-1- RP-27 VOL.2 China Guangxi Highway Project Ethnic Minority People's Development Plan I. Introduction 1. The proposed Guangxi Third Highway Project is part of the provincial government's strategy for poverty alleviation in Guangxi. Many of the project areas are still without road access to the outside world and poor communication is a big obstacle in local development. Local people and government in the project areas have expressed realized the importance and significance of communications improvement in the project areas. There is a popular saying that "To become rich, build roads first." This well demonstrates their need and desire to build roads as a priority for poverty alleviation. This proposed project will significantly promote the poverty alleviation efforts and development in the project areas. 2. The highway project would go through a largely ethnic minority area. About 29,302 people would be affected by land acquisition and house demolition under the project and over 95% of them belong to national ethnic minority groups. The World Bank OD 4.20 requires that a development plan be prepared to ensure that i) the development process fosters full respect for the dignity, human rights and cultural uniqueness of the minorities, and ii) the minority groups do not suffer adverse effects during the development process and iii) they receive culturally compatible social and economic benefits. 3. In line with the requirements of China laws, regulations and World Bank Operational Directive 4.30 on Involuntary Resettlement and 4.20 on Indigenous People, Guangxi Communications Department, with the assistance of Xi'an Highway University and Guangxi Social Science Academy, has prepared a Resettlement Action Plan to cope with the adverse impacts, including those of land acquisition and house demolition. The relevant agencies have undertaken much work in the preparation of the project to meet the policy requirements on both involuntary resettlement and ethnic minority people. Extensive consultation were carried out during the project preparation. They provided a valuable feedback from project affected people (PAPs), particularly the minority PAPs, and served as a good base for the formulation of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP). 4. Since over 95% of the PAPs belong to nationality minority groups, the findings and rehabilitation measures designed for the affected ethnic minority groups are incorporated into the RAP to avoid duplication. In this sense, the RAP is actually a development action plan for all the PAPs, the majority of whom are the ethnic groups. The following is a summary of the ethnic minority aspects as contained in the RAP. 2 - II Project Summary 5. The Third Guangxi Provincial Highway Project under preparation is 236 kilometers in length, 97 kilometers of which will be grade II in the undulating hilly areas, 140 kilometers will be expressway in the plain areas. There will be one tunnel, 25 bridges of various size, 62 overpasses, 250 underpasses and 1048 culverts. The project starts from Nanning City and ends in Shuiren Prefecture, traversing through five counties/cities in Nanning City, Wuming County, Mashan County, Duan County and Hechi City. The project would require the acquisition of 242,501 of land and demolition of 56,848 square meters of houses. III Local Ethnic Groups 6. Ethnic groups. Five ethnic groups reside in the project areas (administrative areas, not the immediate impact areas of the project). They are Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Maonan and Han, who is the mainstream population in China. The project offices have conducted detailed socioeconomic surveys and assessment, which conclude that over 95% of the affected people are ethnic minority people, the majority of whom belong to Zhuang (See Table 1 for details). Distribution of Affected Ethnic Minority Villages Table 1 County/City Township Villages Ethnic Group Hechi City Hechi Town 5 Zhuang, Han Wuyu Township 15 Zhuang, Han Baoping Township 5 Duan County Banling Township 6 Zhuang Xia'ao Township 35 Zhuang, Yao, Han, Miao Daxing Township 30 Zhuang, Yao Gaoling Town 24 Zhuang, Yao, Maonan Anyang Town 5 Zhuang Chenjiang Township 7 Zhuang Disu Township 16 Zhuang Mashan County Qiaoli Township 25 Zhuang, Han Lixu Township 22 Zhuang, Han Wuming County Fucheng Town 10 Zhuang, Han Chengdong Township 19 Zhuang, Han Chengxiang Township 19 Zhuang, Han Ningwu Township 3 Zhuang, Han Shuangqiao Town 15 Zhuang Ganxu Township 2 Zhuang Nanning Suburb Anji Township 1 1 Zhuang, Han Other Villages 12 Zhuang, Han -3 - 7. Zhuang minority. There are twelve ethnic minority groups in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. They account for 38.5% of its population, spreading over 60% of its land. With over 13 million in population, Zhuang is the largest ethnic minority group in China and Zhuang take up 33% of the population in Guangxi Autonomous Region. The Highway Project goes through some of the most concentrated Zhuang areas and over 85% of the affected people are Zhuang. 8. Zhuang people are the indigenous people of Guangxi. They can trace their recorded history to about 800 BC when the local tribes were called Yue. When Qing Dynasty united China in 221 BC for the first time, the central government started setting up administration in Guangxi. Since then over 2,000 year, Han, Yao , Miao and other groups started to move in, mostly due to wars, natural disasters and trade. This migration process was quickened during the Tang, Ming and Qin Dynasty. Zhuang people are from one of the Yue tribes. 9. Zhuang people are mostly living in the mountain valley areas where the other etlmic groups, particularly Yao, are mostly living up in the mountainous areas. There is local saying that "Yao live up high mountains, Miao small mountains, Han in flat areas and Zhuang in fertile valleys ". Unlike the Miao, Yao, Dong, Maonan, Mulao, Jing and Yi peoples who identify themselves to "outsiders" through use of distinctive, often colorful, dress, unusual foods, customs, habits, rituals and ceremonies, the Zhuang population do not attempt to identify themselves today through distinctive dress, foods, housing styles, songs, dancing, music or special customary ways or habits. The Zhuang people intermarry with the Han population and use the same complex lunar calendar and festival system as the Han population. Many of the villages visited, Zhuang and Han villagers together. In some villages, Zhuang and Yao villagers live together. 10. Zhuang is a non-written language, learned and used among the Zhuang population. Zhuang children become literate in Mandarin Chinese through schooling in primary and higher schools. Nearly all of the Zhuang people can communicate with their Han neighbors, conducting business, trade and going on to higher education and work. 11. Zhuang People, except for learning a language in infancy and childhood (Zhuang), share a lot in common with the Han groups. They are not likely to be affected differently in their customs, habits livelihood, life style, modes of food production and social behavior through involuntary resettlement, than if the Project were located in a province with a "Han" population. IV Socioeconomic Baseline Information of the Zhuang PAPs 12. Institutions. Guangxi is a Zhuang Autonomous Region. The position of the regional governor is always occupied by a Zhuang. It is the same with all the autonomous prefectures and counties where all the administrative head are from the main ethnic minority group in their administrative areas. Of the four affected counties and cities, Duah is a Yao Autonomous County where the county chief and many of the township chiefs are Yao. People from the ethnic minority groups can be found working -4 - at all levels of government. The recently issued "Villager Self-administration Law in Rural Areas" has further enhanced the political rights of the ethnic minority people in rural China. Like the rest of China, ethnic villagers now have the political rights to select and vote for village leaders for village governance. 13. Land tenure. The Land Law in China is the governing land policy in Guangxi Autonomous Region. There are two types of land ownership in China, i.e. state owned land and collectively owned land. All village land, both residential and agricultural land are collectively owned by all the villagers. China started the household land contract system in 1979. Under the system, the collective agricultural land are contracted out to individual households for farming. Currently the household land contracts have extended for another thirty years, starting from 1998. The project affected villages started their household responsibility system in 1983. The first contract was for fifteen years and, in 1998 when the old contracts expired, all the household contracts were extended for another thirty years. 14. Livelihood patterns. The project area lies in central and northwestern part of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The topography of the project area is mainly mountains and undulating hilly areas. Agriculture is the predominant industry in the project area. 15. The Zhuang PAPs are depending on agnrculture for their livelihood. The crops along the area include paddy, corn, bean and potato. Cash crops include sugar cane, tobacco, peanut, tea, fruit and herbs. The social assessment indicates that Zhuang people plant rice for their own consumption. They seldom eat corn. Plain areas have more paddy land while the mountainous regions depend completely on rain water for irrigation. There are a lot of vegetable plots along the project, particularly the areas around towns. Most Zhuang people grow vegetables for their own consumption except the suburban areas where farmers grow vegetables for commercial purpose, particularly in Nanning, Mashan and Duan Counties. 16. Sugar cane is a major source of their cash income. But it suffered from recent market fluctuations and this source of income has dropped in recent years. Fruit tree planting is an important source of their income. Fruit include banana, Logan, peaches etc. Apart from self-consumption, they also market their products. For some families, fruit tree growing has become a major source of income. 17. Animal raising is an important and most common complementary source of income for the Zhuang PAPs, including pigs, cattle, sheep and chickens. Sheep seem to be particularly favored by the Zhuang people in the project areas. Some Zhuang villagers have also started pond fish farming. 