Kigali, 22 March 2024 – Applying an analytical framework complementary to the theory of change was an innovative and successful approach that the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) adopted in designing the sub-regional evaluation of countries with fragile situations in West and Central Africa. Dr Kouessi Maximin Kodjo, Lead Evaluation Officer at IOE, presented the details of this approach, main results and lessons during the 11^th International conference of the African Evaluation Society (AfreEA), along with the salient results of the evaluation itself.  

The 11^th AfrEA Conference 2024 provided a platform for professionals, researchers, students and policymakers worldwide to share insights, best practices and innovations in the field of monitoring and evaluation, especially on topics related to African contexts. Held in Kigali, Rwanda, the conference covered a wide range of topics related to made in Africa evaluation, indigenous evaluation, youth led evaluations, best practices, emerging trends, technological innovations, impact assessment and capacity-building in the field. The event featured two days of pre-conference workshops and training sessions, on the 18^th and 19^th of March, followed by the three-day main conference, from the 20^th to the 22^nd of March 2024.

Presenting during the strand on ‘evidence generation, use and application in African political governance system’ – one of the twelve of the conference’s extremely rich programme –, Dr Kodjo explained that applying an analytical framework complementary to the theory of change led to ascertaining the operational paradigm of fragility and resilience building in rural areas of the West African Sahel. Initial contextual analysis and later outcome assessments were based on the fragility and resilience framework, which has been useful in generating the evaluative findings. The framework enabled to carry out assessment focusing on the three main resilience-building pillars, namely absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities. This was useful to deal with the complexity of the evaluation, which followed a systemic approach.

The evaluation identified many lessons from rural development operations in fragile situations. These included the importance to build on the strengths of endogenous and customary arrangements for managing natural resources or land tenure, as well as of existing mechanisms such as credit and saving and economic interest groups, in order to develop absorptive and adaptive capacities. The evaluation also found that it is useful to invest in approaches for improved natural resources management, for instance by promoting small-scale irrigation schemes and climate-smart agricultural practices.

Dr Kodjo highlighted that it is equally important to support the diversification of economic opportunities, which are crucial for effective resilience building strategies. However, these may be challenged by insecurity that can hamper farmers’ access to markets. In those situations, it is imperative to invest sufficiently in strengthening human and social capital for the emergence of strong and effective grassroots organisations. In addition, in contexts of fragility, it is critical to develop a resilience framework based on a nexus approach of conflict prevention, resilience building and development, which should guide operations.

Selected papers and presentations from the conference will be compiled into proceedings and may be published in Special Editions of the African Evaluation Journal and a Conference Proceedings Compendium, and shall be made available online, contributing to the broader knowledge base in the field of monitoring and evaluation.

For further information, please contact Alexander Voccia [here]

RESOURCES

• To access Dr Kodjo’s presentation, please click here.
• To access the Sub-regional evaluation of countries with fragile situations in IFAD-WCA, please click here.
• For more information about the conference, please click here.

• To access the brochure ‘More than a journey | 20 years of independence, please click here.
• To access Fabrizio Felloni’s interview on the evolution of independence of IOE, please click here.
• To learn why independent evaluation makes IFAD a more credible institution, please click here.
• To access the latest edition of Independent Magazine, please click here.