ProValAB/Agricultural valorization of small dams in Burkina Faso

Examples of the results expected that have been achieved, during the implementation. From 2018 to 2021, most of the planned activities have been undertaken and the project has shown good results. The most important operational results obtained: - Regarding development of water and developed land it is noted that : *provision of 199 tons of Burkina Phosphate to the producers of the intervention sites; acquisition and endowment of 11 tillers from 11 cooperatives; installation of 07 fish pens in 07 bodies of water. * To support the post-popularization of agricultural production techniques and tools through farmers' field schools, agricultural and mechanical inputs have been made available to beneficiaries to improve agricultural production and productivity. Depending on the results, this improvement is indeed observed in the extension or demonstration plots. - Regarding the sustainable management of infrastructure, the results achieved are: * implementation of 13 environmental and social management plans, training of producers on the management / protection of banks and compensatory actions for reforestation; * rehabilitation of 2 dams; rehabilitation of 2 additional structures: a spillway and a protection dyke; rehabilitation / development of 101 ha of old irrigated perimeters, 50 ha of new irrigated perimeters, 23 ha of market gardens; Development of 8 cattle passageways and construction of 14 positive pastoral boreholes; * implementation of measures to protect the banks against silting up of water bodies in 5 sites. - The implementation of management plans makes it possible to mitigate the environmental impacts induced by the actions of the project. The reconstruction of dams and additional structures will make it possible to mobilize large quantities of water and the development and rehabilitation of irrigated perimeters and market gardens will make arable land available to producers. As an immediate result, these actions aim to improve the capacities and means of agricultural and fishery production. Regarding the economic development of agricultural products, the overall results are: training of 45 women on tomato processing in 3 sites was implemented, installation of 8 onion storage units, training of 65 women in rice parboiling techniques for the benefit of 5 sites, establishment of partnership agreements between 2 farmers' organizations and microfinance. Brief analysis of satisfactions and dissatisfactions: In terms of satisfaction and considering the level, the achieved results, the project implementation was efficient. It is more efficient because it was built on the use of preexisting structures and other resources (equipment, expertise, etc.). Concerning beneficiaries, the various trainings constitute acquired technical know-how that some of them will continue to put into practice. The satisfactory results achieved by the project are due to its good institutional organization, which made it possible to ensure effective and inclusive participation in the project implementation. Other satisfactions are the good practices resulting from ProValAB experiences: - Sustainable infrastructure management component: Establishment of a functional and efficient steering committee for infrastructure studies. Whilst the practice is quite common in the structures of implementation of Minister of agriculture projects, the process was successful due to the composition of the committee, the presence of influential people/ leaders, the work methodology used, and the role played by ProValAB at different stages of the process. - The water and land development component: The broad adherence of beneficiaries to farmer field schools as a fruit of a participatory approach to involve producers in the different stages of setting up activities: Identification of sectors and crops, identification of the location of fields, organization for cropping operations, empowerment, monitoring and surveillance, motivation, adapted methodology for women, etc. The successful organization of training and awareness sessions: ProValAB has been successful starting from the analysis of the development process to the organizing these sessions. Two essential principles have played a role: ensuring the credibility of the service provider by paying attention to their recruitment; then, involving the producer organizations in the process, including in the choice of themes and training venues, the training packages adapted to the audience such as women, youth, different water user groups. Partnership management: Successful involvement of mayors in the governance of dam infrastructure: 2 experiments were particularly successful: the banks protection and the delimitation of the buffer zones of the water reservoirs. ProValAB success is essentially due to the involvement of the mayors in the initiative and the implication of the Water Agencies, the Water Users Committees, the Technical Services and other projects intervening in area. In terms of dissatisfaction: - The fact that the security risk did not allow full implementation of the project at municipalities, communities and decentralized technical services level. - Some main activities like, promotion of seeds and the stocking of the enclosures, construction and rehabilitation of dams were delayed. - The funds proposed to the water banks protection are insufficient and do not allow several sites to be considered. - The great delay in the implementation of environmental and social management plans and the failure to consider the protection of biological diversity in the project activities. Achieved results in relation to the objectives of the intervention: The final reports and reviews have shown that more than 80% of the initial objectives of the project have been achieved. The institutional framework in place (project management unit supported by the inter-ministerial monitoring committee) enabled the implementation of activities within a reasonable time frame. The remaining activities have been integrated into the new contribution 1249 following this project. As a reminder, Contribution 51200044 was initially designed for 5 years but funding from Sida was agreed for only 3 years (2018-2020) due to administrative reasons mainly the overlap of Sweden's strategies. The negotiations (government and Embassy) resulted in a new agreement (contribution 15249) which is the second phase of ProValAB and would cover the period 2021-2024. This new contribution intended to strengthen the results of the intervention and to implement the operational plan for development of promising value chains, to increase the income of beneficiary households, to better orient the intervention, continue initiated actions of water control and mobilization. The project was designed based on the theory of change approach. According to the project expected effects (intermediate changes) it appears that: - Regarding the quantities of agro-sylvo-pastoral and fishery production, all forecasts were met and even exceeded in terms of fish production. The rate of increase in the volume of fish marketed is 42% against a target of 10%. - According to the surveys among groups of fishermen, they state that the volume of fish caught increased between 2018 and 2021. Although this increase depends on several factors, the project's contribution to the achievement of this result can be judged in the capacity building of fishermen in training in fishing and fish farming, in the valuation of equipment in fishing materials, the stocking of water bodies. - Regarding the competitiveness of agricultural and fishery products, which has improved. It is noted that: the rate of increase in the volume of agricultural products marketed is satisfactory compared to the expected target. - Women sold fewer agricultural products than men because agricultural production is not the main secondary activity for women. They are more active in petty trading activities. - Training for beneficiaries on topics relating to the marketing of agricultural products was provided by the project, which allowed to strengthen the capacity of producers in the marketing of agricultural products. All the results are linked to actions carried out with technical partners as well as the beneficiaries (capacity building, fish farming, setting the catch period, etc.) who have certainly helped to improve catches and achieve this result. - More than half of the producers in the intervention sites surveyed believe that postharvest losses have decreased compared to the beginning of ProValAB. - The Proportion of households that increased their income from farming is 80.3% against a target of 70%. According to the ProValAB, this is mainly income from sales of crops, livestock, milk, poultry ... - Regarding the environment and the climate, the aim was to carry out compensatory reforestation measures, training residents on environmental protection. - Gender was also considered in the implementation of activities: There are gender sensitive activities that have manifested themselves through the participation of women in capacity building actions in training or in the provision of infrastructure and materials. -Taking "Human Rights" into account was also a requirement in the project, with service providers for the execution of the works: no use of children or minors on work sites.

The overall objective of the intervention is: "Households improve their food/nutritional security sustainably and increase their incomes by exploiting water from small dams through the development of value chains". The specific objectives are: • users put in place good governance for the sustainable management of infrastructures, water resources and developed lands. This specific objective will be achieved through (a) development of infrastructures to support value chains, (b) improved management of dams, water and developed lands; • farmers increase quantitatively and qualitatively their Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral and Forest (ASPF) production. This specific objective will be achieved through (a) increased agricultural production and productivity, (b) modernization of fish farming and fisheries, (c) capacity building of producers on post-harvest and commercial techniques; • producers and other players in value chains improve their economic and social performance. This specific objective will be achieved through (a) integration of producers into value chains, (b) development of products processing, (c) better partnership between the players and the Financial Institutions / Microfinance Institutions, (d) Women's Empowerment, (e) improvement of the health and nutritional quality of households.