Project completion report : improved rural technology (RDA outreach)

Although early input and construction delays and the death in 1983 of the still unreplaced Swazi project director forced a 2-year extension, the project has been a complete success. Both VTU's are now fully operational, and 5 project-trained Swazi trainers, two at the Mahamba-Zombodze site and three at the Northern site, have trained over 160 Swazis to use appropriate technology for such activities as cinder block making, carpentry, cement jar making, and welding. The project also provided loans to enable 46 graduates to open a wide range of profitable businesses within their homesteads either in groups or individually. More than 5,000 people from within and outside Swaziland have visited the VTU's, which have received in excess of 250 requests for training and equipment. In a particularly successful venture, a graduate in the Mahamba-Zombodze site purchased a cinder-ram machine, trained three Swazi's in block making, and grossed over $4,167 in his first 6 months of business, thus creating a huge demand for training in this area. On the negative side, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives's (MOAC) failure to budget for the project's training costs threatens discontinuance of the project. Because the project was part of a larger and still ongoing UNDP/UNICEF effort, the MOAC and the Government of Swaziland in general have failed to realize that A.I.D. funding is being discontinued despite repeated notice to that effect. More attention should have been given to finding alternative ways to fund the training course.