Nepal - Agricultural Manpower Development Project

 Agricultural manpower development project Report No: ; Type: Report/Evaluation Memorandum ; Country: Nepal; Region: South Asia; Sector: Vocational/Technical Education & Training; Major Sector: Education; ProjectID: P010208 December 29, 1995 Nepal: Agricultural Manpower Development Project (Credit 1534-NEP) The Nepal Agricultural Manpower Development project (Credit 1534-NEP for US$8.4 million) was approved in FY85. The project closed in FY94 after four one-year extensions. The Implementation Completion Report (ICR) prepared by the Asia Regional Office provides a clear and comprehensive account of the implementation of the project. The Borrower's full report on the implementation and achievements of the project is annexed to the ICR. The project's initial objectives were to: (a) improve the quality and relevance of middle-level agricultural training; and (b) strengthen degree level training at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences of Tribhuvan University. These courses of study were considered important because of a dire lack of trained agricultural scientists and extension agents in Nepal. As implementation progressed, however, it became apparent that the skills imparted to students were not easily marketable. There was little demand for mid-level technicians and low regard by prospective employers for degree-level graduates, whose skills were seen to be deficient. Increased prices of imported goods to be procured under the project and student unrest, both due to tensions with India, greatly contributed to implementation difficulties. In 1993, project objectives were revised to (i) strengthen management of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences; and (ii) improve the quality of undergraduate training by strengthening the academic component of the programs. As Nepal's relations with India returned to normal the economy stabilized, student unrest diminished, and the pace of implementation quickened. Thus, at completion the project had substantially achieved its revised objectives as well as the original and revised quantitative targets for physical inputs (civil works, furniture, equipment, instructional materials). The ICR and the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) rate the outcome of the project as satisfactory because its revised objectives were achieved. Institutional development is rated as modest, given management difficulties and the brain drain among university faculty members who received training through the project. The ICR rates the achievement of gender issues as substantial, but evidence to support this is sparse; given the low expected female enrollments (10 percent), this claim requires further substantiation. The performance of the Bank is rated as satisfactory, given its efforts to supervise the project when it experienced difficulties. Project sustainability is rated as likely, given the Government's continued commitment to support qualitative improvements in university-level instruction. OED agrees with the ratings of the ICR but questions the extent to which the country's continuing need for agricultural expertise is met through the current, academically-oriented programs that may attract students who are more interested in white-collar work than in field work. This operation shows that restructuring can help turn a problematic project into one that can have a positive development impact. An audit is planned because the ICR raises important questions regarding the training of agricultural specialists, answers to which may have wide applicability.