An assessment of A.I.D. activities to promote agricultural and rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa

(1) A summary of the evolution of A.I.D. policy and strategy from the early 1960's to the present stresses the influence of evolving U.S. policy interests in the area. (2) An analysis - both by general sector and, within agriculture, by subsector - is presented of the level and content of A.I.D. assistance to the region and its six countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Cameroon, and Malawi). (3) The present study's analytical framework is described, with an emphasis on its view of development as a generalized process of the balanced accumulation of "capital" - a term defined broadly to include human and other forms of productive resources. (4) The ways in which the effectiveness of U.S. assistance is conditioned by A.I.D.'s decisionmaking processes and programming procedures are examined. It is argued that the pattern of the Agency's evolution has created a career system that militates against good programming, design, and implementation. (5) The evidence from the country studies regarding the impact of major agricultural activities supported by A.I.D. is summarized, as is A.I.D.'s support for rural infrastructure projects and for rural health and population activities. Overall conclusions are that the impact of A.I.D. assistance in sub-Saharan Africa has been severely limited by: distinctive conditions in the region (the physical extensiveness and harshness of the countries, the absence of infrastructure, the rise of central planning after independence); Africa's low priority in A.I.D.'s scheme of things; the absence of a clear political constituency for long-term foreign assistance, which has left A.I.D. vulnerable to faddish policy shifts and pressures from special interest groups; and the lack of an Agency-level consensus on the critical elements of agricultural development strategy, together with persistent overoptimism concerning technology transfer. These conclusions are specified in terms of A.I.D. programs in selected subsectors, the potential advantages of A.I.D.'s emphasis on country Missions, and A.I.D.'s programming system; related recommendations are made. Includes 14 tables, 16 figures, and a 13-page bibliography (1950-87).