GUINEA SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY (SADA) Q3 FY2020 REPORT FY20 QUARTERLY REPORT: APRIL - JUNE, 2020

DATE

GUINEA SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY (SADA)

Q3 FY2020 REPORT

APRIL - JUNE 2020

AGREEMENT NUMBER: 72067520CA00001

AOR USAID: Mamy KEITA

CHIEF OF PARTY: Ibrahima CAMARA

DISCLAIMER:

This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Société Anglo-Gold Ashanti Guinee (SAG). The contents are the responsibility of ACDI/VOCA and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or SAG.

Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1 ACTIVITY 1: BUILD AND STRENGTHEN CASHEW PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS (POS) ...... 3 ACTIVITY 2: ESTABLISH RURAL AGRO-DEALERS (CARS) FOR SIGUIRI-BASED CASHEW FARMERS ...... 7 CROSS CUTTING ...... 8

GENDER AND YOUTH ...... 8

GRANTS ...... 9

MONITORING, EVALUATING, AND LEARNING (MEL) ...... 10

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ...... 10 CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES ...... 11 FINANCIAL REPORT (FY2020 Q3) ...... 12 NEXT QUARTER PRIORITIES ...... 13

MAJOR ACTIVITIES ...... 13 ANNEX 1: SUCCESS STORIES ...... 13 ANNEX 2: PERFORMANCE MONITORING PLAN ...... 14 ANNEX 3: ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION AND MONITORING REPORT (EMMR) . 15

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 ACRONYMS AAV Agents Agricoles Villageois (village agents) AES Agronomist & Extension Specialist ANPROCA Agence Nationale de la Promotion Rurale et du Conseil Agricole CAR Comptoirs agri-ruraux (agrodealers) CBS Capacity Building Specialist CNOP-G Confédération Nationale des Organisations Paysannes de Guinée COP Chief of Party DMR Direction des Microprojets et Réalisation. DPA Direction Préfectorale de l’Agriculture FFS Farmer Field Schools FI Financial Institution FINADEV Finance Development GAP Good Agricultural Practices GDA Global Development Alliance GRAND Guinea Rural Agrodealer Network Development Activity HQ Headquarters MEL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning MFI Micro-Finance Institution MOU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-Governmental Organization OM Operations Manager PO Producer Organization RAFOC Réseau d’Assistance Financière des Organisations Communautaires SADA Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity SAG Société AngloGold Ashanti Guinee USAID United States Agency for International Development VSLAs Village savings and loans associations

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Siguiri Agriculture Development Activity (SADA) is a private sector Global Development Alliance between USAID Guinea and Société AngloGold Ashanti de Guinée (SAG). The Activity is implemented by ACDI/VOCA, using a private sector-led approach to increase opportunities for individuals and communities affected by mining activities in the Siguiri prefecture. SADA will achieve this through investments, capacity building, and stakeholder coordination in the cashew value chain, including a medium-scale processing facility, cashew nurseries, as well as CASHEW PRODUCER HOLDING INFECTED FRUITS bundling of extension, inputs, and market access services for smallholder farmers.

The Activity has two objectives: (1) improved rural commercial input and service supply system capacity for cashew farmers; and (2) increased cooperation and strengthened linkages between cashew market system actors.

This reporting period built on the work completed under the beginning of ACDI/VOCA’s award with SAG from December 2019-April 2020, during which the team established its presence in Siguiri including establishing a project office, completing several key procurements, onboarding all eight staff members, and holding introductory meetings with community leaders, local government authorities, and SAG. In this same period, the SADA project team completed data collection for a rapid qualitative gender and youth analysis as a part of technical start-up and to inform the design and implementation of SADA activities and strategy. Additionally, the SADA team laid the groundwork for the baseline study including developing a data management manual, began drafting the AMELP, and established the Activity’s relational databases.

On May 1, 2020, the award for the SADA activity was signed and in the following two months the team held an initial kick-off meeting with USAID, submitted the AMELP, FY2020 Workplan, and EMMP, and finalized the baseline questionnaire and data collection tools. In addition, during this quarter, SADA staff held meetings with representatives of several decentralized structures of the Government of Guinea technical services and with elected authorities at the prefecture level and the community leaders in Kintinian rural commune to brief them on the status of SADA activities.

USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 1

Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 To launch work with cashew producers, SADA was able to conduct a Producer Organization (PO) identification survey, as well as to develop a PO assessment questionnaire and collect initial data on the POs’ strengths and weaknesses. In collaboration with the technical services of Agriculture including ANPROCA, the administrative and municipal authorities of the Kintinian region and surrounding villages, SADA organized meetings to plan the PO identification and assessment process. The PO and cashew producer identification was completed in April and identified 21 POs with 529 members. Initial findings from the PO assessment show that POs generally have poor organizational structure and governance practices, lack of services for members and therefore weak resource mobilization, and few efforts to attract new members.

