Corporate-level evaluation

Introduction

The Office of Evaluation (OE) undertook the evaluation of IFAD's Regional Strategy in Asia and the Pacific (EVEREST) in 2005/2006. The full EVEREST report was finalized in July 2006.

A regional workshop was co-organized by OE and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila on 28-29 June 2006 to discuss the main findings and recommendations from the evaluation. The workshop, attended by senior government officials, representatives from international organizations, civil society and research institutions, IFAD management and staff and others, also provided inputs for the preparation of this Agreement at Completion Point (ACP).

The ACP illustrates an understanding of the key evaluation findings and recommendations, proposals to implement them and a commitment to act upon them. Section B of the ACP includes the main evaluation findings, and section C contains recommendations agreed by the IFAD management.

Main evaluation findings

The evaluation of IFAD's Regional Strategy in Asia and the Pacific illustrates that portfolio performance in the region has been good, especially as compared to the IFAD-wide ratings reported in the Annual Report on the Results and Impact of IFAD Operations¹. But concerns remain about targeting and sustainability, which the evaluation recognises as areas in need of improvement.

Moreover, the EVEREST concludes that portfolio performance and overall results and impact could have been even greater if better business processes were in place. For example, changes to key aspects in the project and programme cycle would be beneficial, for instance, by giving more responsibility to the countries for project design (in fact, the management would need to review the current project cycle to allow countries, in selected cases, to take the lead in project formulation) and introducing a thorough annual review of country programmes and projects/programmes to improve effectiveness, rather than waiting for the mid-term review. Moreover, a more effective approach to human resources and budget management (e.g., by ensuring that country programmes are allocated according to staff experience, skills and competenciesor earmarking sufficient budgets for implementing key aspects of the Regional Strategy, such as policy dialogue and impact assessment) and creating incentives for knowledge management with stronger linkages to and from the field, including a more systematic use of evaluation results, are likely to contribute to enhanced results.

Performance and efforts in building strategic partnerships with key institutions, in mobilising co-financing and counterpart funds, the promotion of innovations, policy dialogue, and IFAD's participation in donor co-ordination and harmonisation have been overall weak. The evaluation observed that various initiatives have been taken in these areas since mid-2004.

In sum, results have been good in terms of portfolio performance and impact, which is IFAD's traditional area of business. But, there is no room for complacency, given the size and complexity of rural poverty in the region, which IFAD wants to help reduce.

Recommendations agreed upon by IFAD

There is a clear need for IFAD to develop a new Regional Strategy for Asia and the Pacific for a specific period, which would guide the formulation of country strategies and overall operations in the region. The Regional Strategy would both serve as a platform for co-operation and partnership between IFAD and the countries of the region as well as an accountability framework for IFAD and the Asia and Pacific division. The EVEREST makes five specific recommendations described in the following sections.

Recommendation 1: Development of a New Regional Strategy

The strategy should be developed in close consultation with the countries of the region, and become a platform for development co-operation and partnership between IFAD and these countries. It should also be used as the basis for defining partnerships with major institutions and development agencies that are active in agriculture and rural development in the region. And, the Fund would benefit more broadly if the strategy takes into consideration sub-regional perspectives, and builds upon the concerns of the variety of countries in the region, that is, both its borrowing and non-borrowing member states.

A full costing and a thorough analysis up front of the resource levels required to meet the objectives of the strategy should be a prerequisite. In order to gain from the views and knowledge of others, it would be advantageous for IFAD to establish external and internal peer review panels during the preparation of the strategy ² . The strategy should indicate how it would retrofit the ongoing country strategies and operations to ensure that IFAD resources are used most effectively and in alignment with the new Regional Strategy. The new Regional Strategy should serve as a management tool for IFAD. In this regard, the strategy should include a results framework and provisions for a mid-term review. Its implementation should be monitored and evaluated.

The directions in the new strategy should be determined following robust analysis of rural poverty and key subsectors in the region. An analysis of emerging opportunities and threats as well as IFAD weak and strong points including a detailed study of the role and focus of other major players in agriculture and rural development, should lead to the development and assessment of alternative strategic options before the most promising directions are finally selected - a process that was squarely missing in the development of the 2002 Regional Strategy.

