The objectives of the country programme evaluation (CPE) are to assess the performance and impact of the IFAD country programme in Nigeria and develop findings and recommendations.

These will serve as building blocks for preparation of the new country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) by the Fund's Western and Central Africa Division (PA) and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

This represents the first full evaluation of the Nigerian portfolio since project funding commenced in 1985. The CPE covers the ten-year period 1998-2008, and analyses the seven loan projects (out of a total of nine) that were still ongoing at the time of the COSOP in 2000, or whose implementation is about to start.

The findings of the CPE are based on:

a desk review of existing documentation;

self-assessments by PA and three of the programme management teams including the Roots and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP), Community-based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP), and the Community-based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP);

a country portfolio review undertaken by PA in 2007, and a performance assessment study of two of the projects commissioned as part of the CPE; and (iv) four weeks of work by seven mission members in the country including key informant and focus group discussions with stakeholders and partners.