Document of The World Bank Report No. 27454

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION NOTE

Public Disclosure Authorized ON A

CREDIT

IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 2.20 MILLION (PORTION OF CREDIT 2475-CHA)*

ANDA

CREDIT

IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 1.63 MILLION (PORTION OF CREDIT 327 1-CHA)*

Public Disclosure Authorized TO THE

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

FOR A

XINJIANG UYGHUR (ALTAI) SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY COMPONENT

AND

XINJIANG UYGHUR (TACHENG) SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY COMPONENT Public Disclosure Authorized November 30,2003

Rural Development and Natural Resources Sector Unit East Asia and Pacific Region

* Reference should also be made to the primary ICRs for Credit 2475 - China - Zhejiang Multicities Development Project (Report No. 23946-CHA) and Credit 3271 - China - Enterprise Reform Project (forthcoming). This implementation completion note is prepared in connection with the investments undertaken with those portion of Credit 2475 and Credit 3271, which arose following the reallocation of credit proceeds from the original projects to the Xinjiang Uyghur

Public Disclosure Authorized (Altai and Tacheng) Snow Disaster Recovery Components, supported by the International Development Association as an emergency operation. For the purpose of this ICR the Xinjiang Uyghur Snow Disaster Recovery Components are considered a project. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(Exchange Rate Effective September 2003)

Currency Unit = Renminbi (RMB) Yuan (Y) Y1.0 = US$0.12 US$l.O = Y8.27

FISCAL YEAR January 1 to December 3 1

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AHB Animal Husbandry Bureau FB Financial Bureau ha hectare IDA International Development Association M&E Monitoring and Evaluation mu Chinese square measure (15 mu = 1 ha) PLG Project Leading Group PMO Project Management Office PMM Procurement Management Manual QMR Quarterly Management Report sqm square meter SA Special Account SDR Special Drawing Rights SOE Statement of Expenditures TOR Terms of Reference TA Technical Assistance XUAR Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Vice President: Jemal-ud-din Kassum, EAPVP Country Director: Yukon Huang, EACCF Sector Director: Mark D. Wilson, EASRD Task Team Leader/Task Manager: Achim Fock, EASRD CHINA - XINJIANG UYGHUR (ALTAI) SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY COMPONENT AND XINJIANG UYGHUR (TACHENG). SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY COMPONENT

CONTENTS Page No.

1. Project Data 1 2. Principal Performance Ratings 1 3. Assessment of Development Objective and Design, and of Quality at Entry 2 4. Achievement of Objective and Outputs 4 5. Major Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcome 6 6. Sustainability 7 7. Bank and Borrower Performance 7 8. Lessons Learned 9 9. Partner Comments 10 Annex 1. Key Performance IndicatordLog Frame Matrix 11 Annex 2. Project Costs and Financing 13 Annex 3. Economic Costs and Benefits 20 Annex 4. Bank Inputs 20 Annex 5. Ratings for Achievement of Objectives/Outputs of Components 21 Annex 6. Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance 21 Annex 7. List of Supporting Documents 21 Annex 8. Borrower’s Implementation Completion Notes 22 Annex 9. Photographs 32

Project ID: PO60270 and PO03473 Project Name: XINJIANG UYGHUR (ALTAI AND TACHENG) SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY Team Leader: Achim Fock TL Unit: EASRD ICR Type: Core ICR Report Date: November 30, 2003

1. Project Data

Name: XINJIANG UYGHUR Credit Number: IDA-2475 AND IDA-3271 (ALTAI AND TACHENG) SNOW DISASTER RECOVERY Country/Department: CHINA Region: East Asia and Pacific Region Sector/subsector: AL- Livestock

KEY DATES (Related to the new component)

Original RevisedActual PCD: -- Efective: 09/24/200I 09/24/2001 Appraisal: 04/06/2001 MTR: -- -- Approval: II/I6/2001 Closing: 05/3 U2003 0573 1/2003

Borrower/implementing Agency: PRC /XlJAR FB, AHB, Altai Prefecture FB, AHB and Tacheng Prefecture FB, AHB Other Partners: - -

STAFF Current At Appraisal Vice President: Jemal-ud-din Kassum Jemal-ud-din Kassum Country Manager: Yukon Huang Yukon Huang Sector Manager: Mark D. Wilson Mark D. Wilson Team Leader at ICR: Achim Fock Achim Fock ICR Primary Author: Achim Fock Achim Fock

2. Principal Performance Ratings (HS=Highly Satisfactory, S=Satisfactory, U=Unsatisfactory, HL=Highly Likely, L=Likely, UN=Unlikely, HW=Highly Unlikely, HU=Highly Unsatisfactory, H=High, SU=Substantial, M=Modest, N=Negligible)

Outcome: S Sustainability: HL Institutional Development impact: S Bank Performance: S Borrower Performance: S

QAG (if available) ICR Quality at Entry: S Project at Risk at Any Time: --

1 3. Assessment of Development Objective and Design, and of Quality at Entry During the winter of 2000/2001, Xinjiang had a series of snow disasters leading to snow depths of 0.5-lm in the plains and 1-2 m in the mountains, The snow cover lasted over four months. The temperature reached lows of minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit). The areas also suffered from gale force winds. The snow, the cold, and the wind caused immense damage. Over 300 thousand herdsmen suffered, over 30 thousand animals died, about 5 million animals were hurt, 10 thousand animal sheds were destroyed or badly damaged, and 7-8 thousand houses were destroyed or damaged.

3.1 Original Objective: The objective of the project was to assist the Borrower in restoring social and economic infrastructure critical to the lives of herders devastated by this unusually severe snowstorm in hard hit areas of Altai Prefecture and Tacheng Prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and in enhancing and strengthening the disaster response capacity of the affected herders. This objective reflected Bank policy for emergency recovery assistance, i.e. to restore assets and production levels in the disrupted economy through the financing of investment and productive activities, rather than relief or consumption. By targeting the project towards a very poor part of the society in remote pastoral areas it contributed to four of the five major themes of the 1997 Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy CAS for China (infrastructure; human development including poverty alleviation; agriculture and rural development; and, environmental protection) and two out of the three major themes of the 2003 CAS (addressing the needs of the poorer and disadvantaged people in lagging regions; and, facilitating an environmentally sustainable development process). Finally, the project was responsive to the Borrower’s need in a situation of a natural disaster that seriously dislocated the local economy and called for a quick response. In line with best practice for emergency operation, the project objective was clear and realistic.

3.2 Revised Objective: The original objective of the project remained unchanged.

3.3 Original Components: The livelihood of the herder families in Altai Prefecture and Tacheng Prefecture of XUAR is almost always entirely dependent on livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, horses, camels, and other livestock). With large numbers of animals dying, the livelihood of these families was severely impacted. The ability to rebuild this livelihood and protect it more efficiently from future disasters largely depended on animal housing and feeding. Therefore, the key emphasis of the project was to assist herders in rebuilding damaged or destroyed sheds and establishing a reliable winter fodder base. In addition, a component on technical assistance and project management was designed in order to contribute to an improved management of the livestock and grassland resources in the region, and to ensure effective pro; ect management, including evaluation and monitoring. The project had the following components: (1) Restoration and Rehabilitation of Livestock Sheds (Altai: US $1.83 million - 42.7 percent of total: Tacheng: US $1.59 million - 49.7 percent of total). This component addressed one of the two most critical needs of the beneficiary population by financing investments for housing of their animals. It was planned that about US $ 3.42 million would be invested in the rehabilitation of about 212,500 sqm of sheds (2,125 units), restoration of 150,000 sqm of sheds (1,498 units), pasture rehabilitation of about 60,000 mu (4,000 ha), and pasture improvement of 110,000 mu (over 7,000 ha). The project planned to promote the improved “greenhouse” design permitting greater retention of heat. For all beneficiaries investing into the reconstruction of sheds technical

