What’s your theory of a solution to community identified need?
March 2010 Newsletter

MARCH NEWS:

This Month’s Online Courses
We are offering our courses ‘From the Ground Up’ and ‘Project Architecture’ again in March; participants from 49 countries are now enrolled in these courses. See what past students have said.

New Video on Developing a Donor Presentation
What are the tangible outputs from our two courses ‘From the Ground Up’ and ‘Project Architecture?’ Each class during 12 weeks of course time is one step toward a completed project design, a presentation for a donor, and a project management plan.

Online Scholarships
In January, thanks to your generosity, we were able to give seven online scholarships. Today, we have three times as many scholarship applicants. Please consider donating a scholarship. Donate.

March Workshop in Guatemala
In March, we will be facilitating a four-day project and proposal development workshop for the Central American and Mexican country directors of US based Ecologic Development Fund. Ecologic works with poor, rural communities to conserve and restore forests and streams in ways that improve people’s lives.

Three New Interns
In February three important people began working with the Center. Michelle Berkowitz of Guatemala and Eric Swedersky of Canada have been working with the Spanish section of our online courses. Chris McFarland from the US has been developing an interactive social component for our website.

MARCH NEWSLETTER TOPIC:
What’s your theory of a solution to community identified need?
Developing a theory of how we plan to address the problems discovered last month with the Ten Seed Technique.
Last month, we prioritized a set of community identified problems. Now is your opportunity to develop a theory of how to solve these problems, and to begin exploring specific activities that will fulfill your theory through discussions with colleagues, through your own experience, and through Internet searches.

Sample of prioritized needs that online students have uncovered within their communities:
Income generation, clean water, access to education, poor sanitation, gender equality, migration, lack of vocational skills, chronic diarrhea and malnutrition in small children, lack of roads to villages, marginalization, shelter, food shortages, illiteracy, environmental degradation, drought, lack of irrigation for agriculture, community revitalization, adapting to climate change and overpopulation.

A theory is just that. In the development world it’s called a theory of change; it’s your theory of what changes in behavior or changes in infrastructure will need to be realized to solve a problem. Your theory of change will include the interventions/activities that you are proposing will address problem.

Here is a well developed Problem Statement:
[Problems and underlying causes] (1) Children from 100 families in four Guatemalan villages are frequently ill with chronic diarrhea caused by little knowledge of health and hygiene, and (2) chronically undernourished caused by little knowledge of nutrition, and a shortage of food reserves which contribute to [Negative Impacts] (a) stunting (reduced physical and mental development) and a reduction of their ability to participate in (b) family/community activities and (c) attend and concentrate in school.

Here are some clues to get you off to a good start
1. The simpler your problem statement is the easier it will be to develop a theory of change.
2. The more information that you can find about project interventions that have shown evidence of having worked to solve your problem the greater the likelihood that:

your theory of change will be a good one
your project will have long-term impact

Investigating if there is a scientific basis that our proposed theory and activities have worked on other projects.
Suppose that you are a mother whose children are suffering, and an unknown organization came to you with a plan to help your children. Wouldn’t you want that plan to work?

Suppose that you are a donor hoping that your donations will fulfill some need. Wouldn’t you want your donations to have an impact?

Suppose that you were a local NGO hoping to improve the lives of your people. Wouldn’t you want to be successful?

Today it is acknowledged that development programs haven’t kept up with increasing need. One of the very simple reasons is that organizations are copying what other organizations are doing without stopping to check if their programs are working and having any lasting impact.

There is an extraordinarily simple solution to this and that is to do a bit of research to see if any scientific studies have been done about the effectiveness of your proposed activities. For those of us who are human beings, this can be quite challenging. We think something will work, we fall in love with the idea, we become obsessed with the idea, and we won’t let go of it.

But what if 100 other organizations have tried the idea, evaluators have evaluated the outcomes, and unfortunately came to the conclusion that the intervention/activity did not address the problem?

So, at this early stage, before you fall in love with your idea, you have the opportunity to research whether there is a basis in scientific evidence that it works.

Both universities and forward thinking organizations monitor projects in an effort to determine if they are achieving their desired impact. The results of many of those studies are available online.

So take your three favorite activities, and search the Internet to see if scientists have found evidence that our chosen activities work to solve the problem statement that we prepared.

