Assessment of the Sahel development program

The report specifically examines: the program"s general economic effects; A.I.D. efforts in the agriculture, livestock, forestry/ecology, human resources, and health sectors; regional coordination by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and by the Club du Sahel; program management; and the implications of economic and political change for the SDP. The SDP is, the report concludes, while far from perfect, one of the best examples of international cooperation for development. Its quality and effectiveness have steadily improved as we have gradually come to better understand the Sahelian context, and its original objectives remain sound and feasible, despite problems encountered in their pursuit. The following are among the major lessons of the SDP: (1) Because available technical packages are inadequate for most Sahelian areas, several food production and integrated development projects should be phased out or substantially reoriented. (2) Agricultural research must be strengthened, refocused on farming systems and on the development of national research systems, and selectively expanded; attention must also be given to strengthening agriculturally-oriented institutions and education. (3) Government agencies should restrict themselves to roles that cannot be appropriately performed by the private sector, and the private and cooperative sectors enabled to take up input and marketing functions. (4) Policy constraints to economic and agricultural development must be resolved. (5) River basin and irrigation development should be continued, and forestry and environmental efforts intensified. (6) Livestock production activities should be initiated only when a clearly adequate technology is being introduced. (7) A.I.D. has taken on too many projects, in too many widely dispersed geographical and sectoral areas. (8) Project design must give scrupulous and realistic attention to the financial and administrative capabilities of Sahelian institutions and of A.I.D. management resources.