SOCIAL ANALYSIS OF AID PROJECTS : A REVIEW OF THE EXPERIENCE

development assistance projects depends essentially on their social acceptability and appropriateness, A.I.D. has made social soundness analysis (SSA) a regular part of its project process. This comprehensive study of SSA was designed to identify the most useful features of SSA; determine ways in which A.I.D. procedures encourage or discourage the use of social analysis during the project design process; and recommend new guidelines for SSA for inclusion in the revised Project Assistance Handbook. Among the study"s findings were: (1) at least 25% of the SSA"s studied significantly influenced the design of proposed projects; (2) substantial differences exist in the quality and usefulness of first generation SSA; (3) A.I.D."s new emphasis on careful design, implementation, and evaluation of projects produced a better working environment for SSA; and (4) although SSA incurs significant costs, costs may be greater for a project that failed due to a lack of SSA. Among the study"s recommendations are: (1) SSA should remain an essential element in designing A.I.D. projects; (2) A.I.D. should disseminate SSA"s shown to be exceptionally useful; (3) efforts should continue to integrate SSA into the entire project process, e.g., send SSA personnel to the field earlier and expand their tours of duty when confronted with complex social factors; and (4) A.I.D. should compare the costs of preparing different kinds of project analyses with the costs incurred when projects fail. Appended to the study is a list of revised guidelines to improve SSA. The guidelines require analysis of: (1) the primary problems of poverty and development addressed by a proposed project; (2) the project"s basic goals, purposes, and assumptions; (3) the social environment that will affect and be affected by the project with emphasis on the difficulties to be expected; (4) an evaluation of local participation throughout the planning and implementation phases; (5) the distribution of costs and benefits among the target groups; and (6) the sustainability, replicability, and diffusion of project benefits.