Mid-term Evaluation of the Project “Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems” (CDAIS)

The ANNEX of the report can be found under this link: https://cdais.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Final-mid-term-evaluation-r...

1. This document presents the results of the Mid-term Evaluation of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovations Systems (CDAIS) project implemented by Agrinatura and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project was conceived to support the implementation of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) action plan by establishing a global mechanism to promote, coordinate and evaluate capacity development approaches to strengthen Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS), with needs assessed and approaches validated in eight pilot countries (Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda). The project started in January 2015 and is expected to end in December 2018. It has a budget of EUR 13 356 851, including a EUR 12 000 000 grant from the European Union.

2. The Mid-term Evaluation was foreseen in the project document and was conducted for both accountability and learning purposes. It aimed at generating useful information to improve project implementation and future decision-making by the Project Oversight Committee, Project Management Team, national implementing partners, European Commission and other stakeholders. In particular, it had the following objectives: (i) to assess the relevance of the strategy and quality of the design and implementation arrangements; (ii) to assess progress and gaps in achieving established outputs and outcomes, including any initial or preliminary results, and opportunities or risks for future implementation and; (iii) to identify lessons and opportunities from project implementation and propose any corrective or opportunistic measures and/ or adjustments to the implementation strategy. The evidence provided by the Mid- term Evaluation could be also useful to leverage additional resources to expand the implementation of the CDAIS approach.

3. The Mid-term Evaluation adopted a results-focused approach and was conducted through an inclusive and transparent process. It reconstructed the project’s Theory of Change (ToC) as the basis of analysis of the contributions made by the project to the expected results. It addressed five key criteria (relevance, effectiveness, partnerships and coordination, normative values and sustainability) and answered six key evaluation questions (EQ). Several methods and tools for data collection were used to answer the evaluation questions, including a review of existing documentation, semi-structured interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, direct observation and a partners survey. The triangulation of evidence and information gathered underpins its validation and analysis, and supports the conclusions and recommendations.