USAID/Haiti mid term evaluation of the reforestation project : final report

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Haiti requested Social Impact?s (SI) Evaluation and Survey Services (ESS) project to design and implement an independent mid-term evaluation of the USAID Reforestation Project (URP) in Haiti, a Project implemented by Chemonics International in partnership with The National Cooperative Business Association Cooperative League of USA International (NCBA CLUSA) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). This evaluation aims to inform USAID/Haiti about possible mid-course corrections and future program orientation of the URP, whose objective is to reduce the threat to targeted forests and increase tree cover.

This midterm evaluation answers evaluation questions (EQs) related to (1) the effectiveness of two implementation mechanisms (direct investment vs. grants), (2) if the Project is improving beneficiaries? resilience1 in the face of natural and economic shocks, (3) if the Project is integrating youth and gender, and (4) whether the Project has laid the foundation for sustainability.

The Project's two implementation mechanisms each have their advantages and disadvantages that should be strategically weighed in future project development, the resilience activities have increased income but likely only in the short term, that gender and youth integration has not been a strong focus of the Project, and that few if any of the activities will lead to a sustainable reduction in deforestation