Mid-term evaluation : agriculture and rural development technical services project (LAC TECH)

LAC TECH is a regional service activity that provides technical experts from private and public sources to USAID missions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, LAC TECH augments the technical capabilities of LAC/DR/RD direct-hire staff by providing long-term expertise in eight selected fields involving agriculture and natural resources management. The evaluation covers the period 8/88-5/92. The project is meeting its objectives. Services provided under the project have significantly improved the ability of both field missions and LAC/DR to carry out substantive, technically sound programs in the agriculture and forestry/natural resources management area. It has also enabled LAC/DR to be responsive to external requests for technical studies. Responses to interviews and questionnaires given to USAID staff in Washington, missions, and field posts were overwhelmingly positive in their assessment of project services. The principal reasons given for the success of the project are: a talented group of technical advisors; easy access to services; timeliness and responsiveness; and the fact that the cost of services is borne primarily by the project and not by the missions. LAC/DR/RD's management of the project has been good. An internal review of project management conducted late last year identified several areas for improvement, and progress is being made in implementing those changes. To date, the LAC TECH team has carried out more than 80 TDY assignments for USAIDs, as well as numerous assignments for LAC/DR/RD. Assignments have involved both technically specific subjects (e.g., agriculture quarantine inspection) and issues of broad program direction (e.g., consideration of Title III assistance). Specific outputs included a concept paper on policy analysis for private agricultural development projects, a synthesis of agricultural research, extension, and education in the LAC region, agribusiness marketing studies, and a natural resources management strategy. A broader issue, highlighting the need for a LAC TECH type response, is the continued erosion of technical agricultural capacity in Washington and the field. If the LAC Bureau hopes to continue to develop and implement technical programs in the manner it has, some critical level of technical expertise in USAID/W is necessary. LAC TECH can help provide that capacity, but adequate DH staff are necessary to backstop such a program and provide it with substantive direction. The evaluation team strongly recommends a follow-on project to maintain the level and quality of services that LAC TECH has demonstrated to be so critically necessary. In the simplest of terms, if LAC TECH did not already exist, it would have to be invented. This mid-term evaluation considers LAC TECH to be an invaluable activity for the LAC Bureau in particular, but also for USAID more generally. LAC TECH has thus far successfully stayed abreast of the reorientation of LAC mission programs toward a changing economic and political environment. (Author abstract)