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Ethiopia

DCA comments on the 2008 evaluation of the Ethio-Danish Joint Programme in Ethiopia.

© Malene Haakansson

DCA compliments the evaluation team on the report. As requested in the terms of reference, it attempts to cover not only the complexities of the fourth phase of the project, with all the actors involved, and with the changes in programme strategy that took place during the period, but in addition it gives an overview of the results of the full project, stretching over more than ten years. Furthermore, the report is admirably to the point and avoids overloading the reader with unnecessary information.
Download the evaluation and other studies of the programme here

The report is in the main positive on the achievements of the programme. The targets have been achieved, and the programme has adapted during the long period to the changing conditions. Specifically for the agricultural component, for which DCA and Ethiopian partners have been responsible, the report notes that the main objective of increased food security has been reached through irrigation, soil conservation, improvement of natural resources, agricultural training, provision of improved seeds, introduction of some new crops and diversification of crops. In addition, the project has given rights-holders an increased awareness of their rights and duty-bearers a better understanding of their responsibilities.

Lessons learned

DCA will take the report into account in our future work in Ethiopia and try to learn both from the positive and less positive comments. These are some of the points that we will consider:

• The ‘joint’ nature of the programme has been beneficial, and DCA will consider ways to integrate work within our programme types (for instance food security) with other organisations that can deliver other programme inputs.
• DCA will also look favourably on a new application by all or some of the Ethiopian joint programme partners for a replication of the joint programme. However, such a programme would of course have to be competitive with other projects proposed to the DCA Ethiopia office.
• The joint programme was initiated from Denmark, and the Ethiopian partners have slowly taken a greater share in the decision-making. It is good that the project has gradually moved in this direction: decisions have increasingly been taken in North Wollo rather than in Addis Ababa, and in Addis rather than in Copenhagen. Any new project should build on that experience, and should from the beginning be initiated and managed by the Ethiopians partners.
• Joint projects involving a number of partners must create a strategy for the partnership.
• There has been many innovations in development thinking over the last ten years, and new projects should of course be more influenced by rights based approaches and gender thinking.
• New projects should also increasingly focus on building local social structures (such as CBOs) and supporting civil society at the local and higher levels.
• The joint programme has shown that it is possible to increase food production greatly with relatively simple means, but it has also faced the very difficult conditions prevailing in areas such as North Wollo in Ethiopia. It is exceedingly difficult to change the fundamental problems in the area, such as the environmental degradation, changing climate and irregular rainfall, population growth and the ever smaller plots of land available for farmers, the restrictions on land ownership and the lack of resources made available by the Ethiopian government to distant rural communities. To deal with some of these issues, DCA and other development organisations must work with difficult political issues such as the allocation of government budgets or the needs for increased international support to agricultural development in Ethiopia.

By Lars Jørgensen, ljn@dca.dk