Agricultural systems support project

PES covers the period 3/82-8/82 and consists largely of a response by USAID/K"s Agriculture Office to a 7/82 special evaluation. USAID/K agrees that the project should be extended (at no additional cost) 1 year to 3/31/86 to allow its orderly completion and that preparations be made to institutionalize project components; for the latter, follow-on assistance, especially in research and human resources development, will be needed. Regarding participant training (PT) generally, increasing costs and the implementation agencies" difficulties in nominating qualified applicants have forced a sharp reduction in targets; to date, 52 persons have completed training at the Ph.D., M.S., or B.S. levels, and 114 are still in training. USAID/K disagrees with the evaluation"s recommendation that PT of Egerton College faculty focus on the M.S. rather than the Ph.D. levels, although it has taken seriously the recommendation that PT funds be used to provide in-country training for maintenance staff at Egerton, continued USAID/K support for which is planned. As recommended, USAID/K has held discussions with Kenyan entities on future use of PT funds in the agricultural co-op component and will, in line with the evaluation, place major emphasis on in-country training in 1984. Efforts to train lower-level personnel will be expanded in an upcoming project. USAID"s (unconditional) extension of the project will allow completion of the Kiboko Research Station, but more funds are needed to provide a steady source of electricity which, as the evaluation notes, is needed. USAID/K believes that the 5-year research plan recently developed for Kiboko and the recent acquisition of two social science consultants address the evaluation"s concern for adaptive research. Possible follow-on assistance to Kiboko will be decided following the 1984 evaluation. In line with the evaluation"s recommendation, USAID/K has extended needed TA to the Agricultural Finance Corporation in the project"s credit component. Numerous other issues are discussed in the report.