PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)
Project Name
Region
Sector
Project ID
Borrower(s)
Implementing Agency
Environment Category
Safeguard Classification
Date PID Prepared
Date of Appraisal
Authorization
Date of Board Approval
Report No.: AB942
Supplemental to the Community Development Project
AFRICA
Social Protection
P088978
GOVERNMENT OF MADAGASCAR, Attention: Mr. Davida
RAJAON, General Coordinator, Address: Lot III M 39 Ouest
Ambohijanahary, Antananarivo 101, Rez de chaussée
Email: ept@fid.mg / sde@fid.mg, phone : 22 257 60, 032 07 604
94, fax 22 258 09.
Fonds d'intervention pour le développement (FID)
[ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
[ ] S1 [ ] S2 [ ] S3 [ ] SF [X] TBD (to be determined)
May 26, 2004
May 20, 2004
July 6, 2004
1. Country and Sector Background
Madagascar is among the poorest countries in the world. National per capita income is around
US$240 and approximately 70 percent of the population is estimated to be poor. Forty-eight
percent of children under five are stunted. Infant and under five mortality rates are very high at
85 percent and 142 percent respectively. Education outlook is also bleak, with a national gross
enrolment rate standing at 70 percent, and barely reaching 50 percent in rural areas (2002). Only
about one third of children complete primary school, and just over half the population can read
and write. Access to safe drinking water is limited to 35 percent of the population, and
electricity connectivity is only 15 percent.
After having been one of the most rapidly growing African economies in recent years,
Madagascar plunged into a deep political crisis in 2002. However the new Government
introduced an ambitious reform program. In August 2003, it finalized its Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper (PRSP) following a broad and inclusive participatory process. The overarching
goal of the PRSP is to cut the poverty rate by half in ten years, from 70 percent in 2003 to 35
percent in 2013. To achieve this objective, the strategy has three main axes based on the
principle of public private partnership: (i) restoring rule of law and ensuring a well-governed
society; (ii) promoting economic growth with a large social base; and (iii) establishing human
security and enlarging social protection. The November 2003 Country Assistance Strategy
(CAS) is designed to support the implementation of Madagascar’s PRSP. The Community
Development Project supports the strategic orientations of the CAS by financing: (i) community
investment in rural areas where 77 percent of the population is poor (2001); (ii) support to local
governments; and (iii) safety net activities.
Between January 26 and February 4, 2004, tropical cyclone Elita hit Madagascar several times
causing havoc in a number of districts, leaving 29 people dead and 100 injured. Barely a month
after cyclone Elita, intense tropical cyclone Gafilo hit the country on March 7, 2004 killing 76
people. It is estimated that the cyclones left 305,812 people homeless. Gafilo is one of the
strongest cyclones to have hit Madagascar in twenty years.
The cyclones caused serious damage to the agricultural production system in large areas of the
country. In addition to damaged rural infrastructure and cereal crop losses, the loss of export
earnings from vanilla producing areas, livestock and the impact on fisheries will have a
devastating impact on the economy. Around 1,150 economic infrastructures (bridges, irrigation
schemes etc.) have been damaged or destroyed. With respect to social infrastructure, it is
estimated that around 3,977 schools have sustained some type of damage, primarily water
damage from the flooding and the loss of roofs due to wind, but in some cases complete
destruction of the building. An estimated 637 health centers have also been damaged or
destroyed by high winds and subsequent flooding. Access to safe drinking water and adequate
sanitation conditions have been severely compromised, increasing public health risks in the most
affected districts. Sanitation is likely to become an even more critical problem in these flooded
areas, increasing the cases of diarrhea and other communicable diseases and the risk of a cholera
outbreak. Finally, about 1,040 administrative buildings have been affected.
2. Objectives
The development objective of the Community Development Project is to contribute to the
improved use of, and satisfaction with, social and economic services in participating rural and
urban communities. The project also seeks to (i) improve local governance and local capacity;
(ii) establish participatory and decentralized mechanisms for selecting, funding and
implementing rural community investment programs; and (iii) implement basic infrastructure in
rural communities across the country. As a result of the cyclones, the achievement of the
development objectives became at risk. The supplemental credit will cover the cost overrun
associated with increased number of development targets and hence, higher cost of inputs. The
additional financing will be used to assist in the post-cyclone reconstruction efforts, targeting
communities in the affected areas.
3. Rationale for Bank Involvement
The Community Development Project is the ideal vehicle for responding rapidly to the stricken
population. The project has developed into a key instrument for intervention in the health,
education, nutrition, agricultural and transport sectors. IDA has financed three social fund
projects in Madagascar over 10 years which have specialized in the construction and
rehabilitation of community infrastructure. The executing unit of the Community Development
Project, the Fonds d'intervention pour le développement (FID) has gained extensive experience
and built solid capacity in managing community development projects and rehabilitating social
and economic infrastructure. In addition, buildings built by the project in recent years have not
been destroyed by cyclones because the project was able to enforce adequate quality standards
for design and workmanship. The project has completed 1,447 sub-projects (mostly new
infrastructure). To date, approximately 418 primary schools, 140 health facilities, 589 kilometers
of feeder roads and 9,135 hectares of agricultural lands have been rehabilitated. As a result,
4,503,752 million person days of temporary employment have been created. Currently, there are
another 804 sub-projects underway. More importantly, the project is experienced in working
with community associations, NGOs and local governments and only supports rehabilitation or
construction requested by the communities. The project can serve the damaged areas from six
regional offices. On this basis, FID is well-placed to respond to emergency situations quickly and
efficiently.
4. Description
The proposed credit would provide supplemental financing to the existing Community
Development Project (Cr. No. 3498-MAG) to cover the additional costs that were incurred to
address the emergency situations that arose from the Elita and Gafilo cyclones. The credit would
support cyclone-related rehabilitation and reconstruction works, labor intense safety nets
interventions as well as special interventions such as limited distribution of food and non-food
items by specialized UN agencies. The supplemental would finance 5,507 sub-projects, 60
percent of which would be rehabilitation (mostly roofs, windows, and upper walls), and 40
percent new constructions, benefiting 1.2 million people. Social and economic infrastructure to
be rehabilitated or reconstructed include schools, health centers, rural water supply,
slaughterhouses, markets, and feeder roads.
5. Financing
Source:
BORROWER/RECEPIENT
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Total
($m.)
0
50
50
6. Implementation
The FID is an autonomous implementing agency that has ten years of experience and
demonstrated capacity to effectively and rapidly intervene at the community level and to undertake
large scale interventions. Further, FID can take advantage of its autonomy to (i) enforce certain
minimum standards of implementation; (ii) adhere to a tight timetable; and (iii) undertake timely
procurement following Bank rules but without be going through Central Procurement Board and
contracting out major emergency activities to civil society partners and international organizations.
The project unit employs well defined and transparent management and accounting procedures;
and undertakes regular and frequent financial, managerial and technical audits. There is also strong
support from high-level government officials on the use of FID to implement these types of
activities in urgent circumstances. The supplemental credit would be implemented by FID through
contracting of partners (private sector, NGOs, engineering firms, UN agencies etc.) under the same
arrangements as the current project.
7. Sustainability
Under the proposed Supplemental Credit, FID will continue to deepen its focus on sustainability.
The sustainability of FID sub-projects is achieved by ensuring maximum community
involvement at implementation, and post-completion stages. Special IEC activities will be
carried out by NGOs on operations and maintenance including though user fees when applicable
(e.g. water schemes). In addition, beneficiary communities contribute in cash, in-kind, through
labor, or a combination thereof, which further ensures ownership and sustainability of projects.
Finally, FID will systematically use post-completion visits to heighten awareness of the
importance of operations and maintenance among beneficiaries.
8. Lessons Learned from Past Operations in the Country/Sector
The project design incorporates lessons learned from experiences with social funds throughout
the world, as well as from the IDA's experiences with the previous phases of the FID in
Madagascar. Critical issues that have been or are being incorporated into the project are:(i)
operational efficiency; (ii) transparency and accountability through clearly defined guidelines,
independent financial and technical audits, and an effective management information system;
(iii) clear and simple procurement and disbursement procedures; (iv) competitive salaries to
enable the recruitment of highly qualified staff; (v) proper targeting mechanisms; (vi) integration
of the environmental dimension into sub-projects; and (vii) better attention to monitoring and
evaluation mechanisms including beneficiary assessments. Sub-project sustainability also
requires a participatory approach to ensure full consultation with communes/communities on
their needs and priorities, ensure that their contributions are made, and their continuous
involvement throughout the project cycle so that they are committed to sub-project maintenance.
9. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation)
As part of the preparation for the supplemental credit, a supervision mission was undertaken to
identify possible environmental and social safeguard risks associated with subprojects being
funded under the project. The main issues identified include: inadequate waste management
procedures for health centers and schools; lack of erosion control measures being used for feeder
roads, particularly in areas prone to erosion; and potential cumulative impacts associated with
improved access to natural habitats and forests via rural roads resulting in habitat degradation.
To address these issues, training will be provided to FID staff and implementing partners on the
application of good practice measures for environmental protection during the construction and
operation of subprojects; and on monitoring subprojects for safeguard compliance. In addition,
the FID will revise the Implementation Manual to comply more effectively with the World Bank
safeguard policies and provide more adequate guidelines for the environmental evaluation of
small-scale social infrastructure projects. Appropriate good practice measures will be integrated
into the subproject technical specifications, and additional training is planned for FID staff and
implementing partners on safeguard compliance. These measures will be financed under the
supplemental credit. An environment supervision mission will be held six months after
effectiveness to assess if all the necessary measures have been undertaken.
Environmental classification category is B.
10. List of Factual Technical Documents
Community Development project, Project Appraisal Document, March 23, 2001
Impact du passage des cyclones “Elita” et ”Gafilo », FID, 4/14/2004
FID Implementation Manual (as amended in April 2004)
11. Contact point
Nadine Poupart
Task Team Leader
Tel: (202) 458-2590
Fax: (202) 473-8107
Email: Npoupart@worldbank.org
12. For more information contact:
The InfoShop
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 458-5454
Fax: (202) 522-1500
Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop