Project completion report : 633-0067, Botswana agricultural planning

Despite its successes, the project did not achieve its institution building objective. On the one hand, the project trained 29 Batswana in agricultural economics and rural development (against a target of 16-20) and thereby almost completely localized the DPS. On the other hand, the level of training was considerably lower than expected (six students obtained diplomas, six completed Masters' degrees, and 17 studied for the Bachelor's). In addition, most of the trainees who returned to the DPS failed to receive proper on-the-job training due to a lack of overlap between some U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisors and the returnees. As a result of these problems, the DPS remains without a sufficient number of Batswana trained to carry on rural development research, planning, implementation, and evaluation at the level provided by their expatriate advisors. Finally, although USDA staff improved DPS performance in a number of areas, they failed to conduct a sector analysis acceptable to the MOA or to develop policy or a discussion of basic issues as part of preparation for a 1982-87 National Development Plan. Several lessons were learned. (1) A more realistic appraisal at the outset that only a few DPS staff could directly be trained to the Master's level could have led to a more thorough evaluation of the credentials needed for sustained analytical work within the DPS after the departure of the advisors. (2) The project would have benefited from more focused on the job training with longer overlapping advisory periods and from a longer training program focusing on a training a selected number of Ph.D.'s. (4) Advisors, especially the Chief of Party, should have laid greater emphasis on conducting analytical work and policy formulation in order to develop trainees' skills in these areas.