Resource information
Since the early 1980s, the Government of
Niger and its development partners have invested more than
200 billion West African Francs (FCFA) in programs will
promote sustainable land management (SLM) and other
activities to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Overall,
more than 50 programs have promoted SLM in Niger. Despite
large investments in SLM programs, their impacts on land
management, agricultural production, poverty, and other
outcomes are not well known. A few studies have documented
impacts of particular projects and land management practices
in selected locations, finding many favorable impacts.
However, although these studies provide valuable insights,
they are limited in scope and by the methods used. A common
problem is the absence of suitable counterfactual
observations to compare to outcomes for communities and
households participating in programs or using particular
land management practices, or inadequate definition of the
counterfactual used. This analysis is intended to contribute
to knowledge about the impacts of SLM programs in Niger by
addressing some of the methodological limitations of prior
studies. The evaluation is based on a secondary database of
major SLM program activities and village characteristics
assembled for all villages of Niger, and a community and
household survey conducted with more than 1,200 households
in 139 villages selected to represent the rural regions of
Niger where most SLM programs have operated. Threats to
external and internal validity of the findings were
addressed by using statistical sampling methods to assure
representativeness of the findings, and quasi-experimental
matching and econometric methods to assure that the program
and counterfactual non-program villages and households were
as comparable as possible in terms of observable
characteristics that affect program placement,
participation, and outcomes.
