In 2020 the SEADS Project systematically reviewed the impact of agriculture interventions in humanitarian crises, focusing on impacts on livelihoods, food security, and nutrition. The review covered all of the main types of emergency agriculture programming.

In early May 2021, SEADS released a learning brief that describes the results of the review. From more than 250 evaluations and studies, only 2 documents were categorized as “strong” evidence, and only 26 documents were categorized as “moderate” evidence. The majority of documents were categorized as “weak” due to various weaknesses in evaluation, research design, and reporting. This does not mean that the interventions assessed had no impact, but that the documents did not present enough information to tell us whether or not there was an impact.

On May 20, 2021, SEADS convened a webinar asking the questions “Do emergency agriculture projects work? How do we know?” USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance chaired the event and welcomed panelists Juliet Parker from ALNAP; Howard Standen from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and Themba Sibanda from the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The SEADS Coordinator presented the results of the SEADS evidence review. Panelists endorsed the main finding of the review – that evidence of impact is very limited – and discussed how impact evaluation and learning could be strengthened. The participants also recognized the need to build a stronger evidence base to support emergency agriculture programs.

View the webinar here.

Read the brief here.

Learn more about SEADS’ evidence based approach here.