Evaluation of Lutheran World Relief projects : Niger

Special evaluation, which focuses on 8 of 13 subprojects, covers the period l979-81 and is based on site visits, document review, and conversations with project beneficiaries and personnel. While results have been mixed, progress has been made in meeting the basic needs of farmers and herders for food and drinking water. The cost-effectiveness of the eight subprojects is high; in the last 3 years, $580,000 was expended to build 325 wells, 170 ha of irrigated gardens, plus secondary outputs (e.g., road construction, live fencing, and educational and health delivery systems directly benefitting l3,000 people. The four successful subprojects (Telemces, Tanguechmane, Filingue Wells, and Tahoua Gardens) have: rapidly increased the number of gardeners employed and garden surfaces planted over a 5-year period; successfully integrated women into gardening activities; encouraged local participation in well construction; stabilized settlements through more effective use of available land and water; and increased the variety and availability of vegetables. The less successful subprojects (Damana Gardens, Gaya, Tahoua Fruit Tree Nursery, Tillabery Mares) have been negatively affected by: lack of follow-through, untimely delivery of seeds and cuttings, inadequate fencing, bad site and participant selection, Forest Service inability to reach agreement with the local population on methods of tree protection and maintenance, collapsed dams, and the lack of coordinated management and supervision. Lessons learned include the need for a framework to encourage participatory self-help input and for regional general use plans. General recommendations are to: tighten financial control and project administration; assist subprojects until they are self-sustaining; emphasize subprojects providing more food and water; select six major clusters on which to focus resources and phase others out; avoid helping one group at the expense of another; allow staff members to spend more time in the field; and develop an effective live fence maintenance and exploitation formula.