Facilitating Recovery and Resilience to Food Crises in Nara Cercle; Duwute in Agreement No. AID-FFP-G-12-00056 Project Start Date: September 20, 2012 Project Completion Date: September 30, 2013

Second Quarter Narrative Report Reporting Period: January to March 2013 (FY13 Q2) Submitted: 30 April 2013

MALI - Nara Cercle

Catholic Relief Services , Mali April 30, 2013 In Country Contact Person: Headquarters Contact: Sean Gallagher, Country Representative Paul Rebman, Public Donor Liaison Catholic Relief Services-Mali Catholic Relief Services (P): +223-7640-9300 (P) +1-410-951-7364 (Email) [email protected] (Email) [email protected]

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I. Introduction In August 2012, CRS submitted an Emergency Food Security Project entitled “Facilitating Recovery and Resilience to Food Crises in Nara Cercle – ‘Duwute1’” to USAID. Project Duwute will facilitate the recovery and resilience of 6,415 poor and very poor households following the 2011- 2012 food crisis. The project plans to achieve this goal by supporting targeted households with conditional cash transfers during critical periods of the seasonal calendar, as well as providing training in improved agricultural/natural resource management, feeding behaviors, and the establishment of village early warning systems. USAID provided a pre-award authorization on September 17, 2012 to begin operations, and the project was formally approved on September 20, 2012.

Initially, the project was to cover 56 villages in the four communes of , Gueneibe, Guire and Dogofry. Due to insecurity in Guire, CRS submitted a request to USAID on December 27, 2012, asking formal approval to:

- remove Guire from the project, and - increase the number of beneficiaries from the remaining three communes, keeping the overall beneficiary target constant.

USAID approved these changes on 26 January 2013. As a result, the project is now targeting a total of 50 villages in the three remaining communes, with 15 villages in Koronga, 15 in Gueneibe and 20 in Dogofry.

This quarterly report provides information on the activities carried out during the second quarter of the project from January to March 2013.

II. Operational Context Insecurity was a major issue during the reporting period. Armed groups (Ansar Dine, AQIM, MUJAO, MNLA) controlling the northern regions of Goa, Tombouctou and Kidal began an offensive in January, pushing to capture sites in the Mopti and northern Segou regions of central Mali. The Malian government requested French and ECOWAS military assistance to repel the attack. Both the French and ECOWAS responded positively, sending troops to assist in securing government-held areas and to subsequently go on the offensive, to retake areas of the north. While the MNLA switched allegiances and began working with the French forces to secure , most rebels from the other groups (Ansar Dine, AQIM and MUJAO) had withdrawn from major population centers in the North by the beginning of February, retreating into the remote desert areas or across the borders into neighboring countries. On-going skirmishes and rebel suicide attacks continued throughout the reporting period in the North. There has also been a rise in banditry within the North and Central regions.

While the CRS project site in Nara lies to the west of the main conflict zone, rebel groups were reported to be moving through the area during mid-January and project activities were suspended during this period as the French military imposed restrictions on vehicle movements.

1 Duwute means “to support oneself” in the Soninke language

2 III. Summary of Achievements for Quarter 2 (Jan - March 2013) CRS received USAID approval for the sub-contracting of its local partner, Centre Sahélien de Prestation, d’Etudes, d’Ecodéveloppement et de Démocratie Appliquée (CSPEEDA), at the beginning of the reporting period in January. CRS was therefore able to sign the subagreement with the CSPPEDA that month, with an effective date of December 1, 2012.

CSPPEDA has ten field agents working within the targeted communes, four agents in Dogofry and three agents each in Gueneibe and Koronga. During the quarter, the field agents organized general assemblies in each of the 50 targeted villages to inform people regarding the project objectives and activities, beneficiary targets and selection criteria, and organizational structures.

SO1. Poor Households have increased access to food between the 2012 and 2013 harvests

IR 1.1 Very poor households protect cereal stocks IR 1.2 Poor households purchase food in markets and/or other food outlets

Under this objective, targeted households in 50 communities were to be provided with access to cash for work opportunities to support them in addressing their household food needs. These activities were planned in two phases:  Cash for work (CFW) for 1,874 very poor households from November to January  Cash for work (CFW) for 4, 541 poor households from April to June 2013.

As of the end of March, 49 community infrastructure projects had been identified and validated, with the participation on the local communities and the relevant government technical services. Table 1 provides an overview of the types of projects being undertaken. Several were not the current community development plan and, for these projects, the community councils are following up to integrate the projects in the plans. Two of the proposed projects involved the construction of small dams/retention walls. A topographical study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of these structures, and the results were positive for both. Procurement and delivery of project materials was on-going as of the end of the reporting period, with the procurement completed for 24 sites. Work had been initiated at five of the sites.

Table 1. Summary of Cash-for-Work Community Infrastructure Projects Type of Infrastructure Project # of Projects Vaccination Parks 7 Construction of Micro Dam 1 Rehabilitation of Micro Dam 1 Filtering Dike/Weir 2 Water Spillway 1 Garden fencing 9 Pastoral Wells (for animals) 14 Deepening of Ponds (for watering of animals) 1 Fish ponds 6 Community grain storage 6 Road maintenance 1 Total 49

In order to carry out the infrastructure projects, two village committees have been established in each of the 50 target sites. The first committee assists with the selection of cash for work participants,

3 while the second hears and helps to resolve any issues or complaints. The beneficiary selection committees each have four members while the mediation committees have three members. There is at least one woman on each committee. The committee members have received training on their roles and responsibilities, and the committees have validated the beneficiary selection criteria being used for this project.

Seventeen sites had originally been identified for the payment of beneficiaries during the first quarter of the project. During this quarter, all of these sites were validated in conjunction with the communities and two additional payment sites were added. The opinions and requests of beneficiaries were taken into consideration during the selection of the 19 payment sites. CRS met with Orange telecommunications network representatives, to explore the possibility of using Orange Money for cash transfers to beneficiaries in Nara. It was noted that this service is not currently available for the Nara area, but CRS and Orange will remain in contact to see if this may become an option in the future.

A survey was also conducted to identify the markets accessed by project beneficiaries. Eleven sites were identified. The availability and prices of basic food commodities in these markets will be monitored over the course of the project. The first monitoring took place in February.

SO 2. Poor households have increased their human, social and natural capital

IR 2.1 Poor households practice improved natural resource management and production techniques. IR 2.2 Households practice improved feeding behaviors IR 2.3 Targeted communities are implementing strategies to reduce the effects of shocks

Under this objective, it is anticipated that 1,680 poor households will increase their human, social and natural capital through participation in capacity building trainings and information sessions. All these efforts are aimed at enabling the households to better adapt and survive recurring food crises.

Table 2 summarized the staff trainings conducted during the reporting period.

Table 2. Staff Trainings during Reporting Period

Topic Participants Material Covered Facilitators Nutrition 15 nutrition Essential Actions in Nutrition Nutrition Focal Point – Regional animators Dept of Health ; Nutrition Focal Point – Referral Health Centre (CSREF) Nara; CRS PM SILC/Hearth – Food For Education Program Early 15 field staff + Training of trainers on tracking Regional Coordinator of the Warning members of trigger indicators for disasters and Système d’Alerte Précoce du risqué System Africare reporting exceptional events for alimentaire (SAP) – Koulikoro; Emergency Early Warning and CRS Acting MYAP Coordinator

4 Response committees

Following the trainings, staff worked with the 50 targeted communities to form Emergency Early Warning and Response Committees in each village. Every committee has ten members, at least two of whom are women. The committees are scheduled to hold their first meetings in April. Trainings were conducted for the 500 committee members during the quarter, focusing on the following topics:

- Definition of food security - The significance of Early Warning and Response Systems in reducing food insecurity - The roles and responsibilities of the Emergency Early Warning System and Response Committees - Information collection at the village level (i.e., Early Warning System questionnaires) and the system for the transmission of early warning information

Photo 1. Training Members of the Emergency Early Warning and Response Committees in the Measurement of Rainfall

IV. Challenges Encountered

The project has encountered several delays, including the following:

- The signing of the sub-partner agreement between CRS and CSPEEDA was delayed, temporarily delaying implementation. This approval has now been received and program implementation with CSPEEDA has moved forward.

5 - The renewal of fighting in the northern and central regions of the country delayed aspects of project implementation. Staff were unable to move to the project sites during parts of January, which required the rescheduling of site visits and trainings. - The Baseline for the project has not yet been undertaken. This activity is still pending.

Due to these delays, priority has been given to the completion of the CFW activities. The timeframe for the first round of CFW projects (originally November – January) has been pushed back to April – June, and the second round of CFW projects (originally April – June) has been pushed back a month and will now take place from May – July.

Additional challenges include:

- illiteracy among members of the Emergency Early Warning and Response Committees. The indicator tracking data collection has been simplified, using signs/pictures to assist people in understanding the various indicators.

- Absence of heads of households during the beneficiary selection process, as many travel in search of opportunities to obtain food for their families. Field staff have undertaken extensive sensitization regarding the project and are working closely with the local leaders to identify and include the most vulnerable households in the project.

V. Third Quarter Planning

During the next quarter, the following activities will be undertaken:

- Completion of the baseline study - Completion of first round of CFW projects - Advancement of second round of CFW projects - Regular monitoring of markets - Commencement of trainings on NRM, Agriculture/Livestock and food storage practices for community members - Commencement of trainings on Nutrition for community members - Provision of support to Emergency Early Warning and Response Committees for monitoring of trigger indicators

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