M.M. Cernea’s research while affiliated with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and other places

Reports and discusses the findings of a recent systematic analysis of the correlation between the sustainability of development projects and several factors assumed to affect it, including institutional and organizational factors. The analysis covered twenty-five large-scale development projects financed by the World Bank. It sheds light on the premises of sustainability and, conversely, on the causes of nonsustainable development interventions. 1) Presents the empirical findings produced by a study of twenty-five development projects financed by the World Bank in agriculture and rural development; 2) discusses the implications of these findings; and 3) defines some issues and lessons relevant for designing strategies for sustainable development, particularly in agriculture. These issues refer to specific organization building and social engineering approaches required in development programmes, and to the social science research and applied work needed for their realization. There are additional comments by A.S.Gunawardena. -from Author