N° 6 - October 2002
Rural Development Project for Ngöbe-Buglé Communities
IFAD’s innovative rural development project in Panama was instrumental in achieving full legal recognition of Ngöbe-Buglé land (Comarca) in 1997. The Ngöbe-Buglé people can now establish their own forms of government and protect their traditions and way of life. Highly successful community participation includes Ngöbe-Buglé leaders on the project’s steering committee, Ngöbe-Buglé representatives on the regional credit committees, and training to enable tribal leaders to manage Ngöbe-Buglé territory.
The project was successful on several fronts: intensive training provided crucial support for social organisation; beneficiaries got involved in project planning and management; development centres facilitated decentralisation; approaches to agriculture were appropriate, practical and realistic. Two project components posed a significant challenge to the project, however: the improvement of family income through agricultural production and the establishment of a credit fund to finance productive activities. Administered by community groups lacking organisational know-how, the credit fund suffered weak administrative and managerial capacity.
With a view to ensuring success of the project’s second phase, key challenges include:
- An assessment of training needs will help improve activities. In-service training and follow-up are essential. Training goals must be crystal clear regarding content and participants’ needs and circumstances.
- To ensure funds are directly accessible to Ngöbe-Buglé community organisations, an institution specialising in micro-finance should take responsibility for the remaining funds (approximately USD 1m). Loan conditions should be decided by Ngöbe-Buglé community organisations.
- Environmental and forestry activities should be integral to environmental management. Economic activities compatible with sensible use of natural resources need identifying.
Lifelong learning
Training activities aimed to strengthen social organisation, promote gender sensitivity, strengthen institutional organisation, improve production, and promote conservationist practices. Given that Ngöbe-Buglé tradition emphasises family rather than group work, the creation of 20 community organisations is a huge success, beneficiaries agree. Short-term training with broad coverage is fine for disseminating new technologies, but in-depth training with fewer trainees would be more effective in the long term. Events were too brief with no planned curriculum or follow-up activities. The Sustainable Agro-Forestry School is the only exception, offering eight week-long modules on theoretical and practical topics such as soil conservation, pest control, and fertilisers. Only those producers likely to remain in the community and willing to communicate their knowledge can enrol: 64% have graduated as promoters – an excellent source of expertise for future IFAD-supported projects in the area.
Food for thought
Assistance with traditional crops or newer activities such as flood rice and rice-fish farming have given indigenous families access to technical advice and training for the first time ever, and have improved food availability. However, the ten Ministry of Agriculture (MIDA) extension agents who had no means of transport and limited knowledge of group extension methodologies were woefully inadequate. Plus, the Agricultural Research Institute of Panama (IDIAP) researchers had little experience of the current production techniques and farming conditions of the Ngöbe-Buglé people. The fact that inputs, materials and tools were provided free of charge and purchased by technical experts smacks of paternalism and was not conducive to sustainability.
Development centres contributed enormously to the decentralisation of project activities and served as a useful meeting place for project stakeholders. Yet, to improve the extension system and ensure its sustainability, development centres (including related equipment, materials, and means of transport) would be more effectively managed by the producer councils. Stronger training in conservation and marketing processes would help consolidate the productive activities fostered by the project.
Credit where it’s due
Credit was aimed at agricultural (56 percent), commercial (37percent), and livestock activities (1 percent) but payments were delayed until 1997. Lengthy authorisation and disbursement procedures meant that funds only reached 30 percent of targeted beneficiaries. Given that interest rates did not cover administration costs, currency devaluation, potential non-repayment of loans, or capitalisation, the credit fund is not sustainable. Capacity to administer the credit fund was limited. Loans were paid in kind which was costly for the project and unsustainable, and undermined borrowers’ financial management skills. No provision was made for a savings component even though experience shows that mobilising users’ own resources is crucial.
Environmental concern
Environmental training and study opportunities helped foster pro-environmental
attitudes amongst local people: hunting, fishing, and indiscriminate felling
of trees dropped significantly. Hunting for subsistence only is permitted
and trees are now felled purely for construction purposes. Progress was
also made on an agreement to protect waters sources in Cerro Iglesias
for some 200 families. Lack of information at the outset, however, hindered
the development of indicators to guide decision-making during implementation.
The National Environmental Authority should develop a plan for environmental
management in collaboration with Ngöbe-Buglé people and identify
productive activities compatible with conservation objectives.
| Project Data | |
Total project cost |
USD 14 million |
| USD 7.8 million | |
| Government Contributions | USD 3.6 million |
Co-financiers |
United Nations Development Project, World Food Programme, Japan International Cooperation Agency |
| Main Partner | Government of Panama |
Loan effectiveness |
April 1993 |
Closing date |
December 2001 |
Evaluation field work |
April 2001 |
Further information
República de Panamá: Proyecto de Desarrollo Rural de las Comunidades Ngöbe-Buglé, Evaluación Pre-terminal, Office of Evaluation and Studies, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Via Paolo Di Dono, 44, 00142 Rome, Italy. Email M.Keating@ifad.org; telephone +39 06 5459 2048.
