Impact evaluation in agriculture

Teacher(s)

Van den Broeck Goedele;

Language

English
> French-friendly

Prerequisites

Micro-economics (e.g., LBIR1260 Principles of Economics) and Introduction to econometrics (e.g., LECGE1316 or LINGE1221 Econométrie)

Main themes

Importance of impact evaluation, different evaluation methods (randomized assignment of treatment, instrumental variable estimation, difference-in-difference estimation, propensity score matching, regression discontinuity design), implementation of impact evaluation. All illustrations and applications are drawn from agricultural policies, programs and projects.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	a. Contribution de l’activité au référentiel AA (AA du programme) 1.3-1.4: selection of evaluation method 2.1-2.5: impact evaluation, survey design 3.2-3.5: evaluation design 4.2: evaluation design 6.1-6.2: discussion of scientific articles 7.1: exposure to profession, non-academic experts 8.1-8.3: evaluation design, giving and receiving feedback by peers and teacher b. Formulation spécifique pour cette activité des AA du programme At the end of the course, students will be able : - to understand the importance of impact evaluation for developing sound agricultural and food policy - to know, understand and explain the different evaluation methods and how to construct a convincing counterfactual - to critically compare the advantages and disadvantages associated with the different evaluation methods - to know, understand and explain how to implement an impact evaluation in agriculture, specifically how to collect data, design a farm survey and develop a sampling strategy

Content

- Students are exposed to the theory behind impact evaluation, illustrated by many real-life applications of agricultural policies, programs and projects.
- Students read and discuss selected scientific publications that use different evaluation methods to critically reflect about the implementation of impact evaluations in various contexts.
- External guest speakers from various NGOs, development agencies and research institutes will share their professional expertise with impact evaluation to familiarize students with a non-academic perspective on impact evaluation. 

Teaching methods

Teaching in class room, directed reading, group discussions, presentations

Evaluation methods

Students need to prepare and write an evaluation plan for an agricultural intervention of their own choice. This evaluation plan contains i) Description of agricultural intervention, ii) Objective of evaluation, iii) Evaluation methodology, iv) Sampling and data, and v) Data collection plan. The plan is submitted at the end of the semester and will be discussed through an oral exam with the student during the normal examination period. Students get the opportunity to present their evaluation plan during the semester to receive feedback from the teacher and their peers.

Other information

Course taught in English

Online resources

Moodle

Bibliography

Slides, articles, handbooks (announced and distributed via Moodle)

Faculty or entity

AGRO