Chantiers Regionaux de Developpement : an evaluation

480 local currency generations to reduce Tunisia's unemployment rate through various work programs, including desertification control, soil and water conservation, improvement and maintenance of public works and archaeological sites, and building rehabilitation. The evaluation covers the period 1987-1989. The project has been successful in providing a safety net for unemployed workers, having created about 40,000 jobs and given support to more than 100,000 families. A rotation system has given most unemployed males the opportunity to work. The level of poverty is the basic criterion for eligibility, with more than 90% of project workers being unskilled old and young people having at most a primary education. Moreover, almost 85% of rural and 70% of urban beneficiaries come from either the agriculture or industry/construction sectors -- those most affected by drought and structural adjustment programs. In 1988, the project absorbed about 20% of total unemployment and created some 1,000 permanent jobs in the areas of forestry and soil and water conservation. The project directly supports the private sector and stimulates its participation in the project. However, private sector hiring of project field workers has been limited so far because of relatively inflexible labor legislation and the low productivity of project laborers. Although the cost-effectiveness of the project is difficult to judge, mechanized agricultural techniques appear to be cheaper than labor-intensive techniques in most cases. It should be noted, however, that a project designed as a safety net for the unemployed poor cannot simultaneously intend to maximize productivity. The practice of using municipal funds to pay project workers more than the market wage rate should be stopped, since it constitutes a disincentive to seek a permanent job elsewhere. The project should also establish work programs for women. Other recommendations are, inter alia, to improve linkages to the private sector (e.g., by giving priority to the brigades mobiles and creating small urban enterprises) and to integrate project administration with institutions in charge of employment policies. Financing of a safety net program should continue in the long term, even as the drought wanes and Tunisia's economy grows. However, the emphasis of A.I.D. support should shift to training, extension, and supervision, since the primary impediment to the creation of permanent jobs is the lack of basic skills among the unemployed.