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.
3
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
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