DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - LESOTHO 10582.0

Strategic focus of the WFP Development Project: Support Access to Primary Education

Number of beneficiaries: 80,000 (51 percent girls) Duration: 36 months (1 January 2008 – 31 December 2010) WFP food requirements: 6,669 (mt)

Cost (United States dollars) WFP food cost: 2,722,181Total cost to WFP: 4,674,623

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Government of Lesotho has made enormous progress in improving the access to education. Recent successes include the introduction of Free Primary Education in 2000 which incorporates a school feeding component. Government expenditure on education, amounting to 12 percent of the gross domestic product, is considered high by international and regional standards, compared to a world average of 4 percent.1

A deepening economic crisis has resulted in a progressive impoverishment of the population. Poor households continue to send their children out to work or withdraw them from school because of their increasing difficulties in covering living expenditures. The proposed project aims to provide food assistance to 80,000 primary school children mainly in the remote and economically-disadvantaged highlands and mountainous regions to retain them in school, improve their attendance and attract more disadvantaged children to school. The project will support the Government’s priorities as defined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy and “Education Sector Strategic Plan 2005-2015”, and it contributes to outcome 2 of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework: “to achieve improved and expanded equitable access to quality basic health, education and social welfare services for all by 2012” for the period 2008-2012. The proposed WFP assistance is in line with Lesotho’s efforts to halve hunger and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 “eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” and MDG 2 “achieve universal primary education” as well as WFP’s strategic objective to support access to education (SO4).

The Government has reiterated its commitment to take over school feeding from WFP after 2010 as part of its long-term education strategy for “free and compulsory primary education” and WFP will help ensure that the required structures and capacities will be in place.

1 World Bank, 2005. Building on Free Primary Education, Primary and secondary Education in Lesotho. ACountry Status Report.

2

PART I – SITUATION ANALYSIS 1. Lesotho is a least-developed, food-deficit country and is ranked 149th of 177 in the United

Nations Development Programme Human Development Index.2 Three-quarters of the country’s 1.8 million people live in mountainous districts and about 68 percent are considered poor. Chronic malnutrition (stunting) of children under 5 remains to be the most significant form of malnutrition in Lesotho3 with rates between 42 percent and 54 percent respectively in the mountains and Senqu River Valley. There are also high levels of vitamin A deficiency and goitre among children.

2. Diminishing access to land, employment opportunities and purchasing power have worsened

the food security of the population, with those in the remote highland areas being the most adversely affected. Less than 10 percent of Lesotho’s land is suitable for agricultural cultivation, and this is declining due to the high rate of soil erosion and environmental degradation. Only 55 percent of the population has access to land (CHS 2007) and are reliant on land for their livelihoods. The “Lesotho Fast Track Initiative4 Assessment Report” (2005) points out that the majority of the population is engaged in subsistence farming with limited food security.

3. Lesotho produces only 30 percent of its cereal requirements, with the remaining 70 percent

being covered by commercial imports and humanitarian assistance. The country also suffers from high unemployment: the rate stands at about 50 percent. For decades, South Africa was the destination for many Basotho men seeking work, but opportunities have declined with the closure of many of the South African mines, thus weakening the food security of the poor households further.

4. HIV and AIDS have a profound impact on Lesotho, socially and economically. At 24 percent, Lesotho has the third-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.5 About 270,000 people are infected with HIV and AIDS, and about 100,000 children have lost one or both parents due to AIDS.6 About 25 percent of children under 18 are either single- or double-orphaned. The number of child-headed households is increasing and, as a result, food insecurity has become a major issue for these children.

5. The Lesotho Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) recognises that while job-creation and income-generation receive the highest priority, education is also one of the critical aspects in the fight against poverty. The strategy indicates the relationship between educational attainment of the head of household and the incidence of poverty: 80 percent of those with a higher level of education are employed compared to only 40 percent of those with a lower

2 Human Development Report, 2006 3 38.2 percent as reported by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2004 and 37.9 percent by Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment committee (LVAC), 2006). 4 The Education for All (EFA) Fast-track Initiative (FTI) is an evolving global partnership of developing and donor countries and agencies to support global EFA goals by focusing on accelerating progress towards the core EFA goal of universal primary school completion for boys and girls alike, by 2015 FTI is co-chaired on a rotating basis by one G-8 and one non-G-8 donor, supported by a Steering Committee, and a Secretariat that is housed in and managed by the World Bank. 5 Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005, HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet 6 UNAIDS,UNICEF,USAID and WFP, 2005. Rapid Action Planning for OVC Report

3

level education. The efforts of the Government towards improving access to education by introducing Free Primary Education (FPE), are well articulated in the PRS,7 and have had a positive impact on enrolment in the past seven years.

6. According to the mid-term review (MTR) of the Lesotho School Feeding Programme

(development project 10266.0, March 2006), Lesotho still has a long way to go before achieving the MDGs of universal primary education and gender equality. In spite of laudable government policies and financial efforts during the past six years, the MTR acknowledged that the education sector suffered from the reverse effects of the AIDS pandemic. The MTR describes poverty and the onslaught of HIV in Lesotho as “one with a human face, likening it to that of an unqualified, unemployed person - often a woman or a child, far from basic services”.8 A combination of poverty, food insecurity and orphanhood challenges most children’s potential to be educated in Lesotho now more than ever before.

7. Government expenditure on education is considered high by international and regional standards, amounting to 12 percent of gross domestic product, compared to a world average of 4 percent.9 During the seven years of FPE, the Government has increased its recurrent budgetary allocation to education from approximately US$97.5 million in 2001/02 to US$128.8 million in 2006/07, of which primary education was allocated a substantial 51 percent. Of this, US$20.6 million - more than a quarter of the primary education budgetary allocation - was in support of the school feeding programme under FPE. The allocation has been increased to US$21.25 million in the approved budget for 2007/2008.

8. However, even with FPE, poor households often cannot afford to send their children to school. Due to the increasing impoverishment, girls are frequently being removed from school to care for their siblings while their parents look for work. Many orphans drop out of school to look after younger brothers and sisters, to support their family members or simply to look for means to survive. The records of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) show the positive effect of school feeding on this particular target group: the number of orphans registered in primary schools increased from 99,240 in 2004 to 128,860 in 2006. A continuation of school feeding will keep these most vulnerable children in school and attract others, since the school meal is often the only meal they receive during the day.

9. As indicated in the Lesotho “Fast Track Initiative Assessment Report”, the education system

faces challenges. Enrolment is lower in mountain areas, where poverty is deeper and access to school more difficult. For those children who do enrol at school, the average walking time to school is often over an hour and children arrive at school already hungry due to the high degree of food insecurity. They tend to attend classes irregularly and are often too hungry to learn. The WFP baseline survey (2004) provides evidence that the wet rations provided at the schools are often the only full meals children have during the day, especially during the lean periods or in years with a bad harvest.

7 Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) 2004/2005 – 2006/2007. 8 PRS Lesotho, chapter 2, page 8. 9 World Bank, 2005. Building on Free Primary Education, Primary and secondary Education in Lesotho. A Country Status Report.

4

10. The significant gains that Lesotho has achieved in increasing the net enrolment rate (NER) at the primary level from 60 percent in 1999 to 85 percent in 2003 are not yet sustainable. In 2006, the NER decreased slightly to 83 percent and repetition and drop-out rates still remain very high. The UNESCO “Education for All Global Monitoring Report” (2007) shows a repetition rate of 18.2 percent in all grades for the school year ending in 2004 while the drop-out rate was 43.1 percent in 2003; completion rates to grade 5 were 63.4 percent in total, with girls (68.9 percent) performing better than boys (58.0 percent). In addition, a recent review of the education sector by the World Bank reveals that some 15 percent of primary school-age children still remain outside the formal school system.

11. The Government intends to make primary education compulsory from 2008 and to regulate

class progression in order to minimise repetitions and drop-outs and to improve school completion. By the year 2015, all school-age children should be in school. The Government’s school feeding already covers 300,000 children in over 800 primary schools. Since 2000, the Government has gradually assumed more responsibility for the feeding programme; however, due to the current poor economic situation, insufficient government revenues cannot cover the additional costs of taking-over school feeding in those schools that currently benefit from WFP assistance under Lesotho development project 10266.0 “Support to Free Primary Education”.

12. This new project is needed to safeguard the results already achieved and to work jointly with

the Government, WFP and other partners on a carefully planned and achievable hand-over of the school feeding activities to the Government. WFP-supplied food assistance during the three-year period will help to cover critical funding gaps in the Government FPE budget, with an achievable WFP hand-over plan agreed to by both WFP and the Government of Lesotho by the end of 2010.

