Implementing an Integrated Approach to Development in the Potosi Region

Policies for integrated rural or regional development were conceived originally as a response to earlier development programs which tended to ignore the links between one sector and another. They call for complex planning procedures and extensive inter-agency coordination, which is hard to achieve in countries where political and economic conditions are unstable, and where the administrative and planning capability of local institutions is weak. In recent years the concept has been increasingly criticised as results have not lived up to initial expectations. This enquiry asks whether the concept of integrated development itself is unfeasible, or whether the manner of implementation is at fault. To examine the issues, the enquiry looks at the case of a spatially integrated approach to development which has recently been applied in the Potosi region of Bolivia by CORDEPO, the development corporation for the Department of Potosi. The approach adopted there derives in part from a project sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, entitled Urban Functions in Rural Development, and in part from concepts developed at Rehovot in Israel. A detailed analysis of the spatial dimensions of the local economy led to the preparation of a Regional Plan for Potosi. A review of CORDEPO's annual operating plans for the period 1979 through 1983 shows clearly that at an aggregate level planned spending shifted in conformance with broad policy directives in the Plan for boosting agriculture, decentralising investments, and later for improving rural roads. At a more detailed level there is little evidence of individual projects being selected according to criterla for consolidating the settlement hierarchy and strengthening linkages. On the other hand several international agencies have picked up proposals for area-based program packages. In terms of implementation, two attempts to establish region-wide channels for inter-agency coordination came to nothing, and a proposal to reorganize CORDEPO to facilitate the execution of area-based programs was abandoned. Due to a national economic crisis, actual spending by the Corporation during the period 1979 to 1981 amounted to only 35% of what was planned. A detailed analysis shows that conventional projects for -iiphysical infrastructure consistently outperformed all others, while the execution of projects in agriculture and manufacturing lagged far behind. As a means of interpreting the evidence in Potosi, the author adopts a model of planning as a decision making process, in which decisions are determined by the interplay of three considerations. Technical criteria weighed most strongly at the level of broad policy directions, especially in the sectoral allocation of funds, but were largely ignored in the selection of individual projects. Political considerations entered chiefly into the selection of projects, in response to demands from community delegations, and in the deliberations of CORDEPO's Board .of Directors, who eschewed any explicit commitment to specific policies for fear of provoking controversy or losing popular support. But the most pervasive influence on decisions was exercised by factors arising from the characteristics of the institution itself, particularly its origins as a public works committee. This is reflected in the continuing preference for physical infrastructure projects, and explains why CORDEPO is more efficient at executing such projects than those related to agriculture and manufacturing. Despite the uneven record, the author argues that spatially integrated approaches to development should not be abandoned. Evaluations of failure too often are based on the questionable premise that outcomes should necessarily match original intentions. This represents a misunderstanding of the nature of planning and decision making in the real world, and the diverse ways in which an organization's behaviour can be changed. The failure is not in the concept but in the application of it. The study concludes with several suggestions for making planning and execution more effective. First, the planner should be a strategist, concerned primarily with the decision making process involved in translating plans into actions, specifically with the preparation of annual budgets, and the selection of individual projects. Second, the planner should be an educator, not only by disseminating concepts and ideas, but also by demonstrating the utility of a spatially integrated approach to those engaged in sectoral planning. Third, the planner should be an entrepreneur, disaggregating programs for integrated development into replicable components that can be applied through existing bilateral agreements with special-purpose line agencies. Dissertation Committee: Dr. Lloyd Rodwin, Ford International Professor, M.I.T. Dr. Lisa Peattie, Professor of Urban Anthropology, M.I.T. Dr. Dennis A. Rondinelli, Professor of Social Science and Development Planning, Syracuse University.