Evaluation

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Special Evaluation Study on Participatory Approaches in Forest and Water Resource Operations in Selected Developing Member Countries
Completed 2003

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has financed projects in the water resources (irrigation) sector since 1969 and the forestry sector since 1977. Over the following two decades, a majority of ADB project evaluation reports in these sectors suggested that greater involvement of primary stakeholders would have improved project outcomes.

The Framework for Mainstreaming Participatory Development Processes into Bank Operations, published in late 1996, was a result of ADB and international experience. Most projects in the irrigation and forestry sectors subsequently applied this Framework and introduced participatory processes to a variable extent into project design and implementation.

This study presents an analysis of participatory processes applied in six projects in the water resources and forestry sectors in three countries-Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.

   Key Findings of the Study

• Participatory approaches can add value to natural resources management project design, implementation, and operation.
• Well applied participation can increase ownership and sustainability.
• Water users organizations (WUOs) are capable of running small irrigation schemes and (at least) the secondary canal systems on larger schemes. Participatory irrigation management has the potential to prevent a costly recurring cycle of rehabilitation.
• Environmental outcomes of participation are almost universally and strongly positive in the irrigation and forestry sectors.
• In the forestry sector, comanagement is the best way to manage forests; provide benefit to communities; and, potentially, limit illegal logging and rent seeking.
• Participation can offer major potential benefits to rural income and poverty reduction. The benefits can be direct, through improved resources planning and management, and indirect, through promoting interaction between the poor and the community and promoting a sense of worth and self-esteem among the poor.

   Lessons Identified

Participation is not easy and is certainly not a cure for the problems of natural resources development and management. In particular, the following should be done:

• Participatory processes need to be supported by implementing agencies and other key government stakeholders. In the absence of such support, implementation is unlikely to be participatory or effective.
• Participatory projects may need to be prepared with more care than top-down projects, and stakeholder analysis should be undertaken more rigorously.
• Relevant policies for participatory resource management should be in place for effective participation.
• Loan-financed projects may not offer the best funding modality for innovative participatory projects (e.g., they may face the risk of delayed disbursement when the required policy or legal environment is not in place).
• WUO (and other community-based organizations) establishment should be undertaken with care, taking enough time to ensure that processes are understood and accepted and that all groups in the community are adequately represented.
• Government and/or project support should be available to expand pilot activities, once proven viable, to national scale, when systems replication is not spontaneous.

   Recommendations

• ADB's project design guidelines should be revised to require the inclusion of participatory development expertise on participatory project designs. The inclusion of studies that cover data on the adopted participatory processes should also be required. Terms of reference for feasibility studies should specify the participatory or consultative processes required and allow adequate time for these to be carried out.
• Mechanisms should be developed to maintain contact with stakeholders during the finalization of a project preparatory technical assistance report, appraisal, and subsequent loan processing.
• Primary stakeholders should be involved in irrigation subproject construction monitoring or (in some cases) supervision.
• Additional WUO support is desirable, including empowerment training for female WUO committee members; postproject support, where required; and options defining, to assist WUOs in overcoming natural disasters, such as floods.