MASP-AA

Multinational Agribusiness Systems Incorporated

EVALUATION OF THE SMALL

FARMER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

HAITI

Work Performed Under Contract

AID/PDC/SOD-C-0218, Work Order #1

November 23, 1979

Multinational Agribusiness Systems, Inc.

1015 Eighteenth Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

Telephone: 202-872-8782

Cable: MASIGROUP

Telex: 248607 (Answerback MASI UR)

Project Director:

Gaylord L. Walker Vice President and Director,

Development Services Division

Multinational Agribusiness Systems Incorporated 1015 Eighteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 * (202)872-8782

November 23, 1979

Mr. Scott Smith, Chief Project Division USAID, Haiti Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Dear Mr. Smith:

We are pleased to enclose our evaluation report on the Small Farmer Development Project in Haiti. This is in accordance with Work Order No. ., (Contract AID/SOD/PDC-C-0218), which called for an evaluation of the research, extension and training components of the Small Farmer Development Project.

We consider the evaluation complete and comprehensive with a number of specific recommendations for the USAID and the Haitian government. MASI appreciates the opportunity of performing this assignment for the USAID and trusts it will be of value to the Mission in-Port-au-Prince.

Sincerely,

Gaylord L. Walker Vice President

GLW:kmv

Development,Financing and Management of Projects inDeveloping Countries Cable MASICROUP Washington Telex 248607 (RCA) answerback MASI UR Telex 64495 (WUI) answerback MASIGRP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface

I. SUMMARY 1

A. General 1

B. Specific 2

II. SCOPE OF EVALUATION 4

A. Statement of work 4

B. Methodology 5

III. BACKGROUND AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION 6

A. Coffee Production Under Haitian Conditions 6

B. Context of Project Origin 9

C. Purposes and objectives 10

D. Project Design 10

IV. PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS, STUDIES, AND REPORTS 15

V. ANALYSIS 20

A. General 20

B. Project Organization and Support System 21

C. Research 27

D. Extension 41

E. Training 49

F. Coffee Centers 54

G. Other Considerations 59

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS 65

68

PAGE

VII. APPENDICES

A. Abbreviations and Acronyms 69

B. Bibliography 70

C. Table of Conversion 72

D. Project Goals and Objectives 73

E. Organigramme of DARNDR 74

F. SFPD Staffing, October 16, 1979 75

G. Agricultural Research Service - Reorganization Plan 85

H. PPC Activities 1978 - 1979 98

I. Training Course at Fond-des-Negres, October 8-19, 1979 102

J. Financial Summary as of 9-30-79 105

PREFACE

As in all programs of this nature, certain immediate benefits are

at once apparent upon the completion of the construction of roads,

irrigation works, water supplies, wharves, and other projects of

this character. However, long-term planning is required for

projects which are directed toward improvement in propagation and

production of various agricultural plants expected to provide

crops for local and export consumption. Coffee plants, as an

example, do not start to produce until three years from the time

they are transplanted from the nurseries. The ultimate success of

the Haitian direct agricultural program, in its entirety, depends

on its continuation as originally planned for a period of at least

five years. Failure to continue the program, with competent

administrative and technical supervision, will nullify a great

part of the accomplishments that have been achieved to date.*

*The above passage is a quotation from the Conclusions section of

"Review of Accomplishments in Haiti", by The J. G. White Engineering Corporation, May 1942; Projects in the Republic of Haiti 1938 - 1942 (p. 44).

I. SUMMARY

A. General

The Small Farmer Development Project was designed topside down;

i.e., from the macro planner's point of view, but with implemen

tation to be carried out at the micro (small farmer) level.

Hence, there were serious flaws in the design, which affected

implementation.

The principal purpose which this evaluation can serve is to

polarize isjues so as to help the USAID decide its future course

of action with respect to assisting the small farmer and/or coffee

production in Haiti.

The ambivalent theme underlying the design and implementation of

this project is whether it should be just "coffee" or "small

farmer", or both, is just one aspect of the phenonemon of USAID's

total of panoply of agricultural projects. This theme appears to

cover a spectrum, with spectral overlaps to the extent that it is

difficult to discern where each begins and ends.

1979 has been a year of piecemeal evaluation of this project, a

methodology we do not recommend. In view of the project's

expected termination in 1980, we doubt that further evaluation

would serve a useful purpose. Any additional energies should be

concentrated on the decision-making process of go/no go on further

assistance. An then, if necessary, a sharper design effort,

including a closer study of the microeconomics of coffee

production in Haiti.

2

We doubt that a pure "coffee" project can be successful in the

immediate future because of the engrained food-first attitude at

the small farmex level -- he is basically a subsistence farmer; he

is not a coffee farmer.

B. Specific

The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural

Development, (DARNDR) organization is still evolving, which means

that the Coffee Project Unit, the Projet d'amelioration des

petites plantations de Cafe d'Haiti (PPC), apparently does not yet

have a definitive shape.

The Coffee Operations Centers are being used increasingly -- but

they have not reached their full potential use, especially since

the research function has not yet been blended in.

Most of the Coffee Centers appear to have been over-designed in

terms of the buildings. Low budgets have affected their proper

functioning. They could serve a broader function if they were -to

be used as full farm service centers. We recommend that no new

centers be built in the near future (after Beaumont is completed).

PPC project management has improved considerably over the past

year -- since the transfer of the coffee production functions from

IPHCADE to DARNDR. Top managers appear to be competent and

knowledgeable.

3

The 1978 ProAg revision was a good start in trying to get the

project back on the track through the provision of technical

assistance in three crucial areas: Management, Extension and

Research.

However, the year's lag between the DAI 1977 report and the

project revision, and the additional year's lag of non-implemen

tation of the revision, jeopardize the long-term success of the

coffee projection effort because of the delay in beginning

adaptive research work, which should have been one of the first

activities under the project.

Extension work in the coffee sector can never be fully effective

until adequate research has been performed and translated into

useable practices for the farmer.

Nevertheless, extension activities under the project have picked

up momentum during the past year after an energetic Extension

Director was assigned to the PPC unit at Damien.

There has been far less formal training for PPC leaders and

agronomists than was planned under the project; there has been

more training of extension agents and farmers than previously

reported. An expatriate specialist in coffee extension and

training could help strengthen the training program.

A very real constraint to the success of the coffee production

effort is the motivation of project personnel. Posts are

isolated; pay is low; there are few amenities for families.

4

The sheer number of small holdings of uncertain land tenure

(minifundia), and the number of small farmers is a severe constraint

to project implementation. This compounds the extension problem.

Marketing, storage, and transportation problems still are

substantial constraints from the small farmer's viewpoint.

Stronger cooperatives are probably the only reasonable course

open to this group if they are to be expected to produce more,

and reap benefits from increased production.

II. SCOPE OF EVALUATION

A. Statement of Work

The following is a quotation from the work order issued under

Indefinite Quantity Contract No. AID/SOD/PDC-C-0218:

Objective - To evaluate the research, extension and training

components of the Small Farmer Development Project.

Statement of Work - The Contractor shall perform an evaluatibn

which will involve an analysis of the project organization and

support system. The analysis will focus upon existing structures,

systems and people carrying out tha functions of training:

research and extension.

Specifically, the contractor tasks will include preparation of:

- a current inventory of personnel (staffing pattern),

5

facilities and infrastructure directly supporting the

research, extension and training functions at the

central, regional and local levels;

an assessment of the utilization of coffee centers and

other support facilities; the capability of mf.nagement,

administrative and technical personnel; and the adequacy

of systems for planning, programming, monitoring and

evaluation of research and extension activities.

an assessment of the accomplishments to date in

research, extension and training; identification of

constraints to better performance and recommendations

for improving project design and implementation with

respect to these three functions; and

preparation of an evaluation report containing the above

information.

The evaluation will involve interviews with key project personnel

in USAID and DARNPR and field visits to a representative sample of

project sites where training, research, and extension activities

are being undertaken or proposed.

