Haiti Reforestation Project FY18 Annual Progress Report.pdf

DISCLAIMER This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Chemonics International Inc. under Cooperative Agreement AID-521-A-17-00011.

The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflects the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

USAID REFORESTATION PROJECT

FY 18 Annual Progress Report September 1, 2017 – September 30, 2018

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USAID REFORESTATION PROJECT

FY 18 ANNUAL PROGRESS

REPORT

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 – SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

Submission Date: December 21, 2018 Agreement Number: AID-521-A-17-00011 USAID Agreement Officer’s Representative: Kenold Moreau

Cover photo: Water resources mapping exercise – training session in Ouanaminthe Photo Credit: Felix Duvelson, Project water resources management coordinator

Implementation Consortium: Chemonics International, National Cooperative Business Association – The Cooperative League of the USA (NCBA CLUSA), and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS II

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS III

SECTION I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

SECTION 2. PROGRAM APPROACH 6

PURPOSE 6

APPROACH AND OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 6

EXIT AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 7

SECTION 3. MOBILIZATION, PARTNERSHIPS, AND CHALLENGES 10

RAPID MOBILIZATION PLAN COMPLETION 10

COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP 12

KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES 14

SECTION 4. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS 16

COMPONENT 1 – REDUCE THE THREATS OF DEFORESTATION 16

COMPONENT 2 – IMPROVE RESILIENCE TO ECONOMIC AND NATURAL SHOCKS 25

COMPONENT 3 – INCREASE TREE COVER IN TARGETED AREAS 31

COMPONENT 4 – IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AND COORDINATION37

TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING 43

GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION (GESI) 44

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE 45

SECTION 4. MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING 47

ANNEX A: IPTT TABLE, FY18 50

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ASEC Assemblée des Sections Communales

AVANSE

APS

Appui à la Valorisation du potentiel Agricole du Nord pour la Sécurité Economique et Environnementale Annual Program Statement

BAC

CASB

CASEC

Bureau Agricole Communal Centre pour l’agriculture Saint Barnabas Conseil d’Administration de la Section Communale

CBO Community Based Organization

CECI

CFAIM

Centre d’Etudes et de Coopération Internationale Centre de Formation en Aménagement Intégré des Mornes

CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture

CMBP

CNIGS

Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program Centre National de l’Information Géospatial

COAIT Community Options Analysis and Investment Toolkit CRDD Centre Rural de Développement Durable DDA-N Directions Départementales Agricoles du Nord DDA-NE Directions Départementales Agricoles du Nord-Est DDE-N Directions Départementales de l’Environnement du Nord DDE-NE Directions Départementales de l’Environnement du Nord’Est FECCANO Fédération des Coopératives Cacaoyères du Nord FOPROBIM Fondation Pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine GIS Geographic Information System GOH Government of Haiti LPG Liquefied Propane Gas NCBA CLUSA National Cooperative Business Association-Cooperative League of

USA

NGO Non-governmental Organization NUPAS Non-U.S. Organization Pre-Award Survey

PEA

PMU

Political Economy Analysis Project Management Unit

RECOCARNO Réseau des Coopératives Caféières de la Région Nord

RFA

RFP

RFQ

TEC

TNC

Request for Applications Request for Proposals Request for Quotations Technical Evaluation Committee The Nature Conservancy

USAID United States Agency for International Development 3BNMP 3 Bays National Marine Park

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SECTION I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The USAID Reforestation Project is a 5-year project that aims to increase tree cover in Northern Haiti in line with government of Haiti priorities to restore environmental services and support domestic and international efforts to improve food security and resilience. The Project integrates market-driven income-generating activities as incentives to achieve its goals and its four component results: (1) Threat of deforestation reduced; (2) Resilience to economic and natural shocks improved; (3) Tree cover in targeted areas increased; and (4) Environmental governance and coordination improved. The Project has selected five priority watersheds to focus on: Haut du Cap, Grande Rivière du Nord, Trou du Nord, Marion, and Jassa/Lamatry. These watersheds provide the best opportunities to achieve Project objectives and expected results to restore the provision of environmental services in targeted forest areas in support of food security, and complement the relevant government of Haiti institutions, local authorities, decision-makers, and target communities to initiate and maintain a path towards resilience.

