Qualitative Evaluation of Food for Peace Development Food Assistance Projects in Bangladesh F. James Levinson Jessica Blankenship Julian Francis Kusum Hachhethu Rezaul Karim Kathleen Kurz Nashida Akbar Maqbul Bhuiyan May 2016 This report is made possible by the generous support Recommended Citation of the American people through the support of the Levinson, F. James; Blankenship, Jessica; Francis, Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition, Julian; Hachhethu, Kusum; Karim, Rezaul; Kurz, Bureau for Global Health, and the Office of Food for Kathleen; Akbar, Nashida; and Bhuiyan, Maqbul. Peace, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and 2016. Qualitative Evaluation of Food for Peace Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for Development Food Assistance Projects in International Development (USAID) under terms of Bangladesh. Washington, DC: FHI 360/Food and Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-12-00005, Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA). through the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA), managed by FHI 360. Contact Information The contents are the responsibility of FHI 360 and do Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the (FANTA) United States Government. FHI 360 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW May 2016 Washington, DC 20009-5721 T 202-884-8000 F 202-884-8432 [email protected] www.fantaproject.org Qualitative Evaluation of Food for Peace Development Food Assistance Projects in Bangladesh Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Diana Stukel, Kavita Sethuraman, Reena Borwankar, Megan Deitchler, and the superb FANTA Communications team for their continual encouragement and creative suggestions. We would also like to acknowledge our USAID colleagues in Dhaka and in Washington. (A colleague described the Bangladeshi staff of the USAID/Dhaka Mission to be the finest USAID support staff anywhere, and we heartily agree!) We also are grateful to Cathleen Cisse, Kelley Whall, and our Tufts University support system, as well as Patrick Webb, for their excellent backstopping. Finally, we would also like to thank staff at Nobo Jibon, PROSHAR, and SHOUHARDO, and especially our interviewees in the project villages, unions, upazilas, and districts. i Qualitative Evaluation of Food for Peace Development Food Assistance Projects in Bangladesh Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. i Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................................ iv Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ vi 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose of the Evaluation ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Country Context and Development Problem .......................................................................... 2 1.3 Project Descriptions ................................................................................................................ 3 1.3.1 Save the Children – Nobo Jibon Program ................................................................... 3 1.3.2 ACDI/VOCA – Program for Strengthening Household Access to Resources ............ 3 1.3.3 CARE – Strengthening Household Ability to Respond to Development Opportunities II Program ............................................................................................. 4 2. Evaluation Methodology .............................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Geographic Areas Included in the Evaluation ........................................................................ 7 2.2 Evaluation Design and Sampling Methods ............................................................................. 7 2.3 Data Collection Methods ........................................................................................................ 8 2.4 Data Quality .......................................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................................... 10 2.6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.6.1 Data Transcription and Coding ................................................................................. 10 2.6.2 Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 12 2.7 Theory of Change ................................................................................................................. 12 2.8 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 13 2.9 Team Composition................................................................................................................ 14 3. Findings/Interpretations of the Findings ................................................................................. 15 3.1 Organization of the Projects ................................................................................................. 18 3.1.1 Targeting of Beneficiaries ......................................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Breadth of Livelihood Services Provided.................................................................. 19 3.1.3 Monitoring of Service Delivery ................................................................................ 19 3.2 Summaries of Overall Findings across Projects ................................................................... 19 3.2.1 Agriculture and Livelihoods: Combined Summary .................................................. 19 3.2.2 Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition: Combined Summary............................... 21 3.2.3 Disaster Risk Reduction: Combined Summary ......................................................... 24 3.2.4 Gender and Women’s Empowerment: Combined Summary .................................... 25 3.2.5 Governance, Government Linkages, and Coordination with NGOs and Donors: Combined Summary .................................................................................... 27 3.3 Project-Specific Findings: Nobo Jibon ................................................................................. 28 3.3.1 Agriculture and Livelihoods ...................................................................................... 29 3.3.2 Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition .................................................................. 30 3.3.3 Disaster Risk Reduction ............................................................................................ 32 3.3.4 Gender and Women’s Empowerment ....................................................................... 33 3.3.5 Linkages and Coordination ....................................................................................... 34 3.3.6 Behavioral Change and Extension ............................................................................ 35 3.4 Project-Specific Findings: PROSHAR ................................................................................. 35 3.4.1 Agriculture and Livelihoods ...................................................................................... 36 ii Qualitative Evaluation of Food for Peace Development Food Assistance Projects in Bangladesh 3.4.2 Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition .................................................................. 37 3.4.3 Disaster Risk Reduction ............................................................................................ 39 3.4.4 Gender and Women’s Empowerment ....................................................................... 40 3.4.5 Linkages and Coordination ....................................................................................... 40 3.4.6 Behavioral Change and Extension ............................................................................ 41 3.5 Project-Specific Findings: SHOUHARDO II ....................................................................... 42 3.5.1 Agriculture and Livelihoods ...................................................................................... 43 3.5.2 Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition .................................................................. 46 3.5.3 Disaster Risk Reduction ............................................................................................ 48 3.5.4 Gender and Women’s Empowerment ....................................................................... 49 3.5.5 Linkages and Coordination ....................................................................................... 52 3.5.6 Behavioral Change and Extension ............................................................................ 53 3.5.7 Early Childhood Care and Development ................................................................... 54 4. Unintended Positive and Negative Effects: All Projects ......................................................... 55 4.1 Positive Unintended Effects ................................................................................................