Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

Implementation Support Missions for

Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP) II

(APL-1: P100406 & APL-2: P118316)

May 20 – June 11, 2014

Aide Memoire

In accordance with the mission announcement letter dated May 7, 2014, a World Bank team1 carried out

an implementation support mission for the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP)

II, in Mwanza (May 20-24), Kisumu (May 26-30), Bujumbura (May 30 - June 2), Kigali (June 3-6) and

Entebbe (June 2-11). The mission worked with counterparts from the Lake Victoria Basin Commission

(LVBC) and National Project Coordination Teams (NPCTs) from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda,

and Rwanda (KE, TZ, BI, UG & RW).

Given that some critical information was not available at the time of the mission, the finalization of the

Aide Memoire was delayed until the project teams had had the chance to (i) provide a more complete

update of results to date, (ii) review proposed FY15 workplans, and (iii) conduct a follow up visit to

districts implementing watershed management activities in Uganda. The current Aide Memoire

summarizes the results of all these activities, as well as the earlier technical visits on safeguards in

Tanzania, on fisheries and on communications, which fed into the main May-June mission.

The mission would like to thank all key counterparts in LVBC and the respective Governments for

welcoming the mission and for the constructive discussions. The mission would also like to thank the

government officials and other stakeholders, including members of numerous communities within the

Basin who made themselves available to discuss activities under or related to the project. See Annex 1 for

the mission schedule and Annex 2 for the persons met.

BACKGROUND & MISSION OBJECTIVES

Following the restructuring approved by the Bank Board on 25 June 2012, and the included 2-year

extension, LVEMP II APL-1 (which covers the three riparian countries – UG, KE & TZ) will close at the

end of FY15. APL-2 (which added the two remaining countries in the basin – RW & BI) began at the start

of 2012 and runs until the end of FY17. APL-2 is therefore approaching its mid-point.

1The Bank mission team consisted of Stephen Ling (Natural Resources Management Specialist, TTL); Nagaraja Rao

Harshadeep (Sr. Environmental Specialist, Co-TTL); Jane Kibbassa (Environment Safeguards Specialist & TZ

country co-TTL); Berina Uwimbabazi (Senior Water Resources Specialist & UG country co-TTL); Constance

Nekessa-Ouma (Social Development Specialist); Valens Mwumvaneza (Agriculture Specialist); Tony Garvey

(Senior Water Resources Institutions Consultant), Geoffrey Howard (Invasive Species Specialist Consultant); Prasad

Modak (Pollution and Sanitation Consultant); Nicole Maywah (Environment Consultant); Nicola Harford

Communications Consultant); Iwona Piechowiak (Watershed Management FAO Consultant); Toon van Eijk (Rural

livelihoods specialist FAO Consultant); Regional Spatial Data Services Team: Hrishikesh Patel, Joseph Mulhausen,

and Shaffiq Somani; Procurement Specialists: Melance Ndikumasabo, Donald Mneney, Howard Centenary,

Mulugeta Dinka / Antoinette Kamanzi and Joel Munyori (in BI, TZ, UG, RW & KE respectively); Financial

Management Specialists: Christian Simbananiye, Michael Okuny, Edwin Nyamasege, Lillian Namutebi and

Josephine Kamau (in BI, TZ, UG, RW & KE respectively); and was supported by Clarette Rwagatore, Faustina

Chande, Clare Busingye, Belinda Mutesi and Hope Nanshemeza in BI, TZ, UG, RW, KE, and Washington, DC

respectively.

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The main objective of the mission is to review overall progress since the last mission, with a particular

focus on previewing realistic expected achievements by the close of the APL-1 at the end of FY15, and

discussing what should happen beyond that. The mission also took a particular look at progress under

watershed rehabilitation activities and at Lake Basin knowledge products to be completed by the end of

the project. Specifically, activities included:

i) A general review of progress against annual work plans and the table of agreed actions from

the last mission across all 6 project teams. The mission reviewed FY15 workplans, especially with regard

to ensuring that project activities can be realistically completed within the 3 APL-1 countries.

ii) Detailed field reviews of the status of watershed management activities, including CDD and

CMI subprojects.

iii) A workshop on basin models and monitoring, which agreed on the suite of Basin knowledge

products that can realistically be completed by the end of APL-1, and the arrangements for so doing.

iv) Technical reviews of regional water hyacinth and fisheries management strategies.

v) Review of progress in procuring and commissioning sanitation works in all APL-1 countries

to ensure that these are still on schedule to be completed by the end of the project.

vi) Discussion of plans and objectives for a next phase of support to LVEMP in the APL-1

countries.

vii) Agreement on the project communications strategy and participation in key public events

including the celebration of World Environment Day in Mwanza and the Regional Cleaner Production

Awards in Entebbe.

PRIMARY FINDINGS

Program-wide Themes

Results to date

Although not yet fully complete, significant progress has been made in assessing progress against

indicator targets in the program results frameworks (see Annex 4 for details).

For APL-1, considerable recent achievements are increasingly being documented. Five of 7 APL-1 PDO

indicators are either achieved or almost achieved. The total number of project beneficiaries is expected to

be around an order of magnitude higher than the original target (37,000) due to large numbers of people

benefiting from some community watershed management activities, and large numbers expected to

benefit from sanitation investments. The remaining 2 PDO indicators are on track, but with significant

work to be done:

6 urban pollution hotspots addressed through wastewater management investments –

significant wastewater management investments are planned in 8 locations, 5 of which are

already starting, but timelines for completion remain very tight, and the risk of contingencies that

could disrupt completion by the end of FY15 remains very real.

6150 ha under sustainable land management – around 4,500ha have been brought under more

sustainable land management to date, and further increases are expected with the completion of

planned watershed investments.

Eleven of 16 intermediate indicators have already been achieved or almost achieved. For instance:

7 (of a target of 10) designs for wastewater treatment facilities have been prepared, and a further

9 are in development.

186 (of 233) industries trained have been trained in cleaner production, 47% (cf. target of 15%) of

which have adopted cleaner production measures. The private sector investments leveraged to

date total more than $90m, and typically have IRRs of around 35%.

606 CDD subprojects are under implementation (of 590 to be completed by the end of APL-1).

The remaining 5 intermediate indicator targets are:

GIS database and Water Resources Information System developed and available for public

access – a WRIS IT shell has been created, but it has yet to be populated with data or made

readily available to the public. A meeting was held from 20th to 22

nd August, 2014 and agreed on

a list of data and information to be immediately uploaded on the WRIS.

38,000 people provided with improved access to sanitation – the project is expected to

significantly exceed this target, but it remains dependent on the completion of civil works, for

which the timetables are very tight.

1,450ha of wetland restored or rehabilitated – the target should be achievable if the restoration

of riverbank habitats is included, but a suitable figure for achievement to date needs to be

calculated (as not all of the riparian buffer zones should count as wetland habitat).

Quarterly reports with information on results made available to stakeholders; MIS system

under routine use – these targets are not being met systematically, but should be relatively easy

to achieve by the end of the project.

APL-2 is at a much earlier stage of implementation. Almost all results indicators still have a long way to

go to reach their targets, but there has been good recent progress on a number of them, e.g.:

More than 1,300ha (of a target of 13,000ha) have been brought under improved sustainable land

management.

Over 4750 (of 17,300) project beneficiaries have been recorded.

6 (of 8) industries have already adopted cleaner production techniques.

Over 400ha (of 500ha) of wetlands are under restoration.

A mid-term review should be completed for APL-2 by the end of this FY, and will provide a thorough

review of progress against targets. In Rwanda, it should also consider the potential redistribution of

project funds to provide for some physical sanitation investments, and the long-term model for the

management and funding of the REMA SPIU (i.e. to ensure that the SPIU structure is efficient and

provides project services commensurate with the investment). Dependent on the availability of FAO CP

resources, it is proposed to use an FAO consultant to lead a pre-MTR assessment exercise, supported by

project-hired local consultants in each country. Arrangements will be finalized once the FY15 FAO CP

envelope has been confirmed.

Given the demonstrable progress against APL-1 targets, the mission also began discussion on the

continuation of the program in the riparian countries beyond the scheduled close of APL-1. As the

mission had been notified, the project steering committee made a formal request on July 16th for a one-

year extension of APL-1 to allow for completion of currently planned activities (especially in Uganda)

and for preparation of a subsequent phase of support to LVEMP. However, the Bank task team has

proposed instead a 2-year Additional Financing to APL-1 (except for Uganda, which would continue to

use remaining funds from their current allocation). This proposal is currently under discussion within the

Bank and with ministries of finance in each of the APL-1 countries, but the anticipated benefits would be:

o Provide time to bed down the existing investments, ensuring proper management and

maintenance.

o Expand proven investment activities, maintaining momentum under the program.

o Provide a platform for thorough preparation of a more ambitious next phase – time is required

to coordinate amongst the 5 countries and potential additional donor partners.

o Allow all 5 countries to reach the end of the current project cycle and therefore join the next

phase – UG can catch up with KE and TZ, whilst APL-2 (RW & BI) will also close at the end

of FY17.

o Allow the next phase to access IDA-18 funds (or potentially IDA-17, in the event that there are

funds remaining at the end of the cycle).

Also, since the previous implementation support mission, the proposed minor restructuring has been

completed. The objective of that was to reflect the final availability of SIDA funds and to re-allocate

additional funds for CDD subprojects given the rapid progress in their implementation. All parties are

urged to follow the revised eligible expenditure categories when completing IFRs and updating

disbursement tables.

Models, monitoring and knowledge products

The workshop held on basin model and monitoring between May 27-29 in Kisumu covered a range of

spatial analytics and remote-sensing based data. A list of topics and knowledge products was identified

that needs to be developed to provide a systematic picture of the Basin, its resources, and their

management needs (see table below). It was agreed that working groups, focused on watershed

management, water quality and point-source pollution, would be established and prepare plans for how to

develop these. Some data is already starting to be collected by the project teams, especially on the current

set of watershed management investments. The Bank team will continue to monitor progress, support the

project teams to access newly available global datasets, and ensure planned project activities are

contributing to these outputs.

Knowledge area Topics / products Progress / data sources

Basin profile Poverty and vulnerability mapping

Main economic activities – mapping key

water infrastructure and extractions

Land use patterns and trends

Natural habitats and biodiversity (including

wetlands)

Mapping of projects / interventions

Coarse global datasets available –

initial atlas products being prepared in

TZ and KE.

Pollution

loading spatial

models

Land use: Mapping geophysical risk

Mapping use of SLM

techniques and incorporation into models

Basic map completed – some

verification of vegetation coverage

and ground-truthing required

[look at LADA and catchment

selection methodologies used in

Estimating reductions from

project investments, CDD / CMI profiles

TAMP]

Systematic data on CDDs / CMIs

(including location, interventions,

area, # people, income generation)

starting to be compiled [look at

documentation using WOCAT

methodology, and impact monitoring

protocols under LADA]

Sewage/waste: Mapping loads based on

urban populations

Mapping coverage of

existing management systems

Estimating reductions from

project investments

Basic model developed, requires

ground-truthing.

Estimates being developed based on

population expected to be served.

Land use: Mapping industries and

estimating pollution loads

Survey current adoption of

RECP techniques

Estimating reductions from

project investments

300+ of 1100 registered industries

have been mapped – maps need to be

collated and combined with pollution

data from CPC and regulatory agency

monitoring (and co-efficients

established for industries no subject to

monitoring)

Only known for industries

participating in the project. Good data

available on 30 industries surveyed

for regional awards.

Being developed from monitoring of

participating industries

Recording maritime accidents and spills

Water quality Rainfall and hydrological flow data

Climate change predictions

Mapping existing water quality data &

identifying gaps

Pollution transport models

Lake circulation models

Ecology: Mapping water hyacinth

and algal blooms

Fisheries map – nursery

grounds, spatial stock estimates, distribution

of effort and catches

RCMs exist

Data is being collected from set points

within the Lake and from certain

rivers in each of the APL-1 countries,

but sampling is not designed to reflect

project impacts or calibrate pollutant

transport. [LVBC should start

generating aggregate monitoring

reports and maps]

Basic circulation model was designed

under LVEMP I. No plans to re-

establish this under current phase

Water hyacinth monitoring is being

carried out, but reports are not being

generated or shared

Spatial fisheries data exists (from

acoustic surveys, frame surveys,

mapping of nursery grounds in UG],

but needs to be collated

Environmental Estimating costs of environmental [WB regional transport report may

economics degradation

Estimating returns from basin investments

have some figures on value of Lake

for transport]

Some data on incomes from

watershed activities starting to be

collated. Cost/benefit RECP data

available on 30 industries surveyed

for regional awards.

Water hyacinth

Water hyacinth first reached the Lake in 1989, and spread around the coast during the 90s to present

severe problems for the use of the Lake. Following the introduction of biological control agents under

LVEMP I at the end of the 90s, the level of water hyacinth fell dramatically and remained low for around

a decade. In recent years, however, it has been reappearing and there have been periodic, but severe

infestations. The key loci for the generation of water hyacinth have now spread to smaller water bodies

within the basin, from where it is able to periodically re-infest the Lake, temporarily outstripping the local

capacity of the control agents to suppress growth.

During the mission, the team’s water hyacinth expert, Geoffrey Howard, visited all 5 countries to review

activities and provide training on water hyacinth biology and management (see Annex 11 for details). In

Tanzania, with the assistance of the project, local groups (BMUs) have been able to effectively combat

water hyacinth outbreaks through physical removal and release of control agents. Community

management activities are also being ramped up in Uganda, as well as some mechanical clearance. In

Kenya, the contract for purchase of a mechanical harvester has been signed, but plans are needed for its

operation, including harvesting and disposal of material. Community-based control activities have not

been as successful as elsewhere, and it was suggested that the rearing of control agents may be more

effective and useful if taken over by KARI (and other project partners) and located in, perhaps, two

centers around the Kenya parts of the lake (one on the north bank, another on the south bank). KE has

since decided to establish 7 centers spread around the Lakeshore. Linking promotion of water hyacinth

clearance to the provision of complementary livelihoods activities, as in Tanzania, may also prove more

effective. Some clearance of water hyacinth from smaller lakes has taken place in RW, where the plants

have been used for composting and fiber. These programs need to be closely monitored and supervised,

however, as there is concern that use of the plant may create a positive impression of the weed and

provide incentives to maintain it, or conversely may encourage excessive removal of native floating

plants that form a healthy part of the ecosystem.

Watershed management activities

Annex 5 details observations from field visits related to the watershed management activities. Within

APL-1, the number of active CDD and CMI subprojects has expanded greatly and is on-track to meet or

exceed project targets. The recent minor restructuring allowed for an increased allocation of funds to

CDD grants in TZ and KE in recognition of this recent progress. However, the implementation of these

activities towards the end of the project creates concerns about their sustainability. In Tanzania, for

example, several community groups are starting bee-keeping enterprises, with considerable success. As

the local production of honey increases dramatically, however, it will outstrip local demand, and require

the development of new markets, which may involve significant transport costs and lower net returns.

