The 5th Progress Report from January to June 2008 outlines the overall project status, describes the implemented activities by Eptf and contractors’ partners, shows the achievements made and lessons learnt. The format of the report adapts to the “Practical Guide to Procedures for Programme Estimates” of the EC.
This reporting period was largely focused on several start-up activities done by all contractors after the deadline of 16th November 2007 for signing of contracts. The project has organized the introduction tour for awarded contractors to visit target communes in 3 target provinces and continued to move towards applying the conceptualization of the Integrated Rural Development Modules (IRDM); with a special workshop on ALF and IRDM planned for July 2008. Besides, several workshops on strengthening of cooperation and participation by local authority in ECOSORN project have been conducted by Eptf at each province.
Most Overall Implementation Plans and Annual Implementation Plans have been approved by the EC, and reporting takes place regularly by nearly all contractors.
All contractors are operational by the end of this reporting period and moving ahead gradually. Cash flow and management of cash influences speed and dynamic of implementation by each contractor. The increase of prices for supplies, especially related to RIS activities, may eventually have a very negative affect on field operations.
The important milestones reached and main events happened during this reporting period are listed below

Milestones
- January 2008: Field visit by MAFF Minister and Chairman of PSC at Siem Reap
- January 2008:  Introduction tour for awarded contractors at target communes in 3 target provinces
- January 2008: Bi-monthly contractors’ coordination in Siem Reap.
- February 2008: Ground breaking ceremony on rural roads and irrigation schemes in Siem Reap attended by Siem Reap Provincial Governor and EC officer.
- February 2008: Ground breaking ceremony on rural roads and irrigation schemes in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey attended by MAFF Minister and Chairman of PSC.
- February 2008: 6th auditing
- February 2008: 5th Project Steering Committee meeting
- March 2008: Revised ToR for local staff and prepare strategy to transfer from ITA to Local staff
- May 2008: 7th auditing
- May 2008: 3rd External Monitoring Mission
- May 2008: Bi-monthly contractors’ coordination meeting in Battambang
- May 2008: Administrative Commission training on systematic land registration in Siem Reap
- June 2008: EC Audit by European Court of Auditors
- June 2008: Workshops for Local authorities on planning for coordination monitoring in 3 provinces
- June 2008: Opening meeting of adjudication area of land registration in Siem Reap

Events
- March 2008: Field visit by H.E. Mr. Eneko LANDABURU, Director General for External Relations of the European Commission to ECOSORN in Siem Reap.
- March 2008: Workshop on Strengthening of Cooperation between ECOSORN and local authority.
- March 2008: Eptf meeting at Banteay Meanchey.
- May 2008: Field visit by H. E. Mr. James Moran, European Commission’s Director for Asia, General Directorate for - External Relations to ECOSORN in Siem Reap.

- May 2008:  Field visit by Vietnamese team from Multi Sector Rural Development Project in Vietnam to ECOSORN in Siem Reap.
- June 2008: International Programme on the Management of Sustainability attended by National Project Director.

The 5th Progress Report, January-June 2008 in pdf file is available to download by click here.

The 3rd Progress Report January-June 2007

The 2nd Progress Report July-December 2006

The 1st Progress Report mid December 2005 to end of June 2006

Baseline DATA

The baseline data focuses on the current status of the selected parameters of indicators defined in the project’s LFM that can in turn be used by the project team to set up target values. These target values will be used as a base to evaluate the project performance. These baseline values may also be used as a basic information source to set up specific milestones, to enable thus the project progress through the M&E/ MIS system.
The baseline information data collection, incorporating primary and secondary data were undertaken from July to August 2006. Secondary data was collected by contacting official statistics sources. Also, local databases (Commune database- SEILA) were investigated.
An extended survey was also implemented in order to collect specific information on the household condition in ECOSORN target areas. (520 hh in 42 villages were interviewed).  

