US embassy cable - 03ROME3691

UNCLAS  ROME 003691 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AIDAC 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR PRM/P, EUR/WE, EUR/NE AND IO/EDA 
USAID FOR A/AID, AA/DCHA WINTER, DCHA/FFP/D LANDIS, 
DCHA/OFDA/D MCCONNELL AND AMENGHETTI 
USDA/FAS FOR CHAMBLISS/TILSWORTH/GAINOR 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH/USAID 
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PLERNER AND PRM REP 
USUN FOR MLUTZ 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, WFP, UN 
SUBJECT:  2003 ECHO EVALUATION OF ITS FUNDING OF WFP 
ACTIVITIES (EMERGENCY INTERVENTIONS) IN AFGHANISTAN, 
ERITREA, SERBIA, AND TANZANIA, 1999-2002 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
NOT SUITABLE FOR INTERNET POSTING. 
 
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Summary 
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1. (U) Quest Consult's Synthesis Report of February 2003, 
which was financed by the European Commission Humanitarian 
Aid Office (ECHO), presents findings and recommendations 
pertaining to World Food Program (WFP) emergency-related 
activities (with ECHO-funding) in Afghanistan, Eritrea, 
Serbia, and Tanzania for the period from 1999 through 2002. 
While the report is generally positive, a number of 
suggestions for further improvement are put forth.  End 
summary. 
 
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Background 
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2. (U) The purpose of the Quest Consult's Synthesis Report 
of February 2003 funded by ECHO was to assess the impact of 
WFP's programs in the named countries with regard to the 
sustainability and development of durable solutions 
emanating from (in whole or in part) ECHO contributions to 
WFP. 
 
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Findings 
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3. (SBU) Three key areas were evaluated, namely, the food 
sector, logistics system, and organizational aspects.  With 
regard to the food sector, the report concludes that more 
analysis is required of WFP to uncover the causes of food 
insecurity and malnutrition.  Specifically, food needs 
assessments should not only determine the question of 
whether or not to provide food aid but also the diversity of 
the food basket, taking into account both the nutritional, 
household and food security situation - and asking whether 
food aid is the most appropriate solution to the problem. 
The evaluators commended the WFP Tanzania program for being 
"strong in areas where WFP is often weak; it assesses from 
the household level upwards; the assessments are analytical 
and profound; the program is responsive to the needs of 
beneficiaries." The evaluator also lauded WFP Afghanistan's 
Vulnerability Assessment Mapping (VAM) operation for 
integrating "an overall approach where nutritional and food 
security data" are packaged together. 
 
4. (SBU) With regard to logistics, the evaluator found that 
"in all four countries, the logistics system infrastructure, 
both hardware and software components, are well-chosen and 
well-managed." But discrepancies were often observed between 
the actual costs of procurement, international transport, 
local transport, storage and ultimate distribution - and the 
inevitably higher cost estimates that formed the basis of 
the WFP-ECHO operational contracts.  The differences clearly 
indicate the need for closer WFP attention to its Landside 
Transport, Storage and Handling (LTSH) matrices. At present, 
as per the evaluator, the LTSH spreadsheet is used only in 
the project formulation stage, when there is a project 
expansion, or when projects are ultimately reviewed. The 
evaluator suggests that it should also be used as an 
operational tool to monitor local costs. The evaluator 
concludes: "WFP does possess the management information 
systems to do better." In short, WFP has to make its LTSH 
budgets more accessible and transparent. 
 
5. (SBU) Operationally, WFP needs to focus on building 
better partnerships with non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs). This includes making better use of NGO reports and 
NGO knowledge; better joint programming and evaluations; 
providing general and routine information to NGOs (and other 
Implementing Partners) on pipeline projections, including 
 
AIDAC 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR PRM/P, EUR/WE, EUR/NE AND IO/EDA 
USAID FOR A/AID, AA/DCHA WINTER, DCHA/FFP/D LANDIS, 
DCHA/OFDA/D MCCONNELL AND AMENGHETTI 
USDA/FAS FOR CHAMBLISS/TILSWORTH/GAINOR 
GENEVA FO 
 
timely provision of anticipated pipeline breaks. 
 
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Other issues 
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6. (SBU) The evaluators ride a couple of favorite EC 
"hobbyhorses" related to their universal preference towards 
local purchases and how the new Financial and Administrative 
Framework Agreement between the EC and the UN should 
effectively (sic) eliminate all administrative lacunae. They 
also propose establishment of a WFP-ECHO Senior Technical 
Group to facilitate the "outcome of the Strategic Dialogue." 
They take strong exception with host governmental pressures 
on the UN/WFP to "overstate" the true picture of need and 
the desire to keep populations "food aid dependent." 
 
7. (U) The evaluators give WFP high marks for its important 
role in the UN-system related to the development of the 
United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), ICT 
(Information and Communications Technology) and the 
establishment of the United Nations Joint Logistical Center 
(UNJLC). 
 
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Comment 
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8. (SBU) This independent ECHO-funded evaluation is 
welcomed. US Mission agrees that WFP is much in need of more 
thorough, timely and consistent budget analysis in order to 
assess the cost effectiveness of its programs in general and 
the cost effectiveness of specific components in its 
logistics (LTSH) system in particular. Moreover, the call 
for consideration of "cash-for-work" in relatively resource- 
rich areas merits further consideration. ECHO is capable of 
substantively raising its support to WFP and WFP, therefore, 
would be well advised to read this report very carefully. 
Hall 
 
 
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	2003ROME03691 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED