Public-Sector Reform Initiatives in Development Cooperation: A Case Study of the Kyrgyz Rural Advisory Service RAS

Abstract

Public-sector reform initiatives as part of development cooperation challenge many agricultural support services in developing countries of Central Asia. This article analyses the application of the results-based payment system in the Kyrgyz Rural Advisory Service (RAS) and identifies key determinants that are likely to influence its effective adaptation. The article is based on a literature review of public-sector reforms in developing countries, donor agencies' program documents, and participatory action research of the authors. The results from this research indicate that although the RAS develops in a positive way under the new system, it directed its accountability towards the donors, rather than towards local actors. Crucial impediments to the effective implementation of the results-based payment system are first and foremost institutional uncertainty and the limits of management capacity. These non-intentional reform effects, which are to some extent directly opposed to the underlying theories, are discussed in the article.

Keywords:

• public-sector reform
• new public management
• results-based payment system
• developing countries
• Kyrgyz Republic

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for making available program documents for this research. All findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this article are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to those of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation.

Notes

¹Some of the more advanced reforms—privatisation and corporatization —are found in agriculture and industry. These sectors were more exposed to structural adjustment conditions and liberalisation than other sectors such as water, health and education. Furthermore, agriculture and industry are sectors with relatively little political sensitivity and welfare considerations; hence, there is less resistance to change.

²Initially registered as a Public Foundation, the seven RAS units and the RAS coordination unit were registered as independent Public Associations in 2005. The RAS is locally organized and lead by member elected Steering Councils at local, regional, and national (central) level to serve as a link between farmers and advisors. Today, the RAS operates from 46 decentralized offices and reaches approximately 42,000 households in dispersed communities throughout the country. The advisory services are on topics such as crop production, animal husbandry, marketing, farm economy/management, and business planning and target at increasing on-farm production and productivity through the transfer of improved technology and the introduction of improved farm management systems.

³Given the huge impact of agriculture on the economic performance of Kyrgyz, agricultural growth is considered central to overall growth and poverty reduction in the country. Key priorities of agricultural reforms include the completion of land reforms and fundamental restructuring and reorientation of agricultural services. In the interests of improving agricultural productivity, the government promotes private-sector-based, cost-effective, and capable rural advisory services and innovative and appropriate technology transfer to peasant farmers (Anderson & Swinnen, 2008; Kyrgyz Republic/IMF, 2004; SDC/SECO, 2007; SECO, 2003).

⁴Before reforms were initiated in the nineties, the provision of advisory services was based on free access and direct state subsidies (see http://www.swisscoop.kg/Home/Activities_in_Kyrgyzstan/Agriculture).