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BMZ EVALUATION REPORTS 006 Country Case Study – “Regional Rural Development Project (RRDP) Kandy, Sri Lanka” Summary Ex-Post Evaluation – sustainability of Regional Rural Development Programmes (RRD) COUNTRY CASE STUDY “REGIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KANDY, SRI LANKA” COUNTRY CASE STUDY “REGIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KANDY, SRI LANKA” Preface This study was commissioned by the BMZ (Divi- obtain a “local perspective”. Altogether the key sion for Evaluation of Development Cooperation). objectives of the evaluation were: It is an independent evaluation which was car- ried out by the “Centre for Poverty Reduction, l the widening and deepening of our under- CEPA“ in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2003/2004 standing of the outcome and long-term by the consultants Sunil Bastian, Neranjana impact of German cooperation projects Gunetilleke, Azra Jafferjee, and Nireka Weera- and of the underlying conditions for success; tung. The views and opinions expressed in the l the introduction of a different vantage report do not necessarily correspond to those of point for the analysis of the outputs, out- the BMZ. However, a comment by the BMZ can be come and impact of German cooperation found at the end of the summary. projects by charging local research institu- tions and/or consultants with the actual The present document is part of a series of four evaluation work; and ex-post evaluations on Regional Rural Devel- l the further refinement of the ex-post evalu- opment Programmes in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, ation methodology. Tanzania and Zambia which were implemented between the 1970s and the 1990s. The evaluation In addition to the four country case studies a syn- itself was carried out in 2003 and 2004 applying thesis report is available (see inner cover page for specific questions and methods. One character- contact details). istic of the evaluation is that the BMZ commis- sioned professional local consultants, in order to Division for Evaluation of Development Cooperation COUNTRY CASE STUDY “REGIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KANDY, SRI LANKA” Summary of Evaluation The views presented in this study are opinions . Methodology of the study held by the independent external experts. The methodology adopted for the study varies 1. Background and objectives from typical in-project evaluations. The evalua- tion focuses exclusively on impact, that is, what In recent years there have been increasing calls has changed owing to the RRDP’s thirteen years for development cooperation, and in this case, of implementation and what lessons can be German development cooperation to justify its learnt for development planning and practice. investments in terms of impact on the ground. Of less interest is whether the goals and objec- Following this the German Federal Ministry for tives set out by the RRDP have been achieved. Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) In that sense, this evaluation has a strong policy launched a series of evaluations on the long-term and learning orientation and the methodology impact of its aid. The first series of such evalua- adopted for the study is reflective of this. tions involved 32 completed projects and the sec- ond series, initiated in 2003, involves four com- This methodology can be broadly termed as the pleted Integrated Rural Development Projects. “funnel approach”, which has been applied by the BMZ in its first series of evaluations. CEPA uses The BMZ-supported Regional Rural Development this approach as its starting point, but adapts it to Programme (RRDP), located in the Kandy district suit the context in which it is applied and in a way of Sri Lanka and implemented from 1987 to 2000 that can best bring out policy lessons. by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), was chosen as one of the case studies and the Centre Briefly described, the funnel approach first looks for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), was contracted by the at changes in the immediate and broader project BMZ to undertake the evaluation over the period environment and then tries to establish linkages September to December 2003. between such changes and the project interven- tions. The immediate environment is the Kandy The objective of the evaluation as articulated in district while the broader environment would the BMZ terms of reference is, include the provincial and even the national level. “The independent, external assessment of The practical application of this methodology the impact, relevance and sustainability comprised a four-step process. The first step of the long-term development activities identifies the basic fields of investigation. These within the framework of IRDPs and the fields, while linked to the overall work of the underlying conditions for success.” RRDP, are not primarily determined by it. They are selected on the basis of their insightful value, Given the ex-post nature of the evaluation, the im- i.e., their ability to provide clues as to the essence pact is assessed in terms of ultimately “what remains of the impact, relevance and sustainability of the on the ground” and what we can learn from it for RRDP, the interests of the BMZ and the views of future project planning and implementation. Hence, the study team. The second step elaborates these emphasis is laid on the policy orientation of findings fields of investigation through a “context review” and the recommendations to be derived from them. of changes and trends in the particular field, COUNTRY CASE STUDY “REGIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KANDY, SRI LANKA” using secondary literature and data. On the basis focuses on the very micro level, down to impact of this review, the third step specifies a number on individual households. of key research questions or focus areas for study that guide the field research. While the first step concentrated on identifying fields within the . Context review projects spatial context, the fourth step looked at important fields of investigation at the macro The context review of component one provides an level, outside the spatial context of the project. overview of the policy and institutional framework Here, overarching policy issues relevant to the within which the RRDP operated. The focus is on context of IRDPs and issues of the time. A similar what the BMZ terms of reference calls the “overall context review and elaboration of research areas policy framework(s) of Sri Lanka, including frame- takes place in step four. works for sectoral and regional development”. The outcome of this four-step framework was the The review shows that The RRDP existed at a time selection of three basic fields of investigation which of significant reform of the structures of the Sri form the basis of the evaluation and are referred to Lankan state. Specifically, the most important as the main study components. They are: reforms that took place during this period were the establishment of provincial councils and divisional a) Policy and Institutional arrangements for secretariats. These reforms had a far-reaching decentralised development impact on the state structure. In other words the b) Enterprise promotion in facilitating decen- RRDP had to carry out its task of institutional tralised development development of sub-national units in the context c) Village development as an enabling factor of these reforms. The two broad areas of reforms for decentralised development. involved reforms at the level of districts and subdis- tricts and the establishment of provincial councils. The first component is selected as it formed the The reforms at the district and sub-district level core of the philosophy of IRDPs, that of decen- involved the setting up of district and divisional tralised development. Moreover, support to the development councils which were prompted by administrative and institutional apparatus was the 1971 insurgency and a reaction by the Centre a major objective of the RRDP. Component two, as a way of re-establishing control over the regions enterprise promotion in facilitating decentralise through development. The establishment of the development, was selected since Kandy, being the provincial councils was a direct outcome of the ‘second capital’ of Sri Lanka, is logically placed to aggravation of the ethnic conflict in the early 1980s, be a hub of business activity. Whether this is the when under pressure from India, Sri Lanka agreed case is discussed in the report, but the importance to devolve power to the provinces. of the topic is nonetheless relevant for the Kandy district, and as will be seen, was also to become a Following from this review, the major fieldwork major feature of the RRDP. The third component, phase of the study places the work of the RRDP that of village development as an enabling factor in the context of the overall policy framework, to for decentralised development, was identified arrive at the impact, relevance and sustainability because of its direct poverty relevance on the of the institution development efforts under- smallest unit of analysis – that of the village and taken by the project. household. Hence, while component one focuses on more macro and meso level issues and com- The context review of socio-economic trends ponent two on the meso level, component three in the Kandy district shows that despite good COUNTRY CASE STUDY “REGIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KANDY, SRI LANKA” achievement on social indicators (access to . Project overview electricity, safe sanitation, good housing qual- ity), Kandy reports relatively sluggish rates of From the point of view of the RRDP, the project economic growth. According to data for the mid spanned four phases during its 13 year implemen- 1990s, Kandy ranked almost at the bottom of tation period. It began halfway during the period the list of districts in GDP growth. This is mostly of IRDPs, which commenced in Sri Lanka in 1975 attributed to lack of growth in areas outside the with the Kalutara IRDP and ended with the onset city of Kandy, with the growth impetus concen- of the Regional Economic Advancement Pro- trated in the city.

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