18. Due to the limited land resources, off-farm employment has become one of the most important source of income to improve household income. During the preparation of the project, the survey and social assessment team often found only the old, women and children at home at the time of their visits. The young and strong laborers are often -5- working in other areas as contract or daily workers. Nearly all families have people working outside and off-farm income has become an important source of family income. Duan County Goverment encourages this trend by organizing surplus Zhuang labors for ernployment in other areas as a poverty alleviation measure. Labor export/labour mobility is one component of the World Bank Southwest Poverty Project. The laborers mostly go to Guangdong Province or other parts of Guangxi for employment. They normally return during the harvest season and spring festivals. This is particularly so in Mashan and Duan counties. Household Livelihood Patterns Table 2 County Natural Conditions Livelihood Patterns Nanning Located in suburban Nanning, Animal raising, acquaculture, leasing City average per capita land holding land, off-farm employment, rural 0.96 mu, fit for acqua-culture, easy enterprise employment access to urban jobs, market Wumin Average per capita land holding Paddy, fruit tree development, g 1.72 mu, cultivation conditions Logan production base, corn, sugar County good, near Nanning, easy for off- cane, Logan, litchi, mango, banana, employment beans, quarry Mashan Slope land and paddy land, self- Mainly agriculture, paddy, corn and County sufficient in grain, overpopulation fruit a big constraint in local development I)uan Land scarce, mostly slope land, Corn, sugar cane, some paddy and County cultivation layer thin and soil fruit, sheep raising, labor export a quality poor key source of income Hechi Slope land and paddy land, self- Mainly agriculture production, _City sufficient in grain paddy, corn and fruit V Impacts on the Zhuang people in the project area. 19. Current status and project benefits. The project would contribute to the economic growth, hence improving the living standard of the population in Guangxi and the neighboring provinces. In Guangxi, investment in the proposed highway will directly benefit the poor communities in the project areas whose annual per capita income is 1200-1500 yuan (US$ 145-180), a figure below the Guangxi provincial average and greatly below the country average. Majority of the project benefits will be directed to the ethnic minority population, who are the majority of inhabitants of the project effected areas. It is estimated that about 4 million population in the five project cities and counties will directly benefit from the project, 80% of which are ethnic minority people. 20. The project is part of the poverty alleviation strategy through improved cornmunication conditions. The proposed highway is the first high-grade highway to be built in the poverty areas. The survey on the social benefits of the project also indicate a -6 - strong support from the Zhuang population and local governments in the project areas. The project would complement the government's poverty alleviation efforts and help the ethnic minority people to step out of poverty through easy and faster access to information, market and investment and other development opportunities. * Lying in the mountainous karst regions, Hechi Prefecture is one of the eighteen poorest areas as identified by the Central Government. Until now, about 169,100 are still unable to feed themselves. About 467 villages are still without access to roads and 469 without access to electricity. Out of the many reasons for this extreme poverty, extreme difficulty in communications is the major obstacle to local development. This has blocked communications with other groups and increased difficult tremendously in accessing informnation, market and investment. The project would provide an express access to markets for the whole prefecture to sell its agricultural and forestry products to outside markets, promote its mining and tourism industry and create a favorable environment for investment. * Located in a typical karst region, Duan County is called the "kingdom of rock mountains." Over 95% of the 624,000 population are ethnic minorities. It is one of the state-level poverty counties, with about 100,000 of its population unable to feed themselves, 77 administrative villages without access to road and 112 administrative villages without access to electricity. All 7,021 natural villages are connected with mountain path. Lack of communication access is one of the major reasons. The project reduce the time and cost of transportation, provide an easy and efficient access to markets for agricultural and mining products. Over 70% of the agricultural, forestry and animal husbandry products need to be sold in other markets. This is the core of the local economy and the basis for poverty alleviation. Current communication conditions have placed big constraints on future development. The project, along with the government program for rural roads, will significantly improve transport conditions and promote the economic and social development in Duan County. The project has already yielded results in improving the investment environment. Some investors who studied and left this area on communication grounds have already returned to this area with the knowledge of the proposed project. * Mashan and Dahua Counties are also located in the karst mountainous areas. Both are state level poverty counties. The population in the two counties is 905,420, of whom 792,000 are ethnic minority people. Lack of access of communications is a major reasons for the current poverty status. The proposed project would provide a shorter, more efficient and less costly access to the markets where local agricultural and mineral products are sold. Thus the project would promote the development of forestry products, cash crops, tourism and local mineral resources. Local governments are refining their strategy for poverty alleviation with the proposed project. For example, Dahua and Mashan Counties are planning to expand its fruit tree growing areas, from 100,680 mu in 1998 to 259,000 mu in 2005, vegetable areas from 79,680 mu in 1998 to 120,000 mu in 2005. These expansions are not possible -7 - with the project. The ethnic minority groups, mainly Zhuang and Yao, would directly benefit from the project and the associated development initiatives. 21. Adverse impacts. The highway project would affect 61 villages in 19 township in five cities/counties. About 6,163 families would be affected, of whom 5,698 would be affected through land acquisition, 318 through house demolition and 147 through both. See Table 2 for details. Total Affected Population Table 3 Item Hechi Duan Mashan Wumin Nanning 1 Total affected households 309 2689 893 1567 706 Of which: 2 Land acquisition 289 2400 815 1503 686 3 House demolition 7 169 69 52 18 4 Both 2 and 3 9 97 8 12 2 5 Total affected population 1472 13057 4370 7151 3252 Of which: 6 Land acquisition 1370 11783 4042 6856 3162 7 House demolition 39 685 292 240 79 8 Both 6 and 7 73 589 36 55 11 22. Of the 24,260 mu of land to be acquired for the project, 9,814 mu are cultivated land. Of the cultivated land to be acquired, 46% are dry land and paddy land 37%. See Table 3 for details. Project Land Acquisition Table 4 Unit: mu No. Land Category Hechi Duan Mashan Wuming Nanning 1 Paddy land 496 963 1175 785 223 :2 Dry land 200 1693 1321 2563 393 3 Forestry land 485 1219 1163 3157 1521 4 Slopeland 101 118 118 167 512 5 Waste land 788 2074 324 932 1213 6 Total 2071 6069 4102 7606 3866 23. The average per capita land holding in the project area is 0.8-1.0 mu and the average land loss per family is 15%. However, detailed survey and assessment indicate that there are forty-six villages whose loss of land are over 25% of their total holdings. VI Legal Framework and Policies 24. China has established a complete legal framework for the protection and development of the national minorities. This legal framework consists of * The Constitution of the People's Republic of China * Law on Autonomy in Nationality Minority Regions * Administration Regulation in Nationality Minority Townships * Law on Villager Committee Organization 25. The Constitution, as passed in 1982, provides that "all nationalities in the people's Republic of China are equal. The State guarantees the equality, unity and helping relations of all nationality minorities. The State forbids discrimination and oppression against any nationality minorities. The States forbids any activities against the unity of all nationalities and of racial separation. 26. The Constitution also states that the State supports all nationality minorities in their economic and cultural development according to their needs and characteristics. Areas of nationality minority concentration will practice autonomous administration with the establishment of their autonomous administration bodies and the right of autonomous administration. All autonomous nationality minority areas are an inseparable part of People's Republic of China. 27. All nationality minorities have the freedom to use and develop their own oral and written language, maintain or reform their traditions and customs." The Constitution also provides clear stipulations for the establishment of the regional autonomous governments. 28. The Law on Autonomy in Nationality Minority Regions, passed by the second session of the sixth National People's Congress in May 1984, provides for the establishment of nationality minority autonomous areas. The Law stipulates that, apart from the same responsibilities accorded to the same level of local governments, the authorities of the Autonomous Areas have the following responsibilities for autonomous administration: i) autonomous legislative powers, ii) autonomy in management of local political affairs, iii) autonomy in management of local economic development, iv) autonomy in management of local financial affairs. v) autonomy in the management of local affairs in science, education, culture, vi) autonomy in organizing local public security forces, vii) autonomy in using and developing nationality minority languages and viii) autonomy in training and employing nationality minority cadres. 29. The Law stipulates that the chairman of the people's government of an autonomous region, or prefecture or county, must by law be a member of the nationality or one of the nationalities for whom the autonomous area is established. Other leadership and administrative posts ought to be filled by members of that nationality or other minority nationalities living in the area to the greatest extent possible. The Law also gives autonomous area governments a wide range of economic rights and responsibilities. 9- The law also provides a guarantee of religious freedom and of freedom not to believe. The law also stipulates that "the autonomous administration should support other nationality minority groups living in the autonomous region to establish their local autonomous administration or nationality minority townships. The autonomous administration should support all nationality minorities in the autonomous regions in their economic, education, cultural and health development." 30. The Administration Regulation in Nationality Minority Townships, issued in 1993 stipulates that autonomous township administration should be set up in areas where nationality minority population live in concentration and that the township autonomous administration, in consideration of local needs and nationality minority characteristics, govern according relevant laws and regulations. 