ALTERNATIVE RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES (MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY)

PROJECT PURPOSE IS TO MARSHAL HUMAN AND INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES WHICH AID MISSIONS AND REGIONAL BUREAU CAN DRAW UPON FOR WORK IN DEVELOPING STRATEGIES. EVALUATION BASED ON PROJECT MANAGER"S ANALYSIS. ALTHOUGH PROJECT IS CURRENTLY PROGRESSING SATISFACTORILY, INITIAL DEVELOPMENT WAS SLOW. MSU STAFF EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY IN FORMULATING AND REACHING A CONSENSUS ON THE APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES CONSISTENT WITH PROJECT DESIGN FOR THE APPLIED RESEARCH ELEMENT. MSU"S DELAY IN COMPILING AN ACCEPTABLE FRAMEWORK FOR THE APPLIED RESEARCH WAS FURTHER AGGREVATED BY CHANGES IN USAID RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT OFFICE PROJECT MANAGEMENT. PROPOSALS FOR APPLIED RESEARCH HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED BY USAID EXCEPT FOR CONSULTING WORK IN HAITI AND RURAL PLANNING IN THE SUDAN DUE TO LACK OF DATA AND MSU"S LACK OF FIELD EXPERIENCE. LIKE APPLIED RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION OF MATERIALS AND INFORMATION TO MISSIONS AND LDC INSTITUTIONS HAS NOT MET EXPECTATIONS. THE SCHEDULED PUBLICATION OF A STATE OF THE ART PAPER AND THE 3 SCHEDULED CONFERENCES WERE NOT ACCOMPLISHED. DESPITE INITIAL PROBLEMS,PROJECT IS NOW PROGRESSING NICELY. TWO DRAFT PAPERS ON STRATEGIES,ONE PAPER ON AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION,AND ONE EXTENSION PAPER SETTING THE BASIS FOR CASE STUDY WORK IN LATIN AMERICA HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED. THESE PAPERS WILL LATER BE UTILIZED IN COMPILING THE STATE OF THE ART PAPER. TWO WORKSHOPS DEALING WITH ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO EXTENSION AND RURAL MARKET SYSTEMS FOR SMALL FARMERS HAVE IN PART FULFILLED THE REQUIREMENT OF THE SCHEDULED CONFERENCES. IT IS BEING RECOMMENDED THAT MSU"S BUDGET FOR CONSULTING AND TRAVEL TIME BE INCREASED. ALSO,THE DIFFICULTY OF ESTABLISHING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT (AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS,POLITICAL SCIENCE,PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION,ETC) WILL REQUIRE THAT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT BE MORE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED BEFORE PROJECT ACTIVITIES ARE PURSUED.