Final evaluation of the project Kore L"Avni Nou food voucher programme implemented by CARE in the Department of Grande-Anse

In November 2010, Hurricane Thomas worsened the vulnerability of the Grande-Anse population by destroying assets from agriculture and fishing in the department. In the commune of Moron, households reporting losing 90 % of agricultural goods. Those two events combined forced populations living with less than $1 a day to allocate more than 60% of its income to food. Soon after, a cholera epidemic broke out in Haiti, with the heaviest number of cases reported in the Grande-Anse. Studies revealed that the hurricane and cholera outbreak, along with rising food prices, greatly increased family vulnerability. In addition, an increased number of orphans augmented the risks of health issues for children including malnutrition. To tackle the aforementioned problem, CARE submitted a proposal to USAID/Food for Peace addressing food insecurity concerns for populations in nine communes of the Grande-Anse department. Approved by USAID, this project named "Electronic Food Voucher program – Kore L"avni Nou", aimed to support 12,000 vulnerable families (72,000 individuals) with a $50 (2,000 HTG) monthly voucher over a six month period. In addition, 68 local shops were approved to supply beneficiaries with the following key commodities: rice, vegetable oil, maize and beans, forming a minimum food basket and required kilocalories per family per month. The goals of this evaluation were: (1) identify and evaluate program outcomes, intended and unintended, positive or negative and impact on beneficiaries versus non-beneficiaries; (2) overview data collected on a regular basis and present performance monitoring (strengths, weaknesses), triangulate with final evaluation collected data for better understanding; (3) determine the adequacy of program design to meet the identified needs in the target area; (4) compare final conditions with baseline findings and present persisting gaps in coping strategies used by the households to mitigate vulnerability; (5) relate lessons learned to appropriate stakeholders; (6) identify key obstacles preventing a correct program execution; and (7) identify key successes and recommendations for future consideration. Specific evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are provided with detailed analysis for each evaluation goal. (Excerpt, modified)