Impact evaluation for rehabilitating agribusiness systems in typhoon-prone communities in leyte, Philippines

Abstract

There is still a growing global concern for greater transparency in and improved impact evaluation approaches of humanitarian operations. After typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas region of the Philippines on the November 8, 2013, rehabilitation efforts were made to rehabilitate communities' livelihood systems, including a project in Calubian, Leyte. The project, Building Resiliency and Sustainable Agribusiness in Typhoon-Damaged Areas of Central Philippines (BReSA Rehab Haiyan Project), was implemented in May 2014 with the aim that by the end of 2017, typhoon-affected families have rehabilitated their livelihoods and increased their income and assets. This impact evaluation applied a mixed-method approach to measuring the net effects of the BReSA project intervention comprehensively. Through focus group discussion with 12 persons and a face-to-face interview with 450 respondents in Calubian, Leyte, this research assessed quantitative (income) and qualitative (relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability) indicators. Using the two-period data (DiD), where the outcome variable is the difference of income after and before the BReSA project, the result shows that households involved in the BReSA project increased their income by 1762 pesos (USD 34.32) per month, a net percentage increase of about 13%. Apart from the increase in income, the BReSA project inculcates the value of communityness in the project sites, improving the residents' mindset, diversifying their income sources, and building the beneficiaries' resilience to disasters.