Implementing the USAID-McNamara mandate : what big foreign donors can do about getting the benefits of rural development to the small farmer

AID with information on what can be done to help the small farmer in the Third World. Particular emphasis is being placed on specifying the level and type of small farmer involvement so as to maximize small-farmer benefits; it is assumed that for this to have a long-term effect, projects must ultimately carry themselves, and this has led us to look for mechanisms to make projects self-sustaining. The research approach is primarily inductive: it is based on a detailed examination of the various activities and design of more than 40 rural development projects operating in the Third World (for list of projects, see Attachment A). The report summarizes the author"s work to: (1) specify the determinants of effective local action in rural development projects; (2) identify cost-effective methods of data collection; and (3) provide field support to rural development projects for the design and implementation of information systems.