Rural financial markets (Ohio State University)

Missions and LDC institutions to design and implement rural financial market (RFM) interventions. Evaluation, based on the attached interim evaluation (XD-AAJ-306-A), covers the period 9/77-l0/80. Overall, the project is going well. The contractor (Ohio State University -- OSU) has made a major contribution to the development of a network of RFM specialists; has provided well received in-depth research and consulting activities; has produced an impressive array of research publications; has provided support and encouragement to RFM researchers in developing countries; and has disseminated information on RFM research, projects, and policies to specialists worldwide. The only difficulty has been the provision of short-term consultants, a problem due primarily to the lack of incentives (financial and otherwise) which OSU offers to encourage project staff to either work as consultants or broker the services of others. It is therefore recommended that OSU: (1) continue to identify short-term consultants to work on key problems (e.g., savings mobilization and credit delivery/collection sytems) where past studies suggest successful projects can likely be developed; (2) continue to develop the network of RFM specialists by identifying and training persons to work in areas currently unserved (e.g., French-speaking Africa), supporting RFM specialists from U.S. minority institutions, encouraging cooperation with regional associations such as those set up by the Food and Agricultural Organization, and by expanding the network to include persons with multidisciplinary backgrounds rather than relying so heavily on agricultural economists; and (3) improve the dissemination of project results to A.I.D. project officers and technicians.