Shelter solutions for low income families in rural areas

Final PES, attached to a final evaluation (XD-AAM-113-A), covers the period 6/79-8/82 and is based on site visits and interviews with CACEN officials and project beneficiaries. The project has been largely successful in helping the Bolivian savings and loan system expand its services to include low-income rural families. Shelter loans ranging from $500 to $4,500 were provided to over 3,000 families; all A.I.D. loan and grant funding (over $4.1 million) was disbursed except for $500,000 which remains in escrow. It is recommended that the CACEN: (1) provide, by the end of 1/83, the USAID/B Private Sector Office with an assessment of the technical capabilities of the branch office of Mutual Potosi in Tupiza and of Mutual La Promotora in Cochabamba and with recommendations for upgrading those capabilities, together with a circular for distribution to all Mutuals requiring the use of the environmental checklist and a detailed modification of CACEN"s FHA-2 form for all type B and type C loans; (3) require all Mutual technicians to be familiar with and use the cost/design methodology for all types of loans and by 2/83, provide the USAID/B Private Sector Office with a plan to train the appropriate technical staff in the use of this methodology; and (4) prepare by 3/83, in coordination with the four Mutuals in the southern region, a report concerning the possibilities of working through cooperatives, support institutions, and private businesses to provide low-cost housing to their employees, thereby decreasing the administrative cost per loan to the Mutuals.