Cooperative training

The evaluation covered the period FY85-89. The Center"s Training Unit established an extensive field training and follow-up service for cooperatives, but these efforts strained the Center"s human resources, and training objectives were not met. Radio shows were minimal, only one video was produced (at a high cost), a good correspondence course was developed but not aggressively promoted, and posters produced and distributed were generally promotional rather than educational. The Advisory and Support Unit (UAC), despite its inexperience, is managing a loan guarantee program that has proven to be an excellent mechanism to introduce cooperatives to formal lending and enhance their ability to support members" activities. Loans are in great demand and the default rate is zero, although several cooperatives complained that the length of the loan approval process caused them to miss the harvest activities the loan is intended to finance. The UAC is increasingly focusing its efforts on improving cooperative marketing by providing -- principally through the Center newsletter, which has quadrupled its circulation -- information on commodity and agricultural input prices and availability, improved storage techniques, and cooperative experiences in commercialization and product transformation. These activities improved marketing activities at the village level and played a role in increasing farm-based income. The Center"s Research and Documentation Unit produced 22 studies, but these tended to be theoretical and to treat broad subjects instead of specific cooperative issues; only 6 could be classed as practical works. The Center"s library is underused by other cooperative service providers, despite its central location. There is little question that the Center is the recognized cooperative development institution in Rwanda, although staff burnout and high turnover rates may affect the quality of some services; in this connection, the recent shift from a task to a case approach is a positive sign. The Center has made great strides in diversifying its revenue base, but it is questionable whether it will or even should be completely self-financing. One of the most serious problems is the lack of a usable management information system. Follow-up data are collected by either the Training Unit itself or the UAC, but the data are neither detailed enough to adequately measure the impact of the Center"s interventions nor useful as a tool for planning future follow- ups.