OIDCI in rural development project in Cambodia

OIDCI joins IC Net Limited (Japan) for the “Project of Capacity Development of Provincial Rural Development in Northeastern Provinces in the Kingdom of Cambodia” under JICA. The focus of this project is the capacity development of the provincial administrations of Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri to enable these to provide better public services that meet local people’s needs and to attain sustainable rural development utilizing rich natural resources.

Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces are located in the Northeastern part of Cambodia. Hill tribes abound in both provinces, with Ratanakiri being home to most of Cambodia’s ethnic minorities. Both provinces possess rich resources including natural forests, but are economically underdeveloped due to poor access to urban areas and a high ratio of indigenous peoples leading traditional livelihood.  

In this project, OIDCI provides technical assistance in the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) component of the Project. Specifically, the tasks include preparing a summary and analysis of provincial information on environment resources and wildlife, and the provincial development work cycle vis-à-vis monitoring and evaluation; assisting in the preparation of the implementation plan covering the area of monitoring and evaluation; planning and training of the National Project Coordinator and Cambodian counterparts in monitoring and evaluation; preparing the M&E guidelines for pilot projects and other M&E manuals; and, implementing the M&E activities of the Project.

This project is expected to be fully completed by 2011.

   OIDCI establishes the baseline for RuMEPP

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has engaged the OIDCI to undertake the project, “Establishment of Baseline Data of Micro Enterprises” for the Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Programme (RuMEPP).

DTI’s RuMEPP aims to help strengthen the rural economy to reduce rural-urban migration. It is expected to benefit some 20,000 poor households during its implementation from 2007 to 2013. RuMEPP focuses on the development of micro enterprises (MEs) that have small asset bases, and provides financial services through loans and business development services as capacity building, market linkages and product development.

OIDCI’s baseline study will provide the benchmark information for the systematic assessment of the social and economic impact to the beneficiaries, and for the evaluation of the effectiveness of RuMEPP’s interventions. It will cover 19 provinces in the five priority regions, including Abra, Ifugao, and Kalinga (in the Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR); Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon (in Bicol); Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar and Samar (in Eastern Visayas); Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur (in the CARAGA Region); and Sarangani and South Cotabato (in the SOCSARGEN Region). 

The baseline study is anchored on the logical framework that was developed by the Programme. It employs a multi-pronged data gathering approach to generate primary baseline information, to be supplemented by secondary data, cutting across all stakeholders.

The outputs of the study include the identification of priority industries/sectors per province and the impact areas where priority sectors per province are located, baseline profile of households in impact areas and in MEs, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and business development service (BDS) providers, and analysis of needs, problems and potentials of MEs, MFIs, and BDS providers in target provinces, among others. Close coordination with DTI bureaus and offices and other stakeholders (e.g., local chambers of commerce and local government units) will be undertaken to ensure adequate support and participation in the study. 

Currently, the OIDCI Study Team is conducting a consultation-workshop in each of the 19 provinces. This activity aims to validate the priority industries/sectors that were initially identified based on available secondary data. Stakeholders from national and local government agencies, MEs, MFIs, BDS providers, private sector representatives and the academe are invited to the consultation-workshops.