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Loka Kalyan Parishad – Food Security Project, Phase Two:

Early review and assessment

January – February, 2005

Report prepared by the external consultant

Dr. Neil Webster,

Danish Institute for International Studies

Strandgade 56

1401 Copenhagen K

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Contents

Acronyms ................................................................................................................................... 4

Background ................................................................................................................................ 5

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5

Findings (from the external consultant) ..................................................................................... 7

1. General comments/observations on the project application to Danida ...................... 7

2. Assessment of the coherence of the development objective, the immediate

objectives, the outputs and the expected results ................................................................. 7

3. Assessment of the four-pronged strategy in terms of working with the following: ... 7

4. Mobilisation and activation strategies ........................................................................ 8

5. Implementation strategies related to intensive and extensive model ......................... 9

6. Sustainability in terms of institutional, ecological and economic .............................. 9

7. Exit strategy ................................................................................................................ 9

8. Assessment of the project’s organizational structure and mobilization/activation

strategy ............................................................................................................................... 9

9. Assessment of the capacity of the NGO and the internal project organization ........ 10

10. Monitoring and evaluation set-up ........................................................................ 10

11. Project linkages to broader to broader development environment ....................... 11

Main Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 12

Annex 1: ToR ........................................................................................................................... 14

Annex 2: List of principal LKP staff met ................................................................................. 17

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Acronyms

CSO Civil Society Organisation

Danida Danish International Development Assistance

DfID Department for International Development (UK)

FSP Food Security Project

GP Gram Panchayat

GUS Gram Unnayan Samiti

IEC Information, Education and Communication project

IGF India Group Funen

LFG Left Front Government

LKP Loka Kalyan Parishad

M & E Monitoring and Evaluation

NRM Natural Resource Management

PS Panchayat Samiti

SHG Self Help Group

SRD Strengthening Rural Decentralisation (DfID programme)

ToR Terms of Reference

ZP Zilla Parishad

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Background

In 2002 the India Group Funen (IGF) entered into a partnership with the Loka Kalyan

Parishad (LKP) to undertake a development initiative designed to achieve improved food

security for the most marginalized and impoverished households in selected villages in West

Bengal. The Food Security Project Phase One (FSP 1) was planned for 2 years. IGF and LKP

received funds from Danida to undertake this project.

After positive mid-term and final evaluations a new application was made to Danida for a

second phase (FSP 2). This was allocated funds by Danida and FSP commenced in September

2004 and is due to run for 3 years ending in 2007.

As part of the early stages of FSP 2, IGF and LKP requested that an external consultant, Dr.

Neil Webster from the Danish Institute for International Studies, visit the project as part of

reflection-cum-monitoring exercise. Five days in total were allocated for the work of the

external consultant.

The Final Report is based upon a revision of the debriefing note presented on the final day of

the Mission. It reflects the findings of the external consultant. The original debriefing note has

been discussed with representatives of IGF present on the mission and with LKP.

Introduction

The development objectives of FSP 2 are to enhance local participatory natural resource

management. Central to this objective is the focus on the interplay between the poor

households targeted by the project, civil society organizations to which they are linked

directly as participants or indirectly through representation, and local government bodies. The

overall development outcome is increased sustainable food security for the poor households

and thereby a reduction in their poverty.

The immediate development objectives are

Reduced periods of food scarcity during the year

Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women household members working with local civil society organizations (CSOs) and local government bodies to secure their

engagement in sustainable local natural resource management activities

An approach to locally based natural resource management that can provide the basis for similar interventions with the rural poor in non-project areas.

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A summary of the expected outputs is:

Immediate

Objective

Activities Expected output M o V

1. Reduced periods of

food scarcity.