It is recommended for IFAD to extend its work in geographic areas where there is a serious opportunity to promote innovations that have the potential of being replicated and up scaled by other partners, in particular by both the government and donors. This requires, inter alia, a comprehensive institutional analysis upfront to ensure that IFAD is able to identify partners who are committed to similar objectives and have the ability to replicate and up-scale innovations. Moreover, what is of paramount importance is for the Fund to build on its experience and comparative advantage, as well as focus on supporting those most in need, who are being largely bypassed by the development efforts of others. Another crucial consideration is to assess thoroughly the overall governance framework and policy environment of the geographic areas within a country where IFAD plans to allocate its resources.

In addition, to the extent possible and especially in large countries, it is advisable to geographically concentrate IFAD's assistance, rather than spreading thinly IFAD resources across different parts of the country. This will allow IFAD to develop deeper knowledge and specialization on selected issues and areas, as well as promote greater sustainability.

Emphasis to promoting peoples participation and building of grassroots institutions of the rural poor, should be maintained. In this regard, there is need to ensure a better balance between empowerment and social capital formation on one hand and income generating opportunities (both from farm and off farm sources) on the other. Greater attention is required in promoting better gender equity and addressing evolving gender relations as a result of women's advancement.

IFAD should maintain a strategic focus on indigenous people, tribal people and ethic minorities in Asia and the Pacific. However, the EVEREST underscores that, while focusing on such communities, a broader inclusive approach is necessary to targeting also to ensure that other rural poor living in the same project area play a constructive role in the development operation under consideration.

As other areas that require priority attention, fraud and corruption needs to be tackled explicitly as an overarching theme, throughout the country programmes and also at the policy level in close co-operation with other international development organizations and in consultation with governments, within the broad framework of IFAD's Anti-Corruption Policy.

Likewise, attention to addressing HIV/AIDS issues would seem a must for IFAD in a region where the number of people affected is large and increasing. IFAD's contribution should naturally be complementary to the work of others, and in particular, the Fund should only operate in those areas where a gap might exist.

Building on its experiences, decentralization needs support which IFAD can provide, as this would bring development planning and resource allocation closer to rural poor. In this regard, for IFAD, decentralization should not be considered an aim in itself, but serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of rural poverty reduction programmes. Among other issues, in its future efforts in promoting decentralization, IFAD should ensure that local elected officials and bodies are duly considered given their central role in development matters at the local level.

Greater attention than in the past needs to be devoted to the environment and natural resources management where performance is weak, as well as to engaging proactively the private sector in IFAD operations, on which an IFAD policy has been recently adopted by the Board. Finally, the livestock and rural infrastructure subsectors deserve more attention, given that they constitute important components of IFAD operations not adequately included in the 2002 strategy.

Other integral aspects for the new Regional Strategy to consider are contained in recommendations two to five.

Implementation time frame: The new Regional Strategy should be presented to the Executive Board by the end of 2007.

Recommendation 2:  Strengthen Strategic Partnerships and Policy Dialogue

Building on recent initiatives implemented by the Division, the EVEREST recommends that the strategic compact with the ADB and the World Bank be developed, given the increasing attention and investments of these IFIs to the agriculture and rural development sectors. The evaluation recommends that both the PI and IFAD senior management should be closely involved in the development, implementation and review of such a strategic compact. The partnerships would, among other issues, pay attention to co-operation in the areas of policy dialogue and the replication and upscaling of successful innovations promoted by IFAD. Enhanced co-operation and harmonization with the other two Rome-based UN agencies (especially with the FAO, as per the Agreement Establishing the Fund) and selected bi-lateral aid agencies should also be considered, for example, in terms of project design and knowledge sharing.

Enhanced partnership with governments in the region is crucial as well. For this, IFAD must ensure that its country strategies and operations are firmly anchored in key national strategies and plans for rural poverty reduction. It is, however, important that IFAD work towards engaging a broader range of government institutions, in order to benefit from the variety of technical expertise, skills and experiences available at the country level. Further efforts need to be invested in increasing government counterpart funding in IFAD operations, as this would be one way of generating added ownership, responsibility and sustainability.

Private sector engagement needs to be improved in IFAD operations. This is particularly important in areas related to microfinance (such as by establishing linkages with commercial banks), processing and marketing of farm and non-farm produce, but also in the supply of technical assistance to project implementing agencies (for instance, in setting up and training project staff in monitoring and evaluation systems, in provision of extension advice or undertaking project supervision and implementation support). Strengthened partnership is also needed with civil society and the NGO community be it for advocacy on policy issues, social mobilization or capacity building purposes.

