Afghanistan : Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project

Project Name

Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project

Project Number

48042-001

Country / Economy

• Afghanistan

Project Status

Active

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Grant

Source of Funding / Amount

Grant 0506-AFG: Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project

Source	Amount
Asian Development Fund	US$ 26.00 million

Grant 0507-AFG: Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project

Source	Amount
European Union	US$ 50.00 million

Grant 0747-AFG: Panj Amu River Basin Sector Project - Additional Financing

Source	Amount
Asian Development Fund	US$ 18.28 million

Strategic Agendas

• Environmentally sustainable growth
• Inclusive economic growth
• Regional integration

Drivers of Change

• Gender Equity and Mainstreaming
• Governance and capacity development
• Knowledge solutions
• Partnerships
• Private sector development

Sector / Subsector

• Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural drainage - Irrigation - Rural flood protection

Gender

Some gender elements

Description

The project will increase agricultural productivity in the Panj-Amu River Basin through improving access and use of water at farm, scheme and river levels. The project will support the government strategy, which aims to increase per-capita income and reduce poverty among rural and pastoral communities. It will improve cropping intensities, irrigated areas, and crop yields on a command area of 74,500 hectares (ha) and as a result, increase annual farm incomes in the range $123-615 per household for over 55,000 households, and create approximately 11,000 full-time rural jobs per annum, with an estimated value of $10.4 million. The project will also improve food security, substitute imports for wheat, and improve self-sufficiency, and increase in exports of high-value products such as fruit and nuts. The project will also create more economic opportunities for agribusiness development, particularly for input suppliers and processors of and market intermediaries for agricultural products.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

Afghanistan is one of the least developed countries in the world. The poverty headcount rate is 39% and the percentage of food insecure population is 33%. Average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita during the 2011-2015 period is $634, causing Afghanistan to rank 168th out of 183 countries reviewed by the World Bank. Agriculture is Afghanistan's major sources of livelihood, employs 79% of the national work force, and is a significant source of national income. Agriculture contributes significantly to Afghanistan's GDP, although this has been decreasing from 38% in 2002 to 22% in 2014 . The country's major staple crop is wheat, representing 60% of Afghan's daily dietary intake. With total production output of 5.37 million tons in 2015, Afghanistan relies heavily on import to meet its population's dietary energy requirements with an import dependency of 16% of total food demand. This level of dependency is growing 11% per annum. Food insecurity is prevalent throughout the country, but most critical in the north where food insecurity index is as high as 73% in the provinces of Badakhshan and Bamyan.

Afghanistan is a dry country with precipitation falling as snow falls in the winter, while crops require water in the summer. Limited access to irrigation water is a key binding constraint to agricultural productivity, besides low quality inputs and traditional agricultural practices. While the vast majority of Afghans depends on agriculture for a living, only 12% (or 64.4 million ha) of the country's terrain is arable. Rain-fed area is currently of 3.7 million ha and irrigated area 3.8 million ha, each representing about 5-6% of total arable land. Of the total irrigated area of 3.8 million ha, it is estimated that around 2.2 million ha are single or double cropped every year, with balance of 1.6 million ha being irrigated if and when water is available, at intervals of 2-6 years.

Sporadic irrigation has been the primary cause for crop yields below the world average, for example average wheat yield of 2.03 tons/ha in 2013 (world average of 3.27 tons/ha) and average rice yield 2.5 tons/ha in 2013 (world average of 4.5 tons/ha). Irrigated yields are observed to be significantly greater than rain-fed yields, for example, the irrigated wheat yield is 2.5 times that of rain-fed. With irrigated areas producing 69% of total wheat outputs, irrigation water is a critical high value factor for yield improvement.

Expansion of new irrigated areas has been examined on a number of projects, but high capital cost outlays make it economically infeasible. Improving access to irrigations water on existing irrigation systems also has number of constraints, including: (i) inequitable distribution of water both at the river level (between schemes) as a result of lack of capacity, tools and resources within the government for river basin management, and at the command area level (within schemes) as a result of lack of formal consultation and distribution mechanisms (user rights) and breakdown of the mirab structure; and (ii) dilapidated and inefficient state of irrigation infrastructure due to inadequate operation and maintenance (O&M), a lack of capacity to scale up investment due to inadequate water use fee collection and government capacity and resources, and damage to infrastructure through flooding as a result of upstream erosion leading to high abstraction rates and increased flash flooding, as a result of poor upper catchment conservation.

Impact

Per capita income increased and poverty among rural and pastoral communities reduced.

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

Agricultural productivity in the PanjAmu River Basin increased

Progress Toward Outcome

Several activities under the project have been started to contribute in achieving this target. So far, two civil works through NCB and two consulting services contracts have been awarded, and procurement of several contracts of civil works through community participation and NCB is underway which are anticipated to be awarded by end of November 2018. Delays in the procurement process of feasibility studies and detailed design (FSDD) contract has slowed down procurement and award under the project. FSDD was awarded in June 2018 and the firm is now on board which will facilitate further award under the grant by end of Q4 2018.

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

Water allocation and availability improved

Command areas enhanced

Watersheds properly managed and protected

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

Physical activities of the project were started in early 2017 and so far, two contracts of civil works have been awarded. Several contracts of civil works for main canal rehabilitation and upgrading will be awarded in Q1 2019. The main delay in awarding more contracts under the project is due to the late award of FSDD which was awarded in June 2018. FSDD will conduct feasibility studies and design of subprojects under the grant. Establishment of water user associations.

Works for rehabilitation of secondary and tertiary have also been started and one civil works contract through NCB has been awarded. Procurement of several civil works contract through NCB and community contracts for the rehabilitation of watershed are under process, which are anticipated to be awarded by end of Q4 2018 and early Q1 2019. The consulting services contractor for implementation support consultancy (ISC) and FSDD are on board which will provide support to MEW for establishing WUA and registration.

Geographical Location

Badakhshan, Kunduz, Takhar

Safeguard Categories

Environment

B

Involuntary Resettlement

B

Indigenous Peoples

C

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

The project is categorized B for environment. An IEE will be prepared to describe (i) the project area baseline environment; (ii) the physical and non-physical works; (iii) the potential impacts of these works; (iv) an environmental management plan (EMP); (v) a description of residual impacts remaining after EMP implementation; and (vi) recommendations for additional studies if required.

Involuntary Resettlement

The project is categorized B for involuntary resettlement. A land acquisition and resettlement plan will be prepared. It is anticipated that additional land may be required for the canal widening and cleaning activities, leading to involuntary land acquisition. The project preparatory consultants will verify the types and magnitude of impacts and prepare a land acquisition and resettlement plan, in consultation with the potentially affected persons.

Indigenous Peoples

The project is Category C for indigenous peoples impact. The Project does not trigger safeguards for and requirements from indigenous peoples under SPS (2009) and no indigenous development framework or plan is required. Afghanistan is inhabited by ethnic groups across its 34 provinces. None of these groups may be considered as IP communities based on the SPS (2009) definition of IP for operational purposes. The project area is not known to be a part of Kuchi nomadic groups seasonal migration areas.

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

A stakeholder analysis will identify the poor and excluded who should participate in and be involved in the process of the design and decision on project packages during project preparation. In addition a capacity development component under the proposed project will be proposed to help build the capacity of WUAs to address farmers' demands and complaints. Irrigation projects by definition benefit those with land more than the landless, who are usually the poorest. Irrigation improvement however has indirect effects on local employment especially in terms of productivity gains and improved maintenance.

During Project Implementation

The PMU will ensure stakeholder consultations with communities and affected parties are held.

Project design process and feasibility study are on-going

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

Advance contracting is expected to recruit implementation support consultancy, feasibility study and detailed design, and works contract for three representative subprojects.

Procurement

NCB (Works) for 16 contracts worth $49.14 million; NCB (Goods) for 1 contract worth $0.26 million; Shopping (Goods) for 16 contracts worth $0.49 million; CPP for 32 contracts worth $3.14 million.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

ADB Disclosure

Responsible ADB Department

Sectors Group

Responsible ADB Division

Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office (SG-AFNR)

Timetable

Concept Clearance

30 Sep 2014

Fact Finding

03 Jun 2016 to 14 Jun 2016

MRM

16 Aug 2016

Approval

26 Oct 2016

Last Review Mission

-

Last PDS Update

27 Sep 2018

Funding

Grant 0506-AFG

Grant 0507-AFG

Grant 0747-AFG