Communities will need assistance to access markets (some are talking of creating producer associations

across multiple communities), in addition to the basic business skills of managing finances and

investments once incomes start to accrue in earnest. In some cases, significant investments are occurring

in the absence of even simple business plans. On community in Tanzania, for instance has purchased a

new tractor and is constructing a sunflower oil pressing facility, but does not have projections of their

production, costs or systems of charging for the use of the tractor or presses.

There remains scope for more systematic planning of interventions including e.g. WOCAT tools for

identifying land management priorities, and value chain analysis, as well as improving the capacity of

communities and local government to manage and scale-up activities (including the use of NGOs to

enhance monitoring and support, and farmer field schools. In areas where labor is limiting, such as the

lowlands in Tanzania, the focus should be on the least labor-intensive options, and more could be done to

promote the gradual adoption of conservation farming. In the highlands of Rwanda, Burundi and perhaps

Kenya, where land is limiting, different models may be more successful. Nevertheless, some successful

packages of interventions are emerging, such as the combination of river bank protection with provision

of alternative water sources and bee-keeping in the riparian buffer zones. The combination of stall-fed

cattle with biogas digesters also has considerable promise for improving rangelands, if the costs of the

digesters can be made economic at the individual household level, and if adoption eventually leads to the

reduction of free-ranging herds.

The project has applied the ESMFs during the planning and implementation of the both the catchment

conservation and livelihood activities. Screening for potential environmental and social impacts has been

carried out and corresponding safeguards instruments have been prepared. However, although the

preparation and clearance of safeguards instruments such as screening and scoping reports and

preliminary Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) have in most cases complied with the

national requirements in each country, submission of the same to the Bank has not been done in a timely

manner. The mission reiterates the need to share Terms of References for clearance and ESIAs/ESMPs

for review, clearance and disclosure, as appropriate. More details on safeguards issues are included in the

country sections below.

Annex 7 contains notes on the longer-term prospects for rural livelihoods augmentation, especially for

Lake-shore communities to reduce the pressure on fisheries. Existing cleaner production engagements

with private sector industries (many of which are agri-processors) could be expanded upon to promote

sustainable agricultural and fisheries value chains through certification and outgrower schemes. Fish

farming is considered to have a lot of potential around the Lake-shore, but more data is needed on the

local economics. A considerable literature exists related to rural livelihoods around Lake Victoria, and

interns could help to prepare a more thorough review of it. The design of programs to reduce fishing

effort on the Lake, however, will also need to take into account that fishers are not solely motivated by

income – the lifestyle surrounding fishing and fisher camps is often more attractive to young men than

routine rural occupations.

Communications

A communications consultant, Nicola Harford, visited Kisumu for a week in late March, and in May, to

help bring more of a strategic focus to the projects communications products (i.e. to identify key

audiences and messages) and to help improve the content (especially incorporation of real data, and also

representation of community voices and experiences). The report from her March visit is provided as

Annex 10.

Some of the key recommendations and progress are as follows:

1. Set communication sub-goals and adapt content for different users: an action plan was

developed to take forward the consultant recommendations. The LVBC team felt that it was not

appropriate to revise existing communication strategies but rather to focus efforts on

communicating results better.

2. Collate project information systematically outputs and success stories: fact sheets were

prepared for 16 CDD subprojects in Kenya and Tanzania that were subject to a competitive

evaluation initiated by LVBC. The winner was selected and awarded on World Environment Day.

Two print booklets prepared on the achievements of LVEMP II capturing before and after with

community voices - Counting the Gains 2 booklet. The Kenya team are preparing reports and

banners on CDD subprojects with photos showing ‘before’ and ‘after’ situations. The engagement

of interns is expected to help develop a more systematic profile of subproject activities, both for

internal monitoring and dissemination.

3. Focus and enhance media interactions: The Regional Communications officer has instituted

media briefings with LVEMP officers on regular basis. Media excursions related to World

Environment Day in Mwanza were planned so that small groups of journalists would visit

different sites along with community members on exchange visits from other countries. Similar

excursions took place in Kenya, linked to World Wetlands Day. Project teams should monitor

media coverage and their impact upon it - media clippings being collated.

4. Refine website and social media presence: TZ has a facebook page, but needs to develop the

information content. LVBC and KE web portals are not yet functional, but teams will use interns

to support improved social media presence.

5. Integrate M&E with communications: Quarterly meetings are now scheduled between

communications officers and M&E officers to feed results into communications outputs

systematically (first one was held in late April).

It was also agreed to develop a core set of LVEMP communications products with broad applicability –

A set of 2-4 page technical briefs / fact sheets covering major LVEMP themes – i.e. water

resources management, water quality, watershed management, sanitation & wastewater treatment,

cleaner production, fisheries, and water hyacinth. Specialists within the Bank team can help to

develop the initial drafts of these, which would then be maintained and updated by the project

teams as a living set of key reference documents.

A set of photo-stories / slide shows covering the same themes as the fact sheets, but providing a

more anecdotal and visual presentation and focusing on human stories. The Bank team can

initiate collection of photos and suggested messages, and identify remaining work for these to be

completed by the project teams.

A short film documenting the recent human history of the Lake, including the development

of the fishery, intensification of environmental pressures and the efforts to alleviate those. The

focus would be on personal narratives of how these events have impacted lives. The Bank team’s

communications specialists would help to develop the TOR for this work, as well as suitable

production companies.

LVBC

Water resources policies

National legal reviews of draft LVB Water Resources Management Policy and Bill were completed, but

the Bill has been sent back for another round of review by SECOM. TORs for an SEA of the Water

Release and Abstraction Policy have also been agreed. Effluent discharge standards were approved by the

EAC Council of Ministers, but need to be passed by the EAC Legislative Assembly before adoption by

the countries. A water resources assessment and basin atlas has been drafted as the first part of the Water

Resources Management Plan, and is undergoing stakeholder validation. The architecture of the Water

Resources Information System has been established, but it needs to be populated with regular water

quality monitoring data. Meanwhile, the regional data-sharing guidelines have been adopted by SECOM,

but need to be approved by the EAC Council of Ministers.

Proposals for establishment of a Lake Victoria Environment Fund are still held at the stage of determining

the appropriate institutional setting. Further meetings are planned.

Fisheries

Following transfer of funds from LVBC late in 2013, there has been progress on the three main project

activities being implemented by LVFO: a) regional policy harmonization; b) revision of the Fisheries

Management Plan; and c) working with the riparian countries on establishment of Fisheries Levy Trust

Funds. Regional and national meetings were held to discuss each of these from December 2013 to

February 2014. Key issues that were flagged include the following:

Excess fishing capacity in the lake is critical to address and control.

The control of net mesh size was critical – many fishers are using illegal mesh nets are selectively

removing greater numbers of juvenile perch.

Market preferences are having a significant influence on the fishing patterns – there is a regional

(illegal) market for smaller perch (<50 cm) and a (legal) market demanding fish > 50cm (HACCP

driven exports to Europe mostly). In addition, there is a unique “high end” market for fish > 85

cm, specifically for swim bladders in the Chinese market.

The last frame survey was conducted in 2012 – a repeat frame survey is due in 2014 if all

countries avail funds.

There has been no Catch Assessment Survey (CAS) in recent years due to lack of funds – the

CAS is a critical part of the assessment process and links to the frame survey. LVFO agreed that

it would expedite/ synchronize a CAS in 2014 – this is now in process and is being funded by the

countries.

There have been no recent hydro-acoustic surveys.

There was general agreement that probably the most useful management tool would be spatial

and temporal closures. In this regard Uganda appears to have taken the lead and has undertaken

research to identify breeding areas for tilapia, perch and mukene. There is however a need to

make a concerted effort to harmonize spatial management of fisheries in the lake,

Efforts to develop a Fishing Levy Trust Fund (FLTF) are making slow and uneven progress. All

countries have raised the issue, but are at very different levels of development, and there is little

coordination in terms of proposed standard models. In Uganda, there is resistance from the

Ministry of Finance. Tanzania said that the structures were in place and Kenya said that the

process was also accepted, but the actual mechanism remained unclear.

