Introduction
This report presents the findings from a performance evaluation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Property Rights and Artisanal Diamonds Development (PRADD II) project in Côte d’Ivoire. To support the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s objective of making the mining sector an engine of economic growth, the objective of PRADD II was to increase the number of alluvial diamonds entering the formal chain of custody, while improving the benefits accruing to diamond mining communities.
USAID and the European Union funded PRADD II and Tetra Tech implemented the project at the national level and in the localities of Séguéla and Tortiya from 2013 to 2018.
This study examines the performance, outcomes, and sustainability of PRADD II interventions five years after the end of the program. The research investigates output sustainability by examining whether the program investments still remain and/or if these have been scaled-up by different beneficiaries. The study also examines reasons for the expansion or decline of specific interventions in light of political, institutional, and economic changes in the national and local contexts of Séguéla and Tortiya.
The evaluation methodology is based on a variety of different sources: a document review; 16 individual interviews conducted with stakeholders at central and local levels; 33 focus group discussions organized with different categories of project stakeholders; surveys carried out with 188 beneficiaries, 13 village chiefs, and 9 mining officials; and direct observation of project sites. The primary data analysis methods include descriptive statistics of surveys combined with content analysis of the qualitative data sources.