Evaluation of the Kenya national range and ranch development project

Special evluation covers the period 11/72-9/79 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with Government of Kenya (GOK) officials and donor personnel. Due to faulty design and poor implementation, the project"s goals are not being achieved. Although difficult to assess, pastoralists" real income does not appear to have risen; settling pastoralists on smaller, surveyed pieces of land is counterproductive. Livestock quality has increased but has favored -- as have the few marketing improvements -- few and often wealthy ranchers. It is unlikely that the anticipated increase in market offtake from 7-8% to 11-12% by 1984 will occur. Moreover, insufficient time and administrative/logistical support were programmed; key assumptions proved faulty (e.g., that droughts would have little effect and that production would respond to changes in demand); A.I.D. administration was uneven; and coordination bewteen A.I.D. and the GOK was poor. Regarding outputs, participant training is on track, but only 102 of 229 planned reservoirs, one of 37 boreholes, and 3,600 of 5,000 miles of track are in place. Fifty of 60 planned group ranches, all 21 cooperative ranches, and an unknown number of commercial ranches have been established. AID-funded equipment is unsuited to the Kenyan ecosystem and is being poorly maintained. Rather than finance investments from profits, newly-created group ranches have gone into debt at the urging of AID- and GOK-funded credit organizations. Finally, no land use study was conducted and the GOK did not address recommendations made in the meat processing study. In sum, the report"s 39 recommendations indicate that A.I.D. assistance should continue if: (1) the project aims for gradual change over a longer time frame; (2) it is recognized that pastoralists have a superior knowledge of their ecosystem and how to survive in it; (3) greater concern is given to minor improvements in the subsistence system; and (4) less emphasis is placed on commercial marketing and extensive credit.