Impact evaluation steering committee: Terms of reference

These Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Impact Evaluation Steering Committee for the Research Into Use (RIU) programme outlines the functions, objectives and outputs of the steering committee.

"The Research Into Use (RIU) programme was a five-year research programme funded by DfID between 2006 and 2011. The programme identified and supported over 30 research experiments based on their potential to contribute to sustained growth and poverty reduction. The aim of the programme was to accumulate and evaluate evidence to shape and share lessons on how best to enable innovation in the agricultural sector so as to achieve social and economic gains in diverse developing country settings.

The specific inputs of the steering committee in the meeting were to:

• Assist in prioritizing and determining the strategic focus of the evaluation. Specifically, ensure the evaluation effectively addresses the issues of accountability and focuses on issues of critical strategic relevance to wider policy debates on innovation in the agricultural sector.
• Assist in developing a robust and credible evaluation process. Provide comment on the appropriateness of the evaluation methodologies, case studies, etc.
• Assist in the identification of strategic themes arising from the initial evaluation findings. Specifically, ensure the products of the evaluation add value to the strategic/policy debates over agricultural innovation and research.

Steering Committee members were asked to provide either written or verbal comments on:

• Evaluation approach paper
• Initial findings paper
• Key findings, conclusion and recommendations arising from the draft evaluation paper." (Research Into Use, 2010)

Contents

• Introduction
• Evaluation Process
• Evaluation Products
• Steering Committee Objectives
• Steering Committee Meetings
• Outputs