Are Development Projects Pursuing Short-Term Benefits at the Expense of Sustainability?

• Main Authors: Yigezu Yigezu, Tamer El-Shater, Aden Aw-Hassan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-10-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: small ruminants; loans; sustainability; income; risk; technical efficiency
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1803

When evaluated purely on financial grounds, most developmental interventions targeting the livestock sector exhibit a positive impact. This study also provides empirical evidence that a project which provided loans to livestock producers in Syria succeeded in increasing the annual farm income and reducing the income risk. However, these annual benefits were accompanied by a reduction in technical efficiency which, unabated, may compound over the years and compromise the livestock enterprise’s sustainability. The development lesson from these findings is that misguided interventions with well-known short-term livelihoods benefits could, in the long run, hurt the very sector which they aim to support.