To improve the supply of quality inputs to Siguiri’s cashew farmers, the Activity provided grants for the establishment of cashew nurseries to four local entrepreneurs. The Activity supported grantees with technical assistance for the preliminary selection of improved cashew varieties and seedling production by sharing information on improved planting practices and use of appropriate materials and equipment. The nurseries will provide improved varieties of cashew tree seedlings to cashew farmers on a commercially sustainable basis.

In addition, the Activity held an initial meeting with the two operational agrodealers (CARs) in Siguiri. The purpose of the meeting was to make sure the CAR’s place of business is appropriate and that CAR operators are complying with safety measures prior to developing an MOU for SADA support in establishing a network of village agents (AAVs) that can help distribute inputs and provide extension information to producers.

COVID-19 impact: The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on implementation of activities in Siguiri. The Government of Guinea has indefinitely imposed the following restrictions: avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, reduce travel to Conakry and the other highly-infected areas of the country, limit contact with other people, and regularly use sanitary kits and wash hands. In addition, to reduce any possible infection risk, SADA is following additional safety protocols, including limiting people visiting the office and limiting the number of people on each trip, respecting a distance of two meters between people during the meeting, distribution and use of protective masks for staff and visitors, and regularly take temperatures of staff and visitors at the office entrance. Activities to date, including the baseline and PO assessment, have been delayed and/or modified to accommodate these new procedures in an effort to conduct our activities safely. The activities planned for the remainder of 2020, especially where they involve group gatherings and field travel, have been modified and in some cases delayed in accordance with these restrictions, and will be subject to any further limitations that may be imposed by the government.

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 ACTIVITY 1: BUILD AND STRENGTHEN CASHEW PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS (POS) During the quarter (FY20 Q3), SADA rapidly completed a series of activities in close collaboration with its private sector partner (SAG), Kintinian community leaders, and the Agence Nationale de la Promotion Rurale et du Conseil Agricole (ANPROCA), the agricultural extension service. Notably, SADA worked with SAG and ANPROCA to identify existing cashew producer organizations in SAG’s mining operation areas.

SADA conducted a collaborative study with community focal points including ANPROCA, the micro- enterprise development service located in the prefecture of Siguiri in SAG mining operation zones. The objective of this study is to (1) identify existing cashew POs and establish an upgrading plan for management, governance and technical practices; (2) identify clusters of farmers willing to invest in the creation of new POs. As a result, the Activity was able to identify 21 producer organizations (POs), with a total of 529 members, including 76 women, across 15 localities of SAG intervention zones. The SADA team also conducted an assessment to identify the POs’ capability needs and gaps through one of ACDI/VOCA’s signature tools, the M4 assessment tool, which measures an organization’s strengths and weaknesses in marketing, financial, and administrative management. In the forthcoming quarter, the team, in collaboration with the department of agricultural extension service, will develop a strategy and curriculum to build the capacity of these POs based on the needs identified.

The study additionally identified a total of 2,049 producers, including 61 women, not members of any existing PO. SADA plans to work with these individual producers to formalize and organize them in an appropriate governance structure to reduce the transaction and product aggregation costs of reaching the smallholder farmer.

During PO identification, the SADA Agronomist Specialist completed a brief mapping of the cashew value chain and identified the following key actors:

• Grassroots producers: produce and market cashew nuts • Nut collectors: for the most part members of the producer’s family • Stoners: separate the nuts from the apples in the fields and transport them to the villages, also for the most part members of the producer’s family • Local artisans: manufacture on-site work tools and agricultural implements such as axes, dabas, cutters, rakes, etc. • Suppliers of inputs (mainly total herbicides) • Service providers: intervene for soil preparation and weeding work using total herbicides • Primary collectors (rare): buy locally in villages and collect nuts for buyers (secondary collectors) from urban centers (Siguiri and Kankan) • Secondary collectors: buyers from urban centers (Siguiri and Kankan) who consolidate production from primary collectors • Wholesalers: consolidate production from the secondary collectors in Siguiri and Kankan for export from Conakry

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 1.1 Identify 20 existing/new POs with support from local partners In the PO identification process, the SADA team conducted a series of meetings with the technical agricultural services of the Siguiri prefecture including Direction des Microprojets et Réalisation (DMR), ANPROCA, the cashew farmer organizations in SAG intervention zones, and the union of cashew producers of Siguiri. The meetings’ purpose was to brief organizations about the status of the Activity and get information about the existing cashew producers. At the end of these meeting, we received a list of 10 POs in Kintinian.

During this quarter, SADA recruited 12 enumerators to support data collection for the PO identification study and other studies (e.g. Baseline). The SADA Capacity Building Specialist (CBS) trained selected candidates on the use of survey tools and how to conduct the PO identification study. The members of the survey team were equipped with PO identification tools and the list of existing producer organizations in the Activity intervention areas.

As stated above, the PO identification survey established a database of 21 existing POs with a total of 529 members, including 453 men and 76 women (86% men and 14% women) and 2,049 small holder farmers not currently subscribed to a PO. These results were shared with the SADA partners and the team conducted a workshop to validate the PO database. 1.2 Conduct management/financial audit and needs assessment to identify critical PO capability needs and gaps (M4 Tool) During this reporting period, SADA conducted a PO assessment to identify training needs in Kintinian. The process includes the following main steps: i) preparation, ii) information collection / field work, iii) data processing and analysis, iv) and report writing. The report will be completed in the next reporting period (Q4).

The 15 villages where the 21 POs are located were exhaustively surveyed. During the assessment, the team interviewed a total of 129 PO members, including 3 women and 32 youth. The 21 POs reported a total of 539 members, of which 80 are women and 236 are youth (15% women and 44% youth respectively). The team found that, from the period of PO identification to evaluation, the total number of PO members increased from 529 to 539, an overall increase of 10 (6 men and 4 women).1

The mission carried out both an internal and external evaluation. The internal evaluation focused on the marketing, financial, and administrative management of the POs. The external evaluation focused mainly on the economic potential and business environment of the villages, focusing on infrastructure such as markets, roads, telephone network coverage, and other points such as agricultural and livestock

1 This increase in the number of PO members may be due to an increase in trust of the SADA project over the period of time SADA has been implementing activities in the area and in demand for the services the Activity will offer. Many of the producers did not participate in the project identification process originally but were motivated to join following several meetings held by SADA team with the existing POs and the local authorities. During these meetings, the participants were briefed about the status of the project and next steps and were motivated to join a PO to be able to benefit from the planned activities.

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 activities, constraints, participation in PO activities including decision-making by gender and age, general level of management of the POs, enthusiasm for the POs in the village, and others.

The PO management and governance assessment identified the following key findings: • Insufficient efforts to attract new members to join the POs • Inconsistent payment of dues and fees. Most of the members stress that they pay dues sporadically, primarily when carrying out an activity (e.g., soil preparation, purchase of inputs, sowing and maintenance of plantations, etc.) Dues are generally paid on a voluntary basis, there is no fixed date, and no specific basis for the amount. • Different marketing strategies are employed. Some POs have communal plantations and aggregate and sell the production together, but all PO members also make sales individually. Few have minimum quality control of the products (manual quality control and observation) before sale and none have standard operating procedures in place to guide inspection. One quarter of POs do not have mature trees, and have not yet made any sales. • Lack of services provided by the POs (supervision, structuring, training, etc.) either by the State or by organizations supporting the development process. Only a few POs have contacted the Siguiri DMR for services to support them in obtaining approvals • Poor organizational structure, including a lack of basic transparent financial management. There is no mechanism for record keeping or financial reporting. • Lack of good governance practices. Meetings are often held when there is a current need or specific event, rather than on a recurring calendar basis. • Lack of mechanisms necessary for the integration of the gender and youth dimension not only in the POs but also in the implementation of activities by the POs

The PO external environment assessment identified the following key findings:

• POs are located in areas with enormous agricultural and livestock potential. The 15 villages where the 21 POs are located have large plains of arable and fertile land and farmers have a meaningful commitment to agriculture. The dominant crops are maize, rice, and cashew nuts, while the less dominant crops are cassava, groundnuts, millet, beans, and fonio. Livestock farming in these villages involves cattle, chickens, and small ruminants (sheep and goats). However, many constraints prevent the exploitation of these resources, notably the lack of road infrastructure, the lack of drinking water points for people and livestock, and insufficient and traditional production systems. The lack of access to financial services is also a major obstacle. • POs are located in areas with poor infrastructure: 67% of POs are located areas in without weekly markets. The feeder roads between villages are in very bad condition, especially during the rainy season. Only 27% of the POs are located in localities easily accessible by r oad. 13% of POs are located in localities with difficult access and 60% in localities with very difficult access. Access to telephone networks is acceptable , as only one of the 15 localities visited is not covered by a telephone network, namely the village of Kignèdougou. The phone company Orange is currently the only cell service operator in the locality of Bouré.

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 • Artisanal mining or traditional gold panning plays a major role in the socio-economic activities of the rural commune of Kintinian. Gold panning is carried out in all the localities where the 21 POs evaluated are located. It represents a source of subsistence and income for the inhabitants of these localities, but is also a source of “quick money” that makes it challenging to engage communities, and especially youth, in longer-term economic activities. However, it causes very serious environmental and social problems. These include, but not limited to massive destruction of agricultural land, the persistence of inter-community conflicts over the land control of gold mining sites, and many losses of life due to the collapse of deep gold wells. 1.3 Develop MOUs with POs and support gender-sensitive board formation The implementation of this activity will begin in the next quarter. The team is currently contacting the local community leaders and the POs with a board of directors to inform the members of this process. 1.4 Develop/adapt the training program on co-operative development, governance, financial management and gender and youth awareness and train PO Boards of Directors. The implementation will begin for this activity next quarter. The team is developing a SOW to hire a consultant who will design the training curriculum based on the PO assessment. Additionally, we have finalized a gender and youth analysis report which has highlighted some important gender and inclusion issues for consideration by SADA, for example, limited membership of women and youth in POs (see Cross-Cutting Section). The findings from this gender and youth analysis study will be combined with data from baseline study and PO assessment to inform the design and content of training to increase gender and youth awareness as well as support female leadership roles in the POs. 1.5 Train PO board/leadership and Confédération Nationale des Organisations Paysannes de Guinée (CNOP-G) agents assigned to Siguiri Implementation will begin for this activity next quarter, after the design of the training program is complete. 1.6 Establish cashew nurseries with improved seed varieties Currently Siguiri’s cashew producers are using traditional varieties of cashew trees, which produce small nuts that are very susceptible to attack by diseases and pests. To improve the cashew tree stock, SADA developed a grants program to incentivize specialists to invest in and establish cashew nurseries in the Kintinian sub-prefecture of Siguiri for a period of at least three years. In year one, the established nurseries will produce about 16,000 improved cashew plants to sale to the farmers. The improved trees are more resistant to pest attacks, produce bigger nuts in relatively short period of time, and are more appropriate for international trade.

