Rural development project evaluations: An assessment of practice: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science Degree at Lincoln University

Evaluation of development projects is expected to be undertaken in order to analyse the project relevance, the effectiveness and impact of activities, the efficiency of implementation, and to distil lessons which can be learned to improve future initiatives. Stakeholder participation in project evaluation is thought to increase the value and relevance of observations. In order to assess the validity of this hypothesis an evaluation was conducted, in July 1997, of a rural development project in Viet Nam. This post project evaluation was conducted using participatory tools and compared to earlier non-participatory evaluation of the "Strengthening Milk Production and Processing at Moc Chau State Farm" project. The dairy industry of Viet Nam was the focus of several bilateral aid initiatives prior to the UNDP agreeing to fund, and the FAO to implement a large project with the objective of strengthening the industry. Various project reports contained some evaluation components and these were reviewed in order to establish the degree to which they satisfied the stated evaluation objectives of the multilateral agencies involved. In general those reports did not provide relevant or critical review of the project and failed to highlight lessons to improve future development initiatives. This evaluation, which centred on smallholder perspectives, was able to identify a number of deficiencies in project design and implementation. From analysis of those deficiencies it was possible to highlight lessons and make recommendations with relevance for future development projects, both in the field of livestock and in rural development generally