Mid-term evaluation of Mali AID project, 625-0937 : village reforestation

Mid-term special evaluation covers the period 6/81-6/83 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with officials from USAID/M, Government of Mali, and independent organizations and with residents of 14 project and nonproject villages. Three 1-ha tree nurseries have been created at Mopti, Bandiagara, and Djenne, although construction of infrastructure is behind schedule, as are nursery improvements needed for seedling cultivation. The efficiency of the nurseries has been low, however, due to poor management; current resources could yield a much higher output. Success rates of demonstration woodlots at Mopti and Bandiagara were 60% and 30%, respectively (as of 6/83), and were 40% (1982) and 74% (1983) for the village woodlots at the two stations considered cumulatively. Individual plantings of shade trees were satisfactory, but planting for alignment was not successful; neither live hedges nor windbreaks have yet been planted. Efforts to popularize reforestation suffered from lack of technical expertise; efforts to popularize improved wood stoves were counterproductive as the stove models were not accepted by village women. There are several problem areas - the vagueness of the project design; the falseness of the assumption that planting village woodlots for firewood would be profitable to villagers (this component should be phased out and replaced by planting trees for fertilization, erosion control, and shade); the lack of decisionmaking authority by station chiefs and those below them in rank; an apparent lack of initiative at all project levels; and the need to improve the poject"s technical quality by assigning a technician to serve as associate to the Direction Regional des Eaux et Forets (DREF) in Mopti, increasing the technical and extension training of Malian personnel, and preparing technical reports to project management. Adoption of a cost accounting system for use in the economic and technical analysis of project components by function and objective and the promotion of private nurseries are also recommended.