FARMING SYSTEMS RESEARCH

This evaluation, which covers the period 4/78-3/81, is based on visits to project sites, a review of project documentation, and interviews with project personnel and beneficiaries. The project designers were overly optimistic regarding the project"s five-year timeframe -- 15 to 20 years are usually needed to develop a research institution. Major problems include slowness in selecting academic participants, confinment of project activities to prototype areas, and the small number of skilled professionals in the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). In addition, overall coordination and management of the project by USAID, the MOA, and the contractor (Washington State University) is weak. Because agriculture is a small part of the nation"s economy (an estimated 71% of rural incomes is derived from migrant labor), MOA research policies and priorities are not as advanced as they might be. The assumption that project prototype sites would be located in areas with access to inputs and markets proved erroneous, as was the assumption that baseline data would be available from previous research. Because the project has generated high expectations among local farmers, steps must be taken to increase their participation. Early in the project, the MOA questioned the establishment of a separate farming systems research unit. The evaluation team agrees that the targetting of this output was unrealistic and should be deleted. The evaluators conclude that if a reasonably reliable set of cropping guidelines could be produced within the next 2-3 years, the project will have made a valuable contribution to agricultural development in Lesotho. Other recommended actions include heavy emphasis on food crop production and on developing constraint-specific technologies; extending research efforts beyond prototype areas; recruiting students from the National University of Lesotho for specialized on-the-job or participant training; and reorienting the project, giving top priority to the development of the MOA"s Research Division as a national institution.