Evaluation of the agricultural export services project (AESP)

Mid-term evaluation covered the period 9/89-6/95. Efforts to improve yields for selected export crops have had varied success. The mini-set yam subproject was the most successful, with yield increases reaching more than 400%, with a positive spread effect to dasheen and other root crops. However, due to greatly increased input costs as well as high interest rates for production credit, most small and medium farmers have not been able to achieve the yields of which their crops are capable. Earnings from a range of export commodities have evidently increased as a result of the project"s pre-clearance facility. The reformulation of the Agricultural Marketing Corporation has assisted 30 exporters in the assembly, packaging, and quality control of export commodities, which has probably increased export earnings. Coffee producers are now in a better position to negotiate prices with the Coffee Industry Board, which in turn has increased export earnings at the farm level. Increased investment in traditional crops, including coffee, cocoa, and bananas is fairly evident, although this increase seems to have been in area under production rather than in investment in improved technologies. A general shift in investment towards non-traditional crops (root crops, tree crops, and vegetables), while not great in magnitude, has led to significant increases in export levels. The quasi-privatization and renovation of the AMC complex is providing more efficient services for up to 30 agricultural exporters. The availability of pre-clearance facilities at the international airports in Kingston and Montego Bay has resulted in far more efficient procedures for exporters. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that either the public or private sector will be able to maintain these services when project support ends. Currently, private sector services for agricultural exporters are limited to those provided by the Jamaica Exporters" Association (JEA). To the extent that the project has strengthened the JEA"s image through subcontracts to privatize the pre-clearance facilities and to conduct feasibility studies for future subprojects, it has probably made private sector agricultural exports more efficient. Although no training plan existed until very recently, farmer training in cultural practices has taken place -- most likely in excess of the 1,200 farmers targeted -- some of it directly attributable to the project. Also, the University of Florida, through a subcontract with RONCO, has conducted five seminars, four on integrated pest management and one on conservation biology. The long-term training component seems to have been dropped early on. For reasons unknown, the proposed use of intermediate financial institutions to jointly support subprojects was never implemented. Instead, the project seeks to improve the business operations of cooperatives and other farmer organizations through the mandatory presence of a manager in all subprojects approved since the beginning of 1995. While the project has met the targets in the project paper, these targets (8% increase per annum in non-traditional exports) are in fact too low to be an indicator of success -- especially since the project"s base year was the year in which Jamaica was hit by Hurricane Gilbert. Further, the vagueness of the language in the project paper ("selected crops," for example) leaves much room for ambiguity. In terms of traditional crops, coffee and cocoa exports have experienced annual increases of more than 8%, while banana exports have remained the same. In the case of non-traditional crops, such crops as yams, dasheen, and papayas have experienced phenomenal increases in export volumes while many other crops have experienced smaller increases. Lastly, while it is quite evident that the miniset yam technology subproject was directly related to the increases in yam production and exports, the case is far less clear with crops such as coffee and cocoa. The most definite area where increases in export commodities can be attributed to the project is the case of the pre-clearance facilities at Jamaica"s two international airports.