Revue finale du projet SOFABA

Background

- The Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS) has assisted two synods of the FLM , Horombe Synod and Fiherenana, Toliara Synod in the implementation of the project (Hereafter called the SOFABA project) since it was started in 1995. The Project has been carried out in 2 phases of 5 years, from 1998-2002 and from 2003-2007.
- The formal agreement between BN and NMS was signed the 28th of January 1988 and this overs the project for the period from 1998 to 2007.
- The total budget was 4.2 millions NOK. During the first phase an evaluation was carried out in 2001 as a mi-term review by SIK (Centre for intercultural communi¬cation), in view of a possible prolongation of the Project.
- A contract was signed between NMS and FLM in Antananarivo on 14th May 2003. During this last part of the contract period a mid-term review was carried out in September/October 2004 by Cabinet Miara-Mita.
- The financial support of the SOFABA project from BN will come to an end 31st of December 2007. FLM will however continue to run the Bara Project centre as its development office in the region. FLM has applied for support to a new project in new areas for which a new project document has been presented, and this proposal has been included in the new NMS' Malagasy Integrated Rural Development Program. The former activities of support to primary schools and education in the SOFABA project have been transferred to the Green Educational Program supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Antananarivo.

Purpose/objective

- NMS shall make available the necessary documentation in order for the team to conduct a final review, as specified below, for the formal termination of co-operation between NMS and BN with regard to the project with the project number 0295 GLO-01/451-51.

Methodology

- The work was carried out by a consultancy group, the Focus Development Association, and comprised but was not necessarily limited to the following tasks:
- Evaluate to what extent the 2 parties have fulfilled all their obligations as specified in the agreements with respect to payments and reports.
- Review the administration of the project, including project renewals and project prolongations.
- Review the achievements of the project and discuss present and future impacts of the project on the economic and social conditions of the local population.
- Assess how the project has influenced the situation of the Bara people as an ethnic group compared to the other ethnic groups living in the area. Assess the impact of the project on the environmental situation especially regarding deforestation and bushfires.
- Assess how the project relates to the government's development policy the area.

Key findings

- The Project contributed to establishing basic development infrastructures in the remote regions where it worked and to disseminating knowledge and know-how that were conducive to positive changes in the practices of a population group that had lived almost in autarchy until then.
- Schools, health centers, libraries, water infrastructures, village community granaries are among the infrastructures built in the Bara region under the SOFABA Project. These infrastructures can be sustainable if they are well maintained.
- Through the SOFABA project, the number of people trained and having basic skills in a variety of fields has increased in the project's intervention zones. These people will be a driving force for development in their respective regions if they invest themselves in development, and even more if they manage to increase their number.

Recommendations

- A socio-cultural feasibility study conducted before designing the project allowed for identifying at a very early stage an approach that took into account the cultural particulars existing in the intervention zones and ensured a good welcome by target communities that had almost never been reached before.
- Satisfactory results were obtained in remote areas that were forsaken by other development actors by mobilizing motivated resource people who have a missionary spirit and by providing significant material resources that were rigorously managed.
- The low influence of the FLM in the project's design and implementation was especially felt at the project's phasing out. This fostered autonomy and independence in SOFABAwhose vision and strategy were not always in line with those of the church departments that are to take over the activities of the project. SOFABA's priorities were to rapidly achieve results and to develop ownership of the activities among the local population. The way the FLM was to take over activities was not really addressed from the beginning.
- Given that it wanted to rapidly achieve results, the Project sometimes privileged immediate results at the expense of long-term achievements. For instance, the project hired external providers for digging wells instead of teaching villagers to do so. This deprived the villagers from an opportunity to acquire the capacity to by themselves increase the number of wells.
- Costs of the project are high, as expected in such remote areas. However, they are reasonable in comparing with expenditures incurred by the government for the same sectors on national level.

Comments from the organisation

NMS will use the results of the evaluation in its planning and management of future cooperation with our partner, especially when it comes to the various aspects of integration with our local partners organization.