<div><h4>Description</h4><p>The project will provide long-term sustainable solutions to increase year-round access to irrigation water in about 22,400 hectares (ha) of two districts of Madhesh Province in the Terai by constructing a large-scale network of about 500 tube wells with dedicated electricity distribution networks. The management, operation, and maintenance (MOM) of the tube well irrigation schemes will be contracted to a third-party operator, using a design-build-operate (DBO) contracting modality. On-demand irrigation services will be provided to about 22,000 farm households using a prepaid irrigation system.</p><h4>Impact</h4><p><p>Agricultural production and productivity increased (Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Sector's current status and roadmap for future, White paper 2018)</p></p></div>

Mechanized Irrigation Innovation Project

Initial poverty and social analysis project number: 52130 -001 august 2022 nepal : mechanized irrigation innovation project this document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with adb's access to information policy currency equivalents as of 28 july 2022 abbreviations adb - asian development bank icpm r - indicative country pipeline and monitoring report cps - country partnership strategy gesi - gender equality and social inclusion ta - technical assistance note in this report, refers to united states dollars. in preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the asian development bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.currency unit - nepalese rupees nrs nrs 1.00 = 0.0078778 1.00 = nrs 1 27.840 1 initial poverty and social anal ysis country: nepal project title: mechanized irrigation innovation project miip lendingfinancing modality: loan departmentdivision south asia departmentenvironment, natural resources and agriculture division i. poverty impact and social dimensions a. links to the national poverty reduction strategy and country partnership strategy i the project fits within adb's country partnership strategy for nepal, 2020 -2024 cps, including promoting improved infrastructure for private sector -led growth. it also supports the indicative country pipeline and monitoring report for nepal, 2022 -2024 icpm, particularly the results areas for increased agricultural productivity and strengthened resilience to climate change. ii th e project directly supports the nepal national water plan 2002 -2027 nnwp, by aiming to provide farmers with reliable year-round irrigation to enhance food security, resulting in increased productivity, self -reliance and competitiveness in the nepalese agriculture sector. practices identified in the plan and reflected in the project design include: a incorporating innovat ive modern technologies to utilize water resources for increased year -round irrigation; b efficient technologies in new irrigation systems; c farmers' participation in the management, operation and maintenance; and d climate change adaptive irrigatio n development in compliance to the irrigation master plan 2019 and agriculture development strategy, 2015 -2035. the project aligns with the government of nepal's fifteenth plan 201920 -202324, which identifies the agricultural sector as playing a main role in inclusive economic growth and poverty alleviation. the project social survey shows that households' overall income comes from agricultural 13 and non -agricultural sources 23, except for farming landowners cultivating areas bigger than one haa. very small 0.5ha and small farmers 0.5 to 1.0ha contribute 14 and 22 from agriculture to their income, whereas bigger farmers manage about half of the income th rough agriculture. the project will provide the opportunity a for reliable and increa sed irrigated agricultural income, b a decreased dependence on non -agricultural income including reliance from remittances, and c a more sustainable livelihood strategy. subsequently, it will support farming households to rise above the nepali moneta ry poverty line.b b. poverty targeting x general intervention individual or household ti -h geographic ti -g non-income mdgs ti -m1,m2, etc. the p roject districts population rautahat and sarlahi range from significantly to marginally poorer than the general population in nepal. among surveyed project households, 38.5 own 0.5 hectares or less, 28.7 own 0.5 - 1.0 ha, 22.7 own 1.0 -2.0 ha and 10.1 own greater than 2.0 haa. social impacts of groundwater irrigation were also as sessed. adb project team recognized that indigenous peoples and marginalized social castes present in the project area have a high incidence of poverty. if impacted by the project, these groups will be provided with opportunities to increase their liveliho ods. training for farmers including women on micro -irrigation technology will be conducted as a pro -poor project initiative. c. poverty and social analysis1. key issues and potential beneficiaries. the project will cover 9,874 ha in sarlahi and 12,649 ha in rautahat representing 40 and 29 of the district's total areas.c out of the 597,799 population, 261,961 43, of which 49 are females reside in the project's beneficiary area. the project wil l potentially benefit 11 major ethnic groups, mostly terai middle castes over 60, muslims 22 and terai dalits 11. of the total cropped land in terai, approximately 55 is irrigated .c farmers are faced with low farm productivity due to unreliable irrigation, limited access to modern agricultural technology and extension services, and poor access to markets. all -season irrigation water and inputs will directly benefit farmer yields and potentially create job opportunities for agricultural laborers and others in the supply chain. as such, potential project beneficiaries are the poor and marginal farmers and agricultural employees, including but not limited to, women and socially excluded groups indigenous peoples and marginalized social castes residing in the project area. the project benefits will target the poor and socially excluded as part of the gender equality and social inclusion gesi action plan. the need of the beneficiaries i s increased food security and livelihood enhancement. 2. impact channels and expected systemic changes. expected impacts: improved crop yields, increased farmer incomes, indirect employment opportunities with increased agricultural production, direct but sho rt-term employment opportunities in the project area during construction. 3. focus of and resources allocated in the ppta or due diligence. the feasibility study has assessed the poverty and socioeconomic factors . the following documents were prepared: i "social, poverty and gender profile" report; ii "social survey for tube well development and hills schemes" report; poverty and social analysis psa, gesi -ap, and summary poverty reduction and social strat egy sprss; as well as iv social safeguards frameworks and plans. under the ongoing transaction technical assistance ta, the reports under items and iv will be: a upgraded to reflect project location changes to just terai region ; and b upd ated as needed. as the socioeconomic baseline has not significantly changed, the survey results are still valid and do not require updating. a social safeguard specialist, two soc ial development specialists and one resettlement specialist were included in the ta team. ii. gender and development 1. what are the key gender issues in the sectorsubsector that are likely to be relevant to this project or program in nepal , women play a pivotal role in agriculture. in 2010, 72.8 of women and 62.2 of men were engaged in the sector.d about 12 of household s are headed by women in the project area. as men increasingly migrate to urban centers for work, women assume greater re sponsibility for agricultural plots, household subsistence and family and community labor.e women farmers face multi -dimensional poverty challenges including poor access to health, agricultural and education services, employment opportunities and land owne rship. land ownership of women in the project area rautahat 21.2, sarlahi 22.3 is higher than the national average 19.7 but productivity is two times lower than male -managed farms, 2 attributed to limited and untimely access to information about moder n agricultural technology and reliable irrigation.f,g despite increased responsibilities, women especially dalits, janajatis, muslims have limited voice and representation in farming decision -making bodies. in the context of irrigation, women require opp ortunities to be meaningfully consulted and to participate in activities relating to water access, availability and affordability. they also need to equitably share in the benefits of agricultural and marketing services. the project will provide opportunit ies to enhance women's participation in irrigation and income generation. 2. does the proposed project or program have the potential to contribute to the promotion of gender equity andor empowerment of women by providing women's access to and use of opportu nities, services, resources, assets, and participation in decision making x yes no the proposed project will encourage women to participate in various water users' association wua meetings, training, and study tours. also, the project will mak e efforts to expose women on various aspects of irrigation activities. to assist the proposed project achieves these, a gesi action plan will be prepared during project preparation. 3. could the proposed project have an adverse impact on women andor girls or widen gender inequality yesxno the project will not increase inequality between genders, but will work to reduce existing inequalities within the project scope. the installation of irrigation will benefit both genders; the wua meetings, training, and study tours could reduce an existing inequality, to the extent that women become more active in agricultural activities. 4. indicate the intended gender mainstreaming cate gory: gen gender equity theme x egm effective gender mainstreaming sge some gender elements nge no gender elements the ipsa identifies gaps and opportunities for the gesi -ap, and other measures to be included into project design . participation and empowerment 1. who are the main stakeholders of the project, including beneficiaries and negatively affected people explain how they will each participate in the project design. key stakeholders include project beneficiaries, residents of project area, affected persons, representatives of government agencies and other entities responsible for project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation consultants, contractors, nongovernment organizations including irrigation water suppliers, farmers and wuas, district -level farmers' associations , etc.. the stakeholders will be associated with the project design through various consultative tools including i focus group discussionssurveys to discuss farmers interest, willingness to pay, project benefits and impacts; ii central and provincial workshops to present regularly the progress made with the project design and implementation. additionally, a study tour was organized to barind multipurpose authority irrigation scheme in ba ngladesh and learn technical innovations. several representative farmers including women and irrigation engineers joined the tour. a participation plan will be developed for engagement with different stakeholders. 2. who are the key, active, and relevant csos in the project area in nepal, water user associations wuas are the immediate responsible organizations to manage irrigation schemes in a collective way. social survey 2018 also indicate high level of farmer's engageme nt in wua activities such as in organizing wua meetings, collecting water charges, accounting the financial flows , etc. wuas will play a key role in mobilizing beneficiaries, consultations, and information dissemination, monitoring etc. during project impl ementation. active ngos in irrigation sector will be identified and engaged to further strengthen mobilization and participation of communities and assist project affected people. farmers support program will also involve ngos and agricultural extension wo rkers for training, capacity budling and market linked activities. 3. are there issues during project design for which participation of the poor and vulnerable is important x yesno the project aims to increase farmer's productivity and incomes. additionally, land will be taken on a voluntary basis from project beneficiaries. the project hence requires a wide acceptance from all sections of the community including the poor and vulnerable for its sustainability. participation of the poor and vulnerable groups is ensured in all focused group discussions, surveys, workshops etc. to understand their concerns, demands, and willingness to pay for improved services and willingness to donate the land. this will be continued throughout the project. wuas and district level farmer's association, including its women members and members from disadvantaged groups , will continue to be part of the consultations to maximize the project benefits and avoid a ny negative impacts. 4. how will the project ensure the participation of beneficiaries and affected people, particularly the poor and vulnerable andor csos, during project design to address these issues close to 67 of the farmers in terai region have land holdings less than 1 ha and two -thirds of the total household income is coming from non -agricultural sources. crops incomes were recorded further low in female headed households and ethnic minorities compared to male -headed households. female particip ation in wuairrigation schemes operation and maintenance is recorded less than one percent compared to over 80 by the surveyed male farmers. the various aspects of the project design such as location of infrastructure, technical design, operation, cost r ecovery, farmers support program etc. have evolved from various consultations, information sharing meetings and capacity building workshops undertaken with all project stakeholders including the project beneficiaries and affected people. all these ensured equitable participation from the women and vulnerable groups. participation is further ensured during updating laipf laipps and willingness to pay surveys. the project will prepare detailed participation plan for the engagement of csowua during project im plementation. 5. what level of cso participation is planned during the project design h information generation and sharingh consultationl collaborationna partnership collaboration with csos will be scoped during project design to i develop strategies for wuas strengthening and ii preparing agriculture extension and marketing support program. iv. social safeguards a. involuntary resettlement category ax b cfi 3 1. does the project have the potential to involve involuntary land acquisition resulting in physical and economic displacement yes x nothere will be permanent land acquisition for locations of i tube wells with an area of 85 sqm, plus estimated averaged 135 sqm for access track, ii 1 sqm for each outlet , and also as little as 1 sqm for each electric pole. based on the pilot samp le project design the total land requirement for 500 subprojects is estimated at around 12.6ha. it is proposed that the project will meet the land requirement through voluntary land donation vld from project beneficiaries and a high willingness to donate the land is recorded during various consultations. project affected persons also have an option of negotiated land settlement if land requirement is not met through vld. in addition, the installation of buried distribution pipes and electric poles will re quire temporary access to land. a similar extrapolation leads for all subprojects to an initial estimate of rounded 528 ha land temporarily to be used for construction wayleaves. involuntary resettlement issues will be identified and addressed in detail du ring project preparation. 