Small applied research program on small farms

and LDC governments with improved methodologies for planning and evaluating small farm development programs. A single university or consortium of universities will be contracted to implement the project and to award small-scale research subcontracts to minority institutions, especially land-grant universities. Efforts will be made throughout the project to create a communications system to allow Bureaus and Missions to tap the developed expertise of minority institutions. Initial efforts will focus on identifying specific research needs appropriate to small contracts ($30-$35,000); informing minority institutions of the nature of the project; and assessing the interest and competency of these institutions. Although minority institutions will be favored, any institution may forward a proposal which addresses a specified A.I.D. problem area. A total of 50 research subcontracts will be awarded. Research will be conducted in three areas: (1) project design and evalution, e.g., analyzing the income distribution and employment impacts of a rural cooperative or estimating, for a proposed small water system project, the household demand for water; (2) social/economic feasibility analysis, e.g., developing for inexperienced planners simple manuals providing budgeting procedures to determine the economic feasibility of a rural ambulance service or a small water system; (3) policy analysis, e.g., predicting the impact on small farmers" incomes and production of changes in trade policy or input price subsidies. In order to facilitate the participation in the project of interested and talented professors, professors will instructed on A.I.D."s system and provided intensive assistance to match their skills to A.I.D."s needs and priorities. Collaboration between U.S. and LDC researchers will be encouraged.