Impact and in-depth study of the Rural Development Grant Programme in Kosovo

This study concerned an impact evaluation of the government run Rural Development Grant Programme (RDGP) in Kosovo supported by Danida and the World Bank. The RDGP provided technical assistance and matching grant schemes for restructuring physical assets of agricultural holdings and improving processing and marketing of agricultural products. The study assessed the impact of the RDGP in terms of competitiveness, incomes, net employment creation and productivity through statistical quantitative analysis as well as qualitative in-depth studies from the field. It also provided recommendations for improving the grant programme and its M&E system, notably the performance of the Agriculture Development Agency (ADA). It linked the findings and recommendations to the Kosovo’s overall Agriculture and Rural Development Plan (ARDP). The methodology used was based on a combination of mixed evaluation methods and tools: - A theory of change was developed to indicate cause-effect linkages. Data collection and analysis was structured around four evaluation questions assessing the RDGP impact in terms of competitiveness, incomes, net employment creation and productivity. - A counterfactual methodology was applied to analyse programme effects combining a binary Propensity Score Matching combined with the Difference in Differences [PSM-DiD]) comparing beneficiaries with non-beneficiaries. The team used available project data – such as business plans - and FADN data but mostly relied on primary data collected by the evaluation team (individual panel data collected through face-to-face interviews with 232 farmers and 57 managers / owners of agro-food processing companies) - Two in-depth studies on the milk and fruit sub-sectors were developed, analysing the effects (direct and indirect) of the grants on the selected value chain. They relied on documentary analysis, and data collected through three focus group meetings and interviews with a range of stakeholders. Findings, conclusions and recommendations were presented and discussed in Kosovo in a workshop gathering the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development and representatives from the WB.


Project Details
Country KOSOVO
Start date 2015.07.03
End date 2016.06.01
Client DANIDA
Sector RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Sub-sector
Ref. ADE A530