This appraisal reviewed the Project Document (PD) for the 'Rural Economic Development' (RED) Project Phase I in Ethiopia. The main focus was on the overall feasibility of the program, including its theory of change (TOC) and results framework, resources and implementation and management arrangements, and how they contributed to a sustainable impact.
The main issues studied included: a review of the TOC and the results framework, including the provisional indicators; a review of how the project design catered for adaptive management; an assessment of how well local ownership, capacity, and commitment were demonstrated in the PD.
Other specific issues included: project management, organisational and administrative arrangements, financial management and audit arrangements, the cross-cutting objectives related to environmental and climate aspects, the risk assessment and risk management plan, linkages with other ongoing or planned programmes in the sector, possibilities for cooperation with Finnish companies, and a review of the proposed budget to verify that it was in proportion to expected results.
The appraisal was based on the draft PD, taking into account the identification mission report and the reports and reviews of the current programmes, MFA quality assurance group documents, as well as other relevant documents. The appraisal was done as a desk review.