Interim Evaluation of the project: Securing rural land rights in South Sudan in a context of large-scale acquisitions

Background:
The two-year project, funded by NORAD, was launched in March 2011. The present evaluation was carried out in October-November 2012. The project was a response to widespread and growing concerns over the immediate and possible long-term socio-economic and political consequences of large scale land acquisitions in post-CPA/post-independence South Sudan, where the vast majority of the population are directly dependent on land resources for their livelihoods as pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, farmers and in-land fishers. Moreover, questions were being raised about the legality and probity of these transactions. A baseline study commissioned by NPA showed that the acquisitions threatened rural land rights and food and livelihood security. It also came to light that the Land Act, 2009 was not widely disseminated among the people and that the majority of rural South Sudanese were unaware of their rights to land enshrined in the Act. Moreover, there were capacity gaps at different levels of the emerging state to enforce the Land Act of 2009. E

Purpose/objective:
The overarching purpose of the evaluation is to identify and analyse the results of the actions within the project. The review is expected to be useful in the following ways:
The Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA):
a) To enhance the internal learning and development of future project activities.
b) For improving decisions on working methods, approaches, target groups etc.
c) For the enhancement of results based management, including documentation, monitoring and evaluation of results.
d) Enhancement of NPA’s partnership approach.

South Sudanese Civil Society Organizations (CSOs):
a) For the enhancement of the internal learning of local civil society organizations.
b) Improve utilization of capacity building initiatives to enhance their working methods in advocating for land rights.
c) Development of future project initiatives.

Methodology:
The evaluation began with a preliminary review of project documents and a self-evaluation of the performance of the project by its management with reference to its three objectives and the activities under each of them. This was done in order to ascertain the context and rationale of the project, obtain an overview of the progress in implementation and the problems documented, and identify the information gaps. Based on the findings of the preliminary review, fieldwork for primary data collection was planned.The fieldwork consisted mainly of interviews and discussions with the project staff, partner civil society organisations, officials of the South Sudan Land Commission and representatives of Land Alliances and local authorities. 

Key findings:
The project was a timely and relevant intervention and has been designed with due consideration to the conditions in post-war South Sudan. Project management deserves credit for an effective handling of the country-wide activities in the midst of several logistical challenges.
Progress is remarkable for a majority of the 15 activities under the three objectives; four of the five activities under the first objective and all activities under the third objective. The poor (or lack of) progress in the activities of the second objective seems to be related to the capacity of partner institutions, and may largely be due to factors that are more demanding of time and other resources to achieve the expected results. The same may be said of the lack of progress in one of the activities under the first objective. The project has been consciously striving to include women in its activities.
The SLAs and SSuLA need more capacity development to function effectively after the termination of the project.

Recommendations:
• Focus more on slow moving activities
• Setup a mechanism to update information on large scale land acquisition and investment
• Organise capacity development/refresher workshops for SLAs & SSuLA
• Assist SLAs & SSuLA to envision and explore alternative investment models
• Continue active use of mass media and find alternatives to NPA Newsletter to connect interactively with rural communities
• Continue engagement with the land policy process to promote quicker and better outcomes
•  Facilitate campaign for a moratorium on large scale land tranfers and investments
• Take steps to ensure sustainability

Comments from the organisation, if any: