BFP-2 Impact Pathways Workshop

BFP-2 Impact Pathways Workshop

4 – 5 February, 2008 CIAT

Boru Douthwaite and Sophie Alvarez, CPWF Impact Project

CIAT, Cali, Colombia

Impact Pathways Matter

Why make Impact Pathways explicit?

• People plan and implement projects (programs, countries …) on the basis of their change models - their implicit theories about how the world works, i.e., impact pathways

• If you can improve the impact pathways (IPs) you can improve the practice, making impact more likely

• IPs show a project’s rationale and networks– Help communicate what the project is doing

• More fundable

– Help with planning, including MTPs– Provide a basis for evaluation

• Starting point for evaluation is a good model of what you think will happen

• Provide information to support programmatic integration• Provides impact hypotheses for ex-post impact assessment

PIPA makes Impact Pathways explicit

It does so by developing two perspectives ….

1. A problem tree that shows a linear logic linking project outputs to project goal; and

2. Network maps that show the evolving relationships necessary to achieve the goal

Impact pathways – a more complete picture….

<-----the full picture---->

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Network maps

Foundations

• Adaptation of concepts from Program Evaluation– Renger and Titcomb (2002) – problem trees– Chen (2005) – program theory– Mayne (2004) - performance stories

• Innovation histories – Douthwaite and Ashby, 2005

• Social network analysis– Cross and Parker, 2004

Workshop Road Map

1. Problem Tree

2. Outputs

3. Vis ion

7. Outcom es logic m odel

4. "Now"network m ap

W hat the pro j ect w ill produce

W here pro j ect is go ing - Goal

Necessaryrelationshipsin placeto producethe OUTPUTS

Helps understand pro ject rationaleand w hat needs to change

5. "Future"network m apNecessaryrelationshipsto achievethe VI S I ON

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The outcomes the pro j ect w ill help achieve, how , and w ith w hom

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M i lestonesandprogressm arkers

Program - levelnetwork m aps

I m pactlogic m odel

Technologyextrapolationdom ain m aps

I m pactnarrative

After the Workshop

• Complete outcomes logic model (that contains outcome hypotheses)

• Identify outcome targets and milestones measuring progress towards them

• Project M&E based on these

• Regular reflection and updating of outcome hypotheses (i.e., impact pathways)

Expectations

( Generic) Problem tree for the BFP2s

Sta

rt H

ere

Relationshipwater- food -poverty not

clear

1st LEVEL

2nd LEVEL

W hy is th is problem happening?W hy?

ProblemNo informationavailable about"W ater Poverty"

in basins

"W hy havebenchm ark

basins?"

"Movingforward ontoo m any

fronts"

Directionand

purpose ofthe CPW Funclear

Lack of clar ityabout the

how the useof water inagricu lturesupports

livelihoods

Not clear whatare the

opportunitiesand risks forchanges inagriculturalwater use

W hat doeswater do in

basins?

Lack of data onW ater

Productivity

W ho has thewater?

W ater Poverty ( W P1)

W ater Productivity ( W P3)

W ater Availability ( W P2)

I nstitution andintervention analysis ( W P4&5)

Deriving Products/ Outputs from the Problem

Tree

• List the outputs, the use of which will address the determinants– The determinants are the problems the project is

directly addressing with its outputs

Exercise

1

Some definitions Activity – what we’re doing inside the project

Hold IP Workshop Outputs – what we produce that other people make use of, that solve the

determinant Improved rice variety; priority setting publication

Determinant – determinants are the problems the project is directly addressing with its outputs

Next users – people and organizations who directly use the outputs End users – the people and organizations that the next users work with. Often the

end users are the ultimate beneficiaries (e.g., resource-poor farmers), but not always.

Politically-important actors– people and organizations whose support is needed for project success

Outcomes – usually the results of the use of outputs by others (often come in chains)

Promotion of rice variety by extension system Adoption of rice variety by farmers Higher rice yields Higher income More children sent to school

Level of influence of Project

High

CONTROL

Low

Research Output Output Outcome Impactactivity target

Level of influence of a project

10 - 30 years

Activities

Use of research products (outcomes)

Produce research products SEE Impacts

3

Scaling Out and Scaling Up

• Scaling up - an institutional expansion, from adopters and their grassroots organizations to policy makers, donors, development institutions

• Scaling out - spread of a project outputs (i.e., a new technology, a new strategy, etc.) from farmer to farmer, community to community, within the same stakeholder groups

Develop a vision of project success at the end of the project

• Take 5 minutes to individually answer the question, then develop common project vision by filling out Worksheet 1– You wake up after your project has finished. Your project has

been a success and is well on its way to achieving its goal. Describe what this success looks like to a journalist:

• What was the situation like before the project started (hint – look at the problem tree)

– What were the unmet needs and requirements of next users and end users?

• What are the next users (disaggregate) now doing differently?

• How are project outputs disseminating (scaling out)?

• What political support is nurturing this spread (scaling up)?

• What are the end users doing differently?

• What are the benefits they are enjoying as a result of the project?

Kee

p it

rea

list

icExercise

2

Workshop Road Map

1. Problem Tree

2. Outputs

3. Vis ion








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I m pactnarrative

Airline network

What is a network?

Many kinds of entities can be part of a network: people, projects, organisations, documents, events, cities, countries, etc.

Each of these entities can have different levels of influence in the network, and

And there are many kinds of relationships that can link such entities, involving transmission or exchange of information, money, goods, affection, influence, infection, etc.

A network is a collection of people and / or things that

are connected to each other by some kind of relationship

Advantages of network models

Actor-oriented descriptions: observable, understandable, verifiable

Captures real-life complexity: We are subject to multiple influences We influence many others

Network models help us understand innovation processes: Innovation processes happen through different actors,

acting in networks These interactions, relationships and influence are modeled

in network maps

A network diagram

(organisations linked by a project)

Influence pathway: actor + relationship + actor + relationship…

CPWF

CREPA

ENTERPRISE

FGs

FRANC

ISSER

IWMI

KNUST

MAs

MOFA

RVAU

SGs

UC

UDS

URBANET

WRC

WRI

A plotted network diagram, multiple relations

The human eye is an analytic tool of remarkable power, and eyeballing pictures of networks is an excellent way to gain an understanding of their structure.

(The structure and function of complex networks, M. E. J. Newman)

Network tasks…..

1. Identify relevant actors

2. Develop network diagrams of key relationships (research, funding, scaling out and scaling up) for

Your project now Residual network 2 years after project has finished

3. Identify key levels of influence

4. Develop a scaling influence strategy (Worksheet 2)

Identify key actors

• Who are the actors involved in research, funding, scaling out and scaling up in the area your project is working in? Can be positions (eg. DDG-R) or organizationsRemember actors at different scales: community/local, your

own organization, regional, national, international

Some types of actors

Government Organization National Agricultural Research and Extension Organization (NAREO)

CGIAR CentreUniversity

Ultimate BeneficiaryNGO

Research OrganizationPrivate Sector

DonorOther (please specify)

Fill out an actor table

ACRONYM FULL NAME LOCATION TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

ROLE

IRRI Int. Rice Research Institute

Los Baños, Philippines

CG Centre Project implementer

MOFA Ministry of Fisheries and Agric.

Accra, Ghana

GO Politically-important actor

FGs Farmers Groups Northern Ghana

Ult. beneficiary End user

PhilRice Philippine Rice Research Institute

Muños, Philippines

NAREO Next user

DfID Dept. for Int. Development

London, England

Govnt. Org Funding agency

DDG-R Deputy Director General of Research

CIAT, Cali CG Centre Politically-important actor

Exercise

3

Develop a network diagram for your project now

Actors: Use cards for nodes

Relationships Use arrows to describe direction Use colour to describe relationship type

Green = funding; brown = research / work; red = scaling out; black = scaling up

Don’t use distance/length

Exercise

4a

Identify influence levels and attitudes in the

networks

Actors: Construct influence towers (0-3 chips) for key actors Indicate their attitude towards your project:

positive neutral negative

Exercise

4b

Draw a second network showing how actors need to be linked to achieve the vision Adjust the influence and attitude

Will the attitude of the actor remain the same or change? Will the same actors still be equally influential? Will there be new influential actors in the area?

Develop a future network corresponding to the vision

Exercise

5

Developing a Scaling Strategy (Table 2)

Describe the most important

differences between the two networks

Why is the change important to

achieve the vision?

What are the project’s strategies for achieving the

change?

Exercise

6

Workshop Road Map

1. Problem Tree

2. Outputs

3. Vis ion








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I m pactnarrative

Developing the Outcomes Logic Model (a description of the project’s impact

pathways)

• Why (Dart, 2005)?– To evaluate or clarify the logic of the project

intervention– To provide a framework to evaluate the

performance of a project • Before, during and after

• Evaluation can provide information to improve decision making and enhance learning

Outcomes Logic Model (fill one table for all stakeholder groups)

Actor (or group of actors who are expected to change in the same way)

Change in Practice of Actor

Change in KAS of Actor required to support this change

Project strategies to bring about these changes in KAS and Practice in Actor

Exercise

7

KAS = Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills

1

2

3

4

5

Future witho utinte rve ntio n

Vis io n

Im p a ctPa th w a y s

Im pr o ve m e nt

Ti m e

1

Im p a ct Pa th w a y sW o rk sh o p

Where we are now

Impact Pathways Evaluation

1

2

3

4

5


Adjus te dVis io nAd ju s te d

Im p a ct Pa th w a y s

Im pr o ve m e nt

Ti m e

2

Re fle ctio n

The process

1

2

3

4

5


Vis io ns

Im p a ct p a th w a y s

Ac tualim pro ve m e nts

Im pr o ve m e nt

Ti m e

3

Re fle ctio nW o rk sh o p s

Resources

• http://impactpathways.pbwiki.com• Douthwaite, Alvarez, Thiele, Mackay. 2008.

Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis: A Practical Method for Project Planning and Evaluation. ILAC Brief (in press)

• [email protected]

http://impactpathways.pbwiki.com/

Education

BFP-2 Impact Pathways Workshop