Final evaluation of the food voucher program "Kore Lavni Nou-2" implemented in North-west and Upper Artibonite Departments

This intervention aimed at providing food to the vulnerable households affected by the extensive drought and recurring food insecurity to offset harmful coping strategies of the beneficiaries and support them in recovering assets. CARE and its partner pursued the following objectives: (1) providing food vouchers as a short-term safety net for 8,000 food insecure and extremely poor families to fill gaps exacerbated by the disasters and to reinforce local markets in Gonaives, Mole Saint Nicholas, and Terre Neuve and, (2) piloting healthy diet promotion with fresh fruit and vegetable paper vouchers approach in Terre Neuve commune to reach 1,000 food insecure and extremely poor families. The evaluation team looked first at to what extent the activities and outputs of the program were consistent with the overall goal, the specific objectives, the intended effects, and how these specific objectives and expected effects met the identified needs in the targeted areas. Second, it sought to understand the extent to which the objectives were achieved or not. In the case the expected results were attained, it also analyzed the strategies that have been used to minimize the gap between planned and realized activities. The objectives of this evaluation were to: (1) assess the outcomes of the project, intended and unintended, positive or negative, on the direct beneficiaries and the population living in the 3 target communes of the project versus non-beneficiaries; (2) determine the adequacy of the program design to meet the identified needs in the target area; (3) compare the final conditions with the baseline findings and present persisting gaps in coping strategies used by the households to mitigate their vulnerability; (4) relate lessons learned to appropriate stakeholders; (5) identify key obstacles preventing the correct execution of the program; (6) identify key successes and recommendations for future consideration; and (7) evaluate the partnership approach in the commune of Terre-Neuve and added value of the combined methodology for the food vouchers. This project was a short term emergency intervention. Interviewed beneficiaries and community leaders indicated resurgence of the previous hunger situation. Petty traders in Terre-Neuve reported a decline in their number of clients, after end of Kore Lavni Nou-2, despite beneficiaries claimed a higher share of consumption of vegetable. Local authorities wondered why CARE did not invest or reinforce agriculture and irrigation systems for a sustainable intervention. Specific evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are provided with detailed analysis for each project objective. (Excerpt, modified)