PL-480 Title III (GAO) : financial and management improvements needed in the food for development program

480 Title III) program in three countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, and Senegal. PES, prepared by USAID/Bolivia, covers the period 5/78-8/85 and summarizes an attached General Accounting Office (GAO) report (PC-AAA-050). The GAO evaluation does not contain any Bolivia-specific findings or recommendations. The report does, however, make several broad recommendations to the Administrator of A.I.D. and the Secretary of Agriculture for improvements in the overall management and implementation of the P.L. 480 Title III program. Overall, the problems the GAO notes - i.e., recipient governments" problems in managing local currencies, implementing development projects, and adopting policy reforms - represent instances where terms of the Title III agreements are not being met. The GAO recommends that: (1) Missions help recipients to establish systems which properly account for receipts and disbursements of Title III local currencies; special accounts should be a central mechanism of such systems; (2) proposed Title III agreements describe how recipients and A.I.D. Missions plan to implement, manage, staff, and monitor development projects and activities or how such capacities will be provided; and (3) requests for Title III funds to support other donors" projects identify discrete activities which will receive support and how local currency expenditures and project implementation will be monitored. In Bolivia, the PRD Division project manager will be responsible for taking these recommendations into consideration during implementation. He will also be responsible for monitoring Agency directives pertaining to the implementation of the Title III program. The GAO also recommends that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, before approving Title III agreements or annual commodity deliveries, ensure that adequate host government accounting systems are in place or steps are underway to develop such systems. Approval of annual commodity deliveries should also be contingent on host government progress in implementing development projects and adopting policy reforms or on evidence showing that problems are being addressed. The findings and recommendations of the GAO report were utilized in designing USAID/Bolivia"s follow-on Title III proposal.