A February visit by the World Bank fisheries consultant (see Annex 9) discussed a number of key

activities in the fisheries sector, many of which were reflected in recommendations made at two regional

meetings on the recovery of Nile Perch –on 21 January 2014 and 22-23 May 2014 in Jinja. A list of

activities has been identified in consultation with the countries and other parties, including Smartfish,

requiring an estimated budget of US$25 million. Activities under discussion include:

a) Frame surveys and catch Assessment surveys.

b) Acoustic surveys.

c) Comprehensive stock assessment in 2014 or early 2015 based on results of acoustic, frame and

CAS.

d) Review of current fishing technology and selectivity.

e) Improved data management and processing to generate Lake-wide effort and catch estimates.

f) Review of possibilities for species-specific licensing.

g) Comprehensive spatial mapping to develop spatial and temporal management measure to

integrate into the regional FMP.

h) Review of species diversity in the Lake and changes associated with the altered environment of

the Lake including climate change, eutrophication, fishing pressure, invasive species.

i) Review of effectiveness of current monitoring, control and surveillance strategies at a national

and regional level.

j) Review of effectiveness / functionality of BMU co-management approach.

k) Investigate feasibility of eco-labeling schemes.

l) Review of aquaculture options, returns and risks.

m) Market studies for value addition and alternate livelihoods.

n) Public Private Partnerships for investments in fisheries and value-chain management.

The Bank consultant will continue to work with LVFO on a roadmap for the future of Lake fisheries

management, which would provide a basis for discussing how fisheries management should be

incorporated into future phases of LVEMP. In the meantime, given the limitations on the remaining

LVBC funds, support is being sought from the national APL-1 project budgets to allow continuation of

critical monitoring programs.

Cleaner Production

Impressive progress has been made under cleaner production (CP) activities, and end-of-project targets

for the APL-1 countries have largely been met. For APL 1 countries, 186 industries (79.5% of the target)

were trained in CP and 88 have adopted cleaner production measures (totaling over $90m in investment);

385 industries have been mapped and GIS maps of baseline pollution intensities have been developed for

88 industries. Among APL 2 countries, 192 (BI: 120; RW: 72) industries have been mapped and 26 were

trained on cleaner production, 6 of which have so far adopted measures.

On June 10, a Regional Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production Awards Ceremony was held to

recognize the industries that have made the most gains in the program. Cleaner Production activities will

now focus on collating results from the work thus far to start to provide a basin-wide picture of industrial

pollution loadings, progress on pollution reduction achieved through the project, and what can be

achieved for further investments and associated knowledge products aimed at the public and practitioners.

A video product on the cleaner production program is being planned. Options for moving beyond the

current site-based, voluntary approach to more systematic and industry-wide programs are also being

considered.

Navigation safety

Contracts for installation of navigation aids and oil spill management training have been signed, and work

is beginning. Proposals received for the hydrographic surveys of Lake navigation routes were several

times the size of the available budget, however. The Bank’s transport team have reviewed the proposals

and determined that the estimates are reasonable given the size of the area to be covered, but that the areas

identified for detailed survey are probably excessive. The proposal is therefore to revise the TORs to

cover a more limited set of scoping activities, including digitizing existing bathymetric maps, equipping

the LVBC survey vessel and conducting preliminary surveys including some lidar coverage. Given the

need to re-run at least some of the procurement process, however, the completion of this work would

probably depend on the extension of the project.

FY15 workplan and budget

Following the final transfer of SIDA funds, the total allocation to LVBC under APL-1 rose to just over

$18m, around $4m of which remains undisbursed. Given a number of outstanding consultancy and goods

contracts (especially for safety of navigation activities), that leaves relatively little flexibility in the

remaining budget. Therefore, funds from the national components are being sought to support fisheries

monitoring and to augment the support to the cleaner production program in FY15. NPCTs in TZ and UG

have already allocated significant amounts from their national project budgets to support ongoing CP

activities. KE has already committed a modest amount but will not be able to expand this allocation going

forward. LVBC is also urged to set aside additional funds for consultants to produce end-of-project

reports or progress analytical work discussed above, even if this means cutting back on some meeting

costs.

Procurement

LVBC has lacked a dedicated specialist, which has slowed some procurement activities. There have also

been weaknesses in contract management, monitoring and documentation. More training for the team,

greater consultation with Bank and regular updates of procurement plans are suggested. More details of

the procurement review are provided in Annex 15.

Financial management

The audit report for FY ended 30 June 2013 was received by the Bank on April 28, 2014 which is four

months after the submission deadline of December 31, 2013. However, management had sought

exemption from the Bank’s FM to present the audit report after the due date citing the calendar of Audit

Commission in auditing all LVBC projects as well as double auditing when a private auditor is hired.

This exemption was not granted due to the ongoing dialogue between the Bank and the EAC on

harmonization of Public Financial Management standards in partner states.

During the external audit by the EAC Audit Commission of GEF funds, USD 7000 of ineligible

expenditure was identified as unnecessary fuel and daily subsistence allowances for staff whose travel to

the Regional Policy Steering Committee held in Bujumbura in October 2012. A refund has since been

received by the Bank.

The project FM ISR rating is maintained as Moderately Satisfactory whereas the FM risk rating is

assessed as Moderate.

COUNTRY UPDATES

Burundi

General progress

Strong progress has been made since the start of 2014, especially in the initiation of watershed

management activities in the field. This has been made possible by the recruitment of a strong project

team, and has been assisted by the close support of the Bank’s local consultant, Jumaine Hussein.

However, further acceleration of project execution is required. The last withdrawal application was for

$260k, but the project needs to absorb on average around $1m each quarter to achieve full utilization of

funds by the end of FY17.

Individual consultants to support IGEBU and fisheries are being procured, but revised TORs still need to

be provided on the review of the national environment code and for overall watershed analysis TA

following comments from the Bank. Contracts for toilet design in Gitega and for sanitation masterplans

have been awarded. The start of these sanitation activities should help to increase disbursement rates.

Watershed management activities are underway with demarcation and planting of 25 (of 46) km of the

Lake Rweru shoreline, and 693km (roughly 600 ha) of contour ditches dug (these are yet to be planted

with stabilizing vegetation). Twenty-one CCD proposals are under development, targeting those impacted

by shoreline restoration work. A strong start has been made, but Burundi should learn lessons from other

project teams as it progresses, e.g.:

Put in place robust monitoring, including mapping and documenting activities (types of

interventions, size of area, number of beneficiaries, etc), systematic before & after photos, impact

monitoring (including water quality, vegetative cover and income gains).

Develop trials and demonstration plots for promising new techniques, even if they are not initially

adopted by famers – e.g. use of bamboos to stabilize banks and bunds, conservation agriculture,

apiculture in combination with rehabilitation of riparian habitats. Identify and engage specific

technical expertise where needed.

Provide close support to CDD associations (especially new ones) on capacity building (savings

and business management), and ensure appropriate grievance response mechanisms are in place.

Encourage CDD livelihood activities that are complementary to SLM practices – e.g. stall-fed

livestock with fodder banks, bee-keeping with riparian buffers, etc.

Prepare scale-up plans for existing and new areas. Look at the existing planning analytics

prepared under the TAMP project, include micro-catchment planning approaches, and identify

local capacity constraints.

The project team has produced a number of communications products, including regular newsletters, but

should try to include more data related to issues and achievements, as opposed to just focusing on major

events.

Workplan and budget

The workplan and budget for 2014 was earlier reviewed and found to be satisfactory. The plan for 2015

should be provided for Bank review by mid-December.

Safeguards

Sanitation/toilet design for Gitega town and preparation of pollution master plans for Kirundo, Karusi and

Mwaro towns activities are being contracted. It is important that necessary environmental and social

assessments are carried out in a timely manner so as to inform the final design / master plan. The main

activities carried out by communities included demarcation of the buffer zone for Lake Rweru and

erosion control (digging ditches and tree planting) in Waga sub-catchment. Environmental and social

screening reports have not yet been shared. Grievance redress systems need to be established to ensure

that those affected by shoreline restoration works are aware of their entitlement and are suitably targeted

in the provision of CDD grants.

Procurement

Procurement performance is moderately satisfactory. A number of contracts have been recently

processed, but acceleration and improvements in documentation are still needed. Further details are

provided in Annex 17.

Financial Management

Following the ongoing supervision mission, the assessment concluded that overall, the project’s financial

management system remains moderately satisfactory for the following reasons: key project staff has been

recruited and trained on the use of fiduciary procedures, IFRs as well as audit reports have been prepared

and submitted on time reviewed and found to be satisfactory, the project annual work program has been

prepared and submitted to the TTL for no objection on time. However, the overall disbursement rate is

11.05% after more than two years of implementation. $4,080,639 is budgeted under the 2014 workplan,

but the total executed amount was $476,870.67 as of June 10th, 2014 which represents only 11.69%.

The main recommendation will be the following: the project’s manual of procedures should be finalized

and translated into French. In addition, simplified guidelines should be developed to help in managing the

sub-projects; the PRODEMA’s manual could be used as reference. There is a delay in recording the

transactions in the project software namely TOMPRO since end of April 2014.

Rwanda

General progress

Very strong progress has been made on watershed management activities, but the development of TORs

and procurement processes for a number of key consultancies have been slow. Total project expenditure

to date is a little over $1m. Going forward, the project needs to absorb this amount each quarter on

average through the end of FY17. Issues with turnover of staff within the project team have been

addressed through performance-linked upgrades, the team is being further strengthened with technical

advisors for watersheds and sanitation, and additional Kigali-based procurement support is now available

from the Bank side, all of which are expected to accelerate implementation. One more TOR – for the

general watersheds analysis – is outstanding with the Bank team and will be finalized as a priority, in

consideration of the work already done in Rwanda under the TAMP project.

For the wastewater studies, the technical evaluation of the proposals for the design of the Kicukiro &

Gasabo sewerage system has been cleared, and the TOR for the ESIA is being revised. The request for

proposals for the 3 sanitation masterplans has been cleared. The Gikondo & Nyabugogo wetland

management study is being re-advertised as a QCBS procurement in accordance with national procedures.

At present there are no sanitation works scheduled for the project in Rwanda, only studies. This is at odds

with one of the PDO indicators, which calls for 6 urban pollution hotspots to be addressed through

wastewater investments. Resolution of this will be discussed during the mid-term review later this FY.

Under the watershed management activities, CMIs are underway in 9 districts, 2 on the shores of Lake

Rweru, and 7 in the Nyabarongo catchment. 900 (of the end-of-project target of 5000) ha has been

treated, and around 3000 people have benefited. Expenditure on these activities to date suggested that

reaching end-of-project targets within the allocated budget should be feasible. Four CDD subprojects are

planned in each district (8 have already been prepared and approved) initially targeting those impacted by

lake and riverbank protection activities. Integrated pest management demonstration plots and training has

been carried out with communities around Lake Rweru, although the project needs to assess the impact of

this. In general, there has been a lot of enthusiasm for the activities – the labor-intensive public works

component is very well received and the incomes generated are often used for productive livelihoods

activities that complement the project. However, there remains some resistance to the set-aside of riparian

buffers, and have been some issues with contractors and timely payments. The team should also consider

the appropriateness of using progressive terraces on very steep lands (although they are better than

nothing). The NPCT is encouraged to learn lessons from pilot activities and other project teams, i.e.:

Participatory mapping of planned interventions, and leave copies of maps with communities, to

enhance their ownership.

Ensure that terracing investments include a complete package of support, including soil nutrient

replenishment and management, agroforestry trees, adequate drainage systems towards protecting

the soil from erosion, and training on maintenance and improved agronomic practices.

Consider additional measures (beyond terracing and river bank revegetation), such as additional

agroforestry on existing terraces, improved woodlot management, physical reinforcement of

riverbanks at erosion hotspots, and identifying and addressing erosion hotspots associated with

rural infrastructure.

Put in place robust monitoring, including creating project beneficiaries database, mapping and

documenting activities (types of interventions, size of area, number of beneficiaries, etc),

systematic before & after photos, impact monitoring (including water quality, vegetative cover

and income gains).

Involve project beneficiaries in all CMIs, CDDs sub projects development steps as solution to

their problems

Provide close support to CDD associations (especially new ones) on capacity building (including

savings and business management), and ensure appropriate grievance response mechanisms are in

place. Rulindo District has good ideas on development of business advisory services and linking

to the private sector.

Prepare scale-up plans for existing and new areas. Look at the existing planning analytics

prepared under the TAMP project, include micro-catchment planning approaches, and consider

any local capacity constraints. Consideration should also be given to some basic spatial cost-

benefit analysis for land management interventions – data should be available from the various

programs already working on this in Rwanda.

The project team has produced a number of communications products, including regular newsletters, but

should try to include more data related to issues and achievements, and include the voices and

experiences of local people wherever possible.

Workplan and budget

The FY15 workplan and budget have been reviewed and are generally sound. The NPCT should consider

how much time input they need from the two technical advisors (TA), and should develop and monitor

their workplans with reference to the end-of-project targets in the results framework. Provision should be

made for consultant (and possibly workshop) support to the mid-term review exercise. Initially, the NPCT

proposed to have one TA, but during the mission, it was realized that there is a need to have two TAs, one

for watershed management activities and another one for Sanitation related activities.

Safeguards

The TOR for the ESIA for the Kicukiro & Gasabo sewerage system is being finalized. Incorporation of

social and environmental considerations in the sanitation master plans for Huye, Muhanga and

Rwamagana, should also be discussed. A total of eight community subprojects (CDDs) and nine CMIs

have been approved. Environmental screening for the nine CMI has been completed, but not yet shared

with the Bank. Grievances are addressed through local government systems, but should be documented by

the project.

Procurement

Performance has been assessed as Moderately Satisfactory (see Annex 18 for further details).

Considerable delays have been experienced with major contracts, but a new procurement Specialist is

now in place, and a Bank project staff is based in the Kigali office, so improved communication , timely

no objection awarding and accelerated processing is expected going forward.

Financial Management

The Bank’s FM specialist for Rwanda was not on duty at the time of the mission, and a more detailed

review of FM performance will be conducted next time. A new accountant has been engaged by the

NPCT, which is expected to improve performance. There have been issues with slow utilization and

reporting of funds by some districts. To avoid long outstanding advances, the project is advised to

monitor the receivables through the use of an ageing analysis, to determine those advances long

outstanding (more than 6 months) and take corrective measures including performance-based allocations

to districts going forward. During regular internal audit organized by the SPIU, it has been discovered that

one project staff (Field Environmentalist) misused the project funds. Consequently his contract was

terminated. REMA has involved the Police to assist in recovering the misappropriated funds. The project

team should follow up to make sure the money is reimbursed.

Uganda

Due to the previous fiduciary issues and disbursement freeze, Uganda is significantly behind the other

APL-1 project teams, and has been receiving intensively implementation support from the Bank,

particularly from the Kigali-based team. This is reflected in the detailed discussion of progress below.

Component 1: Strengthening institutional capacity for managing shared water and fisheries

resources

This component comprises mainly of regional activities with input from countries. These include the

harmonization of legal-regulatory policies and standards, and establishment of the Fish Levy Trust Fund.

The mission was briefed of some of the achievements to date and what is planned during the remaining

project time. The mission noted the progress but also observed the little progress on a number of activities

that were agreed upon during the last mission (October 2013). These activities include; the need for

developing an integrated knowledge base on ecosystem monitoring building on the good database on

pollution monitoring that has been developed, and to the extent possible the regional water resources

information system. Documentation and dissemination of research conducted so far needs to be improved,

including developing regular knowledge products on different subjects related to the Lake Basin. Little

has been done in this area and yet this will help to greatly improve the visibility of the project as well as

the reputation given the recent negative publicity due to slow progress and governance irregularities.

The mission was informed of the progress made to date with the establishment of the Fish Levy Trust

Fund, which has been drafted and presented to the Ministry of Finance for approval including the

financial and governance arrangements for operationalizing the fund as was required earlier. Given the

limited project time left and the lengthy processing time required for establishing such funds at national

level, the mission recommended that the project team focus their efforts on getting the fund approved

including the respective operational manual for its eventual establishment (which is likely to happen

beyond the project period).

Component 2: Point source pollution control and prevention

The mission was informed that the detailed engineering design for sewage treatment works in Gaba (in

Kampala) and Kirinya (in Jinja) was completed was to be submitted by June 13, 2014. Recalling that it

was agreed during the last mission that efforts would be focused on Kirinya due to the limited project

time left, the mission reviewed the progress and proposed activity plans and expressed concerns over the

possible completion of construction for Kirinya before project end in June 2015. Based on this, the

mission recommended that while the team does their level best to complete the tendering for Kirinya the

construction period should be realistically reviewed prior to contract signing for the works. The mission

noted that if there is limited time left at that point and GoU would still like to proceed with construction

the a guarantee should be provided upfront to ensure that GoU funds are set aside for completion of this

activity after beyond project closure. The mission was also informed that the ESIAs and RAPs were

underway with completion expected in October 2014.

The mission was informed of alternative activities that have been initiated together with the Kampala City

Council Authority in place of the construction of Gaba treatment works. These activities include mainly

solid waste management initiatives aimed at reducing the pollution load from the Nakivubo channel into

the Lake via the Murchison Bay. The proposed activities were reviewed and agreed upon during the

mission and will be included in the updated work plan.

The mission also reviewed and noted the continued good progress under the cleaner production

subcomponent, and while commended the team for the progress, encouraged them to improve

documentation and dissemination of the achievements made and thereby increase the visibility and need

for cleaner production in the basin’s development. The mission recommended that the additional funds

provided by the national teams be focused on scaling up of cleaner production activities beyond the

bigger industries, bringing on board the small and medium sized enterprises as well as the Fishing

communities. The mission also recommended that more focus be given to advocacy campaigns to

improve visibility of the good achievements made to date but also the potential of what could be done

with more support from government. The mission also noted the limited engagement of the regulating

bodies including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), which is a critical gap given

that they are the ones with the mandate to take these initiatives and ensure that industries sustain the

same.

The mission noted the good progress in upgrading the water quality analysis laboratories, with the

upgrading/expansion works completed and five contracts signed for the supply of technical equipment.

Component 3: Watershed management

The mission was informed that following the lifting of the disbursement freeze, a readiness and fiduciary

assessment was done by both the Bank and GoU, of the 66 community sub-projects, and following its

completion, training done of the approved communities, prior to release of funds as a condition for

disbursement. Following this rigorous process 50% (USD 1m) of the sub-project grants was disbursed.

While commending the progress made, the mission recommended that close monitoring be undertaken

regularly to ensure that any bottlenecks are addressed immediately to avoid any further delays. The

mission informed the project team of the need to undertake regular safeguard checks to avoid conflicts.

The Bank team proposed and will undertake a supervision mission to the communities (nine districts)

early August, 2014, to check on progress. The project team informed the mission that mapping of the sub-

project area was ongoing and the maps and specification data on the area under restoration would be

shared as soon as the exercise is completed.

The mission was informed of the hiring of seven junior professionals to support project monitoring and

supervision especially under this component. In addition, the hiring of two NGOs to support communities

to implement their respective sub-project activities is underway. During the last the mission advised that

the various sub-project proposals be screened for any environmental and social likely impacts and the

appropriate instruments be applied prior to implementation. The mission was informed that this was

underway, but it was clear how this was done as no documentation was provided during the mission – the

proposed CDD supervision mission will follow up on this issue in August 2014.

Component 4: Project coordination and management

The mission reviewed the work plan and budget, and key procurement contracts still to be finalized, and

in light of the limited remaining project time, encouraged the NPCT to focus on tangible outputs to

effectively utilize project funds whilst improving the projects visibility and relevance. The mission was

informed that all project specialists were hired and on board, and this had contributed greatly to

harnessing project implementation and will continue to do so. The mission while commending these

efforts encouraged the team to hire additional short term consultants or junior professionals if required to

fast implementation, given the largely very ambitious work plan that the team has to deliver within the

limited project time.

There is a need to review the work plan to determine the expected contribution that will be made to the

results framework targets by the end of FY15. If a project extension is granted, it should be possible to

revise the plan, including some elements that had earlier been dropped due to lack of time. This may

involve a shift from quick studies, back towards more substantive investments.

The mission together with the project team discussed at length various options of improving the

documentation and communication of the projects various achievements and one of the agreed broader

actions was the development of a knowledge center where various knowledge platforms and products

would be developed for further dissemination for different stakeholders. GoU is very keen on ensuring

that this activity is implemented and plans are underway to fast track this development, including

procuring key consultants and interns to develop these knowledge platforms.

Assurances were given by the Permanent Secretary (PS) of MWE that despite the challenges faced by

LVEMP II Uganda over the recent months, the project remains a priority for Government and all efforts

will continue to be made to ensure that project implementation continues to be fast tracked.

The PS also emphasized GoUs commitment to completing the refund of ineligible expenditures of which

65% of the funds has been refunded so far, but requested (and has since been granted) an extension of the

repayment period from June 2014 to December 2014, due to limited cash flows in GoU. He commended

the efforts to date by both the Bank and project teams that have ensured that the project remains afloat

and requested that this momentum be sustained with continued close monitoring and follow-up on both

sides.

Safeguards

The mission was informed that ESIAs and Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) for the

rehabilitation/expansion of wastewater treatment systems in Gaba and Kirinya are at inception stage; and

that procurement for civil works for the construction of sanitation facilities in model villages 1 &2 is

ongoing. The mission reiterated the need to share safeguards instruments in a timely manner and

inclusion of clauses for mitigation measures in contracts for civil works. Environmental screening for the

44 approved CDDs and 25 CMIs is underway.

Procurement

There has been some improvement in procurement progress in the last 6 months of the project with

several of the agreed procurements now underway. However some of the procurements have delayed to

commence due to delayed provision of the technical specifications by the user departments as well as

overall delays in preparing work plans. The Ministry therefore needs to expedite these to ensure that they

are completed on time. Notable is the planned works for rehabilitation of Kirinya waste treatment system

for which procurement was expected to commence in April 2014 but which had not yet commenced by

the time of the mission and was only expected to commence in July 2014. Given the expected

construction period there’s a major risk that this and other planned procurements may not be completed in

time. Therefore given that the project is due to close in June 2015, the Ministry should ensure that only

contracts that can be completed by project closure are signed. In this regard some of the major

procurements such as the recently agreed KCCA procurements are on the critical path and need to be

monitored closely.

Contract management has also improved which has enabled deliveries to be completed. However

payments need to be expedited to ensure that suppliers can deliver on time. Likewise for some of the

providers that are not delivering as per the agreed schedule, the Ministry needs to take the remedies

available in contract e.g the contract for Small Lab Equipment for DWRM for which the contract was

signed 2 years ago and the provider has not completed delivery to date.

A post procurement review was also conducted for the Project in March 2014. Procurement is rated

Moderately Satisfactory.

Financial Management

The Project disbursement has low disbursement rate with current disbursement at XDR 6,248,109.61

(US$ 9,619,027.23) out of the signed amount of XDR 17,600,000 (US$ 27,500,000) – representing

35.5% with only one year to project closure. The actual expenditure is even lower at about 19%. This has

been attributed to delays in implementing project activities and fiduciary challenges that froze use of IDA

funds till the issues were substantially addressed. The projects need to fast track implementation of

project activities in order to ensure full utilization of the credit by the project closure.

The project has continued to submit timely IFRs to the Bank with the March 31, 20414 IFR having been

submitted on May 9, 2014. A review of the IFRs submitted to the Bank for the period December 31, 2013

revealed that the receipts as per the IFR were US$ 9,302,851.24 while in client connection the receipts

were US$ 9,019,409.98. Similarly the documented expenditure per the client connection is US$

4,565,544.44 while the IFR indicates a figure of US$ 4,338,813.07. A review of the past WAs noted

various discrepancies between the WAs and the records maintained by the Ministry. Seven (7) past WA

(2, 3, 5, 12, 14, 15, 16) were inaccurate and the Ministry is in the process of finalizing the reconciliation

and updating system through March 31, 2014 IFR.

The Bank and the Ministry conducted a financial management assessment on the CDD groups that are

benefiting from conditional grants under the watershed management component of the project. Various

capacity constraints were identified during the assessment of the 9 districts and 44 CDD groups.

Subsequently, the Ministry carried out the recommended financial management and procurement training

for the districts and community groups to ensure readiness for project implementation. In addition, the

ministry ensured the minimum conditions such as opening of dedicated bank accounts, updated MoUs

with districts, establishment of community project management committee, designation of project

coordinator and community finance officer and provision of the required manuals and guidelines were

fulfilled before disbursement to the groups was done. The ministry disbursed about US$ 1 million to the

groups being the first 50% of the approved sub projects.

The 2012 in-depth audit by Bank, annual and forensic audit by OAG in 2013 identified UGX

2,396,696,861 ($951,070) as ineligible and the ministry has refunded US$ 502,089.87 and the balance of

US$ 448,980.31 was to be refunded by June 30, 2014 as per the ministry’s commitment. Currently the

Ministry is in the process of refunding UGX 557,200,000 (US$ 220,000).

The audited financial statements for June 30, 2013 were submitted to the Bank on January 29, 2014,

which is after the submission deadline of December 31, 2013. The auditor issued an unqualified opinion

on the financial statements. The main accounting and internal control weaknesses noted during the audit

as per the management letter include; deliverables under MOUs with implementing agencies are not clear,

project beneficiaries did not contribute the stipulated 20% of the project cost and implementation of the

forensic audit recommendations were still incomplete due to lack of staffing. Some of these weaknesses

have since been addressed with the coming on board of new staff.

The current ISR FM performance rating is considered Moderately Satisfactory, due to weaknesses noted

above. Similarly, the FM risk rating is assessed as Substantial.

Kenya

General progress

Overall progress has been good, particularly with the resolution of the last outstanding prior-review

procurement activities, and initiation of sanitation civil works, which are now making strong progress.

However, the establishment of sound operation of the sanitation works, and the quality of monitoring and

support to the watershed management activities remain challenges.

Establishment of a fisheries levy trust fund has been proposed within a draft fisheries Bill, to which its

passage is tied. Training has also been provided for eco-certification of Nile Perch producers. Water

quality monitoring has been conducted, but results are not yet disseminated. A visit to the water quality

lab being built by the project suggested more training is needed as well as the development of a more

rigorous sampling regime, and the future installation of automatic monitoring stations is recommended

(see Annex 5 for more details). Boats are being purchased at considerable cost, and therefore it is

important that plans are made for their management and use.

Sanitation investment plans were earlier revised to improve their achievability within the remaining

project life, and now include 17 eco-toilets and 7 septic tank exhausters. Waste water treatment works

have begun construction / rehabilitation in Kisumu, Homa Bay and Bomet. Timely completion of these

remains a critical priority. A number of other designs are being completed, but won’t be able to be

constructed within the current project period and resources. Beyond the completion of works, attention

also needs to be given to the estimation of beneficiaries and reductions in pollution loads, and to the

sustainable management of works and equipment being provided by the project.

A wide range of watershed management activities through CMIs and 225 CDDs, which are estimated to

be benefiting more than 20,000 people. Mapping and documenting of activities is ongoing, but estimates

of income and environmental outcomes still need to be generated. Going forward, more systematic

planning of interventions according to watershed management needs and market should be used,

including the development of simple business plans for all livelihood activities. The capacity of local

government agencies to support community groups with suitable capacity building remains in question.

Workplan and budget

A 15-month draft work plan and budget was sent to the Bank for review at the end of FY14 Q3, and was

considered to be sound. However, an updated plan for FY15 should be forwarded based on the actual

achievement to the end of FY14.

Safeguards

ESIAs for the three waste water treatment works have been shared with the Bank (although not in a very

timely fashion), and are generally sound, although requested revisions are being made to the Kisumu

EISA. It is imperative to ensure that identified mitigation measures s are incorporated in contracts for the

works. In Bomet, complaints have been received over the location of the works from a teacher training

college. The college is beyond the minimum distance usually considered appropriate for such works

(around 400m vs a typical distance of 200m), and further meetings are being held to try to ease concerns.

ESIAs and Social Assessments for 111 CDD subprojects and CMIs have been completed and approved

by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). It is recommended that, these reports

are submitted to the Bank for disclosure in InfoShop. Disposal plans for water hyacinth are being

developed and need to be provided to the Bank before the harvester is put into operation.

Procurement

Agreement has been reached on the award of the last two outstanding prior review contracts – water

hyacinth harvesting equipment and septic tank exhausters, following meetings to clarify the nature of the

issues that had been raised by the Bank. These contracts have now been signed. There have been

weaknesses in the understanding of required processes, monitoring and timeliness, and record-keeping.

More training for staff is suggested, as well as more communication with the Bank procurement team in

Nairobi whenever questions are encountered. The procurement plan must also be updated and submitted

for clearance each time changes are made to its provisions. (See Annex 15 for further details.)

Financial Management

The project FM ISR rating is maintained as Moderately Satisfactory whereas the FM risk rating is

assessed as Moderate due to In the last two quarters’ IFRs, MEMR has been writing out cheques that are

in excess of the funds they have available in the Kshs operating account. This implies that, actual

payment is not possible as the funds to pay for these expenses are not available at that point leading to

negative balances in the cash book and so many unrepresented cheques. The cheques are kept in a drawer

until funds are transferred from the USD account to the KShs account. This leads to overstating

expenditure in a particular quarter even though this is ironed out in subsequent months. (See Annex 14 for

further details.)

Tanzania

General progress

Progress in Tanzania remains strong, but timely completion of the sanitation investments remains a

critical concern.

A draft Lake Victoria Basin Atlas and draft constitution for Lake Victoria Fish Levy Trust Fund have

been produced. Quarterly monitoring of water quality continues and preliminary preparations for

establishment of a groundwater Monitoring System have been made, but results of the monitoring still

need to be disseminated. The project has also supported accreditation for the Mwanza water quality

laboratory. Coverage of water hyacinth has been reduced from 520 ha to 255.85 ha, with local

communities actively involved in its management.

Construction has started on one waste water treatment works – Bukoba sludge disposal facility. .

Construction of house sewage connections and artificial wetland and slaughter house rehabilitation in

Mwanza City is due to start in early 2015. Contracting of toilet blocks construction is also advanced.

Watershed management activities are advanced: 176 CDDs are under implementation and a further 165

livelihood-focused CDDs have been approved, targeting those affected by riparian buffer protection

activities. In total, 1,858 ha have been brought under SLM and 2,860 ha of riparian zone demarcated. An

estimated 180,420 people have benefited. Despite the many positive examples of activities on the ground,

there remains a need to focus on sustainability issues, for instance provision of marketing support to the

numerous honey producing groups, ensuring that the construction cost of biodigesters can be reduced to

viable levels through training of local craftsmen and adaptation of materials, and in ensuring that

community Water User Associations are prepared to manage and maintain the riparian buffer zones.

There have also been some sizeable grants for community groups who do not have clear business plans,

and these should be given attention to ensure that they are viable in the long-run. Mapping and systematic

data collection on the subprojects also needs to be completed, including estimates of incomes generated.

Workplan and budget

The FY15 budget has been reviewed and found to be general acceptable, although it does contain an

overrun in relation to currently available project funds, and some activities, such as design and

rehabilitation of a WQ laboratory, need to be reviewed for feasibility within the currently available

project period.

Safeguards

Some planned sanitation investments were dropped because of the requirement to pay compensation.

Funds for compensation were expected to be made available by government, but couldn’t be guaranteed

in sufficient time to meet necessary construction schedule The ESIAs and RAPs have been completed for

Bukoba Sludge Disposal facility subproject; public toilets of Bukoba, Mwanza and Musoma towns; and

for Bukoba sewerage collection system. The completed ESIAs have been reviewed by the Bank. The

ESIAs for the newly identified subproject are currently under preparation – these are (i) lateral connection

of houses to the main sewer in Kirumba and Kitangiri; and (ii) improvement of the sanitation of the main

abattoir at Nyakato. A total of 176 Community Demand Driven subprojects have been prepared /

implemented under Component 3 and each has been screened for environmental and social impacts as per

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). Most of the environmental and social

screening reports have been cleared by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) and

shared with the Bank. (See Annex 6 for further details.)

Procurement

Procurement activities under the project are managed by the Ministry of Water and are mainstreamed in

the government system. There has been limited progress made so far with regards to procurement

activities since last mission. The mission reviewed critically procurement plan approved May 2014 for the

aim of identifying packages which are in the critical path as well as strategies to process those packages

for the remaining period of the project. In total, there are 25 packages to be processed between now and

June 2015; ten packages for goods, four packages for non-consulting services; six packages for works and

five packages for consulting services. The challenge facing the Ministry between now and June 2015 is

the timeliness of processing of the consulting services and works packages which are in the critical path

and interrelated. This is due to the fact initiation of procurement process of the works packages depend on

the outputs/deliverables (design and bidding documents) from the consulting services contracts. The

mission noted that preparation of the terms of reference for some of the consulting services packages had

not started. It was stressed that in case of any delay in processing packages which are in the critical path,

then, the chance of implementing all contract packages in the approved plan before closure of the project

June 2015 would be minimal. The mission urged the Ministry to expedite preparation of the terms of

reference/specifications and initiate procurement process as per approved procurement plan. The Ministry

was advised to ensure that the Procurement Management Unit (PMU) at the head quarter take the lead in

spearheading processing of all procurement packages in the plan during this critical period. The mission’s

overall assessment with regard to procurement function is rated Moderately Satisfactory.

Financial Management

As part of the implementation support mission, the financial management team reviewed the FM

arrangements at both LVEMP II and the CDD sub projects. The main objectives were to review the FM

arrangements including planning and budgeting, accounting, funds flow and disbursements, internal

controls (including internal audit), financial reporting and external audit. The mission also reviewed, with

particular interest, the status of implementation of the recommendations made during the last mission as

well as those made by last external audit. The mission noted that the project team has done a

commendable job by implementing all, except one, recommendation. Furthermore, the mission noted that

satisfactory and acceptable FM arrangements, that can be relied upon to generate reliable financial

reports, are in place. Other issues that were identified by the mission for the attention of management are:

Counterpart funding that was not contributed in the previous years has still not been contributed

by the government. The total amount outstanding is TZS 3,775,500,000. It should be noted that

much as the project is now 100% IDA financed there is need is need to have these funds

contributed to complete the planned activities that were affected by none contribution of these

funds.

CDD sub projects that are operating business models have been operationalized without

developing and putting in place business plans and management structures.

CDD sub projects have not been equipped with business development and management skills.

As a result of the commendable performance, the ISR FM rating for the project is rated as Satisfactory.

The FM risk rating is Substantial mainly due to the complexity of the project.

NEXT STEPS

The following table summarizes specific actions agreed between the Bank and project teams (in addition

to the specific FM and procurement actions contained within Annexes 11-17). A summary of progress

against the agreed actions from the previous mission is provided in Annex 3.

Agreed Actions from current mission

Type Agreed Activity Date Party Responsible

Overall

Establish teams for each of the regional Knowledge

Product areas and develop roadmaps and draft

products

Dec 1 draft

roadmaps All LVEMP teams

Clarify expected timetables for all sanitation

investments and monitor delivery closely in quarterly

updates

Quarterly All country teams

Develop simple sustainability plans for sanitation

investments, covering training for communities,

commitments for local government support, O&M

End Dec APL-1 country teams

Provide consolidated report on cleaner production

results, including mapping, economic & WQ data End Oct KCPC

Develop quick guide to top 10 cleaner production

investments End Dec KCPC

Rapid implementation of APL-2 Cleaner production

programs Continuous

KCPC / RW & BI CP

teams

ToT in WOCAT tools (following by monitoring of

training delivery) Dec 1 All country teams

Collate basic information on and map watershed

interventions End Oct All country teams

Develop simple sustainability plans for watershed

activities, covering community capacity, marketing

support, LGA commitments

End Dec All APL-1 country teams

Develop simply scale-up plans for APL-2

watershed activities (including impact monitoring,

and sharing maps with communities)

End Nov All APL-2 country teams

Provide all ESIAs / ESMPs, and a sample of

subproject safeguards screening forms Ongoing All teams

Return COMPLETE quarterly updates within 2

weeks of end of quarter Quarterly All teams

Establish working team for preparation of next

program phase End Oct All APL-1 teams

Share reports BEFORE finalization for all key

outputs Ongoing All teams

LVBC

Produce fisheries map, showing fish abundance,

wetlands, important breeding grounds, numbers of

boats and gear

End Nov LVFO

Revise TOR for hydrographic surveys End Oct LVBC / Bank

Consolidated regional monitoring report on Water

Hyacinth End Nov LVBC

Develop TORs for key communications products – 3

briefing notes, photo-stories, film End Nov

LVBC (with inputs from

country teams and Bank

consultant)

Review WRMP draft assessment End Oct Bank team

Kenya Provide simple harvested water hyacinth disposal

plan End Oct KE NPCT

Tanzania See “Overall” actions above

Uganda

Provide simple spoil disposal plan for KCCA

excavation machines End Aug UG NPCT

Conduct quarterly implementation support missions Ongoing UG NPCT & Bank

Burundi Final review of combined technical assistance TOR End Oct Bank

Rwanda Final review of combined technical assistance TOR Oct 25 Bank

In accordance with the Bank’s access to information policy and in discussion with the Counterparts, it

was agreed that this aide memoire would be publicly disclosed, but not the detailed annexes, which

remain deliberative.