Government Services Involved in Major Flood Protection (Khewa, Nangarhar)
Every year in spring flooding is a recurring major problem leading to local disasters along many rivers like the Kunar River in Eastern Afghanistan . The flooding is caused by widespread melting of deep snow together with streams and rivers that are already bankfull. If in addition rain occurs that flows into an already full river it will cause the river to overflow its banks and flood nearby locations. This happened at Khewa washing away valuable agricultural land and destroying the homes of the people living near the river. Besides being homeless the peasants loose their source of income - arable.
In 2005 the Nangarhar Disaster Management Committee –consisting of the Deputy Governor of Nangarhar, Public Works Directorate, Irrigation Directorate, Natural Disasters Directorate, UNAMA and the RRD Nangarhar - approached development organizations and donors, including the Project for Alternative Livelihoods in Eastern Afghanistan (PAL), to provide funds for starting protection measures. The PAL joined the initiative and looked into feasible measures listed by the Disaster Management Committee for Khewa in Nangarhar.
In a joint venture government services and the PAL set up an action plan to prevent flooding in this particular area by the construction of protection walls.
It became clear from the beginning that only the construction of three protection walls at strategic building plots can solve the problem of flooding.
After initial difficulties during the construction - the original length of one wall had to be extended by 50 meters to reinforce to a land shelf and due to rising water a temporary wall had to be constructed – all three walls were successfully completed. The total cost for the construction of the three walls amounted half a million dollars.
The Benefits to Villagers and Break even
At the time of construction unprotected land is valued at Af 40,000 for each Jerib and for protected land Af 150,000 totaling several million US $ in retained land value. Taking into account a profit based on maize of US $ 60 per Jerib, prevented production losses would equal to more than US $ 8 million annually. This calculation breaks-even the cost for this project when including the use of local labor at estimated cost of US $ 130,000.
By the quickest possible means an ambitious program of tree planting was designed and financed by the PAL to stabilize the back fillings of the walls and the river banks. A contract for implementation was given to an NGO. Villagers provided their labor as a self-help while the NGO provided inputs and technical advice. In addition a management structure was created to organize land and labor in cooperation with the local traditional Shuras.
A project of this dimension could lead to rivalries for funds and conflicts over land amongst the beneficiaries. To prevent such tendencies all actions and costs involved have to be disclosed to all involved actors. In addition monitoring groups were formed to examine the implementation of the construction and to provide additional technical advice.
In order to ensure proper supervision a government monitoring committee consisting of representatives of the Directorates of Rural Development (RRD), Public Works and Irrigation was formed. This committee had the task to direct all aspects of implementation including technical construction details, hiring and payment of labor and all other costs of inputs.
The District Shura of Khewa was included for a joint coordination together with the local Village Shuras and to head off potential conflicts. For following up the progress of implementation, funds were made available to the District Administration.
The PAL field staff accompanied all activities and reported constantly back to the PAL Management Unit based on a detailed monitoring plan (“Khewa Flood Protection Monitoring Procedures, 19th of March 2006.”)
Success and Lessons Learnt
After 2 years the physical construction is a success and the flooding of arable land is ward off. It will bring long lasting benefits to the people living on the regained protected land, even of the recent land rights issues which prevent the utilization of the land.
The achievements can be summarized as follows:
1. The construction of the three dams has succeeded in preventing further erosion and benefited a large part of the population.
2. Despite initial resentment at proper tendering, this program has demonstrated to Government Authorities and traditional Shuras (at district and village level) the need for introducing transparent processes.
3. The lack of an efficient law system and suitable support of district authorities by the national government continues to be a major obstacle to efficient development.
4. The closing of the tree planting component has led to two considerations:
i. If public land is involved, funds for labour have to be provided to assure smooth implementation.
ii. More attention has to be paid for setting up a concept for a tree planting campaign including a detailed analysis of the responsibilities and objectives, use of private and public lands.
The expectation by the PAL that such a large and influential program would create trust and confidence with and within the local population was not feasible so far. The tree planting campaign and land distribution requires the direct participation of the local population to become a sustainable measure.
Planning and implementation of such measures have to happen on a joint level including the necessary decision making bodies. It is apparently wrong to believe that by speaking to and working merely through a traditional Shura, the needs of the local population are answered and programs can be installed without creating conflicts. In this respect even a District Shura has a limited influence.
PAL has invested considerable time and efforts to support and implement these three walls for the benefit of the local people and in the medium term for sustainable development. Many government officials (including provincial governors) voiced the need and willingness to receive training and support in the planning and management of its development projects. It is high time that this very important need is answered in the interest of sustainable development.
DISCLAIMER
This article has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the GTZ IS. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the GTZ IS.
The Project for Alternative Livelihoods in Eastern Afghanistan (PAL) is located at Jalalabad and funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by GTZ IS.
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