Evaluation of the Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project in Senegal: Design Report

The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Irrigation and Water Resource Management (IWRM) Project is an infrastructure and land tenure intervention carried out in Senegal from 2010-2015 as part as MCC’s Compact with the Government of Senegal. The project was implemented in two regions along the Senegal River Valley, Delta and Podor, and included upgrades to and the rehabilitation of a canal and drainage system for 60,000 hectares of potential rice fields, construction of a multi-crop irrigated perimeter, clarification of land rights, development of a land allocation process, support for land rights of vulnerable groups, and training in land-tenure security tools and irrigation techniques for local water user committees. The key objectives were to increase agricultural production, employment, and incomes in the Senegal River Valley; formalize farmers’ land rights; and mitigate land disputes.

Mathematica is designing and implementing an evaluation of the IWRM Project to determine its impact on agriculture production, use and availability of water, household income, land security and conflicts, and land administration and governance. The IWRM Project evaluation, described in this evaluation design report, will address research questions on project outcomes, implementation, and sustainability. We plan to conduct a mixed-methods evaluation that employs quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods. To estimate causal impacts of IWRM Project activities, we will employ an impact analysis using a difference-in-differences (DID) approach. To examine the effects of project activities that cannot be analyzed using an impact analysis, such as understanding why impacts occurred and what factors were driving those results, we will conduct a descriptive outcomes and implementation analysis that combines quantitative and qualitative research methods. The evaluation will draw on an array of data sources, including a baseline survey conducted over three agricultural seasons between 2012 and 2013, project administrative data, and new quantitative and qualitative data collected in follow-up surveys beginning in 2017.