Midterm Evaluation Report, Increase Welfare in the Community, Project CREATION (2020 2024)

Background:

CREATION is a community development project within health, education and livelihood implemented by YNLM during 2020-2024 in 3 villages in Deli Serdang Districts on North Sumatera. The project goal is increased welfare in the community of Kelambir, Rantau Panjang and Bagan Serdang villages and the specific objectives are 1. Farmers and fishers have increased their income, 2. Improved literacy among elementary school students, 3. Improved maternal and child health status.

Purpose/objective:

The purpose of the evaluation was to generate knowledge about the project progress for YNLM, the government partners, the community and other stakeholders. Moreover, to generate lessons learned and recommendations for the remaining project period, assess accountability, discover strengths and weaknesses, and assess performance, degree of empowerment and impact.

Methodology:

Data gathering and analysis involved document reviews and primary data through quantitative survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with project staff, representative groups, and stakeholders.

Key findings:
The Covid-19 pandemic delayed almost all planned project activities for approximately one year. The implementation is quite efficient with a number of trainings conducted with good outputs. Until now, however, the project has only managed to reach 17.09% of total targeted beneficiaries, and many project beneficiaries do not benefit from all the three project components. The project has led to the revitalization of farmer and fisher groups and some members have started to experience an increase in productivity and income.

Training of fisher groups have not shown a significant income increase yet, as the training just started at the end of 2022. The outcomes in the education sector have turned into a good direction as shown in the significant increase in elementary school children’s literacy mastery with the presence of reading ambassadors and improved teachers’ pedagogy capacity. Nevertheless, parental concern remains a challenge due to the absence of parents' mindset about the importance of education. Of the three elementary schools receiving capacity building interventions for teachers, there is only one school showing post-training significant progress by practicing more varied pedagogical methods. The other two schools have not yet shown any significant progress. Success in maternal and child health sector can be seen from increased knowledge and skill capacity of cadres, optimization of Posyandu functions, and benefits received by cadres, mothers, children, and community from the project interventions. There are people with disabilities in the villages that should be encouraged to participate in the project activities.

Recommendations:

All project beneficiaries should benefit from all three project components. A community learning institute should be established to synergize the existing programs. Farmer and fisher groups should adopt a field school approach with a clear learning agreement, equipped with learning modules as a common reference. For the marketing of fishers’ processed products, YNLM also needs to build synergy with BUMDes (Village Owned Enterprises) in each village to be involved and develop qualified products. YNLM needs to ensure that the developed groups have good connections to access village funds or other available government funds. The project needs to take further strategic actions, for example using this midterm evaluation results to conduct an in-depth analysis of all project components, such as SWOT/SWOC to review the path of change or to take strategic change actions to accelerate the movement towards maintenance/termination stage. YNLM needs to strengthen advocacy to existing community groups, by organizing farmer groups, fisher groups, local facilitators, and cadres to put pressure on village and supra-village governments to fulfil their obligations. In the education sector, it is necessary to open up space for joint discussion among schools, parents and the community so that education can be connected with problems at community level. YNLM needs to consider a program replication model in other schools so that this program can be adopted by the education office on sustainable manner with direct funding from the state budget. It is recommended to include services for the elderly in the health sector. It is necessary to increase the capacity of every field staff/project staff so that they can facilitate activities; carry out group dynamics; mobilize support (advocacy) both at village and supra-village levels; strengthen technical content of facilitation such as farming techniques, post-harvest processing of agricultural and fishery products; perform an ability to lobby; negotiate with technical implementing units; and involve themselves actively in group meetings.

Comments from NLM

The project will intensify advocacy work on multiple levels and further ensure participation and leadership of all stakeholders in all project stages. The project will also increase the awareness of the rights of people with disabilities in cooperation with relevant stakeholders. NLM and YNLM do not agree with the recommendation to include services for the elderly in this project, as these are not compatible with the health centres for mother and children. Moreover, the project will not establish a learning centre, but will encourage the community and village head to maximize the use of regulations and budgets available.

Comments from Digni

Digni share the comments from NLM of not including services for the elderly in this project as recommended from the evaluator. The findings will be followed up by Digni in the contact with NLM.