Entente fund grain stabilization project evaluation Niger - Upper Volta

Evaluation covers the period 10/71-8/79 and is based on document review and interviews with project personnel and outside experts. Due to a project design that was too broad and an implementation plan that was too narrow, the project, now in its 8th year, has shown little progress since the initial 2-year pilot phase. Key assumptions have proven unrealistic, e.g., that the area could be self-sufficient in grain in non-drought years and, more basically, that NCO"s were adequate to solve the grain self-sufficiency problem. In addition, an insufficient range of technical assistance was scheduled. Limited interest in the project on the part of Sahelian governments has prevented expansion of NCO"s and thus of grain stabilization efforts region-wide; the only NCO"s existing are the two originally created -- the Niger Government"s Office des Produits Vivriers du Niger (OPVN) and the Upper Voltan Government"s Office National des Cereales (OFNACER). Neither OPVN nor OFNACER, moreover, has succeeded in stabilizing grain prices and markets. The project was plagued with difficulties from the outset. During Phase I (1971-75), personnel and equipment arrived late, delaying training and the construction of grain warehouses; the impact of the Sahelian drought disrupted commercial grain markets; NCO policies favored consumers at the expense of producers; and coordination between A.I.D., other donors, the Entente Fund, and OPVN or OFNACER was suboptimal. The project remained in limbo from 1975 to 1977 pending a decision on Phase II, during implementation of which (1977-79) OFNACER received added authority over Voltan grain market stabilization activities and upgraded its financial and administrative abilities, while OPVN--although on a more sound footing--continued to be hamstrung by its organizational distance from decisionmakers in the Niger Government. It is therefore recommended that A.I.D. discontinue the project as a regional effort. However, since the original project purpose remains inadequately tested, Sahelian governments should carefully consider alternative grain stabilization strategies.