01/03/18 - 30/09/18
Commissioned by DG NEAR, the mid-term strategic evaluation of the Madad Trust Fund aimed to assess the adequacy of the Fund towards the achievement of the intended goals, and the appropriateness of its management and governance structure, in line with the Constitutive Agreement and directions given by the Fund Board (legal scope).
The overall objectives of the evaluation were:
The evaluation embodied a forward looking approach as its arising recommendations aimed to improve implementation and effectiveness, while being rooted in a backword looking assessment of the enabling or hindering factors that characterised the adequacy of the fund, as well as the level of accountability and efficiency endorsed.
The evaluation team followed the OECD-DAC standard evaluation criteria for this evaluation as well as additional management and governance-related channels of analysis, which were central to the objectives of this assignment.
01/02/18 - 30/09/19
In agriculture, horticulture has always been an important asset of the Afghan economy, due to its diverse climates, relatively good soils and reasonable availability of water. These allow for a large spectrum of crops which have outstanding varieties, long and staged harvest periods, and strong comparative advantage for export. Traditionally, a major contributor to Afghanistan's economy and exports, the horticulture sector has fully recovered after 16 years of reconstruction and redevelopment since 2000. However, the horticulture sector growth is currently narrow-based and is characterized by relatively low overall productivity. The potential gains from horticulture are significant. Government strategy aims to develop a strong national horticulture sector, increase high-quality commercial fruit and vegetable production, enhance fruit and vegetable exports, and increase the share of horticulture products in national GDP.
The proposed Horticulture Value Chain Development Sector Project will help enhance the horticulture value chain in key high-value production zones in Afghanistan. Using the sector modality, items eligible for financing under the Project will include, but not limited to, (i) establishment and/or rehabilitation of horticulture processing and packing facilities, (ii) on-farm and community storages for potatoes and onions, (iii) greenhouses with drip fertigation systems, and (iv) intensive orchard development. The Project will also assist MAIL in preparing and implementing (i) the national marketing and branding strategies, and (ii) strategic crop diversification strategies considering both export promotion and import substitution to increase export of horticulture products to more export destination other than India and Pakistan, and to reduce imports of processed horticulture products.
The proposed project will help increase production of high value horticulture crops and reduce post-harvest losses, hence increasing volume of horticulture products to be marketed both domestically and abroad, particularly during the off-season period. Thus, profitability of farmers and agribusiness enterprises will be improved.
The proposed project will have two outputs:
These outputs will result in the following outcome: production and marketing of horticultural products increased. The Project will be aligned with the following impact: balanced economic growth, stability, and economic empowerment of women and men.
01/02/18 - 31/07/19
Landell Mills was contracted by DFID Nepal to undertake a mid-term review of the Accelerating Investment and Infrastructure in Nepal (AiiN) programme. AiiN is a five-year, £35.2 million technical assistance programme which aims to support the Government of Nepal (GoN) to address key constraints to inclusive and transformational growth in Nepal, specifically poor transport and energy infrastructure, harmful or poorly implemented economic policies and regulations, and the risk of financial sector instability. It consists of three components: i) Accelerating Public and Private Investment in Infrastructure (APPIIC); ii) Economic Policy Incubator (EPI); and iii) Financial Sector Stability Programme (FSSP).
The programme was designed to be at the cutting edge of how to do politically smart adaptive programming. Measures to promote this include: an adaptive M&E system; payment by results; and strong use of Nepali expertise including Nepali political economy advisers for each component.
Following in-country inception and main missions, four reports were submitted to DFID: three component reports reviewing in detail the progress and performance of each of the three AiiN components (APPIIC, EPI and FSSP) and an overarching report.
The objectives of the MTR were to (i) provide an independent review of AiiN's progress and management arrangements to inform DFID's annual review; (ii) assess whether the scope, scale and length of each component is appropriate and make recommendations for changes where appropriate; and (iii) design the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) arrangements for the remainder of the programme. DFID also requested the MTR to review and comment on potential scale up options for the extension of AiiN.
14/12/17 - 14/09/20
The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the diversification of the economy and sustainable regional development in Azerbaijan, while reducing socio-economic disparities between regions. The main counterpart of the project is the Ministry of Economy. The direct beneficiaries of this project is the Department of Development of Regions and State Programmes of the Ministry of Economy with its Central Office and the pilot Regional Offices.
The project aims to 1) enhance the capacity of national and local authorities to plan, implement, and administer programmes directed to enhance socio-economic development of the region, and 2) to support local and national authorities in the prioritization, identification and appraisal of sustainable regional investment projects that have a clear strategic impact in the development of regions and that can be further financed through blending mechanisms and/or State budget.
The expected results of the project are grouped in 4 Components as described below:
04/12/17 - 04/10/23
The ECOFAC 6 programme (‘Preserving Biodiversity and Fragile Ecosystems in Central Africa’) aims to support 12 protected areas spread across seven different states including eight priority conservation landscapes. From North to South, the diversity of these sites includes every natural habitat typical of the Central African Region, from the savannahs of the Sahel to the tropical forests of the Congo Basin. From West to East, the island landscapes of São-Tomé and Principe and the marine protected area of Mayumba in Gabon contrast with the landscapes of the isolated territories along the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Many of these areas are transboundary and are characterised by their own specific conservation challenges.
The overall objective of the project, of which this contract is a part, is to promote a green economy characterised by sustainable, inclusive and locally established economic development in support of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The specific objective is to more effectively protect the divers and fragile ecosystems of Central Africa taking into account sustainable management of ecosystem services.
Two results are to be delivered under the contract:
The regional support implemented by Landell Mills focuses on bringing together and exchanging knowledge and experience at the local, national and regional level. This will be achieved through strengthening the learning and knowledge sharing systems shared by governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, as well as capitalising on and replicating innovative approaches. More specifically the TA supports the following areas:
24/11/17 - 24/11/22
The assignment will implement Result 2 "Environmental management and environmental governance of local authorities and other local stakeholders are enhanced" of the Project "Strengthening Local Communities Resilience to Climate Change in Sudan". The overall objective of the project of which this contract will be a part is to contribute to the strengthening of local communities' resilience and sustainable livelihoods' to better respond to and cope with climate change.
Objective
The purpose of this contract is to strengthen the capacity of local authorities, relevant institutions and other local stakeholders to adopt sustainable long-term approaches to natural resource management and climate change and to reduce the need of short-term emergency responses.
Results
The specific results to be achieved are:
The experts work in collaboration with the federal environmental institutions.
15/11/17 - 15/05/19
This COM Lot 1 request was the first evaluation of budget support operations in El Salvador. This assignment assessed the extent to which EU budget support contributed to the achievement of expected results, notably through giving means to the Salvadoran Government (GoES) to implement country's policies in particular in the social (education and social protection) and economic (national quality system - metrology/ standards/ technical regulation/ accreditation of products and services) and fiscal sectors. Particular emphasis was given to Public Financial Management (PFM) and Domestic Revenue Mobilisation.
The main purpose of this evaluation was:
Indicative EU Budget Support programmes evaluated:
01/10/17 - 31/08/18
The Nepal Climate Change Support Programme (NCCSP) is the Government of Nepal’s flagship programme to support adaptation planning and implementation at the local level. The programme works with communities to design and implement Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs). Phase 1 of NCCSP was delivered by the Government of Nepal with financial assistance from the UK and EU. Government implementation was supported at both central and local levels by TA supplied by UNDP. Funding for LAPA activities was channelled directly from central government to local bodies in 14 Districts in western Nepal.
Phase 1 of NCCSP (2011 - July 2017) was delivered by the Government of Nepal with Technical Assistance support provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In July 2017 the Government of Nepal and DfID transitioned from Phase 1 of NCCSP to Phase 2 (July 2017 - June 2022). Phase 2 will not be ‘business as usual’ for NCCSP. DfID has been working with a design team and Government of Nepal to design the scope, focus and operating model for the new phase of the programme.
Landell Mills has been engaged to provide ‘transitional support’ to DfID and the Government of Nepal during year 1 of NCCSP Phase 2. The objective of the transition support is to enable NCCSP to smoothly transition from phase 1 to phase 2. The Landell Mills team will design and put in place the detailed processes, systems and policy documents needed for full implementation to start in July 2018. Our team will provide both strategic direction to NCCSP during the transition year and technical advice in order to develop systems, processes and policies. The team will work closely with the UNDP TA team, the NCCSP 2 design team, and the new TA supplier for Phase 2.
03/09/17 - 30/06/19
The aim of the New Alliance Information and Communication Technologies Agriculture Extension Challenge Fund was to develop and scale up the delivery of agriculture extension services using sustainable information and communication technologies, including radio, mobile phones, video and web-based applications.
The programme was delivered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aimed to reach 3 million users to help improve agricultural productivity and increase food security for smallholders in Sub Saharan Africa (Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Tanzania). The total fund was US$12m over 4 years. The other donors were DFID (£2.8m over 4 years), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ($3m) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ($1.5 million).
The purpose of the theory-based, complex evaluation was to assess the progress of this programme in improving access to, and adoption of, improved agricultural technologies through ICT-enabled services (radio, mobile, SMS, etc.), as well as the quality and relevance of the range of interventions undertaken by the programme and the extent to which it helped smallholder farmers improve agricultural productivity.
The evaluation aimed to generate evidence on the effectiveness of ICT-enabled agricultural extension services in enhancing farmers' livelihoods through increased adoption and uptake of improved agricultural technologies and to produce insights in what works and what does not work in scaling up ICT-enabled extension approaches through working with both the public and private sectors.
31/07/17 - 31/08/19
Landell Mills significantly increased awareness and visibility of African Peace Facility (APF) related projects through the delivery of communication materials and activities.
The African Peace Facility was established in 2004 in response to a request by African leaders. Financed through the European Development Fund, it constitutes the main source of funding to support the African Union's and African Regional Economic Communities' efforts in the area of peace and security with an overall amount of more than €2,7 billion since 2004. The APF has its legal basis on the Cotonou Agreement and it is funded through the European Development Fund (EDF).
Under the Africa-EU partnership, the strategic objective on peace and security is not only ‘to ensure a peaceful, safe, secure environment’, but also to ‘foster political stability and effective governance, while enabling sustainable and inclusive growth.’
Through the contract activities, Landell Mills built knowledge among national, regional, continental and international peace and security institutions, academics and students, CSOs, NGOs, think tanks, journalists and the general public.
The contract activities fell into four categories: