Mozambique Country Strategic Plan Evaluation (2017-2021)

Executive summary

INTRODUCTION

Evaluation features

1. Country strategic plan (CSP) evaluations are the primary instrument for accountability and learning in accordance with the expectations of the WFP Executive Board and WFP management. They provide evidence of WFP’s strategic positioning and results to inform the design of the next generation of CSPs and potentially to contribute to the design of United Nations sustainable development cooperation frameworks.

2. The evaluation of the Mozambique CSP for 2017‒2021 was conducted between January and December 2021. It covered WFP’s activities between 2016 and August 2021 and assessed the quality of the design process and progress made towards the strategic changes introduced in the CSP. Its main users are the WFP country office and internal and external stakeholders, including beneficiaries.

3. The evaluation adopted a theory-based mixed-methods approach, drawing on monitoring data, a literature review, semi-structured interviews, beneficiary focus groups and an online survey. Gender was taken into account throughout the process. Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a hybrid evaluation was conducted. Thus the inception phase was conducted remotely, while data collection comprised a mix of remote interviews and an in-country field mission. Findings, conclusions and recommendations were discussed with internal and external stakeholders during two online workshops in September and October 2021.

Context

1. Covering almost 800,000 km2 , Mozambique is home to an estimated 33.2 million people. Its population is growing at an annual rate of 2.9 percent and is predominantly young, with children under 14 making up 43.8 percent.

2. Mozambique is a low-income, food-deficit country,2 extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Ranking 181 of 189 countries in the Human Development Index and with a Gini coefficient of 0.54,5 Mozambique is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world. Poverty affects women more than men, and there is a direct correlation between disability and poverty.

3. Chronic child malnutrition has remained relatively unchanged for the past 15 years and remains a major challenge, affecting 43 percent of children under 5.7

4. Agriculture generates 24.9 percent of gross domestic product and employs 74.6 percent of Mozambicans; smallholder farmers account for 95 percent of the country’s agricultural production,9 although their productivity is very low.