Thematic funding for 2014-15 (Sida-ILO Partnership Programme 2014-17) Empowerment in Zimbabwe

Over the past decade, the ILO has introduced its Training for Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE) methodology in 16 countries in Africa and Asia to support rural livelihoods, poverty reduction and income generation. TREE is adapted from an earlier ILO Community-based Training programme implemented during the nineties. TREE’s goal is the promotion of income generation and local development, emphasizing the role of skills and knowledge for creating new economic and employment opportunities for the poor, the underemployed, the unemployed, informal economy workers and the otherwise disadvantaged, towards sustained economic activities. TREE country experiences include Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Niger, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Togo, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. Process evaluations and case studies have captured innovation and shown positive changes in TREE beneficiaries and their communities. In an attempt to assess what works to improve labour market outcomes of youth, the ILO’s Area of Critical Importance (ACI) “Skills and Jobs for Youth” selected TREE among a set of ILO methodologies to undergo an impact evaluation. The decision responds to (i) an increased demand from governments and social partners for rigorous evaluation of youth employment interventions, as reflected in the ILO’s Call for Action (ILO, 2012); and (ii) the severe lack of information about effective employment interventions to support youth in rural areas. The TREE project in Zimbabwe was identified as subject of the evaluation – provided its unique targeting on young women and men. Zimbabwe’s TREE falls under the framework of the technical cooperation project Skills for Youth Employment and Rural Development in Southern and Western Africa, which started in 2010 with funding from the Danish-led Africa Commission. This document describes a research project to rigorously evaluate TREE in Zimbabwe. Provided project design, implementation, and country context, the main challenge for the research is to find a robust counterfactual which enables one to identify what would have happened to TREE beneficiaries had they not been exposed to the intervention. The challenge is further compounded by the fact that no clear baseline data seems to be available for beneficiaries and a suitable control group. Accordingly, the proposed evaluation methodology is the combination of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Difference in Difference (DID). This methodology requires baseline data for both controls and beneficiaries paired with a second round or endline data for the same individuals in both groups.

Project symbol

ZIM/15/50/SID

Admin unit

CO-Harare

Start date

01/01/2015

End date

31/12/2015

Total allocation

70075

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

70075

Development Partners

Sweden, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Country/Countries

Zimbabwe

Outcomes

Decent work in the rural economy