Background of the RIMS Survey:

IFAD introduced a Results and Impact Management System (RIMS) as a requirement for facilitating reporting on results achieved and impacts. This information is expected to be used by the project management teams and IFAD as a tool to help improve performance and by IFAD to report on its project-level achievements using a comparable set of indicators across the project portfolio. The system calls for each project to report on three levels of results: measures of physical progress (1st level results), functionality and sustainability indicators (2nd level results), and impact indicators. Two impact indicators are mandatory for each project: prevalence of child malnutrition and an asset ownership index. It is envisaged that impact assessment surveys would be conducted three times during the life of a project in order to measure changes over time for these two indicators. 

Background of the MFTS Project:

The goal of the Microfinance and Technical Support Project (MFTS) in Bangladesh is to improve the livelihoods and food security of 276,000 moderate and hardcore poor households and the empowerment of women. These objectives would be achieved by implementing two project components, microfinance and technical support for livestock development. The project area is spread over 13 districts in the northeast and southwest parts of Bangladesh comprising of 96 upazilas. 25 partner organizations through 40 existing and 130 new area offices are implementing the project. 

Actual services provided for implementing the RIMS Survey:

The survey was carried out using a standard methodology which includes:

• • the required sample size (60 clusters with 15 households per cluster), 
  • a core questionnaire (4 pages of questions and anthropometry), 
  • draft training materials, and 

• a data entry and analysis program (developed in Access). The Access database provides the framework for a consistent approach to data analysis and includes logarithms to compare the anthropomorphic data with standards as well as to calculate the quintiles associated with the asset index (using principal component analysis).

The specific survey tasks carried out include:

• listing of groups of beneficiaries by partner organizations, 
• construction of the sampling frame, 
• sample selection, 
• translating and pre-testing of questionnaires, 
• preparation of a fieldwork plan, 
• training of (MFTS) project staff and enumerators, 
• data collection, data entry, data cleaning, and submission of clean data set.

The survey was commissioned and funded by IFAD.