In collaboration with the Government of Madagascar and IFAD's East and Southern Africa Division (ESA), the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) organized a national round-table workshop for the Madagascar Country Programme Evaluation (CPE) on 15 May in Antananarivo.

The objectives of the Madagascar national round-table workshop were to:
 

• discuss the main issues emerging from the Madagascar CPE;
• provide inputs for the preparation of the evaluation's agreement at completion point (ACP);
• provide an opportunity for reflecting on key issues for the forthcoming Madagascar country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP).

The workshop was attended by about 120 participants, including the Minister for Agriculture of Madagascar, Mr Roland Ravatomanga; the Minister for Livestock, Ms Ihanta Randriamandrato; representatives from several ministries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, farmers' organizations, microfinance institutions, private entrepreneurs, and an IFAD delegation comprising the Associate Vice President, Financial Operations Department, Director Policy and Technical Advisory Division, Director ESA, IFAD's country office staff, as well as staff from ESA and IOE.

On 13 May the IFAD delegation had an opportunity to undertake field visits in the area of the Programme de soutien aux pôles des micro-entreprises rurales et économies régionales (PROSPERER) and familiarise with the project's intervention in support of microenterprises, support to value chain and corridors of development. On 14 May, the IFAD delegation also had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, which gave an opportunity to exchange views on the evaluation and the way forward.