Out of 23 candidates who picked up the application documents, 11 candidates submitted technical and financial offers. The offers were opened in public session on Thursday, April 16, 2020. The attendees included representatives of SAG, media (Radio Djoliba), and ANPROCA. Due to COVID-19, the bidders were not present at the public opening as planned. After thorough review, four grantees were selected for program implementation, and a ceremony was held on April 16, 2020 at SADA’s office with representatives from the Kintinian rural community and the Siguiri administrative authorities. The participants of the ceremony include: the SAG represented by five technical staff, the representatives USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 6

Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 from the Kintinian Rural community, the Sub-prefect, the General Secretary of Siguiri prefecture representing the prefect and the beneficiaries.

Although applications from women or youth was encouraged in the RFA and through radio messaging, no female or youth applications were received. The lack of women applicants could be due to less formal education for women (general and technical), greater experience with commercial activities and food processing, and cultural barriers.

In addition, the SADA team developed a Scope of Work (SOW) for seed selection techniques and drafted a cashew soil preparation SOW. The four institutions selected to receive hybrid in-kind grants have started the development of the nurseries. These include: 1. Guinée Action pour le Développement (GAD): a local NGO lead by an agronomist with similar experience in agroforestry and SAG activities. 2. Action pour la Restauration et la Protection du Couvert Végétal (ARPCV): member of a local NGO with cashew nursery experience. 3. Groupement Maraicher Fadougou de Tiguibiri Koda: lead by an agronomist with extensive experience in cashew nursery and agroforestry in the region. 4. Association des Volontaires pour le Development Rural (AVODER): extensive experience in sustainable tree crop production and plant nurseries. This group was able to produce about 6,000 cashew plants in 2010.

SPECIALISTS PREPARING CASHEW SEED BEDS

ACTIVITY 2: ESTABLISH RURAL AGRO-DEALERS (CARS) FOR SIGUIRI-BASED CASHEW FARMERS During this reporting period, the SADA technical team composed of the Chief of Party (COP) and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist visited two existing agrodealer outlets (CARs) sponsored by the Guinea Rural Agrodealer Network Development (GRAND) Activity in partnership with USAID and SAREF. The visit’s objective was to contact the managers and assess the current situation of the CARs in terms of the organizational structure, examine the existing products on sale, and discuss the process of developing a network of distributors of agricultural inputs in the prefecture of Siguiri. USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 7

Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020

Findings of the visit: the two CARs visited were all receptive and willing to continue the collaboration and partnership with SADA as the follow on to the GRAND Activity. However, among others, the followings issues need to be addressed for both CARs: 1. The organization inside the storefront in relation to the display of products is not appropriate 2. Lack of products (pesticides) in the counter during the visit. The managers do not always order or re-order products on time, citing cash flow problems 3. Lack of capital and lack of access to reliable financial products 4. Insufficient product availability and/or variety. Unlike under the GRAND Activity, CAR operators are requesting to purchase and sell the products from other sources than SAREF 5. Difficulty reaching rural producers. CAR operators are requesting support to get tricycles to facilitate the transportation of products to the producer sites 6. Lack of safety standards

To address some of these issues, in upcoming months, the Activity will focus on:

• Negotiating Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the input dealers and two existing CARs (Activity 2.1) • Updating and adapting the GRAND Code of Practice with the CARs (Activity 2.3) • Completing upgrades to CAR sites to meet quality and safety standards through cost-sharing (Activity 2.4)

Activities 3, 4, and 5 will begin in upcoming quarters and are not covered in this report.

CROSS CUTTING Gender and Youth Gender and Youth inclusiveness are a foundational principle of the SADA Activity and important to achieving Activity success within a sector that has the potential to employ a significant number of women and youth. The Activity will build capacity for inclusiveness both internally within the SADA team and externally with beneficiary organizations, including POs and CARs.

