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Subproject Field Survey – Final Report Subproject Field Survey – Final Report Project Number: TA 8882 17 December 2015 Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project – Due Diligence for Additional Financing Prepared by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Planning and Cooperation Additional Financing of Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project (RRP LA 42203) ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank DAFO – District Agriculture and Forestry Office GIC – Grant Implementation Consultant (on-going NRI project) GOL – Government of Lao PDR GPS – Global Positioning System HHs – households LMC – Left Main Canal MC – Main Canal NCA – NPMO – National Project Management Office NRI – the on-going Northern Rural Infrastructure Sector Project NRI-AF – NR1A – NR2W – NR3 – O&M – operation and maintenance PAFO – Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office RC – reinforced concrete RMC – Right Main Canal S-PPTA – small-scale project preparation technical assistance WUG – water user group WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ha – hectare Kip/day – Kip/ha – km – kilometer m – meter m3 – cubic meter m3/sec – cubic meter per second t/ha – Yuan/kg – NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. Additional Financing of Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project (RRP LAO 42203) CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Introduction 1 B. Longlist of Candidate Subprojects 1 C. Eligibility Criteria 1 D. Desktop Review Preliminary Findings 2 II. OUTLINE OF SUBPROJECT FIELD SURVEY 3 A. Objective of the Field Survey 3 B. Methodology 4 III. FINDINGS 5 A. Key Issues 5 B. Other Findings/Observations 8 C. Subproject Assessment and Prioritization 10 IV. CONCLUSIONS 10 Annexes Annex A. Subproject Location Map 12 Annex B. Eligibility Criteria 13 Annex C. Subproject Assessment and Prioritization 14 Annex D. Notes on Field Visits, Maps and Data 19 Annex E. Subproject Description – Bokeo 20 Annex F. Subproject Description – Louang-Namtha 44 Annex G. Subproject Description – Phongsali 60 Annex H. Subproject Description – Oudomxai 72 Annex I. Subproject GPS Coordinates 78 Additional Financing of Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project (RRP LAO 42203) I. INTRODUCTION A. Introduction 1. The ADB is assisting the Government of Lao PDR to prepare additional financing for the on-going Northern Rural Infrastructure Sector Project. The bulk of the additional financing will be for the improvement of productive rural infrastructure based around small to medium scale community managed irrigation schemes. The irrigation and related productive infrastructure will be packaged as subprojects and assessed for their technical, financial, economic, environment, social and sustainability properties. 2. On 19 March 2015 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved small scale project preparation technical assistance (S-PPTA) 8882 to prepare Additional Financing for the implementation of around 22 short-listed subprojects. A team of experts in productive rural infrastructure, representing the Government executing agency, the local authorities, the project and the ADB are screening a Longlist of 27 candidate subprojects. The screening procedure is being carried out in two stages: (i) a desktop review of the proposed subprojects; and (ii) site inspection to assess the prima facia viability the proposed subprojects. 3. This report presents the results of the site inspection, including a summary of the assessment and prioritization of the subprojects and annexes describing each subproject visited. B. Longlist of Candidate Subprojects 4. The National Project Management Office (NPMO), the Grant Implementation Consultant (GIC) and the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Offices (PAFOs) under the Northern Rural Infrastructure Project have compiled a Longlist1 of 27 subprojects as candidates for investment under the proposed Additional Financing of the Project. Annex A contains a map showing the geographic distribution of the candidate subprojects. 5. The 27 candidate subprojects are located in 11 districts in the four northern provinces of Bokeo, Louang-Namtha, Phongsali and Oudomxai. There are 10 subprojects located in Bokeo province, six in Louang-Namtha province, seven in Phongsali, and four in Oudomxai province. The longlist of subprojects includes 113 sub-schemes, with a total command area of 9,548 hectare (ha), and the potential to benefit some 206 villages (27,428 households). The total cost estimate for the 27 subprojects is around $28.26 million, based on a rate of $3,000/ha of command area. C. Eligibility Criteria 6. The eligibility criteria have been set to assess whether implementation of the candidate subprojects are supportive of the Project’s impact of improved rural household incomes and its outcome of increased agricultural productivity. The eligibility criteria are detailed in Annex B. 1 Longlist of Proposed Subprojects in 4 Provinces, 17 Aug. 2015, referred to as “the Longlist” in this report. 2 Additional Financing of Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project (RRP LA 42203) D. Desktop Review Preliminary Findings 7. A desktop review of the Longlist of 27 subprojects was undertaken under the S-PPTA to assess their eligibility against the criteria agreed between ADB and NPMO.2 The preliminary finding of the desktop review is that all subprojects are eligible for short-listing under five of the nine eligibility criteria. The remaining four criteria - improved productivity, safeguards compliance, improved access to markets and sustainability - require further evaluation/confirmation before and during the field visits to confirm the preliminary finding. 8. Following the desktop review, the S-PPTA required the Longlist to be prioritized for development through field inspections, assessment of need, and objective analysis to determine ranking. 9. As of the end of the desktop review (before the start of the Field Visits), the status of compliance with the various eligibility criteria was as presented in Table 1. Table 1: Status of Compliance with Eligibility Criteria before Field Visits No. Criteria Status of Compliance (as of 31 Aug 2015) 1. National Strategy. Be complementary and supportive of All proposed subprojects eligible the Government’s strategies and Ministry of Agriculture (Desktop Review). and Forestry programs and policies. 2. Socio-economic Relevance. Be consistent with medium All proposed subprojects eligible and long-term sectoral and socio-economic development (Desktop Review). plans at the provincial and district levels. 3. Improved Productivity. Target areas: giving Oudomxai This criterion will be evaluated after the priority for the first two projects; with good productivity data on designated economic zones/ potential that can lead to improvements in livelihoods; and corridors and on other ADB projects potential to complement other ADB investment projects in the districts is collected. particularly the new livestock and tourism projects. 4. Safeguards Compliance. Comply with Government and This criterion will be assessed during ADB safeguard guidelines and involve a minimum of the field visits when a prima facie negative environmental and resettlement impacts, i.e. only evaluation will be made of the ADB Safeguard Category B or C should be considered. potential impacts. 5. Integrated Approach. Follow an integrated development All proposed subprojects eligible model centered on rehabilitating existing productive rural (irrigation component) (Desktop infrastructure to optimize productivity and increase Review). efficiency. The need for improvement of associated access roads will be assessed during the field visits. 6. Improved Access to Markets. Be centered upon The state of accessibility and the irrigation systems, with road, trail and path upgrading that condition of roads will be assessed lead to improved access within the command area and during the field visits when a prima connect the command area and villages to the higher facia evaluation will be made. order road network. 2 S-PPTA 8882: Northern Rural Infrastructure – Additional Financing, Desk-top Review of Long List of Subprojects, Graham Jackson, Project Implementation Specialist, 31 Aug 2015. Additional Financing of Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Sector Project (RRP LA 42203) 3 No. Criteria Status of Compliance (as of 31 Aug 2015) 7. Improved Resource Utilization. Prioritize the All proposed subprojects eligible preservation and sustainability of the current asset base (Desktop Review). over new construction. 8. Effectiveness. Have relatively simple and logical designs All proposed subprojects eligible – within one contiguous area. preliminary (Desktop Review). To be confirmed during field visit. 9. Sustainability. Provincial government to commit to Provincial Agriculture and Forestry support periodic maintenance through written assurance. Office/District Agriculture and Forestry Offices to obtain written agreement of each stakeholder prior to the field visits. II. OUTLINE OF SUBPROJECT FIELD SURVEY A. Objective of the Field Survey 10. As presented above, the screening procedure is being carried out in two stages: (i) a desktop review of the proposed subprojects; and (ii) site inspection (field survey) to assess the prima facia viability the proposed subprojects. The desktop review and the site inspection are complementary, and the final assessment of the quality of the subprojects against all eligibility criteria will be prepared using information from both. 11. Although both the desktop review and the site inspection consider all
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