2 training was made compulsory in order to improve the economically and environmentally sustainable use of these major investments for the herders. (2) Housing Restoration (Altai: US $0.56 million - 13.2% of total:). Restoration of houses was planned for Altai Prefecture where a considerable number of families suffered severe house damages or even the total collapse of their houses and where grant fund sources from the Government or donations were insufficient. The average size of a house planned under the project was 80 square meters. Assuming average costs of houses between RMB 11,400 for mud-brick construction and RMB 14,700 for fired-brick construction the restoration of about 300 houses was planned under the project. (3) Pasture Rehabilitation (Altai: US $1.70 million - 39.6% of total: Tacheng: US $1.54 million - 48.1% of total)). This component addressed the other of the two most critical needs of the beneficiary population: improved winter forage security. The component plan included 62,750 mu (Altai: 38,900 mu; Tacheng: 23,850 mu) of sown (artificial) pasture, a 110,400 mu (Altai: 7,000 mu; Tacheng: 103,400 mu) of grassland rehabilitation activity, and the provision of forage handling equipment including small tractors, and forage storage facilities (including 1,668 silage pits). Technical training was also made compulsory under this component in order to improve the economically and environmentally sustainable use of the investments. (4): Technical Assistance (TA) and Project Management (Altai: US $0.19 million - 4.5% of total: Tacheng: US $0.07million - 2.2% of total). This component included (i) a Grassland Management Review TA to re-assess the prevailing risk mitigation measures for preventing future losses, and to develop the framework for a more sustainable grassland management; (ii) a TA activity for Independent Monitoring and Evaluation of the impact of the project based on four performance indicators (measuring livestock performance, increased winter forage, beneficiary satisfaction, and equitability of beneficiary selection); and (iii) Project Management with responsibilities given to Project Leading Groups (PLGs) and Project Management Offices (PMOS) located in Animal Husbandry Bureaus (AHB). The components were clearly linked to the objectives. Moreover, by targeting the poorer part of the affected herder population, the project ensured the objectives were achieved. The individual components were well designed, complementing each other, and with detailed and practical standards and complementing training for the efficient and sustainable use of the investments. The project took into account important lessons of previous Bank-financed emergency recovery projects such as (i) paying attention to project preparation and simplicity of design: (ii) flexible procurement methods, (iii) disaster-resilient reconstruction standards: and (iv) participation by beneficiaries. Lastly, the simple design of the project took into account the capacity of the implementing agencies, the extremely difficult natural conditions, and the need for expedient implementation required for an emergency recovery operation.

3.4 Revised Project: The design of the project remained unchanged throughout the implementation period. Only small reallocations of the various components occurred reflecting adjustments to demand and availability of additional funds due to an appreciation of the SDR against the RMB.

3.5 Quality at Entry: Quality at Entry is rated satisfactory because: (i) project objectives were in line with Borrower’s priority, the Bank’s CAS for China, and the Bank’s policies for emergency operations; (ii) timely and quite accurate assessment of the disaster and the situation under which a project would be implemented; (iii) the project’s strong emphasis on targeting of assistance to the poorest and the most needy; (iv) a realistic time schedule to meet the project objectives, which also included mitigation measures to strengthen the area’s resilience to natural hazards; and (v) the project’s

3 design, adequately addressing Bank’s safeguard policies, in particular the issues of indigenous people and the environment.

4. Achievement of Objective and Outputs

4.1 Outcome/achievementof objective: The project’s objectives and outcomes were substantially achieved. Critical social and economic infrastructure of about 3,950 herder families in Altai Prefecture and about 1,670 herder families in Tacheng Prefecture has been restored with a total of about 26,800 people in total benefiting. The disaster response capacity of the affected herders has been improved substantially. One of the principal reasons for the heavy ruminant livestock losses from the snow disaster was the poor quality and design of livestock sheds, which failed to provide livestock with adequate shelter during the severe weather conditions. The rehabilitated and reconstructed sheds greatly reduce risk of losses from future snow disasters. In addition, sheds with the improved “greenhouse” design provide a warmer housing environment during the winter season with advantages such as reduced neonatal mortality, increased lambkid growth rates and improved fertility. Moreover, shed feeding can be better controlled providing improved nutrition. Where livestock is housed and fed inside sheds during the winter season, winter grazing is reduced, resulting in less grazing on dormant winter and early spring grasses and improved growth and recovery of grass cover. The project also greatly enhanced winter forage security by providing herders with alternative sources of forage, mainly in the form of sown (artificial) pasture, a small grassland rehabilitation activity, and the provision of forage handling equipment including small tractors, and forage storage facilities. These investments provide a secure source of good quality feed throughout the winter season. The TA and training provided under the project considerably strengthened the achievements of the project outcomes. For many herders the training provided was the first formal technical training they ever received. The training has contributed considerably to a solid construction quality, and to economically efficient and environmentally sustainable investments. The TA provided under the project provided the opportunity to re-assess the prevailing risk mitigation measures to prevent future losses, and to develop more sustainable grassland management. A considerable number of officials and herders benefited from the TA activity. Experiences from Bank supervision missions as well as the household survey data of the M&E activity indicates that the project largely targeted the poorer part of the herder population which had suffered substantial losses from the snow disaster. Beneficiaries were highly appreciative of the project. Livestock production and therefore livelihood of the beneficiary population was greatly improved through the project investments in terms of an higher income level and because they enjoy greater resilience to future disasters.

4.2 Outputs by Components: (1) Restoration and Rehabilitation of Livestock Sheds (US $3.64 million actual; Altai: US $2.04 million, Tacheng: US $1.60 million). The component is rated satisfactory. A total of 246,000 sqm of sheds (2,711 units) was rehabilitated, 187,000 sqm of sheds (1,660 units) was restored. The component exceeded appraisal targets for restoration and rehabilitation of sheds. Overall, construction quality was high both for repairs and rebuilding. (2) Housing Restoration (US $0.66 million actual; Altai only). The project is rated satisfactory. A total of 354 houses have been reconstructed which exceeded appraisal targets by 18 percent. House construction was of generally high quality with beneficiaries often putting substantial extra efforts in the construction of their houses.

4 (3) Pasture Rehabilitation (US $3.22 million actual; Altai: US $1.60 million, Tacheng: US $1.60 million). The component is rated satisfactory. About 57,200 mu (Altai: 30,900 mu, Tacheng: 26,300 mu) of artificial pasture (91% of appraisal plan), generally alfalfa, in a number of cases with a nurse crop of barley, wheat or rape, have been established. In general, the quality of artificial pasture has been high. The success was due to seeds of very high quality, the availability of water, and the technical knowledge of the beneficiaries, which was partly transferred under the project. Sometimes in parallel with investments into artificial pasture, the project supported the building of 1,589 silage pits for improved fodder storage (Altai: 530, Tacheng: l,059), which is about 95% of appraisal plan in terms of number and 76% in terms of volume capacity. Of the investment made, about US $0.75 million (US $613,000 for Altai and US $133,000 for Tacheng) was used for purchasing of tractors and forage equipment for improved forage processing. These investments were of high quality and are well used, with many neighbors often sharing the equipment. In addition, a smaller sub-component of pasture rehabilitation, mainly in Tacheng Prefecture, was implemented on about 108,900 mu (99% of appraisal plan). (4) Technical Assistance and Project Management (US $0.20 million actual; Altai: US $0.14 million, Tacheng: US $0.06 million). The project is rated satisfactory. Firstly, two rounds of quality TA in grassland management were successfully conducted by a team consisting of an international and a national consultant. Secondly, in connection with the major investments under the project (shed reconstruction, pasture rehabilitation) beneficiary households received technical training. A total of 9,900 person days (Altai 5,200; Tacheng 4,700) of training were provided, generally in 2 to 3 day programs. This is a substantial success, given that hardly any of the trainees had any formal technical training before. Thirdly, the project supported an independent monitoring and evaluation. A local consultant team went to the project areas in spring of 2002 and spring of 2003 to assess the project impact, mainly through household interviews. Due to methodological problems of the survey, the consultant report does not measure the impact of the project in a representative manner as envisaged by the project design. For an assessment of project management please see Section 7 below.

4.3 Net Present Value/Economic rate of return: Since this was an emergency operation, no calculations of net present value or economic rate of return was carried out. However, simplified calculations demonstrate that the economic benefits for the herders and the overall economic benefits of the project are highly positive. For example, the internal financial rate of return of new shed construction would be offset by a 15% increase in lambhad survival. Increase in neonatal survival in greenhouse sheds has been reported to be well beyond this level. The establishment of artificial pasture cost about RMB 200 per mu with flood irrigation would be justified by only about one cubic meters of incremental dried alfalfa hay per mu and year (opportunity costs about RMB 50.) The yield can easily be more than two cubic meters per year. The economic impact of the project is particularly positive because it supports investments without which the continued production by the beneficiaries would in many cases be severely reduced and non-sustainable, if not impossible.

4.4 Financial rate of return: Not Applicable (see Section 4.3)

4.5 Institutional development impact: The institutional impact of the project is positive. Given the emergency nature of the project, the main focus was on rehabilitation of social and physical infrastructure rather than institutional development. Nevertheless, the project had considerable institutional development impact in some areas. Most importantly, the project substantially increased the capacity of the Government agencies involved in project preparation and implementation, in particular the AHBs at all levels.

5 This was the first time that the Tacheng AHB was exposed to a foreign-funded project. At all levels the AHB successfully adopted the various design aspects and requirements of the project. Besides becoming familiar in the Bank’s financial and procurement methods, the AHB increased its capacity in a number of areas, including: (i) thorough targeting of public services, in this case to the poorer and most needy part of the herder population; (ii) standard definition, implementation, and efficient supervision of high-quality works and goods dispersed over a huge project area; and (iii) familiarization with computer and other modern office equipment. The response to any future disaster has been increased through the implementation of this project.

5. Major Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcome

5.1 Factors outside the control of government or implementing agency: While the harsh climatic and geographical conditions posed a serious challenge to implementation, no major unforeseen factors affected the project outcome.

5.2 Factors generally subject to government control: The Government’s policies as well as its support to the project had an overall favorable affect on project implementation and outcome. However, one factor affecting the project negatively was a substantial delay in the availability of counterpart funds. This led to delayed implementation as well as greater financial pressure on beneficiaries and the local private economy in general (suppliers / contractors).

5.3 Factors generally subject to implementing agency control: The performance of the implementing agencies was overall satisfactory. A slow start of project implementation was partly caused by initial difficulties of the implementing agencies with the unfamiliar requirements of the project. However, a strong leadership and a few committed key staff in PMOS at all levels combined with exemplary support from the Regional Finance Bureau ensured a strong project implementation capacity and contributed to successful implementation of the project.

5.4 Costs nndjnancing: The end-of-project costs for both components are slightly higher (4% and 2% respectively for Altai and Tacheng) than the appraisal estimates, mainly due to additional tasks undertaken permitted by the appreciation of SDR against USD and RMB. The project costs for most project activities exceeded the appraisal plan ranging from 1% to 38% for Altai and 3% to 22% for Tacheng, although, the project costs for some activities were lower than appraisal estimate. Annex 2a presents a detailed project cost by component, project activity and a comparison of actuaVlatest estimate vs. appraisal estimate. Overall project financing is satisfactory in both Altai and Tacheng with adequate funding provided from expanded financing sources. The financing sources include IDA (66%), Regional government (12%), prefecture government (7%), county government (8%) and beneficiary (7%). In Altai, county government became an expanded financing source upon project effectiveness and provided about 6% of the total financing required for the prefecture. However, one financing source in Tacheng failed to fulfill its full commitment. In addition, not all counterpart funds were provided on a timely basis. Annex 2c presents a detailed financing estimate by source, project activity and a comparison of actualAatest estimate vs. appraisal estimate.

6 6. Sustainability

6.1 Rationale for sustainability rating: Project sustainability is highly likely. The project design paid considerable attention to high implementation standards and these standards were generally met and often exceeded. Both, in the case of shed rehabilitation and reconstruction as well as in the case of winter fodder production, these good implementation standards will ensure the continued use of investments for many years to come. The economic benefits of the investments are estimated to be substantial given that in many cases the activities implemented under the project are an essential condition for the recovery of subsistence and income of the beneficiary family. The training provided beneficiaries with substantial knowledge to use and maintain their investments. While the environmental sustainability in many of the grasslands areas is fragile, the project investments contribute to an improvement of this sustainability by reducing the winter and spring grazing pressure on the grasslands.

6.2 Transition arrangement to regular operations: The individual household-based sub-projects go into regular operation once they are built. The households own the constructions built and forage equipment purchased under the project, and they have rights over a minimum of 30 years for the use of the land where fodder production has been established. These households have the strong incentive to use and maintain the investments. The Government (AHB) will provide support to the herder families, including through additional training. Moreover, the Government (FB with help from AHB) ensures the recovery of the loan proceeds from the beneficiaries. The finalization of a fully computerized database will make these tasks more efficient. The PMOS have been re-integrated into the general structure of their agencies at the end of the project, and the staff will use the experience gained for future activities.

7. Bank and Borrower Performance

Bank

7.1 Lending: Bank’s performance during project identification, preparation, and appraisal is rated satisfactory. The Bank’s input in terms of staffing, shll-mix and time allocation was adequate given the relatively simple structure of the project. The Bank was proactive in identifying the financial resources available from other World Bank financed projects and the Bank team provided adequate and timely preparation support to the Borrower. Appraisal was done quickly but thoroughly and paid adequate attention to the Bank’s fiduciary and safeguard responsibility. The whole process from identification to appraisal was very rapid in accordance with the emergency response nature of the project. Project design was in line with overall Bank and CAS objectives, adequate to achieve these objectives, and sufficiently simple given constraints in the capacity of the implementing agencies.

7.2 Supervision: The Bank’s performance in project supervision is rated satisfactory, Size and frequency of the supervision missions as well as their staff composition were adequate given the size and nature of the project, and staff continuity was contained. The task team identified and addressed implementation issues in an active and constructive manner, and follow-up action was successful in solving problems. Cooperation between Bank and Borrower was close and advice by the Bank team highly valued by the implementing agencies. While the project would have benefited from more intense supervision by the Bank team in the beginning, other factors outside Bank control were far more important.

7 7.3 Overall Bank performance: Overall Bank performance is rated satisfactory. The Bank responded in a timely manner to the emergency recovery needs of the Borrower. Project design was in line with objectives; borrower support was strong, and project appraisal and supervision sound.

Borrower

7.4 Preparation: Government performance is rated satisfactory. The Government responded quickly after the project identification. In a short period of time, it prepared the project according to the agreed framework and presented sufficient quality information to appraise the project in June of 2001. The Government also worked very early with the herders to start implementing project activities in the first construction period. However, at the same time, some delays, most notably the availability of counterpart funds and the strengthening of project management, lead to a relatively late effectiveness of the project and, under retroactive financing, relatively modest implementation in the first construction period.

7.5 Government implementation performance: The Government implementation performance is rated satisfactory. While the availability of counterpart funds as well as the strengthening of project management capacity was delayed, the considerable commitment given to the project resulted in the full resolution of these issues. This strong Government commitment was key to the project success.

7.6 Implementing Agency: The institutional arrangements for project preparation have proved adequate to bring the project to a successful conclusion within the planned time-frame. The PMO in the AHB started from a very difficult initial situation characterized by the need to respond to a natural disaster in remote pastoral areas, low standards of office equipment and insufficient transportation, and inexperience of dealing with the requirements of a project financed by an international agency. However, strong key staff in PMOS at all levels, particularly at prefecture level, were committed and received training, in particular by the Regional Finance Bureau and through a study tour to the Inner Mongolia Snowstorm Emergency Rehabilitation Project. The intensive study tour organized by the regional PMO with participants from both prefecture PMOS and county PMOS to a parallel project in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region resulted in a great improvement in overall project implementation. This ensured that the implementing agencies acquired necessary slulls and strongly improved their capacity so that the project could be completed with satisfactory quality and within the set time-frame. In summary, the performance of the implementing agencies excelled considerably, and is rated satisfactory overall.

7.7 Overall Borrower performance: The overall Borrower performance is rated satisfactory. The Government and the implementing agencies have been consistently committed to the project. Overall performance excelled after initial shortcoming and was the key to the overall success of the project.

8 8. Lessons Learned

The project has demonstrated the feasibility and substantial benefits of fast-track Bank-financed emergency rehabilitation projects even under extreme climatic and geographical conditions. The project’s approach can be utilized for similar emergency for the herder population of remote areas. Important factors of project success were:

0 Thorough proiect preparation and simplicity in desim. Despite the time pressure during project preparation and appraisal, a lot of attention was paid to design details including breakdown of costs and procurement down to county level. Even more importantly, the scope of the project was well focused, and preparation avoided the inclusion of too many or too sophisticated components, The selection of the components centered around the life of the herder communities, i.e., the reconstruction of the basic services and support to their livelihood. This helped make the project relevant to them and increased their commitment and responsiveness. This emphasize on a sufficiently simple design paid off. The project objectives and its design as originally proved to be realistic and the project was implemented with satisfactory quality and as planned within the eighteen-month timeframe despite the natural conditions and initially limited implementation capacity.

