EXPANSION OF COMPETENCE IN THE DESIGN AND EXECUTION OF RUMINANT LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THE TROPICS : WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ANALYSIS OF SYSTEMS OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

Evaluatn was prepared by contractor. While many problems were encountered & the organizational structure of the Consortium was found to be inadequate in providing incentives & directn for accomplishing full interdisciplinary coop approach to problem analysis associated with tropical livestock productn. Guyanan livestock subsectors were developed & computerized. An agreement was reached for consortium participatn in a livestock modeling workshop. Grant allowed PU to utilize 8 faculty members in tropical livestock productn, marketing, and economic problems. PU thus could respond to requests & increase the acceptability of the system approach to prob solving. Grant resources also allowed PU to expand its library materials concerning tropical livestock & systems analysis, train 3 PhD students, acquire 2 portable computer terminals which have the capability of providing on-line service to scientists in LDC"s, and train 2 Mali graduate students in systems analysis techniques. PU & Guyanese scientists completed a study of consumption habits with respect to livestock products and identified Govt of Guyana (GOG) policy objectives. One of PU"s major contributns was the developmt of analytical methodology appropriate for modeling aggregate livestock economy activities enabling simulative behavior or producers & consumers under alternate sets of technical market & policy situations. Also, PU has developed a cadre of trained economists familiar with LDC livestock productn & marketing probs. More model developmt was necessary than anticipated since the GOG shifted emphasis from beef to dairy production. It is recommended that PU devote more time to: expanding the scope of industry modeling; 2) develop a systems approach to livestock development problems in another country; 3) exercise an integrator catalyst role; and 4) provide additional economics and systems modeling support to other consortium members.