Africare, Inc. small-scale agribusiness matching grant : third periodic report, August 1, 1987-July 31, 1988

During this third year, nine new major agribusiness projects were brought on line and project expenditures were brought more closely in line with those anticipated in the project proposal. An evaluation of the program was completed early in the year and while the findings were positive and encouraging, a number of recommendations were made. Africare has addressed those which could be attended to under the resource configuration of this last year of the first phase. Other measures - including a program-wide Agribusiness Strategy Meeting and the strengthening of reinforcement of project- and national-level training have been provided for in a 2-year project extension. One of the most important themes to arise thus far is the dire need for regular follow-up and rapid remedial training for enterprise managers in relevant technical areas and business management. It is apparent that although many of the agribusiness projects have been completed from the point of view of direct project fund disbursement, many of the groups remain weak in business planning and recordkeeping. Consequently, some of these groups will continue to benefit from training under this program beyond the period of direct assistance. During the second phase, local-hire Agribusiness Training Officers will be engaged to monitor projects for participants" mastery and application of training, and to coordinate remedial and general training. Training will be conducted on a needs-specific basis at periodic intervals during the life of each project, and national agribusiness workshops will bring participants together to receive training of more general relevance and to share experiences and ideas. At the end of the third year of the program, A.I.D. expenditures ($720,000) are on target and matching expenditure are $61,000 behind the anticipated target of $690,000. This is not seen as reason for concern as private funds actually raised to date are in excess of $800,000. (Author abstract)