Preparation of rice field for planting. Fokontany Vatoavo, Ankafina Tsarafidy Community. Photo by Mirado Randriambelo, with permission. ASOTRY Quarterly Report | FY16/Q1/Oct-Dec 2015 Awardee Name: ADRA International Country: Madagascar Award Name: ASOTRY Award number: AID-FFP-A-14-00009 Start Date: September 29th, 2014 End date: September 28th, 2019 Reporting Period – Fiscal Year/Quarter/Dates: FY16, Q1/October-December 2015 Submission Date: January 31st, 2016 ADRA International Contact: ADRA Madagascar contact: Emanuel da Costa, Senior Program Manager Peter Delhove, National Director 12501 Old Columbia Pike B.P. 8218, En Face EPP Ambatomaro Silver Spring, MD 20904 Antananarivo 101, Madagascar 1.301.680.6380 261.33.23.872.77 [email protected] [email protected] ADRA International Madagascar ASOTRY I. Program Overview Table Geographic Focus: Region of Amoron’i Mania, Districts of Ambatofinandrahana, Ambositra, Fandriana and Manandriana. Region of Haute Matsiatra, Districts of Ambalavao, Ambohimahasoa, Lalangina and Vohibato. Region of Atsimo Andrefana, Districts of Betioky and Ampanihy. Program Goal: Reduced food insecurity among targeted communities in the Amoron’i Mania, Haute Matsiatra, and Atsimo Andrefana regions of Madagascar. Purpose 1: Improved health and nutrition status of women of reproductive age and children under five Sub-Purposes: 1.1: Improved health nutrition behaviors of caregivers and children under five 1.2: Increased utilization of health and nutrition services for women of reproductive age and children 0-59 months 1.3: Reduced incidence of water- and hygiene-related illnesses for children under five Purpose 2: Increased access to food for vulnerable households Sub-Purposes: 2.1: Increased agriculture production 2.2 Increased agricultural sales 2.3 Increased engagement of women and men in micro-enterprises Purpose 3: Improved disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response in vulnerable communities. Sub-Purposes: 3.1: Community disaster mitigation assets improved 3.2: Community response capacities improved Cross Cutting Themes: Environment, Gender, Governance, Sustainability Target Beneficiaries (Disaggregated by Program Element and Fiscal Year (FY) Program Element 1: 25,920 caregivers, 2,160 Leader Mothers and 1,440 CHVs; 24,695 children under 5; and 18,000 PLW and 9,000 children (6-23 months) receiving rations Program Element 2: 9,546 farmers in FFS and 7,125 farmers throughF2F; 4,442 members of VSL groups; and 2,766 farmers in FBAs. Program Element 3: 284 community associations; 26 communes committees for resilience Roles and Responsibilities: The ASOTRY consortium is led by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), who ensures overall coordination and management of the consortium and implements activities in the two regions of Amoron’i Mania and Haute Matsiatra. Association Inter-Cooperation Madagascar (AIM) and Land O’Lakes (LOL) implement the program in the 10 communities targeted in the region of Atsimo Andrefana. ASOTRY, AID-FFP-A-14-00009 Submitted January 31st, 2016 Page 2 ADRA International Madagascar ASOTRY II. Overview & Context While FY2015 focused primarily on establishing administrative elements and training staff, FY2016 is focused heavily on project implementation. The first highlight of the quarter was the reduction in the number of technical trainings for field staff and the increase in training done by field staff for direct beneficiaries. Some technical trainings for field staff were conducted, notably for M&E (all field staff), Essential Hygiene Actions (EHA; Component 1 field staff), and in Early Warning System (EWS; Component 3 field staff). These trainings were scheduled and managed to maximize the time field staff were able to be in the communities initiating and supporting activities. ASOTRY will continue to plan all trainings with these considerations for the life of the program. A second administrative highlight of the quarter was the successful completion and submission of the FY2016 PREP. This was the result of the various efforts to revise the DIP, prepare the FY2015 report, and collaborate with the ADRA International technical team to verify and move forward with planning. In terms of programmatic achievements and highlights, the following provides a brief overview of this quarter in each program area. More detail is provided in subsequent sections. For Health and Nutrition, growth monitoring activities were firmly established in all targeted communities, as were food distributions to pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and children between 6 and 23 months of age. The issue of low registration of PLW for distribution in two of the targeted regions was addressed by a registration exercise started in November 2015. Training to CHVs continued during the quarter with training in Essential Hygiene Actions (EHA). The identification and training of Leader Mothers (LM) to participate in Care Groups also continued. The Health and Nutrition team also participated in monitoring the pilot phase of the CommCare initiative. In Livelihoods, the activity that took the most importance was the distribution of seeds through subsidies, as the approach of the main agricultural season of the year. Another key activity was the formation and training of FFS, VSL and FBA groups. As farmers were busy preparing for the agricultural season, there was less focus on livestock activities. This aspect will be emphasized and prioritized in the next quarter. In Resilience, creation and training of DRR groups continued along with the development of DPMP plans in communities. The first simulation exercise was also held this quarter. Infrastructure work, specifically 13 road projects, started in two regions, while Environmental Status forms (ESF) for more infrastructure and reforestation projects were submitted for approval to start next quarter. Lastly, tree nurseries were also created for reforestation efforts. In M&E, the main were the revision of the DIP and PREP and the preparation of the first annual report. This included the completion and submission of the PIRS and the translation of the M&E tools, which will be submitted next quarter. Development of the electronic database moved ahead, and it included a training of field staff in entering project data. Also, M&E led the beneficiary census in two regions of the project. ASOTRY, AID-FFP-A-14-00009 Submitted January 31st, 2016 Page 3 ADRA International Madagascar ASOTRY In food commodity management, reception of the call forward, transfers of food to consortium partners and regular distributions were the main activities. Administratively, much of the efforts were on supporting project implementation, including preparing a waiver for seed procurement. Apart from the already mentions areas, the priorities for the coming quarter will include the implementation of the gender analysis, the conclusion of the CommCare pilot and the expansion of the project in all project areas, the barrier analysis in support of health and nutrition activities, the reception for the final FY15 call forward, and the initial preparation by M&E of the annual and mid-term evaluations. III. Performance updates from the Quarter a. Current activities by Program Elements: 1. Component 1 activities. Results for the main activities: Activity Target for the quarter Achieved % achieved Training of CHV 1,440 1,418 98% Identification of LM 2,029 1,475 73% Training of LM 552 637 115% Home visits 6,204 3,447 56% Participation in GMP Children 0-23 months 8,955 9,494 106% Children 24-59 13,434 10,331 77% months PLW receiving rations 5,783 5,672 98% CU2 receiving rations 2,431 834 34% Referral of PLW for 1,406 619 44% ANC Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) is now functioning in all targeted areas. Participation is as high as expected, except for the age group 24 to 59 months old. When children reach this age, parents feel it is less important to bring their children regularly for growth monitoring. In addition, many organizations, and the Ministry of Health implement growth monitoring for this age group only once every two months. Further analysis of the best way forward will be done concerning the activity for this age group, to decide if the project should make more efforts to encourage these children to come monthly for GMP or if the project will adopt the guidelines of the Ministry. The formation of Care Groups is also proceeding as expected. While the identification of Leader Mothers to form Care Groups is slightly lower than expected for the quarter, it will be possible to reverse this trend in the coming quarter, by putting more emphasis on this activity. The number of Care Groups, on the other hand, remains high as many groups are smaller than initially planned due to the context of many remote and less populated areas. As smaller Care groups are more appropriate in these areas, the project will adapt to the situation and while the total target ASOTRY, AID-FFP-A-14-00009 Submitted January 31st, 2016 Page 4 ADRA International Madagascar ASOTRY number of Leader Mothers will remains the same, the project will create as a result a larger number of Care groups. This quarter, staff were trained in Essential Hygiene Actions (EHA). The staff then included this in the on-going CHV training. Additional staff trainings to be conducted include Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and Community Complementary Feeding and Learning Sessions (CCFLS). CLTS training will take place in March 2016; CCFLS training will be conducted in the third quarter. Refresher trainings will