Abstract
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Colombia manages the Community Development and Licit Opportunities Activity (CDLO). The Activity was initiated in August 2017 to build the capacity of organizations in rural communities affected by Colombia?s internal armed conflict, working with government and private actors to implement social and economic development initiatives. The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Activity (MEL) conducted a mid-term performance evaluation of CDLO to assess "the achievements of Community Development and Licit Opportunities Activity (CDLO) interventions, deliverables, and outcomes according to the work plan and theory of change and to what extent they are relevant based on the current national and local contexts."
The evaluation included closed, closing, and ongoing CDLO activities as of September 30, 2020. Qualitative and quantitative information was collected between February 8 and August 5, 2021. The Implementing Partner (IP) provided information on sales (July 2021 cutoff), commercial alliances (August 2021 cutoff), and the Organizational Performance Index (OPI) (November 2021 cutoff). Implementing a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation found that CDLO has built networks of interdependence among community-based organizations (CBOs). These networks generated clusters of licit economic activities in areas with armed groups and incidences of illicit economic activities. CDLO has strengthened the capacities of CBOs by working with them to design and implement economic and infrastructure projects. CDLO's support strengthened the organizational, productive, and commercial capacities of CBOs, including the construction of commercial partnerships. The evaluation also found that infrastructure projects executed jointly with Community Action Boards (JACs) responded to community needs and improved road infrastructure. These projects have been effective in strengthening the organizational capacities of CBOs, contributing to the efficient management of resources, the generation of surpluses to finance new projects, and CBOs' legitimacy. As a result, these organizations are more prepared to execute future infrastructure projects. Moreover, the evaluation found that CDLO promoted the creation of dialogue networks with local actors and contributed to building trust and empowering communities to participate in planning and participatory spaces.
CDLO's main challenges in the future include consolidating and expanding the commercial capacities of producer CBOs to further increase and sustain income generation. Other challenges include scaling and replicating the successful infrastructure project execution model with JACs. Implementing a robust strategy to systematize, socialize, and transfer the methodologies and lessons learned is also crucial, as is strengthening coordination with other actors and leveraging budgetary resources from various sources.