B. Methodology

The methodology of the evaluation is implicit in the Statement of

Work. Specifically, we researched and reviewed as many project

6

documents and reports as we could locate before beginning our

interviews. We attended the first session of the PPC evaluation

seminar on September 27, 1979, meeting with Directors of the

various Coffee Centers, and talked to other extension and research

service officials at DARNDR. Research service and laboratory

officials gave us a thorough tour of the soils laboratory at

DARNDR. We made three field trips to the coffee centers at

Baptiste, Macary, and Fond-des-Negres, and in addition talked

extensively with the Director of the Changieux center, whom we met

at Fond-des Negres, In addition, we discussed project history and

issues with knowledgeable USAID personnel, and with the Director

of the CUNA operation in Haiti.

We did not attempt to examine the records of the Institut haitien

pour la promotion du cafe et d'autres denrees d'exportation

(IPHCADE) or impinge upon the time of its officials -- other than

those who had transferred to DARNDR with the project -- because we

judged that that ground had been covered severally and fully by

previous evaluators. In fact, because of the frequency of evalua

tions of the project, including the simultaneous Group Seven

review of the Coffee Roads element, we tried to keep our

activities as low-key as was practicable.

III. BACKGROUND AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION

A. Coffee Production Under Haitian Conditions

Every report that we have read on this subject paints about the

7

same dismal picture. The scenario runs approximately as follows:

Most of Haiti's coffee is grown on small holdings, with the

average farm size being about 1.1 hectares. Some 400,000

500,000 people (depending on the year cited) are employed to some

extent in the coffee sector. Other crops such as maize, sorghum,

beans, bananas, and fruits are grown with the coffee trees, which

themselves are allowed to germinate naturally and to grow wild.

No attempt is made to control plant dens.ty and as a result there

may be as many as 10,000 (or more) coffee plants in one hectare.

Varying percentages of the trees are said to be well past their

prime. Intercropping practices produce far too much shade, with

average yields being far below those in any western hemisphere

coffee-producting country next(230/270 kg/ha compared with the

lowest, Brazil, with 400 kg/ha). Improper cultivation practices

cause erosion, while at the same time inadequate weeding is done.

The farmer puts little effort into coffee culture -- primarily he

just harvests the coffee cherries. Plants are not pruned

properly; mulching is not a common practice and thus much good

composting material is wasted. Harvesting techniques are crude

and often harmful to the plants, thus adversely affecting

production for the following year.

All of these adverse conditions exist in one place or another in

Haiti. Not all areas, howver, are afflicted with all of these

conditions in their worst deqrees. To find out the real state of

affairs, one would need to get off the beaten coffee road and

follow extension agents on horseback or foot into their

8

territories. There was not sufficient time for this study group

to make such an effort. Two points, however, are considered as

particularly important.

The first point pertains to just one of the usually accepted

generalities: the age of the coffee trees. Some studies have

pointed out how badly hurricanes have hit coffee plantations (e.g.

those of 1963 and 1967), but further along state that a large

percentage of coffee trees are ancient. This incongruity does not

take into account the natural regenerative process of plants.

Coffee seeds (cafe rat) do germinate and produce new plants; older

plants do deteriorate and die. The very fact that there are too

many trees on a given small plot proves the average youth of the

plants rather than their antiquity.

The second point is that nature has done its own adaptive trials

work in Haiti over a 200-year period. The arabica typica has

proven itself to be productive and reliable under adverse

conditions of poor soil and minimal cultivation practices. With

improved cultivation, calling for just a little more work such as

weeding, the plants could produce even more. The average smal

farmer with which this project is concerned is not a coffee

farmer; he is a subsistence farmer concentrating on food produc

tion; his coffee crop is that bit extra which he can count on -

his savings account which requires little work,.worry, or manage

ment. The story is different of course for the more progressive

farmer, who can get credit. But most of the 400,000 - 500,000

coffee producers are not progressive as yet.

9

PPC has designed a study to attempt to learn more about coffee

production and small farms. The Research Service has had some

reservation on the design. Certainly, more needs to be learned

about the small farmer's milieu.

B. Context of Project Origin

When the Capital Assistance Paper (CAP) was drawn up 1974,in

there was considerable pressure within the U.S. Government to take

quick action in reactivating its -sistance to the depublic of

Haiti.

The stage setting detailed in the CAP was a reasonable description

of the situation at that time, from the macro point of view.

Pointing out the importance of the agricultural sector in the

Haitian economy as the greatest contributor to foreign exchange

earnings and the low returns to the sector in terms of investment,

the CAP stated, "If one were to pick a point of intervention in

this panorama of needs, the role of coffee in the Haitian economy

deserves special attention." Further, "...Coffee constitutes the

main cash crop and therefore the major source of disposable income

of approximately 1.7 million people." Other points within the

project framework as then perceived were: "...assistance to this

sector represents a place to inlogical start any long-term

attempt to assist the GOH to improve its agricultural activity;"

"the target group is comprised almost wholly of small farmers."

"In sum, the provision of assistance to the coffee sector would

have effects on Haitian agriculture far beyond the commodity

itself."

10

C. Purposes and Objectives

The overall goals of the project generally were to improve the lot

of the small coffee farmer by increasing his productivity and

production, thereby also increasing Government of Haiti (GOH)

revenues and balance of payments, and to bolster agricultural

credit and coffee producer cooperatives.

Specific objectives or targeted outputs were at the same time

precise (e.g., in terms of increased yields and exports of

coffee), confusing in their timeframes (some had 5-year, some

10-year timeframes), and selective (e.g., no targets were set for

road construction). (See Appendix D for Goals and Objectives as

stated in the CAP).

D. Project Design

According to the CAP, the project was designed around the intro

duction of two technological packages: (1) the establishment of

new plantings, or total regeneration, and (2) the rehabilitation

of existing plantations. The technology for both packages

correctly included shade control, spacing of trees, annual

pruning, weed control, disease and insect control, and improved

methods for harvesting and processing the coffee cherries. The

total regeneration package also included site selection criteria,

and improved coffee plant varieties.

The use of chemical fertilizers was listed as part of each

technological package. In fact, the CAP made fertilizer the

dominant ingredient of the new technology: "All of the factors

involved in the two technological equations pale in comparative

significance when measured against the single factor of fertilizer. The proper use of commercial fertilizers has in fact,

become the heart and soul of the project, with eighty percent of

the loan funding from AID committed in advance for the purchase of

this one commodity." In a word, this bespoke the traditional

capital assistance approach to a complex technological/managerial

problem.

This approach overstressed the use of an external input

(fertilizer) which requires outlays of cash and/or the establish

ment of complicated credit systems, and understressed the relatively simple actions which the small farmer could take to

increase his yield by investing principally more hisof time:

weed and shade control, pruning, plant spacing, etc. We recognize

of course that this was the capital assistance aspect of the

project, the inputs from which would be immediately visible -- not

an unimportant factor at the time. However, the planned extension

of fertilizer use before the prerequisites of improving existing

planting and management practices indicates unrealistic project

design.

This capital input emphasis, especially as implementation delays

were encountered, may have been part of the reason that the

non-fertilizer technological aspects of the project were late in

12

being started, or as in the case of research, barely begun before

the initial five-year period had expired. The result is that

USAID's principal support for the first five years of the project

was for building the coffee operations centers, building coffee

roads, and supplying fertilizer financed through the BCA credit

mechanism and subsidized by the GOH.

Notwithstanding the above dominant capital assistance thrust of

the project, it should be noted that the "Project Description"

included in the Loan Agreement, i.e., the paper actually signed by

the two governments, presented a more balanced picture:

"The Loan will assist the Borrower to carry out a five-year small farmer coffee production program to increase small farmer income by improving the quantity and quality of Haitian coffee. Increased production

will be promoted by the introduction of new technology to be provided the small farmer through increased research and extension activities, introduction of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, increased credit availability, improvement of rural farm roads in coffee-producing areas, expanded training of agricultural agents and farmers, and the establishment of an agricultural cooperative system."

Evidence that the project was designed at the macro-level without

adequate regard to implementation at the micro-level of the small

coffee farmer -/ is seen in the Loan Agreement statement that,

"The fertilizer will be used exclusively for coffee production..."

1/ The DAI evaluation report expressed this view "...the complementarities between technological change and socioeconomic factors affecting the farmers' total farming system have not been fully appreciated or integrated into the planning and implementation of the project." (p.13)

13

In view of the size of the plots of land involved and the need for

intercropping with food plants, this requirement was impracticable

and unenforceable.

The annual grant Project Agreements, beginning with the Project

Agreement for FY 1974, paralleled the loan part of the project,

and cited the Specific Objectives of the CAO as goals. On the

matter of credit availability for fertilizer, etc., however, the

grant agreements include other crops as well as coffee production.

This ambivalence in the nature of the project, and its design, has

been an underlying theme recurring throughout implementation: was

the project intended exclusively for assistance to coffee

production, or was it to be more broadly based. This issue still

has not been resolved, even though it is basic to the project

purpose and to the design of an extension of the current project

or a follow-on project. Even the variety of names by which the

project has been designated by various reporters, in both English

and French, is confusing.

The original design of the project included a program for training

and retraining agricultural extension agents and farmers in coffee

production techniques, as well as DARNDR personnel in the field of

coffee technology. During the design stage, USAID and FAO

officials agreed that the latter would provide the leadership and

major responsibility for assisting the GOH with this task. FAO

agreed to provide two experts to assist in coffee technology

training, including the design of an extension training program.

As a part of its program, FAO was to conduct a training program at

14

Fond-des-Negres for trainers and for Coffee Center Directors.

FAO agreed also to provide two fertilizer experts to advise on the

suitable chemical mix, application, etc.

Our review of basic project documents did not disclose exactly how

the research aspect of the project was to be carried out. The

original design apparently let this subject field fall between the

cracks -- a major flaw in the design was in not providing the

means for an adaptive research program.

In August 1978, a major change in project design occurred with

Revision No. 1 to the FY 1978 grant Project Agreement. This

revision included actions to correct initial design and

implementation weaknesses spelled out in the DAI evaluation

report, and also to offset the unexpected termination at the end

of 1976 -- after only two years of the planned five-year period

--by FAO of its parallel project. Three specialists were to be

recruited to help bridge gaps which had become obvious:

A Management Information and Systems Specialist to help

improve IPHCADE's overall management operations and

information system.

A Tropical Horticulturist (coffee production and

extension) to work towards improving coffee cultivation

practices, extension methodology, and farmer training.

15

A Coffee Research Specialist would work with SERA on

rust resistant coffee varieties and adaptive research

matters. Support for this aspect of the project would

come also from the Agricultural Department Support II

effort, project No. 521-0092.

The project revision also included a participant training package.

None of these new elements have been implemented, but that is

another part of the project story. The point is that only after

four years (of a five-year project) of project implementation was

a research component finally included.

Briefly, we believe that the original project design gave inade

quate attention to three other areas important to the micro-level:

land tenure, the effects *of local politics, and just as

importantly, the small coffee farmers' own system of priorities.

IV. PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS, STUDIES, AND REPORTS

There have been many groups and individual experts who have

examined and reported on part or all of the Small Farmer Develop

ment Project (SFDP). It is difficult, indeed, to be sure that one

has seen all such reports. A listing of the major ones we

reviewed is as follows:

I/ See Bibliography, Appendix B, for more extensive list.

16

Date Report Source

Oct. 1979 Evaluation Study of Haiti Coffee Road Construction Project

Group Seven Associates, Inc.

Sept. 1979 Seminar of Evaluation of the PPC Project

PPC Staff

April 1979 Report to the Management of the Bureau de Credit Agricole on Institutional Performance

CUNA

Jan. 1979 Impact Evaluation of the Haiti Practical Concepts, Small Farmer Improvement Inc. Project

Jan. 1979 Analyse du Projet de Commerciali- Ing. Alavro sation Cafeiere Jimenez Castro

Sept. 1978 Audit Report 1-521-78-23 AID Audit Staff

May 1978 Agricultural Development in Haiti AID/W (Clarence - An Assesment of Sector Problems, Zuvekas, Jr., Policies, and Prospects Under USDA/IDS Conditions of Severe Soil Erosion

June 1977 Evaluation of the Haiti Small Development Alter-

Coffee Project natives, Inc.

April 1977 Rapport d'Evaluation du Represen- FAO/UNDP Haiti tant Resident Sur le Projet Developpement de la Production Cafeiere

Sept. 1976 Agricultural Policy Studies in JWK International Haiti: Coffee

These reports have been thoroughly examined and commented upon

by both Haitian and U.S. officials. Inasmuch as this current

report picks up the thread of previous evaluations, we are

giving the highlights of some of the reports listed above.

The broadest evaluation was performed by Development Alternatives,

Inc. (DAI) in 1977. Several major points were stressed:

- the technological packaged needed to be redeveloped;

17

training in all areas--coffee cultivation techniques,

extension methodology, applied research, management

and information systems--should be begun or increased;

a special coffee center should be designated as the

principal site for training and the development of

extension methodology;

adaptive research in coffee should begin;

the management and project information aspects of the

project should be reorganized;

technical assistance should be provided in technology

and extension methodology, applied research, and

management.

Although the August 1978 project agreement revision was designed

to meet most of the evaluation recommendations, the only principal

actions taken subsequently were the transfer of coffee production

from IPHCADE to DARNDR, thus strengthening project management on

the Haitian side, and the stepped up use of the Fond-des Negres

center as the principal training site. The important element of

technical assistance advisers for research, extension, and

managment, however, was not acted upon.

The most recent evaluation of the elements of the SFDP with which

this current study also is concerned was the one conducted during

a two-day seminar by the PPC staff. This also was one of the most

interesting, being a self-appraisal without glossing over the

problems. At the same time, the PPC expressed its determination

to look forward rather than to dwell too much on past shortcomings. The conclusion of that study runs as follows:

18

The PPC -'oject will have fulfilled its goal of enrolling

12,000 coffee planters, and it has made fertilizer available

to the coffee plantations so that increased yields could be

obtained. If the average planter has not tripled his

production (from 250 kg/ha average to 750 kg/ha), according

to all accounts at least he has been able to double it. But

it is not certain that such increased yields will last. For

that reason, one cannot say that the project has succeeded in

bringing about a lasting improvement in the standard of

living of small farmers.

But this valuable experience has made us take into better

account the situation of the small farmer, and has pointed up

our institutional shortcomings. The studies, inquiries, and

other work proposed during this meeting will make it possible

better to delineate the Haitian coffee growers' problems, and

to work out a new program.

In the meantime, there should be no break in the action, it

is a matter of continuing trying, taking the difficulties

into account and understanding these difficulties better so

as to overcome them.

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) report of April 1979

pointed out that the Bureau de Credit Agricole (BCA) deficit grew

as lending activities increased, and that there was no predictable

break-even point as long as the repayment delinquency trends

continued to be adverse. Borrower drop-out rates from year to

19

year also were discouraging. The weakness of BCA's capital

structure was another obstacle to sound lending activities.

Reliable research results and effective extension services were

prerequisites of any credit program, but these were nonexistent or

inadequate. The CUNA report warned, "There should be a serious

concern about the use of the BCA to deliver credit for production

programs that are not based on field tested technologies and

reliable cost/return analysis. Such BAC participation places the

institution in the position of risking its credibility with

clients and suffering reduced revenues through delinquency and

reduced loan demand." CUNA sounded a more encouraging note,

however, during our discussions in September and October 1979.

The Practical Concepts, Inc. (PCI) Impact Evaluation, intended to

measure the SFDP's impact on small farmer income and productivity,

brought some interesting factors to light: about half of the

production increases from farms participating in the project was

from non-coffee sources. With respect to increased credit, the

farmers' priorities placed the three most important uses of

additional funds as being for non-coffee purposes. The PCI study

attempted to establish a base line and methodology for future

study. The validity of this approach and the findings therefrom

may not be established unless and until the next step is taken.

