Events

Evidence for the Rural Transformation

November 13, 2018

Mozambique

OVERVIEW
AGENDA
SPEAKERS
ABOUT DIME

DIME and the World Bank Mozambique country office will jointly host the workshop “Evidence for the Rural Transformation” on November 13th in Maputo.
DIME’s engagement in Mozambique dates back to 2009 and has grown from a single project evaluation to a wide rural transformation agenda looking at various strategies to relieve the numerous constraints faced by farmers. Topics range from addressing the sustainability of rural infrastructure investments to facilitating access to markets.
During the one-day event the team will present evidence from across the DIME Agriculture (AADAPT) program and take stock of the Mozambique results and ongoing work. Presentations will focus on three main topics:
Sustainable rural infrastructure investment
Technology adoption
Commercialization and markets
Participants will include various stakeholders in the agriculture and rural development sector such as government, donors and researchers. Throughout the day, participants will be invited to reflect on the evidence presented and share ideas on what the big questions are for the sector in Mozambique to help guide the development of the next set of evaluations undertaken.
For questions about the event or the Mozambique Impact Evaluation program please contact Astrid Zwager, azwager@worldbank.org

9:00	Opening Remarks Mark Lundell, country director, Mozambique, World Bank
9:10	Evidence for Real Time Policy Learning Paul Christian – Economist, DIME, World Bank
9:45	The Agricultural Transformation Agenda Florence Kondylis – Senior Economist, DIME, World Bank
10:30	Breakout 1: Discussion of Learning Priorities in Agriculture Discussion in small groups with a DIME facilitator
11:00	Coffee break
11:30	Evidence session 1: Rural infrastructure – institutions and sustainability
	1. Measurement for effective management of irrigation: evidence from PROIRRI – Paul Christian 2. Impact of connecting farmers to markets: evidence from Rwanda – Florence Kondylis 3. Smallholder inclusion: evidence from SLWRMP – Astrid Zwager, Research Analyst, DIME Session wrap-up: Experiences from project managers and what is next – Aniceto Bila (Senior Agriculture Specialist, WB) and Cesar Tique (Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist, AfDB)
12:30	Lunch
13:30	Evidence session 2: Technology adoption
	1. Identity of extension agents and gender: evidence from the Smallholder development project – Valerie Mueller, assistant professor ASU / IFPRI 2. Modes of extension: evidence from Malawi and Bangladesh – Florence Kondylis 3. Incentivizing take-up of adoption: evidence from Ghana and Haiti – Paul Christian Session wrap-up: Experiences from a project manager and what is next – Pedro Arlindo (Agriculture Economist, WB)
14:30	Breakout 2: If you’re involved in a project, what are areas for IE? Discussion in small groups with a DIME facilitator
15:00	Coffee break
15:30	Session 3: Commercialization and markets
	1. Coordinating financing for agricultural intensification: evidence from PROIRRI -- Valerie Mueller 2. Expanding production frontier: evidence from Rwanda -- Florence Kondylis 3. Who benefits from private sector investments? Evidence from Nepal - Paul Christian 4. Impact of commercial farms on smallholders: evidence from Mozambique -- Steven Glover, Field Manager, DIME Session wrap-up: Experiences from project managers and what is next – Daniel Gonzalez Levassor and Ilona Gruenewald (EU)
16:30	Sharing of group work & group discussion
17:00	Closing Raymond Bordeaux, Program Leader Sustainable Development, World Bank

Paul Christian

Economist, Development Research Group
Paul Christian is an Economist in the Development Impact Evaluation unit of the of the World Bank’s research department. His research on agriculture and food security programs focuses on targeting and management of irrigation projects. He has led impact evaluations in India, Nepal, Mozambique, Liberia, and Ghana. Dr. Christian holds a PhD and MA in Economics from Brown University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining the impact evaluation unit he worked as a research associate in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University where he helped lead Cornell’s involvement in the Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAARS) project.

Steven Glover

Field Manager, DIME
Steven is the Field Manager of DIME’s impact evaluation program in Mozambique. He holds an MSc in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, with research interests in rural development, smallholder commercialization, technology adoption, and the sustainability of smallholder irrigation schemes. He has worked in Mozambique for over 7 years, initially as an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow working inside the Ministry of Agriculture (MASA).

Florence Kondylis

Senior Economist, Development Research Group
Florence Kondylis joined the World Bank as a Young Professional and received a magistere in economics from the Paris School of Economics, a PhD in economics from the University of London, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Her main interests are in development, labor, conflict and agricultural economics. She founded and leads the Bank’s impact evaluation program in Agricultural Adaptations (AADAPT), which she runs in close collaboration with researchers and practitioners across a large number of donor institutions, governments, NGOs, and academic institutions. More recently, she started DIME Analytics to help generate and curate more, better data for impact evaluation. She is currently running experiments in the fields of agriculture, justice, infrastructure and transport, and natural resource management.

Valerie Mueller

Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Valerie Mueller is currently an assistant professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies. Prior to joining Arizona State University, she was a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, D.C. Mueller’s research falls largely into three main themes. The first quantifies rural household vulnerability to climate variability, focusing on migration, nutrition, and health markers in Africa and Asia. The second area of research uses randomized controlled trials to identify mechanisms to improve the delivery of rural services (legal justice for women, agricultural extension, and the equitable allocation of irrigation water) in East African countries. Her third area of research is on the prospects of youth employment in Africa. She is currently co-editing a volume, which studies the evolution of youth employment and its role in the structural transformation process in Africa.

Astrid Zwager

Impact Evaluation Coordinator, DIME
Astrid Zwager joined DIME in 2011. She currently works on the design and implementation of impact evaluations within DIME's extensive agriculture portfolio, focusing on in-country capacity building, management of the field coordinators, data collection and coordination across stakeholders. Countries she works with include Brazil and Mozambique. Previously Astrid worked for 3 years as a field coordinator in São Paulo, Brazil, coordinating the implementation on the ground of the adapt-Brazil portfolio across the country. The portfolio she works on includes research on topics like rural matching grants, payment for environmental services, management training for rural organizations and maintenance and operations issues related to irrigation. She is also involved in urban development and education evaluations. Before joining DIME, Zwager worked at the Amsterdam Institute for International development as a research assistant. Astrid holds a master degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam.
DIME is a World Bank-wide program to generate knowledge on the effectiveness of development policies. Working across 18 thematic areas, DIME collaborates with 300 agencies in 72 countries to improve the effectiveness of policies and programs and strengthen country capacity for real-time evidence-based policy-making. More »