Mid-term evaluation : eastern refugee reforestation project

Mid term evaluation covers the period 11/83-7/85 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with forestry experts and beneficiaries. Achievements have been impressive overall. (1) Fuelwood plantations have been established on 3,091 of 3,500 targeted feddans, excluding areas replanted due to high first year mortality. (2) Some 317 feddans of planted and direct seeded shelterbelts (totaling 93 km) have been planted in mechanized farming areas; however, only 90 of these feddans are successfully established and the target of 2,000 feddans seems unattainable. (3) Extension activities have resulted in 250,000 trees planted in household compounds, mostly for shade and ornamental purposes. The trees are thriving - the survival rate is 50-70% and growth ranges from 70-100 cm/year - and have been nurtured through local contributions of watering and fencing. (4) Nurseries, each with a capacity of 600,000 seedlings, have been established in two villages and have produced 1,800,000 seedlings, most of which have been of two species grown for plantations and shelterbelts; 16 different species are grown for the extension program. (5) A recently initiated improved stoves program of training and promotion has, in its first 9 months, produced and sold commercially more than 500 charcoal stoves. (6) The Forestry Department has been strengthened, and is now much more supportive of activities in extension, shelterbelts, and agroforestry; 14 government staff have been seconded to the department, 6 buildings constructed, and 20 vehicles provided. Expenditures have been higher than budgeted for almost all activities; also, plantation targets were increased and shelterbelt/agroforestry targets reduced without any budget adjustment, although the former is a costlier activity. Major recommendations are to provide funding to cover budget shortfalls and expand/diversify extension activities. Several lessons have been learned. (1) Refugees and rural Sudanese, even without land/tree tenure, will plant and maintain, often at great personal cost, trees that provide early benefits, e.g., shade, amenity, live fence, or food. (2) Plantation techniques (subsoiling, crossfurrowing, microcatchments, weed control, mulching) can successfully establish trees in areas dryer than they usually grow. Species tested under varying conditions include Leucaena leucocephala under irrigation and as a compound tree and Parkinsonia sculeata as a dryland plantation species and a living fence. (3) The OPG mechanism has been appropriate for the project. CARE has provided timely TA and commodities.