WaterAid Madagascar End of project report for the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission Project name: Increasing the quality of life of poor people living in rural and remote villages Project location: Antanifotsy, Madagascar Project period: 1 April 2012 31 March 2013 Project Aim The goal of this project is to improve the health and quality of life of 2,222 people living in poor villages of the rural Commune of Antanifotsy, Madagascar. This will be achieved through community mobilisation, construction of water and sanitation facilities, and hygiene education. In rural Madagascar, communities are often remote and isolated. The communities with which WaterAid works have an average poverty rate of 80% and it is estimated that 71% of people in rural areas do not have access to safe water. In 2007, WaterAid and its partners undertook an exercise to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals at a local level and determine priorities to improve this progress. Through this process, Antanifotsy was identified as a high priority location. The Commune comprises of 59 villages and is in the central highlands of Madagascar. Access to safe drinking water is low, sanitation facilities are rare, and the majority of local people practice open defecation. This situation leads to a high prevalence of water related illnesses, particularly among women and children. With our partner organisation, CNEAGR, and in consultation with the communities, WaterAid has designed a project to tackle this situation. Key components of this project include: construction of two gravity flow schemes providing water for 32 tap stands in both communal locations and school yards, support for the construction of 150 family latrines and 2 school blocks of shower and latrines, with superstructures built with materials contributed by the Parents Association, hygiene improvement through the construction of 2 school handwashing facilities and promotion of household handwashing using tippy taps Community mobilisation and training on water resource management, hygiene education and management of water and sanitation facilities Page 1 of 8
Project Location The map below indicates the project intervention areas; Localisation des 05 fokontany d intervention Source : Extrait de BD 100, FTM Carte 048 et 049 Overall project impact The project has impacted beneficiaries both directly and indirectly and the main areas of impact can be summarised as follows. The provision of water and sanitation facilities providing clean water in the project intervention areas have contributed to a reduction in cases of diarrheal diseases in addition to decreasing the average time to collect water collection therefore increasing time allocated to other household and income generating activities. The project also contributed to improving the general cleanliness levels of the population and their environment with the introduction of latrines which removed previous foul odours and provided an overall cleaner, defecation free environment leading to better living conditions and a greater feeling of pride and dignity within the community on having a clean and hygienic environment. Through its participatory and rights-based approach, the project has also encouraged equal levels of participation between men and women, the young and elderly in the community as water fetching tasks were made easier from tap stands. The project had a significant positive impact on the livelihoods of women living in the Commune, as it gave them the opportunity to become more involved in income generating activities which, in turn, contribute to the eradication of poverty in this area. Page 2 of 8
The project also improved levels of school attendance as a result of better and more regular hand washing practices and greater access to clean water contributing to lower incidences of water borne diseases. Lastly, the project has had positive impacts on the awareness and creativity of the communities in relation to hygiene practises such as covering holes of latrines, invention of new technologies for tippy taps, gates around tap stands, etc. Achievements The project carried out in Antanifotsy has provided access to clean water and sanitation facilities in addition to hygiene education in 5 fokontanies (Andranomalaza, Antemotra, Andohariana, Ambalavao, Andriatsilahy) of the Rural Commune of Antanifotsy. The number of beneficiaries gaining access to water was 2,580 (including 1,827 adults and 753 children) 2,906 with access to sanitation and hygiene (2,281 adults and 625 children). This represents 684 (31%) increase in beneficiaries from the original target of 2,222 beneficiaries. CNEAGR, put in place 5 gravity flow systems with 30 community water points and 19 school water points totalling up to 49 water points making up 153% of the original target. In terms of sanitation, following the use of the CLTS 1 approach in the intervention areas, the community have taken the initiative to build 362 household and communal latrines making up 241% of the original target. Additionally, all 22 open defecation areas present at the start of the project are no longer open defecation areas. The majority of these latrines are accompanied by tippy tap built by the communities themselves as a result of the sensitisation sessions carried out by community hygiene promoters and scouts also involved in the project. The project also built four toilet blocks in 12 school latrine compartments with shower cubicles and wash hand devices attached to each unit making up 200% of the forecasted target. The construction of these facilities is always accompanied by hygiene promotion activities that are carried out by community hygiene promoters to sensitise the community on hygiene issues and ensuring behavioural changes towards hygiene practices. 1 CLTS Community Led Total Sanitation Page 3 of 8
Project photos Scouts raising awareness on hygiene issues among their peers in the community A child using a tippy tap to wash their hands Example of a Gravity Flow System Tap stand School latrines Page 4 of 8
Challenges faced and lessons learned The project execution provided the opportunity to, not only highlight certain challenges that can be faced in this type of work, but also to learn from these so we can ensure best practices are carried forward in future projects. Positive lessons learnt; The introduction of drinking water supply systems lead to community motivation to construct household latrines. Collaboration with community leaders and student interns have boosted the implementation of the project. As school children can make for Local authorities, in particular the Mayor and the Chief Fokontany were fully involved in the project which resulted in increased ownership. The majority of beneficiaries are motivated and have provided their contribution despite the reluctance of some members of the community Challenges faced; Establishing and allocating managers to manage the various committees such as water points committees eg and / or associations of water users was a challenge as we needed to find an individual who could assume the role of people manager, treasurer and secretary. Despite community members being highly motivated to take responsibility, their skills and competencies do not necessarily match those required for that position. A challenge also facing our partner CNEAGR lay in the rehabilitation of the Gravity Flow System in the fokontany of Andriatsilahy where there were leaks encountered in the network of pipes being used. After the agents supplying the pipes assessed the damage done, with the assistance local civil society, it was found that 1600 meter of pipe had to be replaced and at their own expense because it is still in warranty. Rehabilitation works are currently underway with the support of the community and will last one week and became operational from mid April. Page 5 of 8
Project Sustainability In order to ensure durability and sustainability of the project, local structures were put into place so that local ownership could be taken should the partner CNEAGR no longer be able to support in the long term. The members of these structures have benefitted from receiving adequate and appropriate training to build their skills and capacity in the management and maintenance of sanitation and hygiene and management of water resources, and water infrastructure. It was noted that the town had begun to take ownership of the project as during the project implantation period, the mayor himself researched on how to solve the problem of Andriantsilahy site which was then integrated into the project cycle. We have also worked with local authorities to support the establishment of a Municipal Technical Service who will be taking primary responsibility in communal project management. Every year, every 3 years and every 10 years, WaterAid and its partners are assessing the impact of projects (through their Post Implementation Survey) of which the CNEAGR project in the Commune of Antanifotsy will be one of those evaluated as part of the overall survey. Page 6 of 8
HARDWARE Budget Notes: Due to higher than expected inflation on some of the hardware and software lines WaterAid has and increased our contribution to the project from the planned 18,982 to 21,381. Page 7 of 8 Budget Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission ( ) Budget WaterAid ( ) Total costs ( ) Actual Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission ( ) Actual Total ( ) Variance on GOAC's contribution Variance on Total Water: Construction of gravity system 34,728 38,587 34,728 42,822 0% 11% Construction of school hand washing infrastructures 653 73 725 874 994 34% 37% Tree planting and environmental protection 221 25 246 0-100% -100% Technical audits 75 75 150 75 75 0% -50% Sanitation: Family latrine construction (CBTS) 128 14 142 1,060 1,060 729% 646% Construction of school latrines 939 104 1,043 229-100% -78% HARDWARE TOTAL: 36,744 4,149 40,893 36,736 45,180 0% 10% Training: Capacity building of local authorities 48 48 96 78 118 63% 23% Training of local technicians 31 31 61 0-100% -100% Training of school clubs, teachers and local animators in hygiene promotion 28 28 55 27 31-1% -44% Hygiene Promotion Materials: Mass media promotion 75 75 149 68 224-8% 50% SOFTWARE TOTAL: 181 181 361 174 373-4% 3% Partner staff cost (staff salary, travel, administrative) 908 8,169 9,077 1,456 9,319 60% 3% Office running cost ( including communications and audit) 145 1,301 1,445 0 2,043-100% 41% Monitoring & technical study 1,545 1,545 3,089 1,540 2,364 0% -23% TOTAL PARTNER COSTS 2,597 11,014 13,611 2,996 13,726 15% 1% WaterAid country programme HR cost 404 3,638 4,042 19 2,027-95% -50% Total project budget: 39,925 18,982 58,907 39,925 61,306 0% 4%