Ch07

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M. D. el-Khalifa

The author, who is Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Khartoum, pointed out that Sudan, the largest country in Africa and with an economy based on agriculture and animal rearing, is establishing integrated programmes to combat desertification. It was therefore timely that its senior university, the University of Khartoum, had recently created an Institute of Environmental Studies (IES), with research and training components, which had become the focal point of an association with the United Nations University. The objectives of IES include research dissemination and postgraduate training in environmental studies, and can cover the training of UNU Fellows from other African countries in specific programmes drawn from IES curricula and other courses. Development projects had been identified as training sites. An additional possibility was short courses on particular aspects of arid lands management, based on the wide range of skills represented by the 28 staff members working in IES. Details of IES programmes are given in Proceedings of the Khartoum Workshop on Arid Lands Management, UN University Press, 1 979.

Discussion

A. T. Grove reported on his discussions with potential UNU

Fellows in southern Africa and indicated that the best arrangement for Fellows from that region attached to IES might be a specially designed study programme during the rainy season, based on an appraisal of the individual Fellow's needs, followed by the field project and report-writing. H.-U.Thimm expressed the hope that Fellowship training might lead to a diploma or postgraduate degree, implying a need for longer periods of training than presently envisaged under the scheme and allowing the Fellow to follow established postgraduate programmes. It was proposed by Douglas L. Johnson that the UN University should formally recognize the need for such longer-period as well as shorter-period support in its Fellowship scheme. He also advocated medium-term support for Fellows on programmes designed to achieve specific goals.

In the discussion on the contents of training programmes for arid lands management, certain topics were noted as being important:

1. Improving feedback from experience in the design of development projects;
2. Training in the environmental aspects of project design and assessment;
3. Identification of obstacles to the effective transfer of project administration from donor to recipient;
4. Methodology for monitoring the progress of development projects.

Priorities in Training Programmes for Management of African Drylands
H. R. J. Davies

"Successful development of agriculture often requires an intimate understanding of the society within which it is to take place-of its systems of values and its customary constraints" (De Wilde, 1967, with reference to tropical Africa); . . . the more that is spent on them the less likely they are to succeed" (Carr, 1977, rural development schemes in Africa in general); "Often the needs of rural populations ... conflict with policies .. . in support of urban objectives" (Editorial, Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Centre, Reading, UK, 1977, conclusion concerning the Third World in general).

These three quotations provide salutary reminders that rural development in the Third World is not just a matter of finance, nor of identifying a sound ecological approach to environmental problems within an area, nor even of developing a suitable rural development programme for a particular area. It has much wider ramifications. The drylands of Africa are no exception to this.

A suitable training programme for the management of African drylands must therefore be concerned, not only with the environmental, agricultural, and allied sciences, but also with the following questions:
1. By what criteria is success to be measured?
2. In any programme, whose needs must ultimately have priority7

The next two questions concern the individuals taking part in the training programme:
3. Who needs to be trained?
4. What will be the function of these persons after training?

After which comes the final question:
5. What elements must be included in the training programme?

1. Measurement of success
The immediate conflict that arises here is that between the pure scientist, who will rate the conservation of the natural resources and their enhancement as the primary aim in the drylands zone management, the government, which may be interested in food or other production for cash that will increase per capita income, and the people living in the area who may rate food, forage, and reduction in physical toil as higher priorities than cash income. As any programme, to be successful, must have the support of the local people who will be most closely associated with the implementation of the scheme, it would seem essential for local "identification" to be the most important consideration here. If none of the objectives, however scientifically sound, can be accepted as valid by the local society, one must query whether it is worthwhile undertaking the programme at all.

2. Whose needs should have priority?
The potential conflict here may be between a central government with an adverse balance of payments, anxious to increase export earnings through primary products, the urban centres anxious to increase the local supply of cheap food for their expanding populations, the needs of the local community as perceived by its members, or the demand for freedom of action and decision by the community members themselves, either as members of families or as individuals. The decision here may be a political one, or a decision based upon traditional customs of the local society. Again, however, it would seem that much will depend upon local acceptance.

