Niger Compact Monitoring & Evaluation

The Irrigation and Market Access Project (IMAP)—minus the Roads for Market Access (RMA) Activity—evaluation, methods, and approaches vary from one irrigation site to the other – that is, between Konni (large-scale irrigation) and the Sia perimeters (small-scale irrigation). On the Sia-Kouanza site, a combination of mixed-methods performance evaluation along with a quasi-experimental impact evaluation will help measure the outcomes of small-scale irrigation investments and complementary project activities, such as farmer trainings and land tenure strengthening. Through the quantitative impact evaluation, the team will compare agricultural and land tenure-related outcomes of treatment plots, and income and food security outcomes of treatment households, to their comparison group counterparts. The mixed-methods performance evaluation will then (1) investigate the IMAP activities for households in the Basse Terrasse, and (2) provide more in-depth perspectives on program outcomes by drawing on key informant interviews. For the Konni Perimeter, the evaluator intends to use a mixed methods implementation and outcomes analysis to evaluate the implementation, results, and sustainability of the rehabilitation of the irrigation perimeter and such complementary IMAP activities as farmer training and policy reforms. To that end, on the one hand, a qualitative analysis, through document reviews and key informant interviews, will help address questions on implementation and sustainability of the activities under IMAP; and on the other hand, a quantitative pre-post performance evaluation will help estimate changes in outcomes spanning the intervention’s duration. In addition, the evaluator is collaborating with RTI International and NASA on using analyses of drone and satellite images to complement household survey data collection. (https://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/265)

The evaluators of the RMA Activity will conduct baseline and endline data collection along with activity monitoring to inform five research areas including: (i) the implementation of the RMA Activity, (ii) the economic rate of return of the three MCC-funded roads through a cost-benefit analysis using HDM-4 software, (iii) the road maintenance regime within Niger to test the sustainability of improvement in road infrastructure, (iv) a study of road usage patterns to understand the types of beneficiaries from the RMA Activity, and (v) an analysis of the transport market structure to understand how cost savings from road improvements have passed on to transport customers. (https://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/254)

The Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA) Activity performance evaluation will use quantitative and qualitative data to answer overarching questions such as how and to what extent households and organizational incomes have changed, by analyzing changes in outcomes for the beneficiaries of the grant facility and Integrated Climate Resilient Investments Plans (ICRIPS). They will also assess the economic viability of the investment through a cost-benefit analysis.

The performance evaluation of the Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support (PRAPS) Activity aims to use qualitative and quantitative data to assess the implementation of the activity and its various sub-activities, as well as the short, medium and long-term effects on the pastoral communities in the selected areas of intervention. Cross-cutting issues such as gender will be assessed to inform key lessons to be learned from the PRAPS Activity’s implementation in Niger. (https://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/276)

Projected Long Term Results by Project