0 Ouick response. The operation showed that rapid and effective decisions by both the Bank and the Borrower can make a significant positive impact in improving the lives of lower-income Communities, especially in emergency situations. While some time was lost at the beginning of the project and many herders would have benefited even more from an earlier response, the project achieved its objectives because it was fully implemented in the second construction season after a relatively mild winter of 2001/2002. Strong. management structure. In emergency reconstruction programs, early availability of funds or authorization, together with competent business procedures and record keeping are essential to address the disaster repairs in a timely manner. Procurement procedures have to take into account the emergency nature of the project and be implemented by well-trained staff. Dedicated high-level government management and close interaction between Provincial, Prefecture and County-level management teams is essential to achieve success. Formalizing targeting of beneficiaries. Assisting individual households in their recovery from an emergency situation requires considerable attention to a well thought-through targeting of the limited resources. First, this requires that the criteria for selection of households be measurable and simple enough to be applied given the time-pressure of an emergency project and limited capacity available. This aspect was achieved by the project. Second, it requires a selection process that is a priori defined and transparent. A clearer design and better institutionalization of such selection process during preparation would have avoided some delays and mistakes made during the early stages of the project. Well-targeted training of project management and beneficiaries. Due to its emergency response nature, the project focused on reconstruction of physical and social infrastructure. However, a crucial part of the success towards this aim was the training provided under the project. First, training of project management staff was essential to build the capacity for project implementation and, in hindsight, should have been provided even more intensely at the earliest stages of the project. Second, the training provided to beneficiary households, though varying in quality, was very satisfactory. For the vast majority of the trainees this was the first time that they received technical training. It was well received, contributed to an improved construction and sustainability of the investments made, and opened the eyes of many herders beyond these investments to more comprehensive aspects of livestock and grassland management. The AHB is

9 expected to build on this training, and the credibility they gained through it for transferring further knowledge to the herder population.

0 Supervision and Monitoring. A strong emphasis on input and output monitoring, reporting, and supervision contributed to a quality implementation of the project. The transfer of this management approaches will serve the implementing agencies well in many future activities.

9. Partner Comments

Borrower/implementing agency: The ICR drafted by the World Bank is a comprehensive one that reflects the reality. We basically do not have any objections to the document. Our general comment about the project is as follows: The project is an emergency assistance project. From project preparation, appraisal and design to implementation, the World Bank has adopted timely action plans that correspond to local realities. Project preparation and appraisal were quick and accurate; project design was simple and concise; project procurement methods were flexible and easy to use; and project implementation was fast and efficient. During the process of implementation, the World Bank has also responded to project demand and local actual conditions and made timely adjustments to some project activities and investment. The project has always put an emphasis on providing support to herders hard hit by the disaster who needed urgent help. It has also required active participation by project beneficiaries. Project Manager and officers came to visit project areas on many occasions to provide supervision and guidance and help resolve, in a timely manner, the problems and difficulties that came up during the process of implementation. All these have made it possible for all project activities to be completed on schedule and for two most important issues facing the herders hit by the disaster to be resolved, namely, restoration and reconstruction of damaged and collapsed animal sheds, and improvement of fodder and feed supply during the spring and winter seasons. We all believe that the project was a successful emergency assistance project and it was warmly received by the governments at various levels, the cadres and the farmers and herders. Training and technical assistance activities under the project were also successful. The farmers and herders from minority ethnic groups who live in remote and disadvantaged areas received, for the first time, technical assistance and professional training by well-known Chinese and international experts. They gained practical knowledge and technique and benefited tremendously fkom the project. At the same time, the staff of the PMOS at various levels and other personnel involved in the project in the ten counties (cities) learned about the advanced and scientific project management techniques and experiences of the World Bank, thus laying a sound foundation for future implementation of World Bank as well as domestic projects. However, due to our lack of experience with World Bank projects, as well as other inadequacies such as understaffing, poor office conditions and shortage of funds, there were problems during the project preparation and implementation period. The problems included delay of project process, slow progress regarding procurement and disbursement, and late supply of counter-part funds. Thankfully, with the help of World Bank officials and experts, we managed to overcome those difficulties and solved the problems in time so that the project was implemented smoothly and according to the plan. We hereby would like to thank the World Bank and the project manager and officers. Project Management Office, Xinjiang Livestock Bureau

10 Annex 1. Key Performance Indicators/Log Frame Matrix

Annex 1 a. Outcome/Impact Indicators

Outcome at End of Proiect Means of Project Activity Indicator Altai Tacheng Verification - W/O Project With Project W/O Project With Project A. Improved Weaning To be 98% survival 99.9% 96% survival Increased to livestock rate of determined at rate for sheep survival rate rate. 98%. 8-10 days production sheep and end of the and 125% for for sheep and earlier of efficiency. \a goats lambing season. goat. 130% for weaning period housed in Divide number goat. in average. greenhouse of lambskids sheds. weaned by total breeding females in flock. Survey 10% project households with sheds. B. Improved Available Total tonnage of 9 ton of 15 ton of 45,000 ton of Increased winter forage winter hay and silage forage stored forage stored forage and storage by security. \b forage at available at end for each for each 15,000 ton of 10,000 ton of onset of of grazing household in household in silage for hay and 20,000 winter season. Survey average. average. 160,000 head ton of silage. season. 10% of project of animals . households. C. Project Beneficiary Survey report of Very No Very satisfied Management response to 10% ofproject satisfied. knowledge with project Effectiveness, project households per about implementation interventio project county. procedures of and quality, Implementation 1. World Bank appreciated effectiveness.\c supported strict project project. management: D. Beneficiary Project PMO Yes Some Only those gelection. :redits Beneficiary ineligible eligible argeted to selection report. households households hose with Selection selected. selected who need yeatest .argeted to those loan urgently with ieed. n the lower 213 per capita income ncome bracket. below RMB 2000. increased lamblkid survival due to better shed environment. \b Measures increased winter forage reserves from increased hay production, artificial pasture production, and silage production. \c Includes response rapidity; and suitability and sustainability of project inputs.

11 Annex lb. Output Indicators

Altai Prefecture I TachenrrI Prefecture I Indicators Unit 4ppraisa ,ctual/Latest % of Appraisal Actualhtest % of Zstimater Estimate Appraisal Estimates Estimate Appraisal 4. Rehabilitation and Restoration of Animal Sheds

1. Rehabilitation of Sheds mz 121,021 135,236 112% 91,500 1 11,040 121% 2. Rehabilitation of Sheds No 1,21c 1,437 119% 915 1,274 139% 3. Restoration of Sheds m2 74,80C 118,732 159% 75,000 68,592 91% 4. Restoration of Sheds No 74E 915 122% 750 745 99% 3. Pasture Rehabilitation 1. Artificial Pasture mu 38,90C 30,925 79% 23,850 26,268 110%

2. Artificial Pasture a No 868 620 71% 477 816 171% 3. Pasture Improvement mu 7,000 7,000 100% 103,400 101,938 99% 4. Pasture Improvement No 140 140 100% 517 680 132%

5. Silage Pit m3 18,960 4,770 25% 31,080 33,283 107% 6. Silage Pit No 632 530 84% 1,036 1,059 102% :. Restoration of Housing 1. Reconstruction of Housing (new) No 300 3 54 118% 2. Reconstruction of Housing (new) mz 26,246 29,913 114%

). Technical Assistance and Project Management I. Technical Assistance xson daq 30 35 117% 30 48 160% I. Training to beneficiaries :rson daq 2,398 4,927 205% 8,340 4,574 55% 3. Training to PMO staff xson da) 250 120 86% :. Beneficiaries I. Beneficiary Households No. 1,670 !. Beneficiary Population person 7,830

12 Annex 2. Project Costs and Financing

Annex 2a Project Cost by Component (in US $ thousand equivalent)\a

Project Component

\a The totals may not match due to rounding.

13 Annex 2b-1. Project Costs by Procurement Arrangements for Altai Prefecture (in US $ thousand equivalent)\a

Total 391 1,647 2,045 79 119 4,281 (294) (1,082) (1,344) (79) - (2,799)

14 \a The totals may not match due to rounding. \b Figures in parentheses represent the amounts financed by the IDA credit. \c NBF denotes non-Bank financing.

15 Annex 2b-2. Project Costs by Procurement Arrangements for Tacheng Prefecture (in US $ thousand equivalent)\a

\a The totals may not match due to rounding. \b Figures in parentheses represent the amounts financed by the IDA credit. \c NBF denotes non-Bank financing.

