Project completion report : Central Tunisia rural development project

The project implemented 7 subprojects (SP's), including one to establish CTDA planning and evaluation capacity for SP management. Additional SP's included the following. (1) One SP established on-farm irrigation infrastructure and promoted the diffusion and institutionalization of appropriate on-farm water management practices. The SP improved or installed 1,331 wells, and efforts are underway to create associations for self- management of the irrigated perimeters and to increase cost recovery. (2) A rangeland management SP was less successful. It introduced improved range and herd management systems on 25 perimeters, but only 3 of the perimeters showed sufficient improvement for stockraisers to continue the practices and encourage nonparticipating farmers to adopt them. (3) Due to internal coordination problems and the lack of a soil testing facility, the dryland farming systems research SP also had very limited results. (4) A rural potable water SP established and refined a coordinated, decentralized institutional approach to rural potable water operations and maintenance with user participation and user fees. The SP led to the adoption of a national strategy to promote beneficiary participation in water system management. (5) Save the Children Federation established a Tunisian PVO to implement community-based integrated rural development activities. By 1984, the two organizations together had initiated more than 40 projects in the areas of agriculture/nutrition, income generation, community buildings, and health and sanitation. After 1984, the PVO was assisted in becoming an autonomous Tunisian organization -- the Fondation Tunisienne du Developpement Communautaire. FTDC has now taken initiative in organizing a federation of Tunisian community development NGO's. (6) A rural extension and outreach SP trained several Tunisian personnel, in-country and in the United States, established demonstration plots for both fruit trees and vegetables, and increased the spread of fruit, nut, and olive trees throughout the region.