This publication was produced at the request of the United States Department of Agriculture. It was 
prepared independently by Brandy Jones, PhD and Sergey Pizikov.
Foreign Agricultural 
Service, United States 
Department of Agriculture
A young boy sitting at a table about to eat a meal at school.
Kyrgyzstan McGovern-Dole
Project
MIDTERM EVALUATION
November 2019
DISCLAIMER: The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the 
United States Department of Agriculture or the United States Government.
McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child 
Nutrition Program - Kyrgyzstan
Program: McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition
Agreement Number: FFE-116-2017/024-00
Funding Year: Fiscal Year 2017
Project Duration: 2017-2021
Implemented by: Mercy Corps
Evaluation Authored by: 
Brandy Jones, PhD
Sergey Pizikov
MCGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL 
FOOD FOR EDUCATION AND CHILD 
NUTRITION PROGRAM - KYRGYZSTAN
2017-2021
MIDTERM EVALUATION REPORT
NOVEMBER 2019
MERCY CORPS 2
Acknowledgments
The McGovern-Dole 2017 Midterm Evaluation (MTE) would not have been possible without the support, 
collaboration, and participation of Mercy Corps (MC) Kyrgyzstan's entire team. Particularly we would like to 
thank Uma Kandalaeva, Nazgul Abazbekova, Olga Creamer, Gulnara Kokonbaeva, Aijan Kydyralieva, and a host 
of other MC logistical, programs and M&E staff for their contributions, guidance, and logistical support. The 
MC Staff shared documentation, were available for repeated and lengthy interviews, provided critical logistical 
support, and participated in the evaluation exercise.
The Evaluation Team (ET) would also wish to express its appreciation to the Government of Kyrgyzstan,
particularly the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), Local Governance, and over ten primary schools that 
greeted our evaluation teams during field visits. All were supportive and helpful during this evaluation process. 
The ET is also thankful to the USAID Time to Read (TTR) program Chief of Party (COP) Valerie Power, and Chinara 
Omurkulova deputy and Colin Alfred, Education Advisor, Asia Area Save the Children (STC) STA for Education 
and Erfolg for contributions to the evaluation process. Most importantly, the ET would like to thank the 
community members, parents, and school staff that made time to meet with the evaluation team. The ET 
thanks all stakeholders for their time and consideration during this Midterm Evaluation exercise.
MERCY CORPS 3
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 2
Table of Contents 3
List of Acronyms 5
Executive Summary 6
Introduction 12
Program Background and Overview 12
Evaluation Purpose 15
Methodology 16
Evaluation Scope and Key Questions 16
Evaluation Approach 17
Preparation and Desk Review 18
Data Collection and Fieldwork 18
Data Cleaning and Analysis 20
Limitations 21
Results 22
Relevance 23
Relevance Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations, and Lessons Learned 28
Effectiveness 30
SFP and Enabling Environment 31
Social Behavior Change 32
Infrastructure/Winterization 34
Literacy and Learning Promotion 35
McGovern-Dole 2017 Success Factors 37
McGovern-Dole 2017 Implementation Challenges 39
Effectiveness Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learned 44
Efficiency 47
Efficiency Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learned 57
Cursory Impact and Sustainability Observations 59
Conclusions, Recommendations, and Lessons Learned 60
Conclusions 60
Recommendations 61
Lessons Learned 63
Annex 1: Indicator Results 65
MERCY CORPS 4
Annex 2: Program Map 69
Annex 3: Terms of Reference 70
MERCY CORPS 5
List of Acronyms
Acronym Meaning Acronym Meaning
AYO Ayil Okmotu PD Positive Discipline
COP Chief of Party PTA Parent Teacher Association
DAC Development Assistance 
Committee
SA School Administrator
DDoE District Department of 
Education
SN School Nutritionist
DDS Dietary Diversity Scores SF School Feeding
DSE Department of 
Sanitation and 
Epidemiology, Kyrgyz 
Ministry of Health
SFP School Feeding Program
ET Evaluation Team STA Senior Technical Advisor
FGD Focus Group Discussion STC Save the Children
GoK Government of 
Kyrgyzstan
SES Sanitation and Epidemiology 
Service, Kyrgyz Ministry of 
Health
GI Group Interview TL Team Leader
KII Key Informant Interview ToR Terms of Reference
MC Mercy Corps ToT Trainer of Trainers
M&E Monitoring and 
Evaluation
TTR Time to Read
MGD McGovern-Dole USD United States Dollar
MoES Ministry of Education 
and Science
USDA United States Department of 
Agriculture
MoH Ministry of Health WASH Water, Sanitation, and 
Hygiene
MTE Midterm Evaluation WFP World Food Program
MERCY CORPS 6
Executive Summary
PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded the McGovern-Dole International Food for 
Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole 2017) in the Kyrgyz Republic aims to support the 
National School Feeding Program developed by the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) of the Kyrgyz 
Republic, which continues to be a principal beneficiary and stakeholder for the McGovern-Dole 2017, along 
with selected primary schools. The project aims to support the implementation of the Kyrgyz government's 
national school feeding program within 430 primary schools and has the following core objectives, which 
include:
• Increasing knowledge of nutrition, health, and hygiene practices, safe food preparation and storage 
practices, and access to clean water and sanitation services by facilitating training for cooks, parents, 
and school officials and providing competitive grants to upgrade school facilities;
• Improving student attentiveness and reduce short-term hunger as a result of increased access to food 
by rehabilitating school kitchen infrastructure to meet government sanitation standards and providing 
daily school meals;
• Improving student attendance by providing daily school meals; and
• Improving the quality of literacy instruction by ensuring better access to school supplies and materials
• Increasing the skills and knowledge of relevant school staff, as well as enhancing community and family 
support for education.
The program aims to create an enabling learning environment through the creation of a sustainable school 
feeding program and school infrastructure projects, including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – WASH, and 
winterization. The second aim is to improve learning outcomes through the promotion of literacy and learning. 
Unlike the McGovern-Dole 2012 program, McGovern-Dole 2017 includes an active literacy and learning 
promotion component that seeks to increase the amount of time children in the targeted schools spend 
reading and writing, both inside and outside of school. This component of the program includes literacy 
promotion and behavior change activities aimed at children, teachers/librarians and parents, as well the 
positive discipline training for teachers. 
While McGovern-Dole 2017 will run until 2021, this MTE will focus on 2017-2019, during this period the 
program supported 221 public schools across the country by providing over 2,000 metric tons of 
supplementary commodities (enriched flour, rice, split peas, and vegetable oil) to prepare daily hot meals for 
over 50,000 primary grade children in the 2019 school year. 
The full map of the project can be found in Annex 2.
EVALUATION PURPOSE
Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan and USDA have commissioned a midterm evaluation of the McGovern-Dole Food for 
Education and Child Nutrition program – Kyrgyzstan (2017-2021). As identified in the evaluation ToR this 
midterm evaluation report covers September 29, 2017- present to assess the following:
• Progress towards indicator targets established at baseline and within program agreement
• Relevance and effectiveness of program interventions to date
• Quality and efficiency of implementation
• Incorporation of lessons learned and recommendations from previous McGovern-Dole 2017
evaluations
MERCY CORPS 7
The findings from the data collection and report provide insights regarding program performance thus far and 
mid-course corrections for all key McGovern-Dole 2017 stakeholders. For this reason, the focus of the MTE was 
relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and generating actionable lessons learned/recommendations. The midterm 
evaluation report provides USDA, MC, and partners the opportunity to gauge program performance and 
implementation quality with the specific aim of identifying any program design or implementation challenges, 
which will be communicated to program staff as a vehicle for empowering the implementation team, partners, 
beneficiaries, and donors with the information necessary to inform how to appropriately address them and 
reorient the program. The evaluation is participative and data is sought from all stakeholders including 
participating schools, MoES representatives, Save the Children (STC), and MC, and various stakeholders to 
ensure that all perspectives are considered and the data collection yields findings that will inform program 
implementation during the final two years of the project. In line with this aim, the findings, recommendations 
and lessons learned from the assessment exercise will be shared with all employees involved in the program, 
program partners, beneficiaries and the donor -more specifically USDA Washington, Mercy Corps, Government 
of Kyrgyzstan (GoK) institutions such the MoES, MoH, participating school administration staff, local 
community, and various partners and stakeholders.
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
This MTE employed three of the five key evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency, which 
are appropriate given that this is the midpoint of McGovern-Dole 2017 and that the project is still being rolled 
out in a significant number of the targeted schools that have not received the entire McGovern-Dole 2017
program package of inputs and activities. The Evaluation Team (consisted of Lead Evaluator/Team Leader and 
Evaluator/Team Member) collaborated with Mercy Corps staff and a local data collection firm Erfolg. The MTE 
included three consecutive phases:
 Preparation and Desk Review, which included preliminary discussion and teleconference with MC 
clarifying expectations, limitations, approach, and methodology and resulted in Inception Report 
preparation.
● Data collection and fieldwork, the ET has employed several methods and collection tools to explore 
program results related to key program indicators and to answer evaluation questions. The data 
triangulation was ensured by a combination of qualitative KIIs conducted by ET, quantitative surveys 
executed by the local data collection company, and docs analysis, taken at the previous stage.
● A total of 2-3 individuals were interviewed at each of 78 sampled primary schools
o The ET conducted interviews with 48 actors from primary schools and the GoK, District 
Departments of Education (DDoE), Ayil Okmotus (AYO), MC, and counterparts; 
o 171 respondents surveyed by Erfolg the local data collection firm 
● Both the ET and local data collection firm conducted an observation checklist to verify and assess the 
quality and completeness of Winterization, Kitchen Rehabilitation projects and Reading Corners.
▪ 77 Kitchens/Depot 
▪ 0 Winterization
▪ 33 Reading Corners
● Data Cleaning and Analysis, to analyze and organize the data, the ET and MC used a quotes sheet to 
highlight key insights and findings across the sample that was coded and organized by evaluation 
criteria and key questions. The survey and observations were provided in a data set that was produced 
by the ONA mobile data collection platform. Statistical, content, trend and triangulation analysis were 
used to treat the data and inform the report.
KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS BY EVALUATION CRITERIA
Relevance Conclusion Rating Observations
MERCY CORPS 8
The McGovern-Dole 2017 School
Feeding Program (SFP) component 
remains highly relevant and 
appreciated by respondents. 
However, the literacy component is 
viewed as necessary but not with 
the same level of appreciation as 
the SFP program. Challenges with 
duplication with TTR at the outset 
led to a redesign that shifted from 
literacy to literacy and learning 
promotion. Also, coordination with 
the TTR project disrupted the 
synchronization of the McGovern￾Dole 2017 implementation as it 
relates to the rollout of the two 
components of the program.
Satisfactory ● Similar to the McGovern-Dole 2012 program design, the 
School Feeding Program (SFP) component of McGovern-Dole 
2017 remains highly relevant and in line with the GoK policies 
and strategic aims.
● The literacy and learning promotion component had to be re￾designed to address potential duplication with the USAID 
Time to Read project, which worked in the same schools as 
McGovern-Dole 2017, and the redesign shifted away from 
literacy to the promotion of literacy and learning. The project 
does not teach literacy techniques to teachers but focuses on 
positive discipline techniques.
● Combined with the fact that McGovern-Dole 2017 does not 
teach improved literacy techniques to teachers and the fact 
that TTR is working in the same schools on literacy, it will be 
hard for the design to have any attribution for the learning 
outcomes unless there is a comparative approach used at the 
evaluation stage to compare McGovern-Dole 2017 schools 
with TTR schools that do not participate in McGovern-Dole 
2017 or McGovern-Dole 2012.
Effectiveness Conclusion Rating Observations
The monitoring and evaluation data 
confirm that McGovern-Dole 2017
is by in large is achieving many of its 
milestones and is on target to 
achieve most pre-established aims. 
However, there were issues relative 
to the literacy and learning 
component and the infrastructure 
work that require some attention 
and reflection from MC leadership.
Moderately 
Satisfactory
● Most of the indicators are at 45% or above. In fact, several 
have surpassed the targeted levels.
● No winterization or WASH infrastructure projects have been 
conducted to date.
● The SFP component seems to be outperforming the literacy 
and learning component. In fact, the literacy and learning 
component alone is solidly in the moderately satisfactory, 
while the Winterization and WASH infrastructure is the only 
factor that brought the SFP component into the moderately 
satisfactory category.
Efficiency Conclusion Rating Observations
McGovern-Dole 2017 is performing 
well across all the dimensions of 
efficiency. The evaluation data 
shows solid financial and personnel 
management performance; in 
addition, the MC leadership has 
been extremely adaptive and 
innovative in the face of high-level 
issues with sub-recipients’ 
withdrawal, component, re-design 
commodities, and the closure of 
McGovern-Dole 2012.
Satisfactory ● There is an outstanding commodity problem that could leave 
many schools without one of the preferred commodity 
basket items, flour.
● As it relates to efficiency, the program is performing well in 
terms of financial and personnel management.
● The service contract approach provides strong advantages in 
terms of reduced cost and bringing capacity to the local level; 
however, contractors lose the right to benefits and job 
security.
● The kitchen rehab contribution was not a problem for the 
most; however, MC is shifting from the grant approach to a 
MERCY CORPS 9
needs-based approach for future WASH and Winterization 
projects.
● MC will be integrating oversight and management of the two 
components, which it was not doing before STCs withdrawal 
from Central Asia.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
Relevance Recommendations Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
1. MC should also be clear with nomenclature and avoid calling the promotion 
activities a literacy component when TTR is clearly a literacy-focused project 
working in the same schools.
January 2020 MC and 
literacy team
2. MC should organize a meeting with the GOK, school reps, to take stock of the 
literacy and learning promotion activities and determine the appropriate way 
forward to maximize the outcomes associated with this element of McGovern￾Dole 2017. Acceleration of activities may not be enough to yield meaningful 
results.
ASAP GoK, School 
Reps, MC
3. Gender training is a critical step in ensuring that staff considers gender and 
diversity in their daily work and planning. It will be important for each of the staff 
to reflect and document how they individually will integrate what they have 
learned from the training into their work at the individual or component level.
ASAP MC
4. It will also be necessary for the McGovern-Dole 2017program and support staff to 
hold a workshop to determine how they will integrate findings from the gender 
assessment into the program during the final years of the project.
Once gender 
assessment 
complete
MC
5. MC should consider the recommendations from the program participants and 
assess what they can include in the next two years of program implementation, 
and the rest that is deemed relevant but unfeasible should be included in a report 
that MC will share with GoK regarding the status of their work, close preparations 
and key recommendations for the GoK as the continue the SFP leadership without 
donor support.
September 
2020
MC
6. USAID and USDA should ensure that duplication is avoided and addressed 
between USG-funded projects at the proposal stage through a systematic 
verification and validation mechanism.
ASAP USAID and 
USDA
Effectiveness Recommendations Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
1. SBC has no literacy component; MC should look at integrating literacy into the 
SBC planning and activities to the degree possible. (10/7/19, MC staff)
April 2020 MC,
MERCY CORPS 10
2. (1)The impact study should be designed based on the results of the ongoing 
household study and should include clear questions regarding the SBC activities 
that occurred in the communities, their impact in addition to the questions 
regarding knowledge and behaviors at the household level. (2) Also, Literacy 
should be included in the impact study to look at community-level knowledge and 
behaviors linked to learning and literacy promotion at the community level.
May 2020 MC
3. MC will have to be very aggressive in the final two years of the project in order to 
ensure that all Infrastructure projects are completed in a timely and effective
manner. It will be important to develop a very clear, well-coordinated strategy 
with the infrastructure team with external oversight from an infrastructure 
expert.
May 2020 MC
4. The evaluation data suggest extensive analysis/assessment is required of whether 
schools have received a comprehensive literacy and learning promotion package. 
In addition, as MC is merging the monitoring data from the literacy and learning 
promotion component into their databases, some work should be done to 
validate the quality and accuracy of that data.
April 2020 MC
5. MC senior leadership needs to apply some of the lessons learned from the SFP to 
the literacy and learning component regarding follow-up coaching and 
monitoring. Improved coordination and integrated management of the two 
components will also be important moving forward.
January 2020 MC
6. The findings suggest that McGovern-Dole 2017 needs to provide some support to 
schools for developing strategies for schools and the GoK to successfully manage 
infrastructure projects including the budget, oversight and quality control
September 
2020
MC
7. MC should consider providing guidance and recommendations for schools and 
GoK/MoES (1) regarding regulations for the grading and staffing requirements for 
school nutrition programs and (2) administrative timeline and process for schools 
to submit paperwork for nutrition staff to be graded and salaried appropriately 
on time. Both these actions should help to address the challenges raised relates 
related to workload and salary.
