Coordination of "Evaluation Package B" - Improving Farm Viability and Competitiveness
Initial situation
The Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics was involved in various stages of evaluations of previous Rural Development (LE) programmes as well as in the evaluation of the current LE programme (LE 14-20). The evaluation is to be carried out according to the specifications of the European Commission and the evaluation plan laid down in the Austrian LE programme. For the evaluation of the LE 14-20, the BMNT has grouped certain priority areas or assigned project types of the LE programme into so-called "evaluation packages". The Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics has taken over the coordination and evaluation of various evaluation packages of the LE 14-20 and contributed to the preparation of the first extended implementation report (SFC report) for the European Commission as well as the national evaluation report in 2017 (see e.g. the completed project AWI/52/16 W on "Evaluation Package B").
Objective
The objective of the project is to carry out the evaluation of Priority 2 of the LE 14-20 ("Improving farm viability and competitiveness of all types of agriculture in all regions and promoting innovative agricultural techniques and sustainable forest management") and to coordinate the work required for this ("Evaluation Package B"). Based on the experience gained so far, the evaluation for the extended implementation report (in SFC format) for the European Commission as well as for the national detailed report of 2019 will be prepared and carried out within the framework of the project. In particular, the evaluation questions specified by the European Commission are to be answered and the corresponding indicators quantified.
Priority 2 is divided into priority area 2A ("Improving the economic performance of all agricultural holdings, supporting farm restructuring and modernisation, in particular with a view to increasing market participation and orientation as well as agricultural diversification") with core project type 4. 1.1. (investments in agricultural production) and priority area 2B ("facilitating access to the agricultural sector for appropriately qualified farmers and in particular generational change") with core project type 6.1.1 (start-up aid for young farmers). In addition, other project types are assigned to these two priority areas.
Status of the project
In 2018, with regard to the evaluation reports to be prepared in 2019 (extended implementation report in SFC format as well as national detailed report), mainly coordinative and preparatory work was carried out - for example, with regard to the concept and organisation of the evaluation, cooperation with other institutions, experts and evaluators or data management. With regard to answering the evaluation questions and quantifying the indicators, methodological considerations as well as considerations on the selection, evaluation and analysis of the data were made, among other things. A study commissioned by the BMNT to the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) will provide specific evaluation results; among other things, WIFO will work together with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) to develop results on detailed questions regarding priority area 2A. It was also possible in 2018 to use the opportunity to ask questions relevant to the evaluation as part of a BOKU survey on farm succession.
Work in 2019
In 2019, the evaluation reports (extended implementation report in SFC format and national detailed report) will be prepared. The basis for this will be evaluations and analyses of the available data, results of the external studies and the survey of BOKU as well as further work such as literature research, expert interviews, etc.. In addition, presentations of the results at various events and exploitation of the results in publications are planned.
Schedule
Project start: January 2018
End of project: December 2019
