Evaluation of the Fruit Tree Productivity Project in Morocco: Design Report

The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Fruit Tree Productivity Project (FTTP) was part of a five-year compact signed in 2007 by MCC and the Government of Morocco. The FTPP consisted of several activities that sought to expand the production of selected tree fruit crops—primarily olives and dates—and to address constraints along these value chains. These included training and technical assistance for farmers, upgrading irrigation infrastructure and supporting water user associations, and funding the construction of modern olive oil processing units run by second order producer organizations. The project’s primary objective was to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector by reducing the volatility of agricultural production, accelerating the transition from annual cereal crops to perennial tree fruit crops, and strengthening the integration of tree fruit crops into domestic and foreign markets.

In this evaluation design report, we describe the designs for the two evaluations that Mathematica is designing and implementing: (1) an evaluation of the modern olive oil processing units funded by the project, and (2) an evaluation of the project’s investments in irrigated olive and date areas. The performance evaluation of the modern olive oil processing units will draw on qualitative data collected from a variety of stakeholders, a quantitative survey of all 20 units conducted in 2016 and 2018, and testing of olive oil samples from these units. The performance evaluation of the investments in irrigated olive and date areas will draw on farmer focus groups and interviews with a variety of key stakeholders in these areas. It will also include a quantitative pre-post study in irrigated olive areas, which will draw on existing quantitative data collected from farmers in 2010 (before the irrigation infrastructure improvements) and new data collected from the same farmers in 2017 and 2018 (several seasons after completion of the irrigation infrastructure improvements).