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Lesson
Hiring a consultant to periodically collect data is crucial in monitoring and subsequently maintaining output achievements. Similarly, it will be useful for financial intermediary projects to engage a consultant to monitor the Implementation status of subprojects.

Project Number: 47305-002, 47305-004
Project Name: Horticulture Value Chain Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Constant training and practice are effective in deepening stakeholder understanding of ADB safeguard requirements and the ways they can best be met. This was proven by this project's experience with the executing agency that had no prior exposure to the concept og an environmental and social management system.

Project Number: 47305-002, 47305-004
Project Name: Horticulture Value Chain Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is good practice for an executing agency to conduct its own midterm review. This allowed timely assessment of progress and identification of issues that might cause shortfalls.

Project Number: 47305-002, 47305-004
Project Name: Horticulture Value Chain Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Providing targeted resources to ensure sufficient understanding of ADB procurement and project administration guidelines, particularly among first-time ADB executing and implementing agencies, will help avoid startup delays. Minor implementation startup delays were encountered because of the unfamiliarity of some first-time implementing agencies with ADB procurement, financial management, and disbursement procedures. But after trainings were provided and consultants mobilized, implementation accelerated significantly.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Ensuring the sustainability of project benefits would require serious efforts from the component implementation units (CIUs) to raise funds from various sources. Governments have allocated annual budgets for CIUs to continue post-project operations. But financial sustainability is still a concern, as government allocations are sufficient to cover only routine facility maintenance and supplies and not surveillance, animal and pest outbreak responses, and repair of critical laboratory equipment.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Continued capacity building is required for Cambodia and the Lao PDR to move to a higher level of technical capacity in handling sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) concerns. The project has strengthened SPS capacity in Cambodia and the Lao PDR and facilitated product-specific market access agreements with neighboring countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It strengthened academic aspects of SPS, which were nonexistent before the project. It enabled knowledge transfer in priority SPS areas from the training and day-to-day coaching provided by project consultants.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Unsynchronized consultant recruitment, procurement of goods, and facility upgrades could create inefficiencies and lead to a wastage of time and resources and delayed delivery of project benefits. While overall the project proceeded smoothly, it encountered some challenges that offer valuable lessons to future projects. First, as the timing of consultant inputs and procurement of laboratory facilities and equipment were not synchronized, i.e., consultants would arrive early while facilities were not yet ready, less-than-efficient inputs were obtained.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Close consultation with stakeholders during project design and implementation is especially needed to address the difficulties commonly arising from finding appropriate sites for solid waste and medical waste management facilities in urban projects. Due to lack of land and higher costs of construction than estimated at appraisal, it was not possible to construct the integrated waste treatment facilities, slaughterhouses, and medical waste management facilities planned under this program. These components were eventually dropped.

Project Number: 39305-013
Project Name: Urban Public and Environmental Health Sector Development Program 
Report Date:
Lesson
Overall project success depends to a large extent on the successful implementation of risk mitigation measures carefully identified at appraisal. Weak institutional arrangements and lack of ownership saddled the implementation of this program. A lack of capacity and coordination among different agencies compounded the difficulties. The difficulties could have been minimized or avoided through the timely implementation of risk mitigation measures drawn at appraisal. The measures should be based on a thorough assessment of all potential risks throughout the project period.

Project Number: 39305-013
Project Name: Urban Public and Environmental Health Sector Development Program 
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important to examine the rural grassroots performance of financial intermediaries being considered for agricultural financial service projects with a large number of clients. The performance of potential intermediaries for agricultural financial service projects catering to smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and agricultural small and medium enterprises needs to be examined to ensure that intended benefits are not unduly compromised.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It would be best for ADB to review all subprojects classified as category B for the environment in all future financial intermediation loans. The ESMS criteria defining the number and types of subprojects to be reviewed by ADB resulted in the submission of only 11 sample subprojects and one IEE to ADB for review. The criteria were originally designed to balance the need for an adequate ADB review and guidance with the practical need to avoid reviewing a very large number of subprojects.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important for future projects to exhaust options to finance a certified institute to prepare IEEs. The project management office's initiative to use a project implementation consultant to prepare the IEEs for category B subprojects was a pragmatic solution to fulfill ESMS requirements and reduce the financial burden on subborrowers. Nonetheless, this approach may have contributed to the suboptimal quality of the IEEs and added to the consultant’s intended key roles, i.e., project oversight, training, monitoring, and reporting.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Improved implementation of the ESMS would require complete documentation of the steps being followed and strengthening of linkages with other ADB safeguard measures. Implementation of the ESMS steps for impact assessment, consultation, monitoring, and reporting was less documented than the other steps for screening and categorization in the initial environmental examination (IEE) and safeguard monitoring reports. The COVID-19 health and safety plan was prepared during project implementation, but the ESMS template was not updated to include the plan.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Effective communication mechanisms enhance project implementation and need to continue beyond project completion. The effective communication mechanisms established by the project management and implementation institutions guaranteed joint efforts to timely find issues, actively communicate and consult with all parties, and seek and adopt effective solutions. After project completion, the relevant institutions should further ensure smooth communication.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Repeated and progressive training and continuous practice are effective in promoting mastery and proficient use of the environmental and social management system (ESMS). The ESMS was a new concept for the executing and implementing agencies, and its implementation depended on the gradual accumulation of knowledge and experience from learning and practice. The financial intermediaries’ successful incorporation of the ESMS into their business was largely attributable to robust training and practice.

Project Number: 47046-002
Project Name: Gansu Featured Agriculture and Financial Services System Development Project
Report Date: