COMMISSION FOR AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY CAgM Report No. 107 EVALUATION REPORT OF METAGRI OPERATIONAL PROJECT (2012- 2015) by Vieri Tarchiani April 2019 Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational project (2012-2015) © World Meteorological Organization, 2019 The right of publication in print, electronic, and any other form and in any languages is reserved by WMO. Short extracts from WMO publications may be reproduced without authorization provided that the complete source is clearly indicated. Editorial correspondence and requests to publish, reproduce or translate this publication (articles) in part or in whole should be addressed to: Chair, Publications Board World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 7 bis, avenue de la Paix Tel.: +41 (0)22 730 84 03 P.O. 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The views expressed herein do not necessarily have the endorsement of the Organization. 2 Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational project (2012-2015) EVALUATION REPORT OF METAGRI OPERATIONAL PROJECT (2012-2015) Monitoring reference: 2525-15/REM/PEX Date: 31 December 2015 Project title: METAGRI Operational Grant Number: Project data Implementation status Open Type of monitoring report External Evaluation of technical approach and impacts Monitoring phase Final Type of project Regional project Donor Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Norwegian Government, AEMET (the State Meteorological Agency of Spain), Government of Greece, WMO Title of the contract METAGRI Operational Implementing Agency World Meteorological Organization Geographical area West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d´Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) National Partners National Meteorological Services Responsible for the Implementing Agency José Camacho (WMO Geneva) M&E consultant Vieri Tarchiani Start-up date 01 January 2012 Closure date 31 December 2015 Dates of the M&E mission 9 April 2015 -16 January 2016 Appreciation Project Relevance A Project Effectiveness A Implementation Efficiency B Impacts B Sustainability A A = high, B = medium, C = low 3 Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational project (2012-2015) SUMMARY OF RESULTS Relevance The project was implemented by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in collaboration with the National Meteorological Services of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d´Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo with funds provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Norwegian Government but also by the Government of Greece and minor contributions from AEMET (Spain), EUMETSAT and WMO regular budget. The METAGRI OPERATIONAL project was designed as an operationalization phase of the METAGRI project, launched by WMO and AEMET to support West African Agriculture following the October 2007 Conference of Directors of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of West Africa. The METAGRI project was formulated around the concept of Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers and on the basis of the Mali experience on agrometeorology for farmers (AGROMET). The objective of METAGRI OPERATIONAL was to improve and scale up the METAGRI approach enriching it with new components as training, development of communication skills, feedback and evaluation tools and institutional strengthening. METAGRI OPERATIONAL project was requested by the Conference of Directors of Western Africa National HydroMeteorological Services. The objective of the project is in line with the MDG 1 “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” and its relevance is confirmed by scientific studies and technical reports. The high relevance of the project is attested by the positive feedbacks obtained by METAGRI during its years of activity and the increasing interest in agrometeorological services for farmers coming from civil society, governments and development partners in all the involved countries. Effectiveness The project was built on the strong experience of METAGRI that in its last phase was operational in 14 Western Africa countries. Compared to METAGRI, METAGRI OPERATIONAL objectives were more ambitious and then the activities were articulated around five main components. The project inherited from METAGRI an effective collaborative approach building on previous experiences and expertise of Countries that earlier have been involved. Effective south-south collaboration was established among NMHS of target countries, through Trainings of Trainers and Evaluation meetings. Even if not formalized, the project steering committee was ensured by the Conference of Directors of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of West Africa, WMO and funding agencies. The number of beneficiary countries was impressive and with the involvement of Chad, Liberia and Sierra Leone covered the all of West Africa and for some training, it was expanded also to Eastern and Southern African Countries. At national level, collaborations and partnership between NMHS and other national/local stakeholders were often developed, even if in some countries this win-win opportunity has not been fully developed. 4 Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational project (2012-2015) Efficiency Considering the large number of involved countries, the overall efficiency of project implementation was good. The final figures indicate that 12 499 persons, representing 4 652 villages, have been trained during 269 Roving Seminars in 17 different countries. Among participants, 11 042 were farmers (13% women) and 1 457 extension and other services’ agents. The timing of Roving Seminars’ delivery often was not the most preferable (during or after the rainy season) and this could have affected the capacity of farmers to practically use the rain gauges and valorize the weather and climate information they received. The efficiency of the project was not seriously affected by security and epidemic crises in some countries. Indeed, the Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic hampered Sierra Leone and Guinea in delivering roving seminars for two years and sociopolitical crisis in other countries impeded the smooth implementation of the project. Impacts The project impact on the short term can be evaluated through an analysis of the farmers’ performance and behavior during the growing seasons following the Roving Seminars. Impacts on the long term depend on the strength of the partnership created with the extension system and other partners well rooted at local level. Impacts are different by country and depends not only by the level of implementation of METAGRI, but also by the context in which METAGRI operated. Impacts on farmers’ behavior and crop productivity have been quantitatively evaluated on 4 test countries in 2015. The results show that METAGRI approach has stronger impacts where the extension system is stronger and where the relation among NMHS and farmers is closer. Sustainability The project sustainability lies principally in the scaling up by the beneficiaries of the activities launched by the project and on their optimization in terms of training, information production and support to farmers. The project valorized the METAGRI experience and went further paying particular attention in developing communication strategies, strengthening NMHSs capacities in delivering climate services for farmers as well as establishing partnerships with local and national stakeholders and raising public and political awareness. Moreover, the project generated great interest in other development partners, international agencies and NGOs, ensuring long-term sustainability of the approach. Thus, conditions have been set for further expansion of investments by the National Governments and Donors, as shown by the number of requests that NMHS received for providing weather information, rain gauges and training. 5 Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational project (2012-2015) TABLE OF CONTENTS Evaluation Report of METAGRI Operational PROJECT (2012-2015) ...................................... 3 Summary of results ...................................................................................................... 4 Relevance ................................................................................................................ 4 Effectiveness ............................................................................................................ 4 Efficiency ................................................................................................................. 5 Impacts ................................................................................................................... 5 Sustainability ..........................................................................................................