General lessons of experience
This section presents some general
lessons of experience, emphasizing on those lessons that have significant
implications for both Government and IFAD decision-makers. Whether the
lessons highlight the various dimensions of the issues under consideration,
or express a judgment about what suld be done or avoided in the future,
they form the basis of the practical recommendations that are presented
in the third and last part of this summary.
On
the rehabilitation of productive infrastructure
Provision of drinking water contributes
to production increase, particularly of livestock. However, future drilling
programmes will be faced with the serious constraint that aquifer test
data are not available. The implementation of a proper maintenance and
servicing system is of the greatest importance. As the operating and maintenance
costs (spare parts and fuel) require availability of adequate foreign
currency, it will be difficult to operate the wateryards without external
financing of recurrent costs for a number of years. This should be an
integral part of any rehabilitation investment package.
Irrigation rehabilitation was intended
to be a quick response to the problem of deteriorating productive infrastructure,
but became in practice a substitute for a proper development strategy.
In addition the achievements were below the targets and proved unsustainable.
The major cause of productive infrastructure
degradation is related to the general problem of the role of parastatals
in development. On a global scale, the concept failed because of the lack
of motivation, autonomy, competition and of fiscal discipline which resulted
in the lack of care and maintenance of public assets. It is therefore
extremely important that any rehabilitation of physical infrastructure
be tied to a restructuring of the institutional framework, avoiding a
mere restoration of what used to be.
The private small-scale schemes offer
great potential for support to development because they are self-managed
and require much lower investments in civil works than larger public schemes.
In addition, the supply of irrigation water need not be subsidized in
such private small-scale schemes.
On
the generation and dissemination of improved technology
The rationale in all the projects
was that although some technology was available which could be supported
by projects, knowledge in some areas was inadequate or missing. This contention
appears basically valid but the designs of some of the projects were too
all-encompassing in their scope.
A general lesson for adaptive research
methodology is that the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) decision to give
extension services the responsibility for conducting on-farm trials has
imposed a limitation on the amount of effective off-station adaptive
research that is undertaken. Extensionists are generally not equipped
either through training in research methodology or resources to effectively
carry out on-farm research by themselves.
The training-and-visit system of extension
is too expensive and complicated given the situation in The Sudan. Projects
should aim to leave behind them a small, well-trained and well-networked
extension service which is matched to government financial resources.
On
credit as a development tool
The availability of technical packages
is a prerequisite for the success of rural credit. The time required to
develop a technical package which is project-specific is a major obstacle
to effective rural credit. So are widespread market failures in areas
where infrastructure is weak.
The definition of small farmers eligible
for credit is project-specific. In irrigated agriculture, the size of
land owned is only partially useful, since the location of land and the
source of water are important determinants of its value. In traditional
rainfed areas, neither land owned nor areas cultivated are sufficient
in determining eligibility. Rainfall and crops grown are more important
in that respect.
On
participatory development
There are a number of elements, on
which project designers and managers may have a leverage, that are conducive
to beneficiaries' participation:
- an appropriate communication strategy
(with corresponding provisions in project budget) to link project staff
and the target population;
- adherence to project objectives of
community leaders and enlightened members of the group, including teachers
and other educated persons;
- responsiveness of implementing agencies
to farmers' views;
- evidence that early participants benefit
from the project;
- adequate funding to ensure that project
benefits are not limited to a minority of households;
- adequate funding for group formation
and farmers' training;
- optimal size of group/cooperative membership
(to be determined on a case-by-case basis).
