Dr Indran A. Naidoo Director Independent Office of Evaluation
It gives me great pleasure to introduce the 11th edition of Independent Magazine. In this edition, we continue to report on evaluative work and to illustrate the responses and uptake of independent evaluation in countries. These events are milestones in an evaluative process that emphasises dialogue and confirms IOE’s emphasis on consistent stakeholder engagement from the inception to the completion of evaluations. It is through this engagement that reflection and learning are achieved, not at the report stage. The formal report serves the accountability purpose.
Our coverage of evaluations and events held in Ghana, Tunisia, the Dominican Republic, Chad and the Solomon Islands provides diverse accounts of IFAD’s work and reflects the complexity of the IFAD programme which responds to a broad range of needs globally. The annual Executive Board visit to Tunisia, accompanied by IOE and Management, provided members with insightful perspectives on how a programme practically operates in a country, with the previous IOE evaluation report serving as a benchmark for reflection.
In 2025, IOE is proud to Chair the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG), which constitutes the professional network of the independent evaluation offices of the banks. The ECG was first established in 1996. Since then, IFAD has Chaired the group only on one occasion, dating back to 2017. This year, we shall be hosting two events in Rome. These meetings will provide an opportunity also for IFAD Board members and Management to engage with the ECG leadership. The sessions planned will all focus on practical implications for evaluation, addressing issues such as artificial intelligence and private sector evaluation. We very much look forward to receiving our ECG colleagues at IFAD.
Profile
IOE is honoured to be a part of the faculty of the esteemed cohort of the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS), a programme which has the leadership of Jeffrey Sachs. Our innovative work in integrating neuroscience into evaluation process continues, with IOE now being the only office with a manual on communicating evaluation findings from a neuroscience perspective. The EIIS needs to be commended for reaching this milestone, which we support fully.
The Executive Board approved an increase in IOE budget, which practically means that our coverage of country programs moves up by 100 percent, providing oversight of 48 percent more of the IFAD portfolio, from USD 2,5 billion to USD 3,5 billion. It should be reassuring to Board members that most of the IFAD portfolio is now subject to independent oversight, and to Management which has at its disposal more evaluative evidence to inform its new country programs.
I trust you find this edition illuminating.
Dr Indran A. Naidoo
Director
Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD
Editorial Board
Proofreading
Revisioning
Independent Magazine brings to the forefront of the global development dialogue the major efforts undertaken by the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD, while seeking to advance the organization’s vision of vibrant, inclusive and sustainable rural economies, where people live free from poverty and hunger. To present the richness of rural life, and detail facets of local community lifestyle, Independent Magazine also zooms in on cultural activities and landmark occurrences in countries featured by IOE’s evaluations.
strengthen
Successful model of project design in the Dominican Republic
The importance of holding the line on independence
Rome gears-up to host the
IFAD Management commits to acting on gender evaluation
Community-driven development is useful in the Solomon Islands
quest of independent communication units
Johanna Pennarz bids farewell to IOE
IFAD TO STRENGTHEN SUPPORT CLEAR IMPACT PATHWAYS, IN NEXT
IFAD will be looking at pursuing and developing investments in an integrated manner, with complementarities between sustainable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and climate resilient value chains, and with clear pathways and measurable results in its next country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) in Ghana. To do so, the Fund will need to develop the COSOP with explicit
strategic orientations on support for business models, aligned with its targeted groups, explained Hansdeep Khaira, Senior Evaluation Officer at the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), during the Ghana Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE) final national workshop, on 22 October 2024.
In his presentation, Mr Khaira noted that the IFAD country programme did not deliver effective pathways towards effective pro-poor investments. For instance, IFAD did not fully leverage its institutional capacity for programme development, and strategic partnership with the government. Without viable business models, IFAD was not able to significantly leverage its long-term partnership to assist the government in co-financing and the mobilisation of public funds to attract private investments.
“The IFAD supported programme has not applied a holistic value-chain approach to support
SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS MODELS WITH NEXT GHANA COUNTRY STRATEGY
agricultural development, with less than desired results obtained at downstream of the chain. The supported rural enterprises have tended to be stand-alone without clear prospects for value addition and growth”, stated Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director, in his opening statement.
Against this backdrop, the IOE Senior Officer suggested that supports to MSMEs should be linked to growing value chains to enable them to access higher and profitable value markets. Further, supported agricultural commodities should have clear links to wider value chains that have been identified by government as drivers of national development and growth.
Co-organized by the Government of Ghana and IOE, in collaboration with IFAD’s West and Central Africa Division, the workshop brought together a wealth of high-level attendants, including The Honourable Dr Bryan Acheampong, Minister for Food and Agriculture, and The Hon-
ourable Dr Stephen Amoah, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance. Participants attending the event represented the government of Ghana, development partners, civil society organizations, private sector partners, and IFAD senior management and staff.
“I wish to commend the Independent Office of Evaluation for an excellent job. Indeed, the evaluation findings as presented are a true reflection of the country’s strategic opportunities programme (COSOP). The current COSOP has contributed to the achievement of selected SDGs, and to promoting closer and sustainable rural transformation by investing in interventions that enabled poor rural people to increase their incomes through resilient livelihoods”, said The Hon. Dr Bryan Acheampong.
This CSPE is the third country programme evaluation conducted in Ghana, and it covers the period 2013-2023. The total estimated cost of
the seven investment projects covered by the CSPE amounted to US$628.1 million, of which one third was financed by IFAD and rest by domestic and international co-financing.
During the workshop, participants discussed the main findings, recommendations and issues emerging from the CSPE. The meeting also provided an opportunity to focus on the opportunities and challenges of the partnership between IFAD and the Government in the near future and discuss strategic priorities for IFAD’s upcoming programme.
“IFAD has been a key development partner for Ghana. Most projects have specifically targeted various actors along the agricultural value chain. With IFAD’s primary objective of alleviating rural poverty, the interventions have remarkably contributed to harness efforts to achieve the SDGs on ‘no poverty’ and ‘hunger’. IFAD has committed to creating lasting synergies that will impact the role of smallholder farmers”, affirmed the Hon. Dr Stephen Amoah.
Workshop participants recognized that IFAD’s programme contributed to positive outcomes, in relation to increased agricultural productivity and production and development and strengthening of enterprises. In terms of increased crop production and productivity, the supply of inputs and improved farming practices led to higher levels of production and productivity for some projects. In particular, the production kits enabled farmers to increase yield by 20 to 30 per cent.
The programme’s support to enterprises also created some employment opportunities, including for vulnerable groups. Business development services led to increase in self-employment activities by 24 percentage points between 2012 and 2019. Furthermore, IFAD projects contributed to building human capital through strengthening participants’ skills, especially related to financial literacy, which led to improved financial access. These results were supported by strong and effective partnerships with government institutions at the national and sub-national levels, and with the private sector at the supply end, and the partnership with Rome Based Agencies was emergent.
Discussions brought to the forefront sustainability issues with regards to the decentralized service delivery model for enterprises, a lack of systems to ensure that farmers would continue to access good quality inputs without project support and maintenance of production and market access infrastructure.
Other challenges also emerged. The demand led approach for partnering with financial institutions did not work as expected, compounded by complex financial products that were not aligned to the needs of the rural or agriculture clientele. Also, there was a lack of clear-cut planning and coordination to link production, processing and marketing support for a better balance in value chains. Furthermore, the formal contracts with agri-businesses were limited to the supply of inputs but not the sale of agricultural produce. Empowerment of beneficiaries through building their social capital was not
achieved as expected.
To address these challenges, it is recommended that IFAD further expand partnerships with the private sector and other development actors supporting rural enterprises and value chains; strengthen the targeting strategy by being more responsive to needs and choices of the target
groups and more systematic in the geographic scope; and systematically address capacity inefficiencies, including the implementation of functional system of documentation, monitoring and accountability. It is also recommended that IFAD invest in rural infrastructure for effective pro-poor value chains.
Black Star experience to showcase Ghana as Africa’s cultural hub*
Minister-designate for Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie, has unveiled plans for the “Black Star Experience,” an initiative designed to position Ghana as a leading destination for arts, culture, and tourism.
Drawing inspiration from Ghana’s iconic Black Star, a symbol of hope and leadership in Africa, she highlighted the unifying potential of the initiative.
Speaking during her vetting on Wednesday, January 22, Madam Gomashie said the Black Star Experience aims to be more than just a singular event. It will serve as a framework to celebrate Ghana’s diverse cultural identity, with contributions from communities across all regions.
Madam Gomashie emphasised that the Black Star Experience would integrate efforts from multiple government agencies and ministries.
She added that the initiative will also provide a platform for young creatives and cultural activists to contribute, fostering innovation and economic opportunities in the creative arts sector.
Dr Indran A. Naidoo:
IFAD country programme achieved solid results in environmental and natural resource management in Tunisia
Irrigated land developed by IFAD-supported projects helped mitigate the effects of aridity and droughts in Tunisia. Direct management of private and public rangeland by livestock producers had an undeniable impact, permitting the regeneration of biodiversity and increasing the value of rangeland forage. These findings relate to the most recent Tunisia Coun-
try Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE), which Dr Indran A. Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), presented to a group of distinguished representatives of the IFAD Executive Board (EB) during a country visit to Tunisia.
Organized from the 3rd to the 8th of November 2024, the visit enabled the EB representatives to witness IFAD’s work on the ground and observe first-hand the opportunities and challenges that the Fund faces in carrying out its mandate. Delegates included Santino Magalhães Cavalcanti, Secretariat for International Affairs of Brazil; Zeng Shiyang, Second Secretary of Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the Rome-based UN agencies; Vincent Abt, Conseiller Agriculture et Sécurité Alimentaire auprès du Chef du service des Affaires multilatérales et du Développement à la Direction générale du Trésor de la France; Ronald Meyer, Alternate
Permanent Representative of Germany to the International Organizations in Rome; Purna Cita Nugraha, Alternate Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to IFAD Rome; Yaya O. Olaniran, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the Rome-based UN agencies; Jacqueline Boniface Mbuya, Minister Plenipotentiary Agriculture Attaché and Alternate Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN Rome-based Agencies Rome; and Christopher Clem, International Economist Office of International Development Policy U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The mission promoted dialogue with state and local government officials regarding IFAD’s role in Tunisia, allowed Board representatives to meet beneficiaries, and provided an insight into the importance of public policy as a means of promoting rural development. In addition, EB members also gained a better understanding of the lessons emerging from the 2019 CSPE carried out by IOE. Dr Naidoo’s presentation offered an opportunity to discuss what the Government and IFAD have learnt from this CSPE, and how they have learnt from this CSPE and how they have used it to prepare and implement a new
country strategy from 2019 and to enhance the portfolio.
Dr Naidoo explained that the IFAD country programme likely improved living conditions in rural areas, thanks to major investments in socio-economic infrastructure and natural resource management. The direct impact on income was linked primarily to the higher productivity and agricultural diversification, resulting from investments in irrigation, water and soil management and subsidies for arboriculture. In the South, pasture development projects had a positive impact on herd productivity and helped mitigate the impact of droughts. Improvements in the road network contributed everywhere to higher and more diversified income, due to the substantial reduction in the time and cost of moving people and goods. Significant progress was also made in terms of the rural population’s participation in the management of public infrastructure and installations.
These findings were complemented by the information that the EB members gathered firsthand during their field visits to IFAD-supported operations in the Governorates of Medenine
and Kairouan. During the visits, Board representatives held discussions with beneficiaries, farmers’ groups, representatives of small and medium enterprises and local government authorities.
In the Governorate of Medenine, the group received a presentation of the PRODEFIL Agropastoral Value Chains Project to support women and young beneficiaries, and visited an exposition of beneficiaries’ stands. The goal of this project is to improve living conditions for vulnerable rural people and create new opportunities for employment by strengthening the resilience of agropastoral production systems. To that end, the project seeks to help public and private actors manage and develop local agropastoral value chains, including those for camelids and small ruminants.
In the Governorate of Kairouan, the group visited the Economic, Social and Solidarity Project (IESS). The project’s priority target groups are needy and low-income families on the one hand, and small-scale farmers and livestock breeders on the other. Field visits included trips to visit a local kindergarten, income generating activities and a water tank. The group was also briefed on
the application of the Gender Action Learning System, which is a household methodology that helps realize gender-transformative results in IFAD’s operations.
Following these on-the-ground visits, back in Tunis, the EB group and Dr Naidoo held discussions with high-level government authorities and key donors at the national level. Interactions included meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Water Resources and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Economy and Planning. The group also engaged with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tunisia, as well as with other UN Rome-based agencies.
Looking ahead, the EB representatives will report on the country visit at a future session of the Board, and in doing so will provide informed guidance on strategic and operational matters to the rest of the EB to enhance their critical oversight and strategic role.
Presentation delivered by Dr Indran A. Naidoo
New Center for Literacy and Lifelong Learning*
The regional branch of the Tunisian National Women’s Union in Djerba Houmt Souk (Medenine Governorate) inaugurated a new Literacy and Lifelong Learning Center on 23 January 2025. The center includes a covered learning and training space of 100 square meters, accommodating up to 130 beneficiaries across various disciplines, and an outdoor area for showcasing artisanal women’s products.
During the festive inauguration, Radhia Jerbi, President of the Tunisian National Women’s Union, said that the centre is part of the organization’s broader program to promote lifelong learning. The initiative seeks to empower women with financial and personal independence and provide a space to display and sell their artisanal products. The launch also aligns with the Union’s 70th-anniversary celebrations, which include various activities and new initiatives throughout the year.
On the sidelines of the inauguration, an exhibition of artisanal products featured a variety of crafts, including clothing, decor, and other items inspired by traditional heritage and adapted to modern tastes.
The regional branch in Djerba plans to schedule regular exhibitions to accommodate the growing number of artisans, as the space is limited. Annually, the Union awards approximately 150 training certificates, enabling many artisans to secure loans and launch their projects.
ROME GEARS-UP TO HOST THE EVALUATION COOPERATION GROUP
In 2025, the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) will play host to the two annual meetings of the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG). The Spring meeting will take place from the 10th to the 12th of March 2025, while the Fall meeting will take place in October 2025. This will be only the second time in history that IOE will have hosted the bi-annual gathering, the first dating back to 2017. Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director, presented some of the conceptual underpinnings, structural specifications and logistical arrangements of the two events, during the ECG Fall 2024 meeting, on 13 November 2024.
Both events will be housed at IFAD headquarters, in Rome, and will unfold over the course of three days, with the inclusion of clinics and specialized sessions. In an effort to ensure continuity in the vision and strategic direction of the ECG, IOE will take over the mantel of host institution from the Independent Evaluation Department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IEvD) and the Independent Evaluation Office of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), who chaired the Spring and Fall sessions of 2024, respectively.
Hosted by CABEI in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, for the first time in history, the ECG Fall 2024 meeting brought together the Directors, Heads and Chiefs of evaluation offices of international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs), from the 11th to the 13th of November 2024. José Efraín Deras, Chief of Evaluation at CABEI, and Dr Véronique Salze-Lozac’h, Chief Evaluator at IEvD co-chaired the event, and were joined by Dr Naidoo and many other distinguished representatives, including Karen Rot-Münstermann, Evaluator-General of the Independent Development Evaluation of the African Development Bank (IDEV-AfDB); Emmanuel Jimenez, Director General of Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Todor Dimitrov, Head of Independent Evaluation at the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB); Emmanuel Pondard, Head of Evaluation at the European Investment Bank (EIB); Marialisa Motta, Director of the Office of Evaluation and Oversight of the Inter-American Development Bank (OVE); Dr Sabine Bernabè, Director General of the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank (IEG); Miguel de las Casas, Lead Evaluator at the Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monetary Fund (IMF IEO); and Ahmed Ag Aboubacrine, Acting Director of the Independent Evaluation Depart-
ABOUT THE ECG
The ECG was established in 1996 to promote a more harmonized approach to evaluation methodology.
Membership
The ECG has a three-tier membership structure composed of: full members, permanent observers and temporary observers.
Working practices
ECG members and observers meet twice a year (Spring and Autumn) to discuss and share experiences on current evaluation issues. The meetings are hosted by the ECG Chair, the role of which rotates among ECG members.
ment of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
“The ECG Fall Meeting 2024 provides us with a valuable opportunity to reflect on the transformative impact of evaluation in our institutions and communities. Through collaboration and the exchange of best practices, we strengthen our capacity to conduct evaluations that not only measure results but also drive sustainable development”, said José Efraín Deras.
The first day of the event bore witness to two main themes of discussion. Mr Efraín Deras chaired the first session, which looked at approaches for private sector evaluations, with a focus on how to improve and innovate. Contributions included insights from the ADB, EIB and EBRD. Mr Pondard chaired the second session, which looked at evaluating the nexus between green and private sector. Contributions included insights from CABEI, EIB and EBRD.
The second day of the event bore witness to two more themes for discussion. Dr Salze-Lozac’h chaired the third session, which looked at the use of AI in evaluation to enhance efficiency and outreach of the function. Contributions included insights from IEG, BSTDB, EIB, ADB and EBRD. Dr Bernabè chaired the fourth and final main session, which looked at role of evaluation in the process of the evolving transformational agenda of the MDBs. Contributions included insights from IEG, IsDB, CABEI and IADB.
POSITIONALITY MATTERS FOR ETHICS IN IMPACT EVALUATION
Ethical concerns and discussions are at the heart of rigorous evidence generation in humanitarian contexts. In this regard, it is important to recognize that evaluators are increasingly being asked to provide positionality statements, which can have many implications, including from an ethical perspective. Positionality refers to the ways that differences in social position and power shape identities and access in society. In the context of an impact evaluation, this means recognizing that evaluators bring their own perspectives
and worldviews to an investigation. Dr Indran A. Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), put these issues on the table whilst moderating a panel discussion titled ‘Ethics in Impact Evaluation’, during the UNICEF and WFP Global Impact Evaluation Forum.
The session took place on the 4th of December 2024. Moderated by Dr Naidoo, the panel featured presentations by Mónica Lambon-Quayefio, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ghana; Douglas MacKay, As-
sociate Professor, Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Amber Peterman, Research Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and consultant, UNICEF Evaluation Office; and Ana Garcia Hernandez, Associate Director of Policy, J-PAL Europe. Over 200 people followed the event. The session was framed as an interactive discussion on ethics in impact evaluation, including the evolution of best practices in social science research from different view-
points. Discussions focused on the fact that impact evaluation in fragile settings poses a host of ethical challenges. For example, there may be a concern that evaluation design will compromise humanitarian principles which dictate who and when individuals receive benefits. In addition, protection risks for both research teams and study participants are amplified, necessitating specialized safety protocols during data collection. Even without this layer of additional risk in fragile settings, impact evaluation stakeholders continue to grapple with issues around research transparency, reproducibility and ethics as technology and methodology evolves.
From a communications standpoint, discussants emphasized the importance of developing diverse communication materials, such as reports, summaries, infographics and videos, and collaborating with community members to determine appropriate dissemination methods. Moreover, using different communication tools acknowledges participants and community members as a non-homogeneous group that have different needs, understanding and communication styles. Furthermore, it also helps to ensure equitable access to information and inclusion and reduces the risk of over simplifying research findings which may lead to misinterpretation.
Hosted by UNICEF in partnership with WFP, the Forum took place in New York City, from the 2nd to the 5th of December 2024. The event brought together participants from United Nations (UN) agencies, governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, philanthropies and academia, who had the opportunity to showcase impact evidence from climate-prone and poly-crisis environments, learn from each other’s experiences and identify concrete areas of potential collaboration on impact evaluation.
Presentation delivered by Dr Indran A. Naidoo
FEATURE STORY RURAL POVERTY
Greater attention
POVERTY IMPACT attention called for at IFAD
Trend analysis from 2013 to 2022 has revealed a continued decline in effectiveness and rural poverty impact of IFAD-supported interventions, from a high of 89 per cent of projects in 2012–2014 to 70 per cent in 2020–2022. The recently published 2024 Annual Report on the Independent Evaluation of IFAD (ARIE), which presented these findings, underscores that this decline needs attention and further analysis, given the substantial organizational reforms undertaken since 2017. These include Decentralization 2.0, revised HR policies, the reorganization of headquarters and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2024 ARIE reviews the performance of IFAD-supported operations, based on evaluations conducted by the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE). The report reinforces IFAD’s framework of accountability and learning, to improve the organisational performance. This year’s ARIE examines two key themes: the relationship between cofinancing and project performance, and inclusive rural finance interventions, which form a significant part of IFAD’s current investment portfolio. In addition, the ARIE presents its standard analysis of project performance ratings based on a dataset of evaluations of 297 projects completed between 2013 and 2022, and 42 country strategy and programme evaluations (CSPEs) conducted between 2014 and 2023.
The report found that environmental and natural resource management (ENRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) have improved over the last decade, with over 87 per cent of projects performing well in these areas. This performance is the result of over a decade of dedicated efforts, prioritizing climate change responsiveness and investing resources to integrate climate and environmental aspects in all IFAD activities.
Relevance, sustainability, innovation and government performance have also witnessed an upward trend, albeit more recently, since 2016–2018. Other encouraging findings include those emerging from country strategy
and programme evaluations, which indicate recent improvements in country-level policy engagement.
Regarding inclusive rural finance (IRF), the ARIE notes that interventions succeed when their design aligns with government goals and objectives and works with existing systems to enhance local ownership. Moreover, the effectiveness and sustainability of IFAD’s IRF interventions rely on having sufficient supportive policies and regulations. To this end, a robust contextual analysis ensures that financial services and products meet local needs and financing gaps.
Less encouraging are the findings related to the proportion of high-performing projects, which has fallen from 80 per cent in 2017–2019 to 73 per cent in 2019–2021, and currently stands at 72 per cent for 2020–2022. Potential contributing factors include a decrease in the budget allocated for country programme delivery and disruptions in operational cycles at the country level due to ongoing decentralization processes.
Among the greatest areas of concern is efficiency, which remains the lowest performance area with only 56 per cent of projects performing well. Fragility continues to be a hindering factor of performance, due to weak governance and institutional frameworks. Moreover, during the reference period (2013–2022), projects in non-fragile conditions performed significantly better than those in fragile conditions in efficiency, sustainability of benefits, government performance and overall project performance.
Other areas in need of attention include partnership-building, which has registered a downward trend since 2018, and the performance of very small projects, which was significantly weaker than the average portfolio performance.
Performance trends during the past 10 years showed that Asia and the Pacific continued
to have the highest average rating for overall project performance, and West and Central Africa (WCA) showed the lowest rating. This is a reflection of the external development context WCA faced. For instance, among the five regions, WCA has the lowest human development index and 10 of its 39 countries are identified as operating under long-term conditions of fragility and conflict.
In this regard, the analysis identified 75 projects as operating under conditions of fragility, and the performance of this group was compared with that of the remaining 222 projects (operating in nonfragile conditions). Projects in nonfragile contexts unambiguously outperformed
those in fragile contexts in effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of benefits. For instance, the 2020–2022 values for effectiveness were 75 per cent for the non-fragility group and 60 per cent for the fragility group. The differences in performance varied, but 2019–2021 saw the highest differences (with effectiveness showing a difference of 24 percentage points, efficiency 28 percentage points and sustainability 25 percentage points). In general, the weak governance and institutional frameworks in countries with conditions of fragility and crisis limit the projects’ ability to achieve effective, efficient and durable results.
The report also reviews the gap between performance
ratings by IOE and by IFAD management, as measured through project completion reports (PCRs). The differences between the IOE and PCR ratings of all criteria were found to be statistically significant, with the largest rating disconnect for relevance and scaling up and the smallest disconnect for ENRM and CCA and innovation. The disconnects for relevance and scaling have narrowed while that for ENRM and CCA has been widening since 2018–2020. The disconnects in the effectiveness and rural poverty impact criteria narrowed until 2015 but have been widening since then and appear to have been stabilizing in the last reference period (2020–2023).
Looking ahead, in order to
strengthen cofinancing and project performance, the ARIE recommends that IFAD should carry out a deep dive to understand the performance effects of project-level international and domestic cofinancing. In this regard, ensuring mutual ownership of projects by IFAD and government should be a consideration when determining their respective financial contributions. This should also inform the setting of IFAD’s replenishment targets for cofinancing. With regard to IRF, the ARIE also suggests that, in measuring the performance of IFAD’s IRF interventions, it is necessary to go beyond outreach and volume and include measures of their impact and sustainability.
Access report [here]
IFAD management commits to acting on gender equality and women’s empowerment evaluation
Opportunities exist for IFAD to promote gender-transformative processes at community, project and policy level. Seizing these opportunities calls for the Fund to spell out for its interventions how gender intersects with multiple drivers of poverty and how gender inequality is exacerbated in fragile contexts. It also warrants contributing to catalysing changes owned by national partners and local stakeholders that address the root causes of gender inequality in rural areas. These are among the findings of the Thematic Evaluation on IFAD’s support to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), which Dr Mónica Lomeña-Gelis, Senior Evaluation Officer, presented during a learning event organized by the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE).
The opportunities for further improvement stem from the conclusions of the GEWE evaluation, which found that IFAD’s corporate documents are aligned with global gender strategies and with those of other comparators but should be reinforced to fully cover several key areas of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 targets on gender equality, including the adoption of legal frameworks for the pro -
motion of gender equality and undertaking reforms to ensure equitable access to ownership and control over land for rural men and women.
“Gender mainstreaming as the strategy for achieving GEWE and the move to programming to tackle the roots causes of gender inequality are highly relevant to IFAD’s mandate and are aligned with international efforts”, noted Dr Lomeña-Gelis.
The purpose of IOE’s learning event was to promote ownership and use of the new GEWE evaluation. The event was held in a hybrid manner with the possibility of in-person participation of staff in headquarters and online partici-
pation by field staff. Over one hundred participants attended the event, including representatives of IFAD’s senior Management such as Guoqi Wu, Associate Vice-President, Corporate Service Department, and Juan Carlos Mendoza Casadiegos, Director, Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion.
Bettina Prato, Lead Policy and Technical Advisor to the AVP, IFAD
“This type of event allows for constructive self-reflection on what has worked and what needs to be improved. This evaluation comes at a time when significant amount of work is needed to meet our aspirational goals in terms of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Management agrees with the evaluation finding that GEWE is necessary for rural transformation”, said Bettina Prato, Lead Policy and Technical Advisor to the Associate Vice President, speaking on behalf of Dr Donal Brown, Associate Vice-Pres-
Dr Mónica Lomeña-Gelis Lead author, TE on GEWE report
Profile
ident, Department of Country Operations.
The workshop facilitated a better understanding across IFAD of the key evaluation findings and recommendations, and promoted the organization-wide discussion around how the evaluation informs the update of the gender policy and action plan and guides future interventions to enhance the impact of IFAD’s work on gender equality.
Following a brief introduction of the event by the IOE Director, Dr Indran A. Naidoo, the event was divided in two sessions. The first one was focused on the key findings and recommendations of the thematic evaluation and the management actions in response to the evaluation. The second one was organized around a panel discussion aimed at guiding future interventions to accelerate IFAD’s work on GEWE, followed by questions and answers. Panel members featured Sara Mbago-Bhunu, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa; Kaushik Barua, Regional Lead Portfolio Advisor; Maine Astonitas, Senior Portfolio Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean; Beatrice Gerli, Senior Technical Specialist, coordinator of the Gender-transformative mechanism in the context of climate adaptation; Philippe Remi, country director Tunisia, Libya, and Montenegro; and Pascaline Barankeba, Country Director Sierra Leone-Liberia.
Specific topics addressed by the panel members included improving GEWE design, implementation and reporting;
building strategic partnerships to scale up impact and leverage capacities to work on gender; and what a gender transformative process looks like in the framework of IFAD programming.
“As Management, we firmly believe that gender transformation is core for everything we do here at IFAD, including enhancing food security and nutrition outcomes and also building resilience to climate change”, affirmed Guoqi Wu.
Discussants noted that gender transformative approaches need to be tailored to the context, and gender equality needs to be understood as central component of IFAD interventions. It was acknowledged that additional efforts are needed to reinforce capacity building of all implementing parties to measure GEWE-related outcomes, beyond the outreach and number of men and women participants. The role of key partners, including national governments and other international actors, was highlighted to strengthen the contribution of IFAD to gender equality in rural contexts.
“It is important to provide actionable tools to IFAD staff and project management units to
implement transformative activities and to demystify the conception that making gender transformative activities generates undue complexity. We feel that we can and must provide the appropriate tools”, noted Carlos Mendoza Casadiegos.
The evaluation put forward several recommendations to enhance IFAD’s contribution to GEWE, ensuring that its interventions are well-supported, effectively implemented and capable of catalysing transformative changes and sustainable impacts in rural development. In particular, the evaluation suggests focusing the update of the gender policy and the gender action plan on strengthening IFAD’s position to promote GEWE in agricultural and rural development; strengthening the effectiveness of IFAD’s interventions on GEWE through consolidated guidance, promoting its shared understanding and buy-in among relevant stakeholders; ensuring that the Fund has human resources with the capacities and competencies commensurate with the ambition of IFAD’s GEWE priorities; and establishing high-level metrics to track and report progress towards IFAD’s GEWE goals.
Guoqi Wu, AVP, Corporate Service Department, IFAD
Juan Carlos Mendoza Casadiegos, Director, ECG, IFAD
Integrated approaches to food security can be feasible in fragile countries such as Chad
Arecent project performance evaluation (PPE) report published by the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) confirms that an integrated approach to food security is feasible in a fragile country such as Chad. The evaluation demonstrates that combining a wide range of simple activities is realistic.
In particular, the evaluation found that the combination of several intervention levels – individual producers, households, informal groups and village communities –was both appropriate and effective.
The PPE evaluated the Project to Improve the Resilience of Agricultural Systems in Chad (PARSAT), which is an integrated agricultural development project, financed by IFAD in the Sahelian zone of Chad over the period 2015-2022. The aim of the PARSAT was to improve the resilience of the agricultural systems and the economy of rural households to climate change and external shocks, to contribute to a sustainable improvement in food security and the incomes of rural households in the project area.
The report found that the PARSAT enabled the realization of a range of coherent activities in response to farming communities’ needs. Production systems have been adopted that are better adapted to climate change, and that are more productive and sustainable.
The project has also helped to ensure that small-scale farming is included in national climate change adaptation policies, and that rural households understand the importance of adapting to climate change. Thanks to the increased availability of cereals, households experienced shorter periods of food shortages. Households saw their resilience increase during the dry season, also thanks to the diversification of income from existing agricultural production and the development of new activities. Households also strengthened their general skills through one or more cross-disciplinary training courses, including environmental education, literacy and nutrition.
Farming field schools on rainfed and flood recession crops provided participating households with access to knowledge, improved seeds and tools, with the support of partner NGOs. Farmers also improved their ability to make strategic choices, particularly about their production system, and social cohesion within commu-
Dr Kouessi Maximin Kodjo
Lead author, Chad PPE
Profile
nities has improved, with a reduction in drivers of exclusion. A number of innovative elements helped to achieve results, such as seed shops, farmer and agropastoral crop and livestock field schools, and nutritional education through nutritionists.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the PARSAT was the first in a series of IFAD-financed projects in Chad’s Sahelian zone to make women’s participation a priority, in a context where changing attitudes towards women’s empowerment remains a long-term effort, as evidenced by the lack of women in positions requiring a field presence.
These achievements notwithstanding, come challenges remain, as the project suffered from a lack of planning in relation to strengthening the sustainability of the developments and organizing upkeep and maintenance. In addition, operational support for marketing was not carried out as planned, and the project lacked efficient solutions for
the management of infrastructure investments and to carry out related studies for market gardening, weirs and the renovation of rural tracks.
Building on these findings, the PPE recommends pursuing the approach of multi-theme projects in Chad, especially in the Sahelian and Sudanese zones. The report also advises that IFAD take into account the structure of the social fabric to choose several entry points for intervention, and redesign the approach to sustainable natural resource management in the Sahelian zone.
Chad is one of Africa’s largest countries, Factors of fragility are the environment and the degradation of natural resources, climatic risks, the low availability of basic and production services, the weakness of markets and food prices, the instability of points of sale, food insecurity and malnutrition, unemployment, conflicts between farmers and stockbreeders and land conflicts.
Access report [here]
Chad joins other countries in eliminating sleeping sickness*
Chad became the first country in 2024 to be recognized for eliminating a neglected tropical disease, becoming the 51st country globally to achieve this milestone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
This milestone marks the halfway point towards the global goal of 100 countries by 2030, one of the four major global targets set by the 2021-2030 Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases by the WHO.
“I congratulate the government and the people of Chad for this achievement. It is great to see Chad join the growing group of countries that have eliminated at least one NTD. The 100-country target is nearer and within reach” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
IFAD aims to back strong commitment of producer organizations with successful model of project design and management in the Dominican Republic
Small producers’ associations, organizations and cooperatives feel a strong sense of committed ownership of business plans developed through IFAD-supported projects in the Dominican Republic and are motivated to move forward with the related economic strategies. Going forward, IFAD will be looking to develop more successful project design and management models, as implementation and sustainability issues affect current activities in the country. Fabrizio Felloni, former Deputy Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), presented these and other related findings during the national learning workshop of the Dominican Republic Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE).
Co-organized by the Government of the Dominican Republic and IOE, in collabora-
Fabrizio Felloni Lead author, Dominican Republic CSPE
tion with IFAD’s Latin America and the Caribbean Division, the on-line virtual workshop brought together a wealth of high-level attendants, including Luis Gregorio Madera Sued, Vice-Minister of Monitoring and Governmental Coordination of the Dominican Republic; Ms Miriam Estela Guzmán de Tejada, Vice-Minister of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture; Ms Sandra Lara, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation, Vice-Minister of International Cooperation, Ministry of Planning and Development; and Joaquin Antonio González, Vice-Minister of Agroindus-
try Promotion of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Over 50 participants joined the event, representing the government of the Dominican Republic, development partners, civil society organizations, private sector partners, and IFAD senior management and staff.
Rossana Polastri, Regional Director, LAC, IFAD
During the workshop, participants discussed the main findings, recommendations and issues emerging from the CSPE. The meeting also provided an opportunity to focus on the opportunities and challenges of the partnership between IFAD and the Government in the near future and discuss strategic priorities for IFAD’s upcoming programme.
“It is necessary to improve food security so that rural families have access to food and so that there is inclusive agriculture and farming. There are big challenges in rural areas, such as limited productivity. Rural communities depend on basic farming that makes them vulnerable to climate and price fluctuations. There is great potential to be able to make communities more resilient”, said Rossana Polastri, Regional Director, Latin America and Caribbean Division, speaking on behalf of Dr Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President of IFAD’s Department for Country Operations.
This was IOE’s first CSPE in the Dominican Republic. It covered the period 2011-2024, during which IFAD approved two Country Cooperation Strategies with the Government, in 2010 and 2017. The evaluation analysed five loans, and eight grants co-financed by IFAD.
Participants recognized that the projects supported the social and organizational fabric in rural areas. They contributed to the strengthening and structuring of a productive associative base that can help boost local economies, with the emergence of local lead-
ership at grassroots level.
“We are taking on rural development in an institutional fashion. We have specific instruments to provide support to SMEs. This has allowed us to make progress in executing IFAD-supported programmes. There are a lot of things that need to be fine-tuned, but there has been a positive change in general” explained Sandra Lara.
Also noteworthy was the contribution that the projects made to the quality of agricultural production and productivity. Evidence suggests that they helped improve coffee quality and facilitated access to organic and fair-trade markets. Furthermore, coffee producer organizations, thanks to the creation of nurseries, were more resilient to rust outbreaks and productivity recovered more quickly. In banana producer associations, new organic fertilization and irrigation management techniques were promoted.
“The concept of rural development is not very visible on a daily basis, but the participation of people has been on the increase over the past months and years. Tangible results
Miriam Estela Guzmán de Tejada, Vice-Minister of Rural Development
Sandra Lara, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation
have been achieved. We are all convinced that rural development is not just farming in nature. It is based on the power that farming has in those territories, but it diversifies and has to take into account the well-being of producers for there to be production”, highlighted Miriam Estela Guzmán de Tejada.
Luis Gregorio Madera Sued, Vice-Minister of Monitoring and Governmental Coordination
Unfortunately, workshop participants also highlighted significant sustainability issues that have constrained these and other gains. The discontinuing of technical and management support activities following project closure negatively impacted the capacity to manage processing plants and complex production processes, to analyse markets and develop new products. This, as technical and business management capacities were not sufficiently consolidated.
“In the closed projects, the design and execution of the investment plans were oriented towards large processing plants, often not supported by an assessment of their economic viability”, said Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director.
In a similar vein, little progress was made in supporting the rural areas of the country to diversify employment and income, especially among young people, as limited attention was paid to ecotourism and cultural tourism initiatives, green businesses, coffee and cacao routes, and initiatives with private operators.
“Decreasing food safety problems is one of our main priorities. Poverty eradication is also a key element, which requires access to food. Achieving this is extremely difficult, especially in rural areas where we need to increase formal employment rates. Ensuring the sustainability of interventions that address these issues is most important”, noted Luis Gregorio Madera Sued.
The evaluation also found few synergies between projects and grants, and between grants themselves. Moreover, the opportunities offered by the grants to update project approaches and methods in some key areas such as family farming, climate change adaptation, value chains and food security were not fully exploited. Other aspects that did not receive sufficient attention included the creation of collaborative networks with private actors, and avenues for increased household income and employment generation.
“I’d like to underline that, based on all the information at our disposal, hopefully we will be able to articulate a public policy at the national level that is comprehensive for all of the farming sector. The future of agriculture lies in its industri-
Joaquin Antonio González, Vice-Minister of Agroindustry Promotion of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and small and medium enterprises
alization and in the transformation of the farming sector”, underscored Joaquin Antonio González.
To address these challenges, the CSPE recommends a paradigm shift, moving from a conventional model based on cooperatives and largescale associations, to a model of dynamization of capacities, knowledge, culture and local strategies, with associative groups and differentiated enterprises. The report also suggests shifting from ‘atomized’ interventions to territorial development and management processes and strengthening knowledge sharing within and outside the country.
The economic structure of the Dominican Republic is dominated by the services sector, mainly tourism, which in 2022 contributed 60.4% of GDP. Over the past two decades, the Dominican Republic has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region and is classified as an upper-middle income country.
Composer Joel Díaz Suero wins 2024 Annual Prize for Classical and Popular Music*
The Ministry of Culture has awarded Joel Díaz Suero the 2024 Annual Prize for Classical and Popular Music in the Juan Francisco García Chamber Music category. Díaz Suero was recognized for his lyrical and harmonious composition, Sonata Invertebrada. The honor includes a one-million-peso prize and a certificate of recognition, which the 23-year-old composer expressed great joy in receiving.
The selection was made by a jury comprising Ángel Herdz, Nadia Nicola, and Edwin Disla, with notary José Pío Santana officiating the announcement. This prestigious award aims to promote diverse musical expressions and support individuals and communities contributing to the field. Categories include compositions for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and various musical combinations.
Díaz Suero, a Dominican-Costa Rican composer and cultural manager, graduated with honors in Composition from the University of Costa Rica. His accolades include the 2021 José Reyes Annual Music Prize and recognition in Costa Rica’s National Orchestral Composition Competition in 2023. His works have been performed in venues across the Dominican Republic, Central America, the United States, and Germany, showcasing his growing influence in the music.
source: https://dominicantoday.com/
The importance of holding the line on independence, for full accountability
“The evaluand may not like what you say, but you must hold the line and say it, no matter the consequences. History has shown time and time again that independent assessments on performance that were not addressed have proved to be true over time”, affirmed Dr Indran A. Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of IFAD in his keynote address during the Food & Sustainability Certificate Programme on-site experience, on 30 January 2025.
IFAD and the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS) jointly organize the certificate programme, which counts with a community of 500 alumni from over 110 countries. The course is designed to provide students from around the world with practical strategies for integrating climate-smart agriculture, sustainable nutrition, and innovative policy frameworks into actionable solutions. Alongside Dr Naidoo, faculty members include Professor Jeffrey Sachs.
“We are the only evaluation office that evaluates and gives scores to both the organization and to governments. Taxpayers’ money is at stake, and the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor rural people across the world are on the line. My clients are the citizens on the ground. For this reason, I always instruct my team to get the voices of the people who are the intended beneficiaries at the grassroots level first, and then take care of interviewing the officials. This is because, many times, what a project document says and what we see on the ground are two very different things. However, no matter the divergence, we report when things work and when they do not, as I have indicated to IFAD’s Executive Board on multiple occasions. It’s a matter of accountability”, affirmed the IOE Director.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, EIIS Food & Sustainability Certificate Programme faculty member
Coordinated by Gladys Herminia Morales Guevara, Senior Officer and Global Head of Innovation at IFAD, the on-site experience welcomed to the Fund’s headquarters over 35 students from different countries to give them an opportunity to learn more about IFAD’s work and interact with some of their favourite faculty members.
“How we produce, generate and assimilate work has completely changed”. – Further explained Dr Naidoo – “The attention span of human beings has decreased significantly over time. The human brain is overloaded with too much information at a conscious and subconscious level. Nowadays, people are more interested in getting the sound bites than doing a deep read. For this reason, we have sharpened how we segment messages so that we are delivering content in the best possible way in terms of language, pitch and focus”.
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Dr Naidoo was joined by a group of distinguished experts who constituted a panel on ‘enhancing results in nutrition and climate through innovation and behavioural design’. The panel featured Jahan-Zeb Chowdhury, Lead Technical Specialist, environment and Climate Cluster Coordinator, IFAD; Beatrice Ekesa-Onyango, Lead Technical Specialist in nutrition, IFAD; and Cortney Price, Lead Behavioural Scientist, Office of Innovation, FAO. Sara Savastano, Chief, Impact Assessment, Knowledge Management and Innovation, delivered welcome remarks.
In their discussions, panellists explained that addressing the complex challenges of climate, nutrition, and behaviour requires a multidisciplinary approach that fosters innovation and empowers individuals and communities. Work-
ing at the nexus of these areas, allows to create food systems that are not only resilient to climate change but also conducive to improved nutrition and healthier lifestyles. Moreover, by understanding the interplay of these areas, we can identify opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration and develop scalable solutions to tackle global food insecurity, promote sustainable consumption, and mitigate climate change.
