akoyoko astrid - internship final report

7/25/2019 Akoyoko Astrid - Internship Final Report

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Report of the internship done at the headquarters of the

international NGO AQUADEV in the projectBiomasse

Energie Sngal BIOES.

by

Astrid Akoyoko master student in Sustainable Development UppsalaUniversity , Uppsala,

Sweden.

Done as part of the course Sustainable Development internship 30hp

July 2011-february 2012

Brussels,Belgium.


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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3

1. Project context ....................................................................................................................... 5

1.1. Prsentation of NGO AQUADEV and Senegal. ................................................................ 5

1.2 AQUADEV partners ........................................................................................................... 6

2. BIOES project .......................................................................................................................... 9

2.1 Wood Planted ................................................................................................................. 12

2.2Reference Area. ............................................................................................................... 12

2.2 logical framework. .......................................................................................................... 13

3.My internship ........................................................................................................................ 14

3.1. Reviewing of previous BIOES documentation. .............................................................. 14

3.2. Restructuring the project .............................................................................................. 15

3.2.1 AQUADEV values ..................................................................................................... 15

3.2.2 Sustainable development dynamics within BIOES .................................................. 15

3.3. Searching and documenting myself on carbon forestry project by agencies for

environmental projects. ....................................................................................................... 16

3.4. Establishing official documents describing and presenting BIOES project. .................. 16

3.5. Searching for potential partners, find funding from institutions and organizing

meetings. .............................................................................................................................. 17

3.5.1 In Senegal ................................................................................................................ 17

3.5.2 In Europe and internationally.................................................................................. 17

3.5.3 Private sector partners ............................................................................................ 17

3.6 Update informations and dvelopment of a new strategy. ........................................... 17

3.6.1 Initial Project structure............................................................................................ 18

3.6.2 Project structure after key-meetings ...................................................................... 19

4. What strategy to move forward. .......................................................................................... 21

5.Risk analysis of strategie 3 ................................................................................................... 22

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 24


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Introduction

As part of my master's program in Sustainable Development, I did an internship of 32 weeks

in the international NGO AQUADEV. This internship has related but distinct objectives:

Academic objective: allow me to apply the knowledge gained through my program in

sustainable development;

Professional objective: to allow me to acquire a working knowledge of a Non Governmental

Organization daily lifePersonal objective: to gain international and multicultural experience.

My training took place as part of a project which in the long term will be implemented in

Senegal and specifically in the region of Casamance. This is a partnership between AQUADEV

and BES a commercial enterprise based in Casamance, this partnership aims for the

production of wood energy and its commercialization by local people. In the long term the

project will enable people to achieve financial self-sufficiency, create employment in the

Casamance community and eliminate their habit of harvesting timber in the disappearing

forests that surround their villages. My tasks were to:

Review previous BIOES documentation:

Document herself on ongoing carbon forestry projects in Africa and certification

procedure for Clean Development Mechanisms.

Identify agencies operating on environmental projects and identifying potential

partners for the carbon forestry part of the project.


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Analyse BIOES documentation, draft the project to include the necessary objectives

of its community-based development and restructure the project to include

Sustainable Development dynamics: Environmental + Economic + Social.

Project drafting and donors research:

Update the NGO donors database and create a new update with previously un-

identified institutional donors as well as potential private donors.

Project design, project proposal and funding proposal drafting.

Project logical Framework drafting.

Identify relevant project calls and submit project proposals

Identify key potential partners in Senegal and Belgium and organizing meetings.

Project Marketing:

Project marketing strategy development directed to European institutions,

international and private institutions.

Contribute in cooperation with the marketing manager to the development of the

marketing strategy of the project.

Identify in cooperation with the marketing manager of private institutions wanting to

invest in Cooperate Social Responsibility projects.

Team member in the development of a short animated movie for marketing purpose

directed to prospective donors.

