Mid-Term Evaluation of USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme in Nepal from 2018 to 2021

Mid-Term Evaluation of USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme in Nepal from 2018 to 2021

The McGovern Dole (MGD) Food for Education project supports the education, nutrition, and overall development of children in low-income and food-deficit countries. The project’s key objective is to reduce hunger and improve literacy and primary education, especially for girls. After being mainstreamed into the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST) through the Food for Education Project (FFEP) supported by MGD, World Food Program (WFP) Nepal Country Office (CO) received two different MGD grants. 

WFP engaged Sambodhi as an external agency to undertake the mid-term evaluation. The mid-term evaluation’s objective was to

1. assess the progress made in implementation by comparing the mid-term results with the baseline and receive guidance on the program’s implementation on the lines of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, adequacy, and transparency, and
2. make recommendations on improving project implementation, including the technical assistance components.

Sambodhi undertook the following activities to achieve the objectives:

1. Desk review and analysis of secondary literature to understand the education and administrative structure, the challenges, and the work done under the project
2. Developing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework aligned with the baseline evaluation to facilitate the end-line evaluation
3. Designing, validating, and finalizing all data collection tools
4. Undertaking cost-benefit analysis to measure the program’s return on investment

The mid-term evaluation covered the USDA McGovern-Dole FY 17 cycle, including all activities and processes related to its formulation, implementation, resourcing, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting using qualitative and quantitative tools. 

A quasi-experimental design with PSM-DID (Propensity score matching- Difference in Difference) was used. The study was conducted in 11 districts in 225 schools, i.e., 180 projects and 45 comparison groups. The quantitative component was accompanied by strong qualitative insights captured through participatory techniques such as in-depth interviews (IDIs) with female and male teachers and local government representatives, classroom observations, etc.