BASED DECISIONBASEDMAKING - DECENTRALIZED EVALUATION FOR EVIDENCE FOR DECENTRALIZEDEVALUATION Decentralized Evaluation Mid-Term Evaluation of Integrated Risk Management and Climate Services Programme in Malawi from 2017-2019 Final Evaluation Report: Volume I Prepared October 2019 WFP Malawi Evaluation Manager: Jason Nyirenda Prepared by Catherine Longley, Team Leader Sithabiso Gandure, International Evaluator Assa Maganga, National Evaluator Acknowledgements The Evaluation Team is very grateful to the WFP Country Office in Malawi as well as the Regional Bureau in Johannesburg (RBJ) – especially Hegel Balayanga (Evaluation Data Analyst) – for the support provided throughout the evaluation. In particular, we thank the many respondents from Government departments (at national and district levels), non-governmental organisations, research institutes, the private sector, United Nations and other agencies who provided inputs into this evaluation. We are particularly indebted to the beneficiaries at community levels who took time to talk to us and answer our many questions. We also wish to thank the three Field Assistants, Elizabeth Ndenguma, Gerard Malija, and Gift Noniwa. Disclaimer The opinions expressed in this report are those of the Evaluation Team, and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Food Programme. Responsibility for the opinions expressed in this report rests solely with the authors. Publication of this document does not imply endorsement by WFP of the opinions expressed. The designation employed and the presentation of material in maps do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WFP concerning the legal or constitutional status of any country, territory or sea area, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers. Evaluation Report: Mid-Term Evaluation of IRMP in Malawi from 2017-2019 i | Page Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Context ................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.2. Overview of the Evaluation Subject ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.3. Evaluation Methodology and Limitations............................................................................................................ 14 2. Evaluation Findings ................................................................................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Relevance .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17 2.2. Effectiveness .................................................................................................................................................................... 20 2.3. Efficiency ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32 2.4. Impact ................................................................................................................................................................................ 36 2.5. Sustainability ................................................................................................................................................................... 38 2.6. GEWE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 41 3. Conclusions, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 44 3.1. Overall Assessment/Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 44 3.2. Lessons Learned [EQ17] .............................................................................................................................................. 47 3.3. Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................................ 48 Annexes ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 57 Annex 1: Geographical coverage of IRMP and other resilience activities ................................................................... 58 Annex 2: IRMP Project Details ...................................................................................................................................................... 60 Annex 3. Outcome and output indicator results ................................................................................................................... 63 Annex 4: IRMP Logical Framework ............................................................................................................................................. 74 Annex 5: Integrated Resilience Approach ................................................................................................................................ 81 Annex 6: Other related Resilience interventions ................................................................................................................... 82 Annex 7: Frequency of Shocks by District, 2000-13 ............................................................................................................. 84 Annex 8: Expenditure to Date and Budget Allocations ...................................................................................................... 85 Annex 9: GFCS Impact Pathway ................................................................................................................................................... 86 Annex 10: Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................................... 87 List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................................. 88 List of Figures Figure 1. IRMP Planned budget allocation ................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 2. Percent of households within targeted communities receiving seasonal climate services with agro- climatic advice ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Figure 3. Percentage of farmers receiving climate services information through different channels ................ 22 Figure 4. Changes in different enterprises inspired by the PICSA training .................................................................... 25 Figure 5. Farmers reporting to practise what they learnt from climate services information via radio ............. 27 Figure 6: Simplified impact pathway based on farmers’ perspectives on linkages between activities .............. 37 Figure 7. Map showing Traditional Authorities (TAs) under Resilience activities ...................................................... 58 Figure 8: Impact pathway diagram developed for the GFCS project ............................................................................... 86 Evaluation Report: Mid-Term Evaluation of IRMP in Malawi from 2017-2019 ii | Page List of Tables Table 1. Beneficiary numbers disaggregated by year, activity and component .......................................................... 12 Table 2. Methodological limitations and mitigation strategies .......................................................................................... 15 Table 3. Outcome indicator results by gender of household head and monitoring survey dataset (Blantyre and Chikwawa Districts only) ........................................................................................................................................................... 20 Table 4. PICSA training received by sampled farmers and usefulness of PICSA tools .............................................. 23 Table 5. Selected Likert statements about PICSA training ................................................................................................... 24 Table 6. Insurance pay-outs to date by district ........................................................................................................................ 28 Table 7: WFP resilience activities by district, highlighting IRMP districts (2018) ......................................................... 59 Table 8. Coping Strategies Index (Blantyre and Chikwawa Districts only) ..................................................................... 63 Table