16 \a The totals may not match due to rounding. \b Figures m parentheses represent the amounts financed by the IDA credit. \c NBF denotes non-Bank financing.

17 Annex 2c-1. Project Financing by Component for Altai Prefecture (in US $ thousand equivalent)

.. Project Component Regional Prefecture'refecture County Beneficiaries Total IDA Government Governmentovernment Government A. Rehabilitation and Restoration of Animal Shed 1,202 208 208 2081208 1,826 1. Rehabilitation of Shed 4851485 84184 84184 84 I 737 2. Restoration of Shed 718 124 124 124 1,089

\a The totals may not match due to rounding.

. Artificial Pastu I 2. Pasture Imurovernent 21 61 21 3. Animal Forage Processing and Storage 3531 83 I 211 141 211 491 C. Restoration of Housing 4361 961 601 341 351 661 D. Technical Assistance and Project Management 30.6 75 0 37 142 TOTAL PROJECT COSTS 2,97 1 468 459 282 202 4,443

18 Annex 2c-2. Project Financing by Component for Tacheng Prefecture (in US $ thousand equivalent)

Project Component

2. Pasture lmprovement 2891 52 1 52 I 52) 444 3. Animal Forage Processing and Storage 2651 41 41 41 387 C. Restoration of Housing D. Technical Assistance and Project Management 22 16 16 16 69 TOTAL PROJECT COSTS 2,074 377 377 377 3,205

1 Artificial Pasture 2. Pasture Improvement 306 55 10 44 56 47 1 3. Animal Forage Processing and Storage 284 41 11 31 50 416 C. Restoration of Housing

I). Technical Assistance and Project Management 26 9 3 24 62 TOTAL PROJECT COSTS 2,135 377 69 336 362 3,278

19 Annex 3. Economic Costs and Benefits not applicable

Annex 4. Bank Inputs

(a) Missions: Stage of Project Cycle No. o Persons and Specialty Performar e Ratinn MontWYear Count Specialty Implementation Development Progress Objective IdentificatiodPreparation 05/01 AE, OP

AppraisaVNegotiation 0610 1 AE, OP, LS, E, FS, PS

Supervision 04/02 AE, OP, LS S 06/02 AE, OP S 10102 AE, OP, LS S

ICR 03/03 AE, OP S

AE = Agricultural Economist LS = Livestock pecialist E = Economist OP = Operations officer FS = Financial Specialist PS = Procurement Specialist

Stage of Project Cycle ActualILatest Estimate No. staff weeks us $(‘OOO) IdentificatiodPreDaration 5 11.6 AppraisalINegotiation 16 32.8 Supervision 23 54.8 ICR 5 12.5 Total 50 111.7

20 Annex 5. Ratings for Achievement of Objectives/Outputs of Components (H=High, SU=Substantial, M=Modest, N=Negligible, NA=Not Applicable)

Rating 0 Macro policies OH oSU OM ON oNA Sector Policies OH oSU OM ON oNA [XI Physical OH *SU OM ON oNA KI Financial OH *SU OM ON oNA El Institutional Development OH *SU OM ON oNA Kl Environmental OH oSU *M ON oNA

Social [XI Poverv Reduction OH *SU OM ON oNA 0 Gender OH oSU OM ON oNA Other (Please specifi) OH oSU OM ON oNA 0 Private sector development OH oSU OM ON oNA 13 Public sector management OH oSU OM ON oNA 13 Other (Please specifi) OH oSU OM ON oNA

Annex 6. Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (HS=Highly Satisfactory, S=Satisfactory, U=Unsatisfactory, HU=Highly Unsatisfactory)

6.1 Bank performance Rating

[E3 Lending oHS *S o U o HU Kl Supervision oHS OS o U o HU Kl Overall oHS *S o U o HU

6.2 Borrower performance Rating

KI Preparation oHS *S o U o HU iXI Government implementation performance oHS OS o U o HU El Implementation agency performance oHS *S o U o HU [XI Overall oHS *S o U o HU

Annex 7. List of Supporting Documents

Aide-Memoire of the ICR mission Quarterly Management Reports Consultant Reports for M&E Activity Consultant Reports for Grassland Management Activity Borrower’s ICR Regional PMO, Altai Prefecture, and Tacheng Prefecture

21 Annex 8. Borrower’s Implementation Completion Notes

8 .a. Altai Prefecture Implementation Completion Note 1. Introduction Project Background, During the period of October 2000 to the beginning of 2001, Xinjiang Altai Prefecture had a serious snow disasters of one in more than 60 years frequency. The average snow depth in plain areas was 0.5-lm, and it was 1-2m in mountainous areas. The period with snow cover was as long as 5 months. The continuous low temperature was the first during the past 50 years. Critical disasters made the immense damage to the animal husbandry of Arleta prefecture and to the herdsmen’s yield, living as well. There were 155 thousand herdsmen sufferers, 2.122 thousand frozen people, 2.952 million damaged animals, 12.3 thousand various kinds of dead animals, 2.248 animal sheds and 3.35 thousand herdsmen’ houses fallen in the disasters area, which caused a direct economic loss at 90.067 million. In order to assist herdsmen sufferers in regaining their husbandry manufacture as early as possible and strengthen their ability to protect them from the natural disasters, supported by senior departments, Arleta prefecture gained the emergency aid funds from the World Bank and enforced rehabilitation & rebuilding projects in Altai City, Qinghe County, Fuyun County, Jimunai County and Habahe County. Targeting. The aim of the project is to help herdsmen sufferers who are accordant with the aid terms of the World Bank and observe agreements relate to the project, help them normalize their production, and help them with their living order and improve herdsmen’ fundamental facilities as early as possible, so as to increase their ability of withstanding the natural disasters. The targets of the project are to rebuild 300 new houses for herdsmen and 244 animal sheds, maintain 1437 animal sheds, construct 38.9 thousand artificial grasslands, improve 7,OOOmu of grasslands, build 632 silages, purchase 238 pieces of machinery and equipment and train 2,398 people. Project Investments. The total investment funds of the project is 33.5661 million Yuan, at a loan of 20.7555 million Yuan from the World Bank among it; domestic fund is 9.1068 million Yuan which includes government fund: 6.5351 million Yuan and herdsmen self-raise fund: 2.5717 million Yuan. Funds arrangement: invest 5.467 million Yuan to rebuild 354 houses for herdsmen; invest 1.07 million Yuan to rebuild 915 new animal sheds; invest 6.173 million Yuan to maintain 1437 animal sheds; 8.9634 million Yuan to construct 30925mu artificial grasslands; 235.1 thousand Yuan to build 530silages; 266 thousand Yuan to purchase 48 machineries. 2. Project Implementation The project was approved in spring in 2001 and the implementation was launched out on 25* July 200 1. The chief achievements in 2001 were: had rehabilitated animal sheds; had completed the upgrading of animal sheds and construction of most of the silages. The chief achievement in 2002 was that: rebuilt houses for herdsmen; rebuilt animal sheds and artificial grasslands; improved grasslands, part of silages and machinery purchasing. Reconstruction of Housing for Herdsmen. The herdsmen’ houses in Habahe county, Fuyun county, Qinghe county started building on 5~ Jun. 2002 and completed in Nov. 2001, it passed through the check from checking & accepting team because it’s technique and quality were up to standard. Invest 5.467 million Yuan to build 354 herdsmen’ houses and it’s total size was 26,246 square meter. Animal Sheds Rehabilitation and Reconstruction. Sheds rehabilitation project started on 25” Jun. 2001 and finished at the end of the year, it took self-manage engineering formula in its progress. The actuate investment was 6.173 million Yuan which was to be used to finish repairing 1437 animal sheds, repairing size was 135,236 square meter. Sheds rebuilding project started in 5* Jun. 2002 and has finished completely now, it has been checked and accepted. The project invests 1.07

22 million Yuan and which is to be applied to finish rebuilding 915 animals sheds, construction size was 118,732 square meter. Grasslands Construction. Silages, artificial grasslands and grasslands improvement all were going on with self-manage engineering formula. Silages project started in Jun. 2001 and finished completely in Nov. 2002, invested 1.429 million Yuan for 530 silages. Artificial grasslands and grasslands improvement projects started to construct in April 2002 and completed in Oct. 2002, invested 8.963 million Yuan to complete 309250mu grasslands (5 1250mu sprinting grasslands among it); invested 235.1 thousand Yuan to improve 7000 mu grasslands; the total investment funds of the projects were 9.198 1 million Yuan. Technical Assistance and Project Administration, In March 2002, a speech hold by prairie specialists Dan Miller (American) and Cui HenXin (Chinese) in Urumqi, the topic of the speech was “ adventurous administration of the west prairie area of China, adventurous administration of the husbandry area and shift herding ”; whole members from all ranks of the project offices attended the speech. In September 2002, two specialists, Dan.Miller and Cui HenXin, made an on- the-spot investigation and direction in Arleta prefecture. In order to carry out the project smoothly, leading teams and project administration branches were established in counties (cities). There were three subsidiary work groups in county project administration branches: financial group, purchasing group and file group. Since the project ha been established, in accordance with the requirements of the World Bank, directed by senior project leading office, the project leading team and administration office developed their work in aspects of programmer design, organization & administration, superintendent & inspection, engineering superintendent and technical training. The organization was operating well so that assures the aim of the project had completed smoothly. In order to develop project work better, in accordance with the requirements of the World Bank, the project offices in each county and Arleta prefecture ever sent staff to attend the project training three times, they also went to Inner Mongolia for investigation and studying which organized by municipal project office. The project office equipped with the computer, scanner, photocopier and other modern office equipments. Project Adjustment. In order to make the implementation of the project be in keeping with the real circumstance of each county (city), the World Bank Office of Arleta prefecture handed over a report to the World Bank in April 2002, in which they asked to adjust projects and state reasons. In May 2002, they received the reply from the World Bank, adjusted “the silages project” in Jimunai county to “sprinting grasslands project”, changed Arleta shi and Qinghe county’ “processing facility” into “rebuilding animal sheds project”, adjusted “artificial grasslands project” in Fuyun county to “herdsmen housing and rebuilding sheds projects”. Procurement for the Project. In April 2002, the World Bank Inspecting Group inspected the circumstance of 2001 ’engineering construction of snow disasters project, all of the project counties started to collect quotations for bids on small-scale constructions (rebuilding of the herdsmen houses, animal’s sheds) and goods purchasing. All of the enquiries were answered at the beginning of May. Bidding Evaluation Team was setup and all of the quotations were evaluated. 25 May and 4* June 2002, the World Bank approved the first contract of Jimunai for sprinklers and the first contract of Altai municipal for rebuilding the animal sheds, prefecture PMO checked all of the project counties’ contracts, a total of 19 contracts were signed on small scale construction and goods procurement. And then the project implementation was started. During the period of June to the July 2002,the Arleta prefecture project office purchased some office equipments: 5 computers, 6 photocopiers, 6 scanners and 1 portable computer.

23 Project Payment. In order to enhance the fund administration, according to requirements from the World Bank & the project administration regulations, special account for WB loan and counterpart fund account were opened at prefecture and each of the project counties. At the end of Nov.2002, the accumulative total investment made was 33.5661 million Yuan, the accumulative total available funds were 29.8623 million Yuan in which 20.7555 million Yuan was WB loan, and 6.5351 million Yuan was counterpart fund from province, prefecture and county. And 2.5717 million Yuan was herdsmen labor investment. The accumulated payment was 25.4068 million, including herdsmen labor account 3.4657 million Yuan, small-scale construction 18.8071 million Yuan, 99.9 thousand Yuan was spent on project management and office facility. The prefecture PMO applied for reimbursement from the World Bank four times and got 2.07555 million back that reached 86.4% of the World Bank investment plan. Project supervision & assessment. According to the requirements from the World Bank, “project administration regulations” was made in Arleta prefecture. In the process of carrying out the project, people from municipal project office and prefecture project office had gone down to project counties (city) to inspect and to supervise. project staff also made strict inspection, supervision and checking at work. As for inspection, we adopted regular method and mixed with irregular method, inspected major areas thoroughly, and inspect scattered project sites by random way. And this played an important role in project supervision. All the data collected during the inspection were filed to guarantee a smooth project implementation. 3.Project Achievement and Impact Main Achievement. Because every task of the project was conducting with on-the spot inspection and adopting the herdsmen’ opinion as a base, the project construction was conducting objectively and has gained a good effect. The World Bank snow disasters project in Arleta prefecture has constructed 530 silages, repaired 1437 animal sheds and 30925mu artificial grasslands, improved 7000mu grasslands, rebuilt 244 animal sheds and 254 herdsmen houses. The project has trained 4927 herdsmen. There are 3946 beneficiaries’ families and 19,004 beneficiaries covering 3 counties, 1 city and 35 towns. Successful project implementation has assisted the beneficiaries in normalizing their production. Technical Influences. In autumn, 2001 and the spring, 2002, with careful preparation the project office in every county (city, town) made the training cause to the beneficiaries regularly, the contents of the training involved the World Bank project introduction, the standard of the project construction, the silages construction & its maintenance, the scientific farming, the forage manufacture, the preserve slulls, scientific herding etc. They also organized beneficiaries to have an on-the-spot inspection and visiting. There were 4927 herdsmen trainers and beneficiaries were satisfied with the training. In 2002, the county (city) project offices made after-supervision about the completed project and found that most of the herdsmen hap applied the facilities and practical techniques they had learned to their production, which had a positive on surrounding people. Environmental Influences. Implementation of the project has offered beneficiaries’ herdsmen houses, animals’ sheds, grasslands, silages and other living facilities. In winter, part of animals can be fed inside the sheds without marching to winter pasture far away; this has cut down destroy towards grasslands extremely, and has protected the biological environment efficiently. Social Influences. By means of news medium, wide publicity of the World Bank, the communication between herdsmen and visible construction site, all of these make sufferers and people of all social ranks understand the project deeply. It’s beyond all doubts that the World Bank’ aids to majority of herdsmen sufferers are especially on condition that our area suffered a series of disasters. This inspire sufferers with their enthusiasm to regain production and rebuild their houses, they participated in the project construction actively. By means of training courses,

24 the herdsmen have mastered the advanced husbandry technique, improved the scientific herding level, increased their income and caused wide-ranging social influences. 4. Experience We have accumulated rich working experience by means of project implementation, especially in terms of international project. We hardly ever carried out this sort of international project before, but by way of the practice, we cultivate some project talents and have established a good basis for a smooth development of the World Bank project which topic is “grasslands comprehensive development project”. In addition, face-to-face speaking with the herdsmen in the process of project implementation offered us an opportunity to accumulate our working experience; in the meanwhile, it’s also an opportunity that the herdsmen gave more credit to the government. According to the World Bank requirements for technique and quality, we have made a progress for the quality of the sheds construction. Certainly there were some problems in the process of the project implementation that we need to draw admonishments. First, at the initial stage of the project, our work was developing passively because our worlung staffs were unfamiliar with the project implementation regulations of the World Bank. Be aimed at this point, the town project sent people for reach and further studying, made the worlung situation changed inside out. Secondary, during the process of the artificial grasslands construction, there was migratory problem existed because short of consideration (comprehension) towards the snow disasters project, but we corrected it in time. 5. Project evaluation During the project implementation, great help was offered by the World Bank. A) during the preparation period, missions had been sent by the World Bank to come to the project counties to inspect. And set the clear objectives for the project. B) During the implementation, World Bank showed great concern and suggestions were provided to solve the problems. C) When the project was completed, training was provided on the preparation of the final report. And gave clear requirements. Their hard working spirit deeply impressed us. Though it is the first time for the prefecture and county leaders to implement World Bank project, they have been strictly doing the job according to the World Bank requirement, project management regulations were carefully studied, and the loan was distributed to the herdsmen as required by the World Bank. And repayment plan was also made. They frequently checked the progress of the implementation. Counterpart funds were allocated timely as planned. Project implementation was done according to the World Bank requirement, and it has already playing important role in the production in the project area. Requirements were given to the project counties to do a better job in later on management of the project to ensure bigger project benefit. Good cultivation management should be done to the artificial and upgraded pastureland to increase grass yield. Further cares should be given to the newly built and upgraded animal sheds and houses of the herdsmen. And more training should be provided to the herdsmen. And the loan repayment should be done according to the plan. Data bank of the project herdsmen and their production should be established by using the available computers.