Establishment of individual

and group-based production

activities

Food production & income

generation for the poor

350-400 SHGs established &

functioning through intensive

methods

200-250 SHGs established and

functioning through extensive

methods

7000 women trained and in SHGs

SHG members engaging in several

of the following:

kitchen gardens, homestead agro-

forestry, grain banks, group

cultivation of common and

un/under-utilized lands and ponds,

nurseries, revolving funds

LKP records

Site visits

LKP records

Site visits

LKP records

Site visits

LKP records

Site visits

2. (a) Self Help Groups

(SHG) of women

household members

working with local

CSOs & local

government bodies for

sustainable local NRM

activities

2. (b) LKP capacity

development

Training for SHGs in group

organization and NRM

practices and techniques

Capacity building of SHGs

w.r.t. GUS and GP functioning

Capacity building of GUS

committees in project areas

Capacity building of GPs in

project areas

Project enhancement through

collective learning activities

involving LKP staff, external

resource persons and IGF

5-600 SHGs in active dialogue

with CSOs (GUSs & NGOs) and

GPs/securing resources and

services for their activities

175 CSOs – 75 ‘intensive’ & 100

‘extensive’ – trained in

mobilization & implementation of

local development processes; with

a poverty orientation; linking

SHGs with GPs and higher

government bodies.

20 GPs and 100 civil servants

trained in implementation and

management of local NRM

LKP staff in receipt of:

(1) advanced training in current

FSP activities

(2) Lobbying and advocacy skills

LKP records

GP & Site visits

LKP records

GP & Site visits

LKP records

GP & Site visits

LKP records

Site visits

3. Demonstration of

good practices in SHG-

based NRM for poverty

reduction

Workshops and information

dissemination on the intensive

and extensive approach

utilized within the FSP

GPs and NGOs take up similar

activities based upon the

knowledge they have gained of

LKP’s activities

The state government – DfID SRD

programme adopts elements of the

FSP strategy in the national

approach to local development in

West Bengal

LKP records

GP & Site visits

Interviews with

State & local govt.

officials

Policy and

programme

documentation

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Findings (from the external consultant)

Reflections are requested in the ToR on eleven aspects of the FSP 2. These are presented as

findings under headings relating to the eleven areas presented in the ToR.

1. General comments/observations on the project application to Danida

The project application is well prepared and deals with the main points and issues required by

Danida. These include the projects overall and immediate objectives; the activities to be

undertaken; the expected outputs and the indicators to be used; the means of verification.

The accompanying documentation provides additional information including a detailed

budget and two organizational maps: one of the processes that the project seeks to strengthen

between key organizations and the participating poor and a second locating these

organizations within the broader framework of local government in West Bengal.

In retrospect, some elements of the project application might have been placed in a LFA in

order to present objectives, activities, indicators and means of verification in a more concise

and accessible form. There is also a lack of clarity in the terminology of intensive and

extensive models of implementation and the possible variations within these. However these

are minor issues and are more issues of presentation than content.

2. Assessment of the coherence of the development objective, the immediate objectives, the outputs and the expected results

These are coherent; a clear logic being found in the flow from objectives to outputs. The

expected outputs are both consequent and realistic given the nature of the project and the

political-institutional context in which it is being implemented.

What need to be addressed in more detail are the risks and assumptions underwriting the

different activities covered by the project’s approach. These should be a part of a log frame

analysis developed for the project. This is particularly as there are a number of different

stakeholders involved in the project directly or with considerable influence over its outcome.

While the political and institutional context is quite favourable for the project at the present

time, an analysis of risks and assumptions would enhance the capability of the project to

adjust and adapt to variety of potential changes to this context.

3. Assessment of the four-pronged strategy in terms of working with the following:

- The poor - The CSOs (GUS) - The Gram Panchayats (GP) - The particular project approach

There remains some confusion for the external consultant as to whether the four-pronged

strategy refers to the intensive-extensive strategies, and variations within these, or whether it

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refers more precisely to the implementation of NRM activities with the SHGs. This is a

reflection of the need for greater clarity in some parts of the project documentation. The

revision of documentation and the use of techniques such as a log frame approach in the

documentation should clarify these issues.

The external consultant finds that the intensive approach consists of work with GPs, GUSs

and SHGs with regular visits, training, and other forms of support from the LKP staff. The

extensive approach is understood to be one focusing on the GPs with the expectation that they

will take up the work of mobilizing and facilitating the GUSs and the SHGs.

The external consultant finds that the LKP has correctly identified the need to bring the

Panchayat Samitis (PS) at block level also into both approaches. The constitutional, but not

necessarily practiced role of the PS in formulating plans and coordinating different

government agencies’ support for lower tiers of government in development makes it a

relevant stakeholder in the FSP.

From field visits made during the mission and from data provided by LKP at the Bolpur office,

the intensive approach appears to be a success. GP and GUS and SHG members are motivated;

they are active in their work for food security as defined by FSP; they possess a clear sense of

purpose and of progress even in the relatively short time that the project has been

implemented. These findings are supported by the data provided by LKP staff.

The extensive approach is a little more difficult to assess given the short duration of the

mission and as Phase 2 is only four months old. However, the impression gained by the

external consultant is that there is a general sense amongst GP members of a need for such

initiatives that can help the poor and poor women in particular and that can also benefit

general development processes within their localities. Willingness to identify under- and

unutilized assets (common lands, ponds, etc) and to facilitate the rapid formation of GUSs and

SHGs suggest that the approach is viable. A visit to a SHG under the extensive approach and

data from LKP further supports this finding.

4. Mobilisation and activation strategies

As stated above, field visits to SHGs and GUSs suggest that the groups and the committees

are being formed and that a sizeable portion is active in the field of NRM. The fact that some

gains are achieved within the first agricultural seasons (amun, rabi and boro cultivations in the

agricultural year) serves to reinforce the mobilization work. Again the early stage of

implementation of phase two makes assessment of the longer term prospects difficult. The

nature of the activities is such that if the GPs continue to help the SHGs in securing access to

resources such as land, ponds, technical services, credit, inputs, then the mobilization and

activation strategies should lead to sustainable improvements in food security.

The extensive approach in the implementation strategy, when adopted from the outset in a

project locality, requires the GPs to play the leading role in mobilization and activation. This

approach is very dependent upon the capacities of GPs to undertake such activities along

similar lines to those practiced by LKP when implementing the intensive approach in the FSP.

As indicated above (see point 3), this appears to be the case to date where the extensive

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approach has been pursued, but phase 2 is at an early stage and it is not possible to draw any

general conclusions as yet.

5. Implementation strategies related to intensive and extensive model

This is addressed under points 3 and 4 above.

6. Sustainability in terms of institutional, ecological and economic

Institutional sustainability would appear to be high. The success in mobilising groups and in

securing concrete development outcomes for the participants in SHGs.

Ecological sustainability would appear to be present in the project’s activities. The NRM

practiced by the SHGs involves utilizing existing resources in a more sustainable manner and

without any significant increase in the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides. Pisciculture,

reforestation, duck and chicken farming, vegetable gardens and similar are not based upon

intensive irrigation or other inputs potentially damaging to the local ecological balance.

Economic sustainability raises a number of issues.

Land: private and GP lands need to continue to be available

Ponds: private and GP ponds need to continue to be available

Repayments: loan recovery for the revolving funds needs to continue at a high level

Paddy: SHG members need to cultivate paddy if they are to maintain grain banks

Advisory services: advisory, technical and inputs need to continue to be delivered

These and other factors will need to be present to achieve economic sustainability. If SHGs

can gain greater control over some of these assets, resources and services, economic

sustainability will be more secure.

7. Exit strategy

The present exit strategy appears to be well conceived; the movement from intensive to

extensive is a clear step. Thereafter the movement to GP and GUS full takeover is a clear final

step. However this is dependent upon the line departments accepting responsibility for key

services currently provided by LKP.

8. Assessment of the project’s organizational structure and mobilization/activation strategy

The organization of the project is based upon a small central office and district offices in the

project areas. Staff is responsible for core activities with technical advisers responsible for

programme implementation and coordination. Policy and programme design is placed mainly

with the principal technical staff, but with the active involvement of the board members. A

network of experts serving as advisers, short term consultants and through less formal forms

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of collaboration also contributes to the work of the project. In this way the LKP is able to

enhance the organizational resources it has available to support the work of the FSP.

The office at Bolpur in Birbhum District was visited by the external consultant. This office

serves as the central administrative point for implementing the FSP in Birbhum district. The

staff at the office has responsibility for direct implementation of the FSP in the localities

covered by the project in the district. The staff from Kolkata provides regular and close

support often staying for prolonged periods at the district office and working in the project

sites.

The district office provides an important focal point for coordinating, monitoring and

routinely assessing the progress and direction of the various activities undertaken within the

FSP. The office is also a base for LKP’s Information, Education and Communication (IEC) in

Support of Poverty Reduction project being implemented in the district enabling close

collaboration in implementing the two sets of activities. The office is also a resource base to

which other NGOs can refer and collaborated with. It is an important focal point for

collaborating with the local government structures at district level and below, work that is

central to the FSP strategy.

9. Assessment of the capacity of the NGO and the internal project organization

As indicated in the previous section (point 6) LKP places considerable emphasis on working

with the local government structures in its field of development. At the present time it is the

opinion of the external consultant that the organizational nature of the NGO and the human

resources currently in its possession adequately meet the demands of the FSP. The transition

towards greater use of the extensive approach is important here: First, it requires less

intensive use of technical assistance as greater emphasis is placed on the role of the GPs. This

changes the role of the technical assistance staff of LKP, but does not necessarily increase the

work burden. Second, the revised role is more one of facilitation and training of the GP

members in social mobilization and other tasks previously undertaken by the LKP staff under

the intensive approach. This role they appear well prepared for.

A capacity problem would emerge in the view of the external consultant if LKP takes on a

new role within the SRD programme, as provisionally requested by the government. To

become the implementing agency for SRD in Birbhum District would be demanding, stretch

existing LKP’s existing human resources, and take important resources away from the FSP

activities. It is the view of the external consultant that an advisory role in training of trainers

would be a better strategy with respect to the SFD programme. Even this would require

additional staff at the district and sub-district level. It would also require that FSP retains its

core capacities and not be integrated into the SRD programme.

10. Monitoring and evaluation set-up

The external consultant finds that the present monitoring and evaluation set up is not optimal.

While the data is being collected for the LKP it is not yet incorporated into an effective M &

E framework that can enhance and develop the effectiveness of the project.

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M & E needs to be made a more specific element in the work of FSP 2. An effective

monitoring system will provide clear evidence of the gains made; provide important data for

refining the project’s approaches and activities; provide important material for dissemination

of the approach to other interested parties and for replication elsewhere; and not least enable

GPs, GUSs and SHGs to monitor their own achievements in terms of development outcomes

and thereby to engage in effective planning exercises at their respective levels. Core areas for

such monitoring are in poverty and gender equality (defined in terms of wife-husband

relations within the household).

It should further be noted that without effective M & E within the project framework, the

‘institutional memory’ of the project remains with a few in the higher levels of the project

organization. This represents a problem in bringing new staff into the organization, affects the

work of those engaged in the daily implementation of the project and perhaps lack the over

view of the project in its entirety, and can be lost if those key members leave the organisation.

This should be a priority for the immediate future. It was agreed on the day of the debriefing

that this would be prepared by 15th March, 2005.

11. Project linkages to broader to broader development environment

The present links of the project to local government and the voluntary sector are well

developed and appear to be strengthening the work and sustainable nature of the FSP’s

development outcomes. Furthermore progress in strengthening these linkages appears to be

continuing. One indication of this is in the fact that other NGOs are beginning to apply the

‘LKP’ approach in other part of West Bengal. A second indication is in the provisional

request for LKP to become an integral part of the SRD programme in Birbhum District. It

should be noted that staff from LKP have already been functioning in a limited capacity as

advisers in the development of this programme at the state level.

Some of the possible implications of this proposal in Birbhum District have been raised in the

assessment of the organizational capacity of LKP above (point 7). In order to further assess

the best way forward the external consultant suggests that LKP draft a short position paper in

which they assess the organizational and political implications of joining the SRD and the

nature of the possible collaboration. Three general positions could structure this assessment –

1) continuation as a separate project (FSP and IEC); 2) functioning as a facilitator of a district

SRD unit composed of seconded administrative officers and recruited staff under government

control; 3) becoming the implementing agency by having LKP form the Birbhum district

SRD.

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Main Recommendations

(not prioritized)

1. The project should develop a poverty identification and monitoring system for use at the Gram Sansad level. This should use participatory techniques to identify the main factors

of poverty and their causes; it should provide a basis for broader poverty surveys; it

should be used to monitor change amongst the participating poor. Such a tool would also

prove useful for future identification and targeting of poor groups for mobilization into

SHGs by LKP and/or GPs.

2. The project should develop a gender equality monitoring on similar lines to the poverty monitoring tool in the previous recommendation.

3. The LKP should use the information generated by the poverty monitoring to refine their knowledge of poverty within the project localities to capture better the nature of poverties

present (conditions and processes giving rise to poverty). The present implicit concept of

poverty reflects official and national definitions of poverty that might suffice in the

present locations, but not in localities of greater social and economic diversities. Neither

does it capture the poor participants’ different problems adequately.

4. The project should develop a strategy paper for the FSP that sets out the steps to be taken to secure the integrity (and continuing success) of the FSP within the broader context of

engagement with the government’s SRD programme. In particular this should cover the

implications for the FSP focus on NRM in the project localities. More specific points that

should be addressed include:

a. Implications for project goals and objectives b. Implications for organizing the project activities in the existing project

localities

c. Implications for staff and staffing d. Implications for budget utilization e. Implications for LKP-government relations at the district level

This paper should be provided to IGF by the end of March 2005 if the decision is made to

work with the SRD programme in Birbhum District.

5. The project should revise its project monitoring instruments such that the results of its process-oriented approach can be more easily accessed by both staff and external persons.

This is important for both self-monitoring and for disseminating the results achieved by

the project.

6. The Project is correct to shift its emphasis to include more facilitatory work with the Gram Panchayats. Not least this is central to its extensive approach. However it is

recommended that the project considers the need to enhance the GPs’ capacities to lobby

government for greater resources, both financial and human resources with which to

support the work of the GUS committees and the SHGs. Ideally this should contribute to

wider pressure for greater fiscal decentralization by the West Bengal government and a

move towards more demand-driven service provision by the departments in areas such as

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agriculture, horticulture, forestry, pisciculture, cottage industries. The resource base of the

GPs is at present extremely limited with a major shortage of untied funds and technical

expertise with which to support the SHGs.

7. LKP should not broaden the work of the FSP to include areas such as education and health as new objectives at this early stage. It should consolidate the gains made and the good

practices emerging in the field of NRM in their work with SHGs, institutions and

processes before broadening the scope of activities taken up with the project SHGs.

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Annex 1: ToR

IGF-LKP Food Security Project Phase Two – West Bengal, India (01.09.04-31.8.07)

Terms of Reference for external consultant & project review/assessment

January/February 2005

The (early) reflection/monitoring on the project (set up):

General comments/observations on the project application to Danida, including appendices, the Project Document and related annexes

Assessment of the coherence of development objectives, immediate objectives, outputs and expected results;

1. The development objectives are to enhance local participatory natural resource management in the interplay between the poor participants, civil society

organisations and local government bodies as a sustainable and replicable strategy

for improvement of food security and reduction of poverty among the poor in the

rural areas in West Bengal, India.

2. The immediate objectives are: I. The poor target groups have reduced the periods with scarcity on food

supplies as an outcome of introducing short- and long term, sustainable

agriculture and income generating activities, based on either intensive

or extensive strategies,

II. The poor target groups, organised in Self Help Groups (SHGs), selected civil society organisations and local government bodies have

the capacity to in interaction handle and secure locally based natural

resource management in the format of initiatives and processes which

contributes to ongoing improvements of the food security and poverty

situation of the poor, and the partner organisation (LKP) has capacity to

facilitate processes and projects which leads to the realisation here of

III. Experiences with four models for enhancement of locally based natural resource management in the interplay between the poor, civil society

organisations and local government bodies to improve the food security

and poverty situation of the poor are tested, described and

communicated to central actors in the local context

3. Expected outputs: In relation to project objective 1:

A. 500-600 SHG’s are established and functioning, where of 350-400 groups are

related to the intensive models and 200-250 groups are the result of the extensive

models, and approx. 7000 women are involved and trained (through meeting, training

sessions (awareness camps and skills development camps), experience exchange,

study trips and so on)

B. Production of food and improvements in levels of income have been achieved

through establishment of kitchen gardens (vegetables, herbs and spices), homestead

agro-forestry (food, fruit, firewood and fodder), grain banks (collection of grain for

redistribution with in the SHG’s), utilisation of /cropping on unused areas (road sides,

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hills, dikes and so on), common cropping of public or private areas and resources

(different crops, fish), nurseries (for preservation of seed and sales), revolving funds

(saving of funds per month for micro credit/loans among SHG’s based on own terms

of reference, for example for procurement of animal husbandry, payment on debt).

In relation to project objective 2:

A. 500-600 SHG’s have the capacity to continue their activities, are in dialogue with

CSO’s (GUS’s and NGO’s) and GP’s in order to secure continued allocation of

resources and support for prioritised activities and the locally based development

process

B. 175 CSO’s (GUS’s), 75 in relation to the intensive models and 100 in relation to

the extensive, are trained in mobilisation and implementation of locally based

development processes, are in function and work actively to maintain and extend

improvement for the poor and in the locally based development process, as a

facilitator between SHG’s and the poor in the project areas and the local government

bodies (GP’s and National Administration Organisations)

C. 20 GP’s (12 in relation to the intensive models and 8 in relation to the extensive

respectively) and 100 civil servants in the relevant department of the National

Administration Organisations are trained in implementation and management of

locally based development processes on natural resource management, are in active

dialogue and contact with GUS’s and SHG’s and allocate resources to secure

continuous improvement of the food security and poverty situation of the poor

D. The staff of LKP has taken part in a series of training and further educational

sessions; 6-8 internal sessions and 8-10 courses with participation of external resource

persons and 4 workshops and experience gathering seminars with IGF, the Danish

external consultant and the two local consultants, are able to implement similar

activities in other areas and are able to lobby successfully towards higher tiers of state

government and larger local/international NGO’s.

In relation to project objective 3:

A. The four models of intensive and extensive character are known by a large number

of civil society organisations, GP’s through workshops and other types of information

and are reflected in the state government-DFID programme for improvement of food

security and increased civil society involvement in the local development processes in West Bengal.

Assessment of the four-pronged strategy: Working with; a) The poor, b) The CSO’s (GUS’) and c) The GPs, simultaneously,

and with d) the particular project approach

Mobilisation and activation strategies

Implementation strategies related to the intensive and extensive models

Sustainability (institutional (see below too), ecologically, and economically)

Exit-strategy (the three steps)

Assessment of project organisational structure (geographical organisation, distribution of tasks, local collaboration) and mobilisation/activation strategy (linking poor

beneficiaries, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Sangads Working Committees, Gram

Unnayan Samities (GUS’) to Gram Panchayats, and other levels of Panchayati Rai

system, and National Administrative Organisations)

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Assessment of capacity of the NGOs and of the internal project organisation: Project Management Body, Project Implementation Body and IGF-LKP collaboration set-up

(IGF-LKP agreement, including appendices and IGF-LKP Partner organisation

guidelines) vis-à-vis ability to implement and fulfil objectives

All areas are assessed according to the generally known criteria’s, like the five general Danida

evaluation criteria’s; Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability. The

particular criteria’s and form of feedback is decided when the PMB and the consultant(s) meet.

Monitoring and Evaluation set up:

Assessment of proposed M&E set up and outlined tasks

Project linkages to broader development environment:

Assessment of linkages to State-DFID intervention (potential benefits, supplements and/or

overlap)

Soeren Jeppesen

IGF Project Administrator

21st January 2005

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Annex 2: List of principal LKP staff met

Kolkata office:

Rathnadeep De LKP – Chief research Persons

Dr Sanyal LKP – Project Director FSP

Asoke Sarkar LKP Chief Research Person IEC

Dr. Manab Sen LKP - Consultant

Shumala Chakrabarty LKP - Sec. of the Board

G.S. Pallav LKP – Technical Officer

Sushmita Bhattacharya LKP – SHG Adviser

Sangita Mukherjee LKP – SHG Adviser

Arup Das LKP – IEC Technical Adviser

Sapam Das LKP – IEC Project Director

Bolpur office:

Vinaki Mukherjee LKP – Agricultural Adviser

Partha Mazumdar LKP – Agricultural Adviser

Dulal Mette LKP – Agricultural Adviser

Karuna LKP – Field Worker

Protima LKP – Field Worker

Topas Bhattacharya LKP – Field Worker

Durga Bhattacharya LKP – Field Director (absent due to illness)

Jaya Bhattacharya LKP – Field Worker (absent due to illness)