2025 marks a pivotal year for PARM. It serves both as the final stage of activities under Horizon 2 (2019–2025) and the moment to lay the groundwork for launching Horizon 3 (2026–2030).
As part of concluding Horizon 2 (H2), an external Final Evaluation was conducted to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of PARM’s activities over the period 2019-2024, with a particular focus on its operations in eight target countries. The findings of this evaluation come at an opportune moment, providing valuable insights and recommendations to inform the design of Horizon 3 (H3) and enhance its future impact.
Assessing five years of impact
In January 2025, IFAD’s procurement unit appointed the external firm Genesis Analytics (GA) to conduct the end-term evaluation of PARM Horizon 2. From February to April 2025, the team reviewed a total of 192 documents, providing insights into PARM H2’s context, implementation, and outcomes. This analysis helped identify information gaps and areas requiring further exploration and validation through primary data collection. In addition, Genesis Analytics conducted 47 key informant interviews, including with PARM staff, members of the Steering and Advisory Committees, PARM country liaison officers, and partners from PARM’s eight operational countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, Senegal, and Tunisia.
Key recommendations
Relevance
The Final Evaluation underscored PARM’s critical role and its unique, holistic approach to ensuring comprehensive, multi-dimensional risk management at various levels. At the country level, PARM addressed clear gaps in risk awareness, diagnostic capacity, and policy integration related to agricultural risk management (ARM), while aligning with national development strategies and IFAD’s broader goals. At the global level, PARM filled a niche by providing upstream analytical work and policy support in an area often overlooked by other actors.
Effectiveness
With 21 out of 29 indicators achieved, PARM’s consultative and demand-driven approach, particularly its collaboration with governments and local stakeholders, proved effective. It notably influenced the integration of ARM into national policies in five of the eight partner countries. PARM excelled in building knowledge and capacity among various actors to manage agricultural risks and fostered partnerships to share best practices. It also contributed to the design of ARM projects in four countries, with additional designs still underway in others. However, uneven results, insufficiently calibrated targets, and challenges in resource mobilization and implementation hindered full success.
Coherence
While some incoherence was noted at the country level, the evaluation found strong alignment between PARM and IFAD operations. PARM also demonstrated complementarity with other programmes, minimizing overlap at global, regional, and national levels thanks to its collaborative and demand-drive approach to ARM. However, limited engagement from Advisory Committee members reduced the effectiveness of these partnerships.
Efficiency
Despite disruptions caused by COVID-19 and political instability in some countries, PARM delivered substantial volume of outputs relative to its budget and staffing. Nevertheless, it was noted that even with efforts to leverage partnerships to extend its reach, duplication and delays in transitioning from studies to implementation limited efficiency during the design phase. Greater flexibility in budgeting and a more robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system could have enhanced adaptive management and responsiveness to contextual challenges.
Impact
PARM contributed to a stronger knowledge base and greater institutional awareness around risk, which are foundational for long-term agricultural resilience. However, in the absence of widespread implementation of ARM tools, tangible changes or systemic transformation remain limited.
Sustainability
By coupling risk assessments with capacity development and knowledge management, and by adopting a holistic, consultative approach to in-country processes, PARM aimed to ensure the sustainability of its interventions. These efforts fostered strong national ownership and broad stakeholder support for the ARM agenda. However, sustainability is challenged by limited financial commitments, shifting government priorities, and staff turnover, all of which hinder the long-term uptake and institutionalization of ARM tools and strategies.
Gender mainstreaming
PARM advanced the integration of gender and social inclusion (GESI) by identifying risks affecting vulnerable groups in its assessments and promoting inclusive stakeholder engagement in national dialogues. Notably, it prioritized collaboration with national women’s organizations to support the mainstreaming of gender-sensitive ARM approaches. However, the absence of dedicated indicators limited the ability to track specific outcomes for women, youth, and marginalized groups.
On the horizon
The Final Evaluation outlines key recommendations to enhance PARM’s impact in its next phase. Presented according to critical themes that shaped PARM’s performance in H2, the recommendations for improvement include, among others: (i) adjust delivery modality by establishing dedicated implementation units; (ii) develop a comprehensive sustainability plan; (iii) diversify funding sources by engaging non-traditional donors, the private sector, international foundations, and impact investors; (iv) secure government buy-in and identify potential funding avenues prior to project design; (v) increase coordination with regional initiatives; (vi) generate impact evidence through case studies and proofs of concept; and (vii) implement targeted interventions that directly address barriers faced by women and marginalized groups in ARM.
These recommendations will support the improvement of Horizon 3’s design. In this new phase, PARM is committed to scaling up ARM and deepening its mission to strengthen resilience, equity, and sustainability in food systems, while de-risking investments across both public and private sectors.
