Afghanistan: Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project
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 Details
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Project Officer
ADB Disclosure
Central and West Asia Department
Request for information -
Country/Economy
Afghanistan -
Modality
- Grant
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Sector
- Agriculture, natural resources and rural development
Project Name | Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project | ||||||||||||
Project Number | 48042-001 | ||||||||||||
Country / Economy | Afghanistan |
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Project Status | Active | ||||||||||||
Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Grant |
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Source of Funding / Amount |
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Strategic Agendas | Environmentally sustainable growth Inclusive economic growth Regional integration |
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Drivers of Change | Gender Equity and Mainstreaming Governance and capacity development Knowledge solutions Partnerships Private sector development |
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Sector / Subsector | Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural drainage - Irrigation - Rural flood protection |
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Gender Equity and Mainstreaming | 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.
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Impact | Per capita income increased and poverty among rural and pastoral communities reduced. |
Project Outcome | |
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Description of Outcome | Agricultural productivity in the Panj Amu 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 | |
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Environment | B |
Involuntary Resettlement | B |
Indigenous Peoples | C |
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
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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 | |
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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 $3.14 million. |
Responsible ADB Officer | ADB Disclosure |
Responsible ADB Department | Central and West Asia Department |
Responsible ADB Division | Afghanistan Resident Mission |
Timetable | |
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Concept Clearance | 30 Sep 2014 |
Fact Finding | 03 Jun 2016 to 14 Jun 2016 |
MRM | 16 Aug 2016 |
Approval | 26 Oct 2016 |
Last Review Mission | - |
Last PDS Update | 27 Sep 2018 |
Grant 0506-AFG
Milestones | |||||
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Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
26 Oct 2016 | 02 Nov 2016 | 09 Dec 2016 | 31 May 2023 | - | - |
Financing Plan | Grant Utilization | ||||
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Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
Project Cost | 26.75 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
ADB | 26.00 | 27 Jul 2022 | 10.59 | 0.00 | 41% |
Counterpart | 0.75 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
Cofinancing | 0.00 | 27 Jul 2022 | 4.94 | 0.00 | 19% |
Status of Covenants | ||||||
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Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
Rating | Partly satisfactory | Satisfactory | Partly satisfactory | Partly satisfactory | - | Partly satisfactory |
Grant 0507-AFG
Milestones | |||||
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Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
26 Oct 2016 | 02 Nov 2016 | 09 Dec 2016 | 31 May 2023 | - | - |
Financing Plan | Grant Utilization | ||||
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Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
Project Cost | 50.00 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
ADB | 0.00 | 27 Jul 2022 | 0.00 | 39.78 | 80% |
Counterpart | 0.00 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
Cofinancing | 50.00 | 27 Jul 2022 | 0.00 | 20.00 | 40% |
Grant 0747-AFG
Milestones | |||||
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Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
28 Oct 2020 | 09 Nov 2020 | 10 Dec 2020 | 31 May 2023 | - | - |
Financing Plan | Grant Utilization | ||||
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Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
Project Cost | 18.53 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
ADB | 18.28 | 27 Jul 2022 | 0.45 | 0.00 | 2% |
Counterpart | 0.25 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
Cofinancing | 0.00 | 27 Jul 2022 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 11% |
Status of Covenants | ||||||
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Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
Rating | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | - | Satisfactory |
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ADB Helps Enhance Crop Diversification and Food Security in Afghanistan
ADB approved a $26 million grant and the administration of a $50 million grant from the European Union to enhance crop diversification and food security by improving irrigated agriculture in the Panj-Amu River Basin.