ANNUAL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT (9/30/79)

Evaluation covers the period 9/29/78-9/30/79 and consists of the annual administrative report prepared by the project"s implementing agency, the University of Wisconsin (UOW). Indepth work and applied research was carried out in Tunisia and Thailand. An onsite team gathered information on Tunisia"s planning and administrative capabilities, agricultural methods, natural resource management, land tenure and settlement patterns, and regional economic systems. This information was used to develop training modules and mapping activities. The UOW staff evaluated the Tunisian Renewable Energy project and planned pre-feasibility studies for central Tunisia. The data system for the area, which will provide information on regional and sectoral growth for potential projects, is nearing completion. In Thailand, a three-person team investigated provincial planning and administration and helped design a new A.I.D. project. Alternative regional planning systems were proposed for the USAID/Honduras agricultural sector program. Resources were identified to support a study of the Thai Northeast Rainfed Agricultural Development project. The study, written by a five-person multidisciplinary team and submitted to AID/W, recommends several technological and organizational interventions to promote sustained agricultural growth in Thailand. Finally, host country decentralization in Sudan was compared with that in Kenya and Tanzania to determine its impact on A.I.D. projects. Drafts were prepared for two state-of-the-art reports on regional planning and area development. UOW and USAID conferred on the status of A.I.D. projects in the four critical areas of Asia, Latin America, East Africa, and Tunisia. A domestic conference involving a panel of visiting critics was held 4/2-5/79 and plans were made for a 1980 international conference. UOW submitted eight country/consulting reports to A.I.D. and planned a project description brochure and newsletter.