USAID/EAST AFRICA/FFP MONITORING MISSION OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NAIROBI 001496

SIPDIS

USAID/DCHA/AA FOR WGARVELINK, LROGERS
DCHA/OFDA FOR GGOTTLIEB, CGOTTSCHALK, KCHANNELL
DCHA/FFP FOR JDWORKEN, TANDERSON, TMCRAE, WHAMMINK
AFR/EA FOR JBORNS, SMCCLURE
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER
NAIROBI FOR JMYER; ADWYER
KIGALI FOR KMULLALLY, CTOCCO, RWASHBURN, VSAFALI
NSC FOR JMELINE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: USAID
SUBJECT: USAID/EAST AFRICA/FFP MONITORING MISSION OF
TITLE II COOPERATING SPONSORS IN RWANDA



1. SUMMARY: Regional East Africa FFP Officer and USAID
Rwanda Mission conducted a joint monitoring mission
February 26 ? March 3, 2007, of Title II Cooperating
Sponsors (CSs) World Vision (WV),Catholic Relief
Services (CRS),ACDI/VOCA and their sub-grantees:
Africare, ADRA and Food for the Hungry International
(FHI). They operate under Development Assistance
Programs (DAPs) that are all scheduled to end between
2009 and 2010. Program implementation by the CSs has
been severely hampered by budget cuts, delays in call
forward (CF) for monetized and distributed commodities
and the various clarifications on food aid requested by
the Rwandan Government. Despite the challenges, the CSs
continue to provide good and important assistance to
vulnerable populations in Rwanda. END SUMMARY


2. The CSs are providing support to vulnerable
populations including People Living with HIV and AIDS
(PLWHA),elderly people, orphans, street children in
safety net centers, farmers using improved agriculture
techniques in food insecure zones and agri-business
cooperatives. These groups are supported through direct
distributions of Title II commodities as well as
proceeds from the sale of monetized commodities that are
distributed as grants.

BUDGET CUTS, LIMITED CALL FORWARD AND DELAYED PROGRAM
IMPLEMENTATION


3. The Title II non ? emergency program in Rwanda was
valued at USD 13.3 million for FY 07. However, under the
new F Process, that sum has been reduced to USD 11.4
million and this will be the working figure for the
remainder of FY 07. The newly announced budget
reductions will surely force CSs to reduce staff and cut
down on critical activities even more. In addition to
the budget cuts, the Cooperating Sponsors were all faced
with the inability to call forward commodities for
monetization and distribution in a planned or timely
manner. Additionally, the Mission in Rwanda and its
partners were challenged for a period of time, by the
Government of Rwanda?s restrictions on food aid. This
situation has been worked out to the satisfaction of all
parties. These instances have prevented partners from
fully implementing the DAPs as approved.


4. The implications of these measures have been far
reaching for the CSs and their sub-grantees. Program
implementation has been severely hampered. CRS?
Comprehensive Close-Out Strategy Amendment (COSA) with
implementation 2006-2009, has two objectives: direct
distribution to 39 Safety Net Centers and food security
initiatives. They are half way through their program in
the first year and they have yet to start implementing
the food security initiatives that represent 75 percent
of their programming. ACDI/VOCA?s approved five year DAP
(2005-2010) allocates USD 3.2 million for distribution
as grants to local cooperatives. As of FY 07, they have
only disbursed USD 50,000 at this half-way point.
Similarly, WV was to receive USD 5 million to disburse
as small grants. As of FY 07, more than half way through
the DAP, they report receiving USD 1.3 million. The
challenge for the TITLE II grant dispersal process is
that grants ideally should not be distributed in the
last year of the program because follow-up will be
difficult during the close-out period. Given program
delays, it looks as though CSs will have to do just
that.


5. WV and Africare (a sub-grantee of ACDI/VOCA) have
not received any CF commodities in FY 07. There is a
consignment due in March/April. For now, they are
working off their FY 06 balance, but will run out of
cash in March. Africare?s distribution commodities have
been insufficient, forcing them to diminish rations to
their target population of PLWHA. Currently they receive

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12.5 kgs of Corn Soya Blend (CSB) and one liter of oil
instead of the 25 kgs CSB, 1.8 liters of oil, and 25 kgs
of Soya-Fortified (SF) Bulgur per family per month,
suggested by USAID. In many instances, these food
rations are the only lifeline for PLWHA who need food to
properly digest Anti-Retrovirals (ARVs) as part of their
AIDS management therapy.


6. The cash that comes from 202e grants and
monetization are needed early in the fiscal year in
order to move programming along. It is understood that a
large part of the reason for CF delays is caused by the
continuing resolution. FFP has had to prioritize
available cash resources for the immediate emergencies.
The delays of CFs have forced the CSs to reduce staff
and/or slow down activities resulting in low morale of
their teams. Further, the CSs have to also work hard to
maintain the morale of their target beneficiaries.


7. FFP/W, in an effort to correct the CF delays, has
initiated ways to better plan and prioritize non-
emergency spending. They have developed a pipeline
analysis tool that CSs have been requested to test. This
will facilitate FFP/W in knowing the ?what, when and
whys? of programs needs in order to more effectively
lobby for necessary resources for Multi Year Assistance
Programs (MYAPs) in a more timely fashion. The fine-
tuning of this process will allow for greater
predictability of non-emergency needs, as well as
promote a greater integration with other resources.
FFP/W reports that they have now prioritized the CFs and
cash for the DAP partners in Rwanda. Final confirmation
is expected in April 2007. These changes in Washington
to improve the planning and operations of food aid
programs are welcomed in Rwanda and the Mission looks
forward to implementation.



TITLE II and the SUPPORT FOR PLWHA


8. In Rwanda, TITLE II resources are feeding 17,445
PLWHIVAs through the two Development Assistant Programs
of WV and ACDI/VOCA and their sub grantees FHI, ADRA and
Africare. The USAID team was joined by PEPFAR on visits
to two associations of PLWHA: Imbaraga z?Urukundo (Power
of Love) and Inziramugayo (People of Integrity). In
order to be a member of the associations, one must be
HIV positive. There were hungry people (with very low
Body Mass Index (BMIs)) that were turned away if they
were not HIV positive. The Imbaraga z?Urukundo
Association is located in Nyamata District in the
Eastern province. They are one of 135 associations
supported by Title II through World Vision and ADRA.
There are 111 members in which 71 are receiving food due
to their ARV intake. WV is employing PEPFAR guidance to
scientifically target food aid beneficiaries which is
primarily based on a recipient?s BMI. In addition to
food, WV provides nutritional training and counseling.
The USAID/PEPFAR team listened to many testimonies by
association members supported by Title II. They shared
with enthusiasm how the food enabled them to intake the
ARVs that usually caused vomiting and nausea. ?Medicine
without food is not good? declared one member. They
spoke of their weight gain and new-found energy. A widow
with five children shared that because of the food she
was getting along with the ARVs, ?I now have strength to
work in my garden?. Another member declared that her CD4
count (that determines the level of immunity against
opportunistic infections) went from 23 ? 249 once she
started taking food with her ARVs.


9. Africare supports 34 Associations numbering 1,210
PLWHA in Nyamagabe district in the Southern Province.
Through a series of volunteers they provide Home Base
Care, peer education and testing and counseling and pay

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health fees. Africare provided community-based
nutritional support for 5,013 moderately malnourished
children as of February 2007.


10. The GOR has established a protocol that requires
that direct distribution recipients be ?graduated? from
programs after six months. All of the CSs providing
direct distribution in the form of safety nets find it
difficult to respect this protocol. World Vision
graduates beneficiaries once they improve their
nutritional status as measured by BMI, which does not
usually respect a six-month calendar. Similarly with
Africare, they are feeding 12,600 beneficiaries. They
find it difficult to respect the six month rule as they
operate in an acute food insecure zone where one can
find an entire family that is HIV positive.

Pascasie ? 13 Years old, HIV+, with Help and Hope


11. The PEPFAR/USAID team met Pascasie, a 13 year old
girl diagnosed with HIV when she was just 2 years old.
She has lived with her grandmother and aunts since that
time when she lost both her parents to AIDS. She is
twice the age of her 2nd year primary school classmates,
but opportunistic diseases such as tuberculosis have
forced her to miss many days and months of school.
Pascasie appears healthy and when asked, how she feels,
she responds ?Meze neza? in Kinyarwanda which means ?I
am well?. She is understandably shy with all eyes on
her, but she readily receives the hugs we want to give
her. Her 75 year old grandmother and her two aunts are
all widows. They farm a small plot of beans in very
sandy soil that ?doesn?t give much?. They depend on the
one month ration distributed by Africare that in
reality, only lasts 15 days. Pascasie is visited by
Africare?s Home Base Care (HBC) volunteer Godbert Umwana
who visits 18 households per month. She moves with her
HBC kit filled with petroleum jelly, compresses,
thermometers, tarp, wound dressing material and gloves
and an apron, that all fit in a back pack that easily
weighs 22 pounds. She does all of this on foot with her
furthest client located some 12 kms away, in return for
a monthly ration of 6 kgs of CSB and half tin of oil.
When asked why she does it, she responds, ?I worked as a
health professional in the hospital and when Africare
made the requests for volunteers, I thought I would be
good at it.? She is particularly challenged in the
rainy season with all the walking that is necessary, but
she still trudges on for her clients who anxiously wait
for her to treat their wounds, bring news of the day,
see her beautiful smile and just talk and keep them
company...



