AUDIT REPORT ON REVIEW OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS OF USAID/NEPAL

Evaluation covers the period 7/1/78-12/31/80 and is based on an audit and review of project files, and visits to contractor"s offices and project sites. Some project objectives were successfully attained, although USAID has requested a 3-year project extension due to delays in training, procurement, and construction. New cropping systems technologies were generated and a foundation for a national research program was laid. Farmer use of double-cropping methods and distribution of mini-kits to help farmers produce improved grain varieties have resulted from these programs. Adequate maintenance/repair programs for AID-financed facilities are lacking at the Rampur Maize Research Station, where roofs were damaged by hail in 1/80 and never repaired. At the Bhariawa Research Station, 12 pieces of AID-financed equipment are unused. Also, these stations are not maintaining adequate accountable property records for the receipt and use of AID-financed commodities. Auditors recommend that the damaged building and equipment be repaired and that all AID-financed equipment be used or disposed of; that an adequate inventory of project commodities be taken; and that adequate property records be maintained on a current basis. One participant completed his training but did not return to Nepal. Instead he began a Ph.D. program at the University of Hawaii. Because the project will conclude before the participant completes his Ph.D., it is recommended that USAID require his return or file a claim for the cost of the AID-financed training. The contractor, International Agricultural Development Service (IADS), has been neither procuring AID-funded commodities according to host government or A.I.D. procurement procedures nor sufficiently documenting their decisions on suppliers. Auditors recommend that USAID/N ensure that GON requires IADS to follow procurement procedures that meet contractual obligations. An evaluation of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Services project is included (PD-AAI-213-A1).