The Rural Travel and Transport (RTT) Component of

ASIST Project

(RAF/94/M16/NOR)

COMBINED SELF EVALUATION AND TERMINAL REPORTS

May 1996- September 1998

Prepared by

Fatemeh Ali-Nejadfard,

RTT Senior Expert

ILO/ASIST-RTT, Harare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface Section A: Summary of Findings and Recommendations I: Project Strategies II: Major Activities II.1 Advisory Support and Technical Inputs II.2 Contribution to the Development of RTT Policy II.3 Information Materials and Research Works II.4 Workshops and Seminars II.5 RTT Information Services III: Key Recommendations Section B: Project Implementation and Evaluation I: Project Strategies I.1: Collaboration and Co-ordination of Activities with other Organisations I.2: Institutional Development II: Project Outputs II.1 Output 1: Labour Based and Rural Transport Advisory Support Provided II.2 Output 2: Information Services Provided II.3 Output 3: Key Technical Institutions Better Able to Manage Rural Development Planning and Aware of Rural Accessibility Needs II.4 Output 4: Integration of RTT into the ASIST Internal Institution and Management II.5 Output 5: RTT Related Research Initiated, Co-ordinated and Documented

Section C: I: Lessons Learned II: Relevance, Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Project III: Recommendations IV: Project Expenditure Annexes: I: Annex 1: The RTT Project Summary Sheet II: Annex 2: Key Points Regarding the Agreement Between the RTTP of the World Bank, ILO/ASIST-RTT and IFRTD on Rural Travel and Transport in Sub-Saharan Africa III: Annex 3: RTT Guideline and list of Proposed Reading Materials for Learning Institutions

“ PREFACE “ This document is a combined report; covering the self-evaluation of the Rural Travel and Transport Component of ASIST project-Phase I: May 1996-September 1998 and the Terminal Report concerning the first phase of project implementation. This report is also comprehensive enough to provide the necessary information for the 1998 progress report. The self evaluation was necessary as the project has been extended to its second phase from September 1998 to September 2000. The evaluation of and lessons learned from the first phase of the project will provide a proper direction and valuable contribution to the successful implementation of its second phase. The self evaluation report has been carried out as a desk review based on the observations in the field, mission reports, progress and monthly reports, feedback from project counter-parts, evaluation reports of RTT pilot projects in which this project has provided its technical and advisory support, and consultation with the ILO staff who have been involved in or familiar with the RTT activities of this project. The report has closely followed the MERS guideline in the ILO.

Project implementation was carried out with the technical assistance of one senior RTT expert, external collaborators to complement the technical inputs of the RTT expert and the services of one support staff. In addition, the successful integration of this project into the ASIST office and its administrative and management structure contributed significantly to the effective project implementation.

The annexes of this report include copies of monthly reports in 1998 for additional information. In addition, mission reports for each country and progress reports for 1997 and 1996 are available in the ASIST offices in Nairobi and Harare and POLDEV in Geneva.

Section A: Summary of Findings and Recommendations In general, activities of this project have substantially contributed to the increased awareness on the Rural Travel and Transport (RTT) issues among the target groups and promoted collaboration and RTT initiatives in the target countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa region. This has been evident through the increased demand for: a) RTT information, b) project technical and advisory services in rural accessibility planning and implementation of access interventions, c) assistance to the learning institutions and d) contribution to the development of RTT policies. To have a maximum impact and an effective use of available resources, the focus of project activities were on a few countries with good opportunities to develop Rural Travel and Transport (RTT) policies, initiate pilot projects, establish collaboration and monitor ongoing RTT projects. These countries included Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia. In addition, initiatives were also taken to explore opportunities in addressing the expressed demand for the RTT services in Ethiopia, , Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.

The Project Design was appropriate and had enough flexibility to fit in the situation and environment within which the project was implemented. The planned activities have been quite relevant in achieving the project objective and the strategies were most appropriate in contributing to the successful implementation of project activities. What follows will focus on and briefly cover the progress, evaluation and a list of key recommendations regarding project strategies and major activities during the reporting period. A more detailed progress report of each specific activities ( as specified in project document) and their evaluation will be presented in the section B. Please see the project summary sheet in Annex I for additional information.

I: Project Strategies: I.1 Collaboration and co-ordination of Activities with Other Organisations: This strategy was closely followed through out project implementation and greatly contributed to its effectiveness. The key efforts regarding collaboration with other organisations included: established linkages with the RTTP of the World Bank, International Forum for Rural Transport Development (IFRTD), National and International NGOs, Learning Institutions (inclusive of seven universities) , UN Organisations and Donors and finally, the close collaboration with the ILO regional projects, area offices, EAMAT and SAMAT. The aforementioned collaboration was established in areas related to: a) production and dissemination of RTT information and documents, b) RTT research works/studies, c) exchange of information for co-ordination of RTT activities in common target areas and, d) development of RTT policies.

