Rural development planning and departmental development corporations (DDCs) projects

The evaluation covered the period 1978-6/85. Internal discord within the U.S. TA team, the limitations on its authority and that of the DDC"s, interruption of TA from 11/81 to 4/84 for political reasons, and scant national-level support impeded implementation of the RDP project and temporarily froze the DDC project in its tracks. When both loans were reprogrammed in 9/83, TA was provided by Bolivians on personal services contracts with USAID/B, and a Project Coordination Unit was created under USAID/B to replace the Ministry of Planning and Coordination, which had proved an inappropriate implementation entity. In mid-1984, it was decided to de-emphasize TA and focus on helping DDC"s establish mechanisms to develop private sector SP"s. Critical to this new thrust was the establishment in 8 DDC"s of financial credit units (UCF"s), which are expected to become full-fledged development banks and as such the project"s future implementation vehicles. Funding of the SP"s has proved an overcomplex process, involving coordination among the borrower, a commercial bank, the P.L. 480 Executive Secretariat, and USAID/B. Although 64 SP"s (most are agricultural and dominated by a single entrepreneur; all are production-oriented) are in the approval and procurement process, none have yet been implemented due to the cumbersome funding process, vague definitions of the target population and of SP selection criteria, hyperinflation, variance between the official and parallel exchange rates, and USAID/B"s assumption (beyond its resources) of procurement duties. Since reprogramming, TA, training, seminars, and publications have improved the capacity of the DDC"s to elaborate development plans and private sector SP"s. This stage of activities is a success and need not be continued. TA is also improving DDC capacity - through the UCF"s - for outreach, but gains in this area are jeopardized by the slow SP approval process. Because sufficient infrastructure and entrepreneurial capacity are not always available in rural areas, it seems most SP"s will be urban. Also, due to the limited size of the loan fund, the lack of acceptable SP"s, a widespread inability to design an SP (or to pay for its design), and a general unfamiliarity with banking and financial institutions, project benefits will reach only a limited portion of the target population. The use of PVO"s is recommended to broaden impact. Numerous recommendations, including some for a follow-on project, are made.