Projects Delivered by DSA

• USAID: Survey of Fertilizer Marketing in Ethiopia. This project, which was an attempt to determine the causes of problems in the fertilizer distribution system in Ethiopia, was delivered in December 1995. The main objectives of this national survey include gauging the extent and depth of farmer knowledge of the utility of fertilizers; determining the level of fertilizer application by crop type; developing an understanding about and ranking of the factors that farmers consider while purchasing fertilizers; and developing an empirically based understanding of the role of pricing in fertilizer demand.
• CRDA:Application of Project Preparaion Principles and Practices to Small Scale Development Projects. The Christian Relief and Development Association wished to undertake a short term training program organized by DSA for the planning and project officers of its member organizations on project preparation, implementation, monitoring evaluation. DSA prepaared the necessary training materials and carried out the actual one-week training.
• CRDA: Evaluatiion of USAID/CRDA Children's Projects in Ethiopia, 1988 - 1995. USAID provided over 40 small grants to NGOs in Ethiopia who operated children's programs - relief to children displaced by war, support of orphanages, support of street children's programmes, institution building, vocational training and income generation activities. These projects were supported by USAID through the ihtermediation of the Christian Relief and Development Association, a consortium of NGOs operating in Ethiopia. Twenty organizations participated. DSA was commissioned to do an evaluatiion of these projects when the various grants came to an end in September, 1995.
• UNCDF:Baseline Study on Woreda Development Fund in Gondar. The United Nations Capital Development Fund has plans to set up a Woreda Development Fund in a few woredas in the Northern Gondar zone of Region 3. DSA carried out an extensive baseline survey for the project.
• FHI:Handing Over of Alaba Forestry Project to Local Beneficiaries. Food for the Hungry International was managing the development of a large forestry project in the Alaba area of Southern Ethiopia for a period of about ten years. It wanted to hand over the project local beneficiaries in the most optimal wsay possible. DSA studied the possible modalities of such a handover from various angles including the economic, management and legal aspects provided FHI with a set of recommendations for the handover.
• USAID: Structure of the Ethiopian Grain Market: A Rapid Appraisal. The Ethiopian grain market was under strict government control for a period of abouat 15 years prior to the liberalization of the economy in 1988. During the period of government control, trading activity by private merchants was heavily discouraged, their property confiscated, and grain movement between surplus and deficit regions was strictly controlled. The purpose of the rapid appraisal swas to assess the impact of the liberalization on the grain market and to determine, in particular, the main problems of the private traders in the sector now.
• CRDA: Evaluation of 10 PAC-funded, multicomponent, community-based rural projects aimed at sustainable and conservation-based development in five regions of Ethiopia.
• UNECA: Technical paper for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on strengthening institutions to foster sustained rural transformation Africa, with particular reference to West Africa.
• SOS-Sahel: Coordination of research work for SOS-Sahel (UK) in southern Ethiopia to improve the bases (data, institutional) for formulating and implementing participatory rural development programs, with focus on food security.
• UNDP: Advice to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia on the preparation of a program for the UNDP 5th cycle in the aarea of food production, food security and nutrition.
• AgriMech Ethiopia s.c.: Gambella Cotton Project, a feasibility study conducted in preparation for the firm's plan to start large-scale cotton farming in the Gambella region of Ethiopia.
• FAO: Preparation of a multi-disciplinary project aimed at sustainable farming with emphasis on participatory planning, environment and program sustainability.
• FAO: Assisted in the formulation of a Comprehensive Agricultural Development and Food Security Strategy for Zambia with the aim of developing alternative food security programs.
• UNIDO: Rehabilitation and restructuring of manufacturing industry with emphasis on the food subsector in selected African countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.