This Annual report covers the Project’s first thirteen months of implementation, from September 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018, and presents the results achieved. The report will: outline the Project’s approach, address mobilization efforts, summarize partner engagement efforts to date, explain the initial exit strategy, detail activity implementation progress by component; and discuss monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

The Project team is pleased to report on progress towards its FY18 targets as shown in table 7, and on the development and management of excellent relationships with relevant government institutions, such as the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MARNDR) and their respective departmental directorates in the Nord and the Nord-Est Departments. The team also developed and is entertaining very good relationships with the local authorities, farmer organizations and cooperatives. It has also initiated discussions with private enterprises that could contribute to the transformation and commercialization of promoted agro-forestry products.

During the reporting period, the Project laid the foundation for future activity design and implementation. To understand the threats of deforestation, detailed analyses were conducted on current tree cover in the North and North East departments and historic gains/losses in tree cover since 2000. The Project also launched a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to identify social, political, economic, and governance challenges and obstacles that the Project may face and needs to take into account when working to increase tree cover. Based on quantitative and qualitative data collected during these assessments, the Project has selected the following priority zones within the targeted watersheds: Capotille, Parc des 3 Bays, Bahon, Bay de l’Acul, Vallières, and Grande Rivière du Nord.

Initial efforts toward improving resilience to economic and natural shocks centered around engagement with Centre d’Agriculture Saint Barnabas (CASB), who has expressed interest in and taken steps towards becoming a leading regional institution in agroforestry extension services and local organization capacity building. The Project’s exit strategy includes formally creating at CASB a center for sustainable rural development (CRDD) focused on agroforestry and beekeeping. Agroforestry product market development will be key to increasing livelihood opportunities for Project beneficiaries. In FY18, the Project assessed the beekeeping/honey, coffee, cocoa, and livestock value chains.

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The Project evaluated the tree species it will focus on to increase tree cover in its targeted areas.

They fall within five general categories: fruit, forest, fuel, melliferous (beekeeping) and forage.

Consideration of local context and constraints is critical. For example, the Project studied the feasibility of citrus production in light of the prevalence of citrus greening disease in Northern Haiti. It shared the key findings and recommendations with local stakeholders and partners. As a first step towards putting trees in the ground, the Project established its first nursery for the production of 55,000 tree seedlings at CASB in Terrier Rouge.

To ensure the success and long-lasting impacts of its interventions and initiatives, in addition to working with the Departmental Directorates of the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MARNDR), the Project worked with targeted municipal and local governments and selected communities to better understand the socio-political and economic issues that affect the use and management (or lack of management) of tree resources. It also set the foundation to work with these stakeholders to increase their interest in, ownership of, and commitment to sound landscape management. The Project set the foundation to strengthen their landscape management capacity during and beyond the life of this Project, which is a key element of the Project’s exit strategy. Over 100 local government officials were trained on the forest resource management, water resources protection and management, and animal husbandry laws and regulations of the Haitian Rural Code to guide them to exercise their mandates in natural resources and landscape management. The training which started at the end of FY 18, will continue in FY 19.

To ensure local buy-in, the Project facilitated the creation of four sub-watershed management committees and assisted the relevant stakeholders, including the Directorates of the Ministry of Environment and community leaders, in drafting three sub-watershed management plans. With the foundation established in FY18, the Project will be in a good position to transfer activities and initiatives to local partners in due time, setting them on their journey to self-reliance.

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SECTION 2. PROGRAM APPROACH

PURPOSE

The Purpose of the USAID Reforestation Project is to increase forest and perennial tree cover in northern Haiti in order to restore and improve the provision of environmental services and support food security and resilience.

APPROACH AND OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

The Project’s approach and implementation strategy is grounded on its development hypothesis that tree cover will increase if the threat of deforestation is reduced, the incentive to plant and maintain new trees is increased, community resilience to economic and natural shocks is improved, and environmental governance and coordination is strengthened. Thus, the Project’s activities are selected based on the Theory of Change (Exhibit 1) presented below, the results of the analysis of the threats and drivers of deforestation, and the meetings, consultations and working groups held with the various stakeholders’ groups.

Exhibit 1 USAID Reforestation Project Theory of Change

The Project is aligned with both USG and GOH environment, resilience, and food security strategies. Activities under the project align with USAID’s Climate Change and Development Strategy, which calls for increased resilience of people, places, and livelihoods through investments in adaptation, and reductions in deforestation and increased tree cover to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring sustainable landscape management. Improved climate and environmental resilience complement a nation’s food security. Thus, the promoted agroforestry practices are climate-smart and environmentally sound with the goal of improving resilience to natural and economic shocks and facilitating sustained tree cover and improved environmental services.

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EXIT AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

The Project began work on a series of approaches that will be undertaken to ensure that results achieved during the period of performance are sustained after the life of the project.

