Impact pathway evaluation: an approach for achieving and attributing impact in complex systems

This article describes the development and use of a new impact monitoring, evaluation and assessment approach for agriculture called impact pathway evaluation.

"In the first stage of this approach, a research project develops an impact pathway for itself, which is an explicit theory or model of how the project sees itself achieving impact. The project then uses the impact pathway to guide project management in complex environments. The impact pathway may evolve, based on learning over time. The second stage is an ex post impact assessment sometime after the project has finished, in which the project’s wider benefits are independently assessed. The evaluator seeks to establish plausible links between the project outputs and developmental changes, such as poverty alleviation." (Douthwaite, Kuby, van de Fliert & Schulz, 2003)

The article draws on case studies from Nigeria and Indonesia to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Sources

Douthwaite, B., Kuby, T., van de Fliert, E., & Schulz, S. (2003). Impact pathway evaluation: an approach for achieving and attributing impact in complex systems. Agricultural Systems, 78, 243–265. Retrieved from http://boru.pbworks.com/f/ag_syst_IPE.pdf