Interim evaluation ¹

The overall objective of the Integrated Agricultural Development Project in the Governorate of Siliana (PDARI), initiated in 1997 as part of the national and regional strategy of soil and water conservation and rural poverty reduction, was to realize the production and revenue potential of small agricultural holdings as well as to improve basic infrastructure available to poor populations, in 70% of the territory within the Governorate of Siliana. To meet these challenges, the project called for investment components involving working capital, natural resources susceptible to erosion and basic infrastructure, as well as components to create and strengthen capacities among development institutions and smallholders. Major project components addressed soil and water conservation (28 000 ha), forestry and pasture development (pasture plantings on private and collective land and agroforestry activities), agricultural development of 10 000 smallholdings (promotion of fruit tree cultivation and rehabilitation of irrigated perimeters), upgrading of basic infrastructure (drinking water and desert trails) and support for women's and community-based development. The target group comprised 12 000 families, including 10 000 smallholders and 2 000 young households.

The participatory approach proposed for this project was innovative for the Governorate of Siliana, based on the following:

• programming instruments (two-tier development plans) to promote greater involvement by populations in the planning process for development actions through development consultative councils for at the imada (CCDI) and délégation (CCDD) level, which were to play a central role in mobilizing populations and in programming and monitoring results.
• the territorial intervention unit (micro-zone or sub-basin) for undertaking multisector development actions for forestry and pasture development, soil and water conservation works, and productivity improvements for agriculture;
• NGOs, which were to provide small loans in the context of local savings and loan committees within a village-type credit system to be put in place;
• women's and girls' issues, provided for through specific mechanisms to promote the economic and social role of women in rural areas; and
• promotion of the participatory approach by means of 12 pilot operations for the participatory approach (POPAs) in 12 selected douars (villages) in the project area beginning in year two, working with CCDIs.

The project's history has been punctuated by a series of internal events in connection with organization of the project management unit (PMU) and external events caused by institutional changes in microlending that have influenced the project's operating instruments, the conduct of its activities, and the nature of its results. In particular, the creation of village microlending associations was eliminated when Banque de solidarité tunisienne (Tunisian Solidarity Bank - BTS) was founded in 1997. As a result, the approach that was to be applied in conjunction with the system of CCDIs, CCDDs, PADIs² and PADDs², so as to come up with an authentically participatory planning strategy for the project as a whole, was reduced to just the pilot experience in two micro-zones, designed to develop the local development approach and instruments. This was attributable to the chosen option of working only with a limited number of NGOs (FERT and FTDC³) rather than taking advantage of the capacities of all NGOs for participation purposes. Lastly, the mid-term evaluation performed by Centre national des études agricoles (National Centre for Agricultural Studies - CNEA) in 2000 led to changes in certain sectoral objectives, in particular an increase in the number of bench terraces, to the detriment of soft techniques.

PDRAI's main partners are the Siliana Regional Commission for Agricultural Development (CRDA), the Siliana BTS, the External Financing Directorate (DGFE), IFAD, the French Development Agency (AFD), the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), the cooperating institution, and other support structures such as IRESA and NGOs. Their support for the PMU has been mixed. Generally speaking, the PMU has not benefited from technical support commensurate with the project's ambitious goals. With respect to DGFE support, despite the lack of a national monitoring and evaluation system for PDARI, several missions and field visits have taken place to assess the results achieved and provide guidance for improving implementation. The AFD's technical and methodological contribution was more intensive and consistent, particularly with respect to direct seeding research and development. IFAD support has been limited to physical and financial monitoring of its portfolio through FADES. No technical missions have been sent directly from IFAD aside from the one that took place in 2003 to assist the project in better structuring summary reporting and to begin capitalizing on experiences in community-based development. The PMU team, despite the constraints it faced (limited staff, lack of flexibility in budget programming, lack of continuity in staff given their contractual status, etc.), performed a significant amount of good work. However, the team did not manage to design and put in place a more effective operational strategy in time to better program activities, which would no doubt have achieved better results.

PDARI's objectives were and remain very relevant for a highly rural area that remains vulnerable to climate events, erosion, degradation of natural resources, poverty and rural exodus. Material achievements are quite substantial and, overall, do not present any major failings that cannot be overcome. However, activities were not as a whole designed according to the prescribed approach, i.e. a participatory integrated development approach by micro-basin, although several examples of integration can be observed in certain locations.

In the space of seven years, PDARI has shown notable results given the relatively ambitious objectives of limiting the effects of erosion and realizing the production potential of smallholders under a participatory approach. The project initiated a promising approach to research and development with national research institutions (INRAT, IRESA, etc.) on leading topics relating to innovations and changes in production systems in the area, particularly in tree cultivation (Bargou peach), direct seeding and animal feed diversification (food blocks). Project-supported activities to create and strengthen management skills among women, and particularly girls, have generated new revenue sources and an enabling environment for the emancipation of girls.

Project implementation took place under a sector programming approach with broad consultation of populations. Forums created for dialogue such as CCDIs did not fully perform their role in the participatory programming of development activities. The PMU's resources were limited since the project proposal did not build in sufficient financial and institutional flexibility for the participatory approach to develop in all sequences of local programming. The results of the EPIDEL experience in Hamam Kesra and Soualem were mitigated. Populations were fully involved in this process but were quite disappointed with the results obtained. Technical support provided in this connection, whether directly by the PMU or through the two NGOs FERT and FDTC, was not consistent enough to be effective.

Sizeable flows of financing were injected into the Siliana regional economy. As an annual average, major investments were on the order of TND 6.2 million (close to USD 5 million), 15% to 25% of which flowed into local economies in the form of payroll for various construction projects. The quality of infrastructure is generally good. However, some of this infrastructure has not been fully appropriated, especially bank terraces and certain hydraulic structures.

This injection of capital by means of investments involving socio-economic infrastructure, support for community-based organizations and the rapid development of certain revenue-generating activities have unquestionably had a positive impact on the dynamics of local economies in the various locations, and have improved the quality of life for their populations.

The most visible impact of PDARI activities in areas threatened by erosion has been twofold. It has improved the producing potential of smallholders and reduced silting in dams and hill reservoirs in the areas treated (21 000 ha), benefiting all categories of smallholders. These effects will translate into the daily lives of smallholders five to ten years from now by enhancing the agronomic potential of land based on capacity created for water retention, diversification of production with 6 000 additional hectares of olive trees and increased water reserves in dams and hill reservoirs downstream from the land treated. In terms of the farmers' assets, land values will increase as land becomes better protected and covered with valuable tree plantings.

With respect to basic infrastructure, the project has opened up access for 10 localities with 10 000 inhabitants and provided drinking water to 7 000 people in a number of disperse douars. In terms of community-based development, major activities have included agricultural training for 391 girls and have given rise to 107 microprojects in cattle, sheep and rabbit-breeding and beekeeping. Arts and crafts training has reached 336 girls, including carpet-weaving (194 girls) and other marketable products (18 girls trained in margoum or short-weave carpet-weaving, and 124 in pottery and decoration), with 70 microprojects established. On the other hand, only a few groups and just five of 42 CCDIs received full and adequate training.

PDARI has also made a significant contribution to creating two micro-zones that can lead the way in economic and social change. In the area of agricultural development, investments made in the Rohia délégation to develop 1 608 ha, benefiting 456 farmers, will transform the local landscape. These developments have strengthened Rohia's producing potential and created a micro-zone for intensification of agricultural production. The second subzone is Bargou, where a number of activities (e.g. forest and pasture development, integrated forestry management, hydro-agricultural development, strengthening for users' associations, Bargou peach promotion) have created a local dynamic for agricultural development to bring in real socio-economic change.

These are major accomplishments, and their impact on living conditions for many households is far from negligible. But structural poverty in the governorate, though slightly diminished, is still observable in the income diversification strategies adopted by all families (e.g. farming, seasonal work, temporary out-migration). From the point of view of improving sector and category targeting toward poor populations, the mission sees potential in carrying the PDARI experience through to a second stage, under a new approach that would take into account the requirements of a kind of rural development that is more open to innovation and off-farm activity, and better adapted to the workings of local economies.

Based on the achievements and the failings of the PDARI experience, the mission has formulated two types of recommendations. The first are general and have to do with the way the PDARI concept has evolved. The second concern certain components implemented by the project.

In a second stage, PDARI should operate within the framework of a development approach that can reconcile the imperative of conserving natural resources with creating conditions for diversifying monetary revenues. This framework could be participatory local development. The soil conservation and natural resource preservation aspects should be maintained through government or other financing given the serious erosion and degradation of vegetation in this area. This kind of local development should take into account a concern for reducing farmers' economic vulnerability while working to develop off-farm activities.

Also, during a new stage of the IFAD project, a different strategy ought to be deployed to support rural development centred around activities of various kinds integrated in coherent socioterritorial sub-spaces consistent with the workings of local economies and rural societies in Siliana. The essential feature here would be a diversity of adaptive strategies to diversify monetary income. Only through the interaction of agricultural and pasture development activities and off-farm activities, and by promoting proximity services for and by the rural world, can a participatory local development programme take on strategic dimensions to have more widespread impact on local development dynamics and, in the long term, enable populations to remain in their villages.

Furthermore, the PDARI experience has clearly shown the lack of synergy among the partners involved in implementing project activities (Government, AFD, IFAD and FADES), to the detriment of the project. In the future, and given the Government's search for new formulas for liaison and exchange with rural and farming communities (GDAP, GD, etc.), it would be advisable to test and adjust incrementally the institutional arrangements established by the project (CCDIs, CCDDs, etc.) to ensure that they are working in coordination and synergy with existing ones (CLDs, CRDs). It is also recommended that a permanent mechanism be set up for technical review of project components, and that a review of the effectiveness of steering mechanisms take place every two years so that any technical and financial adjustments can be made, and to capitalize on good practices in development.

The second major recommendation has to do with consolidating PDARI achievements, by means of the following in particular:

• enhancing soil and water conservation and forest and pasture development activities by strengthening the organizational skills of populations and their ability to take charge of infrastructure upon completion;
• consolidating research and development achievements in the context of a development vision;
• establishing a more effective monitoring and evaluation system; and
• capitalizing on instruments and approaches from the PDARI experience in the form of technical manuals and reference materials for use by CRDA and other development agencies.

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1/ The interim evaluation mission was composed of: Mr Moncef Kouidhi, economist and Head of Mission; Mr Salah Rouchiche, agroforestry specialist; Mr Luca Fè d'Ostiani, sociologist; and Mr Slah Nasri, soil and water conservation specialist. Contributions were made by FERT and AGER consultants, Mr Jean-Charles Derongs, Mr Guillaume Dherissard and Ms Mouna Mastouri.
2/ Imada annual development Plans (PADIs); délégation annual development programmes (PADDs).
3/ Fédération tunisienne pour le développement communautaire (Tunisian Federation for Community-Based Development - FTDC).