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
Project-level development results
Development outcomes and outputs
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Impact
IFAD conducts rigorous impact assessments on approximately 15% of the project portfolio. Impact assessments are used in a meta-analysis and aggregation exercise to extrapolate results to the overall portfolio to measure impact at the corporate level.
These assessments help enhance IFAD’s and country-level capacities to both manage for results and to make better informed decisions based on timely and reliable data and evidence. Impact assessments are also used for accountability, learning, and as part of IFAD’s efforts to communicate its results.
Results from individual impact assessments will be aggregated at the end of the IFAD11 period and will be available in 2022.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Impact Indicator
IFAD10 target
2020 Results
IFAD11 target
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of people experiencing economic mobility (millions)
40
-
44
1.2
2.3
Number of people with improved production (millions)
43
-
47
2.3
Number of people with improved market access (millions)
42
-
46
2.3
Number of people with greater resilience (millions)
40
-
24
1.5
Number of people with improved nutrition (millions)
N/A
-
12
2.1
Source: IFAD Impact Assessment Initiative
Impact
Project-level development results
Development outcomes and outputs
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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 resource 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
Results
The results reported for this year’s RIDE show that the performance of closing projects is broadly improving.
Next year’s report will provide a full report on the projects completing in the IFAD11 period (2019-2021), but the current trajectory suggests that result will continue to be more positive than those in previous cycles of IFAD financing.
The 2021 RIDE analyzed 74 operations that closed between 2018-2020 by comparing evaluation criteria ratings to the targets agreed with IFAD’s core stakeholders, its Member States. By looking at performance as a whole, IFAD’s analysis shows that 85% of projects were rated moderately satisfactory or above against a target of 90% in the rolling period.
The Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of IFAD found that 76% of projects completed between 2017 and 2019 were rated as moderately satisfactory or better.
By looking at performance against specific criteria, projects surpassed targets for performance on climate change; other well-performing areas (just below the IFAD11 targets) are project effectiveness, gender equality, and environment and natural resource management.
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 will be addressed in the forthcoming Replenishment period (IFAD12, 2022-2024).
Lastly, while not reported in IFAD’s RMF, government performance
Government performance measures how well governments, as the implementers of IFAD financed projects, have managed, financed and monitored IFAD’s projects.
is rated at project completion, and tends to be highly correlated with efficiency and sustainability.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 and Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia performed well on average, with strengths in climate change adaptation and environment and natural resource management. Even projects in regions that did not manage to have such strong performance across the board this year, such as Asia and the Pacific, maintained strong scores in climate change and gender equality. Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean were excellent in the important area of overall rural poverty impact. IFAD observed that fragility can heighten already-existing challenges during project implementation. The West and Central Africa region holds the most projects in fragile situations, yet their average performance improved from last year.
Performance at completion in countries with fragile situations
The case of Sudan
For 2020, the analysis on performance at completion in the RIDE considered only one operation implemented in countries with fragile situations (Sudan), which performed satisfactorily. The Butana Integrated Rural Development Project established a Natural Resource Governance Framework to help communites sustainably manage natural resources and reduce conflict in the Butana area. This achievement is considered a breakthrough within the context of the country, affected by competition for land and natural resources, and exacerbated by weak institutions and governance.
In such difficult context, the project was highly effective in promoting gender empowerment, by expanding women’s access and control over productive assets, and strengthening their position in community organisations, many of which see women in leadership positions. These findings are in line with the recent Country strategy and programme evaluation of Sudan completed by IOE, which highlights a notable transformation of gender roles, improved community awareness of natural resource management and governance, and improved skills and livelihood opportunities of community members.
Projecting Development Results by end-2021
Projecting Results
To understand what performance may look like by the end of IFAD’s 11th Replenishment period, IFAD looked at the performance of ongoing projects that are due to close by 2021.
Evaluation criteria used to assess performance during implementation (such as value for money) were mapped to the corresponding criteria at completion (such as efficiency). The exercise shows that IFAD’s portfolio is on track to achieving targets related to effectiveness and overall project achievement. There is still a need to reinforce scaling up and improve sustainability. Efficiency is harder to map from supervision to completion, but indicators look positive.
Supervision ratings mapped to project completion criteria: projects closing in IFAD11
Impact
Project-level development results
Development outcomes and outputs
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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 2020, IFAD projects reached over 128 million people, above the 120 million targeted. These beneficiaries were balanced in terms of gender - 49% 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 34%.
Highlights of development outcomes and outputs in 2020
Strategic Objective 1
Increase rural people’s productive capacities
IFAD11 Target
Outputs
23 million people
23.4 million people with access to financial services
70,000 ha
560,000 ha of farmland with water-related infrastructure constructed or rehabilited
2.3
50,000 people
73,000 people’s ownership over resources registered in national cadasters and/or geographic information managment systems
1.4
Strategic Objective 2
Increase benefits from market participation
IFAD11 Target
Outputs
100,000 rural enterprises
530,000 rural enterprises accessing business development services
8.2
3.2 million people
3.7 million people trained in income-generating activities or business managment
2.3
4.4
1.2 million members
1.5 million members of rural producers’ organizations supported
2.3
Strategic Objective 3
Strengthen environmental sustainability and climate resilience
IFAD11 Target
Outputs
1.5 million ha
1.7 million ha of land brought under climate resilient practices
2.4
120,000 people
148,000 people with access to technologies that sequester carbon or reduce GHG emissions
7.1
Note: results displayed in the table were reported in 2020 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.
In 2020, IFAD successfully exceeded targets in a number of results areas. Nearly 23.4 million people were provided access to financial services, such as savings, credit, insurance and remittances. From Benin to Bangladesh, IFAD has worked on rural finance in over 70 countries for more than four decades. IFAD’s overall investments (over US $3 billion to date) in these systems shows the importance having access to financial tools can have in transforming rural livelihoods. Other highlights include nearly 73,000 people supported in establishing ownership or rights over natural resources, over 560,000 hectares of land equipped with water-related infrastructure, and 23 per cent of women reporting improved quality of their diets.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2020 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of ha of farmland with water-related infrastructure constructed/rehabilitated
57 000
562 900
70 000
2.3
Number of persons trained in production practices and/or technologies (millions)
2.51
3.2
(Male 57% / Female 43%)
(Young 22% / Not Young 78%)
3.5
2.3
Number of persons in rural areas accessing financial services (millions)
17.4
23.4
(Male 49% / Female 51%)
(Young 22% / Not Young 78%)
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%)
1.8
(Male 37% / Female 63%)
(Young 22% / Not Young 78%)
5
2.1
Percentage of women reporting improved quality of their diets
N/A
23
20
2.2
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
Note: : results displayed in the table were reported in 2020 and refer to cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
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 2020, over 530,000 rural enterprises accessed business development services thanks to IFAD financed projects. Over 1.5 million members of rural producers’ organizations were supported by IFAD programmes – an indication of IFAD’s rapid increase (from 3 per cent of IFAD’s projects in 1999 to more than 75 per cent in 2014) in market-access related projects. Additionally, more than 3.7 million people were trained in income-generating activities or business management.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2020 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of rural enterprises accessing business development services
91 240
532 500
100 000
8.2
Number of persons trained in income-generating activities or business management (millions)
2.4
3.7
(Male 39% / Female 41%)
(Young 25% / Not Young 75%)
3.2
2.3
4.4
Number of supported rural producers who are members of rural producers’ organizations (millions)
0.8
1.5
(Male 52% / Female 48%)
(Young 18% / Not Young 82%)
1.2
2.3
Number of kilometers of roads constructed, rehabilitated or upgraded
13 700
13 100
20 000
9.1
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
Note: : results displayed in the table were reported in 2020 and refer to cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
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 2020 results on environmental sustainability and climate resilience were strong, including almost 1.7 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. Over 148,000 people gained access to technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reporting on RMF indicators
Project-level outcomes and outputs
Baseline
2020 Results
IFAD11 target (end-2021)
Sustainable Development Goal
Number of groups supported to sustainably manage natural resources and climate-related risks
7 700
8 100
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%)
148 100
(Male 63% / Female 37%)
(Young 15% / Not Young 85%)
120 000
7.1
Number of persons/households reporting adoption of environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient technologies and practices
N/A
50 400
300 000
2.3
Number of hectares of land brought under climate-resilient management
1.2 million
1.67 million
1.5 million
2.4
Number of tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) avoided and/or sequestered
-30 million
-59 million
tCO2e over 20 years
-65 million
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%)
72 900
(Male 52% /Female 48%)
(Young 29% / Not Young 71%)
50 000
1.4
Source: IFAD Core Indicators
Note: : results displayed in the table were reported in 2020 and refer to cumulative progress achieved by ongoing projects since their beginning.
