Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Assessing the Impact of Agro-pastoral Programs on the Productivity of Farmers Organisations: The Case of Cameroon

Between 2001 and 2007, the poverty headcount in Cameroon has remained steady around 40%. In fact, poverty has reduced in urban areas while it has increased of about 3 points in rural areas. This, despite the numerous agro-pastoral programs that were undertaken by the government between 2002 and 2008 in favour of rural people. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of these actions on the productivity of famers’ organisations. The methodology is based on a combined assessment approach combining both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The qualitative analysis uses Likert scale. The quantitative approach is based on Rubin's causal model and uses propensity score matching techniques. The main data used are those of the survey on the assessment of the impact of programs (EIPA) conducted by Ministry of Economy and Planning in 2009. The results obtained with both methods (qualitative and quantitative) are consistent and indicate that programs implemented by Cameroun government and donors between 2002 and 2008 have had a positive impact on the productivity of farmers’ organizations. The analysis of satisfaction, while indicating an overall appreciation of programs by leaders and members of Famers organisations (FOs), shows that the level of satisfaction seems to be negatively correlated with the regional level of poverty. The matching techniques revealed that FOs aid recipients have experienced a 4% increase in their productivity. More specifically, the study reveals that the impact of government programs is more important in the livestock sector (16%) and in the crops growing sector; it is quite null. Furthermore, non-beneficiaries organisations of the livestock sector could have had an increase of their productivity of about 10% if they had benefited from government assistance. The study therefore recommends that the government to (i) put more means in the livestock sector, which seems to be very promising and can emerge as an important growth leverage of Cameroon economy; (ii) revise the assistance strategies of FOs engaged in the agriculture sector by adopting more targeting approaches and, (iii) establish a monitoring –evaluation system