Implementing Integrated Rural Development in Haiti: The World Bank's Experience in the Northern Region

Abstract

ABSTRACT Integrated rural development (IRD) efforts continue to be undertaken throughout the Third World despite the difficulties involved in effectively implementing them. The lessons of experience are reviewed, and the critical role of institutional and managerial factors to successful IRD is noted. The article examines in-depth the case of one of Haiti's largest IRD projects, the “Projet de developpement regional du nord (DRN),” funded by the World Bank. The discussion focusses on the ways in which the DRN has dealt with these key institutional and managerial dimensions of implementation. Cautions are raised about the extent to which management improvement can compensate for underlying problems in IRD design or for negative socio-political dynamics. Among the conclusions is that technically oriented IRD projects cannot substitute for local political development.