What is a scientific, peer-reviewed, document?
A cornerstone idea behind science is that investigators don’t let their personal thoughts, feelings and needs become muddled with the results of their investigation. One of the techniques for ensuring that is to share a draft of their study with their scientific peers. If their peers feel that a scientist has not kept an arm’s length distance in their analysis, they will recommend corrections. This becomes known as a peer-reviewed study. It is these studies that we’re looking for.

Let’s go to Google Scholar. With a good collection of keywords, Google is tremendously powerful and can lead you to many papers that are freely downloadable online. Make sure that they’re from a reputable university or research institute.

These documents will give you an abstract or executive summary that will tell you in one paragraph the results of the study. The body of the study will give you the information on why the activity did or did not work and under what circumstances.

Next month we will see how to organize this information into a simple project outline and a goal statement. They outline will lead naturally into a Logic Framework in preparation for a presentation to a donor.

See you in April.

The 49 Countries:
Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Columbia, Ecuador, Ethiopia , France, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Qatar, Serbia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago W.I., Uganda, UK, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia.

 

Nutrition, Food Security, & Home Gardens
April 2010 Newsletter

 

April News:

This Month’s Online Courses
We are offering our course ‘From the Ground Up’ again in May; participants from 56 countries are now enrolled in March’s classes. See what past students have said. ‘From the Ground up’ and ‘Project Architecture‘ are available in English and in Spanish.

New Online Learning Summer/Fall Catalogue
Our catalogue includes our Foundation Courses as well as courses in Sustainability and Impact Analysis, and courses on Development Tools that Work.

March Workshop in Guatemala
In March, we facilitated a four-day, project and proposal development workshop in Spanish for the Central American Country Directors of US based Ecologic Development Fund. Ecologic works with poor, rural communities to conserve and restore forests, watersheds and wetlands in ways that improve people’s lives. In the first half of the workshop, participants led community-centered needs assessments with real communities, developed project outlines, and researched evidence-based solutions. In the second half of the course, they produced logical frameworks (complete with M&E plans, and outcome and impact statements), detailed budgets, project schedules and a short proposal—all of which they presented to a representative of USAID Guatemala for funding. We have our fingers crossed!

APRIL NEWSLETTER TOPIC:
Nutrition, Food Security, & Home Gardens
This month I’m going to show a technique for investigating best practices in Home Gardens, and show how to lead a community workshop in home gardens for nutrition.

Frequently in Guatemala I come across the problem of chronic malnutrition; according to the World Health Organization, 49.7% of rural, indigenous Guatemalan children are malnourished. Home gardens could be a solution to this problem, but not being certain, I decided to investigate this idea for evidence of having worked –  and then develop a Lesson Plan and How-To Card for field staff to use within communities.

For many people living in the cycle of poverty, the idea of starting a kitchen garden might seem overwhelming. It could be the time investment, it might be perceived costs. It might be a lack of know-how: what to plant, how to plant and how to care for a garden. However, the positive benefits make it worthwhile enabling community members in gardening for nutrition.

An evidence basis as seen in scientific studies:
I used Google Scholar to find the following scientific papers:
Keywords: Family gardens and small animal production for increasing food security and nutrition

1. Improving Diet Quality and Micronutrient Nutrition: Homestead Food Production in Bangladesh; IFPRI; Lora Iannotti, Kenda Cunningham, Marie Ruel.
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00928.pdf

2. Effect of nutrition improvement project on morbidity from infectious diseases in preschool children in Vietnam: comparison with control commune; R M English, J C Badcock, Tu Giay, Tu Ngu, A­M Waters, S A Bennett
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2127738/pdf/9374884.pdf/?tool=pmcentrez

3. Home gardens key to improved nutritional well-being; L. Bhattacharjee, S. Phithayaphone and B.K. Nandi
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/011/ag101e/ag101e00.pdf

Summary Paragraph:
These studies show that home gardens can provide 60% of leafy vegetables, and between 20% and 50% of all fruits and vegetables consumed by households. Home gardening families as a rule spends less on food than non-gardening families. Improved nutrition boosts the body’s immune system protecting children against disease and can reduce diarrheal infections from 18% of the children to 5% of the children. One study showed that after six months of a vegetable garden project, the number of malnourished children decreased from 23% in the communities to 16% and the number of severely malnourished children decreased from 9.5% to 2%. The studies all emphasized that the vegetable gardens needed to be combined with nutrition education so that mothers could make sure that they were growing a variety of vegetables and fruit rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A. The gardens were also a good source of protein through eggs and small animal production. The studies concluded that even a small garden (25 sq. meters) can have a positive impact on nutrition, health and increased incomes.