ALETAI PREFECTURE PMO 13TH,Nov. 2002

25 8 .b. Tacheng Prefecture Implementation Completion Note There had been very heavy snowfalls and abruptly temperature falling happening in TaCheng region since the beginning of the winter of 2000.There had been 35 heavy snowfalls happening in more than 80 days. The depth of the snowfall in plain area is about 1 meter deep and in mountain area is about 2 meters deep. The snowfall did not thaw until 5 months later. And the lowest temperature reached the minus 37 degree centigrade. Because the snowfall calamities had hit a vast area, the city of TaCheng and the county of TouLee, the county of Emin, the county of YuMin, the county of HeFeng were hit by the snowfall calamities badly. At the same time, the areas mentioned above suffered from the strong destroying gale and abruptly temperature falling and the heavy snowfalls in the first ten days of the April of 2001.The grade of the strong destroying gale reached to the 9th to 10* grade and even to the 12& grade in some areas. These natural calamities cost our TaCheng region a great deal. There had been 174 thousand people influenced by the snowfall calamities, and 1.9 million domestic animals influenced by the snowfall calamities. 9 herdsmen were killed in the snowfall calamities and 50 herdsmen were injured badly. There were 21 thousand domestic animals were llled in the snowfall calamities. In the snowfall calamities, 1137 dwelling houses were destroyed in the snowfall calamities and 2959 dwelling houses were damaged. 7890 cattle pens were totally destroyed or badly damaged by the calamities, which cost the loss of 165 million Yuan. There had been 84.6 thousand people hit by the snowfall calamities in most seriously influenced areas such as the county of Emin, the county of YuMin and the city of TaCheng. And 1.026 million domestics animals were hit by the natural snowfall calamities. And there had been 5 herdsmen were killed in the snowfall calamities, and 12.8 thousand domestics animals were killed in those areas, in addition to those losses, 6757 dwelling houses and cattle pens were totally destroyed and badly damaged. The areas mentioned above suffered the losses of 100 million Yuan. Objectives. The objectives of rebuilding items in TaCheng region after the snowfall calamities were to solve the problems that the herdsmen in the city of TaCheng and the county of Emin, the county of YuMin, the county of HeFeng, the county of TouLee had with their production and their lives, and to solve the problem of the production of snowfall calamities-stricken areas and help the beneficiaries houses to give enough forage to their domestics animals in the biting cold season and helping them to enhance the ability of protecting against the snowfall calamities. Implementation Plan There was the whole investment of 3.28 million dollars according to the planning of carrying out the items, in which there was 2.14 million Yuan form the World Bank’s aiding loans (1630000 SDR), and in which there was 1.14 million Yuan from the domestics funds. At present, we have finished all construction items under the all investment of 26.8303 million Yuan. And we have finished the constructive items under 25.0862 million Yuan. And the amount of the drawing of the application was 16.306 million Yuan. And the amount of the rendering the account of the purchasing goods was 1.6372 million Yuan; the amount of the drawing of the application was 1.2279 million Yuan. The amount of the rendering the account of the offices of items and the training the herdsmen was 167.1 thousand Yuan. Repair of cattle pens The cattle pens had been repaired completely by the Nov. of 2001. And rendering the account had been done to the World Bank by the middle of the April of 2002. The total amount of the rendering the account was 5.1079 million Yuan, in which the amount of drawing of the application was

26 3.3203 million Yuan. There had been 1 11.0405 square meters of the cattle pens repaired and there had been 1274 beneficiary households in the whole region. 1,7007 million Yuan was invested in the city of TaCheng.36.971 thousand square meters of the cattle pens was repaired and there had been 473 beneficiary households in the city of TaCheng. 1.4592 million Yuan was invested in the county of Emin. 31.7215 thousand square meters of the cattle pens was repaired and 303 beneficiary households in the county Emin. 462.3 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of TouLee.10.049 thousand meters of the cattle pens was repaired and 100 beneficiary households in the county of TouLee.1.1007 million Yuan was invested in the YuMin County. 23.928 square meters of the cattle pens was repaired and 305 beneficiary households in the county of YuMin. 385.1 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of HeFeng. 8.371 square meters of the cattle pens was repaired and 93 beneficiary households in the county of HeFeng. Construction of cattle pens The cattle pens had been totally finished according to the planning by the 11' of Nov. 2002 in ow region. The cattle pens had been checked and accepted and put into use. 8.1408 million Yuan had been invested totally into the constructions of the cattle pens, in which 5.29 million Yuan was used fkom the loans of the World Bank. 69.592 thousand square meters of the cattle pens was built under the funds and there had been 745 beneficiary households. 2.64 million Yuan was invested in the city of TaCheng. 29.040 square meters of the cattle pens was built there and there had been 264 beneficiary households in the city of TaCheng. 2.1045 million Yuan was invested in the county of Emin.15.440 square meters of the cattle pens was built there and there had been 193 beneficiary households in the county of Emin. 961 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of TouLee. 6.746 thousand square meters of the cattle pens was built and there had been 97 beneficiary households in the county of TouLee. 1.673 million Yuan was invested in the county of YuMin. 11345 square meters of the cattle pens was built and there had been 116 beneficiary households in the county of YuMin. 762 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of HeFeng. 5.521 thousand square meters of the cattle pens was built and there had been 75 beneficiaries in the county of HeFeng. Construction of grasslands The constructions of the artificial grasslands had been finished completely by the June of 2002 under the investment of the 5.5985 million Yuan, in which 3.639 million Yuan was used form the loans of the World Bank. There were 26.286 thousand mu of the newly-built artificial grasslands that had been finished and there had been 8 16 beneficiary households in our region. 1.7725 million Yuan was invested in the city of TaCheng. 8306 mu of the newly-built artificial grasslands was finished and there had been 286 beneficiary households in the city of TaCheng. 1.4673 million Yuan was invested in the county of Emin. 6.962 thousand mu of the artificial grasslands was finished and there had been 218 beneficiary households in the county of Emin. 1.1623 million Yuan was invested in the county of YuMin. 5.508 thousand mu of the artificial grasslands was finished and there had been 1 11 beneficiary households in the county of YuMin. 561.7 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of HeFeng. 2.442 thousand mu of the artificial grasslands was finished and there had been 126 beneficiary households in the county of HeFeng. Construction of reforming of grasslands The construction of reforming the grasslands had been totally finished by September of 2002. The amount of the investment for the reforming the grasslands was 3.8859 million Yuan, in which 2.5258 million Yuan was from the World Bank's loans fund.101.938 square mu of the grasslands had been reformed and there had been 680 beneficiary households in our whole region. 1.2156 million Yuan was invested in the city of TaCheng. 29.650 square mu of the grasslands had been reformed and there had been 147 beneficiary households in the city of TaCheng. 1.0701 million Yuan was invested in the county of Emin. 26.1 thousand square mu of grasslands was reformed and there had been 262 beneficiary households in the county of Emin. 446.9 thousand Yuan was

27 invested in the county of TouLee. 10.9 thousand square mu of the grasslands had been reformed and there had been 55 beneficiary households in the county of TouLee. 805.8 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of YuMin. 24.455 square mu of the grasslands had been reformed and there had been 122 beneficiary households in the county of YuMin. 347.5 thousand Yuan was invested in the county of HeFeng. 10.833 square mu of grasslands had been reformed and there had been 94 beneficiary households in the county of HeFeng. Purchasing of the pasture seeds We had signed the contract that we bought the 30 tons of the seeds of pasturage from the XinJiang CAOYE technical company (worthy of 444 thousand Yuan). Then we had allocated the pasture seeds to the city of TaCheng, the county of Emin, the county of YuMin, the county of TouLee. And we had finished rendering the account. We had already got 333 thousand Yuan. Purchasing of grass-mowing machines We had purchased the grass mowing machines according to the purchasing procedures of the World Bank in the Sep.20* 2002. And we had sign the contracts that we bought 85 17-horsepower tractors and 48 grass-mowing machines and 109 disintegrators from TaCheng NONGJU company, TaCheng FengYuan Company, TaCheng farming-machines company respectively. At the same time, the county of TouLee had signed the contracts that the county of TouLee purchased 35 17- horsepower tractors from the TaCheng FengYuan Company and the county of TouLee had signed the contracts that the county of TouLee purchased 51 disintegrators from the TaCheng farming - machines company under the permission of the World Bank on the second time. The purchasing mentioned above totally cost 1.07 million Yuan, in which 802.5 thousand Yuan was used from the loans of the World Bank. At present all machines purchased are put into use under the request of the World Bank. Training of herdsmen By far 4574 people have been trained. According to the plans, 100% herdsmen have been trained. Because the trainees were trained on-site, the expenses spent were less than the ones we had planned. Altogether we have spent 136.1 thousand Yuan. 1550 herdsmen have been trained in the city of TaCheng. 914 herdsmen have been trained in the county of YuMin. 1286 herdsmen have been trained in the county of Emin. 408 herdsmen have been trained in the county of TouLee. 416 herdsmen have been trained in the county of HeFeng. Some herders were trained twice. Plan Adjustments During the time of carrying out the items plans, because the actual cost was different from the planning cost and the beneficiary households selected in the county of HeFeng didn’t live up to the requirement of the World Bank, we had adjusted some items into purchasing goods under the permission of the World Bank. The items had been adjusted from 1.52 million SDR to 1.505739 million SDR and the goods had been adjusted from 77 thousand SDR to 111.791 thousand SDR and the training had been adjusted from 25 thousand SDR to 12.5 thousand SDR on the condition that the whole amount of the loans was 1.63 million SDR unchanged. And the money form domestics had been adjusted by 35 % under the require of the World Bank. Procurement All the purchasing items were done by the require of the World Bank. But when the clerks from the county of Emin they had signed the purchasing contracts, they had signed the contracts the expenses of which were beyond the limit of the World Bank without understanding the require of the World Bank. The engineering contracts’ expenses they had signed about the cattle pens were beyond the limit of the World Bank. And the contracts’ expenses they had signed about the reforming the grassland were beyond the limit of the World Bank. The county of Emin had

28 explained the events to the World Bank and the World Bank had already accepted the accounts forwarded by the county of Emin. Disbursement The purchasing items had been done according to the require of the World Bank carefully. We paid the money after the items had been finished and checked and accepted. Supervision and evaluation Because the engineering items were done by the beneficiary houses themselves, the supervising of the items was in the charge of the qualified departments. The departments mainly checked the qualities of the mending cattle pens and the newly-built cattle pens. And the departments checked the qualities of the reforming the grasslands and the newly-built grasslands, and the qualities of the newly-built vaults for the storing the green forage. The whole items were finished by the constructive standards of the World Bank carefully, so every subordinate item lived up to the standards of the World Bank. Main achievements and impact The main achievements. 179.632 thousand square meters of cattle pens had been finished and repaired, which can make sure that 250 thousand sheep live through the biting cold winter. 101.938 square mu of the grasslands had been reformed and 33.283 square mu of the grasslands had been newly built, which can be estimated to yield 24 thousand tons of the hay which can meet the require of 80 thousand sheep. 33.283 thousand square meters of the vaults for green forage had been finished which can store 24 thousand tons of the green forage which can meet the require of 40 thousand sheep to live through the winter. 4574 herdsmen were trained to let them acquire the knowledge about the making the forage and raising the domestic animals in winter and the planting the pasture grass. Environmental and Social Benejits. We has solved the problems that the herdsmen hit by the snowfall calamities wanted the forage to feed their domestic animals. And we had bettered the ecology environments by protecting and newly built the grasslands. And the grasslands were protected well. The grasslands now can yield more pasture grass. We had helped the herdsmen to live through the biting cold winter and we had kept the society stable. More and more people come to know the World Bank and the people in our region show great enthusiasm to the World Bank. Lessons and experience. We have learnt a lot of scientific methods of management and the strict handle procedures and the careful attitudes of the officers from the World Bank. And at the same time, a lot of clerks were trained to learn the handle procedures of the World Bank. We have accumulated lots of experience to handle the items of the World Bank. There had great differences between the World Bank and us in the items management and the handling procedures. There were some problems existing in the handling the procedures because we had contacted the foreign capital of the World Bank the first time. The selecting the beneficiary households in the county of Emin and HeFeng didn’t accord with the require of the World Bank. We reselected the beneficiary households in the counties of Emin and HeFeng after the World Bank had found the beneficiary households chosen didn’t accord with the require of the World Bank. And we reselected 33 new beneficiary households in the county of HeFeng to help them with goods instead of construction with the permission of the World Bank (greater area). And the areas of some newly built cattle pens in the city of TaCheng were too large beyond the require of the

29 World Bank. And 12 cattle pens were built with the soil tampered walls in order to reduce the cost, which would reduce the consistence of the walls of the cattle pens. We had asked the city of TaCheng to rebuild the walls of the 12 cattle pens mentioned above. And the expenses of the newly built cattle pens in the county of Emin were excess of the permission of the World Bank, at the same time, the expenses of the reforming the grasslands were excess of the permission of the World Bank, from which we understand that we must obey the rules of the World Bank to make sure the items go smoothly. Assessments World Bank Though the emergent aiding items from the World Bank to our region were not in the large scale, the World Bank had given us an ocean of helps when the clerks of our region had some difficulties in understanding the require of the World Bank. The officers of the World Bank had come to our region 4 times to check our work and offer us a great deal of helps in the whole 2001. They had pointed out the mistakes which we made in the handling the items and they had taught us how to handle them correctly. We had communicated with the World Bank frequently and got the useful information in time, which was the key factors by which we had finished the items successfully. Borrower. The emergent aiding items from the World Bank to our TaCheng region were greatly supported by the communism committees and the communism governments. The beneficiary households and the company carrying into execution they had showed great enthusiasm to the World Bank. They had tried their best to carry out the items with the require of World Bank. There were still some problems existing in the processing of the handling the items for the opinions we hold differ from the World Bank’s. We immediately correct the mistakes which we made in the handling the items when the officer of the World Bank pointed them out. Administering agencies were founded according to the require of the World Bank ranging from the prefecture to the village & town to manage the handling the emergent aiding items. Special clerks were sent to see to the handling the items. And the TaCheng prefecture had know the 20% of the processing information about the beneficiary households and the handling items. And the counties and the villages & towns had know the 100% of the processing information about the beneficiary households and the handling items. At present we had finished all the constructive items under the order of the World Bank. And we deal with the surplus funds which came form the changed interests by purchasing the pasture grass- processing machines and handing them out to the beneficiary households or new beneficiary households. At present all constructive items had been checked and accepted, which have been handed over to the beneficiary households to use. According to the information we have collected, the beneficiary households were very satisfied to the qualities of the constructive items. The newly- built and the repaired cattle pens make sure that the herdsmen could let their domestics animals live through the winter. Compared with the traditional cattle pens, the newly built cattle pens will husband 20% forage. And the surviving rate of the lambs was improved. The reforming grasslands have taken on a new look, which yield 20% to 30% more grass than the last year. 90% herdsmen are using the newly-built vaults for the green forages. There are about 20 thousand tons of forages stored to make sure that the domestics animals in our region can live through the winter. The herdsmen were very satisfied to the pasture grass processing machines, which can help the herdsmen mow, transport, disintegrate the pasture grass and help the other herdsmen to mow and transport the pasture grass to benefit. The artificial grasslands will benefit well in the future if they are managed well.

30 Costs and Benefits. The death rate of the domestics animals have been reduced and the surviving rate of the lambs have been increased. And the periods of the domestics animals’ getting maturing have been shorten. The output of the pasture grass has been increased. Every beneficiary household must pay 10 thousand Yuan back to the World Bank, which can be paid off in 5 to 8 years for the surviving rate of the domestics animals has been increased and the cost of the forage has been reduced by the aiding items of the World Bank. Every animal can get 15 to 20 Yuan more than before, by which every beneficiary house can pay off the 10 thousand Yuan in 5 to 8 years. Behavior of the World Bank and Borrower The strict and scientific methods of management and the handling procedures embody the open, fair and square, transparent principles, especially the careful attitudes and the precise workmg of officers of the World Bank gave the local clerks deep impressions. And the diligence and the hardworkmg of the officers of the World Bank were the key factors to the finishing the items. The herdsmen showed the great enthusiasm to the World Bank’s items, so did the local governments and communism committees. Though there were some problems existing during the items were handled, the World Bank and the whole TaCheng region have overcome the problems together. Future Plans. In order to make sure the items can yield the most benefit and help the beneficiary households overcome the problems they would meet in the future. The items offices in our region will be lasted for a long time to sever the beneficiary households and train the herdsmen and help the treasury departments in our region to reclaim the loans from the World Bank. And we will sum up the experience and the lessons form the processing the items with the World Bank in order to do the best work with the World Bank in the future.

TaCheng Prefecture PMO March, 2003

31 Annex 9. Photographs

Animal shed destroyed by snowstorm, early 2001.

Construction of new brick shed.

32 Severely deteriorated grassland, spring 200 1.

New alfalfa production.

33