Evaluation of OIC/Gambia agricultural training and production project

Special evaluation covers the project phase-out period (CY1982) approved under Amendment No. 1 and is based on document review and interviews with TGOIC and local officials and with TGOIC graduates. The project has met its revised targets. A total of 53 (vs. 50 planned) students have been graduated, resettled on their farms, and provided with technology/input packages and follow-up extension visits; several of these student farmers have produced yields higher than national historical figures. However, TGOIC has failed to provide students with instruction on animal traction or animal health, although pullocks were provided as part of the package. Some 40% of those interviewed had sick or dead bulls. The project"s provision of free training and an expensive technology/input package may have created some problems: (1) a potential weakening of the extended family by making farming more individualistic and less communal; (2) creation of false expectations for future TGOIC programs (it is unlikely the Center will continue to exist); (3) altered perceptions regarding the acquisition of agricultural credit and equipment; and (4) a burden on the Gambian government, and possibly A.I.D., to determine a means to keep TGOIC operating. TGOIC maintenance and financial control have been inadequate. TGOIC is currently seeking new funding sources to continue operations, but it is uncertain whether these efforts will be successful. If not, it is possible that the project operated by the Cooperative League of the U.S.A. (CLUSA) could make use of the Center. Recommendations are: (1) if A.I.D. wishes to provide limited assistance to TGOIC graduates, animal health services would be the most helpful; (2) TGOIC should make sure its graduates understand that little material help will be available in the future; (3) TGOIC student files constitute a small data-base on Gambian farmers and should be made available to socioeconomic researchers.