This Briefing Paper is the sixth in a series to communicate key points from the independent impact evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP). The MVP aimed to demonstrate that rural Africa could address poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through low-cost, science-based interventions at the village level.
This mixed method impact evaluation of one MVP site in Northern Ghana took place over more than five years. The evaluation consisted of a statistically representative survey of over 2,000 households within 35 villages in the project site and 68 comparison villages. It also included three longitudinal qualitative studies that collected evidence on institutional change, a range of welfare measures and local perspectives (see MVP Briefing Paper 8). Undertaken by Itad, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Participatory Development Associates Ltd (PDA Ghana) and commissioned by DFID, it is anticipated that the findings will be of interest to a wide range of people in the development sector.
It was hoped that an integrated approach to education would improve school attendance and learning outcomes, and improve parents’ views and expectations of the benefits of education. The project expected to reach intermediate outcomes that ‘ensure universal primary education, increase the quality of education overall and increase access to secondary education, especially for girls.’ The MVP was evaluated against the MDGs as this was the original aim of the project, and for which the activities were designed.
Read the full report, other briefing papers and annexes on our project page.
