Evaluates project to support the Center for Rural Development Administration (CADER), which provides training for public and private sector agricultural and rural development administrators in the Dominican Republic. External evaluation focuses on a project amendment which proposed measures to correct CADER”s high staff turnover and uncertain financial viability. The evaluation covers the period 1984-87 and is based on interviews with staff from CADER and its parent institution, the Instituto Superior de Agricultura (ISA). Although CADER has exceeded its training targets in several areas, little progress has been made with regard to CADER”s personnel and financial problems. Resident staff members have continued to decline, from 11 in 1985 to 4 Dominicans and one advisor in 1987, as measures to reduce staff loss have been ineffective. Morale is low because of inadequate salaries and limited faculty participation in decisionmaking. What efforts were made to improve CADER salaries created resentment among other ISA staff and still fell far short of what CADER employees believed they had been promised. Moreover, changes mandated by the amendment concerning CADER decisionmaking authority have not been fully implemented by ISA. Nor has ISA provided counterpart funds (generated under the P.L. 480 program) to CADER as planned, although recently its financing efforts (through P.L. 480 and other channels) have improved. It is recommended that: ISA consider placing P.L. 480 funds designated for CADER”s endowment into an interest-bearing account and using the interest to increase CADER salaries (as much as 40% for staff with foreign M.S. or M.B.A. degrees); CADER be given more autonomy in developing training programs; USAID/DR consider providing additional training and TA to rebuild CADER staff capabilities); and ISA try to increase its presence in Santo Domingo, by mounting an aggressive marketing campaign and increasing activities in the city. Over the long-term, USAID/DR should consider a broad-based institutional development program to promote ISA as a national and regional leader in its fields of interest. Such a program would require staff upgrading and retention, increased decentralization of program and financial decisionmaking, and increased development capabilities, including marketing and income generation activities. This program could address the question of financial viability by continuing to encourage creation of an endowment, innovative income generation strategies, and better government support. Such a program could also provide support for training programs for middle level managers in areas outside CADER”s focus (e.g., forestry, animal production, and aquaculture).
