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Lesson
At appraisal and during implementation, establishing demand-driven agricultural advisory centers and MIUs (market intelligence units) that were autonomous from government was seen as an essential project component. There was a desire for the organizations to be on a secure financial footing with farmers contracted to pay for advice they received. However, the transfer of project vehicles and equipment procured for them to government agencies, including MOA (Ministry of Agriculture), risks the centers' sustainability.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The project showed commendable flexibility in implementing new activities (e.g., establishing veterinary centers) in response to beneficiary needs. As a result, the project has strong community support and ownership (e.g., infrastructure, veterinary centers, PUSs [pasture user societies]). This should ensure sustainability.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The project benefited from involving women in the planning process of infrastructure projects. There was strong community ownership; the structures targeted community needs; and in many cases women led the operation and maintenance of structures. This contributes strongly to the investment's long-term sustainability.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Implementation of the credit line would have been more successful if (i) financial and integrity due diligence was conducted of financial intermediary and microfinance institutions at appraisal, and (ii) necessary project and subsidiary loan agreements were signed. Having signed agreements between MOF (Ministry of Finance), microfinance institutions, and ADB may have prevented MOF relinquishing its role as financial intermediary after project approval.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Some payment delays occurred as a result of mistakes in withdrawal applications because of the complexities of cost sharing between the Global Environment Facility and Asian Development Fund grants. Simplified consistent arrangements should have been established.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Effective implementation is strongly linked to the quality of project management. Implementation suffered from poor leadership and a lack of focus on activities and outcomes by the first two project directors. This was reflected in the non-compliance with ADB's Guidelines on the use of Consultants and Procurement Guidelines, and the non-implementation of ADB- approved activity changes. These resulted in delays and reductions in project scope.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The project had too many DMF (design and monitoring framework) indicators, some of which were poorly defined and hence not properly measured, set too high for the activities to achieve, without clearly defined targets. Component 3 could only pilot technologies within the implementation period, hence the large-scale raion impacts could only be achieved many years after adoption. Project management did not have the capacity to prioritize the DMF indicators.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The large number of civil works contracts was an administrative burden on both the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and ADB. Given the similarity of some rural infrastructure subprojects (e.g., the village potable water supply schemes), it should have been possible to group subprojects into fewer contracts to be more manageable, allowing MOA to focus more on implementing the other components more directly related to enhancing agricultural performance.

Project Number: 37530-013
Project Name: Rural Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
In order to have a meaningful and more sustainable impact, policy reforms should focus on areas in which ADB has been engaged and remains involved over a longer time period.

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Gender-related goals are generally easier to monitor if they are policy conditions instead of targets in the DMF (design and monitoring framework).

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
A program concentrating on a single area is much more likely to have a bigger impact than a program with several focuses

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Policy reforms invariably require a champion to steer and lead. The Minister of Labor and Social Protection, who had earlier been the Chairman of Amonatbank, was the key figure in promoting the plastic cards pilot program. Despite some issues (some of which may still linger), this remains a modern step in pension reform in the region. Similarly, the reforms in the Tax Committee had considerable government ownership and support. During the program, the President announced issuance of a new Tax Code, an action that was endorsed by the program.

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
A multiple tranche design or program cluster design is useful, as it brings more balance to the program and helps keep up the government's commitment, even though such a design has high transaction costs for the government and ADB. Such designs also discourage the tendency for the government and ADB to include easier actions in the initial tranche and tougher ones in the later tranches, thereby unbalancing the program and leading to less than successful ratings. The incentive tranche kept ADB and the government engaged and kept the reforms on track.

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
In countries with capacity challenges, reforms take time as limited capacity results in implementation delays. This must be accounted for in design.

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Where country systems are weak, program monitoring could benefit from TA (technical assistance), as in Tajikistan. The TA could focus on expenditure tracking mechanisms, internal controls, and external audits; and be conducted in two stages. In the first stage, when monitoring capacity is still weak, experts could be engaged to monitor program-supported expenditures rather than relying on the government to submit monitoring reports. The second stage would focus on improving country systems to help the transition of monitoring tasks from external experts to government staff.

Project Number: 44061-012
Project Name: Strengthening Public Resource Management Program
Report Date: