CLUSA/India program and development; National Cooperative Development Corp./CLUSA oilseed processing management development project (II); National Dairy Development Board Oilseed Grower"s Cooperative project (NDDB-OGCP)

(CLUSA) to help develop the cooperative sector in India. External evaluation covered a period ending 6/88 and reviews CLUSA activities under four projects: (1) the Program and Development Support OPG, (2) the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) Phase II OPG, (3) the National Dairy Development Board"s Oilseed Growers" Cooperative Project (OGCP), and (4) the Cooperative to Cooperative Trade Project, managed by Cooperative Business International (CBI), CLUSA"s for-profit subsidiary. CLUSA deserves generally high marks for its efforts. (1) CLUSA has achieved the basic objectives of the Program Development and Support OPG and has successfully completed most of the activities in the grant"s implementation plan. (2) CLUSA has been an effective intermediary, providing technical support and monitoring of A.I.D. projects with the Indian cooperative sector, in particular the OGCP, which lacks formal A.I.D. targets because it was initiated as an experimental activity and has never been governed by formal implementation agreements. (3) Progress has been slow in implementing the NCDC Phase II OPG in reference to expenditure levels and training and consultancy targets. (4) CBI, working through CLUSA"s India office, has initiated business transactions for the export of nigerseed to the United States. A separate, new entity financed by the Indian and U.S. cooperatives without A.I.D. support should be established to promote cooperative to cooperative trade. Overall, CLUSA has proven itself to be an "honest broker", and any future A.I.D. support for the Indian cooperative sector must include CLUSA. On the other hand, if A.I.D. does not wish to support cooperatives in India there is no reason to continue funding CLUSA. Arguments provided by the evaluation notwithstanding, a 12/14/88 Mission review of the evaluation (minutes included in the ES) concluded that cooperatives do not play a central role in Mission"s near-term development strategies. Consequently, the Mission decided to discontinue support for CLUSA (and the four above-noted projects) after satisfying current commitments.