Scoping an Impact Evaluation of the Phase II World Bank-Financed West Africa Regional Fisheries Program

Coastal West Africa has some of the richest fishing grounds in the world due to its climatic and ecological conditions, yet poverty in this region is severe and widespread despite its fishing asset. The fishery resources could have contributed more to coastal West Africa’s economic growth if managed in a more efficient and sustainable manner. So far, the World Bank has finished phase I of the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program to improve fisheries management. However, few impact evaluations have been done to support such interventions due to insufficient evidence in outcomes and gap in the changing theories. In developing the second phase of the program, the World Bank hopes to ensure that the project design is able to support an evidence-based decision-making process and a robust impact evaluation. This MP develops a concept note for the project design team to scope an impact evaluation for the phase II program, using the project management methodology, Theory of Change (ToC). This concept note includes 1) discussing the gap in phase I project design; 2) reconstructing a ToC for phase I; 3) developing a ToC for phase II; and 4) recommending methods for measuring the impact of the phase II interventions.