Summary of major findings and recommendations : Thailand land settlements project evaluation

Final special evaluation covers 1979-ll/84 and is based on document review, site visits, household surveys, and interviews with officials and staff of participating agencies. Due to a delay in implementation, the project was active for less than 3 years, and ended just as it was beginning to build momentum. The major implication of this experience may be that A.I.D. should be more flexible in setting timeframes, particularly in projects aimed at changing traditional attitudes and practices, an inherently slow process. Project management was excellent; much time spent in the field by Thai Department of Public Welfare project managers was a major factor, and volunteer organizations were a positive component. The degree of beneficiary participation accorded with the project design, resulting in better use of scarce local resources, particularly in agriculture, and the beginning of an organizational base for continued "bottom up" activities. A marginal improvement in beneficiaries" standards of living occurred, and in a relatively short time the project contributed to the sustainability of agriculture in the land settlements. However, these gains could be lost unless agricultural extension agents remain in the area for the next 2 or 3 years. To date, infrastructure projects (e.g., roads, water) have contributed little to the settlements, but - even though growth in farm production will probably fall short of that hoped for - the long-term return on project investments should be quite acceptable. Most research and field demonstration activities made satisfactory progress, but coordination between researchers and extensionists was poor and data collection was hampered by the latter"s inexperience. Also, while baseline data collected for the project evaluation were of good quality and data analyses well done, a reduction in the scope of follow-up data collection precluded meaningful evaluation of individual settlements; nor was the use of a quasi-experimental study design particularly effective. The overall project methodology is replicable, and will probably be used in similar projects.