Executive Summary
INTRODUCTION
Evaluation features
Country strategic plan (CSP) evaluations are the primary instrument for providing accountability and meeting learning needs in accordance with the expectations of the Board and WFP management. They provide evidence of WFP’s strategic positioning and results to inform the design of the next generation of CSPs and potentially contribute to the design of United Nations sustainable development cooperation frameworks.
The evaluation of the Zimbabwe CSP for 2017?2021 covered WFP interventions between 2015 and 2020 to assess continuity from the previous programme cycle, the extent to which the CSP introduced strategic shifts and the implications of such shifts for performance and results. The users of the evaluation are the WFP country office and its internal and external stakeholders, including beneficiaries.
The evaluation adopted a mixed-methods approach and a concurrent triangulation design, drawing on multiple sources of evidence, including documentary evidence, performance data, budget data and key informant interviews. Due to travel restrictions related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most of the data was collected remotely, in November and December 2020, although the Zimbabwe-based evaluation team member visited project sites. Findings, conclusions and recommendations were discussed with stakeholders during two online workshops in April 2021.
Context
Zimbabwe is a landlocked, resource-rich, low-income, food-deficit country with a population of 14.9 million that is predominantly rural (68 percent) and young (62 percent under the age of 25).
Zimbabwe was hit by several major disasters during the CSP period and as a result has some of the highest levels of food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. In 10 of the last 11 years, over 1 million people in rural areas have been assessed as requiring food assistance (Figure 1).
Source: World Food Programme