30 September, 2012

AGA KHAN FOUNDATION

2ND QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT

01 July – 30 September, 2012

Program Title: Satpara Development Project Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID Pakistan Cooperative Agreement Number: AID-391-A-12-0002 Recipient: AKF/AKRSP Period of Agreement: March 12, 2012 to March 11, 2017

October 30, 2012

Contents

ACRONYMS ......

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 1

INTRODUCTION ...... 2

1. ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD (JULY – SEPTEMBER 2012)...... 5

1.1 Component-I: Efficient Use of Irrigation Water ...... 5

1.2 Component-II: Enhancing Productivity of High-Value Horticulture and Dairy Products...... 6

1.3 Component-III: Enhancing Processing and Marketing Capacity of the Area...... 9

1.4 Component-IV: Create an Enabling Environment for the Agricultural Sector to Grow...... 9

2. ADDRESSING GENDER EQUITY ...... 11

3. CHALLENGES/PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ...... 11

4. INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT /MANAGEMENT RELATED ACTIVITIES...... 12

5. LESSONS LEARNED ...... 15

6. THE FUTURE: PLANS FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS ...... 15

Acronyms

AKF Aga Khan Foundation

AKRSP Aga Khan Rural Support Program

AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative

COP Chief of Party

FEG Farmers’ Enterprise Group

GAP Good Agricultural Practices

GB Gilgit-Baltistan

IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute

LBC Left Bank Canal

LSO Local Support Organization

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MIS Management Information System

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

PIRS Performance Indicator Reference Sheet

PMP Project Monitoring Plan

PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal

RBC Left Bank Canal

SDP Satpara Development Project

TNA Training Needs Assessment

TOP Terms of Partnership

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WPG Women’s Producer Group

WUAs Water User Associations

Executive Summary

This report is the second quarterly update on the progress of Satpara Development Project (SDP). The report discusses in detail component wise updates for the project, challenges encountered and institutional and management issues. Additionally, the report also reflects on the major achievements and plans for the next reporting period.

The major achievements for the quarter has been the finalization of questionnaire for socio economic baseline survey, formation of Water User Association’s, Farmer Enterprise Groups (FEG’s) and Women Processing Groups (WPG’s) and finalisation of Request For Proposal (RFP) and detailed Terms of Reference developing a master plan for the command area of Satpara had also been drafted and will be rolled out hopefully by middle of November.

Purchase order for goods (vehicles, office equipment and furniture etc.) has been placed and delivery will be spread over the coming quarter (half of the requirements have received). Also a request for sub award to AKRSP was submitted for approval along with a justification memo for noncompetitive award and awaits the approval of the AO. In addition to this a revised Project Monitoring Plan (PMP) has also been submitted to the AOR for review and approval.

On the staffing front, 28 of the advertised 42 posts have been filled; rest of the staff will be on board hopefully by the end of November. The remaining positions are in the process of being filled.

INTRODUCTION

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), the Grantee, is a non-denominational, international development agency established in 1967 by His Highness the Aga Khan. Its mission is to develop and promote creative solutions to problems that impede social development, primarily in Asia and East Africa.

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) is a private, non-denominational development support agency established by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in 1982. AKF and AKRSP are part of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) which comprises of a group of development agencies with mandates ranging from health and education to architecture, culture, microfinance, disaster reduction, rural development, and the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities. It works to contribute to promoting inclusive human development and reduce poverty as well as gender inequalities in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Chitral district (GBC) through a comprehensive strategy

USAID has provided $26 million funding to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for construction of the Satpara Dam (storage capacity of 93,310 acre feet) to augment water supply for irrigation and drinking round the year. It will ultimately generate 17 MW power and the annual energy output is estimated to be 106 GWh. The major components of the project are an earth fill dam, four Power houses and two irrigation canals. It will provide 30 cusecs of water for drinking purpose, which is now available only for half of the population. On the average water availability for irrigation would increase by about 50,000 AF. The project has no adverse environmental impact, with positive impact such as reduction in respiratory and waterborne diseases, which are common in the area.

USAID also contributed $7 million to help construct two main water canals, i.e. Left Bank Canal (LBC) and Right Bank Canal (RBC) with a capacity of irrigating approximately 15,500 acres of land. RBC will irrigate approximately 5,000 acres of land whereas LBC will irrigate 10,500 acres of land. Now the construction of

The aim of the current $20 million Grant for Satpara Development Project (SDP) is to boost productivity and bring in value addition to agriculture in the command area of Satpara Dam. Specifically, the project aims to establish a private/community managed on-farm irrigation system that ensures efficient use of water, introduces modern practices to boost farm productivity, encourages private sector to enhance processing and marketing of value added agricultural products, and creates an overall enabling environment to support the functioning of water infrastructure and agriculture enterprises. These efforts will ultimately lead to increases in income and employment of the people living in the command area. Consonant with the project goal, relevant objectives have been framed for each of the four proposed project components, contributing to USAID Pakistan‘s overall Agriculture Sector Strategy goal of

increasing agricultural GDP growth by two-thirds (assuming a baseline annual growth rate of 3 per cent), increasing employment and reducing rural poverty by 20 per cent over the next 5 years.

Satpara Development Project (SDP) has four components including: (1) Efficient Use of On-Farm Water; (2) Enhancing Productivity of High - Value Horticulture and Dairy Products; (3) Enhancing Processing and Marketing Capacity of the Area; and (4) Create an Enabling Environment for the Agriculture Sector to Grow. SDP management intends to hire the services of an experienced firm for a land/topographic survey of the Command Area of the two newly constructed irrigation canals and accordingly design and develop a layout/master plan of the area for an efficient use of the irrigation water under Component-1 of SDP. The objective of the activities covered under component-1 of SDP is to ensure efficient use of the Satpara Dam irrigation water at the farm level.

The multipurpose Satpara dam has been designed and constructed for storage of water for irrigation and hydropower generation. Two main canals namely Right Bank Canal (RBC) and Left Bank Canal (LBC) have been constructed for irrigation purposes. RBC has a carrying capacity of 52 cusecs water and LBC of 135 cusecs. The data provided by WAPDA shows that annual mean water flow during the period from 1970-99 in Satpara Nulla has been more than 99,000 acre- feet. The current storage capacity of dam is more than 93,000 acre-ft. The water requirement of LBC and RBC for 6 months irrigation period (April to September) is 62,500 acres-ft. The water required for generation of 13 MW installed capacity is 221 cusecs. Out of 93,000 acre-feet storage capacities, more than 62,500 acres-feet will be required for irrigation. The remaining 30,500 acres-feet of water is hardly enough to generate one-third of the installed capacity.

In order to use the dam water efficiently for irrigation purpose the existing on-farm irrigation infrastructure needs to improve and there is a need to build new irrigation infrastructure for further land development in the command area. In the past, water from Satpara Lake was managed by the local communities in command area. The delivery of water to the farms was through highly in-efficient natural water courses. The new infrastructure in the form of RBC and LBC is designed for improved delivery and minimize losses and for more efficient use for irrigation purposes.

To take it further to the farm level it is imperative to ensure efficient delivery and use of water at the farm level. To achieve this objective following are the indicative activities:

• Mapping of the area • Construction of new watercourses and improvement of the existing ones • Construction of water diversion places (Nakas) and other irrigation structures including siphons, aqueducts, super passages • Installation of Pipe Irrigation: • Construction of Pressurized irrigation system • Land leveling and terracing • Farm to market link roads/bridges:.

• Formation of Water User Associations • ICT based Water monitoring system • Water Rights Trading:

1. ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD (JULY – SEPTEMBER 2012)

Component-wise progress of planned activities during the quarter in review is presented hereunder: 1.1 Component-I: Efficient Use of Irrigation Water The first component seeks to minimize irrigation water losses through improved irrigation infrastructure between the canals and the farmers’ fields, introduction of efficient irrigation technologies, and formation of water user associations (WUAs) as a mechanism to maintain and sustain the irrigation system. Following is a brief account of progress against planned activities for the quarter:

Water User Associations (WUAs)

Of the seventeen communities that have been engaged for forming WUA, seven have been constituted (3 in UC Hussainabad, 4 in UC Shagri Klan), while the remaining ten are at various stages of completion in UC Shagari Khurd and the municipal area. WUA will be a basic social organization unit at the sub village level (around watercourse) and will be responsible to construct tertiary level watercourses, select FEGs, WPGs, and other groups that are necessary to implement various activities. WUAs will also provide support to monitor ongoing activities in their jurisdiction. One of the critical roles of WUAs is conflict resolution within their members and among WUAs particularly over water rights and utilization. WUAs will also be responsible for maintenance of watercourses as well as seek resources (in collaboration of other WUAs) to maintain the major irrigation canals constructed through the project. The details regarding the formation of the WUAs are presented in the table below:

S/No Name of WUA Total Member No of Current status Household household members in the meeting UC Hussainabad 1 Baifo 36 36 26 WUAs Formed 2 Rizvia 36 36 29 WUAs Formed 3 Bain 46 46 39 WUAs Formed & formation of women group is also in process 4 Xhambodong Thorgu 30 30 WUAs formation in progress Pain 31 5 Toushal Thorgu Pain 30 30 (meeting at WUAs formation in progress 6 Gamba Grong Thorgu 30 30 one place) WUAs formation in progress pain 7 Harrisa 32 32 23 WUAs Formed UC Shagari Klan 1 Khalangkhong 80 80 35 WUAs Formed 2 Grongstod 55 55 50 WUAs Formed 3 Monopa 30 30 WUAs Formed 4 Mondoq 28 28 55 WUAs formation in progress 5 Gamba Xoq 60 60 WUAs Formed

UC Shagari Khurd 1 Astana Bala 56 56 WUAs Formed & formation of 52 Women’s group is in process 2 Astana Pain 120 120 WUAs Formed & formation of women’s group is in process 3 Khalangranga 57 57 32 WUAs Formed & formation of women’s group is in process Municipal Area (Lake Committee) 1 Patowal Olding 38 38 27 WUAs formation in progress 2 Gamba Grong 73 73 13 WUAs formation in progress

Irrigation Projects:

Several meetings and dialogues have been held with the WUAs to develop criteria, implementation strategy, sub-granting criteria for construction and improvement of tertiary level water courses through WUAs. The construction of the tertiary level water courses will start after the baseline mapping of existing infrastructure is completed, irrigation master plan developed irrigation experts are recruited and the grants manual is finalized and duly approved.

Request for inviting proposal for preparing the master plan for the irrigation network in the command area is in the final stages of completion and will be advertised in November 2012. The detailed scope of work has already been shared with the AOR.

1.2 Component-II: Enhancing Productivity of High-Value Horticulture and Dairy Products The second component will work to enhance productivity and production of value added horticulture and dairy products through formation and capacity building of farmers’ enterprise groups (FEGs), introduction of modern farming technologies, off-season vegetable production, value chain development of fresh fruits, and enhancing dairy production through introduction of new cattle breeds of improved quality. The progress against activities planned under this component for the quarter in review is presented as follows:

Farmers Enterprise Groups

FEGs are the main focus of the project and are important to carry out various business-oriented activities. An FEG has a vital role in contributing towards value chain for various agriculture produces. So far 9 FEGs have been formed around different agricultural activities. Further 7 farmers groups have been identified and 1st dialogues were held with them. The following table provides the details.

S/No Name of FEG Name of village No of members Sector Current status UC Hussainabad 1 Fruit Processing Hussainabad 5 Processing 2nd dialogues is due Group 2 Hashmi Dairy Hussainabad 3 (15-18 members will Dairy Formed Enterprise feed to this milk centre) Municipal Area 3 Mehdi Dairy Gangopi 1 (more than 25 Dairy Formation is process

Enterprise members will feed milk centre) UC Shagari Khurd 4 Off-season Fapa 17 Off season Formed vegetable group I vegetable (Documentation and production profiling in progress) 5 Off-season vege. Fapa 20 Off season Formed Group II vegetable (Documentation and production profiling in progress) 6 Fruit Processor Khalang Ranga 5 Processing 2nd dialogues is done Group and profiling in progress 7 Fruit Processor New Ranga 12 Processing 2nd dialogues is done Group and profiling in progress 8 Nursery Group Fapa 5 Nursery 2nd dialogues done 9 Apricot Producer Astana Bala 10 Production 2nd dialogues is due Group

Women Producer Groups

Most of the agricultural activities such as vegetable production, fruit picking and drying, domestic livestock management and feeding, and crop cultivation and harvesting are managed by women. Given the cultural norms and practices, there is a clear division of labour between men and women, consequently separate WPGs are formed with a view to reach women directly for building their capacities as well as motivate them to be part of cash economy. In order to increase quality and quantity of agri-products, women producers are organized in “product based” groups. So far two WEGs have been formed, 6 dialogues were held with 6 WPGs. The remaining four are at various stages of being formed. Details are as under:

S. No Name of WPG Name of village No of Type of Current status members production UC Hussainabad 1 Fruit WPG Bain 60 Apple In progress 2 Fruit WPG Thorgu Pain 47 Mulberry In progress UC Shagari Khurd 1 Fruit WPG Astana Bala 25 Apricot Formed in coordination with Agri section 2 Fruit WPG Astana Pain 22 Apricot Formed (documentation of profiling is in process) 3 Potato WPG Khalangranga 27 In progress 4 Fruit WPG Fapa Individual Mulberry In progress Dialogues and meetings with Target communities:

• Preliminary meetings were held with the farmers to raise their awareness regarding the project. The meeting at Fapa Astana, Skardu was beneficial and the team got a better sense of off-season vegetable production and post-harvest losses in apricot.

• A meeting was held with Star Farm on potential services in production, processing, logistics and marketing.

• A meeting was also held with Sarhad Fruit Traders (SFT), an exporter of horticulture products and partner of commercial Almond and Cherry orchards. The meeting was to explore potential of working together on producing apricot pulp and to reduce production losses. Follow up meetings will be held to promote a partnership.

• First Dialogue was held with the community of Muhalla Pakora – Olding. More than 30 people participated including, farmers, entrepreneurs and notables. The community expressed willingness to participate in project activities and forming Water Users Associations (WUAs) and Farmers Enterprise Groups (FEGs). The community also shared their concerns about the water rights issue. Leaving this issue unresolved may trigger conflicts among communities. The community realized the importance of forming a WUA to discuss and resolve the water rights issues

Off-season Vegetable Production:

• The senior agriculturist held a meeting with a glasshouse specialist and manufacturer in Islamabad and discussed greenhouse/glasshouse installation possibility in Skardu.

• Project Staff conducted a market appraisal to shortlist ‘top- five’ vegetables which were found suitable for off-season production, gathered data on demand and supply of these commodities in the local market. The data is being analyzed.

• Collected information on Progressive farmers of the Punjab Province to identify some suitable progressive farmers to arrange an exposure visit of FEG members in next quarter. The selection will be finalized soon.

Fruit Production:

• Meeting held with progressive farmers in Astana Bala and information collected on their existing practices and potentials of fruit production, processing, marketing and nursery- raising. This meeting helped identify potential farmers for raising nurseries and orchards.

• Food processing officer developed draft documents (TOP, Resolution and assessment form for issuance of grants to processors).

1.3 Component-III: Enhancing Processing and Marketing Capacity of the Area The third component is geared towards enhancing processing and marketing capacity of the area through introducing processing technologies for production of value added agriculture and dairy products in the project area and creation of income earning opportunities for local entrepreneurs and business groups (including unemployed youth). The key activities for achieving the objectives of this component include; formation of processor groups, introduce new processing technologies, develop linkages and bring-in private sector investment in project area, training of farm-entrepreneurs and enterprises in fruit and vegetable processing and production of high-value by-products, especially from the vegetables, fruits and dairy. In this regard, activities carried out during the period in review are as follows:

Dialogues with Fruit processing Enterprises and Entrepreneurs:

• The project staff held a meeting with the owner of Naveed Fruit Processing Plant in Shigari Khurd Skardu. Dried apricot is the main product of his business which is marketed both at local and national levels. The discussions revealed that there was a need to introduce electric and solar dryers to reduce the processing time and improve the quality of the products. At the same time, there is a need to introduce appropriate measures to reduce production costs to improve profit margins leading to growth and sustainability of the business.

• The Agriculturists visited Shabeer Fruit Processing Plant and assessed his business. This entrepreneur needs assistance to improve quality and scaling up of his business. The processing center is focusing on dried apricots and apricot by- products, especially apricot candies, which carry significant value in local markets.

• Staff held meetings with three potential women dried apricot producer groups in Shagri Khurd LSO with an objective to assess their capacity. It is expected that some individual women entrepreneurs can avail the employment and income earning opportunity by providing raw material inputs for the large businesses which are expected to emerge over as a result of project interventions.

