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Budikadidi Development Food Security Activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Overview
In 2016, the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) issued an award to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to implement a Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a budget of $44 million. The activity, named Budikadidi, which means "self-sufficiency" in Tshiluba, is being carried out in the Kasaï Oriental province. The goal of Budikadidi is to ensure that nutrition and food security for households improve to achieve sustained nutrition, food security, and economic well-being outcomes. The start date of the RFSA was December 16, 2016.
The violence that erupted in the greater Kasaï region in 2016 forced Budikadidi to alter RFSA implementation plans, which were initially designed to execute activities in both Kasaï Central and Kasaï Oriental. Ongoing security concerns in Kasaï Central influenced a decision to implement activities only in Kasaï Oriental. This change occurred after the activity had already set up offices in Kasaï Central, causing delays in the start of the Refine and Implement (R&I) period, recruitment of staff, and the development of working relationships with local and international partners. With this change, the activity added a third health zone in Kasaï Oriental, not initially included in the RFSA.
Interim Evaluation
In 2021, under the Implementer-Led Evaluation and Learning (IMPEL) Associate Award with Save the Children, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (Tulane) was subcontracted to conduct an interim evaluation, including a population-based survey (PBS) and a resilience assessment, in the three selected RFSA areas. The PBS serves as the second phase of a pre-post survey cycle, with data on the same indicators collected in both survey rounds. This PBS collected representative data on a number of lower-level outcomes from 1,224 households in July/August 2021.
Interim Evaluation Brief
Prepared by the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, this brief summarizes the results of the interim evaluation published in 2022.
Mid-Term Evaluation
The overall goals of this midterm evaluation (MTE) were to examine the programmatic and operational approaches with the original, approved plan; assess the quality of program service delivery; evaluate the effectiveness of the project approach; and identify contextual factors that are contributing to intended objectives, results, and impacts. The MTE findings informed recommendations aimed to modify strategies to maximize project goals and impact on participants, improve the quality and effectiveness of program activities, identify activities for scale-up, and increase the likelihood of sustainable and positive effects on communities and individuals in the implementation areas. Another critical component was to assess the first-ever application of the R&I model.
Mid-Term Evaluation Brief
Prepared by Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, this brief summarizes the results of the 2019 mid-term evaluation report, which examines the programmatic and operational approaches approved in the original plan; assesses the quality of program service delivery; evaluate the effectiveness of the project approach; and identifies contextual factors that are contributing to intended objectives, results, and impacts.
