Haiti Hurricane Georges recovery program : monitoring and evaluation -- final impact study

The assessment is based on a longitudinal study of over 1,000 rural households regarding progress towards achievement of selected HGRP indicators. Results showed that the utilization rates of improved seeds have increased in the HGRP-assisted communities during the last 2 years. In fact, the final survey found that 46% of the 822 households interviewed in HGRP-assisted communities knew about the improved seeds and 19% indicated that they had used the seeds to increase farm productivity -- a big improvement over the mid-term impact survey, where only 4% of the households in the assisted communities declared using improved seed. From the year 1999 to the year 2001, an increase of 18% was observed in terms of households using improved seeds. Results on disaster mitigation and preparedness are mixed. In terms of the indicator definition as stated in the USAID performance monitoring plan, 16% of the households were considered as households with increased awareness of disaster mitigation and preparedness. However, when the overall knowledge of the respondents is taken into consideration, 33% of the households can be considered as households with increased awareness of disaster mitigation and preparedness. More importantly, 91% of people were able to identify at least one action that has to be taken in a case of a natural disaster. When asked if they felt better prepared for disasters, 34% of the communities now know that they can help themselves to be more resistant to the whims of nature and will take action both before and after a disastrous event. Results of the final impact survey indicated that gross average annual household revenue was 20,880.00 gourdes for the 824 households investigated in HGRP-assisted communities. Statistically, the true income average is between 18,461.00 gourdes and 22,709.00 gourdes, with a margin of error of 5% -- a significant increase over the 16,480.00 gourdes reported in the last and mid-term impact survey. For further details, see the abstract of the final project evaluation (PD-ABW-440).