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This strategy has substantially contributed to increased profile of this project and the demand for its services with less use of project resources than would have been possible in the absence of the above mentioned collaboration and co-ordination. Consequently, this strategy must be maintained in the second phase of the project. There is potential areas to increase the number of qualified institutions for collaboration and if possible, to elevate the level of co-operation with some of the existing organisations such as the UNDP, WFP and the RTTP of the World Bank.

I.2: Institutional Development: This strategy was applied in all major activities by assisting the local organisations and communities, learning institutions and Governments; especially at the local level. The provided assistance has been in terms of information and technical assistance on RTT issues and problems, rural accessibility planning and implementation of access intervention at the district level. This strategy has been effective in building the local capacity for planning and implementation of access interventions. To sustain project activities, special attention should be paid to continue this strategy and further build the capacity of local institutions in skills most important to improvement of rural access. It is further recommended to review the current capacity of local institutions on planning and implementation of access interventions in target areas. And assess to what extent their needs can be met by the project assistance in its second phase. The assistance should be carefully viewed in terms of its sustainability in the long run.

II: Major Activities II.1 Advisory support and technical inputs have been provided to Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Kenya. The emphasis for provision of these services has been on “quality” of the provided services and the proper “follow up” to them rather than the “quantity” of provided services. Total of 35 advisory missions were carried out to the target countries for training, research works and studies, technical inputs in planning, monitoring and formulation of new RTT initiatives. These missions also includes the ten official trips regarding collaboration with other organisations and RTT related workshops and seminars. The advisory and technical services of project have been successful in terms of promoting RTT with Governments in target countries and other collaborating organisations. The technical services of project satisfactorily fulfilled its agreement with the UNDP in Malawi and Sida in Zimbabwe. The successful operation of these services led to: a) the UNDP’s request for the ASIST-RTT technical inputs in a new RTT project in Malawi and b) another Sida funded RTT project in Zimbabwe which is complementary to the previous Sida funded project on rural transport study. Equally important has been the demand for our RTT related technical services regarding inputs to training, research,

monitoring and district planning in other target countries covered in the first phase. The ASIST-RTT technical support must maintain its emphasis on quality and proper monitoring of provided services and avoid the temptation of addressing all the expressed demands which may compromise the achievement of the expected quality due to the possible constraints in the project in terms of available resources. II.2 Contribution to the Development of RTT Policy: Following the experiences learned from the RTT pilot projects, serious efforts were made to facilitate and contribute to the development of RTT policies in the region. The ASIST-RTT kept close monitoring of this process in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia in collaboration with the RTTP of the World Bank. Apart from Kenya, the governments in these countries already have a draft RTT policy guidelines. Experience and observations in the field have shown that efforts in contributing to the development of RTT policies are more effective if they are provided to countries whose conditions are ripe for development of RTT policies. This includes those who are familiar with RTT problems and issues through information gathered from RTT surveys and pilot projects; Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are good examples. It is advisable to follow this process in the next phase of the project for other target countries. Close collaboration with the RTTP of the World Bank, National Forum Groups (NFGs) in target countries and the IFRTD on RTT policy should also be maintained and strengthened. I!.3 Information Materials and Research Works: To increase awareness on RTT among the project target groups, information gap on RTT was identified and search to acquire and/or generate the needed information was successfully made. As a result, 502 additional RTT information/ documents/ reports were added to the ASIST data base; inclusive of ten important RTT documents/books that were produced by the project through external collaboration and research works carried out in collaboration with other institutions, donors and projects. A few of these documents/books have become standard text books and reading materials in the collaborating learning institutions. Production of the additional books and documents have generated a rich sources of information which was not previously available. The additional RTT documents/reports/books to the ASIST data base has effectively worked in promotion of RTT among target groups. These sources are especially useful for learning institutions who are interested in RTT. The production/generation/acquiring of RTT information materials should be continued in the next phase of the project. This should be viewed in terms of their support to RTT project activities in its second phase; particularly those in strengthening the local capacity and addressing the information need of learning institutions.

II.4 Workshops and Seminars: Several papers were written on the RTT practices and experiences in the region by the RTT senior expert of this project and presented in ten regionally important RTT workshops and seminars (reference is made

to porgies reports for 1996 and 1997 for a more detailed information on this subject). These opportunities proved valuable in promoting the RTT issues with minimum cost to the project. The aforementioned workshops were organised and sponsored by other institutions in the region and hence, provided an excellent and most economical opportunity to the project for promotion of RTT. This approach must be maintained; especially now that there are more RTT information and experiences from the pilot projects to be shared.

II.5 RTT Information Services The demand for information services on RTT has substantially increased since 1996; an increase from 14% of the total ASIST inquiry services in 1996 to 31% in 1998. This is attributed to wide spread dissemination of information through participation in important RTT regional seminars and workshops, distribution of RTT information materials, services to learning institutions, collaboration with different organisations and RTT papers written by the RTT senior expert for various publications.. The provided RTT information services should be monitored for improvement and further expansion. It will be quite useful to know who are our key clients and what are their needs and how they can be served best.

III: Key Recommendations

In view of what have been presented in this section, the following list of key recommendations are made for the second phase of project:

• The two strategies of the project have significantly contributed to successful implementation of the project and its sustainability in the future. Hence, they must be followed in the second phase of the project. Opportunities should be

explored to find additional areas of collaboration with development organisations whose activities are complementary or similar to this project.

• The emphasis on the “quality” and “monitoring“ of technical and advisory services should be maintained.

• For effective and efficient use of resources, contribution to the development of RTT policies should be pursued in countries where the necessary condition for their development exists. The RTT surveys and implementation of RTT pilot projects create an enabling environment for RTT policy development.

• Production/Generation of RTT information materials should be consistent with and in support of project planned outputs. The production of materials that contributes to strengthening of the local capacity and institutionalisation of project activities should be given priority. Production of relevant RTT guidelines and manuals are in this category.

• The second phase of project implementation should include activities that contributes to institutionalisation of project activities. Continued support to learning institutions, NGOs and private sector at the local level should be considered as one of major activities in this area.

• Participation in and presentation of RTT papers in key regional workshops and seminars and contribution of RTT articles to various RTT publications should be considered as an effective and efficient means to raise awareness and disseminate information on RTT.

• The RTT information services can be improved by better monitoring. This will contribute to proper identification of the needs of ASIST-RTT clients and hence, effectively catering the project information services to them.

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Section B: Project Implementation and Evaluation This section provides the detailed report on project strategies, outputs, activities and their evaluations. Summary of relevant recommendations will be made in Section C to benefit the implementation of the RTT project in its second phase. I: Project Strategies : I.1 Collaboration and Co-ordination of Activities with Other Organisations: The following list includes collaboration with other development organisations: • A major step was taken in April 1997 in establishing linkages and collaboration on

RTT activities between the Rural Travel and Transport Programme (RTTP) of the World Bank, the ILO and the International Forum for Rural Transport Development (IFRTD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ref. is made to Annex II for additional information). This collaboration has included exchange of information through regular meetings, participation in the key RTT seminars and workshops organised by the three partners and annual RTTP meetings of the World Bank and IFRTD. Collaboration with IFRTD also covered joint activities in research and specific RTT workshops.

• Similarly initiatives in RTT research and studies were carried out with the national and international NGOs in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. This included the International Technology Development Group (ITDG), the Institute for Agriculture Engineering (IAE) and Center for Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR).

• Collaboration with learning institutions has been established through integration of the RTT introductory course into their curricula. The RTT introductory course has already been incorporated into the on-going syllabuses in the universities of Zimbabwe, Dar Es Salaam, North in South Africa and the Kenya Training Center (KTC) in Kisii. Similar initiatives have been pursued in universities of Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Capetown, and Stellenbosch in South Africa. Equally important has been collaboration with the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) in providing inputs to their regional training courses regarding rural accessibility.

• The co-operation with several UN Organisations and donors has been notable. Collaboration with the UNDP was firmly maintained during the first phase of the project operation. This has been in terms of technical inputs and advisory services for the UNDP funded RTT projects in Malawi, in the UNV training programme of the UNDP in Zimbabwe and with the district planning project of the UNDP in Mozambique. Also, steps were taken to collaborate with UNICEF and WFP in Malawi regarding implementation of access interventions. This initiative was also pursued with the UNICEF in Zimbabwe.

• Close co-ordination has also been maintained in Zimbabwe with the Sida funded projects in transport sector. The project in its first phase was able to secure US$ 192,100 from Sida for a project in three districts of Zimbabwe to implement access

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interventions. Collaboration with the Irish Aid in Mozambique regarding rural accessibility planning has also been promising. The detail of this collaboration will be part of RTT project activities in its second phase. Collaboration with DFID-UK has also been important in terms of financial support to RTT research work initiated by this project.

• In addition to the above, close collaboration was also maintained with other ILO implemented regional projects; inclusive of the inter-regional Sida funded project in POLDEV and the Start Your Business project in Harare. Collaboration was also kept with the ILO/ SAMAT in Harare and EAMAT in Addis Ababa, and ILO area offices in Lusaka, Dar Es Salaam and Pretoria.

This strategy has been successful in terms of maximising the benefits from the use of project resources by establishing linkages with various organisations whose activities are pertinent to RTT . The collaboration was related to: a) co-ordination of specific activities , b) exchange of information, c) production of RTT materials and d) dissemination of RTT information and documents. This strategy has contributed to increased profile of this project and the demand for its services with less use of project resources than would have been possible in the absence of the above mentioned collaboration and co-ordination.

I.2 Institutional Development With the promotion and implementation of decentralisation policies in many African countries, building the local capacity has become the major strategy of many development programmes and projects. Consequently activities that contribute to empowerment of communities and improve the capacity of local organisations have received special attention. In view of the above, the focus of the RTT project activities has been at the district level. Provincial and central authorities were contacted and technically assisted in view of what they could provide to support the local authorities. This support has been on planning and implementation of rural access interventions. The experience of the project indicates that the districts suffer from poor technical skills in construction of rural infrastructure that improves access for local communities. Many districts lack engineers and the existing expertise cannot technically cope with the need and demand of their communities . The local NGOs are few and have limited resources. Hence, the communities suffer from lack of technical know-how and assistance that could be provided to them by local organisations. In close collaboration with the ASIST technical advisors (engineers), the RTT pilot project in Zimbabwe has been able to address the poor local capacity for construction and maintenance of rural infrastructure; especially suspended / suspension footbridges; ranging from 45 to 150 meters. The demand for this type of infrastructure has been on rise and the local capacity is too weak to address it. The project has contributed in development of design, guideline, and proper training for this type of rural infrastructure.

The intention has been to learn from the local experience and make it available to other target countries in need. Similar approach has been adopted in collaboration with learning institutions where the staff capacity of target institutions were enriched by: a) making the RTT teaching and reading materials available to them, b) assisting the staff in development of RTT modules and c) providing the initial training to carry out the introductory RTT course. This project strategy has been an integral part of each planned activity. What has been consistently observed in the project implementation clearly indicates the limited local capacity for project planning and implementation. Although this limitation has been partially met through project assistance in the target areas, raises an important issue regarding sustainability of project activities in the long run. In doing so, activities pertinent to planning, implementation and monitoring of access interventions in pilot projects, have involved target communities, local governments, NGOs and local representatives in the whole process. This has contributed to the transfer of knowledge and technical know-how to local communities and created a sense of ownership among those involved. Although this process proved to be time consuming and required patience and understanding of the local situation, it was the time well spent.

II: Project Outputs

II.1 OUTPUT 1: Labour based and rural transport advisory support provided The demand for services in labour based technology was responded by and in collaboration with the ASIST technical advisors. The RTT project was responsible to address the demand from governments and collaborating agencies regarding RTT in policy, technical assistance and training in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. This output was successfully achieved through the following list of activities. II.1.1 Policy advice on rural travel and transport The focus of this activity was on Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia. These countries already had RTT pilot surveys and projects which provide valuable information to initiate the RTT policy. The activities regarding contribution to development of RTT policies were carried out in close collaboration with the RTTP of the World Bank. The governments in Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia and Tanzania already have a draft RTT policy guideline and Zimbabwe is in the process of its development. It should be noted that policy development is a complex, dynamic and demanding activity as it involves several key actors from different ministries and requires the final approval from respective cabinets/parliaments. It calls for a great deal of patience and full understanding of the motives and politics involved which includes various donors and

their interests as well. Consequently, the progress is slow as expected from any activity that requires consensus on different issues from a diversified group. II.1.2 Technical advice on rural transport and rural development projects This activity has been successfully accomplished with technical inputs to various pilot projects and advisory services to governments and other organisations with whom the project had established linkages. This activity was carried out through 35 different missions; 22 of which has specifically been for missions to Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe where RTT pilot projects were implemented with the advisory support and technical assistance of ILO/ASIST-RTT. The aforementioned missions included monitoring of planned activities, provision of technical advice and planning of future actions. The successful implementation of the Pilot Integrated Rural Transport Project (PIRTP) in Malawi led to a new project on Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) in five other districts and its extension to the remaining districts in the future. The UNDP has asked for the technical and advisory services of ASIST-RTT in this project. The document for a Support to Technical Services (STS) agreement has been prepared and is under discussion. Similarly, the Sida funded Rural Transport Study project in Zimbabwe has successfully been implemented with the technical and advisory inputs/support of the project. Upon its completion, Sida funded another Government project for US$ 192,100 to implement access interventions in three districts of Zimbabwe with the ASIST-RTT technical support. This project is being implemented by the three targeted rural district councils. The project has made a notable contribution to build the local capacity for planning and implementation of access interventions; footbridges in particular. The RTT project which was implemented in Makete-Tanzania with the ILO advisory services and the SDC finical support, was finalised in January 1998 with completion of the ex-post evaluation whose focus was on the “lessons learned” from this project since its inception. The progress in implementation of pilot projects has been slow for some activities. This is attributed to poor technical capacity at local level and limited capacity at the provincial and central level to assist the available human resources at the district level. The project has contributed to bridge the gap between was is available and what is needed. This has been quite evident in case of construction of footbridges in Zimbabwe and building the planning capacity at the district level in Malawi. II.1.3 Recommendations on the ASIST’s future role in promoting RTT For an effective promotion of RTT in ASIST, the presence of an expert in RTT is required to provide the technical and advisory support like is the case for labour based technology and urban component of ASIST. The promotion of RTT requires multi-sectoral knowledge and expertise, complementary to the civil engineering skill which is