1.4 Component-IV: Create an Enabling Environment for the Agricultural Sector to Grow The fourth and last component of the project is focused at creating an enabling environment for accelerated growth of agriculture in the project area through empowering the local communities to work closely with public and private sector for formulation of new and improvement of existing rules, regulations and acts pertaining to water user rights, certification of horticulture products, introducing good agricultural practices, and improving agriculture extension services of the relevant Government departments, e.g. Agriculture and Livestock 9

Husbandry. The activity is scheduled for the second year of the project. This component will also lend a helping hand to government officials in recruiting experts for the formulation of draft policies for improvement of existing rules, regulations and acts pertaining to water user rights, certification of horticulture products, introducing good agricultural practices,

Strengthening Public Sector AI Services:

• The dairy value chain developer of SDP held consultations and meetings with the department of animal husbandry for strengthening public sector services of Artificial Insemination whereby an MOU will be signed with the department of Livestock.

SDP’s Intervention on Mealy Bug Issue:

Over the last decade, more than 40 million fruit and forest trees in Baltistan region including the project area are severely affected by the attack of Mealy Bug. This infestation may become an impediment in achieving the stated results and outcomes of the project, particularly under component II and III, which are aimed at increasing production and quality of fruits leading to processing and marketing of horticulture products.

A workshop was organized for sensitizing and mobilizing the concerned Government Departments, Community organizations and other stakeholders so that all concerned could join hands for eradication of Mealy Bug outbreak in SDP area. The Agriculture Department gave a detailed presentation on Mealy Bugs, current status of efforts made by the department and some possible control measures that could be promoted at community level. According a survey conducted by the Department of Agriculture, out of the total 3.998 million fruit and forest trees in Skardu town, over 2.236 million trees are infested, which include 1.496 million forest and 0.741million fruit trees.

This initial workshop led towards constituting a joint task force comprising of experts, representatives from Government Line-Departments, community organizations, media representatives, SDP and AKRSP.

The task force held several meetings and proposed further steps to be taken to eradicate mealy bug outbreak. During the reporting period, the M&E section of SDP produced and disseminated the minutes of the meetings of the Mealy Bug task force meetings, conference report and other information on Mealy Bug.

Moreover, a conference was organized on September 19, 2012. A consultant from down country was invited by the Agriculture Department, who gave presentation and helped the task force in preparing short and long term action plans. Accordingly, the task force will visit each village for mass demonstrations on recommended cultural practices to control the mealy bug outbreak. The task force will print pamphlets on the mealy bug and its control measures and will disseminate to masses through mosques, schools/colleges and communities in the SDP areas.

Furthermore, the local media team has pledged to produce a short documentary film depicting mealy bug control methods and practices in Balti and Urdu languages which will be broadcasted 10

on local cable network. As a result of this campaign initiated by SDP, the Agriculture Department and the local community have once again started efforts to control the issue of mealy bug.

Presentation to Marafie Foundation

A presentation session for the officials from Marafie Foundation (a Pakistan based Kuwaiti NGO, working in Baltistan in field of health and education) was organized. The Foundation was interested to see the economic growth in the area and ensured that they will provide support to the people for education and health in the project area.

2. ADDRESSING GENDER EQUITY

• Implementation plan has been developed whereby the gender equity and equality concerns have been taken care of by including gender related terms and conditions in the criteria for selection and engagement of individuals and groups of target beneficiaries of the project through sub-grants. For example, the condition for representation of female members has been made obligatory in the terms of partnership for formation and working with the water users associations (WUAs) and their governing and management committees.

• Formation of Farmers’ Enterprise Groups (FEGs) of women is given preference especially for off-season vegetable production and fruit processing where the women will easily access employment and income earning opportunities.

• SDP has employed more than 30% female staff in its project offices in order to maintain an equitable balance of gender in its own staff strength. This arrangement will also help gender sensitize the project activities in the field translating into job creation and income earning opportunities for a proportionate number of women among the target beneficiary communities of the project.

• The project has already starting forming women producers groups (WPGs) particularly for off-season vegetable production and processing.

3. CHALLENGES/PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD

• As an after-effect of the sectarian clashes in Gilgit, there were strikes and demonstrations in Skardu every day. Therefore, project staff could not visit the project area and remained in Islamabad. The security situation in Skardu has now improved and life has come back to normal.

• During the period in review, on the morning of August 16th, 2012 terrorist attacked three buses at Lalusar Lake, Naran on the way from Rawalpindi to Gilgit-Baltistan and killed 22 innocent passengers who belonged to different districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, the majority of whom were from Astore District. This brutal incident had triggered tension and destabilized law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan. Protests and strikes were observed in Skardu and Gilgit as an immediate reaction to this incident.

