TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN WATER RESOURCE ECONOMICS : PLANNING AND POLICY ANALYSIS FOR IRRIGATION

Evaluation covers the period 9/79-12/80 and is based on a review of project records and discussions with project personnel. Project activities have begun in Egypt, India, and Thailand. Because of difficulties in attaining host-country and Mission clearances, it took more time than anticipated to establish country research sites. Although the project has been reduced in scope and has become less "international", it appears that planned outputs (research reports, workshops and seminars, and direct technical assistance in water policies and pricing) can be achieved if the project termination date is extended. However, more field activities should be initiated, including efforts to control water logging and salinization, determine the relative benefits and costs of small-scale irrigation schemes, and develop plans to allocate water to farmers along irrigation canals. Some have interpreted the project"s technical assistance component to mean that the project stands ready to provide, on short notice, whatever type of professional expertise is requested by USAID missions. That interpretation should not be promoted. In the future, subprojects lacking specified research sites should not be approved. Project personnel should determine the goals and characteristics shared by the various research sites and focus data collection and analysis on those commonalities. Also, the methods of data collection and analysis should be more carefully described. Detailed workplans should be developed for each project site so that AID/W, Missions, and host governments will know exactly what the subproject is to accomplish. In addition, AID/W should provide more help in identifying interested countries and in obtaining clearances; the subprojects should be completely self-contained, without reliance on assistance from the Missions; and the technical assistance components should be reduced. Finally, justified (unfunded) extension of cooperative agreements should be arranged and the project should either be given a long-term extension or be phased out.