BOLIVIA Evaluation of the Netherlands Development Programme with Bolivia Policy and Operations Evaluation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs ISBN 90-5328-205-X Editing: Ms N. Forest-Flier and Mr A.F. Brown Translations: A. Torres Photographs: Ron Giling / LINEAIR Maps: Geografiek, Amsterdam Pre-press services: Transcripta, Beerzerveld Printed by: Ridderprint BV, Ridderkerk Preface This report presents the findings of an evaluation of the Dutch bilateral development cooperation with Bolivia carried out by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Unit (IOB). The IOB constitutes an independent unit within the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is responsible for evaluating the ministry’s policies and operations. The main objective of the study was to assess the policy relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the Dutch aid programme for Bolivia. In the period 1969–96 a total of Dfl. 840 million has been disbursed to programme and project aid made available through the bilateral programme, as well as channelled through the co-financing agencies, the Netherlands Development Organization SNV and multilateral organizations. In 1996, Bolivia was the largest recipient of Dutch aid in South America. The evaluation covered programme aid, agricultural projects funded under the Andes Programme, projects funded through the co-financing agencies, personnel inputs and projects by the SNV and the Local Fund for Women in Bolivia. There was also a study done on the perceptions of aid beneficiaries. A description of non-aid relations between the Netherlands and Bolivia is included in this report. Both in Bolivia and the Netherlands, government authorities, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other experts have been involved in the various stages of the evaluation. Representatives of the Bolivian government and from civil society have formulated a reaction on the report which is included as annexe 12. Except part of the commodity aid, programme aid generally contributed to the improve- ment of Bolivia’s macro-economic and social indicators, but the effects on the economic situation of the poor sections of the population have been limited. Project aid in general reached its direct objectives. It was less successful in poverty alleviation in economic terms, but realized important effects in terms of institutional strengthening and civil so- ciety capacity building. Dutch aid also contributed to policy formulation at national and local levels, among others in the field of Women and Development. Both programme aid and assistance to the non-governmental organizations facilitated Bolivia’s democratiza- tion process and people’s participation in development. iv Preface The report comprises three volumes. Volume I contains the Main Findings and Conclu- sions, and the Summary. Volume II constitutes the Main Report, while Volume III deals with the Netherlands Programme Aid to Bolivia. The study was coordinated by Georg Frerks, Willem Cornelissen and Karin Verbaken, while advisory groups both in the Netherlands and Bolivia advised on the methodology and commented on draft reports. Ted Kliest of the IOB also provided valuable advice and support. Many other persons and organizations have contributed to this study. IOB, however, bears sole responsibility for this report. Director, Policy and Operations Evaluation Department Contents List of graphs and tables ix Abbreviations xi Glossary xv Exchange rates xvii Main findings 1 1 Design and scope of the study 11 1 Origins 11 2 General objective and key questions 11 3 Scope of the study and activities selected for in-depth study 12 4 Approach and methods of data collection 15 2 Bolivia 17 1 History 17 2 Geography, environment and population 20 3 Culture and ethnicity 22 4 Economy 25 5 Government policies and administration 29 6 The departments of Potos´ı and Cochabamba 32 3 Relations between the Netherlands and Bolivia 35 1 Historical relations 35 2 Diplomatic and political relations 36 3 Commercial relations 41 4 Private, non-commercial relations 45 5 Cultural and academic relations 46 4 Foreign aid to Bolivia 47 1 International aid to Bolivia 47 2 Dutch development cooperation policy with Bolivia 51 1 Netherlands aid policy 51 2 Country policy 52 3 Main programme characteristics 56 1 Aid volume 56 2 Types of activities 57 vi Contents 5 Programme aid 63 1 Dutch programme aid to Bolivia 63 2 Import support 66 1 The policy relevance of import support 68 2 The effectiveness of import support 70 3 The efficiency of import support 73 4 The sustainability of import support 73 3 Debt relief 74 1 The policy relevance of debt relief 76 2 The effectiveness of debt relief 77 3 The efficiency of debt relief 79 4 The sustainability of debt relief 79 4 Social investment