13. The project was prepared jointly by the MoET and WFP. It has been discussed in the

Education Partners’ Forum: UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, Irish Aid and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the education sector. The proposed project addresses key concerns of the Government as outlined in the “Education Sector Strategic Plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy” and is in line with United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2008-12 outcome 2 “to achieve improved and expanded equitable access to quality basic health, education and social welfare services for all by 2012”.

PART II – PAST COOPERATION AND LESSONS LEARNED 14. The 2005 mid-term review of development project 10266.0 emphasised the achievements

with regard to enabling poor households to invest in human capital over the past 40 years and recommended to continue pursuing this objective.

15. School feeding acts as an incentive to the parents and caregivers to send the children to

school throughout the school year and at the same time supplements the children’s diet. School meals are a considerable income transfer to families who often suffer from poverty, especially if more than one child benefits. For orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC),

5

school feeding may often be the only source of a regular meal (School Feeding Baseline Survey, 2003) and, in the longer term, the only chance for them to obtain primary education.

16. Through the school feeding programme, regular communications have been established

between the cooperating partners and the school authorities. Several partners have built on these achievements and use the school feeding programme as a platform and a suitable environment to carry out complementary important activities such as health, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation and school gardening and HIV prevention.

17. The AIDS pandemic also takes its toll on teachers, as well as the readiness of parents to

engage in parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in support of school feeding. In order to counterbalance the lack of qualified teachers and appropriate teaching material caused by the budgetary constraints of the Government, WFP, UNICEF and other partners have provided the essential package to schools under the school feeding programme.

18. The 2006 MTR recommended continuing the distribution of take-home rations for the most

vulnerable (herd boys). However, this recommendation will not be implemented in the new project because the Government will not be able to sustain take-home rations after the handover.

PART III - PROJECT STRATEGY 19. The overarching objective of this project is to assist the Government to integrate and scale-up

the delivery of “Education for All” interventions to the most vulnerable children in the mountain areas of the country.

20. The short-term objectives of the project are to:

a. Increase enrolment and retention of children in primary schools in the mountain areas of the country;

b. Contribute to increase the attendance of primary school children in WFP-assisted schools;

c. Improve children’s capacity to concentrate and learn through the timely provision of food in WFP-assisted schools;

d. Develop the government capacity to manage a national school feeding programme by the end of 2010.

21. The MoET will continue to be responsible for all aspects of project implementation and will

chair the Project Management Unit, of which WFP and other implementing partners are members. The MoET will recommend the schools to be included in the WFP-assisted project according to their enrolment and retention rates and the remoteness of the schools. The Food Management Unit (FMU) will be responsible for transporting and delivering the food to the schools, and the MoET will cover the cooks’ salaries and provide them with basic training. School committees will ensure the sound storage of food commodities in the schools’ storerooms and will ensure that cooks follow basic hygiene principles in handling the food.

6

22. In the remote mountainous areas, access to food is still a problem due to distances and lack of transport and infrastructure. The MoET will therefore deliver food commodities to all schools as per the practice under the current WFP-assisted project. Food will be procured locally from private vendors and delivered by the FMU to the schools. The ministry will coordinate with WFP to pilot-test this approach starting from 2008 with Government resources.

23. The partners will use the school feeding programme as a platform for related activities. This

is expected to result in increased HIV-awareness and knowledge among school-age children. School gardens will be established and lead to more diversified school meals and raise the students’ awareness of agricultural practices and environmental concerns.

24. UNICEF will launch an OVC support programme. These highly vulnerable children will

benefit from UNICEF cash assistance, which will cover the expenditures for books, fees, uniforms and other school expenses.

25. In the first year of the new project (2008), 80,000 school children in the remote areas of the

mountain region will receive two school meals for 180 days per year. WFP will reduce its assistance to 65,000 school children in 2009 and to 50,000 students in 2010 by reducing the number of schools under the WFP-assisted programme.

26. WFP will assist the Government to prepare its school feeding budget to facilitate the gradual

hand-over of WFP school feeding to the Government by the end of 2010. Details on the implementation strategy will be included in the Development Project Action Plan (DPAP) with details on the implementation being reflected in the annual workplan. The tables in Annexes 1A and 1B show the number of beneficiaries and food requirements by year and also demonstrate diminishing beneficiary numbers and project coverage.

