Completion Report Project Number: 38417-022 Grant Number: 0219 June 2020 Nepal: Community Irrigation Project This document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with ADB’s Access to Information Policy. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency unit – Nepalese rupee/s (NRe/NRs) At Appraisal At Project Completion 28 May 2010 15 July 2018 NRe1.00 = $0.01 $0.01 $1.00 = NRs74.98 NRs109.55 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank CIP – Community Irrigation Project CSO – civil society organization DADO – District Agriculture Development Office DCO – district coordination office DDC – district development committee DICC – district implementation coordination committee DMF – design and monitoring framework DOLIDAR – Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads DTO – district technical office EARF – environmental assessment and review framework EIA – environmental impact assessment EIRR – economic internal rate of return EOCC – economic opportunity cost of capital EMP – environmental management plan FAC – feasibility approval committee FAR – feasibility assessment report FFS – farmer field school FMIS – farmer-managed irrigation systems GAP – gender action plan GDP – gross domestic product GESI – gender equality and social inclusion GESI-AP – gender equality and social inclusion action plan GON – Government of Nepal ha – hectare IEE – initial environmental examination ISF – irrigation service fee LDO – local development officer M&E – monitoring and evaluation MFI – microfinance institution MIS – management information system MOLD – Ministry of Local Development NCB – national competitive bidding NGO – nongovernment organization NPC – National Planning Commission O&M – operation and maintenance PAM – project administration manual PCU – project coordination unit PIU – project implementation unit PMISC – Project Management and Implementation Support Consultant REA – rapid environmental assessment RMDC – Rural Microfinance Development Center STW – shallow tube well t – metric ton VBFT – village-based field team VDC – village development committee WUA – water users’ association NOTES (i) The fiscal year (FY) of the Government of Nepal ends on 16 July. “FY” before a calendar year denotes the year in which the fiscal year ends, e.g., FY2019 ends on 16 July 2019. (ii) In this report, “$” refers to United States Dollars. Vice-President Shixin Chen, Vice-President (Operations 1) Director General Kenichi Yokoyama, South Asia Regional Department (SARD) Director Mukhtor Khamudkhanov, Nepal Resident Mission (NRM), SARD Team leader Deepak Bahadur Singh, Senior Environment Officer, NRM, SARD Team members Sunila Ghimire, Project Analyst, NRM, SARD Deewas Khadka, Associate Financial Management Officer, NRM, SARD Arjun Neupane, Finance Control Officer, NRM, SARD Sangita Rai, Operations Assistant, NRM, SARD Suman Subba, Senior Social Development Officer (Gender), NRM, SARD Laxmi Prasad Subedi, Senior Social Development Officer (Safeguards), NRM, SARD In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. CONTENTS Page BASIC DATA i I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1 II. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 1 A. Project Design and Formulation 1 B. Project Outputs 3 C. Project Costs and Financing 5 D. Disbursements 5 E. Project Schedule 6 F. Implementation Arrangements 6 G. Technical Assistance 7 H. Consultant Recruitment and Procurement 7 I. Gender Equity 8 J. Safeguards 8 K. Monitoring and Reporting 9 III. EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE 9 A. Relevance 9 B. Effectiveness 10 C. Efficiency 11 D. Sustainability 12 E. Development Impact 12 F. Performance of the Borrower and the Executing Agency 13 G. Performance of the Asian Development Bank 14 H. Overall Assessment 14 IV. ISSUES, LESSONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 A. Issues and Lessons 14 B. Recommendations 15 APPENDIXES 1. Design and Monitoring Framework 16 2. Project Cost at Appraisal and Actual 20 3. Project Cost by Financier 21 4. Disbursement of ADB Grant Proceeds 23 5. Contract Awards of ADB Grant Proceeds 24 6. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Action Plan: Implementation and Achievements 25 7. Safeguards Performance Assessment 36 8. Status of Compliance with Grant Covenants 42 9. Economic Analysis 48 10. List of Completed Irrigation Subprojects 63 BASIC DATA A. Grant Identification 1. Country Nepal 2. Grant number and financing 0219-NEP (COL) source 3. Project title Community Irrigation Project 4. Borrower Government of Nepal 5. Executing agency Ministry of Local Development through Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads 6. Amount of grant $26.4 million 7. Financing modality Project grant B. Grant Data 1. Appraisal – Date started 17 May 2010 – Date completed 28 May 2010 2. Grant negotiations – Date started 11 August 2010 – Date completed 29 August 2010 3. Date of Board approval 27 September 2010 4. Date of grant agreement 8 February 2011 5. Date of grant effectiveness – In grant agreement 09 May 2011 – Actual 05 May 2011 – Number of extensions NA 6. Project completion date – Appraisal 28 February 2017 – Actual 15 January 2018 7. Grant closing date – In grant agreement 31 August 2017 – Actual 15 July 2018 – Number of extensions 1 8. Financial closing date – Actual 13 March 2019 9. Terms of grant – Interest rate NA – Maturity (number of years) NA – Grace period (number of years) NA 10. Terms of relending (if any) – Interest rate NA – Maturity (number of years) NA – Grace period (number of years) NA – Second-step borrower NA ii 11. Disbursements a. Dates Initial Disbursement Final Disbursement Time Interval 27 October 2011 07 February 2019 87.45 months Effective Date Actual Closing Date Time Interval 05 May 2011 13 March 2019 94.32 months b. Amount ($) Increased Canceled Last Undis- Original during during Revised Amount bursed Allocation Implementation Implementation Allocation Disbursed Balance Category (1) (2) (3) (4=1+2–3) (5) (6 = 4–5) Civil Works 14,850,000 2,117,250 400,000 16,567,250 15,494,155 1,073,095 O&M Fund 790,000 (488,000) … 302,000 171,926 130,074 Vehicles 140,000 (19,500) … 120,500 120,094 406 Training 3,550,000 78,632 800,000 2,828,632 2,691,292 137,340 Consultant and 5,020,000 (538,382) 400,000 4,081,618 4,011,713 69,905 NGO Services Project … 900,000 400,000 500,000 490,803 9,197 Management Cost Unallocated 2,050,000 (2,050,000) … … … … Total 26,400,000 … 2,000,000 24,400,000 22,979,984 1,420,016 “…” = no data available C. Project Data 1. Project cost ($ million) Cost Appraisal Estimate Actual Foreign exchange cost 8.00 0.32 Local currency cost 28.79 31.06 Total 36.79 31.38 2. Financing plan ($ million) Cost Appraisal Estimate Actual Implementation cost Borrower financed 6.60 6.29 ADB financed 26.40 22.98 Other external financing (Beneficiaries) 3.80 2.11 Total implementation cost 36.79 31.38 Interest during construction costs Borrower financed … … ADB financed … … Other external financing … … Total interest during construction cost … … “...”= no data available iii 3. Cost breakdown by project component ($ million) Component Appraisal Estimate Actual Investment Costs A. Civil Works Civil Works A—Surface Schemes 17.47 21.35 Civil Works A—STW 4.58 0.00 Subtotal Civil Works 22.05 21.35 B. Civil Works–STW–Beneficiaries 2.05 0.00 C. O&M Contingency Fund 0.87 0.17 D. Vehicles 0.41 0.34 E. Training Microfinance 0.57 0.26 Agriculture 2.03 1.41 Other Trainings 1.11 1.02 Subtotal Training 3.71 2.69 F. Consulting and NGO Services 6.02 4.61 G. Consulting Services-Unallocated 0.11 0.00 H. Project Management-Incremental Cost 1.56 2.21 Total Project Costs 36.79 31.38 4. Project schedule Item Appraisal Estimate Actual Output 1. WUAs efficiently manage improved irrigation infrastructure 1.1 Batch 1 Subprojects Jan 2012–Apr 2013 1.1.1 Completion of engineering designs (Mar–Aug 2012) 1.1.2 Civil works contract Q1–Q3 2012 Q1–Q3 2013 1.1.3 Date of award 1.1.4 Completion of work (Nov 2012–15 Apr 2013) Q2 2013 Q4 2014 1.2 Batch 2 Subprojects Jan 2013–Apr 2014 1.2.1 Completion of engineering designs (Mar–Aug 2013) 1.2.2 Civil works contract Q1–Q3 2013 Q3 2013–Q1 2014 1.2.3 Date of award 1.2.4 Completion of work (Nov 2013–15 Apr 2014) Q2 2014 Q4 2015 1.3 Batch 3 Subprojects Jan 2014–Apr 2015 1.3.1 Completion of engineering designs (Mar–Aug 2014) Q1–Q3 2014 1.3.2 Civil works contract Q2–Q4 2014 1.3.2 Date of award 1.3.4 Completion of work (Nov 2014–15 Apr 2015) Q2 2015 Q3 2016 1.4 Batch 4 Subproject Jan 2015–Apr 2016 1.4.1 Completion of engineering designs (Mar–Apr 2015) 1.4.2 Civil works contract Q1–Q2 2015 Q2–Q4 2015 1.4.3 Date of award 1.4.4 Completion of work (Nov 2015–Apr 2016) Q2 2016 Q2 2018 Output 2. Participating farmers apply improved agriculture practices and have access to micro finance 2.1 Short-duration courses and demonstrations on Mar 2013–Jul 2017 Mar 2014–Jun 2018 irrigated crop husbandry practices 2.2 Establishment of farmer field schools on each Mar 2012–Jul 2017 Mar 2014–Jun 2018 subproject on cereal and high-value crops 2.3 Training of Trainers (district level) for cereal crop seed Mar 2012–Jul 2017 Mar 2014–Jun 2018 selection, vegetables seedling production, nursery management, off-season vegetable production, soil management, and weed and pest control (2012–2013) 2.4 Capacity building of local MFIs to service farmers with Mar 2012–Jul 2015 Mar 2014–Jun 2017 input loans (January 2012–December 2015) 2.5 Provision of matching grants to WUAs that deposit Apr 2013–Feb 2017 Apr 2015–Jun 2018 their first annual non-recurrent maintenance fund contribution in their account at a local MFI iv Item Appraisal Estimate Actual Output 3.