FINAL REPORT
MID-TERM EVALUATION 
ECUADOR BORDER REGION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 
ASSA/PSUR 
(With Executive Summary in Spanish and English)
Submitted to:
USAID/ECUADOR
In Response to:
Evaluation IQC No. AEP-I-00-00-00023-00
Authors:
Kenneth G. Schofield
Sigifredo Ramirez
Bruce S. Kernan
Submitted by:
Development Associates, Inc.
1730 North Lynn Street
 Arlington, VA 22209-2023
August 2003
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page No.
Executive Summary (Spanish).........................................................................................................ii
Executive Summary (English) .........................................................................................................x
I. Purpose of Evaluation..........................................................................................................1
II. Team Composition and Methodology .................................................................................2
III. Findings – Overall Impact....................................................................................................2
IV. Findings – Social Services...................................................................................................3
V. Findings – Natural Resources Management ........................................................................6
VI. Findings – Local Government Strengthening....................................................................22
VII. Findings – Indicator Review..............................................................................................28
VIII. Findings – Management.....................................................................................................30
ANNEXES
Annex A Evaluation Scope of Work ................................................................................. A-1
Annex B Individuals Interviewed .......................................................................................B-1
Annex C Documents Consulted......................................................................................... C-1
Annex D Site Visit Reports................................................................................................ D-1
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RESUMEN
INTRODUCCIÓN
En octubre de 1998, los presidentes de Ecuador y de Perú firmaron el Acuerdo de Paz que ponía 
fin a más de siglo y medio de conflicto, con frecuencia sangriento, por la frontera entre ambos 
países. Los Estados Unidos, en su papel como uno de los cuatro países garantes, ha invertido una 
importante cantidad de tiempo, esfuerzos y recursos para ayudar a ambas partes a lograr esta paz. 
Tal y como contempla el acuerdo de paz, los dos gobiernos asumieron el compromiso de facilitar 
beneficios materiales para el desarrollo a la población que habita en la región fronteriza. Para
conseguirlo, ambos gobiernos están trabajando para aplicar el Plan Binacional de Desarrollo de
la Región Fronteriza. USAID, en apoyo de estas iniciativas, destinó US$1,5 millones a la
financiación de actividades fronterizas durante el ejercicio de 1999 (1ª fase), con un incremento 
de US$20 millones a lo largo de los ejercicios 2000-2005 (2ª fase).
CARE ha sido el principal socio de ejecución en ambas fases. La fase inicial (ASSA) se utilizó 
para prestar apoyo a los servicios sociales, con especial atención en la salud, el agua y el
saneamiento. El diseño de la segunda fase (PSUR) incorporó cuatro componentes: 1) generación
de ingresos; 2) servicios sociales; 3) gestión de los recursos naturales; y 4) gobierno local. 
USAID/ Ecuador contrató a la empresa Development Associates, Inc para llevar a cabo una
evaluación de mediados del periodo del Programa de Desarrollo de la Frontera de Ecuador:
ASSA (Agua, Saneamiento y Salud Ambiental, del 20 de julio de 1999 al 28 de febrero de 2001) 
y PSUR (Programa de Sostenibilidad y Unión Regional, del 30 de octubre de 2000 al 30 de
septiembre de 2002). Tan sólo había que someter a evaluación los componentes de servicios
sociales, gestión de los recursos naturales y gobierno local, ya que el componente relativo a
generación de ingresos ya había sido concluido. Un equipo de tres personas (el Equipo) se
desplazó a Quito y a distintos puntos de las provincias de Loja, El Oro y Morona Santiago desde 
el 31 de mayo hasta el 21 de junio de 2003.
La finalidad de la evaluación consistía en responder a las siguientes preguntas:
1. ¿ Logrará el enfoque del programa brindar beneficios materiales a la población que vive 
en la frontera?
2. ¿Está el programa progresando de forma aceptable según los planes de trabajo?
3. ¿Son fiables los datos presentados?
4. ¿Qué tal se está gestionando el programa?
5. ¿Deberían realizarse ajustes al diseño o a la gestión del programa?
HALLAZGOS
PSUR es un proyecto muy bueno que está brindando beneficios materiales para el desarrollo a 
las personas que habitan en la región fronteriza del sur. Es probable que más de la mitad de los 
448.000 residentes que viven en los 26 municipios objetivo se beneficien directamente de los
efectos del proyecto a lo largo de sus cinco años de duración. Esta cifra abarcaría a la mayoría de 
los 195.000 habitantes de núcleos urbanos (sin incluir la ciudad de Loja) y a unos 40.000
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residentes rurales. Los beneficios indirectos podrían elevar todavía más el número de
beneficiarios rurales.
4 El componente correspondiente a los servicios sociales debería proporcionar agua y
saneamiento de mejor calidad a más de 35.000 miembros de las comunidades pobres del 
entorno rural y a 16.000 residentes en núcleos urbanos. Las mejoras en la recogida de
basuras deberían alcanzar a la mayoría de los 195.000 residentes urbanos;
4 El componente relativo a los recursos naturales podría reducir considerablemente las
amenazas que se ciernen sobre la biodiversidad de la Cordillera Kutucú al adjudicar
títulos de propiedad de la tierra comunal para más de 100.000 hectáreas a una población 
de varios miles de personas en 18 Centros Shuar; 
4 El componente de fortalecimiento del gobierno local debería suponer un incremento de la 
aportación ciudadana a los planes de desarrollo de la mayoría de los municipios, mejorar 
algunas de las operaciones de alrededor de la mitad de los municipios y, quizás, ayudar a 
los municipios a acceder a los recursos procedentes de donaciones. 
Las conversaciones mantenidas con algunos alcaldes de la región indican que el proceso de paz y 
el Plan Binacional de Desarrollo de la Región Fronteriza ha sido sumamente importante para que 
la gente sienta verdaderamente que la situación fronteriza ha experimentado un cambio que es
irreversible. Las fuertes inversiones gubernamentales, como las realizadas en un canal de riego, y
las inversiones de menor envergadura procedentes de programas como el PSUR, han facilitado a 
los ciudadanos pruebas materiales de dicho cambio. Ahora que los residentes no temen el
estallido de una guerra, empiezan a invertir en la rehabilitación de sus viviendas. 
No es probable que el programa PSUR tenga un efecto duradero en otros temas como la
emigración y las impresiones de la gente sobre el futuro económico de la región. Estas cuestiones 
van a depender más de la reactivación de la economía rural, que padece de los elevados costos de 
la producción en comparación con los de sus vecinos. Por la misma razón, a menos que se
efectúe una cuidadosa selección, las actividades destinadas a facilitar fuentes alternativas de
ingresos a la población fronteriza gozan de escasa probabilidad de ser eficaces hasta que se
corrijan los precios relativos del país, y con relación a Perú. 
El programa está haciendo buenos progresos según los planes de trabajo y ha cosechado una 
serie de éxitos importantes.
4 El número de sistemas de agua, unidades sanitarias y actividades de gestión de residuos 
sólidos se ajusta al objetivo establecido, a pesar de que el número de beneficiarios se
queda algo rezagado. El componente de servicios sociales también ha contribuido a
mejorar la coordinación entre los donantes y con los gobiernos locales y ha ayudado a
estandarizar los planteamientos de diseño en estas instituciones. 
4 El programa de adjudicación de títulos de propiedad de la tierra ha tenido un buen nivel 
de intervención y podría constituir un gran éxito. Es probable que el proyecto alcance sus 
objetivos en términos de número de hectáreas sometidas a planes de gestión de recursos 
naturales y entrega de títulos de propiedad legales, aunque el número de beneficiarios
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directos será bastante pequeño. La adjudicación de títulos de propiedad de la tierra
también podría eliminar una fuente de conflicto entre las Federaciones Shuar. 
4 El componente de fortalecimiento del gobierno local está aumentando la capacidad de los 
municipios y parroquias de llevar a cabo la planificación participativa.
Los planteamientos que utilizan los servicios sociales y los recursos naturales son sólidos,
adecuados para sus respectivas situaciones y se basan en la experiencia acumulada por CARE y 
sus socios a lo largo de los años. El componente relativo al gobierno local es el que se enfrenta a 
los mayores desafíos. La misión que se le ha encomendado es la de fortalecer el gobierno local
de 26 municipios, pero dispone de un presupuesto relativamente pequeño y funciona en un
entorno de políticas que no aportan incentivos para la generación de rentas públicas a nivel local.
En términos generales, el programa PSUR parece estar bien gestionado. Su personal parece 
conocer bien y aplicar de forma activa los sistemas de programación y administración de CARE.
TEMAS Y RECOMENDACIONES
DE ÁMBITO GENERAL
1. El programa es muy bueno, pero necesita algunos ajustes para lograr el máximo impacto, 
reducir la burocracia y facilitar una mayor flexibilidad. 
2. Los objetivos en términos de beneficiarios deberían de ajustarse en base a la experiencia 
y a la disponibilidad de fondos.
3. Seguir tratando de obtener la totalidad de los US$ 20 millones para el programa y
considerar la posibilidad de ampliar PSUR una año más de forma que se pueda programar 
con normalidad la financiación.
Servicios sociales
Tema 1: Sostenibilidad económica. Ante la dolarización y los costes al alza, la
sostenibilidad económica de los sistemas de agua todavía no está garantizada. Las tarifas 
que cobran las juntas de aguas en los lugares visitados sólo bastan para cubrir los costos 
de funcionamiento y no generan ahorro alguno para futuras reparaciones.
Recomendación: Para garantizar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de agua potable,
CARE debería llevar a cabo una segunda fase de promoción en las juntas de aguas para 
consolidar el establecimiento de unas tarifas dentro de un nivel que permita generar
ahorros. CARE podría también contemplar la posibilidad de ajustar sus actividades con
las unidades municipales de saneamiento para ver si ellas podrían a la larga ayudar a
hacer frente a esta situación.
Tema 2: Costos de las unidades sanitarias escolares. El costo de oportunidad de la 
promoción, educación y construcción de unidades sanitarias escolares, cuya media supera 
los US$11.000 por unidad, parece ser equivalente al costo de unas 20 unidades
particulares, totalmente equipadas y pintadas.
Recomendación: CARE debería revisar el diseño de las unidades sanitarias escolares 
para ver si se puede reducir su costo.
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Gestión de recursos naturales
Tema 1: Adjudicación de títulos de propiedad de las tierras. Aunque los beneficios 
en materia de conservación derivados del programa de adjudicación de títulos de
propiedad de las tierras superarían con diferencia a los del resto de los componentes si se 
tratara de ayudar a los Shuar a obtener títulos de propiedad legales para la mayoría o toda 
su tierra en la Cordillera Kutucú y sus alrededores, el programa de adjudicación de títulos 
está experimentando un retroceso en lugar de una expansión. 
Recomendación: Aumentar los fondos destinados al componente de adjudicación de
títulos de propiedad de la tierra con ECOLEX para que en el 2005 se haya obtenido la 
titularidad de unas 350.000 hectáreas y así crear la base para el establecimiento de la
circunscripción territorial Shuar. 
Tema 2: Proceso de circunscripción sin financiar. Los estudios de ECOLEX en
materia de política concluyen que la creación de la circunscripción territorial Shuar
sentaría las bases para la conservación permanente de la Cordillera Kutucú. A pesar de 
ello, el componente relativo a los recursos naturales de PSUR no ha facilitado ayudas
para este proceso.
Recomendación: Facilitar ayuda técnica y económica al proceso de circunscripción
territorial Shuar.
Tema 3: Beneficios del plan de gestión integrada. Los planes de gestión integrada, a 
pesar de estar bien elaborados y ser técnicamente sólidos, resultan caros de preparar y no 
satisfacen las necesidades materiales inmediatas de los Shuar.
Recomendación: Simplificar estos planes y reducir sus costos y, a la vez, dotarlos de 
mayor utilidad para las necesidades de los Shuar que viven en los Centros.
Tema 4: Posibilidades para el silvopastoreo. PSUR ha comenzado ya a crear
condiciones excelentes de cara a un programa de ordenación silvopastoral efectivo y
generalizado. Si se trabaja con las asociaciones y federaciones Shuar, se podría montar un 
programa de ordenación silvopastoral y agroforestal a gran escala que se centrara en
aumentar la cantidad de especies arbóreas comerciales que crecen en las tierras de
pastoreo que hay en la Cordillera Kutucú o en sus inmediaciones.
Recomendación: Facilitar técnicos expertos para el diseño de un programa de
ordenación silvopastoral efectivo y generalizado.
Tema 5: Enfoque de las actividades de ordenación forestal. Las actividades actuales 
de ordenación forestal se centran en el marcaje de árboles y en la preparación de Planes 
Simplificados de Tala. Dichos planes, aunque pueden reducir el impacto que ejercen las 
operaciones de tala en la biodiversidad, no necesariamente contribuyen al bienestar del
propietario del bosque.
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Recomendación: Centrar el programa de gestión forestal en reducir los costes de
explotación maderera, incrementar la seguridad de las operaciones de tala y elevar la
calidad de las tablas serradas.
Tema 6: Enfoque de las medidas preventivas de PSUR. Las medidas de mitigación 
del impacto ambiental del PSUR no se centran claramente en los impactos negativos que 
se le pueden atribuir al propio PSUR. Así pues, su número y contenido son excesivos.
Recomendación: Reducir el número y complejidad de las medidas de mitigación del
PSUR.
Fortalecimiento del gobierno local
Tema 1: Capacidad de reivindicar frente a capacidad de responder. El proyecto 
prestará apoyo a la planificación participativa en 26 municipios y en muchas de sus
parroquias. Parece que existe un desequilibrio entre los esfuerzos que está dedicando el
programa a fortalecer la capacidad de los ciudadanos y de la sociedad civil de articular 
sus demandas al amparo de procesos consultivos adecuados, y los esfuerzos que está
dedicando a incrementar la capacidad de los gobiernos locales de mejorar la gestión de 
los servicios básicos. Esta situación podría conducir a una tremenda frustración de la
ciudadanía. Parece que el diseño del programa daba por sentado que el Banco del Estado 
de Ecuador (BEDE) intervendría para dotar a los municipios de más capacidades y
contribuir al fortalecimiento de su gestión interna. Lamentablemente, no parece haber
actividad alguna del BEDE en los lugares visitados.
Recomendación: Garantizar un mejor equilibrio entre el fortalecimiento de la capacidad 
reivindicativa de la comunidad y el fortalecimiento de la capacidad de respuesta del
municipio. Para ello podría considerarse la búsqueda de nuevos socios, entre ellos AME
y otros programas sobre gobierno local financiados por USAID para trabajar en lugares 
donde no se recibe demasiada asistencia para el fortalecimiento de la gestión interna, o 
contemplar el recorte del número de lugares que reciben asistencia para la planificación y
la redistribución de dichos fondos para la prestación de servicios y la generación de
rentas públicas a nivel local. Para mejorar el sistema, habría que considerar la posibilidad 
de agrupar municipios, desarrollar materiales y procedimientos para programas de
formación y fomentar la adopción de las mejores prácticas.
Tema 2: Proceso consultivo = Planificación. La formación y participación de la
comunidad ha avanzado enormemente gracias a las intervenciones del programa a todos
los niveles (municipal, parroquial y comunitario). Sin embargo, el principal instrumento
para fomentar procesos consultivos adecuados ha sido la elaboración de documentos de 
planificación general. Hasta la fecha son relativamente pocos los recursos que se han
destinado a actividades que fomenten un proceso consultivo relacionado con la toma de
decisiones municipal, por ejemplo para decidir inversiones según los parámetros 
presupuestarios o mejorar los servicios básicos. Numerosos ecuatorianos manifestaron
que Ecuador cuenta con muchos planes, la mayoría de los cuales se ignoran.
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Recomendación: Durante la segunda mitad del proyecto, hacer menos hincapié en la
planificación y más en la consulta directa sobre temas relacionados con la toma de
decisiones municipal.
Tema 3: Falta de rentas públicas locales. La necesidad más acuciante que tienen los 
municipios es la de generar más rentas públicas a nivel local. Dentro del programa de 
mejora de la gestión de servicios públicos, tan sólo dos actividades, manejo de
computadoras (indirectamente) y sistema de fijación de tarifas, ayudan a abordar la
capacidad financiera del municipio. Algunas otras actividades podrían, de hecho, 
aumentar los costos de funcionamiento de los municipios.
Recomendación: Hacer más hincapié en la generación de rentas públicas a nivel local, 
como puede ser una adecuada recaudación de los impuestos y sobre las utilidades, el
cobro de tarifas adecuadas por los servicios prestados por los municipios, y el cobro de 
contribuciones a los dueños de propiedades cuyo valor haya subido debido a las mejoras 
efectuadas en la comunidad. 
Tema 4: Entorno legal y normativo. El proyecto se enfrenta a un entorno legal y
normativo muy difícil. La política nacional relativa al gobierno local no ofrece incentivos
para la generación de rentas públicas en el ámbito local. De hecho, el sistema de reparto 
de las rentas federales ofrece incentivos que favorecen el patrocinio y las inversiones no 
productivas. El sistema legal contiene leyes municipales contradictorias que crean
confusión y dan lugar a competencias superpuestas.
Recomendación: USAID debería contemplar la posibilidad de hacer frente a estas
cuestiones en el marco del diálogo continuo que mantiene con el gobierno de Ecuador y a 
través del resto de sus programas dedicados a fortalecer los gobiernos locales.
Indicadores
El sistema de reporte de datos de PSUR es bastante sofisticado pero tiene que someterse a mayor 
control si ha de resultar totalmente fiable y ser más descriptivo.
Tema 1: Conjunto de beneficiarios. El método de cálculo del número global de
beneficiarios admite algún tipo de cálculo doble y la cifra final del proyecto ASSA
aparece demasiado elevada. Los objetivos establecidos año a año pueden no ser realistas 
debido a los reducidos presupuestos.
Recomendación: El número de beneficiarios de la región objetivo debería calcularse
sumando el número de beneficiarios de los sistemas de agua potable, de los programas de 
residuos sólidos y de los planes de adjudicación de títulos de propiedad de las tierras o de 
recursos naturales. El número de beneficiarios de la titularidad de las tierras (o planes de 
gestión integrada) debería incluir sólo a los habitantes de los Centros Shuar a los que se 
otorgan títulos de propiedad de la tierra, no al resto de habitantes que puedan beneficiarse 
indirectamente de los servicios ambientales. El objetivo global del programa debería
ajustarse en consecuencia. Las cifras del programa ASSA deberían volver a calcularse
para que fueran más realistas. Los objetivos establecidos año a año deberían ajustarse y
sintonizarse con la disponibilidad real de fondos.
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Tema 2: Beneficiarios en materia de agua y saneamiento. El método de cálculo del 
número de beneficiarios relativos a agua y saneamiento no utiliza los mejores datos
disponibles. El número global previsto de beneficiarios de sistemas de agua es
probablemente inalcanzable.
Recomendación: El número de beneficiarios de las actividades relativas tanto a agua
como a saneamiento debería calcularse utilizando el número de casas abastecidas en el
momento de entrega y el número real de personas que vive en cada casa en el momento 
de concluir el estudio inicial. El Acta de Entrega debería hacer referencia al número de 
familias e individuos beneficiados, y no al número de habitantes de una comunidad. El
número previsto de beneficiarios de sistemas de agua y unidades sanitarias debería volver 
a calcularse basándose en la experiencia recogida hasta la fecha.
Tema 3: Monitoreo del gobierno local. El sistema de monitoreo del componente
relativo al gobierno local es demasiado complejo, requiere demasiado trabajo y no refleja 
adecuadamente los progresos del programa.
Recomendación: Que USAID y CARE vuelvan a elaborar por completo los indicadores 
del gobierno local y requisitos de documentación relacionados, con la vista puesta en la
simplificación del proceso de observación y verificación. Es posible que un menor
número de indicadores pero preparados de una manera más explicita pudieran describir 
con más efectividad los cambios que el programa trata de lograr.
Gestión del Programa
Tema: Parece que existe un supuesto, tanto por parte de USAID como por parte de 
CARE, de que el diseño del proyecto es intocable y de que todo lo que tienen que hacer 
las personas es vigilar si el programa cumple los indicadores, incluso los objetivos más
detallistas de los componentes relativos a recursos naturales y gobierno local. No se
dedica suficiente atención a analizar los progresos realizados a la vista de los resultados 
intermedios del programa, (por ejemplo si está tomando forma convenientemente algún
proceso consultivo del gobierno local) y a cómo ajustar las actividades programáticas
para garantizar el máximo impacto. La estructura del informe semestral refuerza esta
tendencia. Se trata de un compendio de indicadores previstos frente a indicadores reales 
con un nivel de detalle muy minucioso. El informe en sí mismo hace que todo el mundo 
se mantenga centrado en obtener actividades específicas, en lugar de alcanzar resultados 
más amplios.
Recomendaciones: Que USAID y CARE, así como sus socios, se reúnan una vez al año 
para analizar los logros alcanzados y discutir cuestiones estratégicas relativas a la
preparación del plan de trabajo del año siguiente. Debería incluirse también un análisis
orientado a determinar cuáles son las actividades que aparentemente contribuyen más a
los resultados intermedios.
El informe semestral debería simplificarse y carecer de excesivo detalle. La sección más 
útil parecería ser el narrativo.
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En general, la dirección del programa debería guiarse menos por el hecho de alcanzar el
100% de los indicadores de menor nivel. Por ejemplo, si los directores del proyecto y de 
USAID siguen utilizando una matriz para seguir las actividades del gobierno local,
deberían trabajar con el 75% de actividades finalizadas como objetivo para determinar si
el componente mantiene correctamente su trayectoria. De esta forma se permite cierta
flexibilidad para no perseguir actividades que tienen que hacer frente a un entorno difícil. 
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
In October 1998, the presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a Peace Agreement ending over a 
century and a half of often-bloody conflict over their shared border. The United States, as one of 
four Guarantor nations, has invested considerable time, effort, and resources in helping the
parties to achieve this peace. As part of this peace agreement, the two governments committed 
themselves to providing tangible development benefits to the population living in the border
region. Towards this end, both governments are working to implement the Binational Border
Development Plan. USAID, in support of these initiatives, financed $1.5 million of border
activities in FY 1999 (1st phase), with an increase of $20 million over the period FY 2000-2005 
(2nd phase).
CARE has been the principal implementing partner for both phases. The initial phase (ASSA)
was used to support social services with a focus on health, water and sanitation. The second
phase (PSUR) was designed to have four components: 1) income generation; 2) social services; 
3) natural resources management; 4) and local government. 
USAID/ Ecuador contracted Development Associates, Inc to conduct a mid-term evaluation of
the Ecuador Border Regional Development Program: ASSA (Agua, Saneamiento y Salud
Ambiental, July 20, 1999 to February 28, 2001) and PSUR (Programa de Sostenibilidad y Union 
Regional, from October 30, 2000 to September 30, 2002). Only the social services, natural
resources management, and local government components were to be evaluated, the income
generation component already having been terminated. A team of three people, (the Team)
traveled to Quito and sites within the Provinces of Loja, El Oro, and Morona Santiago from May 
31 to June 21, 2003.
The purpose of the evaluation was to answer the following questions:
6. Will the program approach bring tangible benefits to the population living on the border?
7. Is the program making reasonable progress against work plans?
8. Is the reported data reliable?
9. How well is the program being managed?
10. Should the program design or program management be adjusted?
FINDINGS
PSUR is a very good project that is bringing tangible development benefits to the people living
in the southern border region. It is likely that over half of the 448,000 residents who live in the 
26 target municipalities will be directly impacted by the project over its five-year life. This
would include most of the 195,000 urban population (excluding the city of Loja) and some
40,000 rural residents. Indirect benefits could raise the number of rural beneficiaries even higher.
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4 The social services component should bring better water and sanitation to over 35,000
members of poor rural communities and 16,000 urban residents. Garbage collection
improvements should reach most of the 195,000 urban residents;
4 The natural resources component could significantly reduce the threats to the biodiversity
of the Cordillera Kutucú by providing communal land titles for over 100,000 ha. to a
population of several thousand peoples in 18 Shuar Centers; and 
4 The local government strengthening component should increase citizen input into
development plans in most of the municipalities, improve some operations within about
half of the municipalities, and, perhaps, help municipalities access donor resources. 
Discussions with mayors in the region suggest that the peace process and the Binational Border 
Development Program have been very important to give people a sense that the border situation
has changed irreversibly. Large government investments, such as an irrigation canal and smaller
investments from programs such as PSUR have given people tangible evidence of the change.
Now that residents do not fear the outbreak of war, they are beginning to make investments in
rehabilitating their homes. 
PSUR is not likely to have a long lasting impact on other issues such as migration and people’s 
perceptions about the economic future of the region. These will be more dependent on the
reactivation of the rural economy, which is suffering from high costs of production in relation to 
its neighbors. By the same token, unless selected very carefully, activities designed to provide 
alternative income sources for the border population are unlikely to be effective until relative
prices in country, and vis a vis Peru, are corrected. 
The program is making good progress against work plans and has had a number of important
successes.
4 The number of water systems, bathrooms and improved garbage collection activities is on 
target, even if the number of beneficiaries is lagging. The social services component has
also helped improve coordination among donors and with local governments and has
helped standardize design approaches among these institutions. 
4 The land-titling program has hit high gear and could be a big success. The project is
likely to meet is targets in terms of numbers of hectares under natural resource
management plans and with legal titles, although the number of direct beneficiaries will
be quite small. Land titling could also eliminate a source of conflict among the Shuar
Federations. 
4 The local government strengthening component is increasing the capacities of
municipalities and parishes to conduct participatory planning.
The approaches being used by the social services and natural resources are sound, appropriate to 
their situations, and based on experience garnered over the years by CARE and its partners. The 
local government component faces the largest challenges. It has a mandate to strengthen local
governments in 26 municipalities, but has a relatively small budget and operates in a policy
environment that does not provide incentives for local revenue generation.
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Overall, the PSUR program appears to be well managed. The staff appear to be knowledgeable 
about and actively applying CARE programming and administrative systems.
ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
GENERAL
4. The program is very good, but needs some adjustments to achieve maximum impact,
reduce bureaucracy, and provide increased flexibility. 
5. Beneficiary targets should be adjusted on the basis of experience and availability of
funding.
6. Keep trying to obtain the full $20 million for the program and consider extending PSUR
by a year to allow normal programming of the funding.
Social Services
Issue 1: Financial Sustainability. Given dollarization and rising costs, the financial
sustainability of the water systems is still not assured. The tariffs being levied by Water
Boards at sites visited are only sufficient to cover costs of operation and are not generating
savings for future repairs.
Recommendation: To ensure the sustainability of potable water systems, CARE should
conduct a second phase of promotion with the Water Boards to follow-up on setting fees at a 
level that will generate savings. CARE might also look at the possibility of adjusting its
activities with municipal sanitation units to see if they might be able to help address this issue 
in the long run.
Issue 2: Cost of school bathrooms. The opportunity cost of promotion, education and
construction of school bathrooms, averaging over $11,000 per unit, appears to equal the cost 
of some 20 household bathrooms, fully equipped and painted.
Recommendation: CARE should review the design of the school bathroom to see if its cost 
can be reduced.
Natural Resources Management
Issue 1: Land titling. Although the conservation benefits of the land titling program
would by far outweigh the other components if it were to assist the Shuar to obtain legal 
titles to most or all of their land in and around the Cordillera Kutucú, the land titling
program is being reduced rather than expanded. 
Recommendation: Augment funds for the land titling component with ECOLEX to
achieve approximately 350,000 ha of titled land by 2005 and thus create the basis for the 
establishment of the Territorial Circumscription Shuar. 
Issue 2: Circumscription process unfunded. The ECOLEX policy studies conclude 
that the creation of the Shuar Territorial Circumscription would lay the basis for the
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permanent conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú. Yet PSUR’s natural resource
component has not provided support for this process.
Recommendation: Provide technical and financial support to the Shuar Territorial
Circumscription process
Issue 3: Integrated management plan benefits. The Integrated Management Plans,
although well prepared and technically sound, are expensive to prepare and do not serve 
the immediate, tangible needs of the Shuar.
Recommendation: Simplify these plans and reduce their costs while at the same time
making them more useful to the needs of the Shuar who live in the Centers.
Issue 4: Silvopastoral opportunity. PSUR has already begun to create excellent
conditions for an effective, widespread silvopastoral extension program. Working
through the Shuar Associations and federations, it would be possible to mount a large￾scale agroforestry and silvopastoral extension program that would focus on increasing the 
quantity of commercial tree species growing on existing pasture lands within or near the 
Cordillera Kutucú.
Recommendation: Provide technical expertise for the design of an effective, widespread 
silvopastoral extension program
Issue 5: Focus of forest management extension activities. The present forest
management extension activities focus on marking trees and preparing Simplified Cutting
Plans. These plans, although they may reduce the impact of logging on biodiversity, do 
not necessarily contribute to the welfare of the forest owner.
Recommendation: Focus the forest management program on lowering logging costs,
increasing logging safety and raising the quality of sawn boards.
Issue 6: Focus of PSUR mitigation measures. The mitigation measures for PSUR are 
not clearly focused on the negative impacts that can be attributed to PSUR itself. 
Therefore, they are excessive in number and detail.
Recommendation: Reduce the number and complexity of the PSUR mitigation
measures
Local Government Strengthening
Issue 1: Demand capacity versus response capacity. The project will support
participatory planning in 26 municipalities and many of their parishes. The project will
only carry out fairly intensive basic service management improvement activities in eight
municipalities. There appears to be an imbalance between the amount of effort the
program is directing to strengthening the capacity of citizens and civil society to
articulate their demands under ensuring adequate consultative processes and the amount
of effort the program is directing to increasing the capacity of the local governments to 
respond under the improving management of basic services. This could lead to a very
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frustrated public. It appears that the program design assumed that the Ecuadorian State
Bank (BEDE) would be stepping in to provide additional capacity building and internal
management strengthening for the municipalities. Unfortunately, BEDE does not appear
to be active in the sites visited.
Recommendation: Ensure that a better balance is achieved between the strengthening of
the community to demand and the strengthening of the municipality to respond. This
might include looking for additional partners, including AME and other USAID funded
local government programs to work in sites not receiving intensive assistance for internal 
management strengthening on cutting the number of sites receiving planning assistance
and re-allocating these funds to service delivery and local revenue generation. For system
improvements, consider grouping municipalities, developing training program materials 
and procedures, and promoting adoption of best practices.
Issue 2: Consultative process = Planning. Community training and empowerment has 
been greatly advanced by program interventions at all levels (municipal, parish and
community). However, the principal instrument for promoting adequate consultative
processes has been the development of broad planning documents. Relatively few
resources have been allocated to-date for activities that promote a consultative process
related to municipal decision-making, for example for making investment decisions
against budget parameters or improving basic services. Many Ecuadorians expressed
their opinion that Ecuador has too many plans, most of which are ignored.
Recommendation: During the second half of the project, place less emphasis on
planning and more on direct consultation related to municipal decision-making.
Issue 3: Lack of local revenue. The highest priority need of the municipalities is to 
generate more local revenues. Within the improved management of basic services
program, only two activities, management of computers (indirectly) and fees pricing
system, help address the financial capacity of the municipality. Several other activities
could, in fact, increase the operating costs of the municipalities.
Recommendation: Place more emphasis on local revenue generation, such as collecting
property, business, and head taxes; charging appropriate fees for services provided by the 
municipality; and collecting contributions from property owners whose property values
have increased due to the implementation of community improvements.
Issue 4: Policy and legal environment. The project faces a very difficult policy and 
legal environment. National local government policy does not provide incentives for local
revenue generation. In fact, the formula driven federal revenue sharing system provides
incentives for patronage and non-productive investments. The legal system has
conflicting municipal laws that create confusion and overlapping authorities.
Recommendation: USAID should consider addressing these issues as part of its ongoing
dialogue with the Government of Ecuador and through its other local government
programs.
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Indicators
PSUR’s data reporting system is quite sophisticated but need to be tightened up in order to be 
fully reliable and more descriptive.
Issue 1: Overall beneficiaries. The method of calculating the overall number of
beneficiaries includes some double counting and the end of project ASSA number seems too 
high. Year by year targets may be unrealistic given reduced budgets.
Recommendation: The number of beneficiaries in the target region should be calculated by
adding the number of beneficiaries of potable water systems, of garbage collection programs, 
and of either land titling or natural resource plans. The number of beneficiaries of land titling
(or integrated management plans) should include only the population of the Shuar Centers
that receive the land titles, not other populations that may receive the indirect benefits of
environmental services. The overall target for the program should be adjusted accordingly.
The ASSA numbers should be recalculated to be more realistic. Year by year targets should 
be adjusted and brought in line with the actual availability of funds.
Issue 2: Water and Sanitation beneficiaries. The method of calculating the number of
beneficiaries of water and sanitation is not using the best data available. The overall planned 
number of beneficiaries for water systems is probably not attainable.
Recommendation: The number of beneficiaries for both water and sanitation activities
should be calculated by using the number of houses served at the time of delivery and the
actual number of people living in each house at the time the initial survey was completed. 
The Acta de Entrega should refer to the number of families and individuals benefited, and not 
to the number of inhabitants in the community. The planned number of beneficiaries for
water systems and bathrooms should be recalculated based on experience to date.
Issue 3: Local government monitoring. The monitoring system for the local government 
component is too complex, too labor intensive, and not very descriptive of program progress.
Recommendation: That USAID and CARE completely redo the local government 
indicators and associated documentation requirements with an eye to simplifying the
monitoring and verification process. Fewer indicators with more narrative on qualitative
changes might more effectively describe the changes that the program is trying to achieve.
Management
Issue: There seems to be an assumption on the part of both USAID and CARE that the 
project design is sacrosanct, and that all people need to do is to monitor whether the
program is meeting its indicator targets, including detailed targets within the natural
resources and local government components. There is not enough attention being given to 
reviewing progress against the intermediate results of the program, (for example whether
adequate local government consultative processes are taking shape) and how to adjust
programmatic activities to ensure maximum impact. The structure of the semi-annual 
report reinforces this tendency. It is a compendium of planned versus actual indicators
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down to a very minute level of detail. The report itself keeps everyone focused on
accomplishing specific activities instead of attaining broader results.
Recommendations: That USAID and CARE and its partners meet once a year to review 
past achievements and to discuss strategic issues with respect to the preparation of the 
coming year’s work plan. This should include a review to determine which activities
appear to be contributing the most to intermediate results.
The semi-annual report should be streamlined and void of extreme detail. The most
useful section appears to be the narrative analysis.
In general, program management should be less driven by meeting 100% of lower level
indicator targets. For example, if project and USAID managers continue to use a matrix
to follow local government activities, a target of 75% completion should be used for
determining whether the component is on track. This allows some flexibility to not
pursue activities that are facing a difficult environment. 
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
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MID-TERM EVALUATION
ECUADOR BORDER REGION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 
ASSA/PSUR
I. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION
In October 1998, the presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a Peace Agreement ending over a 
century and a half of often-bloody conflict over their shared border. The United States, as one of 
four Guarantor nations, has invested considerable time, effort, and resources in helping the
parties to achieve this peace. As part of this peace agreement, the two governments committed 
themselves to providing tangible development benefits to the population living in the border 
region. Towards this end, both governments are working to implement the Binational Border
Development Plan. USAID, in support of these initiatives, financed $1.5 million of border
activities in FY 1999 (1st phase), with an increase of $20 million over the period FY 2000-20005 
(2nd phase).
CARE has been the principal implementing partner for both phases. The initial phase (ASSA)
was used to support social services with a focus on health, water and sanitation. The second
phase (PSUR) was designed to have four components: 1) income generation; 2) social services; 
3) natural resources management; 4) and local government. 
USAID/ Ecuador contracted Development Associates, Inc to conduct a mid-term evaluation of
the Ecuador Border Regional Development Program: ASSA (Agua, Saneamiento y Salud
Ambiental, July 20, 1999 to February 28, 2001) and PSUR (Programa de Sostenibilidad y Union 
Regional, from October 30, 2000 to September 30, 2002). Only the social services, natural
resources management, and local government components were to be evaluated, the income
generation component already having been terminated. A team of the three people, (the Team)
traveled to Quito and sites within the Provinces of Loja, El Oro, and Morona Santiago from May 
31 to June 21, 2003.
The purpose of the evaluation was to answer the following questions:
1. Will the program approach bring tangible benefits to the population living on the border?
2. Is the program making reasonable progress against work plans?
3. Is the reported data reliable?
4. How well is the program being managed?
5. Should the program design or program management be adjusted?
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II. TEAM COMPOSITION AND METHODOLOGY
A Development Associates, Inc team composed of Kenneth G. Schofield, team leader, Sigifredo 
Ramirez, local government specialist, and Bruce Kernan, natural resources specialist, carried out
the mid-term evaluation.
The Team reviewed relevant project and other documents – a list is provided as an annex. The 
Team interviewed a wide range of officials of CARE and USAID, project beneficiaries, as well
as, national and local officials and technical staff. A complete list of people interviewed is also
provided as an annex. The Team also traveled to the Provinces of Morona Santiago, Loja and El 
Oro to visit project sites. Bruce Kernan spent seven days visiting project activities in Morona
Santiago, focusing on the natural resources component. Sigifredo Ramirez and Ken Schofield
spent seven days in Loja and El Oro, and another three days in Morona Santiago visiting social
services and local government strengthening activities. The Team also reviewed CARE’s data
collection system and tested the reliability of data reported to USAID.
III. FINDINGS: OVERALL IMPACT
The principal question to be answered is whether the program overall approach is likely to bring 
tangible benefits to the population living on the border. USAID/Ecuador also asked the Team to 
determine whether ASSA achieved substantial results and whether the program is likely to
contribute to larger goals of changing people’s perceptions about the future and migration
patterns.
Larger goals: Discussions with mayors in the region suggest that the peace process and the
Binational Border Development Program have been very important to give people a sense that
the border situation has changed irreversibly. Large government investments, such as an
irrigation canal and smaller investments from programs such as PSUR have given people
tangible evidence of the change. Now that residents do not fear the outbreak of war, they are 
beginning to make investments in rehabilitating their homes. 
PSUR is not likely to have a long lasting impact on other issues such as migration and people’s 
perceptions about the economic future of the region. These will be more dependent on the
reactivation of the rural economy, which is suffering from high costs of production in relation to 
its neighbors. By the same token, unless selected very carefully, activities designed to provide
alternative income sources for the border population are unlikely to be effective until relative
prices in country, and vis a vis Peru, are corrected. That is to say, if the mission decides to
promote alternative income sources, it should only promote those that are likely to be profitable 
under current relative prices and foreign exchange rates. 
Tangible benefits: Over its five-year life, PSUR is likely to directly impact over half of the
448,000 residents who live in the 26 target municipalities. This would include most of the
195,000 urban population (excluding the city of Loja) and some 40,000 rural residents. Indirect 
benefits could raise the number of rural beneficiaries even higher.
4 The social services component should bring better water and sanitation to over 35,000
members of poor rural communities and 16,000 urban residents. Garbage collection
improvements should reach most of the 195,000 urban residents;
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4 The natural resources component could significantly reduce the threats to the biodiversity
of the Cordillera Kutucú by providing communal land titles for over 100,000 ha to a
population of several thousand peoples in 18 Shuar Centers; and
4 The local government strengthening component should increase citizen input into
development plans in most of the municipalities, improve some operations within about
half of the municipalities, and help municipalities access donor resources. 
ASSA: The Team had very little information with which to review the ASSA component. The 
Team read ASSA’s final report and visited one water system and two municipalities where
garbage collection systems had been improved. The Team noted no difference in the quality of
the projects between those carried out under ASSA, and those carried out under PSUR.
However, CARE staff assured us that they had learned many lessons under ASSA that they had 
integrated into the design of PSUR. The only ASSA issue is the number of beneficiaries that are 
claimed in the ASSA final report. The 168,000 figure represents the entire population of the six
municipalities where ASSA was active. CARE and USAID might wish to review this figure and 
ensure that it meets the same standards that are being applied to PSUR. Otherwise, since PSUR
is still active in the same six municipalities, new activities will generate beneficiaries that have
already been counted. It might be advisable to only count beneficiaries for the same types of
programs, e.g. water and sanitation projects that are also being implemented under PSUR, and
not beneficiaries of health system improvements.
IV. FINDINGS — SOCIAL SERVICES
GENERAL
The social services component is composed principally of potable water systems, detached
bathrooms, school bathrooms and community garbage collection programs and is focused in the
provinces of Loja and El Oro, but is also being implemented in Morona Santiago province. Each 
component involves the construction of facilities, the organization of communities and
municipalities for both construction and the long-term management of the systems, and
education in basic hygiene to ensure that the beneficiaries obtain the maximum health impact of
the investments. 
The water systems serve anywhere from a few families to 25,000 people and are designed to
meet the needs of the people while providing a technically sound solution at the lowest cost
possible. For small numbers of families, water pumps are used. This is the case in a few areas of 
Morona Santiago. Most water systems are for larger communities (65 – 100 families) and use 
gravity systems that tap water sources such as streams and springs or well systems with pumps. 
New systems include components such as new water catchment facilities or wells, water
transmission lines, water tanks with associated filtering and chlorine units, distribution networks
to homes, water meters and household connections, including to bathrooms. Renovated systems 
often upgrade several parts of old systems and provide new transmission lines, distribution
networks, meters and household connections. To-date, new systems account for just over half of 
the new and renovated systems completed in Loja/El Oro, and almost all of the systems in
Morona Santiago. Both new and renovated systems include the organization of community
Water Boards to manage the system and collect fees for operation and maintenance. This
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includes, inter alia, the legalization of the Boards, the establishment of internal regulations
approved by the community, assistance in resolving conflicts, setting tariffs, and selection of
system operators. CARE is also trying to strengthen the water and sanitation units of
municipalities to be able to support the Water Boards. 
Bathrooms are detached rooms that are built with toilets and septic tanks as well as connections 
for shower- heads and sinks. They require water connections. Individuals can upgrade the rooms 
as they wish over time by adding tiles, paint, and the shower and washbasin components. School 
bathrooms are stand-alone buildings with separate bathrooms for girls and boys. Garbage
collection improvements may include organizing the management of garbage collection, starting
recycling programs, designing public education campaigns, and building and managing sanitary
landfills. Since the garbage collection systems improvements are carried out at the municipal
level and are implemented by members of the local government strengthening team of CARE,
this evaluation will address these activities under the local government strengthening section.
CARE and USAID should consider adjusting its reporting as well.
PSUR is expected to build 97 potable water systems and 3923 bathrooms during the life of the 
project. The Team believes that it is likely that the program will achieve its targets in terms of
the number of water systems and bathrooms. However, the Team believes it is unlikely that the 
program will reach the target number of beneficiaries and that the annual targets should be reset 
to be more realistic. For example, the project would have not met its 2002 target for water
beneficiaries if it had not helped with an emergency rehabilitation of the water system for the
city of Catamayo with 25,000 beneficiaries. The FY 2003 target is 50,393, which requires an
addition of 10,000 beneficiaries. This is a larger number than ever reached in one year, unless
another large city is included. The targets for number of people benefited by bathrooms over the 
next three years also seem unrealistic and based on ever increasing family sizes. For example,
between 2003 and 2004 CARE expects to build 569 bathrooms. However, this is supposed to 
benefit almost 10,000 individuals. This would require that 17 people used each unit.
SITE VISITS
The Team visited four potable water systems and one bathroom program. The findings for each
individual site are described in Annex D. Taken together, the site visits helped form the Team’s 
impressions with respect to the program approach, sustainability, impact, gender, and cost.
Program Approach: In general, the program uses the integrated approach of providing water, 
sanitation and hygiene education to maximize the health impact of the program. It also focuses
on ensuring that the community truly owns the infrastructure and is organized to operate and
maintain it. The project has incorporated several additional activities to improve the likelihood
that these systems will prove to be sustainable: for example the promotion of community Water 
Boards and strengthening of municipality water and sanitation units. CARE is well aware of the 
situation in Ecuador where it was estimated in 1999 that seven out of ten water systems built
were no longer operational after three years. The program approach to rural water and sanitation 
is based on CARE’s long experience with these types of programs and significant on-the-ground 
experience in these provinces. The program approach is also consistent with international best
practices as described in reports such as: “Towards better programming, A WATER
HANDBOOK,” Water, Environment, and Sanitation Technical Guideline Series – No. 2
UNICEF. 
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The process for selecting communities is also aimed at promoting sustainability. The selection
process for water systems compares community projects against the following criteria: 1) the
existence of enough water; 2) the number of beneficiaries; 3) the organizational strength of the
community; 4) the distance from the water source to the community; 5) the willingness to pay
water tariffs; 6) the existence of certain bureaucratic approvals; 7) the incidence of disease; 8)
the existence of a design; 9) the likelihood of having partners; and 10) the possibility of
complementarity’s with other PSUR project activities. Water systems and associated social
promotion and education take about a year to complete. Construction takes about six months,
with social promotion and education taking up the rest of the year.
The construction of individual bathrooms for homes uses a “sites and services” model, where a 
basic unit of a shell, with installed toilet, shower and sink connections, and septic tank is
provided. The individual may then add the shower and washbasin, as well as, paint, tiles or other 
improvements over time. The school bathroom is a larger structure with steel beams and
improved roof and has all the fixtures and tiles included.
While we did not visit any particular units, CARE has also been strengthening the water and
sanitation units of municipal governments so that they can better support the Water Boards of the 
communities. This will be critical to help communities solve technical and financial problems in
the future.
The project tries to protect the immediate area around the water source to reduce erosion and 
contamination. However, the project assumes the other active donor programs in the Loja/El Oro 
area will protect the watersheds that feed these water sources. The Team was not able to visually 
inspect any project or other donor activity related to protecting the water supply and was not able 
to come to a conclusion about the soundness of these approaches. 
The Team notes that the donor supported MIDUVI – PRAGUAS program has been working on 
national policies and creating a decentralized approach for designing, supporting and financing
rural water and sanitation systems. As the PSUR program goes forward, the CARE social
services team should become acquainted with this new institutional and financial framework and
look to build complementarities.
Sustainability: While the program has paid a lot of attention to promoting the social,
organizational and financial sustainability of the water systems, financial sustainability is not yet
assured. The Water Boards have been well organized, trained, and have good books. At the
initiation of operations, the Water Boards set tariffs that covered the operation and maintenance 
of the systems, and generated significant savings to cover the cost of repairs. However, with
dollarization and rising costs, the tariffs being levied by Water Boards visited are only sufficient 
to cover the cost of operations and do not generate savings to be used for future repairs. This is 
particularly acute in the case of systems that rely on pumps, as the cost of repairing or replacing 
pumps may run into the thousands of dollars.
The Teams site visits in the Loja/El Oro provinces did not reveal much information on other
donor activities to help protect the watersheds that feed the water sources for the potable water 
systems. The Team notes that in the 1999 study, half of the water systems that stopped
functioning faced water shortages at the source.
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Impact: While purely anecdotal in nature, all the communities visited commented on the
improvement in child health and reduction in the time and effort needed to obtain water.
Gender: Many of the Water Board members and several of its officers are women. Several of
them were active participants in discussions.
Costs: The direct cost of supplying potable water with a new system, including CARE,
provincial, municipal, and community inputs, is around $1,000 per family or $150 per
beneficiary. This includes construction, materials, equipment, social promotion, and manual
labor. It is not clear whether this includes design costs. It does not include CARE project staff
salaries, office administrative costs, or overhead. The cost of rehabilitating a system is running
between $400 and $775 per family and $90 to $170 per beneficiary. Note that the average cost of 
rural water systems per beneficiary in other projects in Ecuador has been estimated to be $100 
for new construction and $50 for rehabilitation. However, these costs only include construction
costs. The construction of each basic detached bathroom requires about $150 of CARE
resources, as well as, another $100 from the community and municipality. A fully outfitted
bathroom may cost $500. The average cost of a school bathroom is estimated to be $11,000, 
based on the costs described in Actual Entrega for a random sample of six sites. 
RECOMMENDATIONS — SOCIAL SERVICES
1. Sustainability: CARE should do a second phase of promotion with the Water Boards to 
follow-up on setting fees at a level that will generate savings. CARE might also look at
the possibility of directing its activities with municipal sanitation units to see if they
might be able to help address this issue in the long run. 
2. With respect to the sustainability of water at the source, CARE should review its
assumptions with respect to the availability of other natural resources management 
programs to protect watersheds. Members of the natural resources management team
might be invited to look at this issue in Loja/El Oro.
3. Cost of school bathrooms: The Team suggests that CARE re-look at its basic design to 
see if the cost of school bathrooms can be reduced to perhaps no more than five or six
times the cost of a fully equipped household bathroom. The opportunity cost of one
school bathroom now equals some 20 household bathrooms.
V. FINDINGS — NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
PSUR’s Natural Resource Management Component operates only in the Province of Morona
Santiago. Its design responds to the particular ecological, economic, political, and social
characteristics of Morona Santiago Province in general and the Cordillera Kutucú in particular. 
The emphasis on forestry reflects the province’s large areas of biologically diverse, tropical
rainforest and the contribution that they make to the province’s formal and informal economy. 
The agroforestry activities sponsored by the component reflect the traditional indigenous shifting
agricultural practices, which extract nutrients from generally infertile soils and control
infestations of insects and diseases. That the component was designed to work with and through 
two of the Shuar federations, FISCH and FIPSE, reflects their political weight in the province, 
based on the large indigenous population, and their geographical division of influence. The large
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land titling activity reflects the urgency of land ownership and control issues in the province,
especially between the mestizo colonists from the Ecuadorian highlands and the indigenous
peoples. The focus on the Cordillera Kutucú, and especially the biological research activities,
reflects the international importance of its biological diversity as well as the conflicting claims to 
its forest and mineral resources. In short, PSUR´s Natural Resource Management Component
has been tailored to address the most urgent issues of economic development, social justice, and 
ecological management in Morona Santiago province. 
The Intermediate Result for this component is “Improved natural resource management in
selected areas along the border.” It has the four indicators shown in Table 1. 
TABLE 1
PSUR Natural Resource Management Component Indicators, 
Units of Measure and Target Results by 2005
Indicator Status 2005
Number of hectares of land in selected areas under NRM plans 100,000 ha
Number of beneficiaries 25,000 people
Number of hectares under legal title in or near the buffer zones 100,000 ha
Number of beneficiaries: 25,000 people
Policy documents development which strengthen the legal basis for
conservation and development in the Cordillera del Kutucú and its area
of influence
10 studies
In its report through September 30, 2002, PSUR indicated that it had prepared natural resource 
management plans (NRM Plans) for a total 38,481 ha in 9 Shuar Centers. The planned
accumulated result by that date was 35,000 ha, so PSUR exceeded its target for NRM Plans by 
110 percent. In fact, PSUR also prepared NRM Plans for an additional 73,079 ha for which it 
obtained title with financing from the PRODEPINE project. A review of these plans indicated
that they meet the same standards as the plans PSUR reported through September 30, 2002. 
Therefore, there is no reason not to count them as a PSUR result. The total number of ha under 
NRM Plans would, therefore, be 111,920 ha rather than 38,481 ha. Utilizing these additional ha, 
the actual would exceed the planned result for 2002 by almost 300 percent and easily meet the 
2005 target.
PSUR reports a total number of beneficiaries from NRM Plans through September 30, 2002 of
9,195 or 102 percent more than planned. This number includes 8,878 indirect beneficiaries from
two NRM Plans: Uunt Suants and Angel Roubi. PSUR argues that the indirect beneficiaries
receive the benefits of protected environmental services as a result of the NRM Plans. Since
Angel Roubi is in an area of relatively dense populations to the east of the Upano River, its NRM 
Plan, if implemented, may protect environmental services that benefit 2,474 people. Uunt
Suants, by contrast, is located in the middle of the Cordillera Kutucú, far from any population
concentration. It is unlikely, therefore, that the preparation of a NRM Plans could provide
indirect benefits to 6,404 people. Removal of the indirect benefits of the Uunt Suants NRM Plan 
reduces the actual number of beneficiaries to 2791, or 39 percent of the target. 
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Through September 30, 2002, PSUR reported that it has obtained title for 73,079 ha, exceeding 
the planned result of 35,000 ha by 209 percent. PRODEPINE financed the titling of these
73,079 ha. and the Team presumes that PRODEPINE is considered a partner in the consortium
and therefore these ha. should be counted within PSUR´s results targets. The land of the Shuar 
Centers where PRODEPINE financed titling lies outside of the Cordillera Kutucú Public
Protection Forest. Their titling therefore involves fewer approvals by the Ministry of
Environment. The land of the Shuar Centers for which PSUR is financing titling, by contrast,
occur within or on the edges of the protection forest, and requires more approvals by the
Ministry of Environment. As a result, even as of June 2003, only 2 of the 9 Shuar Centers
within or near to the protected forest had obtained their land titles. 
PSUR reported the number of beneficiaries of land titling as 5,287. Of these, 1,338 were direct 
beneficiaries and 3,949 were indirect beneficiaries. PSUR argues that the land titling provides
protection for forest environmental services, such as clean water, to the populations in near-by 
towns. If only the direct beneficiaries were to be counted, PSUR would have met only 15
percent of its target for beneficiaries from land titling. The area is so lightly populated that
PSUR cannot meet the target number of beneficiaries of from land titling of 25,000 by 2005. 
Through September 30, 2003, PSUR had prepared 6 policy studies or 60 percent of those
planned by 2005.
SUB-COMPONENTS OF THE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 
COMPONENT
The Natural Resource Management Component has 5 sub components. One or more member
organizations of the PSUR Consortium implement each sub component. The following
paragraphs summarize each sub component’s activities, actual results through September 30,
2003 and projected results through 2005. 
Protected Area Management
Responsible Institution: Ecociencia 
This subcomponent´s expected results by 2005 include 3 environmental impact studies; a study
of hunting in a Shuar Center; a Rapid Ecological Assessment of the Cordillera Kutucú; a
conservation plan for the Cordillera Kutucú, conservation plans for 3 protected areas; 18
parabiologists trained; 2 proposals for conservation concessions; and a study of the process of
deforestation in the Cordillera Kutucú. 
PSUR will probably meet most of these goals. By September 30, 2002, Ecociencia was making 
studies of biodiversity within the Cordillera Kutucú to establish a baseline of scientific
information and to determine conservation priorities. Ecociencia also was conducting a study of
hunting within the Cordillera Kutucú with the purpose of managing and maintaining wildlife
populations. Jatun Sacha and the Center for Conservation Data (CDC) had prepared
environmental impact assessments of the Upano Valley and the Evenezer Taisha road, including
maps of those areas at 1:50,000. Jatun Sacha and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) had 
monitored compliance with the mitigation measures that the Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA) established. Nine parabiologists have been trained. A study of deforestation
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has been made, not in the Cordillera Kutucú but along the route of the projected road from the 
Upano Valey to Taisha to the north. Little deforestation is taking place in the Cordillera Kutucú 
in any case so its study would not be particularly useful at present.
No other road is being built so there is no immediate need for a third environmental impact
study. Since some of the trained parabiologists do not have employment, to train additional
parabiologists would create an redundancy in technical specialties. Other than the Cordillera
Kutucú, there are no other existing protected areas that lack conservation plans so it will be
difficult to comply with the target result of conservation plans for three protected areas. 
Sustainable Forest Management 
Responsible Institution: Jatun Sacha 
This subcomponent´s expected results by 2005 are 60 logging plans on individual properties and 
3 integrated community management plans. 
By September 30, 2002 technical assistance from PSUR had helped in the preparation of over 40 
logging plans that comply with Ecuador’s forestry regulations. Because the local technicians
now know how to prepare logging plans, if there is demand for their preparation, the result of 60 
plans could be achieved.
Agricultural Production
Responsible Institutions: Arco Iris and SNV
By 2005 this subcomponent was to have established 20 agroforestry models in Trans Kutucú. 
By September 30, 2003 15 recent high school graduates had been trained to be local agricultural 
technicians. They had begun to provide technical assistance in agricultural production, fish and
snail rearing and chicken raising to Production Committees of farmers in the Shuar Associations 
Sevilla and Mendez in the Upano Valley. In the Trans Kutucú, the sub component had provided 
Shuar Centers with technical assistance in the establishment of agroforestry and short cycle
crops. These involve combinations of achiote, cacao and pasture with commercial trees and
cultivation of peanuts and ginger. The subcomponent also promotes the commercialization of
these crops through market studies. As a result of these activities, by September 30, 2002, the 
expected result in this subcomponent had already been achieved. 
Commercialization
Responsible Institution: CARE 
Under this subcomponent the expected result by 2005 is 4 groups that have received technical
assistance in the sale of wood, cacao, sugar cane and handicrafts and at least 1 sale of certified 
wood and 2 sales of certified agricultural products. 
By September 30, 2002 this subcomponent had organized, provided technical assistance, and
looked for markets for wood producers, handicraft artisans, and farmers in the Associations 
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Mendez and Sevilla. It has provided a seed fund of US$2000 to provide credit to wood
producers in Mendez in the amount of US$450 each for 120 days. By 2005, however, it is not 
likely that certified wood or certified agricultural products will be sold as part of PSUR. There is 
at present no market for certified wood and agriculture products that would justify the extra
expense involved in certification. The Team did not evaluate the assistance that PSUR may have 
provided to cacao, sugar cane or handicrafts.
Political and Legal Initiatives
Responsible Institutions: ECOLEX, Jatun Sacha, Ecociencia
The projected results by 2005 of this subcomponent were 100,000 ha titled in the Cordillera
Kutucú to 9 Shuar Centers and 10 policy studies prepared. 
As previously discussed the planned results for land titling had been achieved by September 30, 
2002. Through September 30, 2002 land titles had been obtained for 9 centers and 73,079 ha. It 
is likely that the total number of land titles will increase to well over 100,000 ha by 2005. 
Ecociencia and Jatun Sacha had worked with ECOLEX to prepare Integrated Management Plans, 
a requirement for obtaining land titles, for 18 Shuar Centers. ECOLOEX also had prepared 6 
studies concerning policies that would affect conservation and development in the Cordillera
Kutucú. It is unclear whether an additional 4 policy studies would be useful or what their
specific subjects would be.
Responses to Specific Questions Posed by the Terms of Reference 
1. Validate the policy documents that strengthen the legal basis for conservation and 
development in the Cordillera del Kutucú. What is the area of influence? Are the 
policies being applied? Do they make sense?
The report entitled Propuestas Jurídicas para la Administración y Manejo Territorial de la
Cordillera del Kutucú, prepared for PSUR by ECOLEX and dated September 2002, contains the 
policy documents financed by PSUR. The following sections summarize the content and
conclusions of each of the studies and judge whether these make sense.
4 Study No 1: Legal Alternatives for Land Adjudication 
Colonists, mining interests, and petroleum companies are poised to take advantage of unclear
land rights in and around the Cordillera Kutucú. Conservation and development in the Cordillera 
Kutucú, therefore, requires prompt resolution over land rights in favor of the ancestral rights of
the Shuar. 
This study’s objective was to determine effective mechanisms and procedures to adjudicate and
regulate land tenure for the Shuar Centers in the Cordillera Kutucú. The study first describes the 
Ecuadorian laws and regulations that govern land tenure for ancestral lands of indigenous
peoples such as the Shuar. Then it proposes two concurrent processes to resolve the
superimposition of the Cordillera Kutucú Public Protection Forest on ancestral Shuar territories. 
One would delimit the Kutucú Public Protection Forest. The other would give communal title of
ancestral Shuar lands to the Shuar Centers within the Cordillera Kutucú. 
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Removing Shuar ancestral lands from the Cordillera Kutucú Public Protection Forest and giving
them a communal title to Shuar Centers makes sense. Since its declaration over twelve years
ago, in 1990, the Government of Ecuador has done nothing to protect or manage the Kutucú
Public Protection Forest. It is unlikely to do so anytime soon. 
Delimitation of the Kutucú Public Protection Forest, by contrast, makes less sense. So far that 
designation has resulted in no conservation benefits in the Cordillera Kutucú. Moreover, PSUR
is working to title most of the Cordillera Kutucú to the Shuar Centers. Why spend scarce funds 
on the delimitation of the Kutucú Public Protection Forest that never really existed and which
PSUR itself is working to transfer to communal ownership? 
4 Study No 2: Legal Basis for Conservation Concessions
CARE’s proposal for PSUR gave a prominent role to the participation of the U.S. environmental
NGO Conservation International and its favorite idea, conservation concessions. Through this 
mechanism rich people in rich countries pay poor people in poor countries to not destroy
biodiversity. 
This study evaluates the Ecuadorian legal basis for not only conservation concessions but also
conservation right-of-ways and conservation trusts. It finds the Ecuadorian legal basis for these 
mechanisms almost non-existent. Ecuadorian law does permit concessions of public property or 
functions to private administration. PSUR, by contrast, is working to assign communal titles to
Shuar Centers within the Cordillera Kutucú, not to establish public control. Conservation
concessions thus serve no role in the conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú. Rights-of-way, 
although well established in Ecuadorian law, require two parties since one party must give and 
the other must receive the right-of-way. One Shuar Center, however, would have no reason to 
give an ecological right-of-way to another Shuar Center. And no Shuar Center would cede a
right-of-way to an environmental NGO. Ecological right-of-ways thus have no role in the
Cordillera Kutucú. A trust fund in theory could finance conservation in the Cordillera Kutucú.
Interest could be Transferred to the Shuar Centers in exchange for conservation. PSUR,
however, has not funds to capitalize a trust fund and there is no other apparent source of funds. 
Moreover, the actual mechanisms for utilizing the interest to obtain conservation in such a vast,
rugged area as the Cordillera Kutucú remain unclear. A conservation trust fund, therefore, is not 
a likely option for conserving the Cordillera Kutucú. 
In sum, the study quite conclusively demonstrates that conservation concession, rights of way or 
trust funds are not at present practical mechanisms for achieving conservation of the Cordillera
Kutucú and PSUR.
4 Study No 3: Identification of Conflicts in the Cordillera Kutucú
The conflict that permeates the Shuar culture has taken new forms as the Shuar become
sedentary and fight to protect their ancestral rights from outsiders and quarrel among themselves 
about the division of ancestral lands. Conflict resolution and management thus underlie control
over land, land use, and conservation in the Cordillera Kutucú. 
This study identifies the conflicts that pervade the Cordillera Kutucú. Shamanism stimulates 
almost constant conflict between individuals within Shuar society. Many local conflicts,
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however, concern boundary lines, which are difficult to identify and demarcate in the Cordillera
Kutucú’s rugged topography and dense forest, between family parcels and Shuar Centers. The 
three Shuar federations clash over how to give land titles to the Shuar. FISCH promotes
communal land titles for Shuar Centers, FIPSE prefers communal land titles for Shuar
Associations, and OSHE believes in individual land titles. Members generally distrust their
federations’ leadership, accusing it of dishonest and unfair use of donated funds. Conflicts also
occur between the Shuar and government institutions, mining and petroleum companies and
NGOs.
The study goes to the heart of the problem of conservation and development in the Cordillera
Kutucú. Conflict, by destroying the cohesion of the Shuar, increases their vulnerability to
outside influences and pressures. It thus reduces the chances for conservation and development. 
Successful conflict resolution and management thus plays a crucial role in achieving PSUR’s
conservation goal. 
4 Study No 4: Strategies for the Management of Conflicts in the Kutucú
Successful conflict resolution and management results not from chance, but from carefully
planned and skillfully implemented techniques to resolve issues and reconcile different points￾of-view. This study proposes new instruments to manage conflicts in accordance with traditional
Shuar culture, new forms of Shuar organization, and Ecuadorian legislation. These instruments
include negotiation, arbitrage, mediation and inducement of cultural change through education. 
Mediation could attenuate the rivalry between Shuar federations, helping them to find common
goals and avoid additional internal factions. Negotiation could reduce unproductive conflicts
between the Shuar and the national government over mining and petroleum exploration and
production. Arbitrage to reduce conflicts within the Shuar Centers could be reinforced through
training for community authorities. Legal prosecutions to counter shamanism would be
counterproductive, but educational programs could change Shuar cultural perceptions about
conflict. 
This study provides a useful guide to reducing the pervasive conflicts that impede conservation
and development in the Cordillera Kutucú.
4 Study No 5: Legal Aspects of Territorial Issues
Conservation and development in the Cordillera Kutucú, where no form of territorial
management presently exists, depends on satisfactory and prompt resolution of its legal status. 
This study usefully reviews the various laws and regulations that bear on the establishment of a
legal status of the Cordillera Kutucú that would permit conservation and development.1
 It
recommends that the Cordillera Kutucú be designated a Territorial Circumscription, a form of
territorial administration newly permitted by the 2000 Ecuadorian Constitution. No other form
of territorial administration, whether a Public Protection Forest or private property would be
likely to protect effectively the Cordillera Kutucú biodiversity from the threats to its ecological
integrity presented by colonists, wood industry, mining, and petroleum interests. Communal
 
1
 These include Law of Communal Organization and Regimes, the Special law of Decentralization and Social 
Participation, the Law of Environmental Action, the Treaty 169 Concerning Indigenous Tribes of the International 
Labor Organization, and the Treaty of Amazonian,
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titling of land to Shuar Centers, although essential, must be followed by the establishment of a 
Shuar Territorial Circumscription if effective conservation and development is to be achieved in
the Cordillera Kutucú. 
4 Study No 6: Jurisdictional Proposal for Territorial Administration
For sustainable conservation and development to occur in the Cordillera Kutucú the Shuar must 
win the current political and economic struggle over its future through the establishment of a
Shuar Territorial Circumscription. This study outlines the steps over 4 to 6 years that would be 
required to establish a Shuar Territorial Circumscription. It serves as a practical guide to
achieving the goal of a Shuar Territorial Circumscription.
2. Are the NRM practices that are promoted actually being implemented?
Two sub components fall under the category of natural resource management: sustainable forest
management and agricultural production. 
Through September 30, 2002, the sustainable forest management component had prepared 40
simplified logging plans. PSUR had financed 18 community integrated management plans and
had organized seven workshops about the forestry regulations, which a total of 155 people had 
attended. Nine forest owners had actually cut and sold wood with the assistance of PSUR. Many 
of them, however, were waiting for the price of timber to rise before undertaking logging.
Through September 30, 2002 the integrated management plans for the Shuar Centers, which
cover a total of 38,480 ha, had not been implemented. 
The agricultural production component has been concentrated in the Upano Valley, in the centers 
of Mendez and Sevilla, and in the Shuar Center Taisha in the Trans Kutucú. In the former area, 
the subcomponent has organized nine production committees. Their members are raising
chickens, snails and fish. The subcomponent also has supported the reactivation of the Mendez
Association fish farm. In Taisha, PSUR, in collaboration with the SNV, established various
types of agroforestry demonstrations in a total of 7 Shuar Associations on 232 farms.
In sum, the sustainable forest management practices are being planned but not generally
implemented. The agricultural practices, by contrast, are being both planned and implemented. 
3. Is the cost of titling reasonable?
According to ECOLEX it cost US$198,187 to title the 73,079 ha that PSUR had titled through 
September 30, 2002.2
 This amounts to US$2.71 per ha. According to ECOLEX, however, the 
cost per ha of titling as of June, 2003 has gone up by 60 percent to US$4.50 per ha. ECOLEX
attributes this rise in costs to the requirement for the preparation of more detailed, complete
Integrated Management Plans. If this is true, then the cost of the Integrated Management Plans 
would be US$1.79 per ha, or about 40 percent of the total cost of the land title.
The ECOLEX policy studies, which were discussed under Question 1, unequivocally conclude
that untitled land represents the largest threat to the conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú. 
 
2
 It was not possible to independently confirm this cost. 
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Interviews with Shuar leaders at all levels confirmed that they perceive land titling as the most 
important component of PSUR. Field observations confirmed that without land titles large areas 
of the Cordillera Kutucú lay open to colonization with the construction of access roads. Yet in
2003, due to lack of funding, PSUR’s land titling component has reduced its rate of land titling
rather than increased it. 
Given the lack of funds, it is questionable to spend US$1.79 per ha on the preparation of
Integrated Management Plans that raise the cost of titling by 40 percent. A land title is a solid, 
specific result in itself for the landowner. Resolution of land conflicts through a wide-scale 
settling of land ownership disputes through land titling is a basic requirement for economic
growth and social stability. These in turn underlie the conservation of ecological integrity. 
An Integrated Management Plan, by contrast, must be implemented to produce a result; the plan
itself is only a plan. Yet interviews with the leaders of Uunt Suants indicated that they know
little about the content of the Integrated Management Plan and do not consult it in making land 
use decisions. The content of the plans, moreover, tends to be that which would interest and be 
useful to people from outside Uunt Suants more than to those who live there. The people of
Uunt Suants, for example, have no need for a report that tells them the scientific names of plants 
and animals, describes their own festivities, or lists the names of their own leaders.
In conclusion, the cost of land titling itself, if it is US$2.71 per ha may be reasonable, especially 
given the remoteness of most of the Shuar Centers and therefore the high cost of reaching and 
working in them. The additional cost of US$1.79 per ha associated with land titling, but
attributable to the preparation of Integrated Management Plans, however, does not appear to be 
reasonable, especially given the relative priorities of the Shuar. 
4. Is the NRM approach appropriate? Has integration of sustainable development
practices at the community level and management of protected areas proved
effective?
The agricultural production component of PSUR is an appropriate means to achieve PSUR”s
purpose of improving the quality of life of poor families. Although data are not available to
estimate increased benefits quantitatively, field inspections and interviews indicate that increased
agricultural production will be likely to translate into more food and better nutrition for the
participating families. Given the variability of the market prices for agricultural products and
inputs, participants may not always increase their cash income through increased and more
varied agricultural and animal production. Nonetheless, the introduction of improved varieties of
chickens, snails, fish, vegetables and fruits will provide the participants with a wider range and
greater productivity of agricultural products. The greater variety in itself may increase the
chance to find profitable markets. 
The forest management activities are unlikely to improve the quality of life of the participants in
PSUR. In order to meet the requirements of the forestry regulations a participant has to measure 
and mark the trees to be cut, locate them on a map and demarcate on the ground the perimeter of 
the cutting area. The purpose of such activities is to produce legal wood and to conserve the 
forest’s biodiversity and productive potential. They do not, however, increase the volume or
quality of the wood or reduce the costs of production. Since no effective control over the illegal 
cutting and movement of illegal wood exists in Morona Santiago Province, wood customers will
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rarely pay more for legal than for illegal wood. The forest management activities will not
therefore be likely to increase the net income of the participants in legal forest management. 
5. Have the local institutions being strengthened become capable of designing,
implementing and managing natural resources programs on their own? What will 
they need from the outside to continue?
PSUR works to strengthen Shuar federations and municipal governments. Activities for
strengthening for municipal governments consist of training in the implementation and use of
rural cadaster in the municipality of Sucúa and Logroño. Activities for strengthening the
federations consist of workshops in strategic planning and administration, payment of the
salaries of technical staff in the Technical Unit of FISCH, the formation of Production
Committees in the Shuar Centers, and socioeconomic and environmental policy studies. 
Through September 30, 2002, PSUR had contracted 5 workshops for the technical staff for the 
Technical Unit of FISCH, formed and trained production committees in the Associations of
Sevilla and Mendez and given their members training in leadership and crafts, and had trained 
health promoters in the Association of Mankusas.
These restricted activities will not make the local institutions capable of designing, implementing
and managing natural resource programs on their own. Although important for natural 
resources, cadastral surveys are not natural resource management programs. Likewise, the
formation of production committees relates only marginally related to the design,
implementation and management of natural resource programs. Moreover, the production 
committees will not necessarily continue to exist after PSUR ends. They are focused on very
specific production activities. 
6. Have partner institutions been able to foster a mutually beneficial relationship
among the NGOs, community groups, and Ministry of Environment officials? 
PSUR is set up as a consortium in which each NGO has an equal voice. CARE, however,
handles the USAID funds, making it the lead NGO. CARE perhaps has less specific technical
expertise than some of its partner NGOs, yet it is responsible for the overall management of
PSUR. It has a key role, therefore, in fostering decision-making processes that nurture
cooperation, creativity, and synergy between the members of the PSUR Consortium. The survey
of participants in the Committee for Conservation Integration, composed of the technical
specialists in the consortium, indicate that there is some dissatisfaction with the integration of the 
different components of the natural resource management component of PSUR. A number of the
comments indicate that there has been little participation in the decision-making process by some 
of the consortium members. Typical comments are that “...the Consortium is not working like a 
Consortium”, there is “...weak coordination between the components,” “there is an absence of
participation of the associates in the Consortium,” “CARE does not provide leadership for the
Consortium.”
There is no indication that the Ministry of Environment has been significantly involved in PSUR. 
The Consortium has not fostered relationships with NGO’s outside of those that are in the PSUR 
Consortium. 
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7. Is PSUR playing an important role in promoting consensus on important policy
issues, e.g. served as a catalyst to bring together Ecuadorian organizations to
address priority problems? 
The PSUR policy study Jurisdictional Proposal for Territorial Administration demonstrates that
the priority policy issue concerning the conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú is the
establishment there of a Shuar Territorial Circumscription. Four to six years would be required. 
In the little over two years that remain in PSUR, PSUR will not be able to achieve this result, 
throwing doubt, if the policy study is correct in its conclusion, on the sustainability of PSUR’s
natural resource management component. Moreover, through June 2003, PSUR had not taken
steps to promote consensus on this policy issue among Ecuadorian institutions.
The content and application of the forestry regulations is another important policy issue that will
affect conservation and development in the Cordillera Kutucú. The forestry regulations require
the preparation of a complicated cutting plan and payment of a high tax in order to produce legal 
wood. These stipulations lower the incentive for organized, technical forest management and
stimulate illegal, non-technical logging. The Ministry of Environment cannot control logging in
Ecuador’s vast forests. While the Ministry of Environment has contracted the international
company SGS to control the movement of wood on roads, SGS’s fees will significantly raise the 
cost of producing and transporting wood. It will thus further decrease the incentive for legal,
technical logging. Although PSUR has supported the preparation of cutting plans, it has not
promoted consensus on this forestry policy issue. 
Conversion of land use from forest to pasture threatens conservation and development in the
Cordillera Kutucú. Pasture formation commonly occurs after the colonization phase has passed, 
as land becomes consolidated in larger tracts, in areas of scarce labor and poor soils. Low prices 
for meat, due to the competition of imported meat, may at present be limiting further conversion
of forest to pasture. In the future, however, prices may rise and stimulate additional pasture
formation. The construction of a road to Yaupi will open a new large, flat area of forest within
the Cordillera Kutucú to logging. PSUR, however, has not studied this land use issue,
incorporated the issue into its results framework, or promoted consensus on this issue among
Ecuadorian organizations. 
Petroleum production is the policy issue that at present most concerns the Shuar. Even when the 
Shuar receive communal land titles, the oil resources under their territories remain the property
of the national government. Their extraction therefore will take priority over other land uses. 
As the CARE PSUR proposal suggests, the exploration and production of oil resources
represents both a threat and a source of income to the Shuar. Yet PSUR has not played a role in 
promoting consensus on this policy issue, perhaps to avoid being identified with petroleum
interests. 
8. Have community members been trained in forest management and agroforestry and 
are they applying training?
Only two Shuar Associations, Sevilla and Mendez requested that PSUR provide them with
technical assistance and training in forest management and agroforestry. PSUR has trained 15
community members from these association, who are referred to as local technicians. Eight were 
trained in forest management and 7 in agroforestry. The training in both technical subjects lasted 
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120 hours. PSUR selected the local technicians from candidates nominated by the Associations. 
All of the technicians are graduates of high schools with specialization in agriculture. Four of
the fifteen original technicians were women. Only 9 of the original 15 technicians remain with
PSUR, including 2 women, because of budget cut. They are applying their training within the
collaborating Shuar associations. If PSUR’s agroforestry and forest management programs were 
to close down, they would put their training to use on their own farms. 
9. Is CARE developing effective and sustainable alternative income generating
activities? Is the approach of the alternative income generation appropriate? Is it 
well structured, with studies, analysis, and access to markets? Are they sustainable?
PSUR’s alternative income generating activities consist of the agroforestry and forest
management activities undertaken by the local technicians and the marketing activities carried
out under the marketing component. 
The PSUR agroforestry activities will probably prove to be more useful for improvement of
overall productivity of the farm than as a reliable source of cash income. More production of
chickens, fish and snails, for example, will almost certainly increase the variety and quantity of
food produced on the Shuar farms. Their contribution to increased cash income is more doubtful, 
given fluctuations in the price of inputs and in market prices. In fact, the more widespread the 
production of these improved varieties becomes, the more probable that their market price will
sink beneath their costs of production. In such a case, only the producers with the lowest costs of 
production will continue to sell in the market. The improved and new varieties, however, will
probably still be produced for home consumption. 
The PSUR forestry activities have focused on assisting forest owners to produce wood that
complies with the Ministry of Environment’s forestry regulations. These regulations raise the
cost to the forest owner of selling wood. They require the forest owner to pay the Ministry of
Environment US$2.00 per m2, to reserve 40 percent of the volume of the larger trees in the 
forest from cutting and sale, and to prepare an inventory and associated paperwork. Compliance 
with these provisions raises the cost of selling wood by something over 15 percent. Compliance 
does not, however, reduce the cost of cutting trees down, sawing them up into boards, or hauling 
the boards to the roadside. Nor does it improve the quality of the boards. If the Ministry of
Environment were able consistently to identify boards that were cut without its permission and
exact a fine that equaled or exceeded the costs of complying with its forestry regulations, then it 
would be worthwhile for the participants in the wood production chain to produce and buy legal
wood. 
In fact, however, the Ministry of Environment rarely locates or fines illegal wood. There is no 
financial incentive, therefore, for forest owners to produce wood that is in compliance with the
forestry regulations since if they were to do so, they would almost certainly lower rather than
increase their net income from wood sales. PSUR’s focus on compliance with the Ministry of
Environment’s forestry regulations, therefore, is unlikely to increase the forest owner’s net
income. It is therefore unlikely that PSUR’s forestry activities will prove to be sustainable.
Successful enforcement on a wide scale of the forestry regulations, moreover, would be likely to 
reduce the market for wood from Morona Santiago. The main commercial market for the
province’s wood is the furniture industry located in Cuenca. Cuenca furniture manufactures, 
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however, have already begun to import wood from Chile, Brazil, and Peru. Both lower price and 
higher quality make imported wood attractive compared to wood from Morona Santiago. Legal
wood from Morona Santiago is about 15 percent more expensive in Cuenca than illegal wood. 
Consistent enforcement of the forestry regulations would, therefore, further reduce the ability of
Morona Santiago wood to compete with imports. 
To make Morona Santiago wood competitive with imported wood requires reduced costs and 
higher quality. Increases in logging efficiency, improved roads, and higher utilization rates
would reduce costs. PSUR has financed some of these alternatives. For example, it financed
technical studies on the wood characteristics of “copal” that have raised the demand for this
species in Cuenca. PSUR has plans to introduce the use of cable logging and chainsaw guides to 
reduce logging costs and improve quality.
10. Are the income generating activities (including tourism) contributing measurably or 
importantly to relieving pressures on protected areas?
PSUR deals with only one protected area, the Cordillera Kutucú Public Protection Forest, which
includes most of the Cordillera Kutucú. There is no evidence that PSUR’s alternative income
generating activities are contributing measurably or importantly to relieving pressures on the
Cordillera Kutucú Public Protection Forest. 
The CARE PSUR proposal refers to the “Kutucú buffer zone”. It does not, however, argue that 
income-generating activities will contribute to relieving pressures on the Cordillera Kutucú
Protection Forest. Perhaps this reflects CARE’s experience with the 10 year long SUBIR
project, whose purpose was to protect the Cotoachi Ecological Reserve by promoting increased 
alternative income for people living in its “Buffer Zone”. Yet SUBIR’s final evaluation says that 
it “…neither proved nor disproved the validity of buffer zone development strategy for achieving
conservation results.” 
In fact, PSUR’s indicators for its natural resource component are “number of hectares of land in 
selected areas under natural resource management plans” and “Number of hectares under legal
title in or near the buffer zones”. The selection of these easily measured indicators perhaps
reflects the finding of the SUBIR final evaluation that “…secure tenure over land and resources 
provides an essential foundation for longer term solutions to sustainable resource use and
protection for biodiversity.” 
11. Are the mitigation methods employed effective in reducing environmental impacts 
of ground disturbing projects? Why or why not? Any documentation? Is the 
methodology being applied systematically?
The only ground disturbing projects that PSUR finances under the natural resource component in
Morona Santiago involves the construction of fishponds. The mitigation measures for fishponds
are contained in an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), which has been approved by the
Bureau Environmental Officer. The IEE identifies soil compaction as the negative consequence 
of fishpond construction. The recommended mitigation measure is to return the sides of the
fishponds to their original state. 
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It is obviously not possible to comply with this mitigation measure. The sides of a fishpond must 
be compacted or the water will run out of the fishpond. Indeed, water is escaping from the
fishpond that PSUR has financed and constructed in Unt Suants. The recommendation of the
PSUR technician to the Unt Suants local technician was to drain the pond and to stomp down the 
earth in order to make its walls more compacted. In any case, the scale of the fishponds is so 
small relative to the vastness of Morona Santiago or to its many large and small road
construction projects that the issue of earth compaction during the building of fishponds sinks
into insignificance. 
12. In general, is PSUR utilizing previously proven best practices to mitigate impacts of 
activities? Any documentation?
PSUR has prepared one Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and two Initial
Environmental Examinations (IEE). The PEA contains 25 mitigation measures. PSUR is
tracking compliance with these mitigation measures. 
Mitigation measure B requires the preparation of an environmental checklist for use during the
preparation and implementation of forest management plans. This checklist is being utilized. 
The checklists document that the potential negative environmental impact of the forest
management activities have been considered and measures have been taken to mitigate them.
13. How has government become involved in PSUR? Has the Ministry of Environment 
cooperated with PSUR? Does the Ministry of Environment have an enhanced
presence in Morona Santiago as a result of PSUR activities?
Although the Ministry of Environment has cooperated with PSUR it has not taken a role in its 
design or implementation. At the national level of government the Ministry of Environment has
established the forestry regulations that the PSUR forestry component seeks to implement. As 
part of the land titling process, PSUR also finances the preparation of Integrated Management
Plans in order to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Environment. Likewise, the Institute 
for Agricultural Development (INDA), part of the national government attached to the Ministry
of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) provides services to PSUR but has not taken an active role 
in its design or implementation. INDA makes field inspections before it gives its approval of
land titling documentation. However, rather than contributing its services for free (as specified
in Ecuadorian law), INDA charges PSUR US$50 per person day for its inspection services.
PSUR thus operates as a separate institution, not as a supporting institution to the Ministry of
Environment or to INDA. The national government agencies take a passive rather than active
role in PSUR.
Local government units likewise have not been closely involved in the natural resource
management component of PSUR. Some PSUR activities have, in fact, been undertaken to
mitigate rather than support the actions of local governments. PSUR, for example, has prepared 
an environmental assessment for the road that the Morona Santiago Provincial Council (Consejo 
Provincial) is constructing roads from Makuma to Taisha. 
PSUR has not significantly enhanced the presence of the Ministry of Environment in Morona
Santiago Province. Rather, for example, than provide financial resources to the provincial office
of the Ministry of Environment, it has supported Jatun Sacha to assist owners of forest to prepare 
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cutting plans. The Ministry of Environment must approve these cutting plans in order for the
forest owner to legally cut trees, even on his own land. Yet of the 40 cutting plans Jatun Sacha 
has helped to prepare, only a few have actually been sent to the Ministry of Environment for
approval. PSUR has not, therefore, increased the flow of cutting permits processed by the
Ministry of Environment and in this sense increased its presence. 
14. Which activities are having the greatest or least impact?
Land titling produces by far the greatest impact of any of the components of PSUR in Morona 
Santiago. Secure land titles in the Cordillera Kutucú will change the dynamics of land use and 
economic growth. If also will make possible the designation of the Cordillera Kutucú as a
Circumscription Territorial. If this occurs then a large proportion of the Cordillera Kutucú will
remain in possession and under the control of the Shuar. The Shuar will have the means,
therefore, to conserve the primary forest that covers much of the Cordillera Kutucú’s steeper
slopes. In this way, the land titling will have contributed significantly to conservation of soils
and biodiversity on a large proportion of about 315,000 ha in the Cordillera Kutucú. 
The forest management activities probably have the next largest impact. It can result in cutting
down and removal of trees, usually the largest and most valuable stems in the forest. The
decision to remove some of the trees in a forest almost always affects in some way the plant and 
animals species composition, soil characteristics and economic value of the residual forest. The
income from the sale of forest products causes impacts on family income and therefore on
nutrition, education and health.
It is more difficult to weigh the relative impact of the other activities PSUR finances in Morona 
Santiago under the natural resources component. In general, the agricultural production
activities affect so few people and such a small area of land with such marginal changes in
production that they will probably not have a substantial impact. It is impossible to judge the
impact of scientific studies since they can be both inconsequential and overwhelmingly
significant, depending on their results. It seems unlikely, however, that scientific studies, no
matter how well done or interesting, will contribute much to the welfare of the people who live 
in the Cordillera Kutucú. 
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Augment funds for the land titling component with ECOLEX to achieve approximately 
350,000 ha of titled land by 2005
The land titling component of PSUR should not be slowed but rather accelerated so that, the goal 
of completing land titling in and around the 315,000 ha of the Cordillera Kutucú can be
accomplished by 2005. There are several reasons for this recommendation. First, the land titling 
component has produced significant, tangible results, exceeding its target number of hectares
titled. Second, the Shuar leaders repeatedly express that land titling is the priority for the Shuar. 
Third, the construction of roads around the north and south ends of the Cordillera Kutucú will
soon open large areas of lowland tropical forest on fairly flat topography to access by miners,
colonists, and loggers. Petroleum production has already penetrated this area. Fourth, legal titles 
are a requirement for the establishment of a Shuar Territorial Circumscription, which, according
to ECOLEX policy studies, is the only form of territorial government that may assure the
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conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú over the long-term. Fifth, the issue of land titling and how 
to carry it out undermines the unity of the Shuar; unity among the Shuar themselves is a
requirement for them to successfully defend their land rights against the many interests that seek 
to take their land rights away from them. The conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú is closely
related to the protection of the Shuar land rights. 
The Consortium and USAID should examine the PSUR budget to find ways to augment the 
funding for the land titling component and should set funding levels to accomplish completion of
land titling in and around the Cordillera Kutucú by 2005 even if this requires reduced financing
for other components.
2. Provide technical and financial support to the Shuar Territorial Circumscription 
process
The ECOLEX policy studies conclude that the creation of the Shuar Territorial Circumscription
would lay the basis for the permanent conservation of the Cordillera Kutucú. Yet PSUR’s
natural resource component has not provided support for this process. If such support is
required, in order to achieve the Shuar Territorial Circumsciption within four to six years, then
PSUR, to achieve its own result of sustainable natural resource management, should provide
support to the territorial circumscription process, as outlined in the policy studies. The
conclusions of the policy studies, if accepted, almost leave PSUR with no other alternative. If
the Territorial Circumscription is not achieved, PSUR risks investing funds on activities that will
not be sustainable. Given political events in Ecuador, the next few years are critical for the
achievement of the Territorial Circumscription. ECOLEX, moreover, is probably Ecuador’s
leading institution for resolving territorial problems that involve indigenous peoples in highly
biologically diverse areas. The conditions exist therefore, for PSUR to provide technical
assistance and financial support for achieving the first steps required for creating the Shuar
Territorial Circumscription.
3. Reduce the complexity and therefore the cost of the preparation of Integrated
Management Plans
The Integrated Management Plans, although well-prepared and technically sound, are expensive
to prepare and do not serve the immediate, tangible needs of the Shuar. It would be possible to 
simplify these plans and thus reduce their costs while at the same time making them more useful
to the needs of the Shuar who live in the Centers. This cost saving may be one source of funds 
for the recommended expansion of the land titling program.
4. Provide technical expertise for the design of an effective, widespread silvopastoral 
extension program
PSUR has already begun to create excellent conditions for an effective, widespread silvopastoral 
extension program. Working through the Shuar Associations and federations, it would be
possible to mount a large-scale agroforestry and silvopastoral extension program that would
focus on increasing the quantity of commercial tree species growing on existing pasture lands
within or near the Cordillera Kutucú. The design of such a program, however, should be
entrusted to a short-term technical expert with extensive previous experience in silvopastoral
programs in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The program should provide a viable, proven technical
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means to increase the quality of pastures in combination with commercial timber trees. In order 
to design such a program, the silvopastoral IEE that was presented in mid-2002 to the BEO
would have to be approved promptly. (The Mission notes that the IEE has now been approved.)
5. Focus the forest management program on lowering logging costs, increasing logging 
safety and raising the quality of sawn boards. 
The present forest management extension activities focus on marking trees and preparing
Simplified Cutting Plans. These plans, although they may reduce the impact of logging on
biodiversity, do not necessarily contribute to the welfare of the forest owner. A more productive 
forestry activity for PSUR would be focused on increasing the quality of sawn wood while
reducing the costs and raising the safety of its their production. 
6. Reduce the number and complexity of the PSUR mitigation measures
The mitigation measures for PSUR are not clearly focused on the negative impacts that can be 
attributed to PSUR itself. Therefore, they are excessive in number and detail. They detract
funds and attention from achievement of the results of the natural resource management
component, rather than contribute to the achievement of those goals. The mitigation measures
for PSUR should be simplified and clearly related to PSUR’s activities.
VI. FINDINGS — LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRENGTHENING
THE ECUADORIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
The Ecuadorian System of Government is that of a unitary form of Government, with a political
division in Provinces (States), Cantons or Municipalities (Counties), Parroquias (Parishes) and
Communities. The Provinces have an appointed Governor, which is a representative of the
President in the Province, an elected “Prefecto”, and Provincial Council, in charge of Central
Government investment in Infrastructure in the Provinces. The Mayor and Cantonal Councils are 
also elected for each one of the 219 Country municipalities. The number of council members 
depend on the population of the Municipality and may be integrated by 15 Council members in
those Municipalities with more than 400,000 inhabitants, 13 for those with more than 200,000,
11 for those with more than 100,000; 9 Council members for those that have a Mayor or are 
Cantonal capitals, 7 for the rest of municipalities, except for those of the oriental region , the
Amazon and the Galapagos Island which have only 5 members. The Cantons or Municipalities
are the lower local government level with administrative and financial autonomy. However, the
Central Government has introduced the concept of “Juntas Parroquiales”, within the Cantons,
with local authorities elected by the community and responsibility for the local development in
coordination with the Municipalities. The Central Government provides these “Juntas
Parroquiales” with a minimal amount of resources to pay for operating expenses. In summary, in
Ecuador there are three levels of local authorities: the Provincial, the Cantonal (Municipal) and 
the Parish. The municipal law creates the Ecuadorian Municipal Association and all the
country’s municipalities have to be members of the Association. Membership fees are defined by
the law and are withheld automatically from the municipal transfers. 
While the national policy framework for local governments allows municipalities to generate
local revenues, it does not provide any incentives for them to do so. By law, local governments 
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receive 15 percent of the national budget, but they do not have to generate local revenues to 
receive these funds. Local political energy is directed to changing the status of the local
government so that one’s allocation from the Central Government is larger. For example,
communities try to change their designations to parishes, while parishes try to become
municipalities. Having almost all revenue come from the Central Government encourages
patron-client relationships between levels of government and between local government and its
citizens. It also encourages non-productive investments. 
THE CONCEPT OF STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Strengthening local governments means helping the municipalities to create the local capacity to
provide basic services to the community. The local authorities are elected by the community to 
organize a government and to plan and develop the municipality benefiting all community
members and providing welfare to the families. Strengthening a municipality is the result of a
comprehensive effort to organize all the managerial and technical processes performed by the
institution: for example, its organization, operating manuals and training of the staff performing
those functions; the administrative process, tax payer identification and tax collection activities,
financial, public services, community participation and promotion, and urban planning and
control. The Municipal Law provides the authority to collect local taxes and fees for services
provided as a means to generate resources for the functioning of the local government and for the 
provision, on a sustainable basis, of the local services. An effective local government is expected 
to generate its own resources for operating expenses and service provision and provide some
investment capital to improve municipal infrastructure.
PSUR APPROACH
PSUR focuses on achieving two major results: 
1. Local Governments with adequate consultative processes operating; and
2. Local Governments that have improved basic services.
PSUR intends to work in 26 municipalities, but with different levels of assistance. CARE
proposed and USAID accepted a modification to categorize the municipalities in three different
groups, according to the level of commitment with the program, previous involvement of other
donors, prospects for collaboration with other CARE interventions, the municipal population,
etc. 
The three levels of participating Municipalities will try to achieve different levels of results as
follows:
1. Thirteen (13) Municipalities are categorized as level 1 (Saraguro, Quilanga, Gonzanama,
Chaguarpamba, Olmedo, Huaquillas, Catamayo, Espindola, Celica, Limon, Palora,
Twinza and Huamboya). Adequate consultative processes for these municipalities is
defined as: “Juntas Parroquiales” have met, discussed and prioritized their needs; the
municipality has improved its planning capacity; and the municipality has incorporated
community needs in its planning process. Having improved basic services is defined as:
the municipality will have an improved capacity to manage its computer system; the
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municipality will have a methodology to prepare Development Plans; and the
municipality will be aware of bi-national commerce regulations.
2. Five (5) municipalities are categorized as level 2 (Zapotillo, Puyango, Las Lajas, Paltas y
Mendez). Adequate consultative processes for these municipalities is defined as: (in
addition to the level 1 activities) the Municipality will have established a Cantonal
Planning Committee; a variety of people participate in the Committee; and the
Committee has a work plan. Having improved basic services is defined as: (in addition to 
the level 1 activities) the municipality has improved capacity in project design and
management and has a fees pricing system.
3. Eight (8) municipalities are categorized as level 3 (Calvas, Arenillas, Pindal, Macara,
Sozoranga, Morona, Sucúa y Logroño). Adequate consultative processes for these
municipalities is defined as: (in addition to the levels 1 and 2) the Municipality has
recognized the Cantonal Planning Committee; the Cantonal Planning committee has its
own regulations; the municipality has a Municipal Development Plan, and the community
has received leadership training. Having improved basic services is defined as: (in
addition to the level 1 and 2 activities) the municipality has an improved internal
organization; the municipality has strengthened capacity to formulate its local policies;
the municipality has its own strategic plan; the municipality has a municipal information
system; the municipality has a categorization system to apply to fees; and bi-national 
activities are implemented. 
As of September 30, 2002, CARE reported achievements in four level 1 municipalities:
Quilanga, Olmedo Espindola and Chaguarpamba. At the time of the field visit by the Evaluation
Team, the program was working with 9 additional municipalities in this category: Saraguro,
Quilanga, Gonzanama, Chaguarpamba, Olmedo, Huaquillas, Catamayo, Espindola and Celica);
in four level 2 municipalities: Zapotillo, Puyango, Las Lajas and Paltas; and in four level 3
municipalities: Macara, Sozoranga, Arenillas and Sucúa.
The Team will touch on garbage collection and sanitary landfill activities under this component
as well, since these activities are implemented at the municipal level.
SITE VISITS
Between June 4
th and June 10th, two of the Team members traveled to the border provinces of 
Loja and El Oro, and between June 12th and 14th to Morona Santiago. During these visits, the 
Team met with local authorities of the Provinces, Municipalities, and Parishes, as well as, with
community groups to review the program activities and results of the local government
component and garbage collection and sanitary landfill activities. These site visits, in
combination with a review of national policies and interviews with Ecuadorian local government
specialists, helped form the Team’s responses to a series of questions posed by USAID/Ecuador:
1. Is the approach the correct one to strengthen local governments and to reach the
component’s objective and overall program objectives?
2. Are adequate consultative processes in operation and what is the benefit of this for local
governments and the population?
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3. Is service delivery management being improved and what are the likely benefits for the
local government and population?
4. What is the sustainability of this component?
Approach: CARE has done a great job implementing what the institution committed to do in its 
Cooperative Agreement. All the municipalities visited have expressed high marks for the work
done by the CARE consultants and the general help they have received. The individual activities, 
such as sanitary landfills and computer systems, all seem to be well designed and well executed. 
The question is whether the approach taken is the best one. It should also be noted that this
component of PSUR has, by design, gotten off to a slower start than the other two components. 
Therefore, the Team was seeing project activities that were in an earlier stage of implementation; 
for example, none of the level three municipalities visited are close to being counted as successes
yet, and the Team’s comments should be taken with a grain of salt
PSUR has given high priority to helping parishes and municipalities prepare Development Plans
in a participatory manner. According to the project design, achieving both “Adequate
Consultative Processes” and “Improved Management of Basic Services” requires improvements
in planning. Planning activities are the only interventions that will be carried out in all 26
municipalities (except for the garbage collection and sanitary landfill activities carried out under
the social services component) and are almost the exclusive program intervention in the 13 level
1 municipalities. Project implementers maintain that the preparation of Cantonal Development
Plans has been important for changing the "mentality/behavior of paternalism.” The evaluators
believe that while the promotion of citizen participation in developing plans is nice, it is unlikely
to have lasting effects on paternalism unless the participation is related to budget decision￾making, not plans, and that the budget being discussed has a significant portion (ideally 50%) of
revenues generated locally.
Only eight municipalities will have an intensive service delivery improvement program. They
will receive a mix of more planning activities, improvements to the management of computer
systems provided by the Government of Ecuador, help with designing and managing projects,
and improvements to several other systems. 
In the Team’s opinion, there seems to be an imbalance between the amount of effort the program 
is directing to strengthening the capacity of citizens and civil society to articulate their demands
under ensuring adequate consultative processes and the amount of effort the program is directing
to increasing the capacity of the local governments to respond under the improving management 
of basic services. This could lead to a very frustrated public. It appears that the program design
assumed that the Ecuadorian State Bank (BEDE) would be stepping in to provide additional
capacity building and internal management strengthening for the municipalities. Unfortunately,
BEDE does not appear to be active in the sites visited.
ADEQUATE CONSULTATIVE PROCESSES
As stated above, the program strategy to achieve adequate consultative processes is to support 
the development of participatory planning at the parish and municipal levels. The program has
worked with the local organizations (at the cantonal, parish and community levels), training the
organized groups on how to better present the needs and how to demand attention from the local 
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authorities. In some cases, the municipal planning process has been organized by civil society, in
other cases the planning process has been organized by the municipality. The Team believes that 
the latter model may increase the likelihood of the plan being utilized.
Community training and empowerment has been greatly advanced by program interventions at
all levels (municipal, parish and community). Most program resources are directed to developing
and prioritizing needs in a broad planning document. Relatively few resources have been
allocated to-date for activities that promote a consultative process related to municipal decision￾making, for example for making investment decisions against budget parameters or improving 
basic services. Many Ecuadorians expressed their opinion that Ecuador has too many plans, most 
of which are ignored. While the program is promoting follow-up committees to ensure that the 
plans it is helping to develop do not have the same fate, the jury is still out.
IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF BASIC SERVICES
Only eight municipalities will receive a broad range of strengthening activities. While receiving
more assistance in more areas, the Team was not able to determine whether the approach being
followed would result in a marked improvement in the management of basic services. Obtaining
significant improvements for levels 1 and 2 seems unlikely. On the one hand, it is not clear how
the types of interventions being implemented will fit together and lead to an improved delivery
of basic services other than garbage collection. The Team did not find analyses and internal
strategy documents that provided compelling reasoning for the program choices made. On the
other hand, the highest priority need of the municipalities is to generate more local revenues.
Within the improved management of basic services program, only two activities, management of
computers (indirectly) and fees pricing system, help address the financial capacity of the
municipality. 
The improvement of municipal finances is one of the most important indicators of the
strengthening process. Resources from donors and central government transfers need to be
supplemented by local community revenues in the form of taxes, fees and contributions that the 
municipalities are entitled to charge and collect by law. All the municipalities visited by the
Team demonstrated a significant financial weakness. Not one of the municipal governments
interviewed is collecting the resources required to finance their operating expenses. An example 
of this situation is the following budgetary situation in two of the Cantons visited:
Cantón Pindal Cantón Zapotillo
Local Gen. Revenue 168,616 89.900
Other Revenue & Tra. 832,396 1,909,630
Total Revenue 1,001,012 1,999,530
Operating Expenses 190,353 541,153
Capital Expenses 810,659 1,458,377
Total Expense 1,001,012 1,999,530
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In Pindal, for each dollar generated as local revenue, it needs to get $0.13 to finance its operating 
expenditures. In Zapotillo, for each dollar generated in local revenues, it needs an additional
$5.01 to finance its operating expenditures.
Most of the Municipalities visited are in a similar situation as the ones shown here. The effect of
a lack of locally generated resources leaves the local government at the mercy of the central
government and when it wishes to transfer funds. 
Addressing poor local government revenue generation is a difficult task, especially given the
Municipal Law. However, where local authorities have indicated a willingness to increase local
government revenue, the project should place high priority on three areas: taxes, fees and
contributions. Taxes are general charges imposed by the local authorities. The most important is 
property taxes. In Ecuador, municipalities can determine property tax rates within a range
determined by the central government. Fees are charges to community members to pay for
services provided by the municipality, such as garbage collection and disposal, water
slaughterhouses, and sewerage. Fees should at least pay for the cost of providing the services. 
Contributions are charges made by the municipalities to specific sections of the community due
to the implementation of community improvements that will increase the property values of
specific property owners. The property owners should pay for the prorated cost of the
improvements. While PSUR does provide some assistance to enhance local revenue generation,
for example helping to computerize tax rolls, this is being done is relatively few communities
and is not being addressed intensively. 
SUSTAINABILITY
The sustainability of the implemented systems is receiving a fair amount of attention by project
personnel. This issue has at least two dimensions. First of all, many of the system improvements 
being implemented, from garbage collection to computers, require additional operating expenses.
Thus, as discussed above, additional attention to revenue generation will be essential to ensure
that new systems continue to be operated and maintained. Secondly, high staff turnover is part of 
the political process in Ecuador, as it is in most Latin American countries. Every time the
government is changed, a high percentage of staff will also change. This high rotation of staff
requires a permanent training program that is not easy to maintain and finance. Is there a solution 
to this problem? The only probable solution is to prepare friendly to use system manuals and
procedures that could reduce the cost of re-training new staff and the implementation of strong
systems that can survive no matter who takes over. Another possibility could be the creation of a 
municipal personnel bank, managed by the AME and offered to new authorities as a contribution
with the municipal system.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Adjust activities within this component to:
a. Ensure that a better balance is achieved between the strengthening of the
community to demand and the strengthening of the municipality to respond.
b. During the second half of the project, place less emphasis on planning and more 
on translating plans into more consultation on improving service delivery and
investment.
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c. Cut the number of sites receiving planning assistance and place more emphasis on
local revenue generation.
d. For system improvements, consider grouping municipalities, developing training
program materials and procedures, and promoting adoption of best practices.
2. USAID needs to address the fact that national local government policy does not provide 
an incentive for local government resource generation. 
VII. FINDINGS — INDICATOR REVIEW
The Team was asked to determine the reliability of indicator data reported by CARE as of
September 30, 2002.
METHODOLOGY: The Team reviewed the overall reporting system used by CARE and
compared the data reported in the CARE system against data on the ground at sites visited and 
against the documents used to verify the data. The Team then made a judgment as to whether the 
data being reported in the documents was the most accurate data available.
FINDINGS — OVERALL SYSTEM: The CARE monitoring system is quite sophisticated.
CARE regional offices provide indicator data to Quito based on specific documents that have
been identified in advance. For example, the number of beneficiaries for water systems and
bathrooms are contained in agreements that are signed with the community and municipality at
the time that the systems are turned over to the communities. CARE/Quito enters the data into a 
database that can be used to generate reports, but only if the verification document is attached.
FINDINGS — NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES IN THE TARGET REGION AND
YEARLY BENEFICIARY TARGETS: The number of beneficiaries in the target region
whose lives are improved by participation in all of the PSUR project components is calculated by 
adding together the number of beneficiaries of potable water systems, bathrooms, garbage
collection programs, land titling, and natural resource plans. While a simple number to calculate, 
this number overstates the number of beneficiaries of the program. In fact, the target number of
beneficiaries (529,471) exceeds the total target population (448,000) of the 26 cantons included 
in the program. Both the planned and actual number of beneficiaries are overstated because: 1) 
the target number still includes income generation activities; 2) water and sanitation usually
benefit the same people and are counted separately in setting this target and counting actual
beneficiaries; and 3) land titling and natural resource plans usually benefit the same people as
well but are both counted in setting the target and counting beneficiaries. In addition, the number 
of beneficiaries for ASSA that has been rolled into the PSUR numbers is the entire population of 
the six cantons it worked in. This seems to be an overstatement. Since the project has faced a 
reduction in yearly funding levels, year by year beneficiary targets may also need to be adjusted, 
and stretched out over a longer life of project.
RECOMMENDATION: The number of beneficiaries in the target region should be calculated 
using the number of beneficiaries of potable water systems, garbage collection programs, and
either land titling or natural resource plans. The overall target for the program should be adjusted 
accordingly. The ASSA numbers should be recalculated to be more realistic. Year by year
targets should be adjusted and brought in line with the actual availability of funds. 
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FINDINGS — SOCIAL SERVICES: The Team reviewed the number of beneficiaries for
water systems at three sites (the fourth site is still under construction and no data has been
reported) and compared these against numbers reported by CARE. In all three cases the numbers 
in the documents of verification and the numbers reported in the CARE system were different:
Document Reported
Suanamaca 650 834
Tronco Quemado 552 450
San Luis Ininkis 318 2850
The Team reviewed the number of beneficiaries of bathrooms at the only site visited and
compared these to the numbers reported by CARE. The numbers were very close.
The Team also reviewed the number of new or improved garbage collection programs by looking 
at a sample of verification documents and by comparing the Arenillas verification document to
the Team’s site visit. The number of beneficiaries is simply the population of the town served
and is taken from the Social Indicator System of Ecuador. All these numbers seem reasonable.
The Team also reviewed how the number of beneficiaries was calculated for the water and
sanitation verifying documents and whether these seemed to be the most accurate. The Team
found that the number of beneficiaries was calculated by using the number of families and
multiplying that by an average figure for number of people living in a house. However, more
accurate date is available.
RECOMMENDATION: In the future, the number of beneficiaries for both water and
sanitation activities should be calculated by using the number of houses served at the time of
delivery (in the case of water, the water user list used to collect water fees is accurate) and the 
actual number of people living in each house at the time the initial community survey was
completed. Both the number of families served and the number of beneficiaries would be put into 
the delivery document (Acta de Entrega), which is also the verifying document. CARE/Quito
would input the number of beneficiaries from the verifying document into the database. These
numbers should then be used in the variety of publications, including information pamphlets that
CARE produces to avoid confusion. 
FINDINGS — LOCAL GOVERNMENT
There are two indicators for this component: the number of local governments with adequate
consultation processes; and the number of local governments that have improved service delivery
management. Both of these indicators are measured using a matrix of benchmarks. The Team
visited only one site (Sucúa) that was reported as having met the benchmarks in FY 2002 of
improving their ability to manage computers, having a methodology to prepare municipal
development plans, and knowing bi-national commercial regulations. The Team checked the
verifying documents and agrees that Sucúa met the basic benchmarks. The Team also pulled
three other files at random (Olmedo, Macara, and Quilanga) and checked that there were 
documents to verify the results reported. All were in good order.
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More generally, the Team believes that the indicators are very complex and demand a lot of
paper work, but are not very good at describing progress being made in strengthening local
governments. Local governments are counted only once when they meet a certain threshold. The 
service delivery indicator for level one cantons only looks at three, and in the Team’s opinion,
minor competencies. For example, for Sucúa, the methods of verification include the attendance 
of people at computer and how to develop a Cantonal plan courses, as well as the distribution of 
materials that explain commercial regulations affecting cross border trade.
RECOMMENDATION: That USAID and CARE completely redo the local government
indicators with an eye to simplifying the monitoring and verification process. Fewer indicators
with more narrative on qualitative changes might more effectively describe the changes that the
program is trying to achieve. 
FINDINGS — NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
There are four indicators for this component: the number of hectares of land under NRM plans 
and number of beneficiaries, and the number of hectares under legal title and number of
beneficiaries. The Team reviewed a sample of verifying documents and found that the numbers 
reported in the verifying documents and the numbers reported to USAID were consistent.
However, for both land titling and natural resource plans, only a small proportion of the overall
number of beneficiaries is directly benefited. The larger number of beneficiaries are indirect
beneficiaries of the program. Since there is a large measure of judgment in determining indirect
beneficiaries, the Team recommends that only direct beneficiaries be counted. The Team
believes that this component of the program is better justified on preserving the biodiversity of
the area, not the number of beneficiaries.
VIII. FINDINGS — MANAGEMENT
CARE
Overall, the PSUR program appears to be well managed. The staff appear to be knowledgeable 
about and actively applying CARE programming and administrative systems. The Team’s
observations are in line with the September 2002 financial report carried out by Deloitte &
Touche.
Staffing: PSUR currently has 56 staff positions, of which 42 are full-time and 14 are part-time 
(50-75% of time dedicated to PSUR). This is down from the October 2000 figure of 68 staff
positions. Most of the staff are assigned to either the Loja or Macas regional offices. The Loja 
office has three sub-offices out of which the social services teams work. These figures do not
include staff of other organizations that are collaborating on PSUR, some of whom are
collocated in regional offices. As of February 2003, the five positions related to the Income
Generating Component were eliminated.
Structure: Fernando Solis is the overall program manager. Pedro Carrasco is the Loja regional
manager and coordinator of the social services component. Mercedes Duchicela is the Macas
regional manager and coordinator of the natural resources component. Fernando Martinez is the 
coordinator for the local government component. Daniel Selener is the coordinator for
monitoring and evaluation.
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Relationship between national office and regional offices: CARE manages these relationships 
in much the same way that USAID/Washington manages its relationships with its overseas
missions. The regional offices propose annual work plans that are reviewed by the National
Technical Committee (NTC) in Quito. The NTC approves the work plan and the overall 
operating and program budgets, the latter broken down by major components. The regional
offices have a fair degree of autonomy with respect to program implementation and
administrative expenditures such as travel. The regional offices are responsible for controlling
car expenses and keeping track of counterpart contributions.
Monitoring and control of expenses: CARE has robust systems for controlling program and
administrative expenses. For example, counterpart contributions are followed using specific
tracking sheets and there is a log in each car to keep track of gasoline and related expenses. The 
national office monitors car expenses against a target profile for each car. 
Program monitoring: The program staff meet quarterly in the field to review progress against 
annual work plans. GANNT charts are produced to monitor progress of activities. 
Every six months, there is a review of where the project stands with respect to the logical
framework of the project. This is recorded in the semi-annual report to USAID. There does not 
seen to be a time when either CARE on its own, or with USAID, takes a step back and looks at 
the project design to see if it is still valid.
Managing for results: There seems to be an assumption on the part of both USAID and CARE 
that the project design is sacrosanct, and that all people need to do is to monitor whether the
program is meeting its indicator targets, including detailed targets within the natural resources
and local government components. There is not enough attention being given to reviewing
progress against the intermediate results of the program, (for example whether adequate local
government consultative processes are taking shape) and how to adjust programmatic activities
to ensure maximum impact. The structure of the semi-annual report reinforces this tendency. It is 
a compendium of planned versus actual indicators down to a very minute level of detail. The
report itself keeps everyone focused on accomplishing specific activities instead of attaining
broader results.
USAID
USAID actively oversees PSUR. The project manager is Edgar Guillen. A team that includes
project development, natural resources, contracting and financial specialists backs him up. The
head of the team is Rick Garland.
The PSUR team reviews CARE’s annual work plan and semi-annual reports, and conducts
frequent field visits. The project manager introduced the use of GANNT charts to track activities. 
CARE now uses these during their internal quarterly project meetings.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. That USAID and CARE meet once a year to review past achievements and to discuss
strategic issues with respect to the coming year’s work plan. This might include a review
to determine which activities appear to be contributing the most to intermediate results.
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2. The semi-annual report should be streamlined and not go into extreme detail. The most
useful section appears to be the narrative analysis.
3. Program management should be less driven by meeting 100% of lower level indicator
targets. For example, if project and USAID managers continue to use a matrix to follow
local government activities, a target of 75% completion should be used for determining
whether the component is on track. This allows some flexibility to not pursue activities
that are facing a difficult environment. 
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ANNEXES
Annex A Evaluation Scope of Work.......................................................................................A-1
Annex B Individuals Interviewed............................................................................................B-1
Annex C Documents Consulted.............................................................................................C-1
Annex D Site Visit Reports....................................................................................................D-1
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ANNEX A
EVALUATION SCOPE OF WORK
MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE ECUADOR BORDER REGION 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: ASSA (AGUA, SANEAMIENTO Y SALUD 
AMBIENTAL) AND PSUR (PROGRAMA DE SOSTENIBILIDAD Y UNION 
REGIONAL) PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION
The contractor will conduct a mid term technical evaluation of the Ecuador Border Region
Development Program (1st Phase ASSA 518-A-00-99-00099-00, from July 20, 1999 to February 
28, 2001; and 2nd Phase PSUR 518-A-00-OI-00001-00, from October 30, 2000 to September 30, 
2002) financed by USAID/E and implemented by CARE and its partners (World Conservation
Society, Jatun Sacha, EcoCiencia, Arco Iris, ECOLEX, SNV, Plan Internacional, OPS-OMS, 
Pastoral Social, Diálogo 21, Universidad Técnica de Loja). The purpose of this technical
evaluation is fourfold: 1) assess Program accomplishments as per those proposed in the 
Cooperative Agreements with CARE and subsequent work plans; 2) assess and validate achieved 
results reported by CARE and its partners for USAID Ecuador's Performance Monitoring Plan;
3) evaluate ASSA and PSUR's regional program approach and its impact in the social and
economic development of the region and, 4) identify lessons learned that CARE and its partners 
might make use of while continuing to implement the Ecuador Border Development Program
PSUR).
BACKGROUND 
In October 1998, the presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a Peace Agreement ending over a 
century and a half of often bloody conflict over their shared border. The United States, as one of 
four Guarantor nations, has invested considerable time, effort and resources in helping the parties 
to achieve this peace. As part of this peace agreement, the two governments committed
themselves to providing tangible development benefits to the population living in the border
region. The final settlement was built on a series of agreements, including a Binational Fund for 
Peace and Development designed to compensate difficult political concessions with investments
to stimulate growth and improve living conditions in an area impoverished by years of conflict.
The presidents of both countries were initially criticized for their controversial stand on
achieving peace and, while public opinion is slowly changing, citizens are expecting to see
concrete benefits from the peace settlement. Towards this end, both governments are working to 
implement the Binational Border Development Plan. USAID, in support of these initiatives,
financed $1.5 million of border integration activities in FY 1999 (1St phase), with an increase of
$20 million over the period FY 2000-2005 (2nd phase). 
During the two phases of this Program, CARE has been the principal implementing partner for 
both phases. The goal for Phases I and n was to improve social and economic conditions of
inhabitants along the Peru-Ecuador border thereby promoting border integration. According to
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CARE's report, during Phase I, the project was found to have achieved various substantial results 
and to have launched initiatives with a high probability of future success (something that this
evaluation will have to confirm). The initial trench of $1.5 million was used to support only
social services with a focus on health water and sanitation. This phase started in July 20, 1999 
and ended February 28, 2001. 
Phase II started in October 2000 with the signature of a new cooperative agreement (518-A-00-
01-0001-00) with CARE for $ 19,237,000. The project was designed for five years, and it is to 
terminate in September 2005. To date, a total amount of $12.4 million has been obligated. 
The evaluation called for in this Scope of Work focuses on Phase I (ASSA), which covers 
the period July 20,1999 to February 28, 2001; and, Phase II (PSUR), which covers the 
period October 30, 2000 to September 30, 2002. 
The project has been implemented by CARE and its partner NGOs, along with secondary level
organizations and local communities. 
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 
Phase I. ASSA: 
The project provided financing for construction activities, TA, training and project planning
skills in the areas of' health, water, sanitation, solid waste collection and municipal management
in Loja Province. Specially, the activities carried out included: 
4 Design and construction of potable water systems serving at least 10,000 persons. Priority 
for construction or rehabilitation of the systems were those projects previously identified
and prioritized through a community/municipality planning process in six border cantons
of Loja Province. 
4 Development and implementation of appropriate sanitation systems for the families and
communities receiving new/improved water systems, and/or additional beneficiaries
where appropriate. 
4 Design and implementation of solid waste collection and recycling systems in five to ten
communities. 
4 Health education interventions in communities, schools and health centers, especially
related to the improved water, sanitation, and solid waste activities being implemented
under the Cooperative Agreement. 
4 Strengthening of existing health delivery systems in border cantons. This was to include
minor construction, renovation and equipping of small health facilities; disease
prevention and control; and innovations in management, organization and community
financing of health services. 
4 Development of (and working with) local community health boards or similar "comités
de gesti6n local", with the participation of GOE organizations, municipalities and
community organizations. The implementing NGO partner adopted a methodology
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consistent with the process already developed in Loja Province in the "Espacios
Saludables" project, which required careful negotiation and consensus building. 
Phase II. PSUR: 
The purpose of the Programa Sur (PSUR) is to improve the quality of life of impoverished
households with potential for change along Ecuador's border with Peru in socially and
environmentally sustainable ways. Improve social and economic conditions of the inhabitants
along the Peru-Ecuador border, thereby promoting border integration. By focusing on the most
needy and threatened sectors in these border areas where CARE and its partners are already
active, it will also contribute to the fulfillment of the partner organizations' long-range plans. 
The expanded, multi-sector program extended USAID's focus to all of the cantons of Loja
Province, three of the cantons of EI Oro Province, and eight cantons of Morona-Santiago 
Province. Improving the lives of inhabitants in these border areas as well as facilitating
coordination of development objectives with Peru are key elements of the Peruvian and
Ecuadorian government's Bi-national Plan. 
USAID/Ecuador's support is focusing on three development results, with a fourth providing
cross-cutting support for the other three. 
1. Income Generation: The first result pursued is expanded income generating activities
for small and micro entrepreneurs in the target regions, including development of micro￾enterprise lending activities, support for extension of private banking activities into the
region, technical assistance to small and micro entrepreneurs to improve their production
and marketing capabilities, and support for bi-national trade fairs to increase commerce 
in the border regions. 
After experiencing lagging results achievements in this component and an assessment by
microfinance experts from USAID, Poverty Relations SO, USAID/Ecuador Special
Objective Team (Spa 11) concluded that it was best for all parties to terminate the
"Income Generation Activity" component. This decision relates to changes in the
circumstances surrounding future funding, and it was decided that this partial termination
alternative would cause the least impact on the overall Program. 
The termination became effective as of the close of business on August 30, 2002.
However, USAID requested CARE to suspend this activity o/a March, 2002. Under this 
SOW, we are not going to evaluate this component. 
2. Access to Social Services: The second result pursued is increased availability and access 
to social services, with emphasis on health, water, and sanitation. Through participatory
community involvement, USAID will support construction of public health infrastructure
(mainly potable water, sanitation facilities, solid waste disposal systems), increased
health education activities, selected support for improved health facilities, and assistance
with construction of other important community infrastructure. 
3. Natural Resources Management: The third result is improved natural resource
management in selected areas along the border. Activities related to this result will focus 
primarily on the Cordillera de Kutucú region of Morona-Santiago Province, including the 
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Upano Valley and the trans Kutucú lowlands region. USAID will support efforts to
increase the level of conservation of the protected area of the Cordillera de Kutucú, as
well as sustainable forest management and land titling in the buffer zone, and technical
assistance in production and marketing of timber and non-timber products, including
agroforestry, livestock production, ecotourism, handicrafts, and other economic activities
near the buffer zone. 
4. Effective Local Government: The final area of program emphasis will be effective
decentralization of services through local government strengthening in selected
municipalities in the target areas, in support of the other three initiatives described
above. Efforts to support the municipality will include strengthening of
communication channels between the municipality and community groups, support
for creation and development of self-management committees at the village level;
training in computer use and project design and implementation; development of cost
accounting systems for municipal services; and support for cross-border activities
between municipalities in Peru and Ecuador. 
STATEMENT OF WORK 
1. Preliminary Research: The evaluation team shall review at least the following
documents to familiarize itself with the ASSA and PSUR programs: 
4 Cooperative Agreements No. 518-A-00-99-00099-00 and 518-A-00-Ol-00001-00 
with CARE and its amendments 
4 USAID/Ecuador's Performance Monitoring Plan for the Southern Border Program 
4 Sub-agreements signed by CARE with counterparts, as appropriate 
4 CARE Annual Work Plans and semi-annual Reports 
4 Validation report of USAID/Ecuador Indicators, spa 11, 1997 
4 USAID/Ecuador, R4 Reports for FY 1999,2000 and Annual Report FY 2001 and
2002 (those sections relating to the Southern Border Program) 
4 Relevant trip reports 
4 The IRG/Doug Pool assessment of forestry projects in 6 countries 
4 PSUR IEE determinations 
4 Minutes of the spa 11. Team meetings 
4 Minutes of Binational meetings 
4 DAI/SALTO report on Income Generation 
4 SUBIR evaluation and relevant trip reports 
2. ADS Requirements: According to ADS 203.3.6 an evaluation is a relatively structured, 
analytical effort undertaken to answer specific program management questions. An
evaluation can provide a systematic way to gain insight and reach judgments about the
effectiveness of specific activities, the validity of a development hypothesis, the utility of
performance monitoring efforts, or the impact of other changes in the development
setting on achievement of results. 
Performance Monitoring and Evaluation TIPS No. 11, states that USAID operating units 
need to know not only what results were achieved but also how and why they were
achieved, and what actions to take to improve performance further. Some evaluation
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purposes are the following: 
4 Explain unexpected results (positive or negative) 
4 Determine if customer needs are being met 
4 Assess net impacts of USAID activities 
4 Identify unintended impacts 
4 Explore special issues such as sustainability, cost effectiveness, relevance 
4 Make action recommendations for program improvement 
4 Distill lessons for application in other settings 
4 Test validity of hypotheses and assumptions underlying results frameworks 
The evaluation team is expected to go beyond the simple examination of inputs, outputs/results
and the design document to explore these broader issues. This evaluation may therefore provide 
valuable information for more effective implementation of PSUR, in the coming years. As per
ADS 203.3.5.2, performance data must be assessed no less than once every three years in order 
to ensure that performance information in sufficiently complete, accurate and consistent. Some
appropriate techniques for such an assessment include: a) review reports from a partner and
determine that they are sufficiently consistent to be considered reliable; b) site visits that can
serve to spot check reliability; c) in some instances, holding discussions with data source
agencies about their quality assurance procedures and confirming these with other data users,
provided that these discussions are sufficiently detailed, cross checked, and well documented.
The evaluation team is expected to effectively assess performance data for Programa Sur. In all
cases, the goal is to ensure that USAID/Ecuador is aware of data strengths and weaknesses, and 
the extent to which the data can be trusted when making management decisions. 
3. Illustrative Issues and questions to be Addressed: This evaluation will consider, but 
not necessary restrict itself to, the following issues/questions: 
A. General: 
The evaluation will focus primarily on the Cooperator's ability to achieve planned results;
measuring overall progress against the outputs projected in the logical framework and approved
work plans. It will also define "lessons learned" by integrating management of protected areas
with sustainable development practices to be identified and implemented at the community level.
The economic, social and institutional sustainability of the practices and models developed under 
Phase I and II should receive very close attention, including the degree to which CARE/Ecuador 
has succeeded in fostering a mutually beneficial relationship among the NGOs they are working
with and the relevant GOE agencies to support sustainability. The findings from this evaluation
will provide recommendations to the participating communities and organizations on their
continuation of activities initiated with support from PSUR. 
4 How significantly and measurably has ASSA (phase I) and PSUR (phase II) contributed 
to the Mission's SpO 11 objective? 
4 What have been Phase I and II's most important impacts, positive or negative, and if these 
were unexpected, what are the lessons learned? 
4 How the PSUR affected the migration process in the area of intervention. 
4 What do the principal clients of the Project say about the nature and quality of the
services provided? Were the intended customers well served? 
4 Which interventions have worked well and why? Which interventions did not 
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4 produce the expected results, and why? 
4 How effectively are the 3 components integrated at the field level? 
4 What has been the mix of implementation mechanisms and agreements within the CARE
consortium? Have they met client needs? Please assess the effectiveness of CARE in
managing these agreements, e.g. have high-quality staff (long and short-term) been
selected consistently for implementation of activities? 
4 What has been the role of women and other minority groups in the project? 
How have women and other minority groups been included in field activities? 
Is gender-specific data collected and used for project planning? 
4 Has the project reached effectively the target population and achieved 
4 expected benefits? 
4 How effective has CARE's leadership been in insuring that the field activities keep on
track towards accomplishment of planned results? Have the three component managers
provided high-quality technical expertise and leadership to achievement of project
objectives? 
4 How effective is the administrative support provided by CARE/Quito (e.g. contract
management, human resources development, commodity procurement)? Has CARE
provided sufficient staff, time, and resources to manage the program? Are there
administrative support issues that need to be addressed? 
4 Cost-benefit. Do the achieved results in all the components appear to justify the
investment made by USAID/Ecuador in this program? 
4 Determine whether the necessary conditions exist for sustainability of the activities
implemented under Phase I (ASSA) and Phase n (PSUR). Have CARE and its partners 
provided adequate attention to sustainability in each of the 3 Program components? 
4 Distill "lessons learned" which may be useful for the next years of implementation of the
Southern Border Program and other future interventions of USAID/Ecuador. 
4 Is the approach of the three components adequate to improve Social and Economic
conditions of the population in the Southern Border? What is the "value added" that the 
activities have contributed to improve the standard of living of the beneficiaries? 
4 To what extend should USAID be looking into providing assistance to help the border 
population look for alternative income sources, other than contraband (smuggling of
goods, drugs, precursor chemicals). 
4 As appropriate, validate the sustainability of the activities especially under the Access to
Social Services component. 
4 Is this Program fulfilling the cross border objectives (Peru-Ecuador) of the place plan and 
the US government pledge? 
B. Monitoring and Evaluation: 
4 Has USAID provided adequate project oversight? To what extent has the
USAID/Ecuador Mission been involved in project planning, management and
monitoring? 
4 Has CARE provided adequate project oversight and performance monitoring? 
4 Have the Project's monitoring and evaluation plan and performance indicators been
appropriate to measure ASSA and PSUR's planned results and their contribution to
USAID/Ecuador's spa 11? 
4 Validate achieved results reported by CARE and its partners for USAID/Ecuador's
Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). 
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C. ASSA and PSUR Program Components: 
The contractor will evaluate the accomplishments and impact of proposed activities and expected 
results/outputs under phase one and two, for each component. Questions to guide the evaluation
may include but are not limited to: 
Phase I, ASSA: 
4 Validate the actual technical and organizational status of the selected municipalities in
water, health and sanitation. 
4 Validate the construction of the selected potable water systems and how they are
benefiting the people. How are the water boards pertaining and to what extent are they
assuring self-sustainability of the systems. 
4 How are the women participating in the water boards and other activities in the
Municipalities? 
4 Is there a positive impact on the behavior of the children, women and community
members in relation to water, health and sanitation? 
4 How is the quality of the construction of the systems themselves and how adequate are
the size of the systems compared to the population to be served. 
Phase II, PSUR: 
Access to Social Services Component: 
4 In selected potable water systems, verify the number of beneficiaries and the direct
benefits to the population served. 
4 Quality of the systems and population served. 
4 Are the water boards organized (% of women) and capable of achieving self￾sustainability of the systems? 
4 Is there a decrease in illness, especially in children, as a consequence of consuming
potable water? 
4 Cost/benefit of the projects. How effective is the ferro-cement technology applied in the 
construction of these systems. 
4 Validate the number of new/improved sanitation units and the number of beneficiaries.
Are they used by the beneficiaries? What is the cost/benefit of them? 
4 Validate the number of new/improved community garbage collection or recycling
programs. 
4 Have the education activity effectively demonstrated that the knowledge and behavior of
population are improved? 
4 Validate the counterpart contribution (CARE, communities, local organizations, others). 
4 Roll of the municipalities. 
Natural Resources Management Component: 
4 Validate the Policy documents which strengthen the legal basis for conservation and
development in the Cordillera del Kutucú and its area of influence, and its applicability.
ie. Forestry Law, Biodiversity Law, etc., Environmental Assessment for forestry &
aquatic productions. 
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4 Validate the number of hectares of land in selected areas under NRM plans and the
number of beneficiaries pre & post PSUR intervention. 
4 Validate the number of hectares under legal title in/or near the buffer zones and the
number of beneficiaries pre & post PSUR intervention. 
4 Are NRM encouraging NRM practices in Place/Implemented? 
4 Is the cost of titling reasonable? Cost/Benefit. 
4 Is the NRM approach appropriate? 
4 Have the strengthened local institutions become capable of designing, implementing and
managing natural resources programs on their own? Will they become sustainable, thanks 
to PSUR’s support? What about follow-up monitoring done by local technicians? 
4 Assess the activities implemented by NGOs, indigenous federations, and community
organizations under PSUR's guidance. More specifically, compared to indicators. 
4 Examine the degree to which the partner institutions have succeeded in fostering a
mutually beneficial relationship among the NGOs, community groups and with GOE
entities, especially the Ministry of Environment officials. 
4 Is PSUR playing an important role in promoting consensus on important policy issues,
e.g., served as a catalyst to bring together Ecuadorian organizations to address priority
problems? Is there a tangible change on behavior that demonstrates this? 
4 Have community members been trained in forest management and agroforestry, and are
they applying this training effectively? 
4 Is CARE developing effective and sustainable alternative income-generating activities? Is
the approach of the alternative Income Generation appropriate, is it well structured
(studies, analysis, markets as needed)? How effective is the Management. Are they
sustainable? 
4 Are the income-generating activities (including ecotourism) contributing measurably or
importantly to relieving pressures on protected areas? 
4 Are the mitigation methods employed effective in reducing environmental impacts of
ground-disturbing projects? Why and/or why not? Where is this documented? 
4 In general, is PSUR utilizing previously proven best practices to mitigate impacts of
activities? Are the results of these practices documented so that future activities can be
planned using these or altered practices to be more site specific? 
Local Government Strengthening Component: 
4 Is the approach used the correct one to strengthen Local Governments and reach the
component's objective and program's objectives? 
4 In selected local governments, validate that they have adequate consultative processes in
operation (based on the cantonal development matrix) and the benefits of this for the
local governments and the population. 
4 In selected local governments, validate the number that have improved service delivery
management (based on the matrix) and the benefit for the local governments and the
populations. 
4 Sustainability of effort, as appropriate. 
Ability of local governments to develop cantonal plans.
4. Evaluation Team: The Evaluation team will be composed of three senior experts, one
should have a broad knowledge and experience in Social Services; one will be an expert 
in Environment Management; one will be a Local Government Strengthening expert. If
necessary, CARE will provide a staffer to work with the team, to facilitate access to
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information, field sites and key local contacts. The team is encouraged to make use of
this resource as it sees fit, to the extent that it believes this support will enhance the
production of a solid and objective evaluation. 
Based on interviews, work plans, progress reports and field visits, the contractor should
asses how this program has been implemented, if planned results were met and lessons
learned for future similar activities.
 Specific requirements of the team are as follows: 
4 Team members should be familiar with the concepts of regional development programs,
especially as these have been applied in the LAC region. 
4 Each team member should have at least 10 years experience in project development,
implementation, evaluation, and strategic planning, preferably in Latin America. 
4 At a minimum, the Team Leader must have participated in previous USAID evaluations 
of development programs and be familiar with USAID regulations and procedures
regarding evaluations. 
4 At least one team member must have a graduate degree in Natural Resources
Management, Social Services, Local Government Strengthening or related field, or 20
years of relevant experience. 
4 Team members must have exceptional organizational, analytical, and writing skills. 
4 Each team member is responsible for production of the evaluation report, with specific
responsibilities to be assigned by the Team Leader. 
4 Team members must have recognized strong interpersonal skills, sufficient to smoothly
relate to a wide variety of counterparts at all levels. 
4 Team members must be fluent in the Spanish language. 
4 The Team Leader has final responsibility for delivery of the final report. 
4 Team members must have the ability to independently travel to 
4 remote areas. 
4 Team members must be independent and have no relation (in the last 8 years) with the
project and/or the implementing institutions. 
5. Period of Services: The evaluation is to commence o/a March 31,2003, for a period of 
approximately 18 working days, terminating o/a April 19, 2003. The evaluation team is
authorized to work a six-day work week. The Team Leader is authorized to work an
additional 3 working days to put the evaluation report into final form. 
6. Logistic Support: The contractor will be responsible for all logistical support and 
arrangements for the implementation of this contract. 
7. Deliverables and Reporting Requirements: The report structure will include an
executive summary, body of the report and relevant annexes. Both the draft and final
versions shall be provided in both hard copy and electronic formats (Microsoft Word 97, 
on 3.5 inch diskette). The contractor will send a copy of the final report and papers to 
PPC/CDIE/DI in Washington. 
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The executive summary will include the development objectives of the ASSA and PSUR
programs, purpose of evaluation, findings, conclusions and recommendations. 
The body of the report should include: 1) the purpose of the evaluation; 2) description of
the ASSA/PSUR structure; 3) team composition and study methods; 4) observations and 
comments supported by findings; 5) conclusions, related recommendations and lessons
learned stated as actions to be considered for the future of this Special Objectives. 
The report should not exceed fifty pages (including annexes) and should be submitted in
English. However, the Executive Summary (which should not exceed five pages) and
Recommendations should be submitted in both English and Spanish. Annexes should
include a copy of the scope of work for the evaluation and a list of documents and
individuals consulted. Ten copies of the final report will be submitted to
USAID/Ecuador. 
During the first 2 to 3 days the contractor will submit a work plan with a detailed
description of how the task will be carried out and a timeline, which will be subject to
Mission approval. 
After two weeks of work, the contractor will meet with the Mission team to discuss the 
status of the design process, findings, issues, problems, constraints to the progress of
work and proposed alternative solutions. 
The team will give a final exit briefing to USAID/Ecuador, CARE and the NGOs
partners before departing Ecuador. 
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
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ANNEX B
INDIVIDUALS INTERVIEWED
 1. Mr. Edgar Guillen, USAID PSUR Project Manager
 2. Mr. Rick Garland USAID EG/D, Office Director
 3. Mr. Luis Alvarado, SO 11, USAID Controllers Office.
 4. Mr. Hernan Granja, SO 11 USAID Contracting Specialist
 5. Ms. Jill Kelly, SO11, Environment Officer
 6. Ms. Paulina Martínez, SO11 Program Development Specialist
 7. Ms. Karina Duran, EG/D Admin Assistant.
 8. Mr. Damian Villacrés, CARE
 9. Mr. Fernando Solís, CARE PSUR Project Manager
10. Mr. Daniel Selener CARE, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
11. Mr. Peter Buijs, CARE Country Director
12. Fernando Martinez, CARE PSUR Local Government Coordinator
13. Ms. Mercedes Duchicela, Manager CARE/ Morona Santiago and Coordinator for Natural 
Resources 
14. Mr. Pedro Carrasco, Manager CARE/Loja and Coordinator for Social Services
15. Mr. Lars Klassen, USAID Mission Director
16. Mr. Patricio Espinosa CARE/Loja
17. Mr. Amaro Socola, CARE/Loja
18. Mr. Mario Cueva, Vice Mayor Cariamanga (Calvas)
19. Mr. Arnoldo Cueva, Comité Desarrollo Cantonal (CDC) Calvas.
20. Lic. Camilo Murillo, CDC, Calvas
21. Dr. Rubén Cueva, CDC, Calvas
22. Mr. Dalton Valdivieso, Secretario del CDC Pindal
23. Ms. Soledad León, Fundación Espacios
24. Ms. Patricia Cano, Fundación Espacios.
25. Mr. Carlos Bustamante, Plan de Desarrollo Pindal.
26. Mr. Marlon García, Alcalde Zapotillo.
27. Mr. Luis Requena, Presidente Junta de Aguas, Tronco Quemado, Zapotillo.
28. Ms. Fidena Díaz, Tesorera Junta de Aguas, Tronco Quemado, Zapotillo.
29. Mr. Fernando Requena, Operador Sistema de Agua, Tronco Quemado.
30. Mr. José Paladines, Alcalde Arenillas, El Oro.
31. Dr. Luz Benavides, CDC Arenillas.
32. Ms. Ana Granda, CARE, Promotora Social, Arenillas
33. Ms. Yandri Videla, CDC Arenillas.
34. Ms. Rocio Chalen, CDC Arenillas.
35. Mr. Froilan Reyes, CDC Arenillas.
36. Mr. Alberto Salcedo, Consejo Provincial de Loja.
37. Ms Nora Encalada, Fundación Espacios, Loja
38. Ms. Doris Duque, Director Fundación Espacios.
39. Mr. Francisco Merchan, Plan Internacional
40. Mr. Raúl Auquilla, Prefecto Provincial, Loja.
41. Mr. Eric van Weert, Servicio de Cooperación Holandés (SNV)
42. Mr. Manuel Bustamante. SNV
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43. Mr. Raul Nieto, ARD Project 3D/ USAID
44. Mr. Alejandro Guidi, IOM/USAID Northern Border Project.
45. Mr. Francisco Viera, CARE/Macas
46. Ms. Ana González, SNV/Macas
47. Mr. Jaime Robles, CARE/Macas
48. Mr. Marco Chiu, ECOLEX
49. Ms. Vilma Gallardo, Presidenta Juntas Parroquiales, Morona Santiago
50. Mr. Braulio Rodríguez, Alcalde Sucúa
51. Mr Juan Penaranda, Residuos sólidos Sucúa.
52. Mr. Martín Cuela, Desarrollo Comunitario, Sucúa
53. Mr. José Cárdenas, Catastro Sucúa
54. Mr Santiago Zurita, CARE/Macas
55. Mr. Mauricio Sanin Comité Desarrollo Parroquial SHIMPIS (CDPS)
56. Ms. Rosa Once, CDPS
57. Mr. Felipe Foa, CDPS
58. Mr. Gonzalo Ponchera, CDPS
59. Mr. Pedro Chare, CDPS
60. Mr. Antonio Machet, CDPS
61. Mr. Moisés Molina, Alcalde Logroño.
62. Mr. Washington Vallejo, Alcalde Macas
63. Mr José Morillo, Coordinador Plan Bi-Nacional
64. Mr. Patricio Garcés, Plan Bi-Nacional
65. Mr Leonardo Viteri, Presidente Asociación Ecuatoriana de Municipalidades AME
66. Jorge Tsemp, President of the Junta de Agua, Uunt Suantz
67. Silvio Fanchim, village “syndicato”, Uunt Suantz
68. Francisco Tachen, the PSUR local technician, Uunt Suantz
69. Ernesto Wisum, the traditional village elder, Uunt Suantz
70. Tedeuco Piruch, teacher, Uunt Suantz
71. Carolina Wapu, Farmer, Uunt Suantz
72. Bosco Najandempt, President of the Federación Independiente del Pueblo Shuar (FIPSE)
73. Cristóbal Shacay, technical advisor to COWASH, Consejo de los Pueblos Guampi, 
Awacuma y Shuar
74. Mr. Gonzalo Mantín, President of FISCH
75. Ec. Diego Becena, Technical Advisor, FISCH
76. Mr. Mesias Chuin, Secretary, FISCH
77. Ms. Rosa Mashuma, Director of Women’s Associations, FISCH
78. Mr. Ruben Ubi, Comisario, FISCH
79. Mr. Rafael Ancuashi, Director of Communications, FISCH
80. Ivan Delgado Manchen, President of the Association of Livestock Morona Santiago
81. Franklin Rios, Logger
82. Norma Castillo, Ministry of Environment, Macas Technical Office
83. Padre Silvia, Salesian missionary
84. Sra. Maruja Nuanba, farmer
85. Mr. Vicente Antun, President of the Junta de Agua, Shuar Center Uquias
86. Bosco Zavalla, Businessman, lumber and livestock, Macas
87. Mr. Fausto Calle, Trucker 
88. Martin Chirioy, President, Ipiakuim Shuar Center 
89. Cristóbal Chiriap, Ipiakuim Shuar Center
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90. Angel Chinkm, President of the Shuar Association Yaupi, 
91. Pablo Saant, Teniente Político, Yaupi, 
92. Jaime Kankais, Treasurer, 
93. Melson Shipui, Associate Yaupi, 
94. Jorge Waupakim, Vice Syndicato, Yaupi, 
95. Ruben Chuipi, Vocal Yaupi, 
96. Celletina Tinito, Associate Yaupi
97. Pablo Yampiz, Centro de Salud, Asociación Sevilla
98. Local Technicians from Asociación Sevilla and Méndez: Bety Cajamarca, Claudia 
Tsenkush, Ramón Timias, Tamon Piluch, Luis Entzakua, Rubén Slumpiukat, Juan 
Tarsicio Cluriap, Pascual Puandur, Francisco Yampik
99. Lea Scherl, Ex-director, CARE Unit for Integrated Development and Conservation 
100. Henr Quiroz, Assistant for Monitoring and Evaluation, CARE
101. Kathy Apazmino Lemos, Coordinator for International Cooperation AME
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ANNEX C
DOCUMENTS CONSULTED
1. USAID Request for Evaluation Proposal.
2. Mid Term Evaluation for PSUR: Scope of work.
3. Development Associates, PSUR Proposal.
4. Field Visit Report by LAC Kevin McGlothlin 1/24/03.
5. Field Report by Edgar Guillen to GDO Director. 6/19/01
6. Cooperative Agreement with CARE for PSUR Implementation. 10/30/00 
7. Cooperative Agreement with CARE for ASSA Implementation. 7/20/99.
9. Convenio CARE/Cantón Catamayo, CARE/GTZ para sistema de agua potable.
10. Democracy Program of USAID/Ecuador. 2002
11. Profile of Ecuador.
12. CARE Project Proposal for PSUR.
13. Border Integration. Indicators and Logframe.
14. Land Fill Study for the Canton Arenillas, 2003
15. Informe Final ASSA Frontera, Marzo 2001
16. Revisión Financiera de CARE para 2000 y 2001. Deloitte & Touch, 2002
17. Actas de Entrega Proyecto de Agua Potable de Suanamaca, Unidades Sanitarias 
Suanamaca. Sistema de Agua Potable de Tronco quemado. Relleno Sanitario de 
Arenillas. 
18. Ley y Reglamento de las Juntas Administradoras de Agua Potable para el Sector Rural.
19. Planes de Desarrollo Cantonal. Metodología preparada por CARE.
20. Manual del Operador de Sistemas de Agua Potable. Consejo Provincia de Loja.
21. Request for Application (RFA) for PSUR Project.
22. Ley Especial de Descentralización, Sept. 1997.
23. Leyes del Régimen Provincial y del Fondo de Desarrollo Provincial.
24. Final Evaluation, Ecuador Sustainable Use of Biological Resources Program, Phase III
25. Programmatic Assessment of the Program for the Sustainability and Regional Union
(PSUR) 
26. Evaluación Ambiental Al Proyecto Vial Makuma-Evenezer-Tiasha Versión 1
27. A tropical Forest Transition: Agricultural Change, Out-migration and Secondary Forests
in the Ecuadorian Amazon
28. Evaluación Ambiental al Valle del Upano
29. Propuesta Jurídicas para la Administración y Manejo Territorial de la Cordillera del
Kutucú
30. El Marco Guía para la Motosierra, Una Inversión Rentable or No
31. Plan de Manejo Integral del Centro Shuar Uunt-Suants
32. Informe de viaje a Macas, Edgar Guillén, 7/10/02
33. Convenio De Cooperación Interinstitucional Entre CARE Ecuador – Programa Sur, La
Municipalidad de Catamayo y Juntas Parroquiales Rurales del Cantón Catamayo
34. Program Monitoring Plan PSUR
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35. Verifying documents for samples of:
4 School Bathrooms — six sites
4 Local government indicators one and two
4 Natural Resources indicators one and two
4 Water systems 
4 Bathrooms
36. Informe Programa Sur Periodo: Abril – Septiembre, 2002 Ano Fiscal USAID 2002
37. MARCO LÓGICO Programa Sur
38. Towards better programming, A WATER HANDBOOK, Water, Environment, and
Sanitation Technical Guideline Series – No. 2 UNICEF
39. Key Factors for Sustainable Cost Recovery, in the Context of Community – Managed 
Water Supply, IRC Occasional Paper Series OP 32 E
40. Análisis de la Situación Comunitaria, Sistema Regional de Tronco Quemado, Zapotillo –
Loja – Ecuador Julio 2001
41. Reportes de prensa de la emergencia sanitaria sufrida por el Cantón Catamayo, provincia 
de Loja
42. Diagnostico de Agua y Saneamiento, Comunidad de Suanamaca, Cantón Calvas,
provincia de Loja
43. DiseZo, Construcción, Operación, and Cierre de Rellenos Sanitarios Municipales, Manejo 
Integral de Desechos Sólidos, Clasificación, y Reciclaje
44. Borrador de la Guía Metodológica “Manejo Concertado de Vertientes en la Provincia de 
Loja
45. Reporte de contraparte enviada por el H. Consejo Provincial de Loja
46. Consolidado de aportes comunitarios en mano de obra no calificada
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ANNEX D
SITE VISIT REPORTS
THE FOLLOWING ARE FINDINGS FROM INDIVIDUAL SITE VISITS: 
A. SOCIAL SERVICES SITE VISITS
The Team visited four potable water systems and one bathroom program.
Suanamaca, Loja: Water System, Home Bathrooms, and School Bathroom
The community of Suanamaca received a rehabilitated water system under ASSA in 2001 as well 
as home and school bathrooms under PSUR in 2002. The rehabilitation included upgrading the
catchment facility, treatment plant and chlorination room as well as providing new pressure
limiting tanks, transmission line, distribution network and household connections. 
Approach: Appears to be a well constructed, relatively low-cost gravity fed water system. The 
PVC pipes are underground to prevent deterioration and it has a drip chlorination system.
Capacity appears to be fine. The detached bathrooms are very appealing, with some of the
families taking the simple unit and adding tiles and fixtures to make it look like a bathroom you
would find in an urban area. The school bathroom is an attractive, large structure with steel 
beams and corrugated roof, four toilets, urinals for the boys, and washbasins. There are separate 
rooms for boys and girls in the one structure. There is evidence of basic hygiene education at site 
of the school and on the door of each bathroom. PSUR has established a functioning Water
Board that has hired an employee to operate and maintain the system and the board has good 
records on water usage and payments of fees.
Sustainability: There should not be any major issues with respect to the operation and 
maintenance of the home and school bathrooms. Repairs, such as new paint, fixing or replacing
faucets and toilet flappers, should not be beyond the financial and technical capacity of the
community to fix. The water system is more complicated and will be more expensive to fix when 
major repairs are needed. The two most important elements to assuring the continued operation
and repair of the system have received a lot of attention by CARE: the Water Board and the
Sanitation unit of the municipality. While these are good strategies, the financial strength of the
Water Board has been slowly eroding over time as costs have increased and fees have remained 
relatively constant. While the Water Board has $500 in savings, its current fee of $0.60 per 15 
cubic meters per month only just covers the cost of its employee and the salt that is used to
produce chlorine. The Water Board is no longer saving any money.
Impact: The impact on the health of the community has been large according to the Water
Board, a beneficiary, and the schoolteacher. Fewer kids die from diarrhea or miss school. The
bathrooms are so attractive that they are likely to be used. In many cases they have been built 
right next to latrines.
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Gender: There has been a reduction in the amount of time dedicated to retrieving water,
estimated to be three hours per day per household, especially among women. The Water Board 
treasurer is a woman.
Cost: The total direct cost of the three components of the program, taken from the Actas de 
Entrega, is over $93,000, including contributions from CARE, OPS, the provincial council, and
the community. This works out to be about $776 per family and $176 per beneficiary. The cost 
of the school bathroom is $12,325, benefiting some 43 students.
Indicator Check: The number of beneficiaries reported in different documents was not
consistent. The number of beneficiaries in the CARE system for bathrooms is 530 plus 43 for the 
school bathroom. The number in the verifying document is 555 for bathrooms plus 43 for the
school bathroom. The number in the system for the water system is 834. The number in the
verifying document, the Acta de Entrega, is 650. The Team believes that a slight revision in the 
methodology of reporting the numbers will result in greater accuracy, with little additional work.
Issues Identified: 
1. Water fees are not keeping up with rising costs.
2. The cost of the school bathroom is high.
3. The beneficiary count could be more accurate and consistent.
Tronco Quemado, Loja: Water System and School Bathroom
Tronco Quemado received a new water system and school bathroom in FY 2002 under PSUR. 
The water system is regional, covering five communities. A household bathroom program is
being considered for FY 2003. 
Approach: This is a well water system that involves a submersible pump, and pumping station, 
a water treatment plant and holding tank, transmission lines to the five villages, distribution
networks within each village and household connections. This type of system is more expensive
than the more simple gravity type of Suanamaca, but the design was dictated by the topography. 
The school bathroom is of the same design as discussed above. Due to a lack of a transformer at 
the treatment plant, chlorine is made at the pumping station and brought to the treatment plant 
where it is poured into the water tank. This system of producing chorine and adding it to the
water should be reviewed. An electrical line runs right past the treatment plan and could provide 
electricity for making chlorine and running a drip system.
Sustainability: This type of water system is also more complex to operate and more expensive 
to maintain. The Water Board has hired two operators who have been trained by CARE. Over the 
initial year and a half of the life of the system, the only problems have been caused by breaks in 
pipes. The operators have easily repaired these breaks. The Water Board’s financial books seem
to be in order and community members are paying on time. Operating costs are running about
$153 per month. Income is currently $170 per month, with water fees running $2 per 6 cubic 
meters. There are 85 families that are active members. While this fee of $2 per month is fairly
high for the community, it is not sufficient to generate significant savings. The treasurer reports a 
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Ecuador Border Region 
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balance of about $378. Any future problem with the pump will likely result in a cost that is
beyond the capacity of the Water Board to pay. The school bathroom should be easy to maintain. 
Impact: According to members of the Water Board, the project was a dream come true and the 
impact on the health of the community considerable. They formerly used water from a nearby
contaminated river. 
Gender: About half of the Water Board members are women representing various communities; 
the treasurer is a women.
Cost: The total direct cost of the water system taken from the Acta de Entrega was $80,489. 
For the water system, CARE provided some $45,402, the provincial council provided some
$16,345, the municipality provided $4,850 and the community $13,892. The cost per family is 
$947 and the cost per beneficiary is $146. 
Indicator Check: The number of beneficiaries in the Acta of Entrega is 552, the number in the 
CARE data system is 450. 
Issues Identified:
1. Water fees are not generating a level of savings that will be adequate to address future 
system problems.
2. The beneficiary count could be more accurate.
Santa Rosa, Morona-Santiago: Water System
The community of Santa Rosa is building a new water system under PSUR. It will be a good
candidate for inclusion as a completed project in FY 2003. The project includes a catchment
facility, transmission line, treatment plant, two storage tanks, transmission lines to five
communities, distribution networks and household connections. Everything is completed except 
the distribution networks, household connections, water laboratory, and chorine production and
drip systems.
Approach: Appears to be a well-constructed, relatively low-cost gravity fed water system.
Ferro cement technology is being used for the two storage tanks, one of 50,000 liters and one of 
15,000 liters for a comm. The one fast and two slow filters and chlorination systems appear to be 
well thought through. The community is trying to buy two hectares of land around the water
source to be able to protect the catchment site. It hopes to work with the PSUR natural resources 
component in the future to protect the watershed.
Sustainability: From both technical and organizational standpoints the project looks like it will
be sustainable. Two operators have been trained to operate and maintain the system. The Water 
Board is getting organized and has already set a base fee of $2 per 15 cubic meters of water. 
Financially, if the Board is able to collect the fee as set and the input costs are close to their
estimates, the Board should be saving over $40 per month, sufficient to cover operating costs and 
repairs.
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Impact: The impact on health should be significant, especially during the dry season. In the past 
the communities relied on rain for their water and during the dry season, they had very little
water.
Gender: There are two women on the Water Board, one of which is its secretary.
Cost: The total direct cost of the water system is estimated to be around $134,000. CARE is 
providing $66,000, the Municipality is providing $37,000 for the community distribution
networks, and the community is providing $31,000, mostly in the form of labor. The cost per
participating family is $1030. The cost per beneficiary is around $166. These figures are likely to 
go down as more people decide to participate after they see that the system is working. So far 
only 130 out of a potential 200 families have signed up.
Indicator Check: Not possible as system is not completed.
Issues: None at this time.
San Luis Ininkis, Morona-Santiago: Water System
PSUR helped this community renovate its water system in FY 2002. The renovation included the 
provision of new water pipes, valves, meters, tools and a chlorination system. It also included
training for the operators and the Water Board as well as health education. 
Approach: While the approach allowed a low cost renovation of an existing system, it may
have missed an opportunity to address the needs of additional groups of families who live close 
by, who were not part of the original system.
Sustainability: This system appears to be in crisis from several angles. People are still fighting
about the type of system built, the number of people to be benefited, and the fees to be assessed. 
While the system was delivered in September of 2002, the Water Board did not begin collecting 
fees until March 2003. In both April and May, only 20 of the 67 families connected to the system 
paid their fees. Some families are using water at very high levels, 60 to 80 cubic meters per
month.
Impact: Considering that that the community had a water system previously, the water source
may not provide water during the dry season, and the unwillingness to pay fees, the likelihood of
a large impact on health is small.
Gender: Given all the other issues, we didn’t focus on the impact on women’s roles and
participation in the Water Board.
Cost: The overall cost of the rehabilitation was a relatively low $27,610. CARE provided
$20,000 and the community the rest in labor and cash towards water meters. The cost per family 
installed is $410. The cost per beneficiary is about $90.
Indicator Check: The number of beneficiaries in the CARE data bank is 2850. The number in
the Acta de Entrega is 318.
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Issues:
1. The system is in crisis and will need continuous attention for a while to put back on track. 
2. Any possible future assistance to expand the system should be dependent on resolving
current issues first.
Other Related Site Visits
The team also visited the Provincial Unit of Studies and Designs of the Loja Provincial
Government. This unit was established in June of 2000 with the idea of combining and
coordinating the efforts of the province, CARE, Plan Ecuador, the municipalities and
communities to build or rehabilitate water systems. The unit also in involved in waste disposal
and sanitation projects. CARE was the prime promoter of the establishment of the unit. 
The basic idea has been to standardize design criteria, for example that water systems should be 
designed for twenty years of service, to pool the costs of completing water studies, and ensure 
that studies are carried out for projects that have an assured source of funding.
B. SITE VISITS: NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Field Observations and Interviews
Thursday, June 12
The forester on the evaluation team spent a total of 7 days in Morona Santiago, arriving by
airplane on the afternoon of Thursday, June 5 and leaving by airplane on the afternoon of
Thursday June 12. The following paragraphs summarize the results of his interviews and
observations separately. The forester’s observations are in the text while the comments of the
interviewees are numbered.
Thursday, June 12. The forester attended a three-hour meeting with the PSUR Integrated
Conservation Development Committee (CDI). The CDI includes representatives of each of
PSUR’s consortium members in Morono Santiago. These institutions include CARE itself, Jatun
Sacha, Ecociencia, and ECOLEX, and SNV. SNV was not present at the meeting. In their
meetings the CDI members try to reach consensus on PSUR’s priorities and actions. During this 
meeting, however, each representative the consortium members presented, assisted by Power
Point slides, their activities under PSUR. This meeting thus provided the mid-term evaluation
team member with a rapid overview of PSUR’s activities in Morono Santiago. At the meeting, 
he requested the members of the CDI to provide him with their own short evaluations of the
strategic, tactical and management strengths and weaknesses of the natural resource component 
of the PSUR. The CDI members worked in teams to prepare these evaluations. The team
member incorporated these evaluations into his section of the Mid-Term Evaluation.
Friday, June 16
A field trip down the Upano Valley and out the road that leads to San Jose de Morono, skirting 
the southern end of the Cordillera Kutucú, and then a visit to Mendez, occupied the entire day. 
The trip included the following visits to PSUR field activities. 
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Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
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Logging Operation. Near the village of San Simon, on the road to San Jose de Morono, an
inspection was made of a privately owned forest area for which Jatun Sacha had prepared a
Simplified Logging Plan (“Plan Simplificado de Aprovechamiento”.) The forest owner was
extremely sick at the time of the visit so he could not accompany the group to the logging site or 
provide his perspective on the preparation of the logging plan. 
The preparation of the logging plan had involved the following steps. The forest owner identified 
the trees he wanted to cut. Of 14 trees, 12 were one species, “chuncho” and 2 were another 
unidentified species. Then the local forestry technicians marked and measured the diameter of
these trees and located them with a GPS. Next the technicians took points with a GSP on a 
perimeter, determined by ridgelines, around the marked trees. The forest owner himself felled
and sawed up the trees with a chainsaw. The boards were still in the woods at the time of the 
visit. The forest owner planned to haul them out of the woods utilizing horses and sell the boards 
at the roadside to an intermediary. 
Jatun Sacha has established four 1 ha. monitoring plots within this forest. Within the sample 1 ha 
plot, the technicians had measured all trees above 10 cm in diameter at breast height. They had 
measured regeneration on smaller plots within the 1 ha. After felling of the trees they had
measured the damage to the residual trees and regeneration. By making measurements in
subsequent years, Jatun Sacha plans to obtain data on the impact of this type of logging on the 
forest.
1. The local technicians gave a clear explanation of the process for preparing the logging
plan, indicating that they had been well trained.
2. The procedures followed for the preparation of the logging plan comply with the Ministry
of Environment’s requirements. 
3. Although logging damage to the residual stand was minimal, there was no indication that 
the logging procedures had led to reduced negative impacts on biodiversity, soils, or
water, or had reduced logging costs or improved product quality compared to standard 
logging practices.
4. The monitoring plots comply with the requirements of PSUR’s Programmatic
Environmental Assessment. Four 1 ha. plots in one forest, however, appears excessive
for a logging operation that involved only 14 trees.
Shuar Center Ipiakuim. Ipiakuim is one of the Shuar Centers in the Shuar Association Mendez
that has participated in PSUR. The group met with Martin Chirioy and Cristobal Chiriap,
members of the Ipiakuim Shuar Center, which has received support from PSUR for wood, fish, 
chicken, and snail production.
1. PSUR has assisted only 5 of 21 Shuar Centers in the Mendez The other Shuar Centers in 
the association also need assistance.
2. Ipiakuim has a total of 2,700 ha. of forest of which perhaps 300 or 400 could be logged. 
The Shuar Association Mendez has 41,000 ha of forestland in total. Individuals make
timber sales, not the Shuar Centers.
3. PSUR has trained 4 forestry technicians. More technicians and training are required,
since only 2 of the 4 trained technicians still are involved in PSUR. 
4. The price of wood is very low and the costs of inputs to its production, such as gasoline, 
oil, and chainsaws has risen. 
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Ecuador Border Region 
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5. The Ministry of Environment levies fees that must be paid before logging or receiving
payment for wood. To make such payments ahead of time is beyond the financial
possibility of most Shuar. Therefore a rotating fund was established in the amount of
US$1000 at 17 percent interest with a 60 day repayment schedule. 
6. Among the Shuar wood sales have traditionally financed emergencies, such as sickness in
a family, or special communal needs, such as special celebrations or school construction. 
The Ministry of Environment’s forestry regulations clash directly with these traditional
uses for the proceeds of wood sales. 
7. PSUR assistance should continue until the Shuar Centers can maintain the activities
without assistance. The Association Mendez has had a number of experiences with
assistance programs that last a short time and lead to no permanent beneficial results. 
PSUR should not be another such experience.
Shuar Center Nunmantai (Nungande). Nunmantai is located on the Patuca/Santiago road. Here 
PSUR has provided technical assistance and a small rotating credit fund. 
1. The new varieties of chickens were growing faster than the normal variety. They were 
surviving and being eaten or sold. They are fed purchased feed, however, rather than
locally grown corn, which may make their production more expensive.
2. Snails are a food that the Shuar already know since they have traditionally eaten wild
snails. The snails grow very well and have few production problems. 
3. Timing of production has been a problem, since markets require a reliable, steady flow of 
the product. PSUR is gradually training the producers to plan for a constant harvest. 
Shuar Association Mendez Fish Farm. The Shuar Association Mendez has a fish farm project on 
the outskirts of Mendez. The EEC and the World Bank, through PRODEPINE, have both
previously financed the fish farm in the last 2 years. The fish farm is not yet in production. 
Although two buildings and about 10 rectangular ponds have been constructed, only two of the 
ponds have been stocked. PSUR recently has financed the installation of a water system to fill
these ponds and provide running water to the buildings. Time did not permit a thorough analysis 
of this operation. Cursory observations and a conversation with the administrator, however, gave 
the impression that this fish farm suffers from the typical weaknesses of a communal operation
financed by external, donated funds. The administrator is very young and inexperienced in either 
administration or fish production. He did not provide projections about production per unit area 
or time, potential markets, sales or profit projections or operational costs. Furthermore, he
complained that members of the Mendez Association were unwilling to donate their time to cut
the grass and clean the fishponds. In short, this operation may lack the entrepreneurial drive,
business skills and technical expertise that tend to make businesses successful.
Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15
On both these days rainy weather forced the cancellation of the planned airplane flight to Shuar 
Centers in the Trans Kutucú. Interviews, summarized in the following paragraphs, replaced the 
flight. 
Mr. Fausto Calle. Mr. Calle is in the Transportation business. Among other products he
transports wood.
Development Associates, Inc.
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
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1. Since 2001 the exchange rate has shifted in favor of Peru. Two years ago he transported 
wood to Huaquillas in Perú. Cuenca furniture manufacturers were complaining that they
could not obtain sufficient wood from Morona Santiago. Now Peru, and other countries, 
are selling wood to furniture factories in Cuenca. 
2. Besides a lower price, imported wood has better quality. Pine from Chile, for example, is 
an “elegant” wood that comes in standard dimensions and is kiln dried. 
3. Ecuador’s last large reserve of primary forest occurs in Morono Santiago. Once the roads 
into the province are improved, and the bridge between Macas and Puyo is been repaired, 
it is likely that the large timber industry, such as Arbooriente in Puyo, will move into the 
province to buy wood from land owners, as they have done elsewhere in Ecuador.
4. The Ministry of Environment’s controls on wood movements along the roads can be
easily be circumvented. For example, required documentation (“guias”) can be
purchased or trucks can pass checkpoints at night when they are unoccupied.
5. His truck can Transport 400 boards (“tabla”: 24 cm X 1.25 cm. X 3 m) at a time to 
Cuenca. He receives US$3.50 per board if payment is in 3 months and US$3.20 if
payment is immediate for “copal” boards. His costs are about US$3.00 per board so he 
makes a net profit of about US$0.50.
Bosco Zavalla. Mr. Zavalla is in the sawmill and livestock businesses. He owns 3 farms in the 
Upano Valley.
1. His pastures were already formed when he bought the farms so he does not create new
pasture at the expense of the forest cover but concentrates on improving existing pasture. 
He can increase the productivity of pastures by roughly 3 times through improving the
soil and planting better pasture varieties. He improves soil through planting “guabo”. 
The trees also provide shade for cattle, which is very important for their productivity and 
health. 
2. Cattle production is suffering a crisis. The costs of meat production are much higher in
Ecuador than in Argentina. Ecuador meat has become uncompetative even in Ecuador. 
He is shifting to milk rather than meat production because there is a local market for
milk. 
3. He only buys wood at the roadside Costs of production in the forest exceed the income. 
The Shuar do not count their own time, since they do not have alternative work. They
can fell trees, cut up logs into boards and haul the boards to the roadside at a cheaper cost 
than he can. He has calculates that the cost of production of 100 boards placed at the 
roadside is US$95. The Shuar, however, are selling 100 boards at the roadside for
US$80. 
Shuar Association Cutchaentza. The Shuar Association Cutchaentza is a member of FIPSE. It is 
located close to the point where the road to Taisha presently ends. We talked to some of the 
Center’s leaders. Their deep distrust of outsiders became immediately evident since they rather 
sharply questioned our motives for inquiring about the road to Taisha.
1. About 30 years ago the national government required the Shuar Association Cutchaentza 
to clear forest in order to retain land ownership.
2. The National Development Bank (BNF) gave credit for cattle production but began to
charge interest and capital after 2 years, before it was possible to sell the cattle. As a 
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Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
Development Program ASSA/PSUR
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result, many of the Shuar could not repay the loans and the government sold off their land 
and cattle at auction in order to repay partially their debt.
3. The Ministry of Environment imposed the new forestry regulations and fees on wood
production without consultation with all of the NGOs.. The association members do not 
feel any obligation to follow these regulations or pay these fees since they believe that the 
wood in its forests, and the potential cash income from that wood, belongs to its members 
not to the Ministry of Environment.
Monday, June 9
Uquias (Sacrada Corazón). PSUR financed a potable water system in Shuar Center Uquias, a 
member of the Shuar Association Sevilla.
1. The system was completed 3 months ago. It serves 50 families but 2 have dropped out of 
the system. Formerly Uquias residents obtained water from hand pumps. The water was 
contaminated. The community provided the labor for construction of the water project. 
2. Monthly payment for the water starts for everybody at US$0.50. Additional payment
may be required depending on the quantity of water consumption. All the members of
the water system have meters. Since PSUR donated 3 months of chlorine there has as yet 
been no need to buy anything. It is unclear whether the system is charging enough to pay 
the maintenance costs.
3. They system was operating and the water was being chlorinated. There are two operators 
who appeared to know how to mix the chlorine.
4. According to the President of the Junta de Agua, Mr. Vicente Antun, the water tank had 
already been constructed previous to PSUR’s involvement. Unfortunately he thinks,
PSUR did not finance an enlargement of the water tank. Mr. Antun believes that in the 
dry season, the source of water may dry up and that the tank will not store enough water 
so the system may run dry. According to PSUR staff, however, the tank is sufficiently
large and based on measurements of water flow.
5. The main problem in completing this system was that the Shuar Center where the water is 
obtained does not receive water from the system. Therefore, the owner of the land where 
the intake is located had to be compensated through the construction of a cement
structure for doing laundry.
6. Water to the community’s school has been cut off for lack of payment and because the 
children left the faucets open, wasting water. The director of the school, Mr. Vernave
Wampash, however, disclaimed any knowledge of why the water had been cut off. 
Antonio Marian, who is the coordinator of the school, is also secretary of the Junta de
Agua. 
7. The President of the Junta de Aguas thinks believes that the Junta de Aguas needs a
storage and meeting building. He requested that PSUR pay for this building.
PSUR also has promoted agricultural activities in Uquias. These consist of the organization of a 
Production Committee and assistance to the high school for the installation of a medicinal herb
and vegetable garden.
1. The school specializes in training Shuar children from the Trans Kutucú to be teachers. 
Its curriculum provides for only 1 hour per week in agriculture. PSUR justifies the
establishment of a garden in a school where the students are not studying agriculture by
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Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
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noting that the Shuar students return to their homes in the Trans Kutucú carrying samples 
of the plants in the garden with them.
2. Sra. Maruja Nuanba was very pleased with the ducks that she is raising thanks to the
small revolving credit fund provided by PSUR. Her husband noted that eating duck
quickly cures his hangovers. 
3. They are growing ginger in this community. The fish project did not succeed. The people 
would like to be loaned some money so they can purchase milk cows but they need
technical advice in pasture establishment and management. 
Meeting with Local Technicians (Tecnicos Locales). The team member met for about 2 hours 
with the 9 local technicians working under PSUR in the Association Sevilla. Local CARE staff 
were not present. The group included 5 agroforestry technicians and four forest management
technicians. Their main issues included the following:
1. The training that they received, although well focused on the production problems that
they face, was far too short. PSUR compressed a training program that was designed to 
last 600 hours into 120 hours, in order to make up for the time that had been lost because 
of negotiations with the FISCH and the Associations. Consequently, the training
reviewed only briefly material that would require more time to be learned well. The
technicians feel that they need more training. 
2. PSUR does not provide the technicians with Transportation. They rely on local buses to 
reach the communities where they are providing technical advice. Since the buses do not 
operate at regular hours, frequently the technicians waste time waiting for buses and have 
cannot keep appointments. PSUR evidently believed that the technicians would be
working in their own Shuar Center, not in other centers, so that Transportation would not 
be a problem. In fact, the technicians do work in other Shuar Centers than their own. 
They therefore require their own means of transportation.
3. Compensation (“bonificación”) for the local technicians is very low, around US$100 per 
month, not equal for all the technicians and irregularly disbursed. The agroforestry
technicians, paid by Arco Iris, receive less compensation per month than the forestry
technicians, paid by Jatun Sacha. The technicians say that they “are dying of hunger”
with such a low monthly payments, especially since they have to advance travel and per 
diem costs out of their own pockets. The technicians are forced, therefore, to spend part 
of the week working on their own farms. The technicians say that one reason for the 
decline in the number of technicians from 15 to only 9 is the low level of compensation
that they receive. Additionally, the technicians receive their payments in Macas. 
Frequently, when they arrive in Macas they have been told that their payments are not 
ready yet or that the computer system is not working and to come back the next day. 
Given the time involved in traveling by bus on roads in poor condition, this irregularity in
payments makes the technicians lose a lot of time from their work. 
4. The technicians cannot respond to all of the requests for assistance that they receive. 
PSUR, because of budget cuts, has instructed the technicians to not expand the number of 
associates with whom they work. The agroforestry technicians thus each work with only 
6 or so associates, many fewer than they would be able to work with if additional funds 
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Ecuador Border Region 
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were available. For example, in the Association Seville, the technicians work with only 4 
out of 25 Centers and in the Association Mendez only 5 out of 21. 
5. The technicians perceive that the small size of the revolving credit fund limits their
ability to apply their training. The credit fund has successfully stimulated community
members to expand their production of chickens, fish, and snails, even though the
maximum credit per person is only US$80 and the annual interest rate is 17 percent. Due 
to its small size, however, the credit fund, however, is revolving within the same small
group of associates, rather than expanding to new associates. 
Padre Silvia. Padre Silvia is a Salesian missionary who has worked lived in Mendez for over 35 
years and has worked closely with the Shuar. 
1. The Shuar have a tendency to sell their rights to land to colonists in order to raise money 
for emergencies. It is therefore extremely important to provide communal land titles to
the Shuar Centers as quickly as possible. 
2. Wood prices are very low. The Shuar frequently do not comply with their contracts to 
provide wood to intermediaries.
3. The Shuar had many more cattle in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. They sold many of
them in order to pay for their childrens’ education. Many Shuar dream of having cattle 
again. Many Shuar now work on cattle ranches that belong to colonists.
4. Existing projects should be consolidated and made to work. Private investment should be 
attracted.
5. The Shuar are very conflictive. There are a lot of conflicts within the Shuar Centers over 
boundary lines. Internal registers of land divisions are would reduce the level of conflict 
over these internal boundaries.
Tuesday, June 11
Norma Castillo, Ministry of Environment, Macas Technical Office 
1. PSUR has not provided support to the Ministry of Environment in Macas.
2. PSUR’s legalization program has operated very well. People are happy with that part of 
PSUR.
3. Many logging plans are not being implemented.
Franklin Rios, Logger. Mr. Rios is a full/time logger who organizes logging operations on 
family parcels usually owned by Shuar. He hires cutters, horses and sometimes trucks sawn 
wood. 
1. Legal cutting and movement of wood is very expense compared to illegal cutting and
wood movement. 
2. He estimates that only about 50 percent of a log in the forest is generally taken out to the 
roadside because it is only worthwhile to take the best quality boards out of the woods. 
3. The poor quality of the roads raises wood production costs greatly. 
4. Lack of funds limits his wood production greatly. Since he cannot find creit to finance
his operations, he has to pay almost all his costs up front while he is often not paid
immediately himself for his boards. 
Development Associates, Inc.
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
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5. He prefers to only work with the species “copal”. Other species are too heavy and are 
difficult to move out of the woods. He cuts other species only by special order. 
Ivan Delgado Manchen. Mr. Delgado is president of the Association of Livestock. He worked 
for many years in the Banco Nacional de Fomento as the Director of Credit and was responsible 
for running its program during the 1970’s and 1980’s to give credit for cattle in the Upano 
Valley and the Trans Kutucú.
1. Nobody knows what PSUR does because it has not been publicized at all. Local rumor 
says that PSUR promotes the cutting of wood in the Kutucú. 
2. Communal land titles will destroy not protect the forest. With a title the Shuar will
immediately exploit the wood since it costs them nothing. Land titling is the ideal
instrument for destroying the forest. 
3. The BNF gave short-term credit for fattening cattle. The Shuar get tired of cattle easily
and sell off their animals. The BNF lost 3,000,000 sucres because none of the loans for 
cattle to the Shuar were paid back. Any credit should be given in kind not in cash.
4. The NGOs are creating a split between the colonists and the Shuar because they provide 
assistance only to the indigenous people.
Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar (FISCH). The meeting was with the Vice President 
of FISCH, Mr. Gonzalo Mantín. Also present were Ec. Diego Becena, Technical Advisor, Mr. 
Mesias Chuin, Secretary, Ms. Rosa Mashuma, Director of Women’s Associations, Mr. Ruben
Ubi, Comisario, and Mr. Rafael Ancuashi, Director of Communications. 
1. Land titling is the Shuar’s most urgent problem. PSUR has helped some but its titling
program is a drop in the bucket. There is no other titling program for Shuar lands. 
PSUR has contracted out the titling process rather than working through and
strengthening the capabilities of FISCH to carry out titling. Consequently, FISCH has
learned nothing about ECOLEX’s new methodology for carrying out titling. FISCH
should learn how to carry out titling itself, through its department of titling. Now the
department lacks people, equipment and knowledge to carry out titling.
2. FISCH has prepared its own evaluation of PSUR. It evaluated PSUR as a very limited 
and inflexible project. To some extent PSUR tends to undercut the credibility of FISCH
with its base constituency because PSUR can provide things that FISCH is incapable of
providing. 
3. Many Shuar would choose a cow over a land title. They often do not understand the 
importance of a land title. A lot more work needs to be done to educate the Shuar about 
the importance of having a land title. The Shuar tend to sell their land to colonists and 
thus break up the communal Shuar lands. 
4. The Law of Territorial Circumscription is very important. The application of this law for 
the Shuar would permit them to establish the equivalent of a municipal government that
could raise taxes and provide services. At present the existence of municipal
governments sometimes causes conflicts with the Shuar Centers, especially where the
population is partly Shuar and partly colonist or mestizo.
5. Integrated Management Plans should be given second priority compared to legalization
of land titles. The Local Development Plans ({PDLs) that PRODEPINE prepared did not 
reflect reality and have not been useful. 
Development Associates, Inc.
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
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In Mendez people are satisfied with the work of PSUR. FISCH is anxious to finish the fish pond 
project there. 
1. The Shuar are not in agreement with the forestry regulations, since they consider
themselves the owners of the trees not the Ministry of Environment. 
2. PSUR should coordinate much more closely with FISCH because FISCH represents the 
Shuar. It is the head of the Shuar but PSUR does not take it sufficiently into account. 
3. PSUR has financed programs for Shuar women. It should provide more assistance. 
4. PSUR is financing the electrical, water, telephone and administrative costs of FISCH. 
5. Wood companies will soon pose a threat to the forests in Shuar lands.
Cristobal Shacay. Mr. Shacay is the technical advisor to COWASH. COWAS stands for the 
Consejo de los Pueblos Guampi, Awacuma y Shuar. 
1. These three closely related indigenous groups were separated for 50 years because of
Ecuador’s conflict with Peru.. COWAS is preparing proposals for financing activities to 
promote reunification. 
2. Mr. Shacay is also the founder of the Fundación Tsantsa. The purpose of the Fundación 
Tsantsa is to protect and manage the Cordillera Kutucú Public Protection Forest. 
Denmark financed the preparation of a preliminary management plan for the Cordillera
Kutucú Protection Forest but the Ministry of Environment never approved the plan.
3. Mr. Shacay believes that the PSUR policy of working to obtain communal land titles for 
the Shuar Centers in the Cordillera Kutucú rather than working to establish an effective
Public Protection Forest will result in forest destruction rather than forest conservation. 
The Shuar Centers are going to sell their wood as soon as they can to wood companies. 
He believes that once the Shuar have a title they will refuse any kind of control over their 
use of the land. 
4. PSUR has not utilized Mr. Shacay’s idea of the “Shuar Garden” which involves
modifying the traditional Shuar form of cultivation to include a variety of commercial
crops. Women are very important in the Shuar culture, especially as agriculturalists, even
though men are very “machista”.
Bosco Najandempt. Mr. Najandempt is the president of the Federación Independiente del Pueblo 
Shuar (FIPSE).
1. FISPSE wants above else to legalize the territories of its associations. It controls 800,000 
ha and includes 69 Centers but has no land that has a legal title. It proposes to title
associations rather than Centers because there is better organization at the level of the
association.
Wednesday, June 12
The weather finally cleared on this day making it possible to fly to Trans Kutucú. 
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Uunt Suants. Uunt Suanzt is in the middle of the Cordillera Kutucú. It is located in a valley
between two steep mountains. It has about 10 houses. PSUR has provided support to Uuunt 
Suants for titling of its land, the preparation of an Integrated Management Plan, the installation
of a water system, a fish pond and agricultural demonstrations. PSUR has a local technician 
living in Uuunt Suants. The team member spent about 2 hours there. He spent a little over an
hour looking at the cultivation of Carolina Wapu and about 40 minutes in a meeting with Center 
leaders. These leaders included Jorge Tsemp, President of the Junta de Agu, Silvio Fanchim, 
village “syndicato”, Francisco Tachen, the PSUR local technician, Ernesto Wisum, the
traditional village elder, Tedeuco Piruch, teacher, and Adela Tanchim, an associate. 
The following observations are a comibination of those of the team member and of the members 
of the Uunt Suants Center.
1. The Shuar culture sharply differentiates the agricultural responsibilities of women form
the hunting activities of men. Men only help in clearing forest for “chacras”. Yet the
local technician is a young man, recently graduated from high school. He himself
admitted that he did not know what to do. The disastrous results of the PSUR
agricultural plot, where nothing was growing well must bemuse this Center’s expert
women agriculturists. Carolina Wapu’s grandmother and mother, for example, taught her 
how to grow yucca, camote, corn and other crops. She produces healthy, abundant crops 
both on the riverbank and on the steep mountain slopes. She know when to clear a new
chacra, how to burn a chacra, and which trees to leave standing. She has certain
production problems, such as invasions of rats in her yucca plots. But PSUR has offered 
her nothing to improve her crop production.
2. The fishpond that had been financed by PSUR had recently been partially destroyed by a 
flood, causing the loss of half of the fingerlings. It was built by blocking the flow of a 
small stream. The fish were tilapia. Although they had been treated with chemicals to
not permit them to reproduce this treatment, according to the technician is only 95
percent effective. Presumably, therefore, some tilapia capable of reproduction had
escaped and could be reproducing. The fishpond did not look as if it had been
professionally designed or constructed.
3. None of the leaders of this Center had read or know the contents of the Integrated
Management Plan that PSUR had financed for Uunt Suants. This calls into question the 
usefulness of such plans. 
4. Ernesto Wisum, the village elder, commented that in his opinion Uunt Suants has enough 
interesting things to see to attract tourists. The Integrated Management Plan, however,
does not mention tourism as an optional land use. 
Overflight Shuar Center Un Suants to Shuar Center Yaupi. This overflight indicated that the 
valley bottoms next the rivers have been partially cleared for pasture. Many trees, however, still 
stand in the pasture. The surrounding mountains rise sharply from the valley bottoms so there 
are easily differentiated topographic situations in Cordillera Kutucú, each of which would 
require different type of management. The mountain slopes appear far too steep and floristically 
diverse to permit commercial logging. If timber companies enter the center of the Cordillera 
Development Associates, Inc.
Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
Ecuador Border Region 
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Kutucú their activities should be concentrated in the valley bottoms, preferably by harvesting 
trees grown in agroforestry systems, and kept off the mountain slopes. 
Shuar Center Yaupi. Yaupi is located in a fairly wide, flat valley. There is a Salesian mission. 
The village is well organized and has a high school that specializes in social sciences. There is 
no instruction in agriculture or livestock. Yaupi is one village of 8 in the Shuar Association
Yaupi. A group interview included Angel Chinkm, President of the Shuar Association Yaupi, 
Pablo Saant, Teniente Politico, Yaupi, Jaime Kankais, Tresurer, Melson Shipui, Associate Yaupi, 
Jorge Waupakim, Vice Syndicato, Yaupi, Ruben Chuipi, Vocal Yaupi, Celletina Tinito,
Margarita Maisk, Margarita Waupakint, Andrea Kaniras, Cornelo Shauipi, and German
Uyungara. 
1. Yaupi asked CARE assistance for land titling because it was worried that the “company,”
Burlington Resources, would take away its land. Yaupi has signed a Letter of
Understanding with PSUR. PSUR staff have visited Yaupi 3 times and have helped
Yaupi to prepare an Integrated Management Plan to “conserve our ecology”. PSUR is
assisting 4 of the 8 Centers in the Shuar Association Yaupi to obtain land titles. The
other 4 would also like to obtain land title. They did not have “persona juridical,” which 
is why they were not selected for titling. 
2. Transportation from Yaupi to the Patuca to Santiago road takes 2 hours down river. It 
takes about 5 hours to come up river. A road is being built to Yaupi. The topographic 
study has been completed. The Provincial Prefecto has visited Yaupi in connection with
this road. The Center has already discussed how it will handle the changes that the
arrival of the road will bring. The leaders feel that they need more training in order to be 
able to conserve the forest once the road arrives. 
3. Yaupi lies within the municipality of LogroZo. There has been some conflict between the 
municipal government and the Shuar Center. The mayor of LogroZo made or attempted 
to make an arrangement to sell “oxygen” for conservation. The Center Yaupi rejected
this scheme because it had not been consulted. The leaders said that they would have
accepted the project if they had been consulted previously. Such projects, they say,
“must be born from us.” There is no conflict at present, however, between the Junta
Parroquial and the Center Shuar since the same people serve in both types of government. 
4. The leaders say that FIPSE is in favor of titling land by Associations rather than Centers 
and agree that it would be a much faster mechanism. FISCH has 434 Centers so it takes 
along time to title them all. The reason FISCH does titling by Centers is that some of the 
Centers do not have “persona jurídica” and therefore cannot receive a land title. PSUR
provides the only possibility for achieving land titling. In the Upano Valley the Centers
are obtaining individual land titles for their members. Here also every family has its own
property even though the land is communally owned. Many families have 12 children so 
these family plots end up being much smaller in the next generation. 
Overflight Yaupi to Patuka to Macas. Rather than fly straight northwest to Macas the plane
wentsouth to the Patuka Santiago road, west to Patuka and then north to Macas, up the Upano 
Valley. 
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Mid-Term Evaluation August 2003
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1. Forest covers large valley bottoms to the north of the Patuka Santiago road. These will
be susceptible to rapid deforestation once they become more easily accessible by road. 
Since they are flat and more accessible they may be priority areas for establishing
organized forest management and production. 
2. The mountain slopes are extremely steep and susceptible to massive land slumps once
cleared of vegetation. The closer to Patuka the higher the percentage of deforestation on
these slopes, entirely for pasture. On the western side of the Cordillera Kutucú
deforestation has occurred about 300 or 400 meters above the valley bottom.
3. The Patuka to Santiago road goes through very rough terrain but has caused and been
affected by surprisingly few landslides. 
4. The Upano Valley, although cleared almost entirely of its original vegetation, has a large
number and volume of trees growing in pastures. A silvopastoreal production system
could produce a very large volume of high quality, easily logged commercial wood. 
C. SITE VISITS: LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRENGTHENING
Visit to the Loja/El Oro Provinces
Between June 4
th and June 10th two of the Evaluation Team members traveled to the border
provinces of Loja and el Oro in the southern part of the country. In this visit the Team met with 
local authorities of the Provinces, Cantones and Parishes as well as with Community groups in
order to review the Program activities and results in the Municipal Strengthening Component as
follows:
1. Cariamanga (Calvas)
CARE has been working in Cariamanga, the Cantonal Capital of Calvas, since 1999. According
to the acting Mayor the results of the assistance have been very satisfactory. In Cariamanga
CARE has worked in the 2 indicators as follows: Completion of integration of the “Comité
Cantonal de Desarrollo”, Preparation of the Municipal (Cantonal) Development Plan, Municipal
Information System and Training activities in leadership, Computers, Development plans
methodology, and, municipal organization.
In this Municipality, the Team also met with the “Comité Cantonal de Desarrollo to discuss with
the different sector working groups (Mesas Sectoriales) their expectations of the plan and when
they see the plan can initiate implementation. According to the President of the Committee, they 
are in the process of negotiating with the Mayor the inclusion of the plan’s activities in the
Municipal plan. The Team was under the impression that the Plan was designed outside the
Municipality, with very little involvement of the local authorities.
Issues identified: 
a. The Municipal (Cantonal) Development Committee, even though a very well intentioned
group of citizens are still negotiating the incorporation of its plan activities with the
Mayor. The integration of this kind of community groups should be made between the
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Municipal authorities and the Community. Strengthening the Community requires a
parallel strengthening of the municipality in such a way that it has the capacity to respond 
to community demands.
b. The Municipality does not generate the resources to pay for the municipal operating
expenses. In this situation the Municipality has to resort to transfers to pay for 70 % of
recurrent expenses. 
c. The sustainability of the proposed plan and other institutional reforms are very much 
dependant on future political authorities and the importance they attach to them.
2. Pindal
On the same day, the Team visited the Municipality of Pindal. This municipality has recently
initiated to work with the PSUR Program. The Team held a discussion with the Acting Mayor 
and all the municipal executives during which the participants explained their role in the
municipal administration and the development of a new municipal development plan.
In this case, the Municipality is taking the lead in the process of preparing a Municipal
Development Plan with the participation of the civil society, integrated in a Development Plan
Committee. Once the plan is completed, this committee is expecting to become a “Social Audit 
Committee”, in charge of following up and controlling the plan implementation.
The Municipality is installing, assisted by CARE, a Computer network and a Financial System
that will allow the municipality to have a tax payers control and a municipal financial system that 
will integrate tax management, financial accounting and budget preparation and execution. 
When asked for the financial situation of the municipality, the acting Mayor said that local
revenues financed only 20% of the total expenses. The balance was financed out of the
government transfers.
Issues identified:
a. The Community is participating, with great expectations in the preparation of the
Municipal Development Plan. They expressed their expectation that once the
municipality approves the Plan, the municipality will initiate a development process.
These expectations may not be satisfied by a municipality with minimal implementation
and financial capacity.
b. The computerized financial system has also created great expectation in the municipal
staff. This kind of systems require significant technical expertise and financial resources
for its operation and maintenance. Once CARE has completed the work, the municipality
will have minimal capacity to run the system.
c. The municipal financial situation is extremely worrisome. The lack of resources may be
reflected in a high rotation of personnel.
 3. Zapotillo
The Team visited the Municipality of Zapotillo but did not have the opportunity to meet with the 
municipal staff. However, in the way to the water Tronco Quemado Project, the Team had the 
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opportunity to exchange ideas with the Mayor. According to the Mayor, the most pressing
municipal problem is the lack of resources for investment in infrastructure. He’s very proud of an
irrigation project being implemented with Japanese funding and believes that once the project’s
completed, the private sector will generate needed labor in the area. When asked how bad the 
municipal finances were, he told us that the municipal current income covered only 20% of the
current expenditures. The balance was paid out of government transfers.
4. Arenillas
Arenillas is the biggest Canton (Municipality) in the El Oro Province, with the largest number of
parishes and communities and with very little resources to implement the needed infrastructure 
and basic services. The municipality is installing a CARE sponsored automation network to
manage the financial process and organize the tax payers accounts, accounting and budgeting.
The Municipality is also implementing a Cadastre system that will allow the municipality to
charge a property tax for urban and rural areas. 
The municipality, with CARE assistance, is implementing a profiling system of the community.
According to a CARE technician, this system will help the municipality rationalize the subsidies 
in local services and taxes. Also, CARE is assisting the municipality in determining the cost of
services to calculate proper tariffs. According to the Mayor, CARE’s training has increased the
level of staff dedication and satisfaction in the work place.
The Municipality has concluded the Strategic Development Plan that has been preparing since
2002. This Development Plan has produced agreements with other institutions interested in the
municipality. Children Task forces are working in the garbage collection processes and also the 
“Health Brigades” have done a great job in the prevention of diseases.
According to the Mayor, with help of CARE the municipality has drastically changed. The staff
capacity has increased and the Cantonal authorities have been able to reach the rural areas that in 
other situation would’ve been impossible.
When asked about the financial situation of the municipality, the Mayor accepted that they can
only cover around 30% of the current expenditures, with the balance paid out of the government 
transfers. Also, the Municipality is not yet prepared to do participatory budgets and is not
interested, at this moment, in accountability sessions with the community.
Garbage Collection and Landfill
The Team visited the just initiated sanitary landfill implemented in Arenillas with CARE’s
sponsorship. The program starts with the community training in the recycling process and the
provision (at a cost) of the containers needed to dispose of the classified garbage. Then, the
program has to design collection routes, prepare adequate access roads and oversee the landfill
construction.
The landfill design should be a technical process, whose first activity is the landfill site and size
selection. The site selection’s important because of the need to have adequate location and winds 
orientation to prevent the spreading of bad odors and flies. Also, it’s important that the site can
offer the possibility of soil to be used to cover and compact the buried garbage. The size is
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important because the life of the project has to guaranty the capacity to treat the amount of
garbage produced during a period of time. In the case of Arenillas, the urban area produces in
average 6 tons of garbage per day. The Municipality build the landfill in a 10 Ha. lot (normally 
the design is for between 10 and 20 years. In the case of Arenillas, the design was made for 15 
years).
The garbage is classified and collected separately in different days. The organic garbage is
deposited in a compost producing space where its removed periodically and the compost
produced is marketed with local farmers and producers. The inorganic garbage is spread out in
the landfill, compacted and covered with soil and compacted. When a trench is filled another one 
is opened until the site reaches its capacity.
Part of the design should also be the treatment plant for the inorganic matter (“Lixiviados”), that 
have to be specially treated to avoid health risks. In the case of Arenillas, the treatment is
complete. However, no water facilities were found.
The site is well fenced and protected and a building for the site watchman was built.
 
Issues identified:
a. The community has developed a high level of expectation on the Municipal Development 
Plan. However, the Mayor has clearly expressed the lack of resources to undertake any
activities. This situation may have a definite impact in the community if the municipality
is unable to meet the community expectations.
b. The systems implemented need a considerable amount of technical and financial 
resources. At this particular moment CARE is taking care of the expenses, but once the 
institution leaves, resources have to be made available for the systems maintenance.
c. The financial situation of the municipality is due to the lack of political will to impose tax 
and fees collection. If this situation’s not resolved and the government implements
restrictions for the use transfers, the municipality runs the risk of losing not only the
community enthusiasm but the municipal staff confidence.
d. The profiling may prove very dangerous when used to segregate the community. The
provision of subsidies may be done in a less damaging method.
e. The landfill system may need some mechanical equipment to improve the operation of
the system. A tractor is necessary to spread out the garbage. Water is needed to maintain 
certain level of humidity and for staff hygiene.
Visit to Municipalities in the Morona /Santiago Region
1. Sucúa
Sucúa is, after Macas, the second most important municipality in the Morona Santiago Province. 
It has an estimated population of around 15,000, of which 6,000 are urban. Sucúa has been
preparing a Municipal Development Plan since the year 2000, but it’s not under implementation
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yet. The Mayor of the Canton told the Team members that he’s in the process of integrating an 
implementation committee to help the Cantonal Council.
This municipality is a well-structured local government. However, asking the Mayor which are
his priorities for the Canton’s development and improvement he mentioned the need for a
comprehensive technical assistance with emphasis in municipal finances. According to the
Mayor, the Municipality only generates 20 % of its operating expenditures. The city cadastre,
urban and rural, incorporates as land values, symbolic figures that produce almost nothing in
taxes ($8.00 to $50.00/ Ha, when the market value is between 7 and 15 thousand dollars).This is 
the reason why the municipal tax base is extremely weak and depends on the government
transfers to pay for operating expenses. All municipal projects in the rural area have a
community counterpart, but not those of the urban area. 
The municipality is operating a well-designed sanitary landfill that generates its own operating
expenditures. The project was fully designed and implemented in a 14 Ha, that could last more 
than 50 years, considering that the amount of garbage produced per day is only 1.5 Tons. This 
project was constructed with government bank funds. PSUR helped finance a impermeable
membrane and organize the landfill’s operations.
Issues identified:
a. The Team could not determine the willingness of the community to participate in the
implementation of the Cantonal Development Plan. But even if we assume that the
community will participate, the Municipality lacks the capacity to respond to the
expectations created by the plan.
b. The technology used for Cadastre implementation and the financial information system
will need substantial technical and financial resources after PSUR is completed. The
sustainability of the implemented systems is greatly dependant on the resource
availability. It’s important to consider that this municipality is located in an isolated rural
region, where technology is not necessary available.
c. The landfill produces its own operating expenditures. However, the revenues are
combined with the limited municipal revenues, subjecting the landfill maintenance to the
availability of general municipal resources.
2. Logroño
The Team was supposed only to visit a water project in a Logroño’s rural community. However, 
the Team met with local authorities to have a better idea of the local government in this area of
the country. Logroño has not initiated a municipal strengthening process but the Mayor’s very
interested in it. Also, the municipality is planning to implement a sanitary landfill and to
implement a Municipal Development plan elaborated with the help of an European country that
the Mayor didn’t want to mention. The municipality does not have a tax base. There are no taxes 
in Logroño. The only municipal revenue comes from the water tariffs, where the municipality
charges a base tariff of $2.50 per family plus an amount per cubic meter. To finance operating
expenditures, the municipality relays on government transfers. When asked about the legal
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limitation on the use of transfers to pay for operating expenditures, the mayor responded that
nobody pays attention to that
Issues identified:
a. Even though the Team did not have the opportunity to meet municipal staff, the
municipal organization appears to be very weak and lack resources.
b. It’s not very common to find a municipality that openly accepts that it doesn’t have a tax
base. Any planned strengthening should consider the financial situation, as the basis for
sustainability.
3. Macas
The Team met with the Mayor of Macas (the Morona Santiago provincial capital), in order to
have a better idea of the general situation of the Province and its local government. The Mayor 
thinks that he has an efficient and effective local administration (the Team did not visit the
Municipality and did not have the opportunity to interact with municipal staffers). The
municipality has an urban cadastre implemented and charges urban property taxes. The Mayor’s 
expecting to complete in the next six (6) months the rural cadastre that he expects will produce 
substantial income for the city. The city has initiated a participative budget process that the
Mayor considers will be very successful. However, when asked about local revenues he admitted 
that the Municipality only generates $500.000 out of a $3.5 million budget. The balance has to 
be paid out of government transfers.
The Municipal Development plan is being developed with the cooperation of the National
Association of Municipalities (AME), CARE and the SNV. The Mayor expects to have definite 
community participation to implement the Plan. Finally, the Mayor considers that its first priority
is the improvement of the water system that he considers very poor.
Issues identified:
a. The rural cadastre is being implemented with the help of ECOLEX using advanced
technology. Maintenance may become a problem once the donors complete their projects.
b. The small amount of municipal revenues makes very difficult the implementation of a
Municipal Development Plan without a strong community participation support.
Municipal capacity may become another limiting factor.
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