FOOD & NUTRITION SECURITY. Main insights and lessons of the program evaluation of the ICCO Cooperation Food and Nutrition Security Program

Transcription

1 FOOD & NUTRITION SECURITY Main insights and lessons of the program evaluation of the ICCO Cooperation Food and Nutrition Security Program

2 External evaluation highlights IDIS (2015) ICCO Food Security Program Evaluation Synthesis Report The external evaluation of the Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) program found evidence that some country programs had integrated better and more transversally the aspect of increased, resilient and more diversified food availability compared to 2010, with about 70% of the targets reported to have been achieved by mid The clearest effects of interventions were highlighted as: improved, more diverse and more resilient food production and storage and also, in more than half or the sampled countries, improved food utilization (more diverse food intake or more food intake during lean periods). The evaluators also observed a recent trend at the level of the partners to address financial independence of beneficiaries and explore various cost-sharing alternatives for Inputs to enhance food and nutrition security at household level. These results indicated generally positive outcomes with regard to the program s objectives of influencing food availability, access to food, improved utilization of food for vulnerable households in a structural and gender sensitive way. With regard to the effectiveness and efficiency of the program, the evaluation noted that with an increasingly mature set of partners, ICCO Cooperation s role had evolved from only providing financing towards a light form of technical capacity development of partners on sustainable food systems - mainly via joint learning - to linking partners to networks and organizations regarding the Right to Food/ sustainable food systems. While describing this as a relevant evolution that contributed to increased visibility and recognition of the partners as implementers of FNS projects, the evaluators also noted the need for a more specialized form of capacity development. 2

3 Improve inclusive impact on FNS by combining FNS and market approaches The evaluation found that the low budget per household, when compared to similar FNS programs, could hamper the effectiveness of a multistakeholder approach investing in direct poverty alleviation in a vast geographic area. To get the most value for money, the evaluators called for either increased prioritization of fields of interventions, or focusing increasingly on action research and pilots. Cautioning that specificity for FNS is not guaranteed if ICCO continues its practice of participating in consortia for financial up-scaling and harmonization, the evaluation suggested that one of ICCO Cooperation s future roles could be to safeguard the focus on FNS in such alliances. The evaluation also found that most partner organizations surveyed had further deepened the consultation of their target groups through the use of client satisfaction surveys and strengthening the capacity of target groups to participate in planning and via implementation or use of existing studies on FNS, mostly as a baseline for assessment. However, the evaluation team noted that consultations and studies mostly don't result in re-questioning the priorities or assumptions of the program of which some were eventually proven false or some assumptions were not taken into account. They noted in particular that approaches for nutrition education or to influence consumer behavior are not sufficiently addressed yet over the whole FNS program and haven't been sufficiently institutionalized yet. With regard to the mainstreaming of GRBA, while the evaluators found evidence of good 3

4 participation of women in programs, they noted insufficient information on outcome indicators such as women s empowerment, which was partly attributed to insufficient gender disaggregation in the HFIAS indicators. Despite this, the evaluation noted that the program was making efforts to combine the HFIAS tool with diet diversity indicators, allowing a slightly better consideration of intra-household processes related to food and nutrition. From focus group discussions held with project beneficiaries during the field missions, the evaluators also found strong evidence of improved social, economic and institutional empowerment of women in Burkina Faso and Uganda, while this was less clear in Madagascar. They further noted that ICCO Alliance interventions in the four visited countries had also contributed to an improved enabling environment for land rights. Given the increasing focus of linking FNS programs to valuechain development and other market approaches, the evaluation emphasized the need for a clear strategy for the food crop sector (food value chains) in order to maximize opportunities for smallholders to add value to their produce, while also improving their food and nutrition security. To this end, while acknowledging that efforts were underway to strengthen the links between the FED and FNS programs, the evaluators emphasized the need to strengthen these links much more in order to realize these objectives. 4

5 Recommendations The evaluators proposed five main areas of improvement, to ensure longterm impact and sustainability of MFSII : Strengthen the Theory of Change to i.a,: include the concept of 'sustainable local food systems'; address conditions for impact on FNS on all levels (intra-household to the required policy changes; ensure a clear focus on the potential to contribute to 'systemic change' and 'sustainable food systems' when selecting partners and engaging with other stakeholders. Intensify ICCO Cooperation s role in assessing FNS and 'sustainable food systems' and capitalization of good practice on FNS; regarding inter-sector learning on FNS and further facilitate organizational capacity development of FNS partner coalitions. Develop a more systematic link between claim making and sustainable food systems, and ensure a clear understanding of the envisioned synergies between partners. Tighten the link between FNScoalitions and specialized lobby-partners. Also the required type of advocacy interventions within each context has to be considered better. Improve understanding of the profile of their final (indirect) target group among ICCO s partners. IC and its partners should also re-question the inclusion or focus on ultra-poor households in FNS programs. ICCO Cooperation should aim to focus on structural improvements of inclusive and sustainable food systems, rather than on stabilization of ultra-poor. 5

6 Recommendations I Respect the identified differences between the 'Right to Food' approach and the inclusive market approach of ICCO Cooperation s Strategic Plan. While market approaches can be an important way of improving the food and nutrition security, a one-sided focus on access to markets can hold risks for FNS of vulnerable groups. In order to improve inclusive impact on FNS (from both FNS and inclusive market approaches), FNS and market approaches should be more systematically combined. 6