funds 80 1 The policy relevance of the support to the social funds 81 2 The effectiveness of the support to the social funds 82 3 The efficiency of the support to the social funds 84 4 The sustainability of the support to the social funds 84 5 General observations 85 6 Project aid to the agricultural sector 89 1 The agricultural sector 89 1 The Bolivian agricultural policy 91 2 Institutional framework and support services 93 3 The agricultural sector and international cooperation 94 4 Netherlands policy and programme 95 2 The evaluated projects 98 1 The Andes Programme and sample 98 2 Single commodity production 99 3 Research and innovation 102 4 Integrated rural development 103 5 Other projects 105 3 Evaluation 107 1 Relevance 107 2 Effectiveness 108 3 Efficiency 112 4 Sustainability 114 7 Activities of the co-financing agencies 117 1 The NGO sector in Bolivia 118 2 The co-financing agencies: their policies and programmes in Bolivia 120 1 Policies 120 2 Programmes 121 3 The sample for in-depth study 126 1 The counterpart organizations in the sample 127 2 Finance and management 129 Contents vii 3 Institutional relationships and influence on government policies 130 4 Relationship with Dutch CFAs 131 4 The projects 133 1 Types of projects and their goals 133 2 History, rationale and preparation of projects 136 3 Results: project level outputs and effects 137 4 Further results 141 5 Evaluation 143 1 Relevance 143 2 Effectiveness 144 3 Efficiency 146 4 Sustainability 146 8 The Netherlands Development Organization SNV 149 1 SNV policies 150 1 General policies 150 2 Policies of SNV Bolivia 152 2 SNV’s programme in Bolivia 153 1 Features of host and partner organizations 155 2 Personnel inputs 156 3 Projects 157 4 The sample 160 3 Results 163 1 Results of personnel inputs 163 2 Results of the projects 168 4 Evaluation 171 1 Relevance 171 2 Effectiveness 173 3 Efficiency 175 4 Sustainability 177 9 Women and Development 179 1 Women’s conditions in Bolivia 179 1 Economic position 179 2 Political position 181 3 Socio-cultural position 183 4 Physical integrity 184 2 Policies and institutionalization 186 1 The Bolivian state’s policy 186 2 Women’s organizations 188 3 Dutch W&D cooperation policy 191 3 The Local Fund for Women in Bolivia 194 1 Introduction 194 2 General description of financed activities 195 3 Projects evaluated 198 viii Contents 4 Relevance 202 5 Effectiveness 204 6 Efficiency 208 7 Sustainability 209 4 Women and Development in other Dutch development cooperation efforts 210 1 Introduction 210 2 Women and Development in project aid 211 3 Women and development in programme aid 213 10 Some local perceptions of development aid 215 1 Characteristics of the municipalities 216 1 Characteristics of the municipality of Aiquile 216 2 Characteristics of the municipality of Tinquipaya 217 2 The projects 218 1 Projects in Aiquile, Cochabamba 219 2 Projects in Tinquipaya, Potos´ı 220 3 Viewpoints of the implementing agencies 221 4 Perceptions of the beneficiaries 222 1 Perceptions in Aiquile 222 2 Perceptions in Tinquipaya 224 5 Organization, the appropriation of benefits and survival strategies 226 1 Perceptions regarding the effects of projects on organization 226 2 Perceptions of who is benefiting from interventions 227 3 Perceptions of the effects of projects on family survival strategies 229 6 Some remarks 229 Annexes: 1 The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) 235 2 Organization of the study 237 3 Dutch civil societies and their activities in Bolivia, 1969– 95 242 4 Dutch aid to Bolivia by budget line, 1969–95 245 5 Key data of the sampled projects in the agricultural sector, 1984–95 246 6 Basic characteristics of CFA counterpart organizations in sample 248 7 Basic characteristics and results of CFA funded projects in sample 250 8 Overview of SNV host and partner organizations, development associates and projects, 1969–95 254 9 Host organizations of SNV development associates in the sample 256 10 Tasks, results and problems of development associates in the sample 258 11 Partner organizations of SNV projects in sample 261 12 Comments by the Viceministry of Public Investment and External Finance, in coordination with civil society organizations 263 References 265 List of graphs and tables Graphs: 1 Dutch aid to Bolivia, 1969–96 5 2.1 Map of Bolivia 18 4.1 Multilateral aid, 1990–95 49 5.1 Programme aid to Bolivia by category 66 Tables: 2.1 Selected social indicators, 1970–94 23 2.2 Selected economic indicators, 1985–95 27 2.3 Summary of the balance of payments, 1985–95 27 3.1 Dutch trade with several countries, 1975–95 42 3.2 Institutions and instruments for trade and investment promotion 44 4.1 ODA to Bolivia, 1970–95 48 4.2 ODA to Bolivia by donor category, 1970–95 48 4.3 ODA indicators, 1990–95 50 4.4 Dutch ODA to Bolivia,