NUTRITION, FOOD SECURITY, AND HOME GARDENS: A FIELD GUIDE
Getting Started
Start small, think simple. The purpose of the first year’s workshops and the gardens that get planted are to give the participants a win—so that they will be encouraged to plant again the following year. Even if they plant only one bed 1 meter by 4 meters, they should be able to get positive, delicious, nutritious results. Digging a new bed each year also minimizes the year one time investment, and gives them the chance to decide where to locate the next bed.

Nutrition.
In the first workshop, community members learn about their family’s nutritional deficits, and are given ideas of what they could grow to offset this challenge. Work with an agriculturalist in your area to list plants rich in vitamin A, and fruits and vegetables that offer protein and fats like avocados. Work with villagers to pick the things from the list they would be interested in growing first.

Planning the Garden.
A garden must first be planned and designed. In the first year we won’t get into too much detail; let us not scare people away from the idea with too much information. During the course of the year we can gradually teach them more so that they can do a better job of planning for year two.

We need to plan for sun, exposure to wind and runoff, family size and food production, and crop choice for nutrition. Provide large sheets of paper for them to design an example garden. Ask participants to sketch the area around their house and begin thinking of a good location for their garden. Work with the family to make a decision: a single small bed the first year—or something bigger?

Looking at organic material samples collected from around the village
Discuss the importance of organic matter for the soil and the beds. In the first year, since they may not have compost, let them know that they can begin by spreading whatever chopped-up organic material (OM) they can find on top of the staked out bed location. This can be leaves, manure, corn stalks, vegetable-based kitchen scraps. Organic material in garden soil provides nutrients, structure and facilitates holding water. Explain how many freely available types of OM are available around the village for getting garden plot started. Have participants discuss other materials that they might be able to use.

Raised Beds.
They provide a soft environment for roots, they drain well, and the soil flora and fauna receive the oxygen they need. Soil is a living, breathing organism of sand, clay, organic matter, earthworms, nutrients, minerals, water and plant roots. It can suffer from being too wet, too dry and too sandy. Organic material and the soft soil of the raised beds are a benefit for root penetration, drainage, aeration, nutrient availability, and structure.

Taking turns laying out and digging a bed, mixing in organic material and smoothing the bed.
Stake out an area for a bed that is no wider than 1 meter; clear it of any vegetation or trash. Lay some organic material on top of the staked-out area. Beginning at one end of the new bed, dig a 1 meter long trench one shovel in depth and one shovel width wide. Place the soil to the side. With a garden fork or with the shovel, loosen the soil in the bottom of the trench a further shovel depth—but don’t remove it. Place some more organic material in the trench.

Dig a second trench alongside the first one, tossing the soil into the first trench. With the addition of the OM and the fluffing of the soil, the soil should now be higher than the surrounding terrain. Continue this process for the entire length of the bed. Place the soil set aside from the first trench into the last trench.

Using a garden rake, and without walking on the new bed, carefully break up any clumps of soil and rake the surface of the new bed smooth, flat and level. Carefully rake the outer edges so that they slope at a 45-degree angle, and so that a small lip forms at the upper edge for holding water.

Laying out a seed grid and planting a few example seeds at the right distances and depths.
Nutritious plants should have already been selected in the nutrition section of the workshop, and seeds obtained. The seeds should come with directions for correct spacing for planting and correct planting depths. Working with your community members, explain how to measure out and mark the beds for planting the seeds. Being sure not to walk on the new beds, help them plant the seeds and cover them with soil.

Gently watering the newly planted seedbeds.
Use a watering can with a fine spray and gently water the newly planted seeds. Water slowly enough that the water can soak in and not form pools; pools can cause the seeds to float to the surface. Explain the best times of day to water, frequency, duration and quantity. Let the workshop participants take turns watering the newly planted seedbeds.

Put together a simple fence to protect the bed from animals. Be creative and use any free materials just to get going the first year. The fence could be made of branches, old tires, old barrels, or old pallets.

A Lesson Plan and How-To Card available for field staff to use in leading this workshop, and in following up with the families.

See you in May.

The 56 Countries:
Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia , France, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Serbia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago W.I., Uganda, UK, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia.

 

April, 2009 Newsletter

Positive Outcomes: Discovering What Works in Development 

 

Increasing Project Impact

 

I recently returned from attending the conference “Perspectives on Impact Evaluation: Approaches to Development Effectiveness.” As a researcher of development impact, I jumped at the chance to attend. I was greeted by workshops on how to design and implement impact evaluations for many types of projects including agricultural production, health, microenterprise and education. 600 professionals from around the globe attended this, the first conference focused on using impact evaluations to discover what works in development.

 

  

Outputs vs. Outcomes

Traditionally, project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) has served an accounting role focused on outputs. A traditional M&E plan would verify that 1,000 books were distributed to students in an educational project. However, by focusing on outputs, donors weren’t taking the opportunity to learn if their investments were having a positive outcome: Did the project improve the well-being of the students? New types of questions have begun coming to light:

• Did the students remain in school longer as a result of the project?
• Did the program better prepare them for the job market?
• Were they healthier and more prosperous in the long-term?
• Were the outcomes sustainable?

 

Why is this important for NGOs?

Impact evaluation provides feedback to help improve the design of programs. Even though NGOs have been reluctant to report on poorly performing interventions, donors have been showing interest in including both negative and positive outcomes in a more open dialogue with their partners. If a donor learns that two out of five project activities didn’t have impact – why should they reinvest in those activities? Why not exchange them for activities that have proven effectiveness? This open dialogue represents a positive step toward allocating time and resources toward enhancing the impact of future projects.

 

  

How do we initiate an impact evaluation (IE)?

• Be sure to include the impact evaluation plan in the formative stages of project design.
• Carefully develop the question (outcome) that the evaluation is being designed to answer.
• Choose clearly identifiable and measurable indicators for the expected outcomes.
• Conduct a baseline survey prior to beginning project activities.
• Select two identical groups of community members:
  • a treatment group who will receive the benefits of the project.
  • a control group who won’t receive the benefits of the project.

 

 

The goal will be to compare the treatment group to the control group at different points in the project cycle. The good news is that impact evaluations planned into the project from the beginning need not cost significantly more than traditional M&E plans.

 

 

Methodologies

Quantitative studies evaluate numerical data. Qualitative studies can assess outcomes through interviews with constituents. Some studies are conducted remotely by scientists in distant cities, whereas participatory methodologies encourage on-site community-led evaluations. As you can imagine, members of different camps feel strongly about the efficacy of their methodology. Fortunately, an underlying theme at the conference was the use of mixed methods. For example, combining and comparing the results of a randomized control trial with the results of a community-led evaluation for the same project can offer a more holistic vantage of outcome effectiveness – and at the same time engage the community in an inclusive process.

 

 

Practical Examples of Using Information from Impact Evaluations

What practical, evidence-based results can we hope to derive from an impact evaluation? Let’s say that you are promoting a health initiative. In an attempt to reduce the rate of diarrhea in children, you are considering four commonly used interventions: water supply, water treatment, sanitation, and hygiene.

 

 

A survey of randomized control trials presented at the conference revealed that diarrhea can be reduced by 40% through water treatment and improved sanitation. Hand washing reduced diarrhea by 30% to 50%. However, the survey indicated that community water systems didn’t deliver substantial health benefits: water could become contaminated between the source and the home. Point of use water purification, in this context, showed evidence of offering the greater health benefit of the two water interventions.

 

 

This type of clear information can help programming staff decide on the most effective allocation of resources for a given outcome. Evidence-based results like these can guide this health project’s design to maximize impact by including a sanitation program, a point-of-use water purification system, and a hand-washing campaign.

 

 

The Growth of Impact Evaluations

When I first began watching development projects unfold, I became concerned about their effectiveness and sustainability. Seven years ago, I began searching for ways to evaluate projects that would reveal what was working, when it was working, and why. A colleague introduced me to randomized control trials. These studies opened a new window for me into development impact and gave me the data necessary to find out what was working in development. Discussions with field anthropologists gave me respect for qualitative interpretation of projects. I also began to observe that projects were rarely sustainable if the community didn’t have a voice in project design; this led to exploring participatory needs assessments. It wasn’t easy gathering together this information as the community of experienced IE practitioners was still small.

 

 

What Next?

The conference was excellent because it brought together the community of IE practitioners to compare notes and share ideas. But the next step in ramping up the number of impact evaluations is for donors and NGOs to begin including these methodologies in their projects. However, one conclusion of the conference was that more people need to be trained in impact evaluation.