In order to strengthen the team’s understanding of gender and youth, a training was conducted for SADA on February 11-12, 2020 (Q2), under funding from SAG. All SADA staff, including drivers, attended the training in SADA’s office conference room in Siguiri, co-facilitated by Morgan Mercer, Director Gender and Youth, and Julia Garside, Associate Manager at ACDI/VOCA headquarters. In Q2, under SAG funding and pre-COVID restrictions, to deliver on equitable benefits for males and females of all ages SADA completed data collection for a rapid qualitative gender and youth analysis as a part of technical start-up and to inform the design and implementation of SADA activities and strategy. The data analysis and report on the study was completed in this reporting period (Q3). The analysis intended to identify critical gaps and opportunities for men, women, and male and female youth as well as identify and gender and age dynamics around group participation. The major findings from the analysis that have

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 implications for SADA activities are fully discussed in the Gender and Youth Analysis report but summarized in Box 1.

Box 1: Summary of key findings from the Gender and Youth Analysis that have Implications for SADA Goals and Activities • Males and females of all ages work in the cashew value chain, but adult men tend to control the means of production, and thus accrue the benefits. • Access to productive resources is highly influenced by gender roles, with women having far less access to land, inputs, and finance than men. • Where males and females work and earn together, there tends to be higher reports of gender-equitable decision-making. • The burden of care work falls disproportionately on women, and coupled with their significant engagement in productive work, contribute to greater time poverty for women. • Women do not spend as much time participating in social capital building activities as men. • Youth decision-making processes are highly influenced or owned by adults, with young women being particularly limited in their decision-making power. • Males and females of all ages participate in groups for important social and economic reasons, however, women and youth do not participate to the same degree as men in agricultural groups. • Males and females lack access to finance necessary to realize economic opportunities. • Males and female youth are interested in agriculture but are constrained by a lack of access to finance and information.

A meeting to validate the findings from the Gender and Youth Analysis with SADA staff and partners is planned for July 2020. An outcome of this meeting will be the identification of priority areas for gender and youth inclusion in SADA. Overall, the qualitative findings from the Gender and Youth Analysis will be supplemented with quantitative baseline data and the findings from the PO assessment to inform the development of gender- and youth-inclusive interventions within the broader SADA workplan. SADA’s gender and social inclusion strategy/plan will include indicators to capture the contributions of the Activity in promoting gender/age equitable access to (participation in) activities, as well as in empowering women and youth economically and socially across all its activities (to the extent appropriate).

Grants During this quarter, SADA team was able to accomplish the following in its grants program:

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 • Developed hybrid in-kind and cost-reimbursable grant agreements for nursery specialist grants to meet beneficiaries’ needs • Negotiated with the pre-selected grantees on the hybrid grant process and made final selection • Drafted SOW for seed selection techniques and Cashew soil preparation • Purchased the necessary nursery equipment and organized a handover ceremony. The administrative and elected authorities of Siguiri prefecture and Kintinian Commune attended the ceremony

Note: All grants funding under SADA comes from SAG leverage.

The cashew nursery grant handover ceremony at SADA’s office in Siguiri Monitoring, Evaluating, and Learning (MEL) During this reporting quarter, the SADA Activity Monitoring, Evaluating, and Learning Plan (AMELP) was submitted to USAID for review and approval. In this document, SADA outlines the plan to achieve our Activity indicator targets, forms of data collection, and calculation observations for all our indicators. Alongside, the MEL team set up the Activity’s relational database for indicator tracking and SADA will continue to work with HQ to ensure that all relevant tables are created in order to ensure proper data entry and validation. The Data Management Manual (DMM) is also being developed and will be finalized as soon as AMELP is approved. The DMM will help ensure SADA’s data and calculation integrity by showing the relationships within the database tables and the calculations made for each indicator.

During this reporting period, SADA also worked with ACDI/VOCA technical support to develop the baseline survey and methodology to collect baseline information for key indicators. The team completed the 111-question survey and resolved challenges configuring the digital data collection tools. SADA will pilot the survey on select individuals and start data collection using mobile tablets in July. After the baseline survey is completed, SADA will work to submit a baseline assessment report to USAID and SAG. In the next, SADA will also focus on routine data collection and monitoring and will conduct data quality assessments on our first set of data to ensure proper data collection.

Environmental Compliance During the reporting period, SADA staff drafted and submitted the Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) to USAID and have received feedback which is currently being addressed. The EMMP also included the Activity’s Safer Use Action Plan (SUAP) which outlined the Activity’s implementation plan regarding promoting safe use of pesticides and fertilizers in its work. The EMMP was drafted by SADA technical staff in close collaboration with ACDI/VOCA HQ and the SADA M&E team. The M&E team, led by our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist, included plans for data collection regarding environmental compliance, as detailed in the EMMP. USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 10

Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 This reporting period, the main activity related to environmental compliance was the establishment of four cashew nurseries. More details about this activity can be found in Section 1.6 and environmental monitoring and mitigation information is included in Annex 1 (EMMR).

CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES Through studies conducted in this quarter, SADA has identified a number of infrastructure and enabling environment challenges:

• Access to production areas is difficult due to road conditions, which are particularly challenging during the rainy season. The poor road conditions have a serious impact on cashew marketing: buyers with efficient transport equipment are able to fix the price at the production site, which is lower than what could be negotiated at the market. By improving the aggregation and marketing of cashews through POs, SADA will help farmers get better prices at the markets. • No appropriate financial services providers, such as micro-finance institutions (MFIs), are available for the producers in the SAG operation zones in the commune of Bouré. SADA plans to work with the existing MFIs in Siguiri (Credit Rural, RAFOC, and FINADEF) to develop appropriate financial products for producers, POs, and agribusinesses. However, all except Credit Rural, who has a representative in some villages in Bouré, are based in Siguiri town. Additionally, initial discussions with producers during the PO identification and assessment studies suggest that high interest rates and short reimbursement period are typical for all MFI financial products. We will validate these findings with a financial services assessment as part of Activity 4, and plan to work with Credit Rural to provide a specific loan product tailored for cashew producers. • There is a lack of storage facilities in the cashew production sites. Many of them must negotiate with other producers in their community to share the available space. The existing facilities also lack the basic conditions for long-term cashew conservation. We will look for opportunities to link POs and farmers to financial services providers who can finance new or upgraded storage facilities.

Additionally, SADA gained an improved understanding of the POs overall level of maturity and capacity building needs:

• POs generally have a lack of good governance and financial management, which will make it challenging to aggregate production, access financing, etc. Most of the members said that they trust each other, and because of this, financial and other information is kept only in their memory and not written down. Many of these POs operate on the trust/goodwill of the leader, who is most often the richest person in the organization. SADA will address this through a comprehensive PO capacity building plan, including restructuring and formalization, board elections, governance, management and financial management training, and ongoing technical support. • POs also have weak resource mobilization through membership fees and service provision. This will make it challenging to support and compensate extension services providers (AAVs) who are critical to building cashew producers’ agronomic capacity and improving productivity. SADA

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 currently plans to identify and train 20 AAVs, selected among the POs’ members, as extension service providers. Creating the right set of incentives and compensation for the AAVs will be key to success and sustainability beyond the life of the project. However, experience from the GRAND Activity showed that compensation primarily based on commission payments from selling inputs (on behalf of the CARs) did not create sufficient incentive to provide extension support and strive to improve farmer productivity. Because POs initially will not have the resources to directly engage AAVs, SADA is considering a hybrid model where AAVs can earn commissions from input sales (from CARs) as well as a contribution from the POs, which may be wholly or partially subsidized by SADA in the initial years of the project while the POs capacities and resource mobilization is being built. • POs have low membership and limited engagement from women and youth, and cashew production in general is largely controlled and led by men. While SADA has encouraged female participation in its Q3 activities (specifically in the cashew nursery grant activity), its initial efforts were not sufficient to achieve the participation and engagement of women and a more targeted and intentional approach will be needed. With the completion of the Gender & Youth Analysis, the SADA team is evaluating the specific barriers to female participation, drawing on lessons learned and successful approaches from other projects, and developing practical recommendations for increased female engagement in future SADA activities. • Community and PO members’ trust and reluctance to engage with the Activity because of the long delay in building the SAG cashew processing factory was initially a challenge for project implementation. For example, some community members were reluctant to respond to questions during PO identification or other data collection. The SADA team is sensitizing beneficiaries by explaining the process of building a factory and what is needed to fully run it in sustainable way. Additionally, the SADA team is in discussions with SAG about this issue. Over SADA’s few months of implementation, the Activity has seen a positive shift in the perception of the project and SAG due to the Activity’s interventions.

Financial Report (FY2020 Q3) Budget Actuals to-date Cost Description projections (May - June Difference Comments (May - June 2020) 2020) USAID SUBTOTAL Travel, fuel, and consultant costs related to the baseline (Total Direct + Indirect were delayed until July due Cost) to COVID and other factors. Leverage (SAG) GRAND TOTAL

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 Next Quarter Priorities Major Activities In coming quarter, the Activity will use the results of the PO assessment to develop a training curriculum that will build and strengthen cashew POs and their boards of directors through improved governance, financial management, and women and youth inclusivity.

The Activity will also identify 20 AAVs (village extension agents) from within each PO’s members, and develop a training curriculum on improved on-farm practices such as establishment techniques, plant nutrition, planting densities, ideal inter-cropping combinations, pruning plans, harvesting, post-harvest storage and quality control, pest and disease management. Once trained, these AAVs will begin to support technical capacity building and extension services to each PO’s members.

The full list of planned activities is as follows:

• Build and strengthen cashew producer organizations - Develop MOUs with POs and support gender-sensitive board formation - Develop/adapt the training program on co-operative development, governance, financial management and gender and youth awareness and train PO Boards of Directors. • Establish CARs for Siguiri based Cashew farmers - Negotiate Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with the input dealers and two existing CARs - Complete upgrades to CAR sites to meet quality and safety standards through cost-sharing - Update and Adapt GRAND Code of Practice • Expand extension service to cashew farmers - Identify 20 AAVs from within each PO to work as extension workers linked to CARs and sign MOUs. SADA will encourage the participation of women and youths. - Develop/adapt Farmer Field School curriculum, including good agricultural practices and pest control, CAR Code of Practice, and health, sanitation and nutrition - Provide technical training to AAVs, CARs and government extension agents assigned to the Siguiri prefecture

Annex 1: Success Stories To be developed in upcoming quarters.