Translation work (French-to-English and English-to-French) of the project documents


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1. Project context

1.1. Prsentation of NGO AQUADEV and Senegal.

Prsentation of AQUADEV

AQUADEV is an international NGO, active since 1987. It currently has offices in Brussels

(Belgium), Dakar (Senegal), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Niamey (Niger) and Kigali

(Rwanda). Until 2011 the Dakar office had a

status of regional representation, AQUADEV

had concluded with the Senegalese state an

agreement which gave the Senegalese office

an headquarters status in this country.

Recognized for its expertise in the field areas

of microfinance, food security, environment

and sustainable development, its activities

have for objective the structural reduction

of poverty on the African continent. Many

African peoples have their life marked by

daily insecurity and in order to stop this

occurrence the NGO works to stimulate

endogenous development guided by critical

reason. Therefore, AQUADEV always

collaborates with local stakeholders in

sectors identified as crucial drivers of

development: microfinance, integrated

development towards food security and

sustainable development.

In 2007 she celebrated 20 years of existence. This powerful experience of development

cooperation helped build a deep understanding in the field and develop an approach

tailored to this reality. The challenges of increasingly complex development, AQUADEV

works with professionalism and rationality to be a development specialist with a constant

concern of the impact of its actions. Currently, the NGO is implementing many projects in

various fields, for the benefit of rural populations. Through strict financial and accounting

Some of AQUADEV projects :

i) Programme de Renforcement de

la Nutrition au Sngal, financed by

the World Bank;

ii) Nouvelle Nutrition Niger (NNN),

financed by UE ; budget of

2.400.000 ;

ii) La caravane du bien-tre familial

au Niger financed by the UE; budget

of 1.349.871,44 ;

iv) PROMIA, Programme de

Renforcement des Organisations de

Microfinance Africaines financed by

DGCD ; budget of 2.623.460,80 ;

v) AFRAC, Appui au Financement

Rural en Afrique Centrale (Rwanda)

financed by FBS ; budget of

2.566.633 ; etc.


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procedures, AQUADEV is an NGO

based in Belgium, including the

consolidated financial statements

are certified "unqualified" by an

independent auditor.

Casamance.

Casamance is a region in southern

Senegal it is separated from the

rest of Senegal by The Gambia. In

Casamance agricultural and

pastoral activities are the traditional sources of income of peasants; this part of Senegal is

the wettest region of the country formerly known as the granary of Senegal. The area near

Ziguinchor accumulates on average up to 1200 mm of rainfall annually. Agricultural activities

are mainly the cultivation of food crops (millet, rice, sorghum, maize, ...) and those of cash

crops (cotton, peanut, etc.).

Regarding livestock in rural areas, it is mainly the management of herds of animals forgrazing. Other income activities as well as subsistence activities include fishing, tourism

related jobs and growing fruit trees and vegetable. The Casamance population is composed

of several ethnic groups; the most important number is the Diola community (60.9% of the

population), then the Mandingo community (9.3%), the Pulaar (8.8%), Wolof (4.8%) and

other groups each representing less than 4%. In terms of gender, 49.4% of the population is

male, the remaining 50.6% being women. With regard to religious denominations, the

majority of the population are Christians, Muslims and animists are also present. The

peasants are and remain authorized to use of lands under the supervision of the State.

1.2 AQUADEV partners

Bois Energie Sngal (BES) Wood Energy Senegal; and Production Electricit

Casamance (PEC) Electricity Production Casamance.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Senegal_carte.png


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BES has been doing business in the area of Ziguinchor for 4 years now and is currently

working in partnership with the people of the region, in order to technically and financially

support the implementation of forestry good practices to produce wood energy. BES officials

call their investment "green business": a profitable activity that supports rural populations in

the improvement and diversification of their sources of income. Since 2007, BES technically

and financially supports planting activities via a pre-financing. In 2008, the investment made

by was about 959,300.

In BIOES, BES is a private actor that will act, upstream, as a provider of the

main services services. Thus, it provides inputs to forest nurseries and

small forestry equipment. It provides technical interventions (cutting and

transporting wood) by machines and equipment at the request of

paysants.