This exit strategy is approached through community-led analysis, planning, investment and action to ensure ownership and sustainability. As the Project recognizes that it will take more than five years to fully implement subwatershed management plans and for tree-planting interventions to bear fruit, its strategy is to ensure the sustainability of project successes in five key areas: 1) ensuring deep community buy-in through community engagement and political economy analysis; 2) promoting income-generating reforestation or resilience activities; 3) building the capacity of local authorities and communities to ensure they have the skills and incentives to manage and continue implementing subwatershed plans beyond the life of the Project; 4) encouraging local communities to invest their land resources and volunteer their time and effort to implement and monitor project activities; and 5) fostering partnerships with the private and public sectors to facilitate community access to credit, external funding or contributions as appropriate.

The exit strategy reflects the Project’s commitment to the sustainability of its program of activities and is being used as a management tool to define, guide and monitor the Project’s plan for impact beyond USAID’s funding. This year the foundation is set to leave behind i) a network of farmers, local committees, and supportive local authorities to assist communities to continue implementing their sub-watershed plans; and ii) knowledge from the Project’s various assessments and baselines to inform potential further reforestation initiatives in the region. This knowledge can also be used by the communities and local authorities to achieve Objective 4 to improve their environmental governance and coordination. Initial project activities set the foundation for the exit strategy, and the Project will continue to strengthen this foundation and refine that approach over the course of implementation. With the foundation established in FY18, the Project is setting recipient organizations and communities on a successful path in regard to their oversight of transferred activities and initiatives.

General assumptions

The exit strategy’s success hinges on a few key assumptions:

Political stability and effectiveness of Project’s partner ministries: The partnership with and support of Haitian ministries and government is critical to the Project’s success and sustainability. The Project is aware of potential political instability and the possible effects not only on its institutional champions, partnerships and buy-in, but also on project operations and safety.

No natural or ecological disasters: The Project’s subwatershed management and agroforestry efforts have the potential to be greatly affected by natural and ecological events. The plan for sustainable impact is closely tied to the physical state of the target area.

Security: The Project’s function and activities are dependent on security in the region. Haiti, including the northern region, is regularly affected by violent protests and other insecurity, thus it is critical to consider security in developing and monitoring the exit strategy.

Continuous leadership of grantees and local partners: Grantees and local partners play a critical role in the sustainability and impact of the Project. As such, their continuous leadership, buy-in, and increased capacity are important factors in the Project’s exit strategy and long-term impact.

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Keys to successful adoption and ownership of Project activities

Ensuring deep community buy-in (COAIT and PEA): Going beyond community consultations, NCBA CLUSA’s leadership in the implementation of the Community Options Analysis and Investment Toolkit (COAIT), developed by Chemonics’ Environment and Natural Resources Practice, is critical in ensuring community buy-in and sustainability. The deeply participatory COAIT process empowers communities to develop, from analysis through implementation and adaptive learning, subwatershed management plans grounded in an understanding of actual drivers of deforestation and incentives to reduce threats and increase tree cover. It also allows the Project to build on work that communities have already conducted in developing their own subwatershed management plans, especially with the UAID-AVANSE Project, thus empowering them improve or implement them. In addition to community ownership, the Project used COAIT to raise awareness and create incentives, dynamics and community structures for the implementation and monitoring of the management plans.

Promoting income-generating reforestation activities: Income-generating activities and other quick-win opportunities that immediately benefit watersheds and rural families ensure that participants stay committed to project activities beyond the five-year life of the project. Our market-driven approach means that income-generating ventures will be motivated by end-market demands. This is setting the stage for longer-term market-driven agroforestry activities that sustain watershed, forest, and mangrove protection.

Building local capacity to manage subwatershed plans: The achievement of the Project theory of change to see the community take ownership of initiatives to reduce the threats to targeted forests and increase tree cover rests on results that imply beneficiaries acquiring and applying new knowledge. It also rests on the existence of local institutions with the capacities to carry over the project assets and activities. As such, in FY 18, the Project initiated its training and capacity building activities, which are strategic elements of its approach and among its best guarantees for a successful exit. Consequently, avenues for training beneficiaries are identified, and programs initiated within each Project component. The will scale-up throughout the five-year period of implementation.

Encouraging local investment in project activities and fostering public and private partnerships: The Project’s $1,000,000 cost-share requirement is a key element of the sustainability plan because it strengthens community and partner ownership of outcomes over the short and long term. It also provides a base for continuing communities’ investments in selected activities beyond the life of the Project. The cost-share participatory approach includes Project stakeholders’ co-investment of time and resources, which relies on community members taking initiative to plan activities, invest in their land resources, and volunteer their time and effort to implement and monitor activities. Counterpart contributions will also come from other sources such as the private sector, faith-based organizations, diaspora organizations, and public-private partnership matching funds.

