Impact Evaluation for Irrigation Infrastructure Improvements in Armenia
Project Description
The goal of the MCC Armenia Compact is to increase household income and reduce poverty in rural Armenia through improved performance of the country’s agricultural sector. Armenia plans to achieve this goal through a five-year program of strategic investments in rural roads, irrigation infrastructure and technical and financial assistance to improve the supply of water and to support farmers and agribusinesses. As part of the Irrigated Agriculture Project, Armenia will rehabilitate and construct irrigation infrastructure, including, main canals, gravity schemes, pumping stations, drainage systems and tertiary canals. The impact evaluation described here focuses on the tertiary canal improvements since those are expected to have the most direct impact on farmers. For more information see the Armenia Country Page.
Logic Diagram
Evaluation Description
The impact evaluation of the tertiary canals will use a quasi-experimental design based on matching communities with double-difference comparisons to measure the impact of canal improvements on the quality and reliability of irrigation water, agricultural productivity and household income. Communities where the tertiary canals will be improved were matched to similar communities that will not have their canals rehabilitated using local knowledge about irrigation conditions, crops grown and farmer plot size. For more information see the evaluation’s design report.
Data Collection
MCA-Armenia has contracted a local Armenian firm to collect the data for this impact assessment. The Tertiary Canal Survey will sample approximately 5,000 farming households in treatment and control communities. The baseline was completed in March 2010 and follow-up surveys will be completed in 2011 and 2012.