The event provided participants with the unique opportunity to deep-dive into the interconnectedness of climate, nutrition, behavioural design, and innovation.
Interview with Dr Indran A. Naidoo
Community-driven development is useful for SIDS that face challenges similar to those of the Solomon Islands
The IFAD co-financed Rural Development Programme Phase II (RDP II) in the Solomon Islands has demonstrated that community-driven development (CDD) can empower local communities to identify and address their own development needs, thereby increasing their access to and utilization of social services infrastructure. Fur-
thermore, if successful in promoting social cohesion and strengthening community ownership, the CDD approach can contribute to building resilience and fortifying local governance structures in small island developing States (SIDS) contexts. These findings emerged from the project performance evaluation (PPE) report, recently published by the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE).
The RDP II was the largest rural development investment in the Solomon Islands, with national coverage. It aimed to improve basic infrastructure and services in rural areas and strengthen market linkages for smallholder farming households, with a focus on community infrastructure, social services, and agribusiness partnerships.
The RDP II was well aligned with national policies and development strategies and promoted equitable access to services through rural infrastructure development. In
particular, the programme successfully facilitated partnerships between smallholder farmers and agribusinesses. Agribusiness partnerships proved effective in improving production, productivity and access to markets for the smallholder farmers in the value chains targeted, as well as capacity-building of smallholder farmers on good agricultural practices.
Other positive results include those achieved by the water supply systems subprojects, which contributed to enhancing access to
Raymond S. Mubayiwa Lead author, Solomon Islands PPE
Access report [here]
Profile
clean drinking water, and reducing the burden on women and girls who endured walking long distances to fetch water.
A side from these and other achievements, the PPE also highlighted that while there is clear scope for applying typical CDD principles to agriculture commercialization infrastructure, seamlessly linking these objectives without clear guidance and protocols is difficult. Beyond the general challenges of integrating CDD principles in infrastructure projects, specific hurdles arise when dealing with agriculture commercialization in terms of the technical complexity and long-term institutional sustainability issues, unlike the more immediate user-driven maintenance associated with social services infrastructure.
Specific challenges that the project encountered
include the fragility of agribusiness partnerships due to inadequate governance mechanisms to moderate the relationships between smallholders and agribusinesses in areas such as contractual agreements, risk management, communication and inclusion strategies. In addition, the infrastructure subproject selection process resulted in inadequate participation of specific subgroups such as women, youth, the elderly and people living with disabilities. Some of the social services infrastructure such as daycare facilities and health posts faced significant utilization challenges due to staff shortages, resource limitations and budgetary constraints by the provincial government.
For the future, the PPE recommends that IFAD should intensify its engagement in co-financed programmes to improve performance
in areas where it has specific strengths. This entails enhancing its involvement throughout the programming cycle, leveraging its extensive expertise and comparative advantage. IFAD should also adapt its programming approach to ensure stronger alignment with contextually relevant corporate and strategic priorities. Finally, targeting strategies in SIDS contexts characterized by remoteness, geographic diversity, and the limited capacity of public institutions should consider different localized needs and any gaps in capacities of the targeted communities.
Three primary sectors of the economy account for 34 per cent of GDP in the Solomon Islands, namely agriculture (16 per cent), forestry including logging (13 per cent), and fishing (5 per cent), while industry contributes 11 per cent and services 55 per cent.
Pusiju successfully hosts music competition*
The community of Pusiju on South Vella La Vella Island in the Western Province successfully hosted a music competition recently. The event was a collaborative effort between Moonlight Band, Sirubai Voko Tribe Association and the Indigenous People for Sustainable Biodiversity Solomon Islands. The competition aimed to advocate for the sustainable management of natural resources.
The theme of the event was ‘Sustainable Sound’ and it reflected the core purpose of the event, which is conserving natural resources for present and future generations. It aimed to provide an avenue for young people with limited access to basic musical instruments to discover and nurture their musical talents.
source: https://www.solomonstarnews.com/
Dr Alexander Voccia
Senior Evaluation, Comms
KM Specialist
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Breathing life into evaluation reports: the quest of independent communication units
Within the context of a multilateral development organization, can a communication unit nested in an evaluation office add real, tangible value to the findings, conclusions and recommendations of reports? Unsurprisingly, it’s a question that I get asked quite a lot. As the senior coordinator of an independent communication unit, my answer could be slightly biased. Fortunately, though, results speak for themselves.
United Nations agencies, programmes and funds have centralized communication outfits that cater for the outreach needs of
the entire organization. The same holds true for multilateral development banks and international financial institutions. This means that key departments, such as policy, operations, programming, strategy and planning –all of which produce important documents and reports –, have to ‘delegate’ their messaging needs to an institutionalized communication division. So, why should an evaluation office receive special treatment?
One might argue that in those instances in which an evaluation office has independent status, this calls for it to manage its
outreach efforts autonomously. Case in point, I have discussed the benefits of communicating independently in two previous blog posts [here] [here]. In essence, there is no doubt that the credibility and transparency of an office greatly benefits from being able to manage its own outreach products, resources and channels. However, are credibility and transparency the only advantages that communicating independently can or should bring to evaluation? If they are, then the mere existence of a communication unit could, in of itself, be sufficient to get a tick in the box that says “yes, we communicate independently and thus are credible and transparent”.
The experience of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) proves that communicating inde -
pendently is much more than a tick in the box. It proves that, in addition to reinforcing the credibility and transparency of an office, independent communication units can add intrinsic value to evaluation reports by helping to increase the value of their findings and conclusions and recommendations. To explain how this works, let’s break things down into three conceptual approaches.
The first thing we need to recognize is the need for a holistic approach. Presenting the importance of a report does not boil down to simply issuing a note that informs stakeholders that a given evaluation has been published. On the contrary, it calls for 360 degrees thought processes that look at the report in its entirety, with a view to discerning how best to package, distil, project and share its findings, through which channels, leveraging which tools, deploying
which products, and using which resources. The variables are many, and the way in which they can be combined even more so.
Stemming from the complexity of embracing a holistic approach, the second aspect we need to appreciate is the need for a tailored approach. Quite simply, cookie cutter is not going to cut it. Each evaluation is different in its own unique way, with its own ‘selling points’, insights, background stories and assets. This means that each report warrants its own communication strategy, carefully crafted to allow the research to captivate the interest of stakeholders.
For all the above to take shape, there needs to be a collaborative approach. Successful communication campaigns result from collaborative thinking. Nobody knows the ins and
outs of a report better than the evaluation team who wrote it. Therefore, sitting down together to brainstorm about how to make the most of the richness of the research is a sine qua non pre-requisite to get things right. In IOE, this happens at four key moments in the evaluative process (at a minimum).
First, at the research design and workplan stage, we discuss the timing of the various phases of the evaluation process to ensure optimal sequencing of the communication outputs, in order to avoid excessive highs and lows in the volume of products published. Second, at the research and field work stage, we liaise to ensure that necessary communication materials are collected by those travelling to the field, such as photos, videos and intervie w
materials. In this regard, it is important to highlight that all IOE staff have benefited from dedicated trainings in the application of neuroscience communications tools that support their effective engagement throughout the evaluation process, and especially at the research stage. Third, at the finalization stage, we work closely to plan and execute learning workshops. This means producing a host dedicated graphic and print materials, in addition to providing back-end technical support. Fourth, at the dissemination stage, we coordinate the release of a full suite of communication and outreach products across all our channels to ensure optimal levels of sharing and cross-pollination. Fifth, at the review stage, we carefully analyse the findings of the IOE Communication Trends report. The report, which is produced twice a year, presents the latest data, statistics and trends relative to our core products. These include the IOE website, latest evaluation reports, Independent Magazine, and social media.
While valid in principle, maybe this all
sounds a bit too abstract. After all, I started this piece by stating that ‘results speak for themselves’. So, let’s bring the evidence. Looking back over the past four years, there are countless stories that bear witness to the success that IOE has enjoyed by implementing the holistic, tailored and collaborative approaches in a combined fashion. For ease of reference, though, I will share one of the most recent examples.
On the 2nd of December of 2024, IOE published its corporate-level evaluation of knowledge management practices in IFAD (CLE KM). Within a matter of days, this evaluation became the most downloaded, red and cited report produced by IOE during the whole year. Its impact is already very much being felt at the institutional level, as major structural changes have and are taking place across the organization that directly relate to IFAD’s corporate KM function.
The substantive value of the report clearly speaks for itself. However, these results, with such a high level of interest and im-
pact, were not left to chance. By strategizing closely with the team behind the CLE, in the six months leading up to the release of the report, we staggered the production and dissemination of: (a) ten field-based video interview case study stories with IFAD beneficiaries on-the-ground; (b) a mapping tool of IFAD signature solutions, which helps to understand how knowledge-specific approaches and innovations have moved through IFAD’s work; (c) a rubric that evaluates the immediacy, medium-term, and long-term outcomes of IFAD’s KM practices in terms of transformation on a country-by-country basis, through 20 case studies from across the planet; (d) two blog posts, each focusing on specific aspects of the CLE KM; and (e) a whole new section on IOE’s website entirely dedicated to a new KM Toolbox. And these were only the outputs that were produced exclusively for the CLE. Moreover, to complement these efforts, as per standard practice, we also delivered news items in our magazine and newsletter, crafted dedicated content on all our social media channels, and helped to
pull together a learning event that garnered participation from over one hundred people across the world.
On the back of the momentum generated by this custom-made communication strategy and outreach campaign, which preceded the official publishing of the report, the interest surrounding the evaluation ended up being such that a dedicated pre-release session took place during the 15th European Evaluation Biennial Conference, which featured an opportunity for people to meet and discuss with the authors of the CLE KM.
This intricate ensemble of communication outputs was carefully crafted to ensure optimal complementary, with each product adding a different perspective, bringing a specific angle and telling a unique story. Unique, as the value of the report itself, which is helping to shape IFAD’s core structure and processes today, so that Fund may further strengthen its operations on the ground tomorrow.
Johanna Pennarz bids farewell to IOE
After life spent working in the development sector, much of which as an evaluator, the time has come for Johanna Pennarz to venture into the greener pastures of retirement. As one of the office’s Lead Evaluation Officers, Johanna made a strong contribution to the work of IOE during her ten-year stint with the office. Throughout the years, colleagues have appreciated her practical, hands on and no-nonsense approach to life. While she will certainly be missed, we wish her all the very best for this new exciting chapter, and for all that lies ahead.
Thank you for taking the time to share a few last thoughts, Johanna.
My pleasure, Alexander
How many years have you served with IOE, and what was the career path that brought you to this office ?
I have been with IOE for ten years. Before that I was an evaluator and a researcher working on rural poverty. I lived in a village for one year in China and in village for another year Taiwan, where I really learned from farmers how they think and deal with the lack of assets and income. In particular, in China, I was in a very poor and deprived area that was not open to foreigners at that time. The result was a groundbreaking study on escaping poverty traps. Thereafter, I joined a UK-based consulting company where I learned everything about evaluation. I also worked in Uganda for three years, in the office of the Prime Minister. Through this experience, I learned a lot about the political economy of evaluation. As a result, I was already a fully-formed evaluator when I joined IOE, which was not always the norm at that time.
What do you feel most proud of during your time with IOE?
My aim has never been to write the world’s best evaluation report that creates a lot of noise. Instead, I have always focused on trying to contribute, over time, to a better IFAD and a better IOE. As such, I always saw my role as facilitating learning and nudging small, incremental changes, demonstrating what has worked and what hasn’t. Obviously, there have been some reports that have been more influential, such as the gender synthesis report that was widely received within and outside IFAD, including across the UN, to the extent that it became an international best practice. Most recently, I was the lead author of the corporate level evaluation on knowledge management, which is being widely read. I have also been involved in leading country strategy and programme evaluations (CSPEs). However, in the case of CSPEs, we have to be realistic as per the extent to which we can influence the design of programmes that already may have a lot of benchmarks in place.
The second part, which I am very proud of, is that I have successfully supported many young evaluators during my time with IOE. Over the years, many young evaluators joined IOE and have grown very much since then.
What has been the biggest challenge that you have overcome whilst working for IOE?
The challenge that I found most difficult to deal with was the narrowly defined parameters of the different evaluation products, as codified by the Evaluation Manual. A very standardized approach is useful when you have new evaluators. It can help to ensure that there is consistency in the production of reports across the board. However, personally, I found this restrictive. I am deeply convinced that we need a diversity of products for evaluation to be useful. These should be tailored also to the interest of out stakeholders. For this reason, I enjoyed most doing work on synthesis reports that are less codified and have a clear focus on learning. The challenge with these is, however, that you need first hand evidence. This means that if you produce too many, you risk churning out the same information from the same pool of evidence.
What will you miss the most about IOE?
Certainly, the people. IOE is a really fine office, the way it is now. I must say that the new Director has played a major role in this regard. IOE now has wonderful people that are all very committed to the cause of IFAD. I also really like the diversity of people, from different nations and with different backgrounds. That’s something that I definitively miss already.
Looking forward, what is the most significant lesson that you have learned or skill that you have acquired with IOE that you think will help you to make a difference in your future endeavours?
The first important learning that I take away is that evaluation is political. When I was in IFAD, I really experienced this and understood that evaluation is set in a political context. We are independent, yes, but we are not outside of stakeholder power relations. For instance, looking
outside IOE, we can see that certain types of evaluations and evaluation methodologies are being promoted and received based on stakeholder interests and dynamics. Examples may include the global discourse on decolonizing evaluation, which is justified and important, but also clearly serves certain interests. Societies in the South are not homogeneous. The priority is that disadvantaged people get a voice. Another example may include impact evaluation, which appears to be on the rise, and is often times mandated by donors who are eager to see impact on the ground tied to their financial contributions. The main problem with the latter is that it is shortsighted in as far as it does not recognize that in order for people to escape from poverty, they need a holistic developmental approach, not a siloed set of measurable interventions.
In essence, evaluation is supposed to contribute to the knowledge that we have on how development works. For this to truly happen, we need a diversity of evaluation types, products, methods and approaches. There is no one individual approach that is the best.
Any final words?
I really hope that we can embrace openness to types and approaches evaluation and diversity of knowledges needed to inform decisions and change in IFAD and beyond. It will be a challenge, but this is what I hope.
