PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON

MONITORING AND VERIFICATION OF PROJECTS (CASP,

ILIMA-LETSIMA, LAND CARE & MAFISA) BY DAFF IN THE

PROVINCES

07 JUNE 2018

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

What is project monitoring and verification?

Projects visit requirements

Process for selecting projects for field monitoring and verification

Projects registered

General Challenges

General Recommendations

Staffing

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WHAT IS PROJECT MONITORING AND VERIFICATION?

Project verification is an activity of conducting project site visits to verify if the

project progress reported on is actually as is on the ground;

During the verification process, projects are assessed to verify if they have

delivered the expected results, including how well they have performed against

their performance measures.

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WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROJECT MONITORING AND VERIFICATION?

M & E and Programme Development Support (D: PDS) Units within the branch Policy

Development and Planning (PPME) are the custodians of monitoring and verification of

projects;

PDS however does not conduct project verification alone. Project verification teams

have been formed to include lead Directorates in the field where projects are

implemented;

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WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROJECT MONITORING AND VERIFICATION?

CONT.

These teams include but not limited to the following Directorates:-

Small Holder Development;

Subsistence Farming;

Animal Production;

Plant Production;

Organisational Performance;

Strategic Planning;

Sectoral Colleges and;

Sector Education and Training.

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REQUIRED DOCUMENTS DURING THE PROJECT VISITS

The following documents are key to a successful project verification process:-

Business Plan, (for each project before verification visit takes place to see

what has been planned and budgeted for);

Project Progress Report, (monthly or quarterly M&E reports);

Expenditure Report, (monthly or quarterly report);

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WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS DURING PROJECT MONITORING AND

VERIFICATION?

Project verification is conducted once a quarter on a carefully selected sample

of projects that are registered with D: PDS.

The team takes with it the project progress report template and do face to face

interview with the beneficiaries;

What was reported on is verified against what is on the ground e.g

Infrastructure, mechanization or production etc.;

The team verifies if the set business plan targets were achieved, to establish

value for money;

The project business plans and financial reports are examined to verify if the

spending correlates with the work being done;

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PROCESS FOR SELECTING PROJECTS FOR MONITORING AND

VERIFICATION

Project verification is conducted once a quarter on a carefully selected sample

of projects that are registered in the database with D: PDS;

In selected projects to be verified stratified sampling is used, and this can be

defined as the process of dividing members of the population into

homogeneous subgroups before sampling i.e. commodities and amount

invested on a project;

Multi-year projects and those with huge investments amounts are preferred

when sampling;

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PROCESS FOR SELECTING PROJECTS FOR FIELD MONITORING AND

VERIFICATION CONT…

Stratified sampling

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PROCESSES LEADING TO FINAL REPORTS WITH RECOMMENDATIONS

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Sample Projects and Develop verification

schedule

Engage relevant directorates e.g. CASP, SHD, PP

Draft & send a request letter to the PDA HOD's

Project Visit Draft Back to Office Report

Draft Report sent to PDAs for comments

Final Report with Recommendations tabled at EXCO for

approval

REGISTERED CASP PROJECTS IN THE DATABASE

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Province 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18

Eastern Cape 27 59 48 39

Free State 28 23 30 53

Gauteng 24 57 89 37

Kwa-Zulu Natal 67 39 40 72

Lipompo 82 48 45 31

Mpumalanga 107 60 39 63

Northern Cape 19 27 25 20

North West 45 60 80 73

Western Cape 31 0 44 48

TOTAL 430 373 440 436

REGISTERED ILIMA/LETSEMA

ilima/Letsema 2015/16 to 2017/18

Province 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18

Eastern Cape 1411 1840 946

Free State 23 43 55

Gauteng 104 127 163

Kwa-Zulu Natal 39 72 14

Lipompo 60 92 122

Mpumalanga 326 1202 2683

Northern Cape 17 14 15

North West 42 76 45

Western Cape 0 49 49

TOTAL 2022 3515 4092

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REGISTERED AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES

There are about 10 agricultural colleges and they are spread across 6

provinces;

They get CASP allocation every year for their infrastructure needs;

They are visited quarterly to ascertain if they implement the approved plans;

D:PDS also assist colleges during planning stages;

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COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE PER PROVINCE

Province Number of projects Percentage (%)

EC 2 20.00

FS 1 10.00

GP 0 0.00

KZN 2 20.00

LP 2 20.00

MP 0 0.00

NC 0 0.00

NW 2 20.00

WC 1 10.00

TOTAL 10 100

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REGISTERED MAFISA PROJECTS

2015 to Date MAFISA PROJECTS PER PROVINCE

Province Number of projects

EC 45

FS 21

GP 20

KZN 139

LP 21

MP 226

NC 71

NW 77

WC 0

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TOTAL NUMBER OF PROJECTS MONITORED AND VERIFIED SINCE 2014

TO END MARCH 2017

A total of 599 projects were visited for the purpose of conducting verification since 2014

to date;

This total number of projects verified is broken down as follows:-

2014/15, a total of 6 FAO projects located in Mpumalanga and Kwa-Zulu Natal

provinces;

During 2015/16 financial year, a total of 232 (CASP)were visited;

During the 2016/17 financial year, a total of 361 (CASP) projects were visited for

verification purposes.

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GENERAL CHALLENGES ON CASP

Delays in Supply Chain Management processes;

Poor workmanship by Strategic Partners i.e. incompetent contractors;

Inadequate technical support e.g. Engineering Services;

Incompetent Implementing Agents, who sub-contract other service providers;

Poor planning of the projects e.g. Poultry farmer buying chicks without feed;

Request for changing project scope often delayed or not sent to DAFF;

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RECOMMENDATIONS MADE TO THE PDAs

All PDAs should have detailed project plans per project to ensure that all

activities planned have a time frame attached to them.

Discouraged the use of Implementing Agents

PDAs are encouraged to conduct proper feasibility studies before projects are

approved and implemented, especially infrastructure projects;

Involvement of DAFF in project planning at PDA level;

Concentrated investment is extremely important in stimulating growth &

creating jobs;

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RECOMMENDATIONS MADE TO THE PDAs CONT…

PDAs are encouraged to invest more on training of beneficiaries, especially the

business side of farming to enable farmers to turn their farms to profit making

businesses.

The intermediaries should provide the project plans and expenditure reports for the

effective and efficient verification process.

PDAs should find ways to deal with the SCM challenge in their respective Provinces.

PDAs should ensure that beneficiaries are kept informed on the progress made against

planned activities in their farms.

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GENERAL CHALLENGES ON MAFISA

PDAs and intermediaries are not working together;

There is no link between MAFISA loan funding and CASP grant funding;

During the visit no project plans were provided for the projects which made the

verification process difficult;

In some Provinces the intermediaries were not around during verification;

Beneficiaries were not exposed to adequate training after receiving the loan;

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STAFFING AT PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT (PDS)

Director

2 Deputy Directors

3 Assistant Directors

Administration Clerk

Personal Assistant

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ENKOSI