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Systemic Impact Evaluation: A Methodology for Complex Agricultural Development Projects. The Case of a Contract Farming Project in Guinea

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Abstract

This article presents a mixed-method approach used to analyse the impact of a complex agricultural development project, the SOGUIPAH (Guinean Oil Palms and Rubber Company) project designed to promote oil palm and rubber cultivation in Guinea. At farm level, the combination of a farming system analysis and an economic analysis with a counterfactual scenario enables us to quantify impact on the farmers’ income and to account for related impact heterogeneity. These comparisons reveal a somewhat limited impact of the project as a whole, though with a considerable heterogeneity across the types of farm households it reaches.

Abstract

Cet article présente une méthode originale d’analyse d’impact d’un projet de développement agricole complexe, le projet SOGUIPAH (projet de palmier à huile et hévéa) en Guinée forestière. En faisant appel conjointement à l’analyse systémique à l’échelle des unités de production (systèmes de production) et à l’évaluation économique incluant un scénario contrefactuel, la démarche proposée permet de quantifier l’impact du projet sur le revenu des agriculteurs et de mettre en évidence le caractère hétérogène de cet impact. Cette comparaison révèle un impact des plus limités à l’échelle globale et de très forts contrastes selon les catégories de producteurs.

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Notes

  1. These interviews were undertaken between November 2004 and October 2005.

  2. Note that if a farming system is characterized by partial use of the family labour force in agricultural activities and systematic complementary income-generating activities, the latter are comprised in the economic model of the farming system. In this project, it was the case for farmers who were, for instance, also employed as contracted tappers.

  3. Price records from SOGUIPAH and from the ACA, a programme financed by USAID.

  4. Koop and Guillemot in the area covered by the project, and Gal aye for the counterfactual situation.

  5. Non-agricultural activities like handicrafts and commerce are also taken into account in the model, but the agricultural production process forms a coherent whole.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agence Française de Développement, Evaluation and Capitalization Unit, Paris, France

    Jocelyne Delarue

  2. Agro Paris Tech, Comparative Agriculture and Agricultural Development Research Unit, Paris, France

    Hubert Cochet

Authors
  1. Jocelyne Delarue
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  2. Hubert Cochet
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Delarue, J., Cochet, H. Systemic Impact Evaluation: A Methodology for Complex Agricultural Development Projects. The Case of a Contract Farming Project in Guinea. Eur J Dev Res 25, 778–796 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2013.15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2013.15

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