A summary of all of these reports, including the current one, may

be an interesting academic exercise, but at this point we

recommend that any further efforts on the subject of coffee/small

farmers be bent towards establishing a U.S. position and a joint

20

U.S.-Haitian position on -- 1) whether or not it is advisable to continue assistance in the coffee sector; 2) whether. it is possible to limit assistance to coffee vis-a-vis a broader package including food crops; and 3) if the answer to (1) is positive, and the issue implicit in (2) is resolved, the best way to design and implement such assistance. We believe, however, that a great deal of work needs to be done on the macro-economic and micro-economic

levels before such decisions can be taken.

V. ANALYSIS

A. General

To examine any part of the SFPD without first understanding the totality of project design, and its weaknesses, would not result in a useful piece of work. In fact, although each of the four principal elements (centers, roads, credit, fertilizer) has a certain compartmented aspect, individual evaluations of those elements do not necessarily add up to a thorough understanding of that totality. Th3 evaluations during 1979 have followed more or less the USAID organizational pattern, but the simultaneous examination of two project aspects by two different outside groups was not the best timing for host country contacts. There was some competition between the two evaluating teams for the same documents, and for the time and attention of the same Haitian and U.S.

officials.

As a methodological approach, we recommend that projects be considered units of management and that they be reviewed or

21

evaluated accordingly. The research, extension and training

facets of the SFDP are principal items of this study. A commen

tary on the coffee centers is a secondary although important item

also included. These subjects cannot be examined in isolation.

Therefore, we have included an "Other Considerations" section in

our Analysis which will discuss subjects which are peripheral but

relevant to the main themes.

B. Project Organization and Support System

1. Background

The historical vicissitudes of the "coffee project" organiza

tion, management, functions, and personnel have been

discussed in previous reports, the latest being the Group

Seven study of the Coffee Roads. Repetition of their

findings would serve no useful purpose, particularly in view

of the 1978 shift in project management.

In October 1978, the functions of extension and research,

i.e., the production functions of the coffee activity were

transferred from IPHCADE to DARNDR, where a special unit, the

PPC, was formed. We understand that organizational changes

still are taking place in DARNDR. However, it appears that

the PPC will retain its central function within the Depart

ment, probably under the Director General of Agriculture (See

organigramme, Appendix E).

22

The provision of extension services is one of PPC's primary

roles and most of the staff are in fact engaged in extension/

training activities. The extension agents administratively

are a part of the line service, Production and Extension, but

for technical purposes they relate to the PPC Director of

Extension, through the coffee center Director.

It should be noted that each coffee center has several

sub-districts attached to it, the size and numbers of which

depend upon coffee country topography. Each sub-district has

at least one agent who works with farmers in his area. Thus

the coffee centers themselves, even though they are in remote

places in the eyes of the visitor, are not the nerve ends of

extension. Few of the visitors get beyond the center because

transport most often is by horseback or foot beyond that

point.

The research function, largely dormant to this point, will be

blended into the Research Service (SERA). There are no SERA

field staff working in the coffee section.

The Directors of the eight coffee centers will report admin

istratively to the District Agronomist, who is the Chief

agricultural officer in Haiti's 13 agricultural districts.

For technical purposes they report to the Director of the PPC

unit at Damien.

23

However imperfect the coffee activity transfer documenta

tion, A/ however unsettled the project structure may appear to the outsider, the transfer of these two functions breathed

new life into the GOH administration of the activity.

Judging from a study of the findings specified in prior

reports and contrasting these with the results of our observations and discussions during this study, we find that

there now is a clearer sense of purpose and direction on the

part of the GOH.

All coffee center directors gather every three months at

Damien to discuss progress, problems and common matters. The

PPC director or the heads of the PPC extension and, research

units, try to make the rounds of the centers once or twice

monthly to check on activities. We accompanied the PPC

director on visits to two centers during the course of our

study. However, there are many bureaucratic tangles yet to

be unsnarled. Questions of timely and adequate pay for

personnel, budgets which will support the maintenance of the

coffee centers -- no small item given the number of buildings

and their need already for repairs and better upkeep, the

costs of supporting extension personnel with means of trans

portation, training materials, etc., will benot resolved

merely with good intentions. We realize that resolution of

some of these questions does not lie within the power of PPC

Group Seven draft, p. 50. PPC realizes the necessity ofstraightening out the paper work of the transfer from IPHCADE. PPC Evaluation Seminar, p. 10.

24

managers. No doubt some of them can fall within the scope of

USAID projects in the agricultural sector.

2. Relationships of Project Elements

The original elements of the SFDP (1974) were divided into

four parts: coffee roads construction, coffee center con

struction, the provision of credit, and fertilizer. The latter

constituted most of the credit package. The technological

transfer aspects of the project were submerged in the

rhetoric of originalthe design. They surfaced with the

August 1978 grant project agreement revision following on

DAI's criticism and recommendations in its June 30, 1977,

report. 11

Shortly after this revision was signed by the two govern

ments, the GOH transferred the SFDP to PPC. This action, per

notse, did resolve the problems of intra-project (the four

elements) relationships, although it did give the activity a

full-time Director, with the potential for firmer control.

The BCA is still associated with the project, thereby

retaining something of the bicephalous nature commented on

extensively in other studies. 2

1/ DAI, pp. 125-126.

DAI, p. 79. 2

25

We were informed that the BCA-PPC ties were informal rather

than officially promulgated. We were also informed that BCA

offices in the coffee center zones had moved or would move to

the centers. The exact relationship of the BCA agency and

the center director is not clear and one must bear in mind of

course that the coffee loans are only a part of BCA's acti

vities, i.e., their "regular" loans are for purposes other

than coffee production. 1/ However, the organizational

trends evolving in DARNDR appear to be towards better field

management of disparate functions at individual locational

levels. Thus, logic would point to tighter control by the

agronomist who is center director. In any event, we

recommend that this kind of management control be exercised.

On the coffee roads, Croup Seven already spelled out the

dilemma of future operations of this element: whether to

keep it in PPC/DARNDR or transfer it to Public Works. I/

IPHCADE, which retained its marketing and processing

functions and role, will continue to use the centers for its

traditional activities. This will be another facet which the

center director must orchestrate.

/ CUNA Report, April 1979. The role of the center director was discussed during the Sept. 27/28, 1979 Seminar of Evaluation, Vide p. 10 of seminar report.

2/ Group Seven draft, p. 112.

26

Research is an additional element not yet brought into

play, but which must become the third leg of the

technology transfer package with andalong extension

training.

3. The Team Approach

The three functions of research, extension, and training

should be closely interwoven into a team approach, through

the facilities of the centers, using also credit,

cooperative, marketing, etc., personnel as their functions

are germane to subject matterthe being extended to

farmers, to the season, and to the problems for which

resolution is being sought at a given time. This team

approach would help eliminate the conflicting, often

contradictory advice given to farmer groups and individual

farmers. Moreover, the teams need not necessarily restrict

their extension activities to the coffee sector, depending on

the team mix.

We believe that this modus operandi would help the center

director in his overall managerial role. We believe also

that in view of the extension personnel working in the

several functional disciplines, the GOH team approach to the

farmer groups, whatever they be called, is the only

reasonable way for Haiti to solve the problem of how the

Government's technical services reach hundredscan the of

thousands of small farmers.

27

For a better understanding of the management and functions of

the PPC central office and of the eight coffee centers, we

have attached a staffing pattern of these units as

Appendix F.

C. Research

1. The Agricultural Research Service

The Director of agricultural research (Service de la

Recherche Agronomique -- SERA) worked with USAID technicians

under the USAID program during the early 1960's and also

received training at U.S. universities as an AID-financed

participant.

There are a number of research activities being conducted. in

Haiti at seven research stations in crops such as rice,

maize, red beans, and coconut. As have most of the agricul

tural functional units, the research service has been

hampered by a shortage of funds and inadequate staff. Some

of their work has been supported by external donors, but an

overall plan was lacking. 1/

SERA was reorganized in 1979 in an effort to draw all agri

cultural research functions together for better planning and

coordination. (Appendix G contains the reorganization plan

1/ See Zuvekas, pp. 236-239 for a fuller treatment of agricultural research in Haiti.

28

and organigramme.) The following staff were reported to be

on board or under recruitment:

Director Plant Pathologist (Chief, Plant Protection)

Plant Pathologist (in charge of coconout project, Jacmel)

Production Agronomist

Plant Breeder (maize, red beans)

Plant Breeder (rice)

Botanist (Chief, National Arboretum)

Soils Scientist (to be recruited - now studying in

France)

6 Production Agronomists-and

12 Agricultural Technicians (covering four agricultural

districts)

Documentation and Information Chief (being recruited)

3 Secretaries

There has been no research on coffee since this project began

in 1974, and at the present time there is no coffee research

agronomist on the SERA staff. The only experienced special

ist in DARNDR has been assigned to other duties. The

Director of SERA hopes to have this agronomist returned to

the research staff so that coffee research may begin. The

PPC unit has a young agronomist listed as being head of The

Research Section.

An AID $4 million grant under AID Project No. 521-0092

(ADS-II) has as its major purpose the establishment within

29

DARNDR of an "institutional capacity to carry out agricultural research and statistical analysis of sufficient volume and reliability theas to sustain country's agricultural development program and increase farm production and income." (Annex I, p. 1). Coffee is not mentioned as a specific subject field in the project agreement, although it may be included under tropical horticulture. However, the August 1978 revision to the Small Farmer Development Project stipulated that counterpart personnel to work with the Coffee Research Horticulturist, then expected to be recruited, purchase of laboratory equipment, logistic support, etc., would be provided under ADS-II. It is not clear to us what the future of coffee research will be, given the fact that the adviser to be financed under the 1978 revision was never recruited. The current GOH view appears to be to request 6 months'

services only.

2. The Importance of Coffee Research

In order to have attained the objectives of the coffee production project, it would have been necessary to have initiated a research program in 1975 when the project began. Applied research on farmers' lands should have been started on the interaction of shade and plant nutrients, and variety trials should have begun. If the research had been started in 1975 -- thus allowing one year for recruitment of the research staff and general organization of the effort -- at least one year's yield data now would be available on which

30

recommendations for general application could be made. It

usually requires three years for coffee to produce cherries

after the seedlings have been transplanted. The buildings

infrastructure of a coffee center is not necessary for

applied research to be conducted in the field, although such

facilities are helpful.

Most of the coffee center building work has been completed or

is near completion (except at Beaumont). These structures of

course will be very useful for providing inputs and

facilities for personnel so that the research project can

advance at a more rapid rate. we encouraged SERA personnel

to accompany on trips to the centersus field coffee to

stimulate interest in the research aspects of the project and

to explore the possibilities of stationing research personnel

at one or more centers - as part of the team approach to

extension work.

Because a coffee research scientist is vital to attaining the

targets of the project, it is important that AID try to

locate a scientist and get him on board before the current

project ends. A period of six months is not enough time for

research personnel to make the desired impact, but if the

person recruited is a properly qualified scientist and does a

good job, it would help the GOH to realize the necessity of

having additional coffee research expert assistance in the

future. One of the most useful tasks he could perform would

be that of helping research the files in Haiti and draw

31

together the large body of data already available but inadequately stored and correlated.

3. Suggested Research Methodology

FAO personnel originally were to provide technical assistance to the project during the first five years. Two technicians were on board for a period of approximately two years, and a fertilizer consultant made short trips to Haiti. Unfortunately, these were not coffee research scientists. The FAO experts did provide inputs into the extension and training components of the project.

Other reports that we reviewed suggested different types of experiments that should be conducted in the future, but with the limited human resources likely to be available for some time, it would be desirable to hold the research activities to a minimum in order to assure reliable results with a high payoff. A team approach should be used to determine the types of research that would be most beneficial to the small farmers. A team might be comprised of a rural sociologist, an agricultural economist, a research scientist adviser, and

a Haitian counterpart.

One type of experiment that should be discussed with the farmers would be fertilizer, shade type experiment. This type of experiment could be established on a farmer's land and one experiment could be established in coffee areas near the coffee center. The treatments could be as follows:

32

1. 80% shade

2. 40% shade

3. 20% shade

4. 0% shade

Research in other countries has shown that no shade with

fertilizer produces the highest yields, but the small farmers

probably are not ready to assume the high risks in moving

from heavy shade to no shade. A small farmer knows that he

can produce some coffee under heavy shade and no fertilizer.

If he removes too much shade and does not fertilize his

coffee, he will lower his yield.

Many people consider coffee a shade-loving plant, and indeed,

under natural conditions coffee will grow and reproduce under

heavy shade with no fertilizer, even though the yields will

be low. There is a very delicate balance between removing

shade and applying fertilizer. When a coffee plant receives

more sun, the photosynthetic level in the coffee plant is

increased, which requires more nutrients and results in

higher coffee production. If the nutrients are not avail

able, the coffee plant in open sunlight will burn itself out

in a few years and die. The only way to prevent this is to

reduce the shade gradually by using a brushkiller on the

shade trees so that the trees lose their leaves over a long

period of time while fertilizer is being applied to the

coffee trees.

33

Observations were made in the Baptiste area on several farms

and symptoms of nitrogen deficiencies were evident on trees

near the road where the shade was limited. Many of the

leaves were yellow, and trees with lots of cherries were

losing their leaves. Manganese deficiency also was evident

on some trees, but did not appear widespread in the area.

The fertilizer formulae being distributed contained manganese

as well as zinc, so this should correct the problems if the

trees are fertilized in the appropriate amounts at the

appropriate times.

In order to determine the fertilizer mix to be used on the

shade experiment, leaf and soil samples must be taken and

analyzed. The results, along with experience from other

countries, should dictate the fertilizer level for each shade

treatment. Buffer plots will be needed between the treatment

plots to offset the effects of shade from one treatment to

the other.

There are two other fertilizer experiments that will be

needed to determine the optimum levels of nitrogen, phos

phate, and potash (NPK). It would be desirable to establish

a complete factorial fertilizer experiment at each coffee

center, using three levels of nitrogen, phosphate and potash.

The yield results should be correlated with soil and tissue

analyses from the experimental plots. The data will provide

valuable information for correlating tissue and soil analyses

with coffee yields, as well as establishing optimum rates of

fertilizer for NPK, and their interaction.

34

The second experiment would involve different types of slow

release nitrogen. The National Fertilizer Development Center

(NFDC) at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has developed several

sulphur coated types of nitrogen that have worked out very

well for rice culture. These types should be tried on coffee

in the high rainfall areas. If they work well on coffee, it

would be possible to apply only one application of nitrogen

per year at the beginning of the crop year, instead of three

or four applications during the season. AID/Washington has a

contract with the NFDC. Thus this contract could be used for

the provision of a specialist to assist in establishing the

experiments and provide the fertilizer. Dr. Robert T. Smith,

the representative for Latin America, should be contacted at

the NFDC.

The coffee centers already are growing in their nurseries the

best coffee varieties for Latin America at the present time,

except for two varieties resistant to oriental leaf rust,

which are grown in Turrialba, Costa Rica. These varieties

will not be needed unless the leaf rust becomes a problem in

Haiti -- at the present time it is found only in Brazil and

Nicaragua. The variety Geisha is being produced in Haiti,

and this variety is also resistant to several strains of the

oriental leaf rust. The GOH should be looking ahead in this

respect, because should the rust get a start in Haiti, it

possibly could decimate coffee plantations.

It would be desirable to establish a replicated variety trial

at each coffee center. This would provide reliable yield

35

data that could be analyzed statistically. At the present time, the varieties are being grown under different environmental conditions because the plots are not replicated and

randomized at one location.

The research indicated above is sufficient to keep two scientists busy full-time. Fertilizer and variety trials

should be considered as priority items.

Ideally, a coffee research person, at least one trained at the agricultural technician level, should be attached to each coffee center so as to be a part of the team approach

discussed under Extension.

4. The Soils Laboratory at Damien

We visited the Soils Laboratory at the Ministry of Agriculture to determine whether tissue and soils analyses could be made there. The laboratory has a new Varian Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Model AA-175, that has not been set up or used. We were informed by the Soils Scientists that the equipment was not usein because the room was not airconditioned. For use with this equipment, the laboratory has cathode lamps for Ca -Mg, Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu. We saw a new Kjeldahl, an apparatus for nitrogen determinations, part of which was still in the packing container. It too had never been used or set up. There was also a 110 gallon tank for storing distilled water, but water pressure at Damien oftei was too low to keep the distillery operating. Consequently,

36

the capacity of the distilling apparatus was not known. This

laboratory equipment was purchased by OEA to evaluate the cocoa soils. We were informed that this equipment could be

used for soil and tissue analysis for coffee.

It probably will be necessary to purchase a few additional

items to set up the equipment, plus some reagents and an air-conditionner. We recommend that a soil chemist from

North Carolina State University come to Haiti for about two

of the equipment. It would

weeks to order the parts and supplies and to set up the equipment. At a later date, he should return to train the Haitian soil chemists in the use

be desirable to do all of the tissue and soils analyses in Haiti. However, for cross-checking purposes, duplicate

samples should be tested at N.C. State every two months.

This would provide a continuous check on the accuracy of the tissue analyses at the two laboratories. 4f the differences are beyond acceptable levels, the soil chemist should return

to Haiti to help identify and resolve the problems.

The results of the analyses have more value if they have been

correlated with yield data from fertilizer trials in Haiti. Since this has not been done, they could be compared with the

results of tissue analyses in Puerto Rico. The research work there has indicated that the plants must have the following

quantities for good coffee production:

N 2.5 - 3.0%

P 0.10 - 0.15%

37

K 2.0 - 2.5%

Ca 0.08 - 1.4%

Mg 0.4%

Fe 100 ppm

Mn 150 ppm

Cu 10 ppm

Zn 20 ppm

B 100 ppm

If the leaf analysis indicates lower figures than those

listed above, it indicates that they need fertilizer to

replace the nutrients that are low in plants. It would be

desirable to send the tissue analyses to Dr. Toro in Puerto

Rico the first-time so that he can make his recommendations

based on first-hand experience.

5. The Use of Fertilizer

There have been several reports and evaluations on the

project which present different fertilizer ratios, as well as

amounts recommended for application. This highlights the

fact that there are no research results which have

established the optimum rate of fertilizer for coffee in the

different ecological zones of Haiti. Until this is done, the

experts will have to continue to guess as to what is the best

mixture of fertilizers. The last thing the USAID or the GOH

needs at this point is another fertilizer ratio thrown at

38

them to confuse the issue even more. The following represents a

few of the recommendations to date:

FAO Urea

PNUD 10-10-20

13-13-13

(N-P-K)

TVA 1976 20-5-10-1 Mg

10-5-20-1 Mg

20-5-15

DAI 1977

Dr. Toro 1978

BCA 1979

13-5-13-2 Mg (unshaded areas)

11-5-17-2 Mg (shaded areas)

12-5-18-2 Mg (shaded areas)

10-5-15-3 Mg

12-6-12-2 Mg

20-10-20-2Zn-2Mn

20-10-10-2Zn-2Mn

15-15-20-2Zn-2Mn

If it is necessary to guess at a fertilizer ratio, it is best

to have some soil and tissue analysis data from several areas

to assist in making decisions. According to a memorandum

dated October 9, 1977, in the USAID files, soils and leaves

were sent to N.C. State for analysis and a report was

submitted to the Mission. Mr. Apollos Derenoncourt suggested

the fertilizer ratios based on the soil and leaf analyses.

We were unable, however, to locate and review the soil and

leaf analyses.

39

Since the analyses were taken two years ago, it would be

desirable to take additional samples from all of the major

coffee growing areas in Haiti and have new analyses made. We

suggest that a coffee soil scientist come to Haiti from

Puerto Rico or Costa Rica to train extension personnel on the

correct method of taking the leaf and soil samples. The leaf

samples must be taken correctly if they are to have any

value.

With regard to the physical form of fertilizer, it would be

desirable to import separate ingredients (N-P-K etc.) for the

fertilizer trials, and if there is a great variation in leaf

samples among locations, this type of fertilizer could be

sold to the farmers so that they could apply only what they

need of each ingredient. We recommend importing urea prills

or ammonia sulphate, triple superphosphate, potassium

chloride, manganese sulfate and zinc oxide. All of these are

high-analysis fertilizers which will save on transportation

costs.

Small farmers depend on donkeys or horses to transport their

inputs. If a donkey can haul 100 pounds, it is better that

he carry one bag of TSP, which contains 46% available

phosphate, than that he make three trips carrying a single

superphosphate, which contains only 18-20% available

phosphate. There is no point in carrying inert ingredients

along with the fertilizer if they are not needed. The use of

high analysis fertilizer should be ordered and applied.

40

One problem with respect to the fertilizer at the present

time is the subsidy, which reduces the farmer's cost to about

one-half of the market price. This practice is a burden to

the Haitians and will not serve the long-term interests of

the small farmer.

The original loan agreement called for fertilizer to be

distributed to farmer-borrowers under credit terms "of not to

exceed 50% of the delivered fertilizer value. Said subsidy

to remain in effect on a gradually decreasing scale for a

period of not to exceed a four-year period per farmer." It

will be recalled that when the agreement was written, ferti

lizer world market prices had reached high levels. Conse

quently, imports are at about half of the originally

estimated prices. This factor should have called for a

reconsideration of prices to be charged the Kaitian small

farmer. Another aspect of this problem is that of the

"gradually decreasing" subsidy over a four-year period.

Surely this point must have arrived for some of the farmers.

It is difficult to understand how the economics of coffee

production can be ascertained as long as there is a

fertilizer subsidy, because the farmer may make quite

different decisions if he has to pay market prices.

Moreover, when the subsidy is terminated, the individual

farmer very likely will feel discriminated against and place

the blame on the AID program, because that was the source of

the handshake bags.

41

The small farmer needs research, extension and training

services, and credit at the going rates, so that he can learn

to produce coffee at a profit under realistic conditions.

Otherwise, what price comparative advantage?

As long as there is a coffee export tax, it would be desirable to encourage the GOH to use, say, one percent of

the tax for coffee research purposes, and two percent for the costs of extension work. This would stimulate coffee production and exports which should more than repay the

outlay. This ais factor to be considered as a condition

precedent should there be a follow-on project agreement.

D. Extension

1. Setting

Previous evaluations and studies of Haiti's extension

efforts, whether generic or specific to coffee production,

predominately have been critical.

IBRD, for example, characterized these efforts as being "well

below levels necessary for a positive impact (1:800).

Whatever staff is assigned to the field, lacks the means to operate effectively." The Bank advocated " a simple service,

with the field extension worker advising on all crops",

conceding, however, as a temporary measure that

42

"a crop-oriented extension service may be required, for

instance for ...coffee."-1/

The CUNA evaluation of April 1979 is even more direct and

negative:

"An effective agricultural credit program requires dissemination of proven technologies to small farmers, as well as on-site support necessary to ensure these are utilized in a way that maximizes farmer returns. It is the Team's conclusion that the majority of GCA clients receive little extension support." 2/

The DAI evaluation, while mentioning some positive factors,

included a longer list of constraints to good extension

services, among others:

the evanescent quality of SACs (also noted in

CUNA's report).

poor project design: no provision was made for the

development and implementation of an extension

methodology.

the lack of credibility of some of the extension

agents who are apathetic, indifferent, or not

knowledgeable.

In sum, according to DAI, "The result is that both farmers

and agents are too often confused, poorly motivated,

inadequately organized and improperly instructed." 2/

IBRD, 2165 HA, pp. 12, 17.

2/ CUNA, pp. 52-53.

DAI, pp. 58-72 (direct quote, p. 71).

43

Under the heading of Extension in its Final Report, FAO in

effect wrote off its counterparts (IPHCADE and BCA) because

those organizations chose to take the path of regeneration of

coffee plantations rather than total renewal (new plantings),

based on their assessment of what was possible at the

farmer's level. Thus, to the FAO experts, the whole

a failure. 1/extension effort was

Agronome Duret, in his evaluation of the impact of the PPC

project in the Jacmel/Macary area -- written in April 1978

when he was Director of the Macary Coffee Center -- listed a

number of difficulties encountered in extension work:

"L'application des fertilisants n'est pas souvent faite aux moments les plus opportuns. L'engrais, les ann~es pr6c6dentes, est toujours arriv6 en retard. Les changements de formule et de dose a l'hectare ont certainement cr 6 de la confusion chez les planteurs. Nous avons eu du mal a faire passer efficacement chaque fois les modifications.

- Une bonne partie de 1'engrais est absorb~e par les multiples bananiers qui vivent dans les caf6idres.

- Dans deux secteurs, une partie de l'engrais (a peine 10% a 6t6 utilis6e dans la culture des haricots/mais (Cap-Rouge) et dans des bananeraies (Fond-Jean Noel).

- Dans les plants tailles, un bon choix des gourmands n'est pas fait.

- Par ailleurs, certaines maladies, comme dans tout Jacmel, des pourritures de racines (Rosellinia Necatrix, Fusarium Oxysporum Sp.), et le Mycena Citricolor, deux pestes tr~s r6pandues, contribuent r/r~duire de prOs de 20% les possibilit6s de rendement."

Duret subsequently was transferred to PPC headquarters in

Damien and placed in charge of the PPC extension activities.

In our view, this was a very positive step for the project.

1/ FAO, Final Report, pp. 13-14.

2/ Duret, p. 6.

44

This, then, was the dismal picture generally painted up to a

year ago.

2. Relationship to Research

In principal, the extension service can be no better than the

research service which provides reliable research information

to the extension service for transmittal to the farmers. At

the present time, there are no research activities, therefore

reliable data for use in a technological package is a

problem. The research activities which we have suggested

would provide useful results in the future for farmer demon

strations and field days.

3. Current Extension Activities

In spite of the fact that adequate research information is

not available at this time, we believe, based on our

interviews with the Directors of four coffee centers, that

the extension staff has done a great deal towards assisting

the farmers. The extension staff has obtained information

from Costa Rica and Puerto Rico which is being transferred to

the farmer.

The coffee centers at Baptiste, Macary and Fond-des-Negres

have a collection of the highest yielding arabic coffee

varieties in the world including Bourbon, Caturra, Mondo

Novo, Typica, Geisha, Bourdenque and Caturai, (a cross

45

between Caturra and Mundo Novo). To date, thousands of coffee plants have been sold at prices ranging from one cent (Baptiste) to seven cents (Fond-des-Negres). At Baptiste an estimated 20,000 plants have been stolen from the nursery. The fact that the farmers take the trouble to steal the plants indicates that they have been convinced by the extension personnel isthat Caturra a much better variety than Typica, which most of the farmers are growing at the present

time.

In our opinion Caturra is the best variety for Haiti since it is noted for high yield and has short internodes which makes harvesting much easier. It will produce cherries two years after it has been transplanted. We have not seen yield data from replicated variety trials in other locations in order to determine whether Caturai yields better than Caturra, but if the research staff begins variety trials in the future, the information will become available at a later date. We suggest continuing the distribution of Caturra plants until research proves that another variety produces higher yields under local conditions, or until leaf rust becomes a problem

in Haiti.

Spacing demonstrations being conductedare at the coffee centers. In Baptiste, for example, spacings being tried are

as follows:

1.0 X 0.9 meters

2.0 X 1.0 "

46

1.0 X 1.5 meters

" 2.0 X 1.5

2.0 X 2.0 "

1.0 x 1.0 "

1.5 X 1.5 "

The yield results in the future should provide information on

which recommendations can be made. At the present time, the

coffee planted 2.0 X 1.0 meters looks very good.

One trial has been started that was recommend by the Costa

Rica coffee research personnel. It is a modification of the

"BF system" developed by Dr. J. H. Beaumont, and Edward

Funkunaga. This system produced the highest yields in the

world on arabica coffee in Hawaii. /

The BF system has the advantage of preventing erosion due to

close spacing, ease of harvesting if the Caturra variety is

used, an easy system of pruning, and a leveling off biennial

bearing. The system is described in the "Handbook of

Tropical and Sub-Tropical Horticulture." 2/ This is the

treatment that should be used for the no-shade plots

indicated under the Research section of this paper.

At the present time the coffee plantations in Hawaii have been replaced with Macadamia nuts due to the high price of labor for harvesting coffee. Macadamia nuts can be harvested mechanically and still bring high prices.

/ Handbook of Tropical and Sub-Tropical Horticulture, 1968. E. Mortensen and E.T. Bullard. AID/W.

47

The plantings we saw at the coffee centers are not research

experiments but can be used as excellent demonstrations on how to obtain high yields with fertilizer and very limited

shade.

There are die-back and cercospora leaf spot on the coffee in

some areas, but they do not appear to be serious problems. The report submitted by Dr. Jorge A. Toro in 1978 indicates a

control for these problems. -

There are 15 KW gasoline generators at the coffee centers but neither the one at Baptiste nor the one at Macary was

operating when we visited the centers, because of lack of funds for repairs or petrol. It would be desirable haveto

the generators running so that electricity (and water, where

an electric pump is required) could be provided to the

personnel living at the center. It is easier to obtain

better trained personnel if a few fringe benefits are provided and electricity is needed to operate visual aid equipment, etc. for seminars, work shops and field days.

At Baptiste a workshop has been established for 15 days to

provide information on coffee planting and cultivation.

There are 17 planters who attend each workshop. A three-day

seminar also is held each year to discuss management,

operations and coffee cultivation. Farmer field days are

held each Friday at Macary.

Conjunto Technologico Para la Produccion de Cafe en Haiti,

J.A. Toro, 1978.

48

A demonstration on shade removal has been started at Baptiste, as well as pruning of older trees to obtain higher yields. The trees are cut off about 2 or 3 feet above the ground and three new suckers are allowed to grow. This

At the Fond-des-Negres center,

reduces the height of the tree to make picking easier and increases the yield when fertilizer is used along with the removal of some shade trees.

a stand of 20-year old Caturra trees was treated in this way. After two years, the trees appear to be very healthy and compare favorably with new trees. These are expected to bear

next year.

Extension visual aid materials are needed for farmers. Since electricity if frequently lacking, it would be best to start the training program with flip charts and flip books. A flip chart should be prepared with a series of black and white photographs. One series should be on shade removal and fertilizer application, and another on field planting. The flip books should use the same pictures in the same series that were used on the flip charts. The pictures should be placed in order to tell a story of efficient management to

the farmer.

*Each picture should have a caption even if the farmer cannot read it. The pictures themselves, if arranged properly, will tell the story. The farmer should be allowed to take the flip book home with him so that he can remember what he saw on the flip chart that was presented by the extension worker.

49

4. Annual Report for 1978 - 1979

On September 27 and 28, 1979, the PPC unit at Damien, the

Directors of the Coffee Centers, and other officials

concerned with the coffee production activities met to assess

the results of the first year of PPC's operations and to plan

for the coming year. The Haitian fiscal, or budget, year

coincides with the U.S. fiscal year.

Each center director reported on the results of field

activities conducted through his center, for the year just

ending. Tables showing these activities are attached as

Appendix H. Although the data are incomplete, the tables

give a picture of the magnitude and scope of center

extension-oriented operations.

For example, during 1978-1979, almost 1.6 million coffee

plants were grown in Coffee Center nurseries, about 82% of

the goal set. Close to 0.9 million of the plants were

transplanted on farms. The picture pertaining to the area

treated with chemical fertilizer, on the other hand, was only

63% of the objective, probably the result of the up-and-down

coffee loan activities of BCA. However, some 1700 tons were

distributed, most of them through the SACs.