Finally, it is imperative that policy dialogue is approached in a more systematic manner, anchored in IFAD's operational experiences from the field. Policy dialogue objectives need to be set in a realistic manner, and specific human and financial resources allocated for the purpose. IFAD policy dialogue efforts should also be undertaken in partnership with similar initiatives by other partners, including international organizations. A clear policy dialogue agenda should be articulated, with indicators that will allow to monitor implementation progress and evaluate the corresponding achievements. The role and responsibility of IFAD field presence staff in advancing IFAD's policy dialogue objectives must be clarified, and policy dialogue should be included as a criterion for the year-end performance assessment of staff as well as the field presence.

Implementation time frame: The strategic compacts with the ADB and the World Bank will be developed by mid-2008. Policy dialogue and partnership strengthening indicators would be developed and included in the performance evaluation system of staff .

Recommendation 3:   Enhance Ownership, Accountability and Learning through Programme Cycle Management

IFAD should identify appropriate partners through institutional assessments as early as possible in the project design process. The selected implementation partner must designate the project director and a core team to work on the project design process on an agreed time basis to the maximum extent. Partner countries should be granted greater responsibility for project design, and in this regard, IFAD should explore the opportunities for entrusting countries with responsibilities for project formulation, where appropriate., whereas IFAD should continue to be responsible for project appraisal.

Regardless of any changes that might be made in the project design process, problems and lessons that emerge during implementation should be addressed on a regular basis and not kept pending until the mid-term review, which is often a turning point in the development effectiveness of the project. One option for IFAD and its implementing partners would be to conduct joint annual reviews, agree on course corrections, and prepare the annual work plan and budget accordingly. Greater attention and resources should be devoted to project level monitoring and evaluation systems not only for this reason but also, more specifically, for improving impact assessment and reporting, and contributing more broadly to the Division's knowledge management objectives.

Implementation time frame: Starting from 2007, IFAD would: (a) explore opportunities in selected countries entrusting governments the responsibility for project formulation; and (b) ensure the undertaking of comprehensive annual reviews in all ongoing operations not having reached implementation mid-point.

Recommendation 4:   Improve Impact through Better Targeting and Sustainability

The EVEREST recommends that IFAD should develop a clear and comprehensive approach that would guide IFAD and its partners in: (a) the selection of project areas within a given country; (b) the selection of beneficiary communities within a project area; (c) targeting of individuals within a community; (d) matching the interventions to the targeting approach; and (e) regular monitoring and reporting on targeting issues.

Issues of sustainability need to be addressed, for which a range of measures including the following should be considered: (i) an exit strategy should be developed in every project at an early stage; (ii) technical standards that are employed in service delivery and infrastructure development should be reviewed, and determine whether the rural poor can operate and sustain project interventions with the financial, social and human capital that is available to them; (iii) that in many countries, especially where implementation is through government line departments, it may be important to train technical experts in taking a more realistic, less technically demanding and more pro-poor approach to sustainability and (iv) a thorough analysis is required to determine whether agencies charged with operation and maintenance have the capacity to fulfill this aspect of their mandate.

Implementation time frame: These recommendations would be implemented in full compliance with the IFAD Targeting Policy paper and with immediate effect in all new country strategies and operations financed by IFAD.

Recommendation 5:   Organizational Considerations to Achieve the Objectives of the Regional Strategy

Given the multisectoral nature of IFAD's work with a strong focus on country programmes, the continued organization on a geographic basis of the core line functions and staff in the Asia and Pacific Division seems appropriate. The Division should deepen both its transversal structure and sub-regional organizational structure including exploring the possibility of establishing sub-regional teams.

With regard to the Field Presence Pilot Programme (FPPP), it is recommended that the role, function and relationships of field presence staff with the Division be further clarified, included in the divisional performance management and accountability framework, and accordingly communicated to the main partners at the country level. This includes the countries where IFAD has proxy field presence arrangements. Moreover, as mentioned, a greater delegation of authority to the field presence staff would ensure their better integration in the overall IFAD country team ³ concept.

As the work of professional staff and others will evolve, the need for training and staff development becomes pressing. The resources available in the Human Resources Division for programme-related training purposes are limited. PI training needs will need to be fully costed and budgets allocated for its implementation by IFAD, as possible, for its implementation.

Implementation time frame: These recommendations will be implemented in the course of 2007.

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Source: IFAD