PEC is a private partner, who plans to set up a power plant (3 MW) using some of the wood

produced. It is therefore the downstream of the project BIOES and aims to produce and sell

electricity to the Socit Nationale dElectricit du Snegal (SENELEC) National Electricity

Company of Senegal which has adequate rural distribution networks. Senelec intends to use

private companies to achieve additional units of electricity, in order to solve the problems of

rural electrification in the whole Snegal, therefore future synergies and contacts have been

established in this direction.

Alliance pour LEpargne et le Credit (ACEP) Alliance of Credit and Savings for

Production.

ACEP is a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dakar. Thanks to the confidence it has on

AQUADEV it has expressed its interest in financing up to CFA 324,916,800 million ( 495,300)

of the microcredit needed by the foresters. ACEP will grant microcredit to paysant

individually or in group every time the need will be felt.

Other Partners


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Funds will also be sought from donors for the establishment and maintenance of firewalls to

prevent bushfires. As for costs associated with training and mentoring, funding requests will

be introduced to some donors (EC, AFD, etc..) active in Senegal and private investors.

Local representation of public authorities.

It concerns mainly local representation of technical services of water and forests, prefects of

departments, sub-prefects of the districts and presidents of rural councils (local authorities)

of the areas concerned. They participate in the project by giving their support to peasant by

facilitating administrative procedure and land law procedure. The Senegalese government is

then be involved at the local level, allowing peasant to benefit from the experience of water

services and forestry in this area. The technical and managerial skills of local authorities will

also be strengthened by the project, to enable them to play their role effectively.

Local people

Under BIOES a distinction between target groups and final beneficiaries is irrelevant; indeed,

the target group, the final beneficiaries and the partners are the peasant and their

households. Approximately 16,000 people will directly benefit the project, assuming an

average of four people and an area of 3 hectares per household. They are owners or

beneficial owners of their lands, in accordance with administrative and traditional

authorities. The recommended model is an agricultural familial one, they can work

individually or in group, but since they generally lack real capacity to self-organize to defend

their own interests, AQUADEV is responsible for their training for this purpose. The peasant

association model built in 2008 by BES will be transformed to Groupe dintert Economique

(GIE) Economic Interest Group at the request of the peasants themselves. Three GIEs will be

established for this purpose.


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2. BIOES project

Le projet, Biomasse Energie Sngal (BIOES) was conceived and developed in 2010 after a

meeting between the Director General of AQUADEV Eric Driesen and Laurent Minguet CEO

of BES. This is a partnership with BES sarl which is already established in Casamance and

have agro forestry activities since 2007.

Senegal has set ambitious goals so as to provide energy at the lowest cost to its people and

economic operators, the rate of household access to electrical energy by 2015 has been set

to 66% (30% rural). To help achieve this goal, AQUADEV in partnership with local farmers

and foresters in collaboration with companies BES and PEC, is implementing the project

BIOES in Casamance. This is to provide technical and financial support to peasant in order for

them to produce wood with professionalism and complete independence from external

actors, to affordably meet their energy needs. Overall, the area to be reforested by 2014 by

peasant represents an area of 12,000 hectares spread over a range of sites identified for this

purpose. Currently, the authorization to produce firewood and the protection of this

production is guaranteed by a contract which involves four parties: farmers owners of the

land, rural municipalities that is the public authority empowered to grant allocation of land,

the deputy prefect representing the state and the potential purchaser of firewood.

Firewood plantation objectives by

hectares (Ha, land unit of

measurement, 1Ha=100m2).

Translation:

Ha plants=panted Ha;

Ha accumuls=accumulated Ha


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Identified sites are villages located around small towns of Bignona, Sedhiou, and Zinguishor

Identified sites : (Rf : Google Earth)


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Others identified sites are distributed around several locations: Kerakounda, Dialaba, Sar

Sambel, Fulbe Touba, Touba Soc, Baghagha, and Adeane Niadme.

The first phase (> 1000 ha)

Launched in 2007 by BES, 1,000

hectares was afforested by

2009 and the timber

harvesting has already taken

place. After this first phase, it

appears that the appropriate

support producers encourage the development of good forestry practices and associated

risk control.

Second phase (20,000 ha)

This phase begins with the collaboration of AQUADEV and the creation of BIOES. It aims to

create conditions for sustainable production of wood energy in Casamance, in partnership

with the local population. This activity not only allows producers to diversify their sources of

income but also increase their purchasing power through the sale of timber. Then, it will

help to increase rural electricity supply based on biomass. The period of implementation of

the project is spread over 48 months.


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2.1 Wood Planted

The trees selected for planting meet several characteristics. These are species

with rapid growth and good calorific value, after a cut at 30 cm from the soil, trees must be

able to growth back. They are preferably symbiotic fixers of atmospheric nitrogen, enriching

the soil naturally without require fertilization, called "legumes."

The species planted are mainly Acacia auriculiformis, the leucocephala Leucenae

Eucalyptus camaldulensis (non-legume). Other local species can also be

selected and planted by the company but to a lesser extent. In general, trees are

planted on each plot in the following proportions: 80% eucalyptus and 20% acacia.

Seedling nursery

2.2Reference Area.

1ha= 10 000 m2= area of a square of 100 m.

1km=10ha

1km2=100ha =1 000 000 m

2

Reference area

1 ha 100ha

Seedlingnursery(on a

surface of 0.5ha)

1

Number of plants / ha 2.000 200.000

Wood production costs /

ha

30 tons per

year

3.000 tons per year

Production of dry matter/ ha

20 tons peryear

1.500 tons per year

100m

100m


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2.2 logical framework.

The logical framework is a document is a management tool mainly used in the design,

monitoring and evaluation ofinternational development projects. It is also widely known as

Goal Oriented Project Planning (GOPP) or Objectives Oriented Project Planning (OOPP). It is a

tool that is use in AQUADEV to analyse and correctly estimated the impact of planned

activities. It is nowadays required by most of the international donnals as a project

proposal.The following is the logical framework of BIOES.

Final Objective

Specific Objectives

Forestry is more profitable and environmentally-friendly

Results

The GIE are made

operational

A mechanism for

sustainable forestrycertification is available

Access to microcredit

for investment isnegotiated

Peasant training

and technicalsupervision are

reinforced

The living conditions of farmers have sustainable improved.

Activities

Help the peasant establish their Establish a business plan (investment, operating expenses, profit, etc.).

Support the development of three GIE (Groupement dInteret Ecconomic), Association of Economic

interest;

Supporting producers through technical training in forestry

Support peasant in the control and ownership of seedling nursery;

Define a proper support plan to improve natural resources management and financial management of

GIE partners;

Prefinancing part of operating expenses by the buyer;

Access by individuals or groups to ACEP microcredit ;

Establish a certification mechanism to state that all timber production steps and forest management

are met by peasant;

Negotiate with GIE possible areas of plantation;

Negotiate the role of government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_development


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3.My internship

During my internship I was responsible for specific tasks that contributed to my continuous

impregnation of contextual information about the project and they allowed me to develop

the project strategy. Some of these tasks were decided together with my supervisor, and the

rest were found as a necessity as my internship progressed.

3.1. Reviewing of previous BIOES documentation.

The project was conceived in 2010 ,at the beginning 3 persons were working there but

dropped the project in mid-2010's due to the inability of the NGO to secure funding from

donors and the fact that they contract were terminated within the NGO. The documentation

was numerous and extensive knowledge of it was needed. It consisted of:

-The pre-project note.Which is a document prepared as to give an overview of the project

and is generally asked by donors at the announcement of project call. Donors read the note

and the project is selected or not for the next step which is usually about sending the project

note which describes in detail what the project will consist of with more technical details.

-The project notethat details how the project will be done. It consists at the introduction of

a description of what biomass is in Africa and the work of AQUADEV; a detailed description

of the project and the expected impact to the people; the presentation of the project

intervention areas; potential funding for the project and its ability to be duplicated

elsewhere.

-The mission report dated 2010.Ce report was prepared after a field visit in April 2010.Il was

a good source of information. The purpose of the mission was to visit the plantation sites,

evaluate the partnership structure, meet potential partners and evaluate what has been

done before.

-The business plan of BES and PEC. Highly technical in describing his intgralits and in great

detail the projects financial structure BIOES in terms of entities and PEC BES, this document

also contains information about a production volume of wood per hectare per site costs

production per hectare and per ton of wood. Information about the Expected energy output

per ton of wood.

-A document describing Senegalese Land Law.A great source of information for

understanding the land dimension of the project.

-Newspaper articlesdescribing the timber market. These articles describe the opportunities,


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risks and estimates concerning future in the timber industry in the world.

-Emailsexchanged between members of the first team. They were an important source of

information to track the exchange of information and to obtain some information that I

would not have been given not fast enough.

-Agency responseswhen contacted. Those documents were sent in response to requests for

funding.

-Internet. Used while reading the various documents to cross-checked informations.

3.2. Restructuring the project

3.2.1 AQUADEV values

AQUADEV firmly believes that the peasant in need is himself the actor of his development. In

the model of development aid recommended by AQUADEV, the farmer is a participatory

actor inserted at every stage of the project so that by the end of the project we obtain a

sustainable community that had acquired techniques of his own development.

Capacity development is clearly

highlighted and is integrated in all activities and steps. AQUADEV stands against the current

policy of non-development capability, the goal should not be to create addiction to aid but

rather to encourage and promote long-term capacity independence.

3.2.2 Sustainable development dynamics within BIOES

To ensure the sustainability of this project and the importance of its social impact on the

lives of farmers and their economic and environmental aspects of the project, ensuring that

the principles of sustainable development are taken into consideration was normal. Put the

project at the junction of BIOES dimensions social, economic and environmental dimension.


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3.3. Searching and documenting myself on carbon forestry project by

agencies for environmental projects.

It was the most passionate part of the internship when came to make research on specific

issues. It was about browsing the internet about everything concerning credit carbon. I

researched on projects in Africa with the similar specification as BIOES. When it comes to

climate change issues one of the mechanisms developed by the United Nation Framework

on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concerned how to avoid developing countries to produce

carbon emissions while retaining their chances to achieve economic development. the

UNFCCC developed the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) where developed countries

or companies from developed countries will invest on carbon reduction project in

developing countries in exchange of the carbon credit which they will then use as permit

to pollute. One carbon credit represents 1 ton of carbon, for every 1 ton of carbon absorbed

from the atmosphere 1 credit carbon will be emitted. Companies or countries could then

either buy those credit or exchange them, 1 carbon credit allow the county or the company

to emit 1 ton of carbon to the atmosphere. I had to find project similar to BIOES and collect

information about how they proceed, what measure they used, what type of project were

eligible for CDM, what was the criteria to be eligible, how much one credit worth and what

international organization to contact to get registration and what was the overall procedure.

I made research on Africa, Latin America and Asia.

3.4. Establishing official documents describing and presenting BIOES

project.

This task was necessary since all the documents were full of details but lack a clear

explanation about the project itself. I had to read all the documentations a dozen of times to

grasp the whole picture of the project, nothing was clearly stated about AQUADEV role or

amount of involvement, everything was written from the BES and PEC perspective but it was

difficult to grasp the development side of the project. When I read the documentation

send back to AQUADEV by potential donors, they express the exact lack of clarity I noticed

when reading the documentation made available to me.

One template was needed to have a clear picture of the project and from that template or

project description baseline different project notes would then be establish so as to

accommodate different donors or institutions.


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3.5. Searching for potential partners, find funding from institutions and

organizing meetings.

3.5.1 In Senegal. In order to identify potential partner in Senegal I did a thorough study of available

documents as well as I looked for information on the internet. On that, the 2010 mission

report was really helpful I use it to re-connect when possible, with people that have been

contacted during that mission. I also looked for international donors that were already in

operation in Senegal and those which area of donation include Senegal. I looked on the

internet for NGOs operating in Casamance, women NGOs , Youth NGOs and any local

organisation. Calls were made and meeting were organized in AQUADEV HQ

3.5.2 In Europe and internationally

I used internet to search for donors and organisations that might have donation programs

that cover Senegal. I enlist to several internet databases which make daily update about

available fund and others opportunities. I kept myself informed about every major fund

announcements from the main traditional donors. I used the lists of donors provide to me by

AQUADEV and I used the internet to go to each of them to update information about those

donors.

3.5.3 Private sector partners.

This particular part was done in partnership with the Marketing and Fundraising Manager.

We have to identify private companies that would be interested in investing in the project as

part of their Cooperate Social Responsibility strategy in the long term. For that a mailing list

was established as well as a mailing prospectus, a document describing the project was to be

designed which will be mailed to various organisations as well as private companies, a short

animated movie will be made to describe the project and to be put on the webpage and to

be presented to private companies and finally an event will be organized to officially launch

the project.

3.6 Update informations and dvelopment of a new strategy.

In order to update all project information I had to be in touch with the PDG of BES and PEC

to have updated information about actual production estimate and what was the actual


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project stage in Senegal. Internet was used to update other information as well, such as the

current CDM procedure, CDM project requirement, and others technical information.

Updated informations were needed in order to re-think the initial strategy, since from the

start no strategy was clearly established, in order for the project to move forward and to be

a success. The new strategy was to be developed in collaboration with the Marketing and

Fundraising manager and the Project manager, and to a certain extent with other partners.

3.6.1 Initial Project structure

BES-Local villagers

Land law context in Senegal wants that the land is state owned but farmers are considered

usufructers of the land if they use them as part of agricultural activity. More than the peasants it is

mainly the village which is considered usufructer of the land. But many leave the land un-used

because of the peculiarity of Casamance soil , in fact soils quickly lose their fertility after a few years

of use and do not recover it. Those unused land go back to the property of the state. BES after

establishing contact with the authorities of a village and identifying the areas that can be used, sign a

contract for land use with the villagers. The contract is a mutual commitment for the sale of the

wood produced by peasants to BES for a guaranteed price over a period of 6 years.

BES pays an advance to the peasants and provides equipment and eucalyptus seeds. The seeds are

planted in seedling nurseries that are maintained by peasants, when the growth is large enough, they

are planted by peasants in the sites, and the plants are maintained and protected for 4 years, after 4

years trees are cut down by farmers and sold to BES has a predetermined price. Plants will be used

in the long-term by PEC to produce electricity.

BES, a private

company producing

Villages with unused

agricultural land.

BES sign

agreements with

villages high

authorities upon

which BES pays

villagers and

provide them withagricultural


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AQUADEV-BES

AQUADEV and BES have in common the socio-economic well-being of Casamance populations; under

BIOES, the relationship between NGOs and the company is similar to a business-to-Business.

AQUADEV contributes 1 million 500 thousand euro of the total project budget, on top of that

AQUADEV brings its expertise in the field of rural development, to cover certain socio-economic

aspects of the project.

AQUADEV-Villagers

Socio-economic aspects covered by AQUADEV define its relationship with the villagers in the project.

To exercise its set of specifications in the project, AQUADEV share of BIOES budget is made of 100%

funds by donors. In fact the role of AQUQDEV concerns:

i) Assist farm families in daily land management (procedure for allocation of land).

ii) Social support for the establishment of GIE.

iii) Providing financial assistance.

3.6.2 Project structure after key-meetings

From meetings organized with actual and potentials partner in Sngal a certain number of

issues were raised that had affected the project.

