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

Abstract

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.