PART IV – MANAGEMENT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

27. WFP will purchase commodities in the region (southern Africa) and transport them to extended delivery points (EDPs). WFP will purchase those commodities that are not available in the region on the world market and ship the food through the port of Durban for subsequent transport directly to the EDPs. If and when required, WFP will provide fuel-efficient stoves to the schools to facilitate the preparation of the school meals, and tools to support the establishment of school gardens. Furthermore, HIV-awareness messages as well as nutrition and health education materials, will be printed and distributed through the partners who will train students, teachers and parents on these issues.

28. The Schools’ Self Reliance and Feeding Unit (SSRFU) of the MoET and FMU have already

provided training in food use, management and storage to teachers and school advisory committees under the on-going project and will continue doing so under the new project. The training for cooks will focus on food preparation and nutrition as well as on basic hygiene.

29. Activities in support of school meals such as school gardening and diet diversification will be

carried out in collaboration with United Nations agencies, NGOs and line ministries. The

7

project will attempt to synergize with the activities of other United Nations agencies: for example, WFP will work closely with UNICEF in the areas of health and sanitation programmes and HIV prevention education. WFP will also work with NGOs and education stakeholders to assist primary schoolchildren with an essential package of complementary interventions in school feeding. WFP will continue to work with the Ministry of Forestry and GTZ/Programme for Biomass and Energy Conservation in Southern Africa (ProBEC) in establishing school woodlots and providing fuel-efficient stoves, as and when required.

30. As per the recommendation of the MTR of the current school feeding project and as a

measure to develop the Government’s capacity, monitoring will be carried out jointly with the MoET, FMU and WFP. Monitoring and reporting on attendance, food stocks and distribution will be done through monthly reporting forms from schools, monitoring checklists and ARGOS terminals.10 Monthly school reports will be made in three copies: one to be kept at the school, one to be forwarded to the MoET and one to be sent to WFP. MoET will analyze these reports and provide feed-back to the schools. MoET will also be actively involved in the monitoring.

31. The ARGOS terminals will be used to complement the current monitoring mechanisms in the

country. Currently there are 153 devices in the country. The ARGOS device enables the MoET and the WFP country office to access timely information on key education indicators and food support to children enrolled in schools. The important data being captured by the device include: school enrolment by grade and gender; number of teachers by gender; data on absentees by teachers and pupils; number of school days; quantity of food received and distributed per commodity per month. Analysis of this data shows the percentage of monthly attendance versus total enrolment and quantity of food received and distributed. These terminals will be handed-over to the Government by the end of the new project to enable the Government to continue the systematic monitoring of its food assistance to primary schools.

32. The WFP country office has developed a database to capture all information from the

monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system in place. The management and maintenance of this database will be gradually handed-over to the MoET.

33. Training at the central district and school level will be organized to enhance the

Government’s planning and implementation capacity. Special attention will be paid to enhancing the M&E capacities.

10 The ARGOS (Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite) monitoring system is relatively new tool which allows teachers and school officials in remote areas to transmit minimum but critical monitoring data (enrolment, attendance, commodity levels and ration size) via satellite. The ARGOS satellite receives data and transmits it to the ARGOS Processing Centre in Toulouse, France. When the information reaches the Processing Centre, it is decoded and posted on this website for participating countries and authorized WFP staff.

8

Approval 34. The Senior Deputy Executive Director approves, under the Executive Director’s delegated authority,

the proposed development project Lesotho 10582.0 “Support Access to Primary Education” subject to the availability of resources.

