James F. Conway, PhD-American University
Washington, DC.

Dr. Conway's work overseas during the past twenty-seven years has been characterized by realistic design of integrated rural development projects, which allowed successful implementation. The projects were able to reach their objectives. In most cases, he was involved in the operational management side of seeing the projects through to completion.

In Peru, watershed management in three of the poorest provinces (Huancavelica, Apurimac and Ayacucho) presented delicate environmental and sustainability problems, which right from the beginning were handled by involving both the community and the government in a participatory diagnosis. Key problems were identified in terms of priority to the beneficiaries and within the technical capacity of the assisting Ministry. Inca indigenous irrigation systems were restored and multiplied through popular participation. Additional water harvesting structures were created in the form of damns, dykes, and infiltration galleries.

During his career, Mr. Conway has managed (implemented, monitored and reported) USAID Project Grants, such as:

a) Oasis Agricultural Improvement amongst Sedentarized Nomads in Northern Niger;
b) Appropriate Local Agricultural Technology Production in Kampese, Zaire;
c) Foodgrain Silo Construction through the producer cooperatives in Rwandan communes for food Security;
d) Curriculum Planning for the National Cooperative Training School in Kigali, Rwanda;
e) New M and E systems in rural Peru.

In the housing sector, Mr. Conway has promoted low-income self-help housing in various countries:

a) In Zaire, in cooperation with "Habitat for Humanity" of which Mr. Conway was the local Representative. A complex of two hundred homes were built with recipient participation just outside the capital city;

b) In Bangladesh, Mr. Conway committed the full support of the United Nations WFP to the "Cluster Village" program of the Ministry of Housing. Tax assessors were trained in housing development and promotion while each local administrative unit in the country made a portion of land available for low-income housing. Communal land title was used;

c) In Egypt, the UN-WFP, under Mr. Conway's initiative, supported the Land Reclamation Ministry in providing skeletal homes for landless settlers settled on newly reclaimed lands. Each family had to complete its own home;

In Indonesia, in cooperation with the Transmigration Ministry, new settlers received subsidies to build their homes in cooperation with local building construction experts. UN-WFP supported this process.