(PDF, 101 mb) - USAID

I. Evaluation Objective
Food For Work Evaluation
Scope o-f Work
Assess the management tasks involved and the implementation of the
CRS Food For Work (FFW) program by quantitative and qualitative
review at the field, CRS zonal and Headquarter levels.
II. 'ackqround
In FFW projects, Title II food is used in place of cash to pay
laborers for a variety of jobs performed. FFW was created to serve
several objectives; provide jobs for poor laborers, increase
agricultural production, improve the economic and standard of living
position of the poor and proirote community development.
The FFW program in India increased substantially during the famine
years of 1972-73. The major program objective at that time was to
provide a simple mechanism for supplying food to the needy pockets
of the population. India is now in a food surplus position
regarding food grains, so that the provision of food without regard
to target groups is unnecessary.
A 1979 Community Systems Foundation (CSF) evaluation found that
CRS/FFW projects varied widely in quality. The most predominant
program weakness was the selection of project beneficiaries, those
who receive the asset created under FFW. A more serious problem in
a number of programs was that no selection criteria were employed.
Many projects were approved on a first-come-first served basis. In
some cases, a dependency relationship between the community and the
project holder was perpetuated.
As a result of this evaluation, an enhancement of CRS/India's Food
For Work program has been in progress. Since 1979, USAID has
invested approximately $520,000 to upgrade the CRS FFW program to
make it more development impact oriented. Upgrade activities began
with c follow up evaluation designed to Quantify development impact
that flows from FFW's two streams of benefits, i.e. those that
accrue directly to workers/food recipients and those that accrue to
oenefic iary/users of completed assets. Results provioed the basis
for Lne developmeri' of toe Piaening, Monitoring an Evaluation
Svsten ( FMK ) aeve loped by Comrinunity Systems Foundalior.. Tie
princ ipal pjur;pose of toe PMi&E system is Le heIsCnscrees anc
Lrc ec' iclers i;,rove ti efectiveness i of trie ,r prcjects over
LIime. A secorcdry PM&E purpose is to provide an indication of
program operction to CkS/i.,Y arid USAID. In addition, PM&[ intends to
measure charnes that occur at the local level ana attemt to
attribute those changes to a cause, whether it be FFW or some
combination of other program elements. This second stage is now