams to: 1 - Fully articulate the detail of their country level design, especially following a number of studies undertaken during inception by country programmes during this first year. 2 –ensure that their detailed design fits with the higher level articulation of what they are doing as set out in the DFID log frame 3 – Work with the global GEM Team to develop definitions and aggregation protocols to help both DFID and the countries to report the detail of their projects in a way that enables comprehension at the global 3 country level. 4 –improve their own MEL systems where needed and possible within the practical limits of partner capacities. 5 – Share their systems and work to develop a global level MEL plan that is articulated for sharing externally. We have reached different stages of the journey through this process with different countries and will share this information separately. However we are able to provide the confirmed revised DFID logframe which is attached. Please note it is this new logframe that we have used for reporting purposes in this report. Items 3 – 5 are the work of year 2 of this project and we will agree with DFID what information they would like to see and over what time frames separately.

H.3 Have you made any changes to your Monitoring and Evaluation Plan ?

Please refer to the section H2 immediately above and to item 5.

I: COMMUNICATIONS Reporting back to the UK public

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In March this year, we reported on project progress to the British public through narrative features in our supporter newsletter and e-newsletter, Inside Oxfam. Due to political unrest in Bangladesh, Zambia was chosen for the feature, and the narrative and photographs documents the initial experiences of several dairy PG members who are in the process of designing business plans for MCCs. Please see attached PDF of a brief flier produced for our supporter magazine, Inside Oxfam and sent out to 410,000 supporters on March 21st. A more detailed narrative appeared in the monthly „Inside Oxfam‟ e-newsletter as a linked blog: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/blogs/2015/03/dairy-zambia. This was sent to 450,000 supporters on March 8th. The average number of clicked through e-newsletters is normally 3,000, and the team anticipate a further 3,000 - 4,000 visitors to follow the link to it from Inside Oxfam digital pages over the next six months. In each subsequent year of the project, we plan to provide updates through the Inside Oxfam newsletter on the progress of this community. Additional photographic, video and written documentation and case study collection in all three countries is ongoing, and further opportunities to feedback to the UK public through official Oxfam supporter channels are being explored.

Have you delivered the commitments you set out in your visibility statement? (Please refer to paragraph 21 of your Accountable Grant funding agreement.) Can you provide some visual examples of how you have used the UK aid logo in the project country/project locations and messaging that your project is supported with UK aid? Please attach these to your report. In all three countries, all training materials, project supplied products (where possible) and communications material are branded with the UK Aid logo.

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C: DETAILED OUTPUT SCORING C.1

Output statement

PGs formed and capacity building services provided

Output number

1 Output Score A++ to C

Risk: Medium Impact weighting (%):

35%

Risk revised since last AR?

N/A first year

Impact weighting % revised since last AR?

N/A first year

C.2

Indicator May 2014 – April 2015

1.1 Number of PGs (T1) and Higher level PGs (T2) established

Milestone

Achievement

Tajikistan 5 T1 PGs (All women-led)

Zambia 22 T1 PGs 4 T2 PG/higher level PG

22 T1 PGs (17 women-led) X

Bangladesh 84 T1 PGs 84 T1 PGs (All women-led)

1.2 Number of PGs, 2nd tier PGs and High level PGs ( existing and established) provided with capacity building support initiatives specifically aimed at the functioning of a PG.

Milestone + % of total PGs

Achievement +% of total PGs

Established Pre-existing Established Pre-existing

Tajikistan Not set Not set 5 (100%) 10 (100%)

Zambia 22 20 22 (100%) 20 (100%)

Bangladesh 84 (100% n/a

C.3 Comments on progress towards output targets