PEPFAR AND THE POSSIBILITIES


12. Though the CSs are doing good work with
associations that support PLWHA, food aid alone it is
not sufficient. One way to graduate members out of the
safety net programs is to support them in income
generating activities. CRS reports using USD
100,000/year of its own resources to provide start-up
resources for income generating activities such as the
provision of cows for milk and cheese production and
start-up equipment support for commercial activities.


13. Rwanda is one of four PEPFAR countries in Africa
that has TITLE II. In a time when many budgets are
shrinking, the PEPFAR budget is increasing annually by
30 percent in Rwanda. It is an opportunity to fill the
many gaps that exist with TITLE II partners supporting
PLWHAs. The Mission and USAID/FFP are challenged by the
most appropriate mechanism for PEPFAR to finance TITLE
II partners. Having two separate contract actions is a
very cumbersome way to do business when the mission is

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doing its best to foster program integration.

OTHER PARTNER FIELD VISITS


14. The USAID team also visited WV?s agro forestry
initiatives in the Eastern Province. Title II was used
as Food for Work to create progressive terraces and tree
plantation as an anti-erosive measure. The teams
initially planted 30,000 trees, but due to drought, only
5 percent survived. Another 5000 trees were planted
with an improved survival rate of 80 percent due to the
good rains. Local farmer Cassian Rutagana received a 3
month ration for his labor in making terraces. When
asked what difference terracing made, he responded, ?My
yields are three times more than before. If I had not
used this technique, my seeds would have been washed
away to the marshland?. As the team prepared to depart,
Cassian approached our vehicle and leaned inside, and
through an interpreter said, ?Please thank the American
people for us?.


15. The USAID team visited a series of safety net
centers: Maison de la Jeunesse, based in Kigali and
supported by CRS, provides meals and vocational and
educational training for street children. CRS provides
food aid to the Noel Orphanage of Nyundo in Rubavu
District in the Western Province, who in turn provides
food and shelter to over 600 orphans between the ages of
a few weeks to 19 years old. The USAID team visited
agribusiness cooperatives specializing in coffee, wheat
flour and cheese, supported through grants, buyers of
monetized commodities or leveraged loans through
ACDI/VOCA.


16. The USAID team spent a morning touring the coffee
washing station of COOPAC in Nyamwenda sector of Rubavu
District of the Western Province, on the shores of Lake
Kivu. The Cooperative was established in 2001 with the
aim to regenerate the coffee sector in Gisenyi region
given its high potential for high quality coffee
production for a gourmet market while increasing the
welfare of coffee producers. They received Fair Trade
certification in 2003. COOPAC has been a long time
partner of ACDI/VOCA who supported the construction of
the coffee washing station under the previous DAP.
Currently they work on capacity building with the
cooperative management. The investment has paid off as
COOPAC won Third Place overall and First Place among
Rwandan coffees at the 2007 Taste of Harvest Coffee
Cupping Competition in Addis Ababa in February 2007,
sponsored by the East African Fine Coffees Association.
This was a stellar achievement for COOPAC and helps to
boost the reputation of Rwanda coffee internationally.

CONCLUSION


17. Despite the multiple challenges for the FFP
Cooperating Sponsors in Rwanda, they are doing
impressive activities with vulnerable populations. In
HIV/AIDS programming there are clear opportunities for
PEPFAR to twin with FFP Cooperating Sponsors to fill the
clear and pervasive gaps in sustainable support for
PLWHAs. FFP/Washington is making efforts to address the
issues of delayed call forward. The CS? were advised to
continue to document their progress (or lack thereof)
and respect reporting deadlines in order to maintain the
institutional memory of why indicators and objectives
have not been achieved as the case may be. USAID/East
Africa/FFP would like to extend kudos to USAID/Rwanda
SO7 team who continue to provide active monitoring and
guidance to FFP partners in Rwanda.

RANNEBERGER