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Lesson
Active support of relevant government agencies and strong ownership of the project management units contribute significantly to project success. In developing member countries where institutional capacity is weak, it is critical that concerned agencies are both capacitated and committed in achieving the intended results.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Financial sustainability of project assets and benefits, in this case, the sanitary and phytosanitary system, should be addressed at the outset or during implementation and not only identified as an issue at appraisal, and establishing appropriate financing mechanisms for operation and maintenance at the outset would help ensure adequate maintenance after project completion.

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
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
The move of smallholder farmers toward commercialization requires tailored infrastructure. The NRSLLDP, through the VIF, supported CDD-related infrastructure (such as village meeting halls) at the provincial, district, and local levels. Livestock development and commercialization endeavors, on the other hand, will require new infrastructure to address impediments such as access to water, animal shelters, medicinal supplies, cold-chain, access roads, and market infrastructure.

Project Number: 35297-013
Project Name: Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Through Livestock Development Project (A Joint Evaluation)
Report Date:
Lesson
Sustainable access to savings and credit is essential. In the future, savings and credit instruments should be designed around actual farmer needs in terms of timing, amount, duration and repayment and collateral requirements. A key decision for IFAD, ADB, and the government will be to agree on a partner—for example, the Bank of Laos—to implement the rural finance component of the NSLCP transparently and professionally.

Project Number: 35297-013
Project Name: Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Through Livestock Development Project (A Joint Evaluation)
Report Date:
Lesson
LPGs can be a conduit to share experiences, exchange knowledge, and gain access to inputs and improved market opportunities and prices. Unfortunately, the NRSLLDP was rather short-sighted and did not seek to develop groups to access or provide benefits to farmers throughout the production chain (from inputs, to husbandry, to selling). The project also dropped the access-to-market component.

Project Number: 35297-013
Project Name: Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Through Livestock Development Project (A Joint Evaluation)
Report Date:
Lesson
The transition to commercial agriculture requires extensive training and empowerment of smallholder farmers. The NRSLLDP aimed to provide farmers with animals to be integrated into their semi-subsistence livelihoods. These additional animals were stores of wealth that were sold occasionally to smooth consumption (e.g., school fees) or support other investments (e.g., motorbikes). With a commercialized approach, the focus is on maximizing a stream of income over a sustained period. This will require substantial changes in the production, marketing, selling, and reinvesting cycle.

Project Number: 35297-013
Project Name: Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Through Livestock Development Project (A Joint Evaluation)
Report Date:
Lesson
The speed with which VLF (village livelihood fund) loans were absorbed shows that there is a strong unmet demand for credit among livestock producers. Access to finance is a constraint to further expansion of livestock production. Increases in loan ceilings and tenure terms are needed to meet the needs of commercial producers.

Project Number: 35297-013
Project Name: Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Through Livestock Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Government should be forewarned of the need to also explore and develop possible exit mechanisms for NGOs with the view of promoting self-reliance among the beneficiaries.

Project Number: 35228-013
Project Name: Second Participatory Livestock Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Baseline data are important. During conflicts, data change: infrastructure is destroyed and people are displaced. Monitoring surveys are difficult to conduct because of restricted access. The project management unit failed to expand the management information system to assess subproject impacts, the absence of which made postproject evaluation difficult.

Project Number: 36601-013, 36601-023, 38111-013
Project Name: North East Community Restoration and Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Most contracts were relatively small and within the competence levels of local contractors, especially relevant in the difficult conditions for access and supply that applied during and after the conflicts. Use of local contractors, instead of outside companies, strengthened local ownership and avoided aggravating community and ethnic tensions.

Project Number: 36601-013, 36601-023, 38111-013
Project Name: North East Community Restoration and Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Implementation is difficult in the fluid security conditions of conflicts and their aftermath. However, staff members were motivated by the evident need for their services, as well as by pressure from both sides in the conflict to address basic infrastructure in all areas.

Project Number: 36601-013, 36601-023, 38111-013
Project Name: North East Community Restoration and Development Project
Report Date: