The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialized UN agency and international financial institution dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. With a strong focus on the sustainability and growth of rural communities, IFAD launched a programme between the years 2019 to 2022 across multiple countries to strengthen national capacity for conducting impact assessments of rural development projects. The initiative particularly targeted government officers and staff of development institutions, including those working in monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

The programme targeted three main groups: (i) government officers, development institution staff, researchers and employees of national statistical offices, and practitioners from universities and research institutions in developing countries, with at least 600 participants (100 in each of six projects) trained on impact assessment methodologies and provided with hands-on experience in designing and conducting high-quality impact assessments of rural development projects; (ii) at least 300 staff members (50 from each project) from rural development projects whose M&E systems were strengthened through lessons learned and best practices from the training; and (iii) development practitioners, policy makers, technical specialists and researchers who benefited from an online learning platform established by IFAD and C4ED, which extended training and capacity development while providing access to data and results from these impact assessments.

What methods will be employed?

C4ED conducted six impact assessments to support IFAD in achieving the overall programme goal. The objectives were threefold: first, to strengthen in-country capacity to conduct rigorous impact assessments (RIAs) by identifying successes and failures in project components and establishing mechanisms for sound evaluations that enabled evidence-based project design. All RIAs used a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data, including key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Second, to draw lessons from rural development projects regarding their impacts on targeted beneficiaries and the barriers encountered, particularly in relation to IFAD’s strategic objectives of economic mobility, productive capacity, market access, and resilience. Third, to measure the effectiveness of rural development projects in order to contribute to the global knowledge base, inform future policy and project design, and support the scaling-up of successful interventions and best practices. The impact assessments employed a mixed-methods approach by combining qualitative and quantitative primary data. Qualitative data was collected through 15 key informant interviews, 77 in-depth interviews, and 12 transect walks, while quantitative data was gathered through 3,321 household interviews with beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, as well as 126 interviews with community leaders across Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, and Rajanpur districts. Quantitative findings identified the impact of SPPAP using an ex-post non-experimental approach, whereby beneficiaries were matched and compared with non-beneficiaries with similar characteristics prior to the intervention.