Every three to five years, Rikolto assesses the impact of its programmes, to check whether our interventions have the desired effect, and to learn where we fail and need to adapt our approach. These impact assessments consist of an intensive process of data collection and interviews with members of the farmers’ organisations and different stakeholders.
Rikolto’s impact assessment framework covers all three levels at which we strive for impact:
- Improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers (male/female/youth);
- Improved business and organisational capacities of targeted farmer organisations;
- Improved institutional environment (public/private policies, regulations, etc.).
The main question burning on our lips: did we manage to bring about the positive change that we had hoped to set in motion? For each of topics on which we work (rice, coffee, cocoa, food smart cities etc.), we seek to ascertain whether the farmers concerned have been able to increase their income, whether their organisations have developed better entrepreneurial skills, how sector policies changed in favour of smallholder farmers.
