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CCAFS: outcome assessment
Right Track Africa consultant Julius
Nyangaga conducted an Impact assessment to analyze the impacts and
outcomes the CCAFS project had achieved in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
and Ethiopia. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) seeks to promote a
food–secure world through the provision of science-based efforts
that support sustainable agriculture and enhance livelihoods while
adapting to climate change and conserving natural resources and
environmental services.
Through the partnerships, CCAFS is
integrating the thematic research
(on adaptation, risk management and
mitigation), facilitating user-driven research and enhancing the
science-policy dialogue, up-scale sharing of knowledge, tools and
approaches. In 2012 through 2013 the regional program started the
process of transitioning learning sites into “Climate Smart
Villages” – where research partners and developing partners
worked with farmers to test a portfolio of promising climate
change adaptation, risk management, and mitigation interventions.
After 3 years of operation, the CCAFS East Africa Regional
Program contracted Julius Nyangaga of Right Track Africa to
undertake an internal impact assessment analyzing the impact the
regional program has made and the outcomes achieved in Uganda,
Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia during its operations since 2010.
This assessment was to highlight the impacts the program has made
in influencing behavior change, examine the use of the knowledge
and data generated by CCAFS and also provide recommendations for
future activities. The term behavioural is broad, and refers to
raised awareness, the acquisition and use of relevant knowledge
and skills capacity, cultural and policy transformation in
institutes and governance systems that would have the greatest
effect on the target impacts. This means that the assignment
sought to establish the extent to which these outcome results had
taken place. And the sources of information were therefore
representatives of such entities who were asked to explain such
transformation. Or the challenges and gaps that still remain given
CCAFS’ desired outcomes and any recommendations they could give
to make progression more effective.
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WHH PACIDA
IN, 2018, Right Track Africa carried
out a final evaluation for a project which was undertaken by
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and PACIDA. WHH partnered with PACIDA in
Kenya and AFD in Ethiopia to implement a BMZ funded project
“Enhancing resilience of agro pastoralists and pastoralists in
the Borana zone in the Dillo, Dirre, Miyo, Moyale, and Teltele
districts, Oromia Region, Ethiopia and in the North Horr, Maikona
and Sololo sub-counties in the Marsabit County in Kenya”. The
two organizations commissioned an external end-of-project
evaluation for an analysis of results and how the interventions
have led to long lasting change in the lives of beneficiary
communities, as well as the effect of any other confounding
factors. The objective of the evaluation was to analyse
end-of-project results and how the interventions led to long
lasting change in the lives of beneficiary communities in the
targeted districts in general and the effect of other confounding
factors. The evaluation applied OECD/DAC criteria of relevance,
effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability as a guide to
key evaluation questions.
The objective of the project (KEN
1125) was to improve the living conditions of the pastoralist and
agro-pastoralist communities in the Borana Zone of the
border-region between Ethiopia and Kenya and to enhance their
resilience against drought. The specific objectives of the project
were: To increase adequate nutrition for the target groups, to
support access to safe drinking water by the beneficiaries, to
increase and diversify the beneficiaries’ sources of income and
to support disaster management mechanisms and coordination.
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is one of the
largest non-government aid agencies in Germany. The organization
provides integrated aid: from rapid disaster aid to reconstruction
and long-term development assistance in conjunction with local
partner organizations. In Kenya, WHH has a country office in
Nairobi, with intervention areas in mainly arid and semi-arid
regions namely Makueni, Kitui, Kajiado, Narok, Tana River,
Marsabit and Turkana. Other interventions areas in non-arid areas
include Siaya, Kakamega, Bungoma and Vihiga County.
PACIDA was established in 2008 as an indigenous and
not-for-profit organization in Kenya with the main aim of bridging
the humanitarian and development gaps through increased
networking, lobbying and partnership with local communities,
government and development partners. The organization has been
working with pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in the
County of Marsabit in Northern Kenya bordering Ethiopia to the
south. The organization strives to strengthen local capacities and
builds on local initiatives.
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WHH NIA
In January 2019, Neighbours
Initiative Alliance (NIA) in partnership with Welthungerhilfe
Kenya (WHH-K) commissioned a midterm evaluation to assess the
performance of the Pastoralist Resilience Project since its
inception for lessons that can be used to plan and implement Phase
2 of the project. A team from Right Track Africa Ltd conducted the
evaluation. The analysis assessed the extent to which the project
had achieved its performance targets, and OECD/DAC criteria of
efficiency, effectiveness, management, gender, equity,
partnerships, sustainability, and coherence. The evaluation team
then adopted Utilization Focused Evaluation (UFE; Patton, 2008)
where the evaluation team serves as a facilitator of a learning
process, rather than a judge.
The Neighbours Initiative Alliance
(NIA) in partnership with Welthungerhilfe Kenya (WHH-K) has been
implementing a project in the two counties, dubbed “Strengthening
Resilience of Agro-pastoralist and Pastoralists in Kajiado and
Narok Counties” since 2016 (hereafter referred to as the ‘KEN
1134 Project or the (NIA (Kajiado-Narok) Pastoralists Resilience
Project’. The aim of the project is to strengthen the resilience
of agro-/pastoral households and reduce their susceptibility to
hunger and malnutrition The KEN 1134 project began in November
2016 and is expected to end in April 2020.
The evaluation report provided an
in-depth analysis and documenting of qualitative and quantitative
outputs and outcomes achieved in Phase 1 (2016 to 2018). The
report also presented challenges faced, lessons learnt and
recommendations for the partners and relevant stakeholders for
Phase 2 of the project (2018 to 2020). The target communities of
Kajiado and Narok counties are predominantly pastoralist and agro
pastoralist communities. Other activities include tourism and
cattle trading. The community in the region is patriarchal with
the role and contribution of women undermined economically,
socially and politically. Due to the factors contributing to their
vulnerability (population, contracting rangelands, environmental
degradation, and inadequate incomes) the communities have been
affected by food insecurity and the effects of climate change,
especially the increasingly recurrent and longer droughts.
The project had four result areas which were; improving
household nutrition and health practices among the target
community members, Milk production and trade, Pasture production
and conservation and steer fattening and trading.
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Concern
Worldwide and Christian Aid
In
December 2018 Right Track Africa conducted final evaluation using
Outcome Harvesting approach for two projects: Project 1: “The
Accountable and Inclusive Management of Natural Resources and
Livestock Production Systems in Marsabit County”, and Project 2:
“Strengthening Citizens-County Government Collaboration in Water
Governance for Enhanced Community Resilience in Marsabit County”.
Project 1 was implemented by Concern Worldwide and Project 2 by
Christian Aid/MIO-Net, and both funded by DFID’s Deepening
Democracy Programme (DDP) under the Climate Change Governance
(CCG) theme.
The
main objective of the final evaluation was to assess the extent to
which projects achieved expected climate change, and the
governance of natural resources and water management. It presents
an independent assessment of the respective projects analyzing the
extent to which they achieved the expected results, key outcomes
and the drawing of relevant lessons for the implementers and
partners. Outcome Harvesting (OH) approach was the fundamental
process in the final evaluation. Based on the outcome mapping
approach, an outcome is described as ‘a change in the behaviour,
relationships, actions, activities, policies, or practices of an
individual, group, community, organization, or institution’. The
changes are a result of change agents’ actions, who in this case
were Concern and Christian Aid. OH ‘seeks’ outcomes (both
intended and otherwise) and looks back to assess whether they are
a result of the change agent and, if so, how that happened. It is
important that there must be an identifiable causal-effect link
between the projects’ interventions and the harvested outcomes.
The method then helps the project develop lessons on how best to
achieve their goals or objectives by adjusting and adapting their
activities to produce the desired outcomes
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