In fiscal year 2012, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) awarded funding to private voluntary organizations (PVOs) to design and implement multi-year Title II development food assistance programs in Uganda, Guatemala, and Niger. The main purpose of these Title II programs is to improve long-term food security of chronically food insecure population in the target regions. FFP contracted a firm, ICF International to conduct a baseline study in targeted areas of the three countries prior to the start of the new Title II programs. The purpose of the baseline study was to assess the current status of key indicators, have a better understanding of prevailing conditions and perceptions of the programs’ populations in the implementation areas, and serve as a point of comparison for future final evaluations. Results would also be used to further refine program targeting and, where possible, to understand the relationship between variables to inform program design. The baseline study is designed as the first step in a two-part evaluation, with the final evaluation as the second step. The baseline studies were conducted in 2013, while FFP expects to conduct final evaluations as close as possible to the end of the program five years later.

 

The specific objectives of the baseline study were: