Joint assessment of US assistance programs in Senegal; final report 1980

Against these gloomy facts, this study reports on current USAID/Senegal projects in livestock, grain, irrigation, and rural health. All programs suffered from implementation and productivity problems due to insufficient technical assistance from A.I.D. and poor management on the part of the Government of Senegal (GOS). Full reports on all but the health program are impossible due to a lack of information collection. Of the 26 watering ponds planned for the Eastern Senegal livestock breeding program, only two were dug in 1979 and only 10 more are planned for 1980. Protracted labor negotiations, lack of beneficiary participation, and non-existent plans for meat marketing were the primary reasons for low output. The grain production project, designed to increase millet production, diversify crops, and provide grain self-sufficiency, failed because unanticipated blockages throughout the grain production system (from seed delivery to marketing) reduced the amount of grain that went to consumers. Further, consumer preference for rice and the lower cost of imported millet have called the whole project into question. While the Bakel irrigated perimeters project did achieve some success (of farmers surveyed, 40-68% enjoyed a subsistence consumption surplus and 7-23% had a marketable surplus), insufficient worker training and a lack of timely technical assistance and provision of materials hampered project effectiveness. The Sine Saloum health care project to establish a system of village health huts to assist in childbirth, dispense first aid and basic medicines, and improve sanitation, formally began in 1977. Due to poor management, however, huts in only two of five target areas are functioning. It is recommended that A.I.D. stress increased rural productivity and improved project management; forge better linkages between individual projects and GOS macroeconomic needs; involve beneficiaries in the original project design; improve efficiency by increased use of local currency; and establish, wherever possible, collaborative project processes with other international donors.