E. Training

1. Original Plan

50

Six types of training were identified and elaborated upon in

the CAP as being necessary for the implementation of the

project:

Coffee Technology

Coffee Extension Methodology

Coffee Research Techniques

Credit Methodology

Systems Management

Farmer Training

The loan agreement itself made no provision for funds to be

used for training purposes other than stipulating that "the

Borrower will provide approximately $86,000 to be programmed

on an annual basis" for incountry expenses of various kinds.

"Training of DARNDR personnel in the field of coffee techno

logy will be conducted by two specialists to be provided by

the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

at the IPHCADE Center at Fond-des-Negres and at Damien.

Farmer training will be conducted at the IPHCADE Regional

Operations Centers." 1/

Grant funds were provided in January 1976 to assist IPHCADE

with the establishment of training programs at the regional

centers, and in February 1977 for a special training program

to be carried out by BCA in the credit element of the

project. In the 1978 Project Agreement revision, funds were

- Loan Agreement, p. 5.

51

provided for the training of 14 Haitians "to prepare them to

develop an extension capability in coffee production as

rapidly as possible." These funds were provided after the

FAO effort had failed to achieve its purpose in training and

extension activities.

2. Role of FAO

FAO/UNDP signed an agreement in 1974 with the Government of

Haiti to undertake extension and training activities for a

period of five years, to run concurrently with the AID

project. The FAO Programmation document of August 1975

spelled out a training program along the lines suggested in

the CAP; i.e., training-the-trainers at Fond-des-Negres.

This cadre then would train additional personnel in the other

coffee centers.

By December 1976, however, construction at none of the coffee

centers had been completed, and this meant that the training

program did not get started. According to the FAO evaluation

report of April 1977, the only training which had been given

by the project consisted of occasional on the spot

counselling by FAO expert. Such counsel, according to FAO,

was not often followed. This delay in getting the project

started, along other caused towith factors, FAO terminate

their element of the SFDP at the end of two years, instead of

continuing for the full five years.

52

3. Formal Training Programs

The only formal training given during the first two years

took place when 15 agronomists went to Costa Rica for. a

month's practical training in October 1976, a program

financed by AID. Another group went to Costa Rica for about

a week in 1979, also financed by AID. None of the long-term

training originally contemplated in the CAP, or in the

revised Grant Project Agreement of 1978, has taken place.

Such training would have been particularly valuable for

coffee research.

The Haitian coffee-culture training program has picked up

momentum, especially during the past year. The appointment

of a strong project director for the PPC unit and of an

energetic chief of the PPC extension branch at DARNDR have

caused an increase in training activities for extension

agents, and ultimately for farmers. One of the most

encouraging aspects of this situation is that the Haitians

themselves are arranging and managing the training sessions

at the Fond-des-Negres center, which has been completed and

increasingly is being used as the principal training ground,

as was originally intended. Four or five training sessions

are held at Fond-des-Negres each year. Each session, fc

extension agents, has a different theme. The theme of the

two-week session being held for 30 agents during our visit in

October 1979 was "Systeme de Culture de Cafe: Culture,

Intensive, Extensive, Polyculture." A copy of the schedule

53

of the training program, and of the group being trained -

from all parts of Haiti -- is attached as Appendix I..

It should be noted that this training session concentrated

not just on coffee culture, but on coffee among and with

other crops. We believe that USAID should encourage this

multi-crop approach to training because of the nature of the

farmer's total activities. It should be noted too that these

training sessions include practical field work activities,

which begin very early in the day. Almost all of the

instructors are Haitian agronomists from the DARNDR complex,

and most of them are associated with the coffee production

project.

The net result of such training/retraining (recyclage)

sessions is better trained extension agents who can work more

closely and more effectively with farmers and farmer groups.

The training programs, just as the extension work, could be

strengthened as research results are tested and fed into the

stream. We believe that the training program could benefit

from the services of an Extension Methodology Advisor to help

with curriculum and training methods.

One useful step which could be taken is that the trainers and

other extension personnel visit experiment stations in Puerto

Rico, Colombia, Guatemala, and El Salvador to meet with

scientific and extension experts to observe modern coffee

production techniques. These observers should bring research

54

and extension publications back to Haiti with them for trans

lation into usable materials for their own service.

The farmer training program is excellent at the present time,

as far as it goes, and should improve as the research and

extension personnel gain more knowledge from other countries

and from local research work. The size of the problem of

reaching the many thousands of small farmers who grow coffee

is enormous, however. Given the limitations on DARNDR's

budget, the number of extension agents in the coffee zones

may not be increased much further. Other crops in non-coffee

zones also will require extension services if the push to

increase food production succeeds. Therefore, existing

agents must be screened carefully and those who show the

motivation and potential skills for their work with farmers

should be given first opportunity to attend the training

sessions and seminars. Farmers, on the other hand, must be

encouraged to act together so that the agents' time can be

used most effectively during demonstrations, field days,

etc., on farms or at the coffee centers.

F. Coffee Centers

1. Construction and Maintenance

Seven coffee centers have been constructed, six centers with

the full complement of buildings planned in the CAP, and one

A number of Haitian agronomists alreacy have visited CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.

55

"mini-center" at Changieux, which is not as elaborate. Con

struction for an additional mini-center planned for Beaumont

has not yet begun. Work at the Dondon (90% completed) and

Thiotte (95% completed) centers has not been finished. The

generator at the Macary center has not been seated on its

permanent base.

The three centers which we cvisited (Baptiste, Macary, and

Fond-des-Negres) already show signs of needing a well

conceived preventive maintenance program. Walls are

developing cracks; fittings and fixtures need mending or

replacing. We understand that the budgets of the centers

allow little expenditure for such purposes, but if these

centers are to become and remain models of government

services to the farmer, an effort must be made to keep them

in top-operating condition.

After the Beaumont station has been completed, we recommend

that no additional centers be built until the existing ones

are used fully and effectively.

If the Baptiste and Macary centers are indicative of others

(apart from Fond-des-Negres), the centers are built in

isolated areas, difficult of access, and in a style and

manner which eclipses any other buildings within miles. In

consideration of the fact that the center directors do not

take their families to reside on the posts, the chief

residential building is over-designed and consequently not

56

fully used. These buildings possibly could be used as

dormitory areas if training activities at the regional

centers were stepped up. However, all utilities would need

to be made operative -- electricity at Baptiste and Macary,

and water at Fond-des-Negres were not available during our

visits.

The general appearance of all of the centers could be

improved considerably if the weeds and other unwanted plants

were kept cut and trimmed. Weeds draw both moisture and

nutrients from the soil in the nursery and trial plot areas,

and detract greatly from the overall ambiance in the

buildings areas. We have recommended the procurement of

grass whips, a simple tool which is very effective in similar

situations.

2. Center Uses

The Fond-des Negres center is used chiefly as 1) a training

center for PPC extension staff, and 2) a seed production

station for the new coffee varieties. For these purposes,

FDN has the distinct advantage of being on a major all

weather road. It has offsetting disadvantages of having a

clayey soil not especially suitable for coffee production

(there was evidence of various fungi on the coffee plants on

the station), and 2) being only about 300 meters in altitude,

not an optimum altitude for coffee production. FDN, however

has been a principal coffee center for a long time, the

57

buildings infrastructure is more extensive than at other

centers, and the costs/problems of shifting the principal

coffee center site would make a change undesirable within the

near future. The entrance to this center from the main

roadway should shaved to thebe down reduce angle of the

slope and to improve drainage.

All of the centers are used for trial/demonstration purposes

for farmer field days and other farmer training methods. The

centers also are asused storage and distribution points for

chemical fertilizers. Bagged fertilizer in the warehouses

observed show the result of heavy humidity on hygroscopic

material. These bags were rock-hard and may cause handling

and spreading problems for farmers.

The centers are the sites also of BCA offices in the coffee

zones. If the credit and cooperatives aspects of coffee

production become more firmly established, activities at the

centers could increase in this respect.

The wet method of processing coffee (cafe lave) usually

results in a higher quality coffee that commands a higher

price. It would be desirable to establish wet processing

plants at the coffeeeach of centers to conduct research on

coffee processing. An economic