02Development
Development
results
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Tier II
Diving into the work IFAD does on the ground
By collecting data on performance of ongoing and completed projects, the RIDE aligns project-level results to broader development objectives, such as increasing resilience to climate change or improving production and market access. In turn, these results will contribute to IFAD’s commitment to achieve specific targets within the Sustainable Development Goals.
Impact
IFAD projects led an estimated 77.4 million rural people to increase their income. Beneficiary incomes were on average 23% higher than what they would have been without IFAD projects. Income gains were particularly large in India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Papua New Guinea – with all but the latter focusing on livestock or fisheries.
The IFAD11 Impact Assessment shows that IFAD projects led to significant improvements in the livelihoods of poor rural people. These results are attributable to – meaning they would not have happened in the absence of – IFAD interventions thanks to its robust methodology.
The Impact of IFAD Projects on Poor Rural People
Impact Indicator
SDG
RMF11 targets and achievements
Number of people experiencing economic mobility
Number of people with improved production
Number of people with improved market access
Number of people with greater resilience
Number of people with improved nutrition
Source: IFAD Impact Assessment Initiative
According to the IFAD11 Impact Assessment, IFAD projects improved production for 62.4 million people. On average, productive capacity increased by 23%. Productive capacity indicators include yields, the value of crops, livestock or fish production, or the value of production coming from household enterprises, depending on the theory of change of different types of projects.
IFAD projects also led 64.4 million people to improve benefits from market participation. Beneficiaries of IFAD interventions saw an average improvement of 25% in the value of products they sold in markets. Gains from market participation were particularly large in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, both through livestock-focused interventions.
An estimated 38.2 million people improved resilience to shocks, including those caused by climate-related events. On average, households benefiting from IFAD projects were 13% more likely to recover from shocks they have experienced than comparable households that have not benefited from IFAD’s interventions.
Food security of IFAD project beneficiaries improved by 11% on average. IFAD will continue to implement targeted interventions to make sure that this impact also translates into improved nutrition, which is the only RMF11 target not reached as documented by IFAD11 Impact Assessment. Nutrition has become an important mainstreaming area of IFAD projects in 2019 and all projects in the IFAD11 Impact Assessment were designed long before 2019. The results of IFAD’s increased focus on nutrition are likely to take a few additional years to materialize, which will be captured by future Impact Assessments.
Project-level
Development Results
Project-level development results refer to the performance of IFAD-financed projects once they have completed their implementation period. IFAD follows the evaluation methodology and criteria established by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD-DAC) to assess performance at completion.
For more information on self-evaluation tools and criteria at IFAD, please see the self-evaluation section of this website.Ratings provide an indication of performance against evaluation criteria, such as effectiveness and efficiency. In addition to the OECD-DAC criteria, IFAD also uses its own criteria, such as environment and natural resources management, and gender equality.
The ratings, on a scale of 1-6 with 4-6 termed as ‘moderately satisfactory and above’, provide IFAD staff, implementers and the public with a quantitative evaluation of achievements, shortcomings and areas for improvement on IFAD projects.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Results
The Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of IFAD found that 75% of projects completed between 2018 and 2020 were rated as moderately satisfactory or better. On average, the IOE rates overall project achievement 0.32 points lower than Management. The difference is more significant when looking at the evaluation of scaling up.
Results
Performance of projects closed in 2019-2021 has improved in comparison with those closed in 2016-2018. IFAD projects excelled in the areas of environment and natural resources management, and adaptation to climate change. These results demonstrate the important returns to the many years of effort to deepen IFAD's technical capacities, while continuously learning from experience. Overall project achievement was also estimated above target.
IFAD projects also showed good performance in the key areas of effectiveness and gender equality, meeting the corresponding targets. To further sharpen the gender focus at design, IFAD introduced new gender guidelines in 2019.
Acknowledging and addressing weakness in project performance is vital to ensure IFAD projects are delivering as many benefits to those most in need. Sustainability, efficiency and scaling up are three areas that continue to perform lower than their targets and are being addressed by dedicated action plans.
Project-level
Development Results by
Region
Regional performance
IFAD works in over 100 countries globally and ratings on project completion vary by region.
Projects in East and Southern Africa were top performers on a wide array of criteria, including effectiveness, innovation, efficiency and scaling up. Projects in Near East, North Africa and Europe, and East and Southern Africa both performed strongly on adaptation to climate change and environment, and natural resources management. Government performance, rural poverty impact and sustainability were strongly rated in Latin America and the Caribbean. Projects in West and Central Africa excelled in the areas of gender equality and innovation.
During the period 2019 to 2021, projects in West and Central Africa notably improved across all evaluated criteria. East and Southern Africa projects also improved performance on effectiveness, efficiency and scaling up, while in Latin America and the Caribbean the improvement was notable on sustainability and government performance. Projects in Near East, North Africa and Europe showed more stable performance on average.
Performance at Completion in Countries with Fragile Situations
In countries with fragile situations, the improvement in project performance at completion is generally more evident.
The enactment of the IFAD strategy on fragility throughout IFAD11 has built awareness and equipped country teams with the necessary skillsets to induce more fragility-sensitive and realistic programming. IFAD also piloted innovative solutions and approaches in countries with fragile situations.
Development Outcomes
and Outputs
Outcomes and Outputs
IFAD’s mandate is to deliver concrete change on the lives of the rural poor. Through the RIDE, IFAD reports on tangible outputs and measurable outcomes that ongoing projects are delivering.
Outcomes and Outputs
IFAD’s mandate is to deliver concrete change on the lives of the rural poor. Through the RIDE, IFAD reports on tangible outputs and measurable outcomes that ongoing projects are delivering.
Such results contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and are organized along IFAD’s three Strategic Objectives: increase poor rural people’s productive capacities; increase poor rural people’s benefits from market participation; and strengthen the environmental sustainability and climate resilience of poor rural people’s economic activities.
In 2021, IFAD projects reached over 91 million people. These beneficiaries were balanced in terms of gender - 51% of direct beneficiaries were female. The projects were also inclusive: among projects targeting youth, the share of youth was 22%; among projects targeting indigenous persons, the share was 27%.
Fluctuations in outreach and output figures are linked to the fact that the largest-contributing operation, namely phase II of the Rural Financial Intermediation Programme in Ethiopia, reached completion and exited the cohort of projects under analysis in 2021. COVID-19 and liquidity limitations also affected performance of the ongoing portfolio. Importantly, the impact assessment analysis shows that a decrease in outreach figures is not likely to hinder the achievement of impact.
Highlights of development outcomes and outputs in 2021
Strategic Objective 1
Increase rural people’s productive capacities
RMF11 Target
Outputs
70 000 ha
599 300 ha. farmland with water-related infrastructure
23 mil. people
8.3 mil. people accessing financial services
5 mil. households
2.1 mil. people with support to improve nutrition
50 000 people
44 000 people’s ownership over natural resources registered
Strategic Objective 2
Increase poor rural people’s benefit from market participation
RMF11 Target
Outputs
100 000 rural enterprises
1.96 mil. rural enterprises accessing business development services
3.2 mil. people
3.2 mil. people trained in income-generating activities
1.2 mil. members
1.2 mil. members of rural producers’ organizations supported
20 000 km
11 650 km roads constructed
Strategic Objective 3
Strengthen environmental sustainability & climate resilience of people’s economic activities
RMF11 Target
Outputs
10 000 groups
46 370 groups supported to sustainably manage natural resources and climate-related risks
1.5 million ha
1.8 mil. hectares of land brought under climate-resilient management
120 000 people
182 500 people with access to technologies that sequester carbon or reduce GHG emissions
65 mil. tons GHG
112 mil. tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) avoided or sequestered
Note: results displayed in the table were reported in 2021 and refer to cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objective 01
Increasing productive capacities
Increasing productive capacities
Ensuring that IFAD programming and policy allows for strong capacity- and asset-building for poor rural people is at the core of its mandate. Some examples of how IFAD can execute this strategic objective are by enhancing people’s access to, and control over, assets and resources, helping people obtain the goods and services needed, and by investing in rural people in order for them to improve their skills as productive non-farm or small-scale agricultural entrepreneurs.
IFAD invests in water infrastructure and technology for small-scale irrigation schemes, post-harvesting handling and processing, and domestic water supply. By advocating for an integrated and participatory approach to water resource management, IFAD empowers poor rural people to participate in managing the resources on which they depend. In 2021, IFAD projects constructed or rehabilitated water-related infrastructure over 599,300 hectares of farmland.
Rural finance is of special importance to improve the livelihoods of rural people. In 2021, IFAD projects helped 8.3 million people access savings and credit services, insurance and send or receive remittances. Fluctuations in the yearly number of people supported are closely tied to specific projects exiting the ongoing portfolio.
IFAD also supported 2.1 million people with targeted services to improve their nutrition. As this area only started being systematically mainstreamed into IFAD operations from 2019, tangible results are likely to require a longer timespan to materialize.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2021 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of ha of farmland with water-related infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated
57 000
599 300
70 000
2.3
Number of persons trained in production practices and/or technologies (millions)
2.51
2.9
(Male 53% / Female 47%)
(Young 12% / Not Young 88%)
3.5
2.3
Number of persons in rural areas accessing financial services (millions)
17.4
8.3
(Male 42% / Female 58%)
(Young 19% / Not Young 81%)
23
2.3
Number of persons/households provided with targeted support to improve their nutrition (millions)
1.7
(Male 40% / Female 60%)
(Young 43% / Not Young 57%)
2.1
(Male 40% / Female 60%)
(Young 33% / Not Young 67%)
5
2.1
Percentage of women reporting improved quality of their diets
N/A
14
20
2.1
Number of persons whose ownership or user rights over natural resources have been registered in national cadasters and/or geographic information management systems
31 000
(Male 55% /Female 45%)
(Young 29% / Not Young 71%)
44 000
(Male 55% /Female 45%)
(Young 29% / Not Young 71%)
50 000
1.4
Note: results displayed in the table were reported in 2021 and refer to
cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
Strategic Objective 02
Increasing Benefits from Market Participation
Increasing Benefits from Market Participation
Market participation includes improving the ability of the poor to engage in the market for goods, services and wage labor, or improving the employment opportunities along agricultural value chains. Improvements to rural infrastructure, such as better roads, better storage facilities and better wholesale market places have been shown to encourage farmers to invest in better production capabilities and can stimulate private sector investment.
In 2021, IFAD met or surpassed all RMF11 targets in terms of supporting diversified rural enterprises and employment opportunities, and linking rural producers’ to formal and informal organizations. Over 1.96 million rural enterprises accessed business development services thanks to IFAD financed projects. Roughly 1.2 million members of rural producers’ organizations were supported by IFAD programmes – an indication of IFAD’s rapid increase in market-access related projects. Additionally, more than 3.2 million people were trained in income-generating activities or business management.
Reporting on RMF Indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2021 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of rural enterprises accessing business development services
91 240
1 965 250
100 000
8.2
Number of persons trained in income-generating activities or business management (millions)
2.4
3.2
(Male 31% / Female 69%)
(Young 28% / Not Young 72%)
3.2
4.4
Number of supported rural producers who are members of rural producers’ organizations (millions)
0.8
1.2
(Male 61% / Female 39%)
(Young 13% / Not Young 87%)
1.2
2.3
Number of kilometers of roads constructed, rehabilitated or upgraded
13 700
11 650
20 000
9.1
Note: results displayed in the table were reported in 2021 and refer to
cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
Strategic Objective 03
Strengthening Environmental Sustainability and Climate Resilience
Strengthening Environmental Sustainability and Climate Resilience
By improving the asset base of poor rural households while also diversifying their activities to mitigate risk, IFAD projects strive to strengthen the resilience of rural households’ social and economic activities to withstand risks and shocks.
IFAD’s 2021 results on environmental sustainability and climate resilience were strong, including 1.8 million hectares of land brought under climate resilient practices. This could include practices such as improving efficiencies in crop cultivation, water usage and improvement of land management. An estimated 182,500 people gained access to technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reporting on RMF Indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2021 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of groups supported to sustainably manage natural resources and climate-related risks
7 700
46 370
10 000
2.4
Number of persons accessing technologies that sequester carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions
81 200
(Male 63% /Female 37%)
(Young 20% / Not Young 80%)
182 500
(Male 63% / Female 37%)
(Young 14% / Not Young 86%)
120 000
7.1
Number of persons/households reporting adoption of environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient technologies and practices
N/A
220 500
300 000
13.1
Number of hectares of land brought under climate-resilient management
1.2 million
1.8 million
1.5 million
2.4
Number of tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) avoided and/or sequestered
-30 million
-112 million
tCO2e over 20 years
-65 million
13.1
Note: results displayed in the table were reported in 2021 and refer to
cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
In 2021, IFAD projects reached 91.2 million people, helping poor rural people improve their productive capacity, access agricultural markets and strengthen their resilience to the challenge of climate change.
Browse the RIDE website to learn more on IFAD’s organizational efficiency and how it supports country programmes.
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Operational and organizational performance
