Evaluation of the H.P.I. program in Belize

Special evaluation covers the period 1974-3/81 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with Government of Belize (GOB) and project personnel. Despite rapid gains in the number of persons trained at the Belize National 4-H Center (the primary focus of HPI activity), the Center's technical capability to serve as an effective demonstration, reproduction, and distribution center has remained limited. From 1976-80, 91 youths in 16 groups (including, in 1980, 17 girls) received 3 months of Center training. Although production levels among trainees have generally been high, productivity of the livestock held at the center itself has declined over the period 1978-81. Poor livestock growth rates indicate the need for improved management practices and extensive training of 4-H Center personnel. HPI has also contributed to the Rural Education and Agriculture Program (REAP). From 1976-80 HPI funded the purchases of 5,651 broiler chicks for the 17 upper primary schools participating in REAP and one-day REAP training courses were held at the 4-H Center during 1979-80. HPI has also provided funding and livestock to the Belize Youth Development Center (a vocational training center); provided swine to the Belize Central Farm, which distributes the offspring to small farmers at subsidized prices; and provided livestock in support of two goat production projects of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). As of 1/83, HPI will no longer have a full-time resident representative in Belize. Therefore a system must be developed to ensure the continuity and continued improvement of HPI-related livestock work there. Also, intensive preparation for transfer of the 4-H Center to the Ministry of Labour in 6/82 is imperative.