Cooperative development and the US Agency for International Development : an evaluation

to four cooperative development organizations (CDO's) is assessed in this report. The organizations include Agricultural Cooperative Development International, the Cooperative Housing Foundation, the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, and the World Council of Credit Unions. The grants have provided financial and program stability for the CDO's. They have enabled them to hire and retain qualified staff and technicians, coordinate and provide advanced training support, maintain contact with cooperative movements in developing countries, and maintain a presence with host country officials, USAID personnel, and other donor agencies. Without A.I.D. assistance, at least two of the CDO's would not be involved in international cooperative development. On the negative side, A.I.D. assistance to the CDO's has not been translated effectively into increased support for cooperative development at the Mission and Regional Bureau levels; overall, A.I.D. support for cooperative development appears to be declining in both absolute and relative terms. Moreover, although A.I.D. support for the CDO's has succeeded in developing a specialized expertise in providing cooperative development services, the CDO's are facing increasing problems in marketing that expertise, due in part to the decline in cooperative-specific projects within A.I.D. and in part to an increase in competition from consulting firms. Includes recommendations for both A.I.D. and CDO's and chapters on each of the four CDO's.