the focus of ASIST expertise in labour based technology. However, in the long run this activity, like other activities of ASIST, should be institutionalised in an appropriate local / regional institutions for sustainability. To do so, a strategy and a set of activities for its institutionalisation must be planned in the second phase of the project. The local/regional institution (s) should be identified and strengthened to carry out the basic functions of ASIST-RTT after ASIST programme is completed. In this respect, learning institutions can play an important role in promoting RTT and providing some of the needed expertise. Equally important is the advocacy with donors, UN organisations and other relevant development agencies in order to integrate RTT issues into their programmes. This has already been tried with the UNDP, UNICEF and WFP in Malawi. These efforts should be extended to other target countries if possible. II.2 Output 2: Information Services Provided

This activity has been satisfactorily achieved with successful integration of RTT information services into the ASIST information system. The following list of activities contributed to achievement of this output: II.2.1 Develop a framework for and establish a regional information system

and service on RTT based on the existing ASIST information service The RTT was integrated into the existing ASIST information services system and became part of the existing data base, library documents, source book, inquiry services and a permanent component of ASIST Bulletin, in an early stages of RTT project implementation. The information officers of ASIST have been well informed on general RTT subjects to respond to most of the RTT inquiries without much assistance from the RTT senior technical advisor. Every issue of ASIST Bulletin since May 1996 has included information or an article on RTT. There has been an addition of 502 RTT documents/reports/books to the ASIST data base; many of them available in the ASIST library . The percentage of RTT inquires out of the total inquiries from ASIST has been 31% of the total ASIST inquiries in 1998. The clients for RTT inquiries include universities, training institutions, governments in Sub-Saharan African countries as well as individuals and institutions from Asia, Europe, USA and Latin America. The number of RTT contact sources is currently 294 that includes key counter parts in governments, UN and development organisations, consultancy firms, interested individuals/consultants and key staff in targeted learning institutions. In addition, several papers on RTT were written by the project senior RTT expert for the ASIST Bulletin, Gate (GTZ technology and development quarterly publication), and the Nzira Yedu (a quarterly newsletter of the Ministry of Transport and Energy in Zimbabwe) and the Forum Newsletters. These papers were related to the general information on RTT and the importance of local level accessibility planning regarding the experiences acquired in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The participation in regional seminars and workshops has been quite successful in disseminating RTT information and experiences of pilot projects in the region. Many of the RTT inquires and requests for technical assistance emanate from the information disseminated in the workshops and seminars. The second phase of RTT project should build the information services on what already exists and improve it further by monitoring its services and specifying the nature of its clients and what they need. This will also assist in identifying the information gap on RTT and the generation/production of the needed information.

II.3 OUTPUT 3: Key Technical Institutions Better Able to Manage Rural Development Planning and Aware of Rural Accessibility Needs To achieve this output, technical / learning institutions were targeted in order to raise their awareness on RTT and build their capacity to promote it. In doing so, a guideline for the RTT introductory course, a list of reading and teaching materials have been developed which is being used in the collaborating universities (see annex III for additional information). Moreover, RTT modules have been developed by staff in the target universities. These modules have been integrated into the on-going courses in these universities. The following list includes different learning institutions with which collaboration has been established. It is important to note that apart from the University of Zimbabwe, the remaining universities and learning institutions did not receive any financial support to carry out the RTT introductory course. They were provided the needed teaching and reading materials, the course outline and the initial technical advise to key staff on how the course should be carried out. • University of Zimbabwe, Departments of Civil Engineering (DCE) and Rural and

Urban Planning (DRUP). The ILO/ASIST-RTT initiated the RTT collaboration with this university in 1996 through an initial fund from inter-regional Sida funded project in the ILO/POLDEV , Geneva. A five hours and 15 hours introductory course have been integrated into the on going courses in DCE and DRUP departments for the 3rd and 4th year students. The collaboration also includes short field works on RTT related subjects for a selected number of students.

• University of Dar Es Salaam,, Departments of Civil Engineering and college of lands and architectural Planning. The RTT introductory course covers 22 hours of lectures; exclusive of practical training for students in the last semester of their under graduate courses. The feedback from the departments has been very positive and there has been an added interest to carry out some research work in RTT related subjects.

• University of North, Department of Geography, South Africa. Total of 9 hours of RTT subjects have been integrated into the on-going courses. In addition, there is field work related to RTT subjects taught in classes. The course is quite relevant to socio-economic conditions and access problems prevailing in the province in which the university is located. Indeed, it has inspired one of the lecturers to write her

dissertation in gender and rural transport; for which she has been assisted with guideline and information materials.

• Road Training School (RTS) in Kisii, Kenya. Several international courses are annually carried out in RTS in addition to other national courses. A day and a half of lecture and field work has been included in the labour based technology course for senior engineers in RTS. The emphasis is on importance of rural access and rehabilitation/maintenance of rural infrastructure such as path/tracks and footbridges. This course has been maintained by the RTS staff on regular basis since 1997.

• Universities of Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Stellenbosch and Cape Town in South Africa and the University of Zambia and Malawi have also been contacted for similar RTT T introductory course. The prospects of having this course seems quite encouraging in universities of Zambia, Malawi, Witwatersrand and Pretoria. Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town are interested in having RTT inputs to some of their annual seminars.

This activity has been quite successful in terms of a continued RTT introductory course and its sustainability in target universities. It has also contributed to the increased number of requests for RTT information and documents from learning institutions.

II.4 OUTPUT 4: Integration of RTT into the ASIST internal institution and management This output has successfully been achieved in terms of administration, finance, information and expertise. The professional staff of ASIST have become conversant with key issues of RTT and provide the necessary engineering technical assistance regarding labour based technology for rural infrastructure; especially for footbridges. On the other hand, the issue of rural access, local planning and community participation that are important parts of RTT project activities, have been seriously considered in construction and maintenance of feeder roads which is a major component of ASIST.

II.5 OUTPUT 5: RTT Related Research Initiated, Co-ordinated and Documented Following a careful analysis and investigation in identifying the information gap for key clients of the project, a number of important documents were developed; majority of which were produced in consultation and collaboration with other institutions and ILO projects. II.5.1 Research on RTT issues co-ordinated and sponsored The following list of documents have been developed through the RTT project: • Wasted Time: The Price of Poor Access: This book is being used as a standard

text book in the aforementioned learning institutions; covering theoretical and conceptual framework of rural access and its linkages with development and rural poverty. It was produced in close collaboration with Sida funded inter-regional project in the ILO/POLDEV.

• User’s Guide: Low Cost Transport Devices: This is a user friendly guide for non-motorised means of transport; targeting users in rural areas. It was produced in

collaboration with the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in Zimbabwe.

• Manufacturer’s Guide: Low Cost Transport Devices: This book is targeting the manufacturers for production of non-motorised means of transport. It is also a useful guide for small artisans in rural areas. It was produced in collaboration with ITDG in Zimbabwe.

• Four Volumes of Rural Travel Study in Three Districts of Zimbabwe: These 4 volumes cover: 1) the main findings of the transport study, 2) transport burden on women and girls in rural Zimbabwe, 3) transport needs generated by agricultural activities in Zimbabwe and, 4) the five annexes of the rural transport study . The production of these four volumes was financed from the Sida funded project in the Ministry of Transport and Energy with technical and advisory services of ILO/ASIST-RTT.

• Start a Small Workshop in Making Non-Motorised Transport Devices: This hand book targets small rural artisans/entrepreneurs. It has been produced in close collaboration with the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and the ILO project, Start Your Business. The first draft of this work is ready and is to be tested in a training course with students who are the perceived target groups. The hand book will be finalised upon the outcome of the test which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 1999.

• Socio-economic assessment of two RTT Projects in Kenya: These two projects were located in Kathekani and Kajiado; implemented with the technical assistance of ITDG in Kenya. This has been a joint research work between the ILO/ASIST-RTT and the ITDG, aiming at the social and

• economic benefits of improved access. There has been a delay in production of this work due to the some administrative and personnel changes in the ITDG. Currently, the field work for this study has been completed and the first draft of the report is ready.

• An Information Kit and a Poster on RTT: This was the first production of the project in order to disseminate the basic necessary information to the project target groups. It was produced in close collaboration with the Sida funded inter-regional project in the ILO/POLDEV.

In identifying the information gap for production of RTT documents, it is crucial to produce those documents that are supportive/complementary in achieving other project outputs such as those that are needed to strengthen the local technical and planning capacity in target countries. II.5.2 RTT and rural accessibility planning tool further developed and

documented This activity has been one of the focus of the project and has been carried out in close collaboration with the IFRTD. This activity culminated in a workshop of experts in Dhaka, Bangladesh in November 1997; organised by the National Forum Group in Bangladesh and IFRTD. The ILO/ASIST-RTT was involved in the whole preparatory process of this workshop and provided its technical assistance and advisory services to it. This workshop produced a report which provided guideline in improving the Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP). Following this workshop, the ASIST-RTT produced a research proposal whose focus was on measuring the total (social, economics and environmental) benefits and costs of improved rural access as a means for investment allocation in local level planning. This proposal received the full financial support of DFID in U.K and is now being implemented with technical and advisory support of ASIST-RTT as part of the activities of RTT project in its second phase.

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Section C: I: Lessons Learned: Challenges, Constraints and Remedial Actions The project during its 28 months implementation, faced certain challenges and learned valuable lessons in providing remedial actions to those challenges. These lessons must be kept in mind in implementation of the second phase of the project. The major lessons are included in the following list: • Scope of the Project: The project included its direct support to Anglo-phone Sub-

Saharan Africa, with emphasis in the ASIST priority countries. The recommended support included 14 countries (reference is made to project document) which was quite a large number considering the limited project personnel and its financial resources. Spreading thin the available resources to all those countries would not have led to tangible results for effective promotion of the RTT in the region. Upon further investigation and analysis, it was decided to focus on a few countries where the favourable condition for promotion of RTT activities existed. These countries included: Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya. Other countries such as Ethiopia, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda and South Africa were considered as supplementary candidates to disseminate RTT information and explore possibilities for RTT pilot projects. This strategy proved very effective in getting tangible results that could be used for promotion of RTT activities in other neighbouring countries. As a result, the second list of focused countries have now become the primary candidates for assistance in the second phase of the project while maintaining our facilitating role in the initial list.

• Raising Awareness and Disseminating Information on RTT in the Region: In the early stages of project implementation, it was recognised that there was inadequate awareness and information on RTT issues and problems among target groups. This was particularly present regarding local level planning of access interventions that could address rural access problems. Consequently, it was important to address this issue properly and efficiently. To this end, emphasis was put on identification and production of the needed information materials for the project target groups and searching for various options to effectively / efficiently disseminate these information. Production of an information kit, reports on RTT projects in the region, hand books and guidelines on Intermediate Means of Transport (IMTs), a book on conceptual framework and theoretical background on RTT and guideline on IRAP and the importance of local level planning in improving rural access were key documents/reports produced and disseminated. Additional sources of information were also identified and collected from other organisations / institutions on RTT. To date, 502 additional documents/books/reports of RTT information has been added to the ASIST data base and made available to its clients. Participation and presentation of RTT papers in the regional workshops and seminars has been another effective means of disseminating information. During this reporting period, the ILO/ASIST-RTT was presented in ten important seminars and workshops in the region with least cost to the project as these seminars and workshops were organised by other institutions to which the RTT senior expert in the

project was invited. This approach has greatly contributed to the demand for the ASIST-RTT services in the region and should be maintained in its second phase.

• Facilitating Role of ASIST-RTT: It was important to focus on the facilitating role of this project right from the beginning in order to contribute to the sustainability of project activities in the future. To this end, strengthening the local capacity of relevant existing institutions received special emphasis. It is always much easier and faster to carry out a needed task with direct project technical support without involving the intended target groups in the whole process. But this approach usually leads to isolation of project activities and its lack of sustainability after the project ends. Project resources were used in implementing the planned activities while involving the target groups and local organisations in the whole process. In doing so, the project used, strengthened and improved the existing local structure. This approach was used in implementing all project activities such as providing support to learning institutions, implementing pilot projects at district level, and producing RTT documents. The facilitating role of project should be maintained and emphasised if the project activities are to be sustained.

II: Relevance, Effectiveness and Efficiency of the Project The information provided in section B on project implementation clearly indicates the usefulness of project results to the intended target groups. The increase for the services of the project is also an indication for the relevance of project outputs to the needs of target groups. Effectiveness of a project is best measured by progress made towards the achievement of its immediate objective. The immediate objective of this project states “promotion of improved rural accessibility” To measure it, project document calls for an assessment of the extent to which rural transport and accessibility concept has been integrated into policies and applied in rural development planning, whether by governments, development projects or local initiatives. In view of what was discussed in section B of this document, one can easily deduce that the project has been effective. Project services have substantially contributed towards development of RTT policies in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The project has also been involved in providing valuable inputs towards development of RTT policies in Zambia and Ethiopia. Moreover, rural accessibility planning has become part of local level planning in Malawi. The same process is being implemented in Zimbabwe and is being initiated in Mozambique. Efficiency of a project is assessed by the total benefits obtained in relation to the total costs incurred. The project has been quite efficient in use of its resources to achieve its intended outputs. Indeed, project outputs have been all achieved without depleting all the available financial resources. Substantial amount of fund has remained in the project budget. As of November 1998, the project balance has been US$ 150,062; exclusive of programme support and cost increases. This is attributed to the saving made in implementation of project activities through finding alternative ways of promoting RTT and getting the intended results with minimum cost to the project. To

measure how efficiently the project has been implemented, it requires proper measure of total benefits, obtained directly or indirectly from the project activities, vis-à-vis the total costs. This is rather premature and outside of the current desk study of this self evaluation. III: Recommendations The following recommendations are made with view of their relevancy to the planned outputs and activities of the second phase: • The project strategies regarding institutional development and collaboration with

development organisations must be maintained in its second phase.

• There is room and potential to increase the number of qualified institutions for collaboration and to elevate the level of co-operation with some of the existing organisations such as UNDP, WFP and the RTTP of the World Bank. Elevating the level of co-operation is quite challenging as it involves factors outside of project control. Regular communication and a mutual “efforts and desire” for collaboration and “good will” is needed from all parties involved to maintain this activity at a higher level.

• In addition, whenever possible, the private sector should be assisted to

supplement the skills needed at the local level for improvement of rural access; especially for construction/ rehabilitation/improvement and maintenance of footbridges. Learning institutions and local consultancy firms can also contribute to raising the local capacity if they are supported to acquire the needed knowledge and skills.

• Contribution to development of RTT policies should target countries with prevailing condition; conducive to RTT policy development. Otherwise, the aim should be to focus on activities that bring about a conducive environment for promotion of RTT policy, such as RTT pilot projects funded by donors, RTT surveys, gathering information on Intermediate Means of Transport and review the local level planning structure in view of integrating the IRAP tool.

• The IRAP as a planning tool should be modified/simplified to make it more accessible and affordable for use at district level where resources are meagre and skills are limited.

• Production of RTT documents should be supportive and complementary to the achievement of project outputs. To this end, production of manuals, guidelines and other RTT information materials whose use would strengthen the local capacity should be given priority.

• Information services should be properly monitored to specify the nature of clients and their needs in order to serve them best.

IV: Project Expenditure The attached table summerises the project expenditures and the allocation of balances as of November 1998. It should be noted that the total balance of 150,062 (exclusive of programme support and cost increases) has been saved due to exploring different options in achieving the project ouptus. The saving in project expenditure is attributed to: • Full integration of this project into the ASIST office, manangement and its administrative and

financial structure, • Successful collaboration of activities with other development organisations and learning

institutions regarding production and dissemination of information, RTT research and studies, promotion of RTT and development of RTT policies.

• Participation in important RTT regional workshops and seminars, and contribution of RTT articles to various publications led to promotion of RTT in the region and dissemination of information about the project activities and its acheivements with minimum cost to the project.

• Certain activities carried out by external collaborators were completed with less project fund than what was planned due to the direct involement and additional inputs of RTT senior expert.

• Funds raised through project from Sida, DFID and UNDP led to completion of some of project activities and travel costs without using project financial sources.

It is recommended to transfer the amount of money saved in the project towards its implementation in the second phase. This additional fund will be used for activities pertinent to project objectives and outputs that were not planned in the original project documents. Project document for its second phase was formulated in 1997 and was not revised to capture additional important activities which emerged out of project implemenetation in its first phase. These activities include several RTT studies/research works and development of guidelines and manuals for foot bridges and printing of many documents that are in continuous demand from the project target groups. In additon, several experts/professionals from the project target groups in Africa are to be sponsored to participate in regional workshops and training of trainers which were not included in the second phase of project formulation. This is part of building the local capacity in target countries. The most up-to-date financial statement of the project expenditure is available in COMBI and POLDEV in ILO-Geneva. File name: G:/fatemeh/doc/rtteval3.doc

Summary of Project Expenditure in USDollars

(November 1998)

Rural Travel and Transport Component of ASIST (RAF/94/M16/NOR)

Budget Line Description Total Allocation Total Expenditure & Obligation

Balance

11 Expert costs and external collaboration

316,800 283,386 33,414

15 Travel costs 77,000 49,903 27,097 32 Seminars/Workshops 45,000 18,580 26,420 41 Expendable Equipment 30,000 29,948 52 53 Miscellaneous 100,000 44,299 55,701 68 Programme Support Cost 73,944 37,172 36,772 71 Promise for Cost Increase 62,906 31,903 31,003 Total Allocated

705,650

495,191

210,459

Project Summary Sheet

Project Title:

Rural Travel & Transport Component of ASIST

Project No: RAF/94/M16/NOR

Project Actual Duration: May 1996 - September 1998

Donor: Government of Norway

Development Objectives: People’s transport problems reduced

Immediate Objective: Promotion of improved rural accessibility

Target Groups: • high-level policy makers

• local-level development planners

• local-level implementors (engineers, community development staff,

transport service operators, etc.)

• training staff (at academic institutions, projects and NGOs)

• staff of rural developments projects

Press Strategies: 1: Collaboration and co-ordination of activities

with other organisations 2: Institutional Department

Output1: Labour-based and rural transport advisory support provided

Output 2: Information services provided

Output 3: Key technical staff better able to manage rural development planning and aware of rural accessibility needs

Output 4: ASIST “internal” institution and management

Output 5: Research initiated, co-ordinated and documented (additional output)

Project Budget (US$)

705,650