It must be pointed out that all experts on the subject suggest that implementation of national programmes for development of upland watershed areas should comprise two distinct phases:
It is not sufficient to draw up excellent plans. The success of the programmes depend on implementation.
The operations must be planned so as to meet the objectives set. If necessary, however, they may be adjusted; this is the role of the team of implementation experts, working under the programme authorities.
The first step therefore is to set up this team and prepare the schedule, setting out the role of each member.
A series of actions must be undertaken prior to the start of the actual operations:
Each operation must be broken down and organized in detail.
To this end, detailed technical data sheets will be prepared for each activity (reafforestation, setting up of nurseries, group plot planting, construction of latrines, harnessing and management of water sources, improvement of living and housing conditions, etc.). Specimen contracts will be drawn up in the local language, specifying obligations, services and benefits for both parties, the programme on the one hand and groups or individuals (crop, livestock farmer, etc.) on the other.
It would be ideal if these technical sheets and specimen contracts could be prepared jointly by the staff and those concerned. The help of all the experts, technicians, sociologists, extension officers, etc., is vital, as the former provide the technical data (standards, methods, input requirements, etc.) and the others deal with the institutional (groups, credit, cooperatives, motivation, etc.) and legal aspects and make sure that the people have clearly understood the terms of the contract and the technical data.
The work schedule will allow for the seasons, i.e. climatic conditions, periods of planting and harvesting, slack seasons for farm work, customs and beliefs in so far as they contribute favorable to the activities.
The current trend is to have no distinction between programming and implementation staff, and this seems sensible.
Staff breakdown by level is usually as follows:
"The various ways in which forestry can be adapted to make it more responsive and effective in the context of rural development have in common the growing role of the forester as an extension agent. In many situations, the task of foresters will be to advise and assist others in the planting, tending and utilization of trees, rather than to manage them themselves. This does not necessarily mean that a separate forestry extension service should be created, especially as it could heighten the risk of farmers receiving contradictory advice from different sources. Advice on forestry might more effectively be channeled through existing agricultural extension machinery. It does mean, however, that a major challenge facing forest administration in many countries is that of adding to their existing capability to manage forest land a capability to deliver the necessary support to enable others to grow and manage trees, both within the forest and outside it. (Also see chapter 10, part III).
Additional field workers will usually be required at village level for community work, improvement of living conditions, setting up large cooperatives, handicrafts and activities for women, etc. The community leaders will be expected to play a major role in these fields, beside the extension field workers and technicians.
Some simple operations, such as soil conservation, reafforestation of individual plots, could be carried out by the landowners or farmers (see p. 13) under the guidance of the extension staff and foremen. Teams of workers will have to be organized and team leaders recruited and trained, however, for more complex work concerning the local community as a whole.
MAIN DISCIPLINES INVOLVED IN MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES FORMING PART OF UPLAND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
| The characteristic feature of all the disciplines involved in the development programme is to motivate and encourage the local people to participate. Each one can contribute, either by awakening the interest of the people or by breaking down existing barriers. |
This evaluation must be prepared at the planning stage and be carried out at regular intervals. It will be greatly facilitated by systematic and detailed planning and by the use of economic (yield, productivity variations, etc.); social (nutrition, health, employment, schooling, life expectancy, etc.), physical (linear meters of bench terraces prepared, gully heads filled, kilometers of road constructed, number' of fishbreeding ponds established, etc.), and environmental indicators (degree of damage due to erosion, rate of silting up of lakes and barrages, climatic changes, frequency and extent of floods, eutrophication of the waters, modification of the fauna and flora, etc.).
The results of this evaluation must show if the objectives have been achieved, within the time set and with the inputs anticipated.
If this is not so, a detailed study must be undertaken to find the causes of the delays or failures. Feed-back is extremely valuable for programme evaluation and very useful for programme orientation (see section 5.2).
It would be ideal if the technicians involved in the preparation of the plan were also in charge of its implementation. In any case, the planning team must be available throughout the period of implementation of the programme.
A programme cannot often achieve all that it sets out to do. Its role is often that of a "driving force" which must generate development along the lines required and then each individual and each community must take charge of their own development.
It must be acknowledged that cases when this process was triggered off after a few operations are few and far between.
Why? Is it because of lack of motivation? Probably. Have the material incentives (food, equipment) been inadequate? Perhaps; Too many donations and subsidies for first projects, however, are likely to harm the effort towards achievement of self-reliance.
| Only when the members of the communities become aware of the real benefits to themselves to be reaped from the operations will they pursue the work already begun, on their own initiative. |
It is essential that the improvements obtained during the programme be looked after and kept in good order to provide the service expected of them. Often, these are community improvements (drains, ditches, small dams, diversion network, outlets, social infrastructures, etc.) and the local institutions (community councils, groups, cooperatives) must assume responsibility for them. Maintenance costs must be distributed fairly, i.e. in proportion to the benefits obtained by each member (according to land area owned or farmed, heads of livestock, frequency of utilization (i.e. roads)), so that the poor members do not suffer.
This maintenance work may provide jobs for those who do not have land to farŪ, while those who own land and who do not have the time to participate in the work could provide cash contributions. All these services will have to be studied carefully and calculated, jointly by the programme experts and the villagers to avoid unfairness. Contracts will have to be drawn up between the parties concerned. This will be the best way of avoiding the constraint of having to look after and maintain the improvements. (Example of Ethiopia deserves mention. See Annex II.)
People's participation requires motivation, extension and training. Due attention should be given to the people's prioritary needs as a starting point.
See project UNDP/FAO HA1/77/005 Project for the protection and management of the Limbe watershed. Report of the mission of FAO's community development and agricultural credit consultant. August 1979 Haiti. (Return)
The State of Food and Agriculture 1979 FAO. Rome, 1980. p. 2-32. (Return)