Issues with the local population

Production after the initial 4 years was not as expected. The first phase was supposed to

produce 1,000 ha of firewood by 2009 but effectively ended this year with 400 ha instead. It

was discussed at the meeting that the planting follow-up that was supposed to be done

continuously has not been done correctly and when it was finally done, only 400 ha of the

1000ha planted produced the expected timber.

The remaining 600 ha, did not produced wood because of various reasons such as fire,

termites and abandonment.


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Reasons such as fire and termite attack are surprising given that among the materials

available to the villagers there were fire-fighting equipment and anti-termite material. But

since it was not possible to make a field visit in Casamance, we can only make hypothesis

based on interviews of some partners working and living in Casamance who have knowledge

of local practices.The access to land and village participation is only possible thanks to the

trust between BES and local authorities represented by village chiefs, but it is possible for

individuals to sign a production contract with BES. But because of the financial advantages

that represent advances given by BES and the selling price of timber, there is some

competition between villages and villagers for this contract. Fires were triggered during the

rainy season (less prone to fire) and only in wood plantations and not in adjacent fields, so

we can theorize at this level that fires are an expression of discontent of villages or of

individuals in relation to choice of BES to invest in a village over another or a person rather

than another.

In addition, Senegalese land legislation on usufructuary declares owner anyone who uses a

given field, that allows unscrupulous individuals to grab land traditionally used by one

person or even a village. This is possible because to declare usufructuary of land a person or

community must be register with the forest guard and thus obtains a legal right to use land.

We can therefore say that there is a failure on the part of BES in its way of approaching the

local authorities or even individuals at first, and a deep ignorance of local social practices

when it comes to land practices in a second. This failure has a direct effect on the production

of wood as it is the cause of the loss of nearly 60% of total production.

The social side of timber production in the project is part of what AQUADEV is in charge of in

BIOES, BES as a company is more interested in his profit and gave less importance than it


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should to local realities and social norms which has had a disastrous effect on wood

production.

Partners financial involvement

Given the investment required for the maintenance of 1000 hectares, the failure

represented by 600ha represents a huge loss for the project BIOES. Taking into account their

loss, the partner BES decided to stop investing in seedling nurseries and instead focus on the

maintenance of 400 acres they currently have on hand. This means they must prevent the

villagers from cutting trees and they need to find economically viable investment for wood

obtained from 400 ha which corresponds to 8000 ton of wood.

From the perspective of the project BIOES, AQUADEV will find a little more funding than was

expected, as BES does not want to invest more than what has already been done, whether in

nurseries or other thing especially as the operating budget planned for 4 years has been

substantially exceeded.

4. What strategy to move forward.Although the project is still ongoing, BES, the company is taking a different path, while the

biomass plant is still in draft; it cannot be implemented this year as was the plan but perhaps

in four years. There are a number of possible alternatives for the continuation of the project

but a strategy must be clearly established.

Strategy 1:The production of charcoal, wood-based product is always sustainably better

when it is not obtained from the forest surrounding the villages. The 400ha when harvested


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will produce produce 8000 ton of wood, charcoal ovens can be installed near the plantations

to produce charcoal.

Strategy 2:Export wood internationally.

Strategy 3:Maintain the project as originally thought while taking into account information

obtained from the current progress of things.

5.Risk analysis of strategie 3

Physical hazards:

Fire: the placement of firewalls sufficiently wide and well maintained can limit these risks

to a minimum.

Spread of infection: quarantine treatments adapted.

Presence of mine.

Environmental risks:

Loss of biodiversity: the plantations occupy vacant land, with little biological value. The

spacing between rows is increased relative to what is practiced in intensive farms to enable


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the development of flora and fauna at feet of the trees.

Fatigue soil: at the time of cutting timber, unharvested material (twigs, bark remains, ...)

will be left on site and serve as a natural fertilizer. The spacing between rows is increased

relative to what is practiced in intensive farms in order to limit soil loss. Moreover, between

the rows can be used to settle food crops. A nitrogen-fixing species is also used to minimize

gaps and this element (Acacia).

Decline in water table: this risk is not relevant given that the cumulative annual rainfall

reaches 1,200 mm in some areas. In addition, selected species are known for their ability to

adapt to water availability, reducing their taxes in times of water shortage.

Political risks:

Conflicts separatists in Casamance: the direct involvement of GIE in this project gives them

a bond of strong ownership and activities of the project is largely immune to the adverse

effects of this rebellion.

Disengagement and instability of state services.

Socio-economic risks:

Conflicts of interest between producers: through the establishment of GIE, a transparent

system of management in decision making is introduced.

Weakening of social balance in rural communities: the GIE are the guarantors of the public

interest in accordance with customary practices and prerogatives of local traditional leaders.

Problem of disposal of production: pre-purchase reduced the risks associated with flow

problem.

Loss of part or the entire crop: setting up a guarantee fund to secure the production by all

producers or with the support of an MFI and managed by GIE.

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Conclusion

Plus Minus

My work

What I have learned

A lot when it comes to how an

Organisation works and how an

NGO works. I didnt know that

looking for fund was the most

important part of every project. I

have learned a lot about other

aspects of the life of an NGO

through the staff who was very

helpful, I also learn a lot on

subjects concerning other

activities of the NGO.

It was quite difficult to obtain

prcised information

sometimes since my supervisor

was not always reachable.

Team work To be able to apply my

teamwork skills gained during

my studies was great. And to see

how brainstorming can really

produce ideas that can be turn

into reality was amazing.

I have discovered that in a

team I am more like a diplomat

and pacifier, somebody work

into resolving conflicts. I am

not sure I like it, especially

when the people involved have

a complete lack of

professionalism.

Work under pressure andstress

It was a great training

opportunity to assess my ability

to work under stress. I am quite

happy to discover that it does

not affect my work, and I am

very good in not paying

attention to distraction on the

work place.

To discover that 80% of the

pressure and stress is due to

your colleagues was not a

happy moment. I was in a

office with a person who was

the biggest source of stress in

the NGO due to her behaviour.

Having to deal with her, her

gossiping, her noise, her

constant talking ect...was the

most difficult part of the

internship. Ignoring her while

being polite was very very


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difficult.

Conflict resolution I had the opportunity to witness

firsthand the type of conflicts

that may happen in a workplace.

Those conflicts can be work

related or just personal related. Ihave learned a lot about minding

my business and focus on my

tasks but also about the general

atmosphere of the workplace

can affect somebodys mind.

The workplace is not the place

to relax. If you dont have a

peaceful home to return to,

having a workplace where you

handle conflict in a daily basiscan kill you.

Positive thinking I have improved alot on my

positive thinking, for me who is a

cynical and not so positive

person to begin with, it is a hugestep.

It was difficult to keep it. The

NGO was going to some tough

financial times during my

internship, and the mood wasquite depressing at times. I

liked the project a lot but the

uncertainty surrounding it was

mood-killer. Uncertainty

concerning the real willingness

of the NGO to carry it, the

actual ability to carry it and

even the uncertainty about the

future of the NGO as an entity

did affected me. It was difficult

to keep my positive thinkingProject Ethics I think the objectives of the

project are great. There is a real

willingness to implement

sustainable development

principles, the project really

embodies

social+economic+environmental

dimension.

AQUADEV is in such financial

troubles that the development

perspectives of the project

were lost for more business

issues.

Issues like the role of women in

this forestry project was under

looked which is a shame.

Adding to that there is a loss of

real purpose that can only be

explained by a certaintiredness of the repetition of

development issues within the

field of work of AQUADEV

My future in an NGO I would like to work to improve

emporished and under-

represented people life. This

internship has fostered my

interest for gender issues in

development project, I hope it

will lead to a professional life on

the subject

Working for a little pay

whether financially or

professionally has no appeal for

me. The size of an NGO clearly

matter.


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akoyoko astrid - internship final report

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