81321664-Annual Impact Surveys of target groups

Among others, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) is currently implementing two projects in the agricultural sector in South Sudan. The bilateral project "Community-based Rural Development in South Sudan" (CDRD) is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-financed by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Kingdom of Netherlands as well as the European Union (EU) and runs from April 2022 to March 2029. The project, "Improved Living Conditions and Psychosocial Support in the Context of Displacement and Displacement" (ILiPS), is commissioned by BMZ under the Special Initiative on Displaced Persons and Host Countries (SIGA), with a project period ranging from October 2022 to December 2026.

Both projects" main components focus on agricultural development of rural smallholder households. With its additional funding received in 2025, ILiPS now supports 2,000 households within Central and Eastern Equatoria. With its EU extension from 2024, CDRD supports now a total of 27,500 smallholder households across in Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Nothern Bar el Ghazal and Western Bahr El Ghazal.

All monitoring activities of the GIZ projects in South Sudan are centrally organized and coordinated by the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit. To measure progress and ensure accountability, both projects use a rigorous monitoring system based on representative household surveys. Data is collected once per year, with baseline, midline and endline surveys for each cohort.

In addition to quantitative surveys, the projects employ a mixed-method approach combining household interviews with Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews. This design allows the projects to generate robust longitudinal and cross-sectional data on production capacity, income levels, nutrition and resilience, while also capturing the social, cultural and gender dynamics that shape household behaviour. Particular emphasis is placed on monitoring the impact of agricultural training on farming practices and the adoption of sustainable methods.

The evidence generated is used for donor reporting, project steering and strategic decision-making in the multi-donor context. By disseminating results to national and local actors, the projects also contribute to learning across the wider partner system. In this way, ILiPS and CDRD strengthen the resilience of rural households in South Sudan while providing actionable knowledge for future programming in fragile contexts.