Area nutrition improvement project

Final evaluation covered the period from the project"s mid-term redesign (1984) to 12/87 and was based on document review and interviews with project and related personnel. While none of the project"s components were without problems, the project as a whole was successful. Its most lasting achievement has been to develop CEPLANUT"s ability to function independently as a research and planning organization. To this end, the project provided long-term training for eight staff and short-term training for many others (exceeding target). Also, data processing equipment was purchased, along with more than 1,200 scales for use in growth monitoring. Other Zairian and international organizations are increasingly undertaking collaborative activities with CEPLANUT. CEPLANUT expanded its training and advisory role in nutrition education by developing several materials for health workers and primary school children. But, for various reasons (inflation, priorities in other sectors, etc.), the flip charts for the primary school curriculum and the nurses" manuals were not printed and there are currently no funds with which to do so. Under the nutrition surveillance activity, a methodology was set up to use already existing health zone (HZ) information sources to supply nutrition data to CEPLANUT. However, feedback on these data was not made available to HZ"s and other planning units in a regular and timely fashion. Finally, some 51 small projects were funded on a grant basis through CRANB from 1982-85 and 10 were funded on a reimbursable loan basis in 1986 and 1987. Nutrition education messages were developed and presented as part of some of these projects. On the negative side, no evaluations were conducted on the projects" impacts nor were any self-financing mechanisms set up; thus, the sustainability of these projects is uncertain - although some are now profitable and seem to be having the desired effects on nutrition. The project teaches that: (1) surveys and studies should be planned so that data collection does not overwhelm analysis capacity, especially in the early phases of a project when little training has been done; (2) the use of institutional contractors for complicated projects can ease Missions" management burden; (3) inadequate skills of some expatriates impeded progress initially. Other lessons (relating to training and budgets) underline the need for improved planning at the project design stage. (Abstract based in part on XD-AAX-742-A)