...................................................... Jean-Jacques Graisse Senior Deputy Executive Director

Date: ………………………………

9

ANNEX I

WFP PROJECT COST BREAKDOWN

Quantity (mt)

Average cost (US$)

per mt

Value (US $)

COSTS

A. Direct operational costs

Cereals 5265 349.50 1,840,118

Vegetable Oil 351 1004 352,404

Pulses & Vegetables 1053 503 529,659

Total commodities 6,669 2,722,181

External transport 173,772

Landside transport

ITSH

Total LTSH 777,854

Other direct operational costs 245,000

Total direct operational costs 3,918,807

B. Direct support costs (see table below for details) 450,000

C. Indirect support costs (7 percent of total direct costs) 305,816

TOTAL WFP COSTS 4,674,623

10

Annex 1A: Beneficiary coverage and food allocation

Number of beneficiaries Food requirements (mt)Year

Male Female Total

% of femalebeneficiaries

Maizemeal

Pulses Vegetableoil

TOTAL

2008 39,200 40,800 80,000 51% 2,160 432 144 2,7362009 31,850 33,150 65,000 51% 1,755 351 117 2,2232010 24,500 25,500 50,000 51% 1,350 270 90 1,710

TOTAL 5,265 1,053 351 6,669

Annex 1B: Commodity type and ration size

Type of foodcommodities

Individualration size

(g/person/day)

Kcal Protein(g)

Fat(g)

Maize meal 150 540 13.5 5.3

Pulses 30 100 6.6 0.4

VegetableOil

10 89 0 10

Total 190 729 20.1 15.7

11

Annex II: Results Matrix Summary

Results-Chain (Logic Model) Performance Indicators Risks, AssumptionsUNDAF OUTCOME (S)Increased enrolment and completion of Early Childhood

Care for Development (ECCD) and primary school-goingchildren, including those with special learning needs

UNDAF Outcome IndicatorsNet enrolment rate (NER) in basiceducation increased from 85 % to95%.

Sustained adequate funding availableto address the health education andsocial welfare proprieties.

WFP Development Project Outcomes:

1. Increased enrolment of boys and girls in WFP-assistedprimary schools (Strategic Objective 4).

2. Improved attendance of boys and girls in WFP assistedprimary schools (Strategic Objective 4).

3. WFP-assisted schools handed-over to the schoolfeeding programme of the Government.

WFP Development ProjectOutcome indicators1.1 Absolute enrolment: Number of

girls and boys by grade enrolledin WFP-assisted primary schools.

1.2 Net enrolment rate: Percentage ofschool-aged boys and girlsenrolled in WFP assisted primaryschools.

1.3 Drop-out rate: Percentage ofchildren completed a year bygrade, against absoluteenrolment, in WFP assistedprimary schools.

2.1 Attendance rate: Percentage ofboys and girls attending schoolthroughout the year (school days) inWFP assisted primary schools.

3.1 Number of WFP-assisted schoolshanded over to the Governmentschool feeding programme.

• Adequate materials andteachers available foreducation.

• There are no major externalfactors causing drop-out ratesto increase.

• Ability of government togradually take over schoolsunder WFP food assistance togovernment school feedingprogramme.

12

WFP Development Project Outcomes:

1. Timely provision of food in sufficient quantity fortargeted primary school children to improve access toeducation.

2. Environmental protection activities and dietdiversification programmes established in support ofschool meal programme.

3. HIV awareness and prevention education conducted inWFP-assisted schools.

4. Finalization of and timely implementation of the hand-over plan of the WFP-assisted schools to theGovernment’s school feeding programme.

WFP Development ProjectOutput indicators1.1 Number of school children

receiving WFP food assistance asa percentage of plannedbeneficiaries by grade and sex.

1.2 Actual tonnage of fooddistributed as a percentage ofplanned distributions, bycommodity.

2.1 Number of schools withenvironmental protection and dietdiversification activities.2.2 Type of environmental protectionand diet diversification activities.

3.1 Percentage of school childrenreceiving nutrition education, andHIV-awareness training.

4.1 A detailed hand-over plan.4.2 Number of schools taken over bythe Government school feedingprogramme per year.

Resources are provided on time andno pipeline breaks.

Resources are available to implementcomplementary activities.

Education sectorpartners/stakeholderssupport/collaborate in theimplementation of complementaryactivities.

13

Annex III: Map

14

Annex IV: List of Acronyms CHS Community and Household Surveillance

DHS Demographic and Health Survey

EDP extended delivery point

FMU food management unit

FPE Free Primary Education

GER gross enrolment rate

GTZ German Agency for Technical Cooperation

MoET Ministry of Education and Training

NER net enrolment rate

OVC orphans and other vulnerable children

ProBEC Programme for Biomass and Energy Conservation in Southern Africa

PRS Poverty Reduction Strategy

SSRFU Schools Self Reliance and Feeding Unit

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

WHO World Health Organisation