Evaluation report : forestry education and development project, (686-0235), Upper Volta

External evaluation covers the period through 4/83 and is based on site visits and interviews. The project has suffered from delays, confusion, and ineffective management. More than 2 years were lost waiting for staff and equipment to arrive, the GOUV has failed to meet its financial obligations and to provide qualified management counterparts, and misunderstandings about funding procedures and the proper role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture advisors have led to distrust on both sides. The FS - traditionally more involved in forest law enforcement than in extension - lacks the human resources and attitudes needed to design and implement a model forest management plan; the proposed plan is only marginally replicable. Nevertheless, positive accomplishments have been notable. Vehicles and equipment are in place or on order, and infrastructural improvements at the Dindorosso Forest Training Center are nearly complete. Significantly improved curricula and teaching methods have been implemented at the Center and attendance has grown from 10 to 40 students; 19 students have graduated from the Center's revised 1-year program and 10 from its 2-year program, while 40 more 1-year students are due to graduate in each of the next 2 years. However, Voltaic instructors for the Center have not been available for training. The U.S. advisors have begun managing the Forest Reserve with procedures for inventory, fire control, planting, thinning, wood harvest and sale, mapping, boundary survey, and control of illegal harvest. It is recommended that the project be extended - contingent upon timely GOUV acceptance of and compliance with provisions to resolve problems with disbursement and staff assignments - in order to upgrade the Voltaic teaching staff, further revise the curricula and teaching methods, and raise the instructional level by instituting more stringent entrance requirements and providing at least 2 years of study. A full-time project manager should be appointed.