Evaluation of CRS food and development program in Ecuador : final report

480 Title II food distribution programs in Ecuador. Special evaluation, conducted by CRS and USAID/E, covers a period to 5/83 and is based on site visits and discussions with campesinos. The CD program appears consonant with CRS goals. Four current CD projects (in which community promoters use a problem-solving approach to community organization) seem to be on track and a fifth appears promising, although most communities remain in the early stages of group development and CRS"s group development model needs to be made more practical and to be evaluated more effectively. CRS sees little relation between its CD and food distribution programs, despite the development purposes which food can serve, e.g., as a catalyst for community cohesion, as capital for project financing, and as a means of teaching nutrition, hygiene, and group skills. As was observed, however, food can also have the anti-development effects of dependency and passivity, a "give-me" attitude, and - in sierra communities - the undermining of community work traditions. Specifically, the School Feeding (SF) program has not involved students in serving, ordering, and preparing food and the Maternal/Child Health (MCH) program provides little beyond food, although women"s groups undertaking additional activities (e.g., classes in literacy) have sprung up at most MCH centers. These negative effects, mainly due to a lack of qualified staff and of complementary physical and human inputs, must be overcome if the MCH and SF programs are to continue. More positively, the pilot Food for Work project in Manabi provides a fine example of how to use food effectively for CD purposes, and CRS urban day care centers have maintained a high quality, although the need for similar facilities in rural areas remains unmet. Recommendations are, inter alia, to: expand the day care portion of the Other Child Feeding program to rural areas; develop alternatives to the current MCH program; make SF a learning experience by increasing student participation and by incorporating health/nutrition education and school gardens into the program; and consider monetizing Title II food to capitalize CD projects.