Evaluation of the USAID-Kosovo SME and Agriculture - Economic ...

Development Associates, Inc.development that was oriented to laying the foundation for faster economic growth in the future,rather than just dealing with the realities of the day.Relevant – KBS addressed crucial knowledge gaps and aimed to provide the local businesscommunity with much needed skills and new business models, that are critical for the revival ofthe local economy and thus for the future of Kosovo.One point of contact – There were many NGOs that were trying to address similar needs. Mostof them had very limited presence and outreach and often disappeared as quickly as theyappeared. Just an example, in 2001 it took the “Private Sector Development” section of theDepartment of Trade and Industry over four months just to identify all “private sector serviceproviders” and present them in the “Roadmap for Private Sector Assistance”. In contrast KBShad a well known presence throughout the period.WeaknessesExtensive Business Assistance –In order to concentrate on the needs of your customers you musthave the flexibility to do so. The fulfillment of target indicators often made KBS unable toconcentrate on the specific needs of the individual enterprises in the emerging private sector.That is, it sometimes lacked the necessary depth of approach—an intensive approach-- needed tohave the desired impact on the client operations. The finding is that the extensive businessdevelopment model, understandably important in early years of reconstruction, in late periodsdistracted the staff from the original USAID strategic objectives. Had they been able toconcentrate on specific high-growth enterprises, instead of the broad spread required by thereporting indicators, there could well have been higher impact in terms of economic performanceand job creation.Less than full coordination with other donors and programs – There was coordination with otherprojects but perhaps not all that there could have been with other donor activities in the samefield. Coordination was stronger in agribusiness activities than enterprise services but thefinding is that the coordination undertaken was consistent with the objectives that KBS waspursuing.Lack of a formal system for client feedback - Regular analysis of the client satisfaction with theservices provided would have been useful. Although there seems to have been informal feedbackand analysis, formal surveys should have been carried out on a regular basis and the resultsdisseminated. That could have served as a solid basis for the fine-tuning of the service packageand for improving the quality of the services and making them more relevant to the customerneeds.6. Major constraints? How can constraints be ameliorated?Below is a brief table summarizing some of the major external constraints, the situation at thebeginning of the KBS project and currently, and its impact of the efforts to support the emergingprivate sector.Evaluation of the USAID/Kosovo SME 12 May 2004and Agriculture/Agribusiness ProgramsVolume I