31. Law on Village Committee Organization also issued stipulations regarding the organization of villager committees in nationality minority villages. VII Current Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in the Project Area 32. The project counties/cities are the concentrated areas of the nationality minority people with 80% of its population as nationality minority people. This ratio is even higher in the rural areas. These areas, namely the rural areas, belong to the poorest areas in China, with the exception of Wuming County and Nanning Municipality. These areas have been the focus of Guangxi Regional Government's poverty alleviation programs since the early 80's, which target the rural nationality minority population. 33. The governments have designed and mobilized financial resources for poverty alleviation, such as low-interest poverty reduction loans, development funds, grants in kinds and special poverty funds etc. For example, in Hechi Prefecture in 1998, the total poverty alleviation input came to 380 million yuan. 34. Both regional and local governments have set up poverty alleviation offices. The governments have designed a responsibility system for implementing the poverty alleviation programs. Local government leaders and poverty alleviation officers have all identified poverty villages/households for their personal responsibility and efforts in poverty alleviation. This is entered into their official work agreements. They guide and assist villages and villagers in identifying and finalizing productive programs, securing funds and mobilizing necessary support from various government agencies. In Mashan County, for example, about 5831 government officials are contracted with 6464 households for poverty alleviation. 35. The poverty alleviation programs can be summarized as follows: (a) Promotion of sideline and non-farm development. Given the limited land resources for cultivation, the local governments and villagers have come - 10- to the conclusion that there is not much potential to be tapped in farm cultivation. They have identified sideline development as a major opportunity for poverty alleviation. Fruit tree and forestry development has seen much progress. (i) Hechi Prefecture has put in a total of 120 million yuan into forestry development. Local govermments also designed poverty alleviation loans to support villager's initiatives in development. (ii) Duan County, for instance, has developed 97,000 mu of fruit trees, including Logan, grapefruit, oranges and wild grapes. (iii) Dahua counties had planted 44,000 mu of forest and 30,795 mu of fruit trees by the end of 1997. (iv) Animal husbandry development. The natural conditions in the project areas are advantageous for animal husbandry development. The governments encourage and guide farmers in sheep, pig, chicken and fishing farming. (v) Hechi Prefecture has designed a scheme to develop Hechi into a household-based million-sheep rearing base. So far a total of 70 million yuan has been invested. (vi) Duan County has raised annually 696,000 pigs and 456,000 head of goats. (b) Extension of science and technology. Local govermnents have stressed agricultural extension services in poverty alleviation efforts. Extension services, designed and targeted at the particular needs of local villages, are provided both in extension centers and on-sites, within easy access of local farmers. (i) Hechi Prefecture provides extension services to farmers and required that each household should have one labor participate in, at least, two extension training sessions. Every year, about 730,000 farmers participate in agro-extension training. (ii) Duan County has provided training to over 198,000 man times. 504 farmers have passed the test and become extension technicians after the training. (c) Voluntary resettlement and off-farm employment. Voluntary resettlement has been part of the government's strategy for poverty alleviation. Due to the limited land resources and extremely harsh living environment, local governments have moved some of the local farmers in the extremely harsh conditions into relatively better off areas. Most of these resettlers became capable to feed and clothe themselves. (i) Hechi Prefecture has resettled 150,000 people since 1993, of whom 114,000 moved to other townships within the prefecture and over 30,000 moved into other prefectures. In the same time, the governments have organized rural surplus labors for employment in other areas. Till the end of 1998, about 610,000 laborers have found employment outside Hechi. (ii) Duan County has established 20 sites in Duan and neighboring counties. A total of 72,928 people in 15,607 households have been resettled. These resettlers, in most cases, became capable of feeding and clothing themselves within the same year. In 1998, Duan County has 85,000 laborers working outside, 35,000 of whom are employed on a long-term basis and 50,000 on a short- term basis. (iii) Mashan and Dahua moved 19,304 people to 19 resettlement sites. Both counties have about 150,000 labors working outside the county, 16,721 of whom are sponsored under the Southwest Poverty Reduction Program financed by the World Bank. (d) Collaboration with other areas and provinces. In the same time, the governments are actively pursuing the support from other provinces under the sponsorship of central government. Hechi Prefecture has collaborated with Guangdong Provinces in these kinds support. The support comes in the form of investment projects, extension service, voluntary resettlement, labor export for employment, grants etc. (e) Construction of rural roads and highways. Lack of communications means has been identified as one of the major obstacles for poverty alleviation. The governments have been implementing a strategy for communications improvement in the local areas. These efforts are aimed at developing a communications network, including village, township and county roads as well as major highways. (i) Duan County has built 89 village and township roads with a total length of 619 kilometers. (ii) Mashan and Dahua County have built 148 village roads with a total length of 1261 kilometers. VIII Local Participation and Consultation 36. The project preparation has been conducted on the basis of close consultation with - 12 - and participation of the local people, who are mostly Zhuang ethnic minority groups. Consultation and participation of the local ethnic groups started early in 1996 with the initial field investigation on land acquisition and relocation impacts. In early 1999, joint investigation teams were formed with the participation of about 200 people, and the detailed census and inventory were conducted. Please see the RAP for the details of methodology, training, mobilization and implementation. 37. Organized by Guangxi Communications Department, local governments and Xian Highway University conducted the field work. Township leaders and village leaders all participated in the census, inventory and socioeconomic survey. Project information was provided to the ethnic Zhuang Minority people through newspaper, broadcast and village public boards. Project census and inventory data were recorded and signed off by the affected Zhuang communities. Resettlement and rehabilitation options were discussed with the affected Zhuang, Yao villagers. Many of the field workers are Zhuang and able to communicate with the affected people in Zhuang. The alignment of the highway was discussed with local governments and the affected people, and the finalized alignment was adopted to minimize adverse impacts on the local ethnic minority people, whose considerations and needs were fully taken into consideration in the finalization of the alignment. 38. The socioeconomic survey also indicates a strong endorsement of the project by the affected ethnic minority people. Consultation with the ethnic minority people took place during preparation of the feasibility study. There is full endorsement of the project from the affected ethnic groups. Throughout project preparation, the Government has given much attention to protecting the interests of people to be adversely affected by project implementation, with particular emphasis on the well-being of the minorities. This was reflected in the early consultation work during the feasibility study which used "ethnicity" as one of the selection criteria for village level consultation. During the socio- economic survey and detailed inventory of PAF, ethnicity was kept in view while disseminating information relating to the project, identifying the degree of impact, and making necessary adjustments of engineering design to mitigate land acquisition impact. The consultations provided useful feedback and a good base for the formulation of the RAP, of which this document forms an integrated part. 39. Xi'an Highway University carried a socioeconomic survey, on a sample basis, of the project affected areas. The survey was conducted through focus group discussions and individual interviews. The survey covered local government officials, village leaders and the affected people. The concerns and needs expressed by the affected people have been incorporated in the RAP. Guangxi Social Science Academy was contracted to conduct a review of the project impacts on poverty alleviation in the project areas. The review covers current poverty status, causes of poverty, government poverty alleviation programs, expected project benefits, people's attitude towards the project and their concems and needs. This effort reflects largely the current poverty situation of the ethnic - 13 - minority people in the project areas. This review confirms local people's endorsement of the project and provides a thorough analysis of the project benefits to the ethnic minority groups. IX Mitigation and Development Activities 40. Strategy for sharing of project benefits. The project itself is a poverty alleviation initiative in one of the poorest areas of China. This project would promote the economic and social development in the project areas, where there is a heavy concentration of ethnic minority people. The ethnic minority population, mainly Zhuang, would be direct project beneficiaries. The project will improve their communication conditions and provide the ethnic minority people with an easier, more efficient and less costly transport. The project would improve the access to markets where their agricultural and mineral products are sold, reduce the costs of production, provide access to more information, development opportunities and investment. In a word, the project would promote the on- going poverty alleviation efforts and speed up local economic and social development. 41. Consultation strategy. The RAP has been designed, in consultation with the affected people, the majority of whom are Zhuang minority people. The project authorities would continue the consultation process to ensure the full participation of the Zhuang minority people in the decision-making process during proj ect implementation. Information dissemination and local participation in planning and implementation will serve the dual purposes of development and preparatory actions to cope with adverse impact. Village level consultation with the minority groups initiated during project preparation will continue to ensure information dissemination, timely redress of the particular needs and concerns of the ethnic minority people and optimize the RAP approach for better implementation. 42. Guangxi Communications Department will prepare two booklets in Chinese, containing the following information: (i) information about project components, activities, potential benefits, cost and schedule of construction works, implementation arrangements and responsibilities, and project management and supervision.; and (ii) based on RAP, information on land acquisition and resettlement activities under the project-including implementation schedule, entitlement policies, compensation rates, rehabilitation benefits, responsible agencies and grievance resolution procedures. The booklets will be issued to all project counties and distributed to all ethnic minority villages. 43. Strategy for RAP implementation. The adverse impact on the Zhuang and Yao minority people caused by land acquisition and house demolition would be mitigated by resettlement activities in line with the RAP. The RAP has designed a strategy for - 14 - resettlement and livelihood rehabilitation for the affected people, mainly the ethnic minority groups. This strategy will be implemented through compensation payment for lost assets, redistribution of collectively owned land, provision of replacement land for house construction and livelihood development activities. The RAP strategy was designed in consultation with local governments and the affected ethnic minority people. The social assessment and the consultations with the ethnic minority people have indicated that the compensation and rehabilitation packages in the Resettlement Action Plan are appropriate to the affected ethnic minority groups and are deemed sufficient for their livelihood restoration. Particular care was given to those ethnic villagers who are considered severely affected by losing more than 25% of their farm land. Further rehabilitation measures were developed for them. 44. The compensation and rehabilitation schemes are fully covered in the RAP and will not be repeated here. Additionally, the following special activities have been designed for the affected ethnic groups: (a) Convene public meetings in ethnic languages; (b) Issue and distribute public information booklets for the ethnic people in their own languages; (c) Include local ethnic officials in local resettlement offices; (d) Assist severely affected ethnic minority PAPs in their rehabilitation activities (e) Design relocation programs in groups or to very close homesteads for the affected ethnic groups so as to maintain kinship bonds and social cohesion; (f) Include Zhuang and Yao members as part of the monitoring team of the external monitoring agency; X Institutional Arrangements 45. There is a wide representation of the ethnic minority groups in the regional, county/city and township governments. The Law on Autonomy in Nationality Minority Regions requires that the administrative head of each autonomous nationality minority area should be from the major minority group. The governor of Guangxi Region is Zhuang. In Duan county, for example, the county chief is Yao. There are many ethnic minority officials working at different levels of government. The wide representation of ethnic minority groups in the government, particularly at the township level, helps to ensure sensitivity about ethnic minority development issues. - 15 - 46. Institutional arrangements for the EMDP implementation will use the existing arrangements for RAP implementation and the overall project management. The Project Office in Guangxi Communications Department will be responsible for EMDP's implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The project county resettlement offices will be responsible for EMDP implementation as part of RAP implementation. The county offices will have Zhuang officials. Institutional strengthening for EMDP implementation will also be provided under this project through training programs in the RAP and its budget has been included in the RAP costs. XI Implementation Arrangements and Budget 47. Implementation of the EMDP will be in line with the implementation schedule for the project works and RAP (see RAP schedule). It will be carried out in a sequential manner, starting with the consultation activity. 48. Resettlement and rehabilitation costs have been included in the RAP (See Chapter 6 f.or details). The cost for information dissemination and further consultations with the affected ethnic groups are included in the operating budget of the resettlement offices, which is also budgeted in the RAP. XII Monitoring and Evaluation 49. Implementation of the EMDP, as a part of RAP, will be monitored by Guangxi Social Science Academy. The project office will contract the Academy following the World Bank consultant procurement guidelines. The same agency should be responsible for monitoring the RAP implementation. The TOR for the external agency will require inclusion of an ethnic minority expert or a Zhuang team member. The report on EMDP monitoring will form a part of the RAP monitoring report. 50. The external monitoring agency will review project progress reports and relevant information from the project resettlement offices. It will pay special attention to project areas where ethnic groups concentrate, and carry out village/household interviews of sample minority groups and ethnic farmers. The monitor will report to the Guangxi Project Office and the World Bank on the implementation progress of both RAP and EMDP twice a year during the project implementation period.