Assosa - Guba Road Project - Phase 1: Feasibility and EIA Study Executive Summary - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ~~ Project Description Public Disclosure Authorized - The road project under consideration is located in the Benishangul-Gumuz National Regional State (BGNRS) in the western part of the country, about 680 km and 690 km from Addis Ababa for Assosa and Guba, respectively. It represents a potentially important intra-Regional link between Assosa in the south and Guba in the north (Annex A Map 2). The area of influence falls entirely within the Abay River (Blue Nile) basin and includes most part of its major tributary Dabus River Basin. The drainage flows predominantly in a northward direction, while the Abay itself turns westwards into Sudan near Bambudi in the north of the project area. The road project is approximately 219 km long of which some 80 km is presently impassable and the remainder gravel or cleared access. Further, there is an approximately 250 meter unbridged river crossing over the Blue Nile about 50 km south of Guba, as well as a number of other river crossings. Some 80 km of the proposed road alignment is new, or follows only old trading tracks and/or Old Italian military roads. This part of the road will pass through a rolling to hilly area, for which Public Disclosure Authorized there are few secondary data resources. The current development objective of the road is to access agricultural potential in the Region and to provide intra Regional links in Benishangul-Gumuz. This is consistent with other development plans for the Region, notably the Abay River Basin Master Plan. Potential includes the development of large-scale irrigated agriculture in the Abay River Valley, and perhaps, the Dabus. In addition, the Region is believed to have mineral deposits, primarily gold, marble and base metals. The desire is to open the area to exploration and subsequent resource extraction. The EIA The EIA consisted of scoping according to Ethiopian EPA standards, a biological survey, a socio-economic baseline study, and five public consultations held with Public Disclosure Authorized affected communities. In order to assess the potential impacts of the road works, propose possible mitigation measures and establish an environmental management plan, the Consultant assumed a work methodology based on the normal approach that most contractors would apply to execute the types of works anticipated for the project road. The EIA was conducted very early in the road design process at a time when information about the alignment and the final road standard was still being developed. As a result, the EIA has played a very useful role in the site selection process. \ This was particularly true of the results of the biological survey, which were needed to select among the alternatives for the part of the road that will be new construction. The result of the biological survey supported and confirmed the selection of Alternative IV, and is consistent with the approach of the engineering team in analysing alternatives. An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was prepared and scoped in terms of the Public Disclosure Authorized institutional requirements for its implementation. Monitoring is a key component of the EMP and a critical activity to be conducted throughout all phases of the project cycle. A monitoring program has been outlined as well as the institutional requirements and responsibilities for implementing the environmental management plan. At this early stage, the cost for implementing the EMP is anticipated to be 2-3% of total project costs. Assosa - Guba Road Project - Phase 1: Feasibility and EIA Study Executive Summary Existing Conditions Social Situation The current access to parts of the project area (from Komosha Junction to the Blue Nile) is in very bad condition with access into the Region being quite limited. This has inhibited the delivery of services, which are not adequate to cover the basic health care or educational needs of the local population. Government statistics suppod this conclusion as the Region has some of the highest infant mortality and morbidity rates in the country. The 1994 Census data indicates that the total population of the Region in 1994 was some 460,000 people, of whom 92% lived in the rural areas, and only 8% lived in the urban areas. By the year 2030 the population of the Region is expected to be almost double the current population. This will also be the case for those woredas in the 201. The major ethnic groups in the Region were: Berta (Jeblawi) 25.1%. Gumuz 23.3%, Amhara (22.2%), Oromo (12.8%), Shinasha (7.0%) and AgewlAwingi (3.8%). Other groups made up 5.8% of the total population in the Region (see Table 4.21). The data and indications from the Regional offices imply that there is still a considerable amount of migration into Benishangul-Gumuz Region from other Regions. Results from the Household Survey conducted during this study indicate that 14.5% of the survey samples are recent migrants, of which about one third live in the Mankush area. Recent migrants also tended to settle in the Komosha-Menge- Sherkole and Yarenje-Yabulu areas. About a third of the zone of influence population is of non-indigenous origin. In 1994, some 262,000 people were economically active in the Region, Le. approximately 57% of the total population of the Region. Within the zone of influence, the main occupation is farming (79% of respondents). 6% of respondents were traders and 5% were government workers. Nearly 40% of the households were involved in panning for, and selling, gold. Other activities from which income is derived are the sale of firewood, charcoal, thatch, and honey. Men were mainly involved in wage employment (69% of respondents), and were also mainly responsible for income derived from the sale of charcoal (76%), thatchlgrass (70%), honey (90%) and gold (52%). Women were mainly responsible for income from firewood (63%). Women have the main transport burden, being responsible for collecting water and firewood (>55% of respondents). The Survey indicated that men make the most trips to the market (54%), and to the fields. In the project area, donkeys are used for carrying goods by men, women and children, but mostly by men only (73%). Donkey carts are for the most part used by men for transporting crops (for example to and from markets or from the field). Women almost always walk and head-load. As women have limited access to the household income, their access to transport modes is restricted. Donkeys are generally controlled by men and are not made available for domestic transport unless the trip distances are relatively large. Assosa - Guba Road Project L Phase 1: Feasibility and EIA Study Executive Summary Other forms of intermediate transport are hardly used in the project area; only 2.6% of ti cultural, as there is no tradition of using bicycles for loads. Statistics show that there is a significant gender imbalance in literacy rate, school enrolment and attendance, both at national level and in Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Almost all primary school pupils in Ethiopia go to school on foot in both urban and rural areas. More than 90% of the secondary school pupil’s walk to reach the school, while around 7% uses public transport. It seems unlikely that road improvement will have much direct impact on school attendance, since few families could afford to send their children by public transport, even if available, or to provide them with bicycles. In the Assosa - Benshangul Mineralised belt there are four important primary gold occurrences with three base metal occurrence. The principal primary deposit is at Dul and the other area is Azale- Akendeyu, which is a potential deposit of copper and zinc. Indications are that there is a possible association of gold and silver and small-scale exploration works for gold and base metals are continuing on the course of Sherkole River, based on family mining. Artisan gold mining is widespread throughout the BGNRS. Gold is currently recovered on a small scale by local people primarily from riverine sources. According to studies conducted by the M.E.D. (Mines and Energy Department), artisan miners are working in all three zones: Assosa zone, Metekel zone and Kemash zone. The number of artisan gold miners has been estimated to be between 55,000 to 65,000. On average 180 kg of gold is mined each month of the mining season (February-April). The duration of mining operation varies from place to place, depending on the availability of water for washing the sediments of alluvial deposits. Generally, 3-4 members are employed in mining for income generation. It is observed that 6570% women and 5% children actively work on artisan mining operations at Metekel zone and Assosa zone. Work conditions can be dangerous. Biodiversity and the Natural Environment Water is a limiting factor in the Region and as such must be treated as a sensitive environmental resource. The two principal vegetation types that occur in the project area are: the Combretum-Terminalia woodland and the riparian/riverine and swamp vegetation. The floristic composition of this vegetation type is dependent on altitude and geographical location. A number of unique species to Ethiopia and Benshangul were observed. These include: Zygotritonia praecox (known so far only from west Africa), Crinum subcernum (known so far only from southern Tanzania and Zimbabwe) (Annex 6: Photo 3). In addition, rare plants such as Gladiolus daleni (Annex B: Photo 7) and Merremia gallabatenis (Annex 6: Photo 8) are found in the general area. Thus the Region hosts a diversity of unique flora. The swamp and wetland vegetation is very important, contributing to the biodiversity of the area. It consists mainly of sedges, grasses, orchids (Annex B Photo 4).