The transfer process

The Project recognizes that the transfer process starts at the inception of the activities. Our engagement with local partners and community-based organizations plays an important role in equipping local champions with the tools they need to continue reforestation and watershed management activities beyond the life of the Project.

Sub-grants: Through close work and capacity building with its sub-grantees throughout the five years of implementation, the Project is creating a network of organizations and communities able

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to continue its initiatives. As a critical element, the team provides assistance to ensure local organizations build the qualifications and skills to continue seeking funding, materials, and grants to maintain their ownership of reforestation activities in the region. Additionally, the Project provides its in-kind grantees with not only the skills but also the equipment necessary to continue their reforestation efforts.

Direct Implementation: The Project is adopting a direct implementation approach for some of the reforestation and sub-watershed management activities, with potential partners including sub-watershed management committees, municipalities, and other relevant entities. Specifically, the Project will be engaging farmers and occasional laborers, and procuring planting supplies, tools and materials to be transferred to the relevant partners for future reforestation and sub-watershed management efforts. This approach will help build the capacity of local authorities to guide and coordinate natural resource management efforts in their respective communities. It also includes some strategic marketing campaigns like the promotion of improved biomass and LPG stoves to reduce charcoal and fuelwood consumption and greenhouse gas emission. This will also contribute to the exit strategy of building capacity to gradually increase communities’ self-reliance.

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SECTION 3. MOBILIZATION, PARTNERSHIPS, AND CHALLENGES

RAPID MOBILIZATION PLAN COMPLETION

During the first four months, the Project operated in a temporary office set-up at Auberge Villa Cana in Vaudreuil, Plaine du Nord at the southern limits of Cap-Haitian. That location provided easy access to the Directions Départementales du Nord of the Ministries of Environment and of Agriculture, as well as several potential partners active in environment, natural resources management, resilience and food security. In January the Project moved to its permanent office, a former office of USAID AVANSE Project at Babiole, Cap-Haitian. During the first quarter, the Project successfully put in place the financial and administrative systems to support its operations, including the development and operationalization of standard operating procedures and policies for the project to function efficiently and compliantly.

The Project was officially launched on January 11, and the ceremony was held on the ground of Lakou Breda, a historical site just outside of Cap-Haitien. The ceremony comprised several events, including speeches by representatives of Chemonics, USAID and the Government of Haiti;

a play on the importance of trees and tree management; a symbolic tree planting ceremony by local school children paired with the various officials; and a mini exposition. The whole program was geared to raise awareness on increasing resilience and improving living conditions of the population, as well as reforestation techniques.

In reference to the tree planting ceremony, the Project Director stated in his speech “This ceremony provides the opportunity for several generations to show their commitment to protect and increase tree cover in the North and North-East Haiti”. Highlighting the importance of such a commitment, the Chargé d’Affaire of the American Embassy in Haiti reminded the audience of the very relevant saying “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second-best time is now”. She also stressed in her message the key role of good governance, stating “The health and longevity of Haiti’s forests, land and water depend on the Government of Haiti’s commitment to these resources for its citizens today and long into the future.” In his keynote address, the Minister of Environment indicated that this Project goes hand in hand with the government concerns and objectives, and stated “In terms of resilience and climate, forest landscape restoration will need to increase agricultural productivity and enable farmers to diversify their sources of income. For us, this project is not only an environmental strategy, but it must also participate in a strategy of economic and social development”.

The Project faced challenges in onboarding its staff fully. It was difficult finding talent locally and attracting outside talents due to the need for most to still maintain their original household in Port-au-Prince with their family, and the relatively high cost of living in Cap-Haitien. Recruitment for some positions had to be relaunched, and special arrangements made for parents, especially mothers with school age children in Port-au-Prince until the end of the school year. However, by the end of the first year the project had hired and onboarded all staff required for the implementation of its FY18 work plan, and is confident in its ability to catch up in FY19. The project completed its major procurements to make the office fully functional in line with USAID and Chemonics policies and procedures. The only key outstanding procurement is for the purchase of motorcycles for the field technicians to reach the remote areas where the Project operates.

