Final report : Kenya cooperative training and education sub-project of the agricultural systems support project

In 7/82, ACDI was given responsibility for administering all overseas training for the Ministry of Cooperative Development (MOCD). Previously, the MOCD had neglected long-term training (sending only 6 participants vs. 50 targeted) at the expense of short-term training (106 persons sent vs. 50 targeted). Under ACDI management, the revised target of 18 long-term trainees was exceeded. Of 20 participants, 7 gained Master"s degrees, 13 received B.S."s, and all took part (during semester breaks) in on-the-job training with U.S. agricultural cooperatives and in USDA and A.I.D. short courses. Most participants were MOCD employees, although some were faculty from the Cooperative College of Kenya (CCK). Short-term overseas training was deemphasized under ACDI management, being provided to only 14 persons, most of whom were newly hired MOCD officials who received U.S. study tours. In-country training having been neglected previously by the MOCD, a variety of activities were conducted, benefiting, inter alia, co-op officials and training personnel, PCV"s, and MOCD employees. Also, workshops on educational material writing and participatory teaching techniques were held for CCK faculty, and MOCD field trainers were helped to develop pilot training programs in two remote districts for village co-op leaders; a teaching manual was developed in conjunction with the latter effort. Finally, assistance provided to the CKK included: (1) curriculum revision - administration, bookkeeping, and management courses were replaced with a single 6-month course on cooperative business management; (2) procurement of textbooks; (3) provision of materials to the college"s production facility for educational materials; and (4) in-country study trips for 29 faculty members. The major problems encountered by ACDI were: (1) cutbacks necessitated by the government"s austerity program; and (2) turnover among top-level MOCD training personnel. A lesson learned is that cooperative assistance projects should clearly limit participation in overseas training by government officials. In this project, because the MOCD was responsible for trainee selection, only one of the 141 trainees was an employee of a cooperative at the time of training. Recommendations are also made for future support to the CCK and to the co-op movement.