Asian Development Bank

JFPR 9064: Improving the Access of Poor Floating Communities on the Tonle Sap Lake to Social Infrastructure and Livelihoods
Cambodia

Project Summary

Name of Counterpart (loan) Project(s)

Grant Type

Task Officer/ Department

Budget

Executing Agency

Implementing Agency(ies)

Scope

Objectives

Grant Development Objective (GDO)

The grant aims at demonstrating ways of improving the livelihoods of the poor and poorest fishing households living in floating villages on the Tonle Sap. The poor lack a voice in the management of the natural resources on which their livelihoods depend. ADB is supporting community-based natural resource management in the Tonle Sap through the Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project (TSEMP).

Project Purpose

The grant is complimentary to the TSEMP inasmuch as it will:

1. demonstrate alternative income-generating activities which may be viable for the poor;
2. for the first time support community-based microfinance for the poor in floating communities, that can have rapid demonstrable benefits and develop sustainable financing arrangements;
3. develop and test low-cost solutions toward the most urgent and basic health, nutrition, water, and sanitation needs of the poor; and
4. promote functional literacy and vocational skills for illiterate adults and out-of-school children especially girls.

Expected Outputs

1. provide sustainable solutions to problems of poverty and social exclusion faced by the poor on the Tonle Sap, which can be replicated under the TSEMP and the forthcoming Sustainable Livelihoods project; and
2. improve the levels of participation by the poor in the outcomes and benefits of the counterpart project.

1. increased participation of poor households in alternative livelihoods activities (numbers of participating households);
2. improved incomes from fisheries and alternative income earning activities (baseline data and grant impact assessment);
3. improved health of the vulnerable groups through:
• improved nutrition,
• increased access of poor households to clean water and sanitation (fall in water-borne disease incidence), and
• improved access to health services (numbers of visits by health providers), increased capacity of commune health services
4. reduced debt burdens of poor households through the development of sustainable community-based microfinance activities (total numbers of beneficiary groups set up, no. of women beneficiaries, repayment rates, group meetings held, and no. of village banks set up)
5. improved literacy and vocational skills of out of school children and illiterate adults (no. of candidates successfully completing courses, no. of candidates securing employment, improved skills in accounting, bookkeeping, etc.)

Main Project Components and Activities

1. Improved Livelihoods - this component will:
1. develop pig rearing, fish cage culture, floating gardens for market-oriented production;
2. train out-of-school children in the same villages, in functional literacy and pig rearing, and provide them with female and male pigs on a group basis;
3. develop producer groups for training, marketing, etc.;
4. strengthen the participation of the poor fishers in community fisheries committees especially in the protection of community fisheries;
5. establish community-owned fish sanctuaries; and
6. undertake market research for small fishers and develop extension services, for improved fisheries management, cage culture, fish processing, vegetable production, and other related income generating activities.
2. Microfinance - this component will have a provision for micro-finance services to target communities and groups.
3. Improving Health and Nutrition - this component will have:
1. regular child health services to target villages;
2. health education by to communities, related to population planning, infant and child care, and nutrition;
3. capacity building of health service providers;
4. improving the health and nutrition of poor and poorest households in target villages and communes;
5. food-based and curative interventions in project area;
6. capacity building of community-based village health volunteers (VHVs) in sustainable nutrition practices;
7. support the setting up of children's rehabilitation centers in target villages;
8. provision of water filters to poor families;
9. preparation of information, education, and communication materials;
10. provision of trained staff;
11. training programs in sanitation; and
12. set-up a health equity fund.
4. Functional Literacy and Vocational Training for Illiterate Adults and Out-of-School Children - activities of this component are:
1. functional literacy and vocational skills development among the poor households of the target communes;
2. provision of training to selected out-of-school children in engine repair and welding;
3. functional literacy to adults including women, and out-of- school children including girls;
4. provide support to village nonformal literacy teachers through district nonformal education teachers regular field monitoring, meetings at provincial and district levels to identify areas that need strengthening, monitoring, and evaluation. Exchange visits to other areas in the province will also be undertaken.
5. Project Management, Audit, Poverty Impact Assessment - its activities are:
1. Setting up of PMO;
2. Recruitment of project manager;
3. Provision of consultancy services;
4. Organization/regular meeting of the Grant Implementation Committee;
5. Baseline surveys;
6. Impact Assessment; and
7. Interface with the FAO project "Participatory Natural Resources Management in the Tonle Sap Region".