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Start-up Deliverables

In accordance with its mobilization plan and the terms of the cooperative agreement, the Project developed:

• The Chemonics Foundation Haiti Policy and Procedures Manual. Developed in French and reviewed by the Project’s local legal firm to ensure compliance with Haitian labor law, the manual was shared with all employees upon the execution of their employment agreements;

• The Sub-grants Manual. The manual provides guidance for the Project’s sub-grant making system, including the conceptualization, application, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and close-out procedures. It is being used to evaluate sub-grant applications and manage sub-grants. The Manual was shared with USAID on November 29, 2017;

• The Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and Marking Plan (MP). The BIP/MP describes how Chemonics and its partners will work to champion the project. It acknowledges the support of the American people, while emphasizing the cooperative efforts of the government of Haiti, local community-based organizations, and public and private stakeholders. It was submitted to the Mission on October 23, 2017;

• The first annual workplan. It was submitted to USAID/Haiti for approval on October 23, 2017;

• The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan. It was submitted to USAID/Haiti for approval on October 23, 2017;

• The Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP). It was submitted to USAID’s approval on October 25, 2017;

Communications

Reflecting the Project’s approach and overall implementation strategy, its communications activities for this year aimed at increasing awareness of the socio-economic and environmental impacts of deforestation and the non-respect and/or non-enforcement of current NRM laws and regulations; highlighting the importance of protecting natural resources, especially tree cover; and promoting improved agro-forestry systems. Communications efforts for the reporting period were implemented in tandem with the training and governance improvement activities, through consultations, focus groups, workshops, meetings and training events. Therefore, the awareness-increasing activities for this year were very much oriented toward building the foundation for Project activity sustainability beyond the life of the Project. During FY19, the communications activities will also include awareness campaigns targeting a wider audience.

Safety and Security Management

In late January, a team of two Regional Security Advisors from Chemonics Home Office completed the Security Risk Assessment of the Project intervention area to evaluate the associated security risks and design a security platform for the context. At that time, the overall risk to staff in Cap Haitien was assessed to be medium. Several vulnerabilities were identified, and recommendations made to address and mitigate them. These included improvements to physical and travel security, security management, and standard operating procedures.

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The Project developed and regularly updated its Emergency Action Plan and put in place a dedicated safety and security focal point and an incident management team.

COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP

Exhibit 2 Institutional Landscape in NRM

The Project collaborates and coordinates closely with other projects, institutions and initiatives involved in natural resources management, environment and livelihoods in the northern region.

It is building on foundations they have set. They include the regional environmental awareness program of the MOE, the sub-watershed management plans developed and initiated by USAID AVANSE, the mangrove rehabilitation activity of USAID Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program, the fuel wood lots supported by Centre d’Etudes et de Coopération Internationale (CECI), Solidarité Frontalière and UNDP/AVSI, and the agroforestry gardens management (PTTA and PITAG) and non-wood agroforestry product value chains programs (RESEPAG) of the Ministry of Agriculture.

To avoid duplication of activities and efforts, ensure synergy and collaboration, and facilitate sharing of lessons and coordination of activities, the Project worked with representatives of

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various institutions and agencies engaged in natural resources management in the northern region to develop a map (exhibit 2) of the institutional landscape for NRM in the region. The map presents a general picture of types of activities implemented in the target watersheds in 2017- 2018 and the implementing agencies, institutions and organizations, and provides a base to develop synergy, collaboration and linkages (exhibit 3).

Exhibit 3 Project Synergy, Linkages and Partnership Strategic Approach

Potential partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line With the assistance of Chemonics Director of Corporate Partnerships team, the Project initiated discussions with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) on collaboration and partnership opportunities. It developed a concept paper for RCCL’s review outlining how the Project could work with RCCL to help them keep the cruise line’s landing site spectacular and aesthetically pleasing (a major revenue driver), and to help the villagers to move from a survival cycle of dependency to a cycle of growth, thereby increasing their resilience to natural and economic shocks. Potential activities include:

• Community based tourism in the mangroves: Train village’s and Baie de l’Acul’s fishermen on biodiversity interpretation and tour guiding, and support them to serve as tour guides.

This will provide these fishermen an economic incentive to partner on the rehabilitation and protection of the mangrove stands, and to maintain the area clean.

• Agroforestry systems development: Train and support villagers to implement promoted agroforestry systems on their lands for use as tourism destinations. These farmers would also be trained on interpretation and tour guiding, providing them with an economic incentive for the protection of the sub-watershed.

• Agro-products transformation: Work with selected villagers and Bande du Nord residents on transformation of agricultural products, especially fruits to produce jam, dry fruits, etc., providing an economic incentive for fruit trees planting and adoption of proposed agro-forestry systems.