• As a reaction to the Lalusar incident, six people were killed in targeted attacks at different locations of Gilgit and surrounding areas on the second day of Eid on 21st August and all major highways linking all districts of Gilgit-Baltistan were sealed for traffic and curfew was imposed in Gilgit city and surrounding areas.

• This situation has jeopardized the launching ceremony event of SDP on 27th August 2012. Also some of the project staff, who went for Eid holidays, couldn’t come back to Skardu, till the law and order situation stabilized in GB.

• Bad weather disrupted flights and road links and key staff could not travel to Islamabad to participate in meetings scheduled in Islamabad. As such several tasks e.g. hiring project engineer, security staff, renting office building in Islamabad, purchase of furniture and equipment was delayed.

• The field staff was restrained from movement in the field due the country wide strike and protest against the sacrilege movie which has adversely affected the progress of field activity. The outrage of the local community on this issue may adversely affect project activities.

4. INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT /MANAGEMENT RELATED ACTIVITIES

Since the project is at a nascent stage, the preparatory activities of setting up the office and management systems, such as staff recruitment, office establishment, procurement of furniture and equipment, project monitoring plans, grants manual development, etc. are ongoing and nearing completion. Following is a brief progress achieved against planned activities in this regard:

Staff Recruitment:

• A total of 7,974 applications were received out of which 231 applications were shortlisted. Advertisements ware rolled out for the posts of Monitoring and Evaluation, Administration, Finance, agriculture, value chain, livestock and engineering. 51 candidates were interviewed out of which 28 were recruited. Key positions of senior engineer and Gender monitor are still to be filled.

• Most of the selected staff members have joined and are performing their duties. A few positions that are still not filled and are in process of re-advertising on www.brightspyre.com, the national and local newspapers. These positions are expected to be filled-in by end of October, 2012.

Procurement:

• The process of purchasing office furniture and equipment has been completed and is expected to be delivered in due course of time.

Monitoring and Evaluation Activities:

• A volunteer M&E expert from AKF Geneva reviewed and improved quality of the Project Monitoring Plan (PMP). Both the M&E professionals also discussed and agreed to develop and implement an M&E capacity building/ training program for AKRSP and project staff in the last quarter of the first year of project (January – March 2013). Eventually, the final revised draft of the Project Monitoring Plan (PMP) has been submitted to AOR for approval.

• The MIS and M&E Officer participated in a 1 day orientation workshop about ‘PakInfo’ on 20 August, 2012 at MSI Office Islamabad.

• Developed training material and preparations have been finalized for conducting training for staff on PRA tools and methods. This training will help project staff in conducting PRA exercises in each of the village where the WUAs and FEGs will be formed and project activities will be implemented.

• Prepared and submitted quarter-wise breakdown of physical targets and budgets for the project activities planned for the five-year project period.

• Held meetings with CNFA and Agribusiness Support Fund Project teams on conceptual framework, design and plan of the baseline surveys.

• Meeting with a prominent Audit Firm, KPMG Taseer Haadi and Co., regarding grants manual finalization. It has been agreed that KPMG will deliver the draft of the Grants Manual by mid of November 2012.

• ToRs were prepared for consultants to be hired for assistance in various studies, such as socio-economic baseline, rapid market assessment and master plan development.

• Training Needs Assessment (TNA) exercise was carried out with the team, which helped in identification of themes/ subjects for short trainings on M&E. Using this TNA different short training modules will be tailored, to impart these training towards the end of the year 2012.

• Revised Performance Indicator Reference Sheets (PIRS) were received from AOR and tailored a set of 12 PIRS. The set of these 12 PIRs have been incorporated into the PMP document and submitted to AOR for subsequent approval.

• A 3 day workshop was organized in August to prepare the Project Implementation Plan in consultation with the project staff. A draft Project Implementation Plan has been prepared and shall be finalized and disseminated to staff, AKF and AOR in the next quarter.

• Importantly, meetings with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and CNFA were held in relation to a possibility of collaborating on various studies including baseline and value chain studies. A questionnaire is being prepared after preliminary discussions with IFPRI for socio economic household survey highlighting income patterns, agricultural production practices and processing and marketing opportunities for Skardu and the project area itself. A draft baseline report is expected in January 2013.

Chief of Party Meetings with AO/AOR-USAID:

• Key staff of SDP, including Chief of Party, M&E Specialist, Senior Agriculturist and Grants Manager participated in the Chiefs of Party Conference organized by USAID’s Economic Growth and Agriculture Office in Marriot Hotel Islamabad on 14th September 2012. It provided an opportunity to meet staff of other USAID-funded projects and learn through their experiential learning and seeking advice on current issues related to project implementation and organizational collaboration. Sessions on M&E, Communications, Finance and COP’s roundtable were useful and gave clarity for different aspects of project implementation, M&E and grants management.

• CoP visited Islamabad for debriefing on his training/ exposure visit to Colorado, USA. During this visit, the CoP was particularly exposed to different water-efficient irrigation technologies and systems in practice in Colorado which would be useful to introduce in SDP area Skardu which has almost similar topographic and climatic conditions.

Visit of AOR-USAID Mission to Skardu:

• AOR-USAID team visited SDP Skardu on a three-day mission from 18th to 20th July 2012. During this mission, the AOR visited the SDP field area and held meetings with local entrepreneurs of different trades, the members of LSO Shagri Khurd, and the AKRSP team. The AOR provided guidelines and advice to SDP staff, LSOs and community representatives on implementation of project activities, roles of different community organizations, and collaboration mechanism. This visit helped introduce and build confidence and trust among target communities and stakeholder organizations to work with SDP.

Abstract of Achievements against planned activities for July-Sept. 2012

Quarter-2 S/No Activity Unit No (July-Sept Progress until 30t Sept.12 2012) Training 1 One staff development training was conducted in 1 Staff Development September Financial Management &USAID AKFUSA conducted a training on USAID compliance 2 compliance training Training 1 guidelines in May to AKRSP staff in Islamabad Monitoring & Evaluation Training Training 1 3 Conducted by M & E specialist to SDP staff in Skardu. Sensitization on Security issues Workshop 1 4 Not completed as the security staff not yet hired

LSO Staff development Training 1 st 5 1 dialogue with LSO’s conducted 6 Gender ToT Training 1 Gender monitoring not yet hired. Activity postponed

till December 2012 7 Gender workshops Workshop 1 To be held in December Training of Communities - Environ 8 Compliance Training 3 Deferred for next quarter

9 Thematic Conference Conference 4 Conference on Mealy bug control held Media Outputs (press release, 10 feature report etc.) Activity 1 20,000 brochures being printed on mealy bug control.

5. LESSONS LEARNED

Consultation and dialogues with the community, civil society organisations and relevant public sector departments yielded a crucial lesson for the project that the WUAs should evolve out of the traditional mechanisms and institutional arrangements in practice among the communities. The criteria, terms and conditions, norms and values imposed from outside would jeopardize the institutional capacity, ownership, effectiveness and sustainability of the WUAs in the long- run. This realization came while discussing the organizational structure, systems of governance and management, roles and responsibilities of the WUAs with the stakeholders, particularly the community organizations. Based on their past experience of dealing with the irrigation water management issues and practices, the community came up with robust, realistic and relevant to context governance and management structures of the WUAs which they own and can practice easily.

6. THE FUTURE: PLANS FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS

• Continue supporting formation of FEGs and WUAs. • Collect information from local market on identifying exporters of horticulture products.

• Complete recruitment process for the remaining unfilled positions. • Organize a PMP workshop for staff to finalize PIRS. • Conduct a two day training session on selected PRA tools. • Identify resource person on nursery management, and farms for exposure visit. • Identify experts on green-house installations and training. • Identify potential entrepreneurs/farmers for nursery establishment. • A representative from the Federal Seed Certification Department Gilgit will visit the project area to help in selection of vegetable seed producing farmers. • Finalize ToR for undertaking preparing Master Plan for the project, which would include topographic survey. • Confirmation of famers for off season vegetable production as per set criteria and develop TOPs with the FEGs. • Prepare farmers exposure using trainings and formation of Farmers Field School (FFS) on off season vegetable production to initiate the initial process of activities. • Identify nursery growers to conduct the nursery management training. • Assess potential orchard growers. • Organize farmers’ field schools on Dairy Value Chain development. • Finalize the RFP, select the bidder ,award the contract and roll out preparation of the master plan • Submit the draft grant manual to AOR for approval.