INERA support project; midterm evaluation report

Evaluation covers the period 7/79-2/81 and is based on document review, a site visit, and interviews with project personnel. Major objectives are not likely to be met prior to the project"s 1983 completion date. The excessive number of disparate activities called for in the Project Paper (PP) forced the contractor, Multi Agricultural Systems, Inc. (MASI) to focus on a few components and these required strong logistical support -- an area in which problems abounded. The failure of AID/W to review the PP more thoroughly and the lack of USAID/Z support added to the project"s woes. Finally, INERA"s Mulungu Station was in a declining condition. Despite innumerable practical problems, the chief of party conducted legumes and forage crop trials; demonstration terrace plots and seed multiplication and distribution have also been undertaken. The sociologist did not conduct systematic farming practices research, but instead focused on extension activities while neglecting the extension role of government agencies. Counterparts complained they were not assigned practical field problems nor English instruction; only two of 11 planned are receiving U.S. training. Priority activities for the future are to have social and agricultural scientists work together to determine the characteristics of the Kivu Region. The possibility of using Belgian sources and aerial photographs to determine crop research priorities should be seriously considered. Social science research should be more agressive and disciplined and extension trials should not be undertaken until both social and technical suitability have been determined. Strengthening social science competence will require recruitment from the best U.S. and Zairean social science faculties and additional personnel. Specifically, there is need to revise the PP (and the scopes of work) and resolve the project"s logistical problems, e.g., by granting more autonomy to the Mulungo team and by providing an administrator and a mechanic full-time. Also needed are a clarification of the MASI-INERA relationship (given INERA"s complexity) and an improved counterpart program.