Project SUSTAIN evaluation report ( project no. 936-5120)

food processing and marketing technology to small and medium-sized food processing companies, government officials, and USAIDs in targeted developing countries (SUSTAIN project). The project is being implemented by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA). Evaluation covers the period 10/91-3/96. With one exception, Project SUSTAIN has achieved the purpose and outputs set forth in the Cooperative Agreement to the complete satisfaction of the beneficiaries and USAID mission, having successfully provided many developing country small- and medium-scale food processing companies access to U.S. food industry experience and expertise on food processing, preservation, and marketing. The exception is that the special emphases on at-risk women and children and on enrichment of local and weaning foods was not realized. However, this was not a realistic expectation for a short-term volunteer TA program targeting mostly for-profit food companies. The technical focus has remained on quality control, food safety, waste handling, processing and preservation methods, packaging, and marketing. But the mix of interventions has differed from that projected at the outset. Because of their cost-effectiveness, workshops have received relatively greater attention than one-on-one TA consultations. SUSTAIN appears peripheral to USAID's current priority concerns. Though all missions in countries where SUSTAIN has worked have been very pleased with its performance, but are not prepared to finance its work, few, if any, missions have been willing to support bilateral SUSTAIN programs. SUSTAIN has performed a series of excellent short-term overseas missions in many countries, with a number of repeat, or follow-up, missions to some places. But there is a strong desire, in Central America at least, for SUSTAIN to plan and carry out a long-term program focused on a few priority subjects to achieve some concrete, measurable food industry strengthening objectives. SUSTAIN shares this desire. In order to do so, SUSTAIN would require an assured, adequate source of long-term funds, a resident SUSTAIN representative in each country or region of emphasis, and reasonable assurance of the availability of appropriate volunteers as needed. SUSTAIN is at a critical juncture. It has proven its value as a provider of effective short-term food technology expertise on behalf of USAID. Now it has the opportunity to become an independent PVO with diversified funding sources, providing longer-term services intended to achieve sector-wide changes in selected countries. This poses a question of whether it can do so while continuing to rely on volunteers and without an assured long-term commitment of funds. The following lessons were learned. (1) Many highly skilled U.S. food industry professionals (and university professors) are willing and able to serve as volunteers for short-term missions. (2) There is strong demand from developing country businesses for SUSTAIN services. (3) When all the pieces of a program -- suitable volunteers, programmatic training, a strong client, and reliable in-country USAID support -- come together, there can be real economic impact, as a result of SUSTAIN's services (e.g., organic coffee in El Salvador). (4) There may be other technical fields aside from food and nutrition that could benefit from using SUSTAIN's volunteer approach. (5) SUSTAIN has not obtained concrete information about how its services have been utilized, largely because it did not incorporate any procedure for doing so into the workshop and technical consultations planning and implementation process. It would be feasible to do so. (6) USAID has difficulty in recognizing that it has created a valuable and unique resource -- one that is prepared to graduate to independent status and that could be extremely useful to USAID in the future. SUSTAIN has succeeded in establishing productive links between the United States and third world food industry sectors, to the benefit of each. (7) USAID's funding, project, and contracting mechanisms have made it difficult for SUSTAIN to participate more fully in broader USAID programs that could benefit from its services. Competition for funds between missions and the Global Bureau, and between contractors, appears to limit USAID's utilization of SUSTAIN.