USAID/OTI BOLIVIA HOT TOPICS
November 2006
Building Local Government Support for Rural Economic Development
 |
| OTI-trained official from the Prefecture of Cochabamba's Departmental Agricultural Service describes the menu of technical assistance services now available to potato producers living in Muņoz Cueva. |
Building the Capacity of the Prefecture of Cochabamba to support Local Potato Producers is executed by USAID/OTI through its partner, Casals and Associates.
With USAID/OTI technical assistance, the Prefecture of Cochabamba's support to the farmers of Morochata is already paying dividends. On the day that a public ceremony was held to celebrate the successful implementation of the project, dozens of farmers returned to Muņoz Cueva to purchase seed from the Association's now sustainable stock of seed. The association sold nearly 3,000 kilograms of seed with a value of $5000 in one day. "We are humble farmers," said Filiberto Quintana, who heads the local potato producers association. "The prefecture and USAID have helped us make certain that we will always have seed to sell and food for our families."
Filiberto Quintana, a potato farmer from the small rural pueblo of Muņoz Cueva in the central Bolivian department of Cochabamba, knows that the fertile soil of the surrounding valley produces the finest potatoes in the region.
In the past, farmers throughout the department traveled to Muņoz Cueva, the municipality of Morochata, to purchase potato seed from the local association of potato farmers led by Filiberto. But a lack of sustainable practices coupled with a weak business plan has recently left the association's members without seed to sell. Last year's disappointing crop and the overselling of seed produced by the association left Filiberto and his fellow farmers without seed to plant this year.
Targeted support from the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is building the capacity of the departmental government (prefecture) of Cochabamba to serve as the key source of technical assistance to self-employed local producers like Filiberto Quintana. The activities contribute to a broader, coordinated effort by USAID, the prefecture, and local municipalities to promote rural economic development. This effort includes the cultivation of legal crops in Cochabamba, which is Bolivia's largest coca leaf-producing region.
USAID/OTI funded a team of economic development experts to work with the prefecture's Departmental Agricultural Service (SEDAG) to develop and train its staff in the use of a "blueprint," or business plan, for building sustainability into economic activities from the outset. USAID/OTI-funded experts and their SEDAG counterparts then used the model -- which now serves as the foundation for all new department-led economic development projects, --to develop an initial portfolio of new projects based on regional economic priorities.
With USAID/OTI support, newly-trained SEDAG personnel now have the capacity to provide year-round technical assistance and sustainable business plans to local economic actors.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Russell Porter, Regional Team Leader, 202-712-5455, rporter@usaid.gov
|