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Annex 2: Performance Monitoring Plan FY20 FY20 LOA Actuals No Indicator LOA Target Actuals Target 1 CBLD-9 Percent of USG-assisted organizations with improved performance [IM-level] 0 - 0 63% 2 EG.3.2-26 Value of annual sales of farms and firms receiving USG 0 TBD 0 TBD assistance 3 EG.3.2-24 Number of individuals in the agriculture system who have applied improved management practices or technologies with USG 0 175 0 ** assistance 4 EG.3-2 Number of individuals participating in USG supported Activity 0 500 0 3,000 (SADA) 5 GNDR-2 Percentage of female participants in USG-assisted Activity (SADA) 0 20% 0 26% designed to increase access to productive economic resources 6 Youth-3 Percentage of participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources who are youth (15-29) 0 30% 0 47% [IM-level] 7 EG.3-10: Yield of targeted agricultural commodities (cashew) among 0 TBD 0 TBD program participants (farmers) with USG (SADA) assistance per hectare 8 EG.4.2-7 Number of individuals participating in USG-assisted group-based 0 0 0 1,500 savings, micro-finance or lending programs 9 EG.3.2-27: Value of agriculture-related financing accessed as a result of

USG (SADA) assistance 10 EG.3.1-14 Value of new USG commitments and private sector investment

leveraged by the USG to support food security and nutrition [IM-level] 11 Number of women and youth in leadership positions because of USG- 0 5 0 32 assistance **The USAID FtF indicator handbook PIRS states that no LOP target should be set for the indicator “EG.3.2-24 Number of individuals in the agriculture system who have applied improved management practices or technologies with USG assistance.” USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 14

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ANNEX 3: ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION AND MONITORING REPORT (EMMR)

PROJECT/ACTIVITY DATA Project/Activity Name: Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Geographic Location(s) (Country/Region): Guinea Implementation Start/End Dates: May 1, 2020– April 30,2023 Contract/Award Number: 72067520CA00001 Implementing Partner(s): ACDI/VOCA Tracking ID: Tracking ID/link of Related IEE: USAID/GUINEA FTF IEE — 6 April 2016 Tracking ID/link of Other, Related Analyses: 2017 USAID/Guinea-Sierra Leone Mission-wide Pesticide Evaluation Report & Safer Use action Plan (PERSUAP)

ORGANIZATIONAL/ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Implementing Operating Unit(s): USAID/Guinea (e.g. Mission or Bureau or Office) Lead BEO Bureau: USAID/AFR Prepared by: Ibrahima Camara, Chief of Party, SADA Date Prepared: July 15, 2020 Submitted by: Ibrahima Camara, Chief of Party, SADA Date Submitted: July 30, 2020

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE REVIEW DATA Analysis Type: EMMR Additional Analyses/Reporting Required: EMMP (submitted)

PURPOSE Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Report (EMMRs) are required for USAID-funded projects when the 22CFR216 documentation governing the project impose conditions on at least one project/activity component. EMMRs ensure that the ADS 204 requirements for reporting on environmental compliance are met. EMMRs are used to report on the status of mitigation and monitoring efforts in accordance with IEE requirements over the preceding project implementation period. They are typically provided annually, but the frequency will be stipulated in the IEE or award document.

Generally, EMMRs are developed by the IP (and updated at least annually) in conjunction with the Annual Report. Responsibility for ensuring IPs submit appropriate EMMRs rest with USAID CORs/AORs. These reports are an important tool in adaptive management and are used by USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 15

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Mission, Regional, and Bureau Environmental officers to ensure USAID interventions are implemented in compliance with 22 CFR 216 and mitigation measures are adequate.

SCOPE The following EMMR documents the status of each required mitigation measure as stipulated in the associated EMMP. It provides a succinct update on progress regarding the implementation and monitoring of mitigation measures implemented as detailed in the EMMP. It summarizes field monitoring, issues encountered, actions taken to resolve identified issues, outstanding issues, and lessons learned.

This EMMR includes the following:

• A succinct narrative description of the EMMP implementation and monitoring system, any updates to the system, any staff or beneficiary trainings conducted on environmental compliance, lessons learned, and other environmental compliance reporting details.

• EMMR table summarizing the status of mitigation measures, any outstanding issues relating to required conditions, and general remarks.

• Attachments such as photos of mitigation measures and activities, waste disposal logs, water quality data, etc.

