Mid-Term Evaluation of the Budikadidi Development Food Security Activity in the DRC

In FY 2016, the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Food for Peace (FFP) issued an award to the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to implement a Development Food Security Activity (DFSA). It is a five-year project (October 2016 to September 2021) with a budget of $44 million, being carried out in the Kasaï Oriental province. The project, named Budikadidi, which means "self-sufficiency" in Tshiluba, is implemented by a consortium of partners with expertise in governance, agriculture, youth, gender, and nutrition.

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.

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