It is the change that matters

Impact assessment is an often-heard term on the development scene. It is usually used loosely and vaguely to indicate the effect or results of interventions by development programmes. After analysing and comparing various development NGOs, Chris Roche, the author of Impact Assessment for Development Agencies, defines impact assessment roughly as 'a systematic analysis of lasting and significant changes, both positive and negative, in people s life brought about by a given action or a series of actions'. So impact is not a direct intervention such as a dam, a credit system or a seed supply programme but about how that changes real life for the beneficiaries. The book presents a theoretical overview of the subject as well as the design of impact assessment processes and the different tools and methods available in a wide range of development work. Various development programmes of partner organisations of Oxfam-UK and Novib, in, for example, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe are analysed and presented as case studies. Impact Assessment for Development Agencies: Learning to Value Change. C Roche. An Oxfam Development Guideline, co-published with Novib. 1999. 160 pp. ISBN 0 85598 418 X GBP 9.95 16.45 Oxfam Publishing 274 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7DZ, UK Fax: +44 1865 31 39 25 Email: publish@oxfam.org.ukImpact Assessment for Development Agencies: Learning to Value Change. C Roche. An Oxfam Development Guideline, co-published with Novib. 1999. 160 pp. ISBN 0 85598 418 X GBP 9.95 16.45 Oxfam Publishing 274 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7DZ, UK F