Sida's Contributions to Humanitarian Mine Action

The first attempt to apply a form of economic analysis in HMA was the Afghan socio-economic study,a first draft of which was launched in Autumn 1998. 13 The study was based on revisiting all 5,513minefields cleared by the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) and included separatesurvey forms for establishing the impact of local-level projects, such as in a village, and larger levelprojects, such as a road. Without applying a cost-benefit formula, the study suggests that the annualeconomic benefits to mine action stood at a total of US$ 65 million, with an annual expenditure in therange US$ 20–25 million. 14 Currently, the World Bank has taken the data from the socio-economicstudy and built upon it in a wider analysis, a formal cost-benefit assessment. 15 One objective of this hasbeen to establish templates for different types of tasks in different regions, for example for irrigatedagricultural land in the Western region, and to use such templates as a basis for priority discussions atthe community level. A second objective has been to compare the costs of different clearance techniques.Thirdly, the World Bank is also interested in being able to compare the return on investmentratio in the HMA sector with other sectors, such as vaccination campaigns or investments in infrastructure.Although the World Bank admits that the central effects of landmines are neglected by economicanalysis, this latter objective has nevertheless been of some concern to people involved in HMA.A second initiative that has promoted cost-benefit analysis in HMA is the UNDP-initiated ’Study ofSocio-Economic Approaches to Mine Action’. 16 This study contains both a principal presentation ofcost-benefit analysis and case studies of Laos, Mozambique and Kosovo. 17 The UNDP report presentsa rudimentary cost-benefit model, on the basis of cost of clearance versus future benefits, per squaremeter of land. In the Laos case, the key example is for UXO clearance of ’wet-season’ rice paddy,which represents a valuable asset in the relatively homogeneous economy of Laotian agriculturalcommunities. Benefits are calculated based on the expected net crop over the next 20 years and anassumed sales value by year 20. Future benefits are discounted at 12%. This gives an expected benefit(’net present value’) of US$ 3,540 per hectare. Total costs are composed of clearance costs (US$ 4,000-4,400 in 1999) plus labour costs (estimated at US$ 50, the rural daily wage rate). The conclusion is thatUXO clearance on ’wet-season’ rice paddy can not be justified solely on economic grounds, given thecurrent costs of the programme. The programme has suggested clearance costs can be brought downto US$ 3,000 for year 2000, which would shift the balance and provide a positive return on investments.13The first version of the report was launched in October 1998; a revised and expanded version came in December 1999.See Mine Clearance Planning Agency, 1998, note 2 above; Mine Clearance Planning Agency, 1999. Socio-Economic Impact Studyof Mine Action Operations in Afghanistan, Islamabad: MACA. Reference here will be to the 1999 version. For an assessment of thereport, see: Management Perspectives International, 2000. Desk Study on the State of Knowledge of the Effects of Mine Action, DraftReport R, Sida, January.14The report also discusses non-economic impact, such as that relating to trauma or to peacebuilding, and it establishescasualty rates at 10–12 as opposed to 20–24 in 1993.15Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan, 2000. Study of Socio-economic Impacts of Mine Action in Afghanistan (SIMAA), Draft Report,Islamabad, December..16UNDP, 2001. A Study of Socio-Economic Approaches to Mine Action, Draft Report, Geneva International Centre for HumanitarianDemining, 1 February. This report will be accompanied by an operational handbook, which is due in June 2001.17The study also introduces other approaches to impact assessment, including the Composite Indicator approach and theCommunity Studies approach, in addition to an emergency survey conducted by the Survey Action Centre in Kosovo, basedmainly on spatial data and population statistics.18 Sida’s CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION – Sida EVALUATION 01/06