St. Vincent integrated management production and marketing project

The purposes were to (1) increase the productivity and income of farmers in St. Vincent by providing marketing and production support to enable them to increase the quantity and quality of their agricultural produce; and (2) improve the support services offered to farmers by the Organization for Rural Development (ORD), a non-profit indigenous organization. ORD"s management and operational capabilities were to be strengthened to deliver services more effectively. The Grant was amended on June 24, 1986 to increase the funding by $250,000, (to a new total of $1,750,000) to provide assistance in cocoa production. On September 4, 1987 an Action Memo shortened the project by 1.5 years (PACD) revised to 12/31/88), simply consolidating the expenditure timeframe and leaving the objectives unchanged. The specific intent of the decision to shorten the Project was to consolidate the RDO/C portfolio. The Project was viewed as making sound progress toward meeting the objectives, and it was therefore thought to be a reasonable candidate for early termination. A final evaluation (PD-AAY-022) was conducted in May 1988. The evaluation report stated that ORD is well on the way to combining service and business into a self-supporting institution that will benefit small farmers significantly. The most noteworthy recommendation was that A.I.D. continue funding for at least 2 more years to enable ORD to follow through on progress already made and not lose the benefits gained in the last 3.5 years. Achievements under the project include improved management and accountability, computerized management systems, and policy development in ORD. ORD is, however, still far from financial self-sufficiency. It has ongoing administrative weaknesses and a lack of management depth, with information systems inadequately applied to decisionmaking and planning. One of the valuable lessons of the project is the importance of enforcing sound management and financial practices from the onset as a condition to funding and not to rely on "advisors" without authority to enforce changes. In addition, having a strong manager who can recognize losing operations and turn them around is critical to the success of small farmer organizations. See also abstract of PD-AAY-022. (Author abstract)