Credit management for rural development: Albania,a special case

Lack of rural credit in north‐eastern Albania is one of the most important challenges facing the peasants in the area. In order to overcome the ineffective credit infrastructure prevailing after the break‐up of the communist system in 1991, the Government of Albania, with the support of the World Bank, designed a project for the alleviation of this area's rural poverty. The project, which started in 1995, is co‐financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Bank for Development and the Government of Albania. One of the project components is small scale credit for rural farmers. In the light of the experiences of the above project, this article reflects upon the future of rural credit in Albania by developing a theoretical framework which identifies the characteristics and principles to be addressed when attempting to rehabilitate the system. The framework examines the desirable preconditions, the strategic considerations, the optimum credit delivery systems and operational requirements to address the current constraints. The conjectural framework developed around some assumptions which, as the political situation was still uncertain at the time of writing, were not tested in the field. The conclusion of the study reflects the need to test these assumptions and to discuss the feasibility of using the policy framework with those empowered to implement the strategies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated rural development in Tanzania

Tanzania did not have the kind of agricultural policies, popular participation, or government bureaucratic capacity necessary for integrated rural development projects to perform well. Nonetheless the World Bank, EEC, and United States each implemented such projects there during the 1970s. The implementation and achievements of the projects varied considerably due to differences in their design as well as decisions made by the implementation teams. However the experiences of all three projects demonstrate two things: no agricultural development project can adapt to producer price disincentives; and both participation and project management require a ‘critical minimum’ level of finance and resources which the Tanzanian bureaucracy does not have. The latter observation raises the question of whether donors should attempt to build management capacity in fourth world bureaucracies or, as Goran Hyden suggests, avoid the government and work through other institutions and local organizations.     

Managing rural development in Botswana

Rural development in Botswana has proceeded using a non-directive approach. During the period 1973–1979 sectoral programmes for promoting development in rural areas have been administered by executive ministries, but, in addition, there has been non-executive machinery devoted to achieving a co-ordinated approach to development in rural areas. The emphasis in the work of the non-executive rural development unit was to promote communication and co-operation, and the success of the programme so far is partly attributed to this approach. The article points to additional lessons to be learnt from the experience of using this approach.     

Decentralization and the implementation of rural development in Senegal: The role of rural councils

Decentralization efforts in Francophone African countries are both rarer and far less ambitious than those in Anglophone states. The decentralization programme launched by Senegal over a decade ago is an important exception. Since 1972, when the administrative reform law took effect, Senegal has been engaged in an effort to decentralize its administrative structures in order to promote rural development, to escape from the burdens of the remnants of an overly centralized colonial system and to stem the rising tide of rural opposition (malaise paysan). This new initiative, which led to the creation of local elected councils in rural communities (communautés rurales). has thus far achieved only marginal success. The 319 rural councils suffer from serious under-financing, and often from domination by administrative authorities, especially the sous-préféts. Based on an examination of the attitudes. perceptions and behaviour of a sample of rural councillors (n = 144), particularly regarding budgetary matters, it appears that the rural communities in fact provide the possibility for some popular input into local and regional planning.     

Administering rural development: Have goals outreached organizational capacity?

In a comparative analysis of 15 rural development projects the author finds five problem areas in their administration: project economics; design and location of infrastructure; design of project technical outputs (‘software’); support services; and maintenance and management of infrastructure. All but one of the projects reviewed were severely hampered by one or more of these problems. The author suggests that these problem areas are caused by three general patterns: disjunction between project designers and managers' working models of reality and reality in the field; goal conflict among diverse agencies involved; and the simple technical complexity of the rural development task. The author concludes by noting these three patterns are found throughout developed countries as well as the less developed, but may have more severe consequences in the less developed because of the absence of organizational and social redundancy to catch, correct and circumvent these perhaps unavoidable features of centraliy administered, complex projects. Fewer, but more organizationally enriched, projects may do more for rural development than the current pattern where many donors each design many projects, overwhelming at times the organizational capacity of less developed countries.     