September 
2020
MC
8. MoES Ministry level infrastructure is lacking, all school nutrition and teacher 
training relies on one person; MC, WFP, and USDA to advocate and support the 
construction of a MoES team that can fully oversee responsibilities for SFP as they 
prepare for the closeout and handover
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA, and 
GoK
9. MC, WFP, GoK, and USDA need to develop an exit and hand over strategy for all 
SFP interventions as they prepare to closeout. The sustainability model 
mentioned in McGovern-Dole 2017 guidance, as well as recommendations for 
MoES staffing and all other issues, should be addressed in the exit strategy.
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA, and 
GoK
Efficiency Recommendation Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
1. If MC and the GoK is not able to find a solution for the banning flour that has 
tested positive for GMOs by the GoK, it should prepare a strategy with the GoK of 
ASAP MC, USDA, 
and GOK
MERCY CORPS 11
how they will inform schools well in advance so that they can prepare for the 
change in the commodity basket that the schools will receive.
2. MC should employ the best practices in oversight/monitoring and 
sustained/remote engagement across the components by conducting joint 
monitoring visits for Literacy and learning as well as SFP and introducing 
WhatsApp groups to the literacy and learning engagement and learning model.
January 2020a MC
3. MC should consider a limited benefits package that can be offered to contractors 
that will provide some support for healthcare and consideration of sick days.
September 
2020
4. MC leadership should consider reinforcing the SBC and governance liaisons with 
regional/provincial level focal points to help expand the effectiveness and impact 
of the program and SBC activities.
February 2020 MC
MERCY CORPS 12
Introduction
Program Background and Overview
Mercy Corps has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1994. Since 2008, Mercy Corps has been implementing the 
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition 
Program (McGovern-Dole) in the Kyrgyz Republic; Mercy Corps was granted a second award in October 2017, 
and as such were implementing the two awards simultaneously for over two years. Like the 2012 program, the 
McGovern-Dole 2017 aims to support the National School Feeding Program developed by the Ministry of 
Education and Science (MoES) of the Kyrgyz Republic, which continues to be a principal beneficiary and 
stakeholder for the McGovern-Dole 2017, along with selected primary schools. The project aims to support the 
implementation of the Kyrgyz government's national school feeding program within 430 primary schools and 
has the following core objectives, which include:
• Increasing knowledge of nutrition, health, and hygiene practices, safe food preparation and storage 
practices, and access to clean water and sanitation services by facilitating training for cooks, parents, 
and school officials and providing competitive grants to upgrade school facilities;
• Improving student attentiveness and reduce short-term hunger as a result of increased access to food 
by rehabilitating school kitchen infrastructure to meet government sanitation standards and providing 
daily school meals;
• Improving student attendance by providing daily school meals; and
• Improving the quality of literacy instruction by ensuring better access to school supplies and materials
• Increasing the skills and knowledge of relevant school staff, as well as enhancing community and family 
support for education.
The program aims to create an enabling learning environment through the creation of a sustainable school 
feeding program and school winterization projects and WASH. The second aim is to improve learning outcomes 
through the promotion of literacy and learning. The School Feeding Program (SFP) and winterization 
components included the following activities:
• Training School Administrators: the program provides expert trainers to administer training to school 
administrators that will cover mentoring and coaching skills, effective classroom management and 
positive discipline since emotional factors can be critical in children’s learning.
• Building/Rehabilitation of Kitchens: One of the core activities of the McGovern-Dole 2017, is support 
for the rehabilitation of school kitchens, including the purchasing of new kitchen equipment to support 
the execution of the improved hot meal program in participating schools1
.
• Building/Rehabilitation of Latrines and Water Stations: McGovern-Dole 2017 provides competitive 
school infrastructure rehabilitation grants to upgrade sanitation facilities in selected targeted schools. 
 
1 Eligible targeted schools that apply for grants, submit their proposed kitchen rehabilitation plans and confirm that, if they receive a grant, the 
community or local government will contribute a minimum of 30 percent of the total cost of the rehabilitation in the form of labor, cash, and materials.
MERCY CORPS 13
These competitive grants support the building and rehabilitation of latrines and water stations in 
targeted schools2
.
• Building/Rehabilitation of Schools: McGovern-Dole 2017 supports school infrastructure rehabilitation 
grants to upgrade school facilities in selected targeted schools. These competitive grants support 
school infrastructure rehabilitation related to the winterization of facilities3
.
• Improving Potable Water Quality in Primary Schools: McGovern-Dole 2017 supports improved access 
to safe drinking water through improving the water supply in 130 target schools, benefiting 26,