On average, 400,000 US dollars and a period of three years is needed to measure the effect of a development intervention, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation concludes from its activities. These are valuable resources that need to be used carefully. Our authors describe which impact measurement methods have proved to be useful during the last few years and what their strengths and their limits are. And they demonstrate when impact evaluations make sense – and when they don’t.

Articles:

• Improving development policies with impact evaluations
• RCTs and rural development – an abundance of opportunities
• Randomised controlled trials – the gold standard?
• Learning from participatory evaluations
• Making people visibleImpact assessment in complex evaluations More than plug-and-play – digital solutions for better monitoring & evaluation
• Monitoring results of agricultural and food security projects: The indicator challenge
• Using standard indicators – opportunities, challenges and risks
• Corporate-level impact measurement – IFAD’s experience

Closing the data gap

In face of eleven years left to achieve Agenda 2030 and monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the way there, data access,  management and protection is becoming more important than ever. Moreover, identifying measures to combat climate change for resilience and food security requires the availability of accurate and up-to-date data. But data have to be collected, analysed, disseminated and maintained, and in many cases, the capacities needed for this are lacking. This section of the latest Rural 21 edition is dedicated to showcasing how to close this data gap.

Articles:

• Data access and management – Where do we stand?
• Data – a lethal weapon against hunger
• Of facts and biases
• Monitoring climate change in “data-scarce regions”
• The Agricultural Census in Palestine