Social and institutional analysis in agriculture and natural resource management project assistance : suggestions for improvement from Africa Bureau experience

Fifteen projects from FY"s 1984-1987 in the agriculture and natural resources sector were chosen for this review. A list of these projects is found in Annex 1. Analyses were subjected to a review based on the existing guidelines found in Handbook 3 for conducting social soundness analysis in PID"s and PP"s. A rating system was created to assess both the quality and utility of the analysis, and examples of the best analyses are given for each criterion. There are no guidelines for conducting institutional analysis. Accordingly, a basic set of criteria for institutional analysis is presented in this report, and the projects were subjected to a review based on these criteria and accompanying rating system. The following are some of the major findings and conclusions of this review. (1) Social and institutional analyses which related the analysis back to the project goal and purpose, and provided recommendations and alternatives to identified problems, were reflected in the project design. (2) Major areas of analytical strength in both PID"s and PP"s were in identifying obstacles to project implementation and providing possible solutions to these; increasing motivation and incentive for project involvement; and in assessing institutional capability for project activities. (3) Major areas of weakness found in these analyses were in assessing negative impacts, equity issues, communication issues, sustainability issues, and in providing recommendations to address these issues. (4) There are indications that the level and quality of analysis in PID"s has a direct influence on the level and quality of analysis in PP"s. (5) Review of the documents suggests that those projects which included professional social science input on the design team yielded higher quality analyses of greater utility to project design. (Author abstract)