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The 'Citizen Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change' (CPACC) project aimed to build the resilience of farming households to climate shocks, through promoting conservation farming techniques and livelihood diversification, and through supporting disaster-planning activities and early-warning systems at the community level. This Effectiveness Review used a quasi-experimental approach to assess the impact of the project among households whose members directly participated in the project activities, in one of the three districts where the project was carried out. The results provide evidence that the project had a positive effect on the resilience of participant households, particularly through the community-level disaster preparedness activities. There is also evidence that the project had a positive impact on the adoption of conservation farming techniques, on the area of land cultivated, and on yields. However, the project does not appear to have had the positive effects it sought on engagement in non-agricultural income-generating activities, nor on participation in savings groups. There is no indication that the project had had a positive impact on households’ overall material welfare by the time of the survey. This report is part of Oxfam's Effectiveness Review Series.

The 'Building Resilience in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Northern Kenya' project was implemented in Turkana County, in Northern Kenya, between July 2012 and April 2015. The project was designed to build the resilience of project participants to a number of shocks and stresses: droughts – which threaten the area annually – floods and outbreaks of human and animal diseases on the one hand, and anthropocentric risks on the other hand, such as fire, livestock theft, and conflicts. The project worked at different levels to try and reduce households’ vulnerability to these risks, through Community-Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) and integration of community-level plans and committees into the work of the county government. This Effectiveness Review used a quasi-experimental evaluation design to assess the impact of the project activities, at the household- and community-level. The results provide evidence that the project had had a positive impact on households’ resilience capacities. This report is part of Oxfam's Effectiveness Review series.

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2015/16, selected for review under the resilience thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental impact evaluation carried out in January 2016 that sought to assess the impact of the activities of the ‘Joint Programme on Disaster Risk Management and Humanitarian Preparedness’., The project under review was implemented between April 2011 and March 2016 in four districts in the Terai region of southern Nepal – Dhanusha, Rautahat, Salarhi, and Saptari. The project was carried out by Oxfam in partnership with several organisations, including the Koshi Victims Society (KVS), the Social Development Research Centre (SDRC), Bagmati Welfare Society Nepal (BWSN), Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), and Rural Development Centre (RDC). The project had three broad objectives, which were developed during its planning phase: (1) to strengthen and institutionalise Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR), (2) to enhance the capacity of local institutions to prepare for and respond to humanitarian emergencies, (3) to create an enabling environment for people to demand their ‘rights in crisis’.

Oxfam’s Effectiveness Reviews evaluate the impact of the organization’s projects on the lives of those they are intended to help., This research paper uses statistical meta-analysis to summarise the results of all 16 Effectiveness Reviews carried out under the theme of resilience between 2011 and 2015., The paper finds that projects evaluated had a significant positive impact overall, as measured by an index of contextually-appropriate indicators of resilience. However, there are important differences in impact between different regions of the world. The meta-analysis also reveals a difference in the level of resilience by the gender of the head of household, and provides some insights into the resilience measurement approach.

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2015/16, selected for review under the resilience thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation carried out in April 2015 of the ‘Supporting communities in Bolivia to adapt to changing weather patterns and improve their livelihoods’ project. It sought to assess the success the project had in enabling households that directly participated in the camellones to strengthen their livelihoods, to minimise risk from shocks and to adapt to emerging trends and uncertainty., The project was carried out by Oxfam in partnership with the Kenneth Lee Foundation in several communities of the municipality of Trinidad in the Beni Region of Bolivia between 2010 and 2013. The key activities of this project (together with its predecessor, launched in 2008) were to construct and promote the use of ‘camellones’, an indigenous land-management system intended to protect livelihoods (agriculture and fish farming) against drought or flood., Read more about Oxfam's Effectiveness Reviews.

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2015/16, selected for review under the resilience thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental impact evaluation carried out in November 2015 that sought to assess the impact of the activities of the 'Contributing to the Development of Enabling Conditions for Human Security for Vulnerable Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities' project., The project under review was implemented in the Somali region of Ethiopia and the Galbeed and Togdheer regions of Somaliland between July 2012 and June 2016. The project was carried out by Oxfam in partnership with several organisations, including Ogden Welfare and Development Association (OWDA), Community Development Service Association (CDSA), Somaliland Pastoral Forum (SOLPAF), Candlelight, Himilo Relief and Development Association (HIRDA), and The Horn of Africa Voluntary Youth Committee (HAVOYOCO). The project had three specific objectives: (1) make pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities more resilient to drought and conflict; (2) increase voice and representation of civil society, especially women's organisations and youth, in decision-making forums; and (3) raise cross-border issues affecting Ethiopia and Somaliland pastoralists and agro-pastoralists at regional and national forums., Read more about Oxfam's Effectiveness Reviews.

Resilience has rapidly become one of the most prominent objectives for the development sector, so ascertaining how best to measure it is an essential task for practioners working in monitoring and evaluation. In this discussion paper, the main insights emerging from the series of large-N Effectiveness Reviews, a set of quantitative studies that aim to evaluate impact and generate learning from a random sample of Oxfam’s projects are outlined. It is also considered how this measurement approach may adapt as ideas about resilience change both within Oxfam and in the development sector at large., Read more about Oxfam's Effectiveness Reviews.