Explaining success in South Asian rural development: The importance of routine

The article compares the Training and Visit System of Agricultural Extension in India with the Anand-type dairy cooperatives (India) and the Grameen Bank (Bangladesh) to explain the reasons for their success. In attempting an explanation of such microsuccess in an environment of macrofailure, the article lays emphasis on tailoring the programmes to the needs and social capabilities of the rural people. The services offered are perfected to a routine, thus encouraging the recipients of the services to respond on a regular and systematic basis. The recipients of these programmes see success in terms of increased benefits, greater participation and ultimately increased incomes. Their success has led to their widespread adoption elsewhere in the Third World.     

Technology and rural development strategies in a small farmer organization: lessons from Bolivia for rural policy and practice

At a time when public sector agricultural and rural development administration is changing quite profoundly, and when farmer organizations are being asked to assume more significant roles in rural and agricultural development, in-depth analysis of these organizations is an important input into policy and programmatic discussions. This article is an analysis of one type of small farmer organization, a regional economic organization called El Ceibo in Bolivia. It is one of the most successful cases of small farmer organization around technology generation and product transformation and marketing in the Andes. El Ceibo has been able to open new markets for its products, adapt product transformation techniques appropriate for these markets, and develop technology in support of its marketing strategy. Factors favouring Ceibo's success include long-term financial and technical support from external agencies, isolated location, and a cash/export crop specialization. The impacts of Ceibo are significant, although it is not clear how far Ceibo's activities foster a more broadly based regional development in the Alto Beni area. The article also compares the strategies and impacts of economically based organizations such as El Ceibo with those of more traditional, representative and politically oriented small farmer organizations.     

Disbursement,decentralization and development: Lessons from the first rural health services project in Papua New Guinea

In 1983 the Department of Health in Papua New Guinea decentralized the control of health services to provincial governments. In the same year a major rural health development project commenced in six of the nineteen provinces. Conflict arose between the centralized control required by the project and the decentralized health system. This article reviews the experience of the project implementators in trying to reconcile the philosophy and reality of decentralization with the centralized project design. Lessons point to the need for closer collaboration with beneficiaries during project design, formal clarification of responsibilities of national and provincial governments in implementation, institutional strengthening as a project input and the development of mechanisms for review and change during the course of implementation.     

Policy reform and rural development assistance in Tanzania

Tanzania for a long time refused to reform its economic policies along the lines recommended by the World Bank and IMF. Eventually the foreign exchange crisis forced the government to make the changes advocated by its own pragmatic economists and the Western donor community. The reforms were necessary, but not a panacea for all the problems which had plagued rural development programmes over the past decade. Three big problems still face basic-needs programmes: the government administration has very little capacity to manage or back up programmes; neither the national nor district governments can afford them; and rural residents have not compensated for either of these deficiencies through their own participation and contributions. This article looks at two basic-needs programmes in the rural water supply sector to illustrate how these long-standing problems continue to affect implementation. Both programmes are funded and implemented by donors. The conclusion is that donors have not been sufficiently self-conscious and innovative in grappling with the more intractable problems facing rural programme assistance in Tanzania.     

农村区域发展非均衡性与乡村治理结构的改革

由于历史传统、自然条件和国家政策等原因,我国东中西部地区发展差距进一步拉大,呈现出明显的非均衡发展的特征.这导致我国农村许多地区出现了"弱治理"的治理形态,严重影响了乡村治理的效率和绩效.因此,在乡村治理进程中,应该正视农村区域发展非均衡的现实状况,转变长期以来的全国"一盘棋"的思维定势,针对不同地方经济和社会发展水平的差异,在坚持国家统一领导的前提下,因地制宜,分类指导,引导乡村治理朝着民主治理、自主治理的方向发展.逐步把现行的"乡政村治"治理结构变革为"乡村自治".