SDG 01 No Poverty

Supporting Togolese NGO in its organizational and project development

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Project design & Evaluation: The Togolese NGO received donor financial support, which exponentially increased its health project portfolio. As a basis for decision making for further funding, we were contracted to conduct a qualitative evaluation of its health portfolio. We used a range of participatory methods such as focus group discussions and the Method for Impact Assessment of Programmes and Projects (MAPP). We found that while the NGO’s project activities were well conceived and adapted to the local context, it had difficulties to effectively communicate and report its successes towards donors. Our report thus included detailed recommendations on international monitoring, reporting and evaluation standards in order to enable the Togolese NGO to acquire further donor support.

Process facilitation & Training: Based on the evaluation results, we accompanied the NGO for several months to address the identified challenges and support them with a new project funding request. This remote support was completed with a one-week, on-site workshop for the NGO staff. During the first days, we developed an organizational assessment with the staff and analysed main challenges which needed to be addressed going forward. In the following days, we conducted needs- based trainings to improve the NGO’s reporting skills and to support the development of a logframe and M&E system. The NGO continues to extend its local outreach and to propose innovative approaches to support the Togolese health system in remote regions of the country. We are proud to be a part of its family

Taking a fresh look at agricultural mechanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Strategy & Concept development: Much of sub-Saharan Africa’s farmland is cultivated with the hand hoe; agricultural processing and transport are often done manually. For mechanization to boost food security, two questions need to be addressed: What are opportunities and risks of machine technologies? And how can the adoption of technologies by farmers be financed? We reviewed literature and facilitated expert discussions to understand the relevance of mechanization for increasing agricultural outputs and the social and environmental effects on different groups of rural inhabitants.

Project Design & Evaluations: We also developed concrete approaches: We propose mechanization through sustainable machine usage models, such as machinery rings or app-based rental, and customized technologies, such as two-wheel tractors and pedal pumps. Furthermore, we suggested adapted financial services: Non-corporate farm enterprises can be reached by working with alternative collateral, such as warehouse receipts or value chain finance. Small-scale farmers and processors can benefit from savings products, money transfers and small loans to pay for machine hiring.

Developing a multi-stakeholder sustainable use of mangroves programme in Madagascar

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Project design & Evaluations: Madagascar is home to 20% of Africa’s mangroves. Many coastal communities depend on them for their daily livelihood and benefit from other eco-system services. However, mangrove wood is cut illegally for charcoal production and construction. Consequently, the surface of mangrove forests in Madagascar has significantly declined, posing a threat to related ecosystems and livelihoods. Against this backdrop, we developed a programme to foster reforestation, community-based resource governance, and alternative livelihoods. The programme is managed by the Madagassi national parks agency and works with both international and local NGOs to implement specific projects. We selected NGO projects through a call for proposals and developed an overall programme concept.

Process facilitation & Training: In order to develop a coherent programme with a multitude of stakeholders, we commenced the assignment by developing a joint vision among all stakeholders during a side event to the Madagassi national conference on mangroves. For the evaluation of the proposals, we organized a pitch day, where each organization presented their concept and was available for initial questioning. We harmonized the approach and monitoring among the selected proposals by facilitating a joint workshop with metaplan and Theory U methods.

Remote Ex-post Evaluation of a microfinance institution in Syria

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Project design & Evaluations: A Microfinance Institution in Syria was recapitalized to diversify its financial services. Then, the Syrian civil war started and decisively changed the programme environment. In this context, we conducted an ex-post evaluation and found that despite the challenges (high inflation, physical damages to branches, payment defaults), the MFI was still in business and serving its clients. Strikingly, it had even adapted its services to its clients’ changing needs (e.g. start-up loans for internally displaced persons, secure money transfers between branches).

Process facilitation & Training: Without being able to travel to Syria for security reasons, we remotely managed local consultants who conducted focus group discussions, field audits and interviews in different regions of the country. We assured the quality of this work through initial coaching, structured formats, close interaction and extensive debriefing. Among MFI staff, an online survey in Arabic shed light on the institutional changes and processes in the face of conflict.