Tajikistan

The development objectives of the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Resources Management Project are to: provide employment to food-insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is public works and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The second component of the project is assistance in water resources management, including technical assistance for policy and institutional reform. The third component of the project is project management. A Project Management Unit (PMU) to be managed under the World Bank-financed Ferghana valley water resource management project will be the main implementation agency. It will be responsible for: implementation and coordination, financial management and procurement, communication and awareness programs, environmental management and safeguards, and monitoring and evaluation.
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The objectives of the Additional Financing for the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management Project for Tajikistan are to: (i) provide employment to food insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, (ii) increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and infrastructure, and (iii) support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. The additional funds would be used to scale-up the public works component of the project in support of government measures to create employment for low-income and food insecure population, including migrant workers returning to Tajikistan. These activities would create an estimated 10,000 person days of temporary work through rehabilitation of 2,800 km of irrigation canals to improve irrigation on 70,000 hectares of irrigated land in six districts in Khatlon and the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS). A parallel restructuring of the project will be implemented to: (a) reflect the additional activities, (b) improve the alignment of project development objectives and project activities, and (c) reformulate the project’s relationship with its main government partners in response to a recent Government reorganization. Project design and implementation was originally based on a partnership with the Ministry of Amelioration and Water Resource Management (MAWR), which has now been replaced by a new Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEWR). The main operating arm of the former MAWRM has also been set up as an independent agency, the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI), which will be the project’s implementing agency.
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Good progress has been made in the implementation of the PAMP II since the Bank’s last mission in January 2015. Significant progress has been made
to disbursement of funding. As of May 31, 2015 US$ 15.96 million or 35% of the total project funding (under both GAFSP and IDA Grants) have been
disbursed and most of the intermediate results indicators overachieved. The project disbursements are well on track with 90% of funds scheduled for
the first two years of project implementation fully disbursed. The mission was pleased that PMU diligently followed recommendations of the previous
mission and implemented most of the agreed actions. Notwithstanding the late start of the actual rehabilitation activities under the manual and
mechanized works sub-components, the project management team has demonstrated solid results on the ground and was able to address most of the
risks flagged by the team during the last mission. Specifically, despite of the late start of the manual and mechanized works in the second year districts,
the project succeeded in providing temporary employment opportunities to more than 7,800 beneficiaries in Jomi, Jilikul, Rumi, Rudaki, Hisor Yovon and
Panj districts in the rehabilitation season of 2014-2015. As a result, in total the project engaged more than 11,000 beneficiaries in cleaning of 3,345 km
secondary and tertiary canals within two years of implementation. Good progress was also achieved in execution of mechanized works: (i) 411 km of
collector and drainage network have been cleaned and levelled; (ii) 49 km of irrigation canals rehabilitated; (iii) 863 outlet gates and 373 observation
wells have been repaired; (iv) completed rehabilitation of the drainage pumping station in Jomi district. The Project Management Unit has already
launched preparatory works for the batch of districts scheduled for the next rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.
Positive progress is observed in implementation of the Component II. The various activities planned under the Package A (Institutional Strengthening for
Integrated Water Resources Management) are under preparation with selection of the company to be finalized by the end of July 2015. The package B
preparation hasn’t started yet as it will be initiated once the implementation of the package A is launched and the consultant’s team is mobilized.
Noteworthy to highlight that most of the missions’ recommendations of December 2014 on key actions have been well taken and have been
implemented accordingly. In total, the project is currently working with 71 WUAs (including 9 newly created WUAs and 3 WUAs, which are under
registration process) that cover 134,420 ha of irrigated area in 10 project districts, i.e. Jomi, Rumi, Jilikul, N. Khusrav, Rudaki, Hisor, Yovon, Panj, Vose
and Hamadoni. Specifically, the project has established 9 WUAs, reorganized 36 WUAs, and strengthened capacity of 23 WUAs (previously established
by USAID) since the start of project implementation. The project has also initiated construction of 24 offices for the WUAs in 6 districts. Quite
importantly, following a series of regional workshops, the issues of the simplified and VAT have been resolved, and at present none of the project WUAs
are paying these taxes.
Positive progress on the project M&E activities have been observed. The Project Monitoring and Management Information System (PMMIS) is now fully
operational and the staff responsible for the M&E system is fully conversant with all procedures. The project implementation progress rating is upgraded
to “satisfactory” mainly due to improvements observed in the quality of mechanized works, progress achieved in the activities on WUAs and
establishment of the solid project monitoring and information system.
Additional IDA funds in the amount of USD 12 million for the project were approved by the Board of the World Bank Executive on June 22, 2015. The
Legal Agreement between the Bank and Government was signed on August 7, 2015. As soon as the project becomes effective, the project will initiate
activities in Vakhsh and Qumsangir districts already in the upcoming rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.

The development objectives of the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Resources Management Project are to: provide employment to food-insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is public works and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The second component of the project is assistance in water resources management, including technical assistance for policy and institutional reform. The third component of the project is project management. A Project Management Unit (PMU) to be managed under the World Bank-financed Ferghana valley water resource management project will be the main implementation agency. It will be responsible for: implementation and coordination, financial management and procurement, communication and awareness programs, environmental management and safeguards, and monitoring and evaluation.
————————————-
The objectives of the Additional Financing for the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management Project for Tajikistan are to: (i) provide employment to food insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, (ii) increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and infrastructure, and (iii) support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. The additional funds would be used to scale-up the public works component of the project in support of government measures to create employment for low-income and food insecure population, including migrant workers returning to Tajikistan. These activities would create an estimated 10,000 person days of temporary work through rehabilitation of 2,800 km of irrigation canals to improve irrigation on 70,000 hectares of irrigated land in six districts in Khatlon and the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS). A parallel restructuring of the project will be implemented to: (a) reflect the additional activities, (b) improve the alignment of project development objectives and project activities, and (c) reformulate the project’s relationship with its main government partners in response to a recent Government reorganization. Project design and implementation was originally based on a partnership with the Ministry of Amelioration and Water Resource Management (MAWR), which has now been replaced by a new Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEWR). The main operating arm of the former MAWRM has also been set up as an independent agency, the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI), which will be the project’s implementing agency.
——–
Good progress has been made in the implementation of the PAMP II since the Bank’s last mission in January 2015. Significant progress has been made
to disbursement of funding. As of May 31, 2015 US$ 15.96 million or 35% of the total project funding (under both GAFSP and IDA Grants) have been
disbursed and most of the intermediate results indicators overachieved. The project disbursements are well on track with 90% of funds scheduled for
the first two years of project implementation fully disbursed. The mission was pleased that PMU diligently followed recommendations of the previous
mission and implemented most of the agreed actions. Notwithstanding the late start of the actual rehabilitation activities under the manual and
mechanized works sub-components, the project management team has demonstrated solid results on the ground and was able to address most of the
risks flagged by the team during the last mission. Specifically, despite of the late start of the manual and mechanized works in the second year districts,
the project succeeded in providing temporary employment opportunities to more than 7,800 beneficiaries in Jomi, Jilikul, Rumi, Rudaki, Hisor Yovon and
Panj districts in the rehabilitation season of 2014-2015. As a result, in total the project engaged more than 11,000 beneficiaries in cleaning of 3,345 km
secondary and tertiary canals within two years of implementation. Good progress was also achieved in execution of mechanized works: (i) 411 km of
collector and drainage network have been cleaned and levelled; (ii) 49 km of irrigation canals rehabilitated; (iii) 863 outlet gates and 373 observation
wells have been repaired; (iv) completed rehabilitation of the drainage pumping station in Jomi district. The Project Management Unit has already
launched preparatory works for the batch of districts scheduled for the next rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.
Positive progress is observed in implementation of the Component II. The various activities planned under the Package A (Institutional Strengthening for
Integrated Water Resources Management) are under preparation with selection of the company to be finalized by the end of July 2015. The package B
preparation hasn’t started yet as it will be initiated once the implementation of the package A is launched and the consultant’s team is mobilized.
Noteworthy to highlight that most of the missions’ recommendations of December 2014 on key actions have been well taken and have been
implemented accordingly. In total, the project is currently working with 71 WUAs (including 9 newly created WUAs and 3 WUAs, which are under
registration process) that cover 134,420 ha of irrigated area in 10 project districts, i.e. Jomi, Rumi, Jilikul, N. Khusrav, Rudaki, Hisor, Yovon, Panj, Vose
and Hamadoni. Specifically, the project has established 9 WUAs, reorganized 36 WUAs, and strengthened capacity of 23 WUAs (previously established
by USAID) since the start of project implementation. The project has also initiated construction of 24 offices for the WUAs in 6 districts. Quite
importantly, following a series of regional workshops, the issues of the simplified and VAT have been resolved, and at present none of the project WUAs
are paying these taxes.
Positive progress on the project M&E activities have been observed. The Project Monitoring and Management Information System (PMMIS) is now fully
operational and the staff responsible for the M&E system is fully conversant with all procedures. The project implementation progress rating is upgraded
to “satisfactory” mainly due to improvements observed in the quality of mechanized works, progress achieved in the activities on WUAs and
establishment of the solid project monitoring and information system.
Additional IDA funds in the amount of USD 12 million for the project were approved by the Board of the World Bank Executive on June 22, 2015. The
Legal Agreement between the Bank and Government was signed on August 7, 2015. As soon as the project becomes effective, the project will initiate
activities in Vakhsh and Qumsangir districts already in the upcoming rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.