Geospatial tools address evaluation challenges - IOE
Rome, 4 December 2023 – The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) successfully deployed GIS tools to overcome challenges encountered in conducting the country programme and strategy evaluation (CSPE) of IFAD’s support in Ethiopia. The tools provided a spatial framework to overlay project activities, monitor progress, and analyse geographical patterns.
The Ethiopia CSPE covered the period 2015-2022. The evaluated portfolio amounted US$1.8 billion with an IFAD financing of 654.1 million, in support of nine projects, five of which have been completed. These projects included the Participatory Small-scale Irrigation Development Programme II (PASIDP II), which rehabilitated 51 irrigation schemes. Specifically related to PASIDP II, the CSPE assessed the extent to which the project contributed to improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers and to enhancing their resilience.
Monitoring and evaluation challenges encountered in evaluating PASIDP II included difficulty in tracking activities across diverse agricultural landscapes, and limited ability to identify specific landscape areas for intervention. Against this backdrop, IOE investigated the spatiotemporal variation of rainfall, vegetation, temperature, and evapotranspiration within 51 irrigated areas, from 2009 to the present, using remote sensing technology to assess changes or variations in vegetation greenness and health.
The application of GIS tools helped IOE to obtain accurate measurement and visualization of key indicators such as land use changes and crop yields. This enhanced the accuracy of reporting and provided stakeholders with clear visualizations of project impacts. In particular, this approach allowed the evaluation to confirm the positive results achieved in improving and strengthening the ecosystem resilience through soil and water conservation measures in degraded areas, community-based watershed, and rangeland management.
IFAD is investing in the use geospatial tools. GIS software allows users to produce maps and other geographic displays to analyse and present information. The displays typically include points, lines, areas or raster images from photos or scanned images. The Fund’s ICT team provides in-house trainings for staff on how to build data dashboards, leverage advanced analytics, and work with GIS and artificial technology. In addition, IOE has compiled a list of external training materials and information facilities on GIS tools and databases. These allow staff to harness the power of complex geospatial analytics with easy-to-use tools. IFAD has also established a community of practice for geospatial applications, where staff can get advice on geospatial tools, data and methodologies.
For further information, please contact Alexander Voccia [here]
RESOURCES
- To access the ‘GIS Technical note on the use of GIS from the Ethiopia Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation’, please click here.
- To access the ‘Catalogue of Geospatial Tools and Applications for Climate Investments’, please click here.
- To access IOE’s publication ‘Geospatial tools and applications to support IOE’ please click here.
- To access the IFAD publication ‘Mapping Rural Development: How to use GIS to monitor and evaluate projects’ please click here.
IOE 20th ANNIVERSARY
- 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.
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