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Subsequently, the Project organized a meeting with Labadie community representatives in order to have a better understanding of their needs and discuss how the USAID Reforestation Project could support them. The meeting was attended by USAID/Haiti Deputy Mission Director and EGAD Director, a representative of RCCL and the CASEC Coordinator of Bande du Nord, among others. It provided an opportunity for the local authorities and community leaders to express their concerns with the socio-economic degradation of the community, and discuss how they could work with the USAID Reforestation Project to improve their livelihood and the management of the natural resources of their community. Some of the activities identified and proposed by the community representatives fall within the Project’s mandate and will be supported under the Project’s on-going APS. Some others would require RCCL’s contributions and support. The Project met twice with RCCL after the meeting with the community leaders to discuss these opportunities. With USAID as a convening partner, the Project, PADF’s USAID Community Development Project and RCCL are exploring possible partnership to support the Bande du Nord community, including Labadie.

The Project also organized a special session for leaders, local authorities and community organizations of Bande du Nord to train them on how to respond to Project APS and RFAs, and adequately complete the application form. This session attended by representatives of 18 organizations led to the submission of three sub-grant applications. Received at the end of Quarter 4, these applications will be reviewed at the beginning of FY19.

KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The USAID Reforestation Project encountered initial resistance from the Ministry of the Environment and skepticism from many local authorities and potential partners and beneficiaries due to negative perceptions of previous donor projects, especially in agriculture and natural resources management. In close collaboration with the USAID Mission, the Project engaged discussions with the Minister and his Chief of staff on the Project objectives and mandate, highlighting where and how it supports the “feuille de route” of the Ministry, and explained the work done with his predecessor. A MOU was developed and negotiated between the Ministry of Environment and the USAID Mission to that effect. It should be signed in FY19.

In the field, this overall situation required significantly more consultations, meetings and working or focus group sessions than originally planned. The use of the COAIT provided opportunities to engage many of these stakeholders (farmers, local authorities and community leaders) in analyzing the root causes of this skepticism and resistance. The process also provided for the sharing of information on the Project, its approach, and especially their expected active participation and involvement in the various Project phases. In the various sessions, the Project team set realistic expectations based on the limited scope and nature of the Project, stressing that all long-term and long-lasting results rest on their appropriation and taking ownership of all Project activities. It also highlighted the importance of good governance, and the roles of local communities and civil society to that effect. As a result, the Project has developed and is enjoying very good and open relationships with many of the key stakeholders.

Among other aspects, the results of the PEA, launched towards the end of the reporting period, will help develop targeted strategy and approach to consolidate and maintain these relationships.

The prolonged drought in target areas completely disrupted agricultural activities. In most of the region, farmers either did not plant or lost their crops. This meant no opportunities for

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them to apply the agroforestry and other practices promoted by the Project. This also meant increased economic hardship. As the rainfall anomalies observed in the region seem to occur frequently, the Project collected the relevant data and developed a rainfall distribution map with a view to develop a tree planting calendar, and help farmers adapt to this climate change challenge. In FY19, the Project will develop a drought contingency plan to help inform activities that may be susceptible to drought and climate change, particularly tree-planting and nursery activities.

While the USAID Reforestation Project awaited on the approval of the Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP), it focused first on categorical exclusions activities to push forward and get prepared for the activities falling under Negative Determination with conditions.

During the reporting period Haiti also faced civil unrest with violent riots and demonstrations that disrupted and temporary halted Project activities. The political instability negatively impacted planned project activities and the Project’s efforts. It caused significant delays in delivering the Rural Code training. Even after the resumption of general activities, it was not easy to re-engage right away local authorities for the Rural Code Training. Their priorities switched to socio-political and security issues. The training program was rescheduled for FY19.

Cap-Haitien, while being the second city of Haiti with an international airport and a port, is a small town. It is very difficult to conduct large procurements or obtain services locally; for example there’s no vehicle dealership or insurance services. Very often, the Project had to procure commodities and services from Port-au-Prince or in the US, with the associated delays.

During FY18, the Project worked with Port-au-Prince-based short-term staff to assist with procurements in Port-au-Prince.

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SECTION 4. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS

COMPONENT 1 – REDUCE THE THREATS OF DEFORESTATION

Approach:

Haiti is highly deforested and consequently, its communities as well as its infrastructures present a high level of vulnerability to natural disasters. Therefore, while reversing the situation is important, it is also critical, in doing so, to have reliable means of measuring where progress has been made and where investments in reforestation would not be efficient. Better understanding the core constraints and opportunities for the Project to reduce the threat of deforestation in the targeted zones, and ensuring access to relevant data to measure the impact of activities designed to take advantage of those opportunities were key elements of the Project’s approach for Component 1 in year 1.

During the reporting period, the Project collected baseline information on the intervention area through studies and analysis of key factors that can sustain progress. The strategy is to analyze the available spatial quantitative data associated with the progression of tree cover (see activity

1.1.2 below) and to try to understand, based on surveys conducted at the community level, the social, political, ecological and technological factors that threaten deforestation via the PEA process (activity 1.1.1). Only by understanding what factors influence tree cover and how those factors influence tree cover will the project succeed in implementing activities that effectively reduce threats to deforestation.

In terms of key activities, the Project aims to address the needs by (i) providing technical and managerial assistance to local small-scale woodlots managers to help them turn their activities into socially accepted enterprises that can be sustainably managed (see activities 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.4.1), thereby reducing threats to non-forest trees; and (ii) improving the efficiency of cooking and heating technologies in urban centers to reduce the gap between the demand and the level of supply that can be sustained through biomass-based fuel, with a view to reduce demand for wood fuel (see activity 1.3.1).

The information generated by Component 1 is cross-cutting in that it informs the needs of improving the implementation plans for the other components. It helps understand and rank the limitations faced by forest stakeholders and the support to be provided under Component 2 (increase the resilience of communities to natural and economic shocks). It also contributes to the selection of relevant forest species to be promoted and phytosanitary issues to be addressed under Component 3 (increase tree cover). Lastly, it provides for the development of training and public awareness materials and the strengthening of capacity of local authorities under Component 4 (improve the governance of natural resources). It is key to our approach that the project leverage data and findings gathered under the assessment work planned under Component 1 to inform other activities.

Component 1 FY18 Highlights

• Assessment of the tree cover in Project area, and estimation of tree cover in 2017

• Baseline map of tree cover

• Initiation of a Political Economic Assessment (PEA) in the Project’s priority areas in order to identify and understand some of the social, political, economic and governance challenges to reforestation

• Comprehensive assessment of the urban cooking fuel market

• Baseline on fuelwood use by small and micro enterprise in 6 urban centers

• Exchange visit in Ennery with representatives from GOH local and regional entities and from CBOs to promote woodlots establishment and management

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Progress:

During FY18, the main results achieved by Component 1 are the following:

• completion of a spatial dynamics analysis of the forest cover, and review of trends in forest cover losses and gains;

• completion of a comprehensive assessment of the urban cooking fuel market covering the project area;

• exchange visit organized in Ennery with the participation of representatives from CBOs’ and from local and departmental Government of Haiti institutions;

• development of the methodology that led to the choice of priority areas.

These results informed the design of year 2 activities that aims to reduce the threats of deforestation. They also led to the selection of six priority zones within the targeted watersheds: Capotille, Parc des 3 Bays, Bahon, Bay de l’Acul, Vallières, and Grande Rivière du Nord. The detailed achievements are below.

1.1.1 Analyze the drivers of deforestation1

During Year 1, the Project analyzed the drivers of deforestation and impediments to reforestation.

The Project launched a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to get a better understanding of the political and economic dynamics in the target area that are drivers of deforestation and/or impediments to reforestation. The goal of the PEA is to develop a roadmap to navigate around the political and governmental impediments, while taking advantage of local dynamics and resources to make its interventions more effective and sustainable. The results of the PEA inform the project’s ability to capitalize on local lessons learned and identify best management practices linked to reforestation initiatives implemented in the past 30 years in the intervention area. With the technical assistance and guidance from Chemonics PEA specialist Jennifer Swift- Morgan, the Project performed focus groups, consultations and field work in three of the priority zones (Grande Rivière du Nord, Capotille and the Three Bay National Park – Phase I).

The PEA consultations helped identify and understand the social, political and economic challenges that influence the sustainability of project results, especially NRM, and the potential issues or risks to consider in the target areas. The associated focus groups also provided preliminary information that support project implementation. Phase II started the last week of September and will be completed in FY19. A preliminary report was developed for Phase I, and the results informed the preparation of the FY19 work plan. Key contextual considerations that emerged from this preliminary report are:

1. The increase in weather phenomena induced by climate change is often neglected in projects. In the target areas, this factor is compounded by the increasingly longer dry seasons and the increasing intensity of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, 1 Note that the three Roman numerals denote activity number, not section number. missing numerals mean no activities were realized in FY18 for that specific activity

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floods, droughts. Local actors – even when they are aware of the effects of climate change – remain blocked by some of the social, economic and institutional constraints listed below. Thus, they are unable to implement strategies of sufficient scale to mitigate the impacts of climate change related events on the living conditions of their families and communities.

2. The dissemination and communication of information relevant to the management and protection of natural resources are very limited, and communications techniques for behavioral change in relation to environmental factors do not always bring the expected results. As a result, after projects’ implementation, the communities generally go back to their former practices and attitudes with their negative impacts on tree cover and natural resources management.

3. Given the long-time needed to see results, successful reforestation and natural resources management projects and initiatives require close collaboration with local and permanent institutions. For example, local authorities and central government entities must establish the frame for these projects. The PEA revealed very limited involvement of central government authorities in the management of natural resources as well as very weak governance capacity and a permissive attitude from local authorities and regional representatives of GOH entities. These governance problems represent bottlenecks to sound environmental management as well as to the sustainability of reforestation actions, particularly in the Northern region.

4. From an institutional standpoint, A lack of confidence in the potential for development projects to improve their living conditions was expressed by community members in light of the perception of corruption among the multiple intermediaries involved in the implementation of such projects. This lack of trust and negative perception do impact their willingness to be involved in reforestation and NRM projects and initiatives. There are a general lack of ownership of NRM projects by local stakeholders, and a poor understanding of the socio-cultural situation of local actors by the international community. For example, very often the proposed technical packages do not sufficiently take into account the practices that are deeply rooted in the target areas community or their complex socio-economic reality.

The lack of substantial change in reforestation also stems from the fact that many of the adverse reforestation factors have often been addressed by the relevant authorities and the international community either in isolation or in part.

Based on these findings and the associated recommendations, the Project will, among other aspects:

i. Develop and nurture good working relationships with the different categories of actors, including local government authorities, based on transparency and clear expectations.

This will include efforts to involve beneficiaries in key decisions related to activity planning and monitoring, working with university students and recent graduates, dedicating more time and resources to build the capacity of CBOs in priority sub-watersheds, and adapting the support provided (including sub-grants) to the management capacity of local partners in order to reduce the weight of external service providers;

ii. Guide the local stakeholders to develop practical and simple contingency or adaptive measures in the face of the changing weather patterns. This will include the expansion of the agro-climatic information network, the development and dissemination of revised

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agro-forestry calendar, and the promotion of adapted technical agro-forestry and forage production packages.

In addition to the PEA, the Project internally reviewed its theory of change and reflected on the first year of implementation to deduce additional drivers of reforestation. Some key findings of these reflections were:

• Vulnerable populations like youth and women are omitted from subwatershed management decision making. The Project must engage and empower these demographics to be more involved in reforestation action and good environmental practices

• Demand for fuelwood continues to rise as urban centers grow. Mangrove cuttings for fuel have increased as a result of new settlements around the Caracol industrial parks located close to mangrove forests

• Traditional technologies that burn fuelwood are highly inefficient, and thus more wood is required to make up the efficiency gap. Access to alternatives is very difficult due to costs, limited or lack of credit access

• Lack of livelihood alternatives to charcoal production, and low awareness of the economic potential of agroforestry

1.1.2 Use GIS and satellite imaging, to analyze tree cover and assess impacts on ecosystem services.

Based on information collected from the Global Forest Change 2000–2016 database maintained by the Department of Geographical Sciences of University of Maryland, satellite images from Google Earth for 2000-2016, land use data from CNIGS (2002), and from AVANSE (2013), the Project GIS specialist assessed tree and forest cover of the target area disaggregated by communal sections and sub-watersheds. The analysis estimated perennial tree cover of the target watersheds at 123,721.74 ha and forest cover at 106,428.41in 2000 (table 1 and exhibits 4 & 5) with a loss of 5,587.69 ha of forest cover between 2000 and 2016 (table 1), which represents a net regression of 5.25%.

Table 1. Forest/dense agroforestry cover in project area disaggregated by watershed

Watersheds

Haut du Cap

Grande Rivière du Nord

Trou du Nord Marion Jassa Project area

Forest cover (2000) (ha) 24,583.25 34,800.01 14,831.39 12,527.43 19,686.33 106,428.41

Losses (2000-2016) (ha) 693.02 1,371.4 650.97 1,218.67 1,653.43 5,587.69

Gains (2000-2016) (ha) 12.92 51.08 133.80 129.73 68.94 396.48

This study used FAO forest definition (an area of ½ hectare or more covered at least 20% by trees over 5 meters high) adopted by the donor. However, the FAO definition does not allow the inclusion of the mangroves and the dry forests whose trees are exploited for charcoal and construction pole production before reaching 5 meters. Therefore, this internationally accepted reference of a forest concept does not make it possible to take into account an important part

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of the dynamics of tree cover in the project area and in Haiti in general. The Project is assessing alternate definitions for their relevance to the region.

The study offers the possibility of making comparisons with other areas around the world based on a standardized observation unit.