Final report for agriculture and rural development technical services project (LAC TECH I, 598-0654) August 15, 1988-February 15, 1994

The amount and impact of the TA provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisors under the RSSA surpassed project targets. USDA advisors provided 28 person-months of TA to as many as 14 LAC missions, delivered 4 workshops, and produced 24 technical papers and cross-cutting analyses as well as an educational video in the areas of food policy, forestry and natural resources policy, and plant protection and quarantine. Analyses and recommendations were widely distributed in the field and throughout USAID/W and contributed significantly to the USAID/LAC's programming in agriculture and natural resources. In addition, a significant amount of information services were provided by the Technical Inquiries Staff of USDA's Office of International Cooperation and Development (OICD) and by USDA's Miami Market News Service. Lessons learned are as follows. (1) USDA advisors became key players in articulating agriculture and natural resources strategy for the LAC Bureau. The series of cross-cutting analyses and lessons learned-type bulletins should be continued under LAC-TECH II. Where possible, USDA workspace within LAC Bureau offices should be retained. (2) The efficiency and effectiveness of implementation was greatly increased by assigning a full-time coordinator to RSSA administration. (3) While the management of activities of several advisors under one umbrella RSSA was not smooth early on, financial monitoring units set up by OICD and the RSSA coordinator make it feasible and desirable to consolidate RSSA activities under LAC TECH II.