Agro-ecological zones and main farming systems in the project area

The target districts of the project encompass the whole range of agro-ecological zones present in inland Cambodia. This extends from heavily flooded areas near Tonle Sap Lake (South of Soutr Nikom and Chi Kreaeng in Siem Reap, East of Moung Ruessei in Battambang) where floating, deep water and recession rice is grown, and fishing a main activity for farmers, to forested upland zones in the periphery of the project area (e.g. Rotonak Mondol and Sampov Lun in Battambang) where farmers mainly live from non-rice crops (maize, cassava), cattle grazing and agro-forestry activities. The main agro-ecological zone lays between these two extremes, largely dominated by lowland rice, the main staple crop in Cambodia. This zone actually covers a range of different agro-ecological situations, depending on local topography (relative importance of submerged paddy fields and elevated chamcars), bimodal rain patterns (longer short drought in the north of Battambang), local water resources (reservoirs, canals and rivers for irrigation) and proximity to Tonle Sap Lake, which greatly conditions the importance of annual floods and related selection of rice varieties by farmers (shallow, medium or deep water).   

ECOSORN planning process is participatory and decentralized

Introduction of the concept: Community Action Plan, the participatory planning process of ECOSORN strategy is to develop Community Action Plan at commune levels. These plans have to be considered as project’s work plan at commune level, agreed and undersigned by all parties (Provincial Department of Planning, District Governor and Commune Council). The Commune Action Plans must be elaborated in coordination with existing plan and with the maximum participation of local stakeholders, using participatory approach. The development of Community Action Plan follows 5 steps, first and 5th steps link with the existing decentralized planning process. The process starts with the consultation of existing plans and ends with the introduction of Commune Action Plan in the existing planning process and plans.

Irrigation intervention for Rice Growing Community
(Assessment of Implemented “Cell Box Culvert with Gate”)

A Cell Box Culvert with Gate is constructed with fund support from ECOSORN (Economic and Social Relaunch of the Northwest Province (an EC funded project) in Siem Reap Province. Cell Box Culvert with Gate is a kind of sluice gate to increase water level and to distribute of water to large area of paddy fields. The kind of gate is useful for Cambodian rice farmers and communities to manage and to fairly distribute of water and to ensure adequate amount for the whole period of rice production.

Appropriate Technologies in ECOSORN Water Supply and Sanitation Projects

Appropriate Technology should be superior to the technologies in the past. Yet it should also be simpler, cheaper, and easily maintainable by the users themselves. The following principles were followed by the Rural Infrastructure (RIS) Component of ECOSORN Project. Manufacturing of technologies should be local. It means that villages should be able to obtain the technology without external assistance (project or government agency) The technologies should be affordable and addressing real needs of beneficiaries. The production methods employed must be relatively simple, so that the demands for high skills are minimized, not only in the production process itself but also in matters of organization, raw material supply, financing, marketing, and so forth. Production should be mainly from local materials and mainly for local use.

Monitoring & Evaluation system design

Guidelines for the organisation of the RD-SKE Monitoring & Evaluation system

Training Need Assessment for ECOSORN Staff

The Training Need Assessment was carried out in ECOSORN project in order to develop a capacity building for the project staff in Siem Reap, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey offices as well as Coordination Office in Phnom Penh to help them perform well in their job responsibilities and activities based on ToRs to achieve the project purposes. The TNA objectives were established to:

-    Collect information for staff profiles, job descriptions, skill requirements and recruitment history;

-    Identify training gap which reflects the training needs stated by individuals, by supervisors or ITA, the ToR, and;

-    Establish the human resource management information system (HRMIS).

Poverty Issues in Target Provinces
1. Causes and Characteristics of Poverty

In Cambodia, the long period of destructive conflict and instability is probably the main root contributor to the widespread poverty that currently exists. Indeed, those who were displaced, maimed, orphaned, or widowed by the conflict face the greatest hardships. Damage to infrastructure (particularly irrigation systems), land mines, and other security threats contributed to low agricultural production. Execution of educated Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge era contributed to the low levels of human capital that hamper the effective delivery of social and government services. Discrimination (ethnic or gender), however, does not appear to be a principal cause of poverty in Cambodia. Cambodia Human Development Report (CHDR) 1999 reports that over 96 percent of villages are principally Khmer, so that even though villages dominated by ethnic minorities (Vietnamese, Chinese, Cham, hill tribes) tend to be poorer, they do not represent the bulk of the poor. Additionally, although there are a large percentage of female-headed households (25 percent), the incidence of poverty among female-headed households is slightly lower than among male-headed households. Thus, gender bias, even though, clearly exists in Cambodia, it is not by itself a major source of poverty.