Assessing Strategies Amidst the Development Aid Dilemma
In a recent summer university held at CESAG in Dakar, the focus was on "methodologies of development," with a particular interest in learning about evaluation methods. One of the key topics that piqued the attendees' interest was the "randomized evaluation" method, a tool increasingly used in NGO projects and public policies to assess the impact of interventions on poverty-related outcomes.
Originating from the field of economics, the "randomized evaluation" method, popularized by Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, and Michael Kremer, bears a resemblance to pharmaceutical companies' clinical trials. This method involves comparing the results of a program on one population with another that did not benefit from it, to measure its effectiveness.
In various parts of the world, the randomized evaluation method is being employed in innovative ways. For instance, in the United States and Europe, multiple studies are testing interventions for diabetes prevention and lifestyle support among low socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Some of these studies use randomized designs to evaluate the effects of education, food assistance, and mindfulness training in food-insecure or impoverished populations.
Moreover, the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 in Ireland has incorporated rigorous monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in its commitments to reduce consistent poverty to 2% by 2025. Although not described as pure randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the summary, these mechanisms often involve experimental or quasi-experimental impact evaluations.
In the realm of education, a pilot RCT was conducted to evaluate the AFP program, aimed at increasing paraeducators’ use of instructional materials to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged children in the US. Another example is a community-based participatory approach in South Texas that adapted a diabetes empowerment education program and included RCT elements targeting immigrant low SES populations to assess lifestyle behavior change impacts relevant to health and poverty.
The potential of this method extends beyond education and health. For example, one participant at the summer university considered the potential of sending market prices via SMS to farmers for better decision-making, while another aimed to measure the impact of menstruation on girls' education in Benue State, Nigeria.
In summary, the randomized evaluation method remains a key tool in assessing interventions’ causal impacts on poverty-related outcomes in both NGO-led projects and public policy programs worldwide. As the world continues to grapple with poverty reduction and development, the significance of this method in providing empirical evidence for the effectiveness of various interventions cannot be overstated.
- The randomized evaluation method, applicable in fields like health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise, is used in studies testing diabetes prevention interventions among low socioeconomic status groups in the United States and Europe.
- In the realm of education-and-self-development, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted to evaluate the AFP program's impact on education outcomes for disadvantaged children in the U.S.
- Outside of health and education, this method is being explored for innovative purposes, such as sending market prices via SMS to farmers for better decision-making in the financial sector or measuring the impact of menstruation on girls' education in Benue State, Nigeria.