2. what action plan is required to address involuntary resettlement as part of the transaction ta or due diligence process though this is a 'project loan ,' the project uses the dbo modality, so the final detailed design for each sub project will be done by the dbo contractor. hence a framework approach is adopted. x resettlement planx resettlement frameworksocial impact matrix environmental and social management system arrangementnone b. indigenous peoples category ax b c fi 1. does the proposed project have the potential to directly or indirectly affect the dignity, human rights, livelihood systems, or culture of indigenous peoples yesx no due diligence confirms that indigenous peoples will not experience any adverse impacts. the project will positively impact indigenous people living within the project area. in nepal, there are total 59 aadibasijanajati's which are refer red to as indigenou s peoples. issues such as of knowledge gap among indigenous people s to use and understand card -based payment system will be further assessed during detailed design and capacity development plan for such beneficiaries will be included in project design. 2. does it affect the territories or natural and cultural resources indigenous peoples own, use, occupy, or claim, as their ancestral domain yesxno 3. will the project require broad community support of affected indigenous communities yes x no 4. what action plan is required to address risks to indigenous peoples as part of the transaction ta or due diligence process x indigenous peoples plan x indigenous peoples panning frameworksocial impact matrix environmental and social managem ent system arrangementnone v. other social issues and risks 1. what other social issues and risks should be considered in the project design tender documents include specification to avoid the risks of hivaids infections and distribution in the subproject areas. l creating decent jobs and employmentl adhering to core labor standards labor retrenchment spread of communicable diseases, incl. hivaids increasing in human traffickingm affordability increase in unplanned migration m increase in vulnerability to natural disasters creating political instability creating internal soc ial conflicts others, please specify 2. how are these additional social issues and risks going to be addressed in the project design participatory project planning and proper monitoring by social development officers of pmu and consultants will be included in the final project design. safeguards and contract documents will stipulate the requirement to adhere to core labor standards, including no child labor policy and i nclusion of health and safety plans to avoid covid -19. vi. transaction ta or due diligence resource requirement 1. do the terms of reference for the transaction ta or other due diligence contain key information needed to be gathered during transaction ta or due diligence process to better analyze i poverty and social impact; ii gender impact, participation dimensions; iv social safeguards; and vi other social risks. are the relevant specialists identified x yesno 2. what resources e.g., consultants, survey budget, and workshop are allocated for conducting poverty, social andor gender analysis, and participation plan during the transaction ta or due diligence a 2.5 million ta was provided from grant 0299 -nep: wate r resources project preparatory facility to prepare the project. a social safeguards specialist, two social development specialists and one resettlement specialist were engaged to support the social dimensions of the project. additional provision from ta 9 443-reg will be used to finalize the safeguards documents. h = high, m = middle, l =low, na = not applicable a miip feasibility study , "social survey for tube well development and hill schemes" oct ober 2018 b adb. 2019. country partnership strategy: nepal, 2020 -2024--promoting connectivity, devolved services, and resilience . manila; government of nepal, central bureau of statistics of nepal. 2011. country poverty analysis. kathmandu c miip feasibility study related "social, gender and poverty report" aug ust 2019; detailed engineering design for revised miip project areas. d government of nepal, ministry of agriculture d evelopment. 2010. selected indicators of nepalese agriculture and population. kathmandu . e s. tamang, k. paudel, and k. shrestha. 2014. feminization of agriculture and its implications for food security in rural nepal. journal of forest and livelihood. f central bureau of statistics, 2011. g miip social, poverty and gender profile. august 2019.

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Mechanized Irrigation Innovation Project: Initial Poverty and Social Analysis

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