USAID REVIEW OF EMMR

Approval: [NAME], Activity Manager/A/COR [required] Date

Clearance: [NAME], Mission Environmental Officer [as appropriate] Date

Clearance: [NAME], Regional Environmental Advisor [as appropriate] Date

Concurrence: [NAME], ______Bureau Environmental Officer [as required] Date

DISTRIBUTION:

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Guinea Siguiri Agricultural Development Activity (SADA) Q3 FY2020 Report

July 2020 A. PROJECT/ACTIVITY SUMMARY The Siguiri Agriculture Development Activity (SADA), a private sector Global Development Alliance between USAID Guinea and Société AngloGold Ashanti de Guinée (SAG) and implemented by ACDI/VOCA, will use a private sector-led approach to increase opportunities for individuals and communities affected by mining activities in the Siguiri prefecture. SADA will achieve this through investments, capacity building, and stakeholder coordination in the cashew value chain, including a medium-scale processing facility, cashew nurseries, as well as bundling of extension, inputs, and market access services for smallholder farmers. Over the life of the activity, over 3,000 cashew farmers will earn a minimum 25 percent increase in gross margins, and artisanal-scale mining jobs will shift to agriculture with an increased rate of employment for youth and women.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: Two objectives will drive systemic and lasting improvements in farmer productivity and incomes: 1) Improved rural commercial input and service supply system capacity for cashew farmers; and, 2) increased cooperation and strengthened linkages between cashew market system actors. Increased productivity, quality, and sales for all actors in the market system will result in shared value for smallholders, intermediaries, and larger firms alike.

2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE MONITORING AND REPORTING During the reporting period, SADA staff drafted and submitted the Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) to USAID and have received feedback which is currently being addressed. The EMMP was drafted by SADA technical staff in close collaboration with ACDI/VOCA HQ and the SADA M&E team. The M&E team, led by our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist, included plans for data collection regarding environmental compliance, as detailed in the EMMP.

This reporting period, the main activity related to environmental compliance was the establishment of four cashew nurseries. More details about this activity can be found in the body of this report and environmental monitoring and mitigation information is included in the table below. SADA will work with the plant protection service to train the CARs and POs on the best practices and use of the agricultural inputs.

3.0 LESSONS LEARNED In Guinea in general there are two seasons of six months each (rainy and dry). However, this is not the case in Siguiri. The good rain period here is only about two months (July-August) due to climate change. This has implications for the planting of cashew nurseries: seedlings should ideally be ready to transplant in July in order to establish themselves during the rainy season. This means that nursery installation should be done by the end of April to have vigorous plants ready to transplant in July.

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4.0 EMMR TABLE FOR SADA May 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020

Project/Activity/Sub- Mitigation Measure(s) Summary Field Monitoring/Issues/Resolution Outstanding Issues, Activity (i.e. monitoring dates, observations, issues identified and proposed resolutions resolved) Activity 1: Build and Strengthen Cashew Producer Organizations (POs) Establish cashew Nursery establishment All the nursery seedlings have germinated in the four nursery Possible pest attacks nurseries with using small-grant funding fields and nurseries were regularly monitored by nursery (locusts, snails, and improved seed will prioritize the use of specialists (watering, guarding, weeding, etc). However, probably nematodes and varieties already cultivated land and planting in future years should happen earlier to take advantage fungi) could be the major adhere to best of the start of the start of the rainy season. problems that the nurseries management practices per will be facing in the field. USAID Sector Nursery specialists have sowed more than 4,000 nuts per Environmental Guidelines nursey to prevent loss. Where feasible, appropriate (SEGs) for Agriculture to mechanical control prevent erosion and Young people and women are actively implicated in the nursery measures will be maintain soil fertility and implementation. implemented in order to water quality. Specifically, prevent pests from cashew varieties best spreading. Early suited to local soil and infestations will be identified water conditions will be through continuous selected. SADA will avoid scouting and monitoring of silvicultural practices that the developing seedlings, result in increased allowing for rapid action fragmentation of forest and roguing of diseased habitat, including training to plants. In cases where beneficiaries on proper severe infestations are seed handling. observed, appropriate chemical control methods SADA will promote proper will be undertaken, with spacing or configuration of nursery specialists crops and incorporate receiving guidance on climate information in land appropriate products and use planning and project application methods per the planning, including PERSUAP. selection of target species. SADA will promote USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 18

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adapting to a potential increase in pests through mulching and the use of manure, which in turn reduces erosion and increases resilience to fluctuations in available moisture.

By catalyzing increased access to improved extension services and inputs, finance, and markets SADA will enable project beneficiaries to select and adopt practices that increase their resilience to evolving climatic conditions.

To mitigate the effects of waste produced by the nurseries, SADA will develop beneficiaries’ capacities in waste management, promote proper disposal of waste, and promote biodegradable products where appropriate.

To mitigate the risk of water contamination, SADA will promote appropriate use of wells when water sources are not available nearby.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS USAID/GUINEA/SIGUIRI AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY 19

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N/A

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5.0 ATTACHMENTS N/A

USAID REVIEW OF EMMR

Approval: [NAME], Activity Manager/A/COR [required] Date

Clearance: [NAME], Mission Environmental Officer [as appropriate] Date

Clearance: [NAME], Regional Environmental Advisor [as appropriate] Date

Concurrence: [NAME], ____Bureau Environmental Officer [as appropriate] Date

DISTRIBUTION: