North Shaba maize production

RESEARCH AND EXTENSION COMPONENT DEVELOPS TECHNOLOGIES SUITED TO LOCAL FARMING SYSTEMS, TRAINS EXTENSION AGENTS, MAINTAINS DIALOG BETWEEN AGENT, FARMER, RESEARCHER. GROUP/COOP DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT ENCOURAGES COOPERATION, EFFICIENCY THROUGH FORMATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS. INTERMEDIATE TECHNOLOGY CENTER TRAINS BLACKSMITHS, MECHANICS IN MAINTENANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF EQUIPMENT. BANK CREDIT IS EXTENDED TO MERCHANTS, COOPS FOR GRAIN PURCHASE; FARMER GETS PRODUCTION CREDIT. TRANSPORTATION IS IMPROVED BY REPAIR, CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE OF ROADS, RAILHEADS. PROJECT MONITORING, EVALUATION COMPONENT GATHERS, ANALYZES DATA, RECOMMENDS CHANGES IN PROJECT DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION. Amendment No. 1 (undated) extends the project by one year, provides an additional $3.6 million in funding, and revises the project purpose to increase small farmer net income by 75% (rather than 100%) by raising corn production from 27,000 MT to 49,000 MT (rather than 60,000). The revised project will place greater emphasis on the research/extension (to incorporate a greater farming systems focus, as per original design) and farmer group development components (reducing the number of farm centers to receive assistance and emphasizing group economic viability). Also, marketing/credit activities will be limited to increased statistics gathering, fuel sales and truck rentals to small merchants and farmer groups, and possibly a small farmer credit program; grain storage will be transferred from the intermediate technology component to research/extension and farmer groups (soap-making has been temporarily eliminated, as well); and road/bridge rehabilitation will be stretched out and the number of bridges cut back. (PD-AAT-062) Amendment No. 2 of 2/83 extends project 3 years to 9/86 and redesigns components to function independently and with emphasis on local and private sector capabilities in order to sustain project impact after project completion. The amended project will: (1) turn road and bridge works over to Estagrico, a public/private agro-industrial firm which will also gradually acquire project management responsibilities; (2) eliminate the intermediate technology subsystem and fully integrate with Estragico those maintenance and tool facilities that support road equipment maintenance; (3) integrate agricultural data collection and analysis with the Department of Agriculture (DOA); (4) turn over agricultural research in North Shaba to national programs and as soon as feasible integrate both DOA and project extension with Estagrico extension efforts; and (5) terminate funding for farmer development groups and the Ngaba training center and terminate project marketing activities (now capably handled by the private sector). As a condition to continued funding, the GOZ will provide viable systems for sustaining the above functions. How to ensure continued seed production has not yet been determined. (PD-AAQ-964)