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Sofala Bank Artisanal Fisheries Project in Mozambique
Overview
The Sofala Bank Artisanal Fisheries Project focused on community development, fisheries development, markets, financial services and policy support. It targeted about 500,000 people, including 26,000 direct beneficiaries in 290 fishing communities along the coast. Whilst the focus of the evaluation was decisively on assessing impact, it also covered all the evaluation criteria adopted by IOE (e.g. relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, etc.) in order to facilitate a more comprehensive evaluation of the programme. The evaluation followed quasi-experimental methods, combining quantitative econometric and quantitative techniques with the aim of attributing impact to the project. The evaluation designed an impact survey to collect primary quantitative data, which was administered to a sample of 1,028 households including beneficiary and non-beneficiary households. The quantitative part of the evaluation was complemented by a rich qualitative analysis to allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the processes of change induced by the intervention. SBAFP was an important milestone in the development of the artisanal fishery sector. This is attributed to its integrated livelihood approach, which delivered tangible results beyond fishery development in remote and complex fishing areas. The project had remarkable impacts at the household, institutional and policy levels. This includes better incomes and assets among beneficiaries, enhanced human and social capital, improved access to social and market infrastructures, as well as better participation in grass-roots institutions and in particular in savings and credit groups. SBAFP made an important contribution to policy formulation and legislation favouring the artisanal fishery subsector and helped strengthen institutions in the subsector. The development of the Plano Estrategico para o Sector da Pesca Artesanal (PESPA 2006-2016), which is planned to be renewed in collaboration with the World Bank, stands out as one of the project's highest achievements. However, more could have been done to achieve greater results and impacts. Despite the key role that women play in the fishery value chain, the project design did not include a strategy for gender mainstreaming, thus constraining results on gender equality and women's empowerment. The support to market access remained mainly confined to developing infrastructure and improving post-harvesting practices. In particular, the inadequate attention to private sector linkages and engagement, business counselling services, and marketing of fishing products limited wider impact and transformation of the artisanal communities. Finally, the weaknesses in the monitoring and evaluation system and availability and quality of data impinged on the ability to assess and attribute impact to the project.Report Details
| Year Published | |
| Type | |
| Joint | No |
| Partner/s | N/A |
| Consultant name | |
| Agency Focal Point | Simona Somma |
| Focal Point Email | s.somma@ifad.org |
| Managed by Independent Evaluation Office | Yes |
| Country/ies |
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Sofala Bank Artisanal Fisheries Project in Mozambique