3. Who should be trained?
It would seem that a training programme must be concerned first of all with the policy-makers. There is a need for a somewhat detached and multidisciplinary appraisal of the situation and condition in a particular area. The futility of inadequate research and investigation, and of lists of aims and expected results based upon flimsy evidence and cursory local surveys needs to be emphasized. The belief that, if you have enough capital, a project will succeed if it has a valid scientific basis, needs to be dispelled. A humbler and more thoughtful approach to rural people by politicians and civil servants needs to be encouraged.

Those who are to implement the policy in the field and to supervise the day-by-day operations and negotiations also need to be trained. It is essential for them to believe wholeheartedly in the validity of what they are saying and doing. The agricultural extension officer who preaches one thing during the working day and does something quite different on his own farm in the evening, is worse than useless. in some ways this group is more difficult to convince than the planners. The planner and civil servant, by his very training, may become out of touch with the rural people and their aspirations, but the gulf is such that he is likely to accept that it does exist and to be prepared to do something about it. On the other hand, within the lower echelons, the implementors may be anxious to separate themselves from what they regard as "the ignorant rural peasant," producing the reverse of "identification."

4. Function of trained personnel
The function of the trained official is important. He will inevitably be seen as an agent of government by the local people, but he must also see his function as being a representative of the people to the government. He needs to be seen as someone who co~operates with the people, and not merely as the person who passes orders from above.

5. Elements of the training programme
The emphasis and content of the training programme must depend upon the answers to the preceding questions. The following discussion is therefore based on these assumptions: that any training programme for the management of African drylands must be concerned with conservation, with the welfare primarily of the people to be affected by social change, and with the training of at least senior implementors, as well as planners; and that the course should be designed to make the student more aware, not only of the physical, economic, and administrative aspects of dryland management, but also of the human aspects and, if the student is an implementor, to enable him to become more a "channel for communication" and less a "channel of instruction."

It is self-evident that an awareness of the potential, limitations, and sensitive nature of the natural-resource base should form a significant part of the training programme. The scientific assessment of resource potential is nowhere more important than in the dryland zone, and an introduction to significant work done in this field in various parts of Africa and outside the continent needs to be included in the course-work. The next element must be training in the assessment of the factors involved in the use of the natural resource base, which may conveniently be divided into economic, administrative, and sociocultural.

Again the economic factors are self-evident and are usually given reasonable coverage in training programmes. This clearly covers more than the mere marketing of produce and the assessment of the costs and selling prices of various crops and other kinds of agro~pastoral production, but must also be concerned with national policies and with the limitations of the infrastructure.

Administrative factors are frequently given insufficient consideration. The availability of trained manpower is especially important when a country is anxious to undertake a whole series of schemes at once. This does not mean only the trained manpower directly involved with a rural programme, but also includes the whole administrative support in the local administration and in various other ministries, as any large-scale programme will inevitably have widespread administrative repercussions.

The socio-cultural factor is rarely given due weight. As it is concerned with those directly affected by any programme, it is essential that it be taken more seriously than is generally the case: ultimately it is here that a programme will prove to be either a success or a failure. Most training programmes dwell mainly on education, health, and housing in this sector, and these are certainly very significant. Education leading to a more conservationist attitude to resources is a vital element in training for the management of dryland areas in particular, and nothing but good can come from better hygiene, better health, and better housing. Surely, however, these priorities are in the wrong order. It is to be hoped that a rural development programme will bring these improvements, but it is not likely to do so unless the programme itself is acceptable.

Griaule and others (1954) have shown how different are the concepts and ways of thought among the Dogon of Mali, for example, from those of the people of Western Europe. Griaule has shown how the whole fabric of Dogon life is interwoven with symbolism associated with their beliefs about the universe. The situation may have changed somewhat in Mali since he worked there, and the Dogon may be rather an extreme example, but the validity of the message is no less important. The socio-cultural factor has been neglected, partly because it is inconvenient to have to contend with it, partly because people have felt that a standard blueprint for rural development everywhere would be found if one only searched hard enough, and partly because acceptance of the significance of this factor seemed to imply a kind of endorsement of "backwardness." The importance of considering seriously and sympathetically the social and cultural constraints in any rural area of the African drylands needs emphasis. It is important to see how the rural people perceive their physical environment and its difficulties, how they perceive rural change, and what are their priorities for change.

This is not to say that their views and aspirations should necessarily be accepted but it is essential that they should be understood. It is a vital part of the total picture for the assessment of change, and is surely what Carr meant in the quotation cited in the preface to this paper. Relatively inexpensive development schemes have of necessity to rely more heavily on existing conditions than many expensive ones, which aim to bring about revolutionary rather than evolutionary change.

Whilst it is easy to accept the validity of the two elements so far discussed, it is essential that their significance be grasped at a practical level. Accordingly a further element of the training programme must be case-study field-work. This should include the study of a small area or village by a group of trainees to obtain a first-hand understanding of the situation in part of the drylands of Africa. It should not be a mere visit, where the trainees have everything demonstrated to them, although there is a case for a short preliminary visit of this kind to a comparable area nearby. The trainee's brief in the case study might be to make an assessment of the state of the natural resources in the area and to suggest a programme for rural development within a limited budget.

The main objective would be for the trainees to find out how the various elements and factors discussed above relate together in a particular area and to discover the constraints. An essential part of the exercise would be to identify local avenues for change and the key individuals in the community. Obviously the views of some of the officials would be canvassed, but formal and informal discussion at grass-roots level with members of the local community, either in small groups or individually, should be considered essential. Other methods could be employed, but a properly structured questionnaire survey would seem to be indicated.

Reference

De Wilde, J. C. 1967. Experience with Agricultural Development in Tropical Africa (2 vols J. Johns Hopkins, Baltimore.

Griaule, M. and Dieterlen, G. 1954. "The Dogon of the French Sudan," C. D. Forde, ed., African Worlds, pp. 83-110. Oxford University Press, London

Griaule, M. 1965. Conversations with Ogotemmeli. Oxford University Press, London.

Operational Research Project on Arid Lands Management: An Interim Report H. S. Mann

The Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, has been conducting applied interdisciplinary research on physical, biological, and social sciences for the last 25 years. The organization and functioning of CAZRI are illustrated in Table 2.

Efforts have been made to transfer the knowledge and technology evolved by CAZRI for the benefit of the rural populations in the area. The research findings of the Institute scientists are published in scientific journals, nationally and internationally. To popularize these findings and the technologies evolved, recommendations for the farmers are published as popular articles in semi-technical papers in extension and developmental journals and magazines. Special extension bulletins on important subjects such as Dry Farming, Improved Irrigation Methods, Afforestation, Range Management, Arid Zone Horticulture, and Sand Dune Stabilization have been published. Extension workers and farmers are invited to visit CAZRI to see for themselves the field experiments and work in progress. Training programmes of extension personnel are periodically arranged, and field demonstrations have been conducted in the villages. The extension activities, however, have so far had but limited impact on the methods of land use and production being followed by the farmers, and land productivity continues to be low.

TABLE 2. Organization Chart, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India

CAZRI is a central or federal institute, whilst developmental programmes on agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, etc. are the responsibility of state governments, and efforts are made to collaborate with the state development agencies in the training of staff and in communicating information on CAZRI recommendations and the related technology.

In recognition of this important problem CAZRI started an operational research project entitled "Arid Land Management" in 1974. The work for this project was initiated in a cluster of five villages about 25 km from Jodhpur. A bench-mark survey of the existing resources and practices have been made, and the technologies and recommendations of CAZRI are being extended and demonstrated in the villages by the scientists of CAZRI themselves. The work in the villages is being co~ordinated by a senior scientist, who is also Head of the Division of Extension and Training at the Institute. The technologies that are being demonstrated include watershed management, sand~dune stabilization and afforestation, pasture improvement, dry farming, including fertilizer use, introduction of new crops, optimum use of available water from tubewells and dug wells, using techniques such as drip and trickle irrigation, arid horticulture, particularly grafted varieties of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana), the UN of saline water for crops, biogas for cooking, and solar water heating.

While demonstrating the recommended practices and technologies, the scientists also study the constraints that oppose the transfer of individual technologies, whether economic, social, or technological. Details regarding this experience are given in Appendix A of this publication and include notes on each individual technology, the farmers' response to it, including the multiplier effect, and the constraints limiting its acceptance and wider use.

The work in the villages is being conducted by the scientists who are the authors of the particular technologies. The efforts are being co-ordinated and implemented by Dr. Panjab Singh, Head of the Division of Extension and Training, and by his staff. The material in this report has been kindly supplied by Dr. Panjab Singh. Mr. S. P. Malhotra, Head of the Division of Economics and Sociology, made a number of useful suggestions.

Discussion

In presenting his paper, Mann identified several constraints to the transfer and application of technology, including economic, social, and infrastructural constraints, and others deriving from the non-transferability of some of the technologies involved. He also concluded that there was a need to strengthen the sociological input relating to the human factor in arid lands management, to identify disciplinary weaknesses and add new disciplines as required, and to inculcate an appreciation among scientists of the value of interdisciplinary teamwork.

In the succeeding Plenary Discussion it was pointed out that interdisciplinary research tends to bring less credit to the individual scientist than specialized independent contributions, although the recent upsurge of environmental research had recently changed this. As an aid to an interdisciplinary approach in training for environmental investigations, a systems approach or the use of case studies could be helpful. It was suggested that the UN University, supported by UNEP, might undertake a review of the needs and availability of educational training for environmental management in the drylands, recognizing the need for social studies in such programmes.

Methodology for Training Programmes for Management of African Drylands
H. Th. Verstappen

Dryland resources

A prerequisite for the efficient management of African drylands is a thorough knowledge of the character and uses of their inherent environmental resources. Timely acquisition of relevant data of a diversified nature, and particularly continuous monitoring of certain critical features such as rainfall, biomass, and land occupancy, are a necessary condition for decision-making at various governmental levels. In the surveys of natural and human resources thus required, field techniques, aerial photography, and space technology should be properly combined.

Survey of environmental resources and of their use is a complex matter in any region, whatever the climatic conditions, terrain configuration, etc. may be. It involves unravelling the complex interaction of numerous ecological variables related to factors such as climate, ground and surface water, soils, landforms and geomorphological processes, vegetative cover, and the role of man as an environmental factor. It is clearly a multidisciplinary issue, and an integrated approach to the survey methodology is therefore needed in most cases. This applies particularly to the surveying and monitoring of dryland resources, where the vulnerability of the ecological equilibrium is usually greater than in other environments. The specialists involved in the surveys must therefore not only be expert in their own scientific discipline, but also have a good insight into the ecological characteristics of drylands and a proper attitude towards relating their survey work to results obtained by other environmental and social scientists.

Management of drylands

Data acquisition can only be useful, and survey results and recommendations can only be implemented, if there is a follow-up by the decision-makers of the governments concerned, at the national, provincial, district, or village level, or by regional international organizations. The success of projects for environmental management of drylands launched by the decision-makers will depend largely on the understanding, goodwill, and co~operation of the local rural population. Three parties are thus involved-decision makers, scientists/technologists, and the local population-and they should appreciate each other's positions and co operate wholeheartedly. Surveys, monitoring systems and other data acquisition methods should accordingly be executed at the request of, and in co-operation with, the decision:makers and with the involvement of the local population.

Special knowledge and attitudes are required from each of these three parties in order to ensure successful co-operation.

1. From the decision-makers:
i. Knowledge of the environmental problems of drylands;
ii. Knowledge of the needs and perceptions of the local population;
iii. Knowledge of the potential of modern data-acquisition techniques;
iv. Agreement on development priorities and a capacity to work towards their implementation.
2. From the scientist/technologist:
i. Knowledge of his own scientific field;
ii. Understanding of the roles of adjacent fields of environmental science;
iii. Knowledge of dryland environments;
iv. Willingness to give up the "ivory tower" attitude of academic research and to work at the request of the government and assist the government in forming an opinion on certain matters as required;
v. Preparedness to accept an input of traditional knowledge by the local population.
3. From the rural population (through village-level workers):
i. General knowledge of the local environment and its vulnerability;
ii. Willingness to co-operate with decision-makers and scientists/technologists during preparatory planning and in the data-acquisition and implementation phases.

The problems of decision-makers relating to environmental management are basically of two types:

1. Those relating to the long-term maintenance and improvement of environmental quality and the adaptation of land utilization to this aim. Possibly a general plan may be drawn up to combat desertification, or emphasis may be placed on special aspects of the environment, such as water and pasture resources.
2. Those relating to the implementation of short-term programmes such as crash-programmes for drought relief. A plan of action should be prepared in advance, to be put in operation when drought invades the country.

In both of the above-mentioned situations, surveying and monitoring can be successfully applied. There exist numerous indicators of desertification, a number of which can be adequately monitored at the global, regional, national, or local level. The monitoring of albedo, as a key to changes in the vegetative cover, ranks high among these indicators. It can be measured using satellites and is incorporated in the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) directed by UNEP. Other aspects readily monitored are rainfall, salinization, dust storms, etc. The Drought Watch System developed by the Australian Weather Bureau and based on observations by ground meteorological stations is worth mentioning in this context, and shows that ground-based methods also have distinct merits. Productivity, standing biomass, nutrition, and human well-being are other aspects to be monitored. The information so gathered, if efficiently and promptly handled, will serve both to indicate stress conditions and to enable governments to take appropriate action.

A particularly important application of sequential aerial photography and monitoring by satellites (or a combination of both) is the quantification of environmental dynamics, such as increases in pressure on the land and the gradual spread of desertification.

Apart from continuous monitoring of certain parameters indicative of desertification, a base-line environmental survey leading to a terrain classification, with a break down of the land into various classes of drought susceptibility, is most useful. It will help to define those particularly vulnerable areas which are most severely affected by drought stress, time and time again, when rains fail. Governments so informed will know beforehand where relief measures are likely to be most urgently required, and can plan accordingly. Drought-susceptibility maps constructed in this way should be an essential part of any plan of action for drought relief. The compilation of such maps involves, amongst other things, the study of seasonal changes in albedo, vegetation, and soil-moisture patterns.

Training for dryland management

It is essential for the effective management of dryland resources that the training provided include the three earlier-mentioned parties involved: the decision-makers, the scientists/technologists, and the grassroots-level workers who are in contact with the local population.

Decision-makers of national and provincial governments etc. need to be informed about:

1. The generalities of dryland ecology and resources;
2. The consequences of misuse of drylands;
3. The potential of modern remote-sensing and other data-acquisition techniques;
4. The importance of environmental sciences for the management of drylands;
5. The importance of involving the local population in management;
6. The central significance of socio-economical, cultural, and political factors.

Since high-level government officials are unlikely to get long periods of leave~of-absence, their training needs to be organized in the form of seminar programmes of 4 - 6 weeks' duration, on subjects such as the management of dryland resources, surveying of drought hazard, and monitoring desertification. The organization of such courses should be at the international-regional level, rather than at the national level.

Grassroots-level workers should be able to provide the local population with information (about the local environment} in a simple form, and to stimulate their co operation in local projects for dryland management. A network of such grassroots-level workers, who should live among and have the confidence of the local population, is required. These may either work under village and district officials, or form part of a national organization. They can contribute to community development by stimulating activities such as improving existing wells, the construction of cisterns and tanks, and the better use of pasture resources. They thus will need the support of Departments of Public Works and Agriculture, etc. The training required by these field~vorkers should include, amongst other things:

1. General knowledge of environmental problems;
2. Knowledge of the local environment;
3. Some knowledge of relevant intermediate technology (cisterns, wells, tanks, etc.)
4. Some background in rural land use and the management of pasture and water resources;
5. Instructions on the running of a small meteorological station;
6. Elementary sociology relevant in the area.

Such training may require one or more years, depending on the situation and on the availability of suitable candidates, and will best be carried out at the national level.

The scientists/technologists required to carry out investigatory research, surveys, and the monitoring of dryland resources for managerial purposes are at present not available in sufficient numbers in the countries concerned, and even foreign experts who might contribute temporarily are comparatively scarce. It is thus evident that in dryland countries university~evel training in environmental sciences should be furthered. International co-operation may speed up the process and ensure the incorporation of the newest scientific and technological developments in the training. Departments of Environmental Sciences or curricula geared to this subject have been established in universities in several African countries. The training should concentration national or local needs so as to ensure optimum use of limited human and financial resources.

Those scientists/technologists who are already actively engaged in projects of the kind referred to here will also require upgrading, refresher or specialization courses in which, particularly, new developments in certain fields such as surveying and monitoring, satellite remote-sensing, etc. are stressed. International co~operation may also be helpful in providing such courses and might take the form of:

1. Organizing specialized courses, say of 3 - 6 months' duration, either in the dry regions or at specialized institutes abroad;
2. Supporting local universities in the field of environmental sciences;
3. Providing fellowships for study abroad;
4. Sponsoring guest-lecturers;
5. Participation in on-the-job training of students, guided by local universities and experts from abroad, and carried out in the framework of existing projects for dryland resource management implemented by government departments and/or international bodies.

The last-mentioned form of co-operation is of particular importance for the effectiveness of the training, since it fills the gap between academic studies and practical development work.

No attempt is made in this paper to specify the curricula of such courses, because this will depend largely on the local situation and on the aims and priorities of national governments.

Structure of Training Programmes for Management of African Drylands
H.-U. Thimm

Training programmes in dryland management should raise standards at all levels of project implementation. But because most decision-makers in this field are university-trained people, a programme at the postgraduate level is most essential. It must be designed in such a way that it provides advanced courses in specific management fields which will enable project officers to solve problems of permanence of agricultural production, optimal organization and social acceptance, as well as the economic viability of projects implemented in the drylands.

A training programme of this type would best be located at a university in a developing country, where biological, environmental, technical, and socio-economic disciplines are already established and can contribute jointly to an integrated dryland management approach. A review of the African scene shows that no faculty seems to be fully equipped for such a programme, but faculties of agriculture may at least come close because by their nature they, more than any other faculty, combine science and social disciplines. Such courses would benefit from a thorough mixture of theoretical and practical training, with the additional provision that each participant should present his knowledge and ideas on a selected subject in the form of a written thesis.

All these considerations lead the author to propose this training as an M.Sc. programme of 18 months' duration. A formal degree programme seems absolutely necessary for a number of reasons, connected with the academic and administrative structures of a university on the one hand and with the motivation and career prospects of the participants on the other. Additional points include the need to attract highly qualified teaching staff, the need

TABLE 3. Outline Course in Dryland Management

A. Permanence of Cultivation 4-1/2 months

Course 1. Environment 490 hours) Climatic conditions and influence of changes. Climatology and hydrology. Soils and soil fertility. Soil surveys and practical assessment of soils for permanent cultivation. Resource development and conservation of suitable land areas. Principles of the protection of the environment. Desert encroachment and erosion threats. Reforestation. Wildlife.

Course 2. Water 490 hours) Water sources for arid land use. Rain-fed cultivation; methods of rainwater harvesting. Irrigation from streams and wells. Reducing evaporation and seepage losses. Selecting and managing efficient water-use systems. Engineering aspects. Tapping additional water supplies. Problems of salinity.

Course 3. Crops (90 hours) Natural vegetation of arid land. Introduction to subsistence and commercial crops. Optimal land use systems, Shifting cultivation. Mechanized farming practices. Plant breeding. Crop protection. Crop rotation and fertilization. Improved grassland use. Feed crops. Harvesting and post-harvest storage aspects. Fodder crops.

Course 4. Livestock (90 hours) Animals in arid lands. Livestock systems. Carrying capacities of natural and reseeded grassland. Integration of nomadic livestock in other land-use systems. Range development planning. Livestock breeding programmes. Health aspects. Livestock take off rates. Marketing aspects. Problems of livestock around large irrigated crop production schemes. Overstocking problems. Improved husbandry methods.

B. Project Organization 1-1/2 months

Course 5. Planning and Evaluation (60 hours) Public policy analysis and decision-making process. Development strategies and land-use policies. Integrated rural development. Planning methods. Project targets and instruments. Project institutions. Project finding; feasibility studies; data collection; accompanying evaluation. Criteria for evaluation. Cost-benefit analysis. Private and social profitability. Employment generation. Settlement schemes.

Course 6. Implementation (60 hours) Management and administrative principles. Personnel and labour management. Time and risk factors involved. Central or decentralized management. Participation of the local population. Additional services and infrastructure. Implementation of specific projects, such as irrigation schemes, block grazing, etc. Self-interest of the participants.

C. Social Acceptance 1-1/2 months

Course 7. Social Impact (60 hours) Language, race, ethnics, and stratification of social groups in arid areas. Demography. Political and religious geography. Methods of social investigation. Interlinks of economic and social, of urban and rural change. Impact of development projects on the population. Reaction of local people to control development programmes.

Course 8. Local Participation 460 hours) Theory and methods of political inquiry. Public and development administration. Public decision-making process. Conflicts and vested interests. Social actions. Institutions for self-help. Extension and community development. Methods to organize the local populations for development programmes. Motivation incentives. Responsibilities and risks involved.

D. Economic Viability 1-1/2 months

Course 9. Macro-economics (60 hours) International and national demand for products supplied by projects in arid land areas. Prices and price policies. Marketing structure. National and regional development plans. Statistical methods to collect additional data. GNP and balance of payments aspects in designing projects. Selection of appropriate technologies. Employment aspects. Multi- and bilateral aid programmes. Conditions of international funding.

Course 10. Micro-economics {60 hours) Principles of cost-benefit analysis. Cost-effectiveness approach. Budgeting and financing. Investment decisions. Accounting and cash flow. Finance control and financial planning. Profit and loss account. Credit and securities. Income and cost distribution among project administration and local participants. Farm data collection. for international funding, the recognition of the degree for national and multinational service, etc.

On the evidence of the author's analysis of development projects in the drylands, the following requirements emerge for the training programmes:

1. Project staffs and the majority of project planners need more understanding of the natural and socio-economic forces operating in dryland project areas. Because of this they are not equipped to develop the production potential of an area without endangering the long-term viability of the natural resources.
Consequence for training: to provide the necessary course-work in the natural and social sciences and in the production techniques that are most suitable for dryland areas. The time for course-work should not exceed a period of ten months (including a one-month vacation).
2. Project staff need training in organizing a project in such a way that projected targets can be reached, that a flexible response to changing conditions is possible, and that projects become integrated into the overall development process and do not remain isolated "government" projects.
Consequence for training: to provide a period of experience by doing administrative, advisory, and evaluation tasks on particular projects. The time for this practical experience should not exceed four months.
3. Project staff need training in writing documents from observations and data collection on projects. Such reports, in addition to their training aspect, may interest and should motivate the responsible administrators and politicians, as well as scientists, to look into the particular needs of dryland management.
Consequence for training: to present a thesis on a theme connected with practical experience on a project. The time for this work should not exceed four months.

The selection of themes for the thesis and the organization of a practical project period for students will depend upon a number of administrative and personal factors. They must be consistent with the relevant academic regulations for an M.Sc. degree in the university in charge of the programme, but it is hoped that such aspects will be taken care of in close collaboration with the agencies or departments responsible for project implementations.

Course content, on the other hand (see Table 3), can be developed by combining existing syllabuses of relevant degree courses with the activities relating to experience of projects described in this analysis. The following section tries to present a proposal which should be acceptable for at least the Sudanese situation, but it is hoped that it will also have wider application.

From all reports, it is evident that matters relating to permanence of cultivations must have priority in all teaching activities. Project organization, social acceptance, and economic viability will come next. If ten months are available for course-work, this period should be divided into three terms of three months each (plus a one-month vacation), allowing half the time for permanence of cultivation and half for the remaining three fields.

This proposal may differ from conventional approaches to the development of training programmes and syllabuses. The view taken here is that a postgraduate course for dryland management does not need to include all conceivable components from among the relevant science disciplines, but should concentrate on the major common problem areas which have been observed over the past decades. In this sense, the proposed programme is a "bottleneck" appro~ch, assuming that the participants have sufficient insight from their previous training and experience in the general fields to allow them now to concentrate upon specific issues of project performance in dryland regions. In reading through the course descriptions in Table 2, the reader may well ask whether or not the traditional lecture and seminar approach would be most appropriate for adult and experienced learners. The author believes that the introduction of participatory techniques through team and project work would improve the motivation of students and the quality of studies, as well as the ability of lectures to guide and to co-ordinate such an interdisciplinary programme. University teachers tend to represent single disciplines, and only exceptional personalities are able to combine all related subjects from other fields into their own teaching. The main point, therefore, must be to make sure that the total programme becomes interdisciplinary in such a way that the recipient student receives all relevant information and receives guidance in putting it together in whatever combination is needed for an interdisciplinary approach to dryland management.

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