The
new Project Director (PD) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP),
Mr. Saman Bandulasena, wanted to visit the project implementation areas located
in the Northern Province (NP) on 19 & 20 December 2024. Hence, Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist Mr. Nalaka Attanayake, Climate Smart Agriculture Specialist Mr.
Frank Jayasinhghe, Water Management Specialist Mr. Nissanka and Environment and
Social Safeguard Specialist Mr. Gamini Subasinghe and IEC & ICT Specialist Mr.
Samantha Mallawaarachchi were invited to participate in the visit with the new
PD. This initial field visit to the NP by the Project Director was a
significant step in project management and implementation for evaluating the
project's location and its current conditions, identifying any constraints,
risks, or opportunities that may affect project implementation, meeting with
local stakeholders (including community members, project team members, and
partners), and building rapport and establish lines of communication. Also, one
of the objectives was to gather additional insights that may inform project
adjustments and identify any gaps or additional needs. PD discussed and refined
the project implementation plan with on-site teams while addressing the
logistical and operational issues raised in the field. Moreover, he conducted
site walkthroughs for real-time observations to understand ground realities and
he expected to enhance the project readiness by identifying potential issues
early.
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| Cultivation fields of interviewed farmers and M&E Specialist discusses with a farmer |
The Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Division of the CSIAP is conducting a post-evaluation of the Training of Trainers (ToT) conducted by the FTS, Thirappane covering all project areas. The sampling points are selected randomly using the Systematic Sampling Methodology. The statistically calculated sample size for the study was 160, out of which 26 sampling points were randomly selected according to the population (number of trainees trained from the FTS) proportion of the NP. The enumerators selected for the data collection were Agriculture Facilitators (AFs) in selected Agrarian Service Centers (ASCs). The conducting of a comprehensive training before the data collection is a compulsory and it was conducted by the M&E Specialist for North Western Province and North Central Province. Accordingly, it was also conducted for three selected AFs in Mulankavil ASC (Mr. Pratheepan), Poonagary ASC (Ms. Saranka) and Pudukudiiruppu ASC (Ms. Nidarshana). The sample distribution among the ASCs is 9 sampling points for both Mulankavil and Poonagary ASCs and 8 for Pudukudiiruppu ASC. The training was conducted during the first half of the day on 19th Dec. and went to the Poonagary ASC to commence the data collection. The team was able to interview 03 farmers in the Poongary ASC and the data were collected by the AFs under the supervision of M&E Specialist.
In the late evening, a meeting was conducted with all contractors engaged on the rehabilitation works of tanks in NP. The key objectives of the discussion were to identify bottlenecks in financial progress, discuss and implement measures to expedite project execution and associated financial milestones and strengthen the collaboration and accountability between the project management and contractors.
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A meeting with contractors A meeting with the Governor The 08th PSC meeting |
After
discussing with the Governor, the PD and other officials of CSIAP participated
in the 8th Provincial Steering Committee (PSC) meeting chaired by the
Chief Secretary of NP. The Deputy Project Director (DPD) of NP, presented the
progress of the activities implemented at the NP by CSIAP. The following
project-related matters were discussed during the PSC.
Based
on the key discussions had with; (1) Contractors (2) the Governor of NP and (3)
Members of PSC of NP, I would suggest the following recommendations for smooth
and timely implementation of the planned project activities.
