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CONTENTS german ambassador - impact assessment - IFSP Batticaloa - farewell Gaby
September 2003
German Ambassador in Trincomalee
The German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Islands, Jürgen Elias and Dr (Mrs) Gisela Elias visited Trincomalee and the East from 23 to 28 August 2003. Ambassador Elias held talks with government officials and representatives from IFSP partner institutions. He met with the Hon Governor NEP. Ambassador Elias and Mrs Elias toured the DS Divisions of Muthur and Kuchchaveli. They visited projects supported by IFSP and funded by the Governments of Germany and Sri Lanka and by local communities, such as minor tanks, road networks, water supply, sanitation and housing schemes. Ambassador Elias and Mrs Elias formally declared open the IFSP ‘quick impact programme for returning IDPs’ at Aaththimoddai.
Focused impact assessment 2003
Since its inception in mid 1998 the Integrated Food Security Programme Trincomalee (IFSP) has established activity and impact monitoring. Monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment in particular give evidence and confirm the extent to which investment of public money is generating benefits.
Amongst the large number of impacts documented, the most important areas are those with a focus on: i) specific short-term projects with the aim on the creation of assets and ii) longer-term interventions aiming at community mobilisation.
The analysis of the impacts of asset-specific interventions shows the following trend:
- Common benefits as well as individual benefits with high investment cost are highly appreciated by villagers.
- The lower and higher impacts of infrastructure rehabilitation, especially from rural road networks, are high and support the integration of communities towards local markets and
services.
- Individual projects arising from small-scale business and small-scale development, to some extend also infrastructure projects, require specific targeting, extensive mobilisation and fine-tuned planning skills.
- Interventions based on regional roots with an independent, autarkic focus (e.g. mobile trading, banana cultivation, paddy cultivation) are more sustainable than interventions, which are based on relatively high external support and advisory input (e.g. poultry keeping, goat rearing).
The assessment of the effects of the community mobilisation highlight the following key features:
- Villagers and all involved institutional structures highly appreciate the active involvement in the process of planning and implementation.
- Overall, structures on the village level such as community-based organisations show a strengthened performance, however, newly formed CBOs demand high mobilisation.
- An integrated village approach with a strong participatory focus looses importance as soon as many development organisations are involved in a single village development.
- The combination of implementation on one side and awareness creation on the other is highly valued by villagers and partner structures.
Overall, the feedback from village communities was very positive. Local implementing partners and service providers expressed more positive and encouraging attitudes than expected at the outset of the survey.
Download
Working Paper 54 Focused Impact Assessment 2003, Report pdf 522 KB
Annex pdf 494 KB
New IFSP in Batticaloa
The Government of Sri Lanka has requested the extension of the food security activities sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany in Trincomalee district to additional districts of the North and East. This request was approved. An appraisal team is at present discussing the conditions to promote a new Integrated Food Security Programme for Batticaloa district. The team includes Sri Lankan and German professionals.
The new IFSP will have a direct focus on the improvements of the livelihoods of vulnerable families in DS Divisions of Batticaloa district. Five strategies are to be addressed:
- Support for the rehabilitation and development of the social and production infrastructure, including the strengthening of village self-help groups, the launching of participatory planning and implementation processes.
- Improving village health care and securing food security services, including the identification of training needs for village health workers, the availability and proper use of sanitary facilities, awareness-raising campaigns and the establishment of school feeding programmes.
- Promotion of additional employment and income opportunities, including agri-business and non-agricultural activities, local and regional market economy, micro credit programmes and advisory services for small-scale businesses.
- Support for partner institutions in planning and implementing development and reconstruction measures, mobilisation and integration of communities, identification of training needs, need for information services and inputs of material and equipment as well as the integration of participatory methods into the working practices of partner institutions
- Identification and strengthening of conflict-management competence of local government and civil society actors, including the identification of training needs and possibilities for support towards constructive conflict management and identification of local reconciliation approaches at community level.
The particular experience gained from IFSP Trincomalee should be used for designing the new project. The appraisal mission should also clarify the extent to which limited follow-up of the measures initiated by IFSP Trincomalee is expedient and realistic within the framework of the new project.
Farewell to Gabriele Götz
Gabriele Götz, GTZ health and nutrition adviser returns to Germany. Gaby worked with IFSP since February 2002. She contributed to the consolidation of the health and nutrition strategy in close cooperation with the Department of Health Services and EHED. Gaby initiated the mid-day meal drama and the show for awareness on personal and public hygiene. She will take up a new assignment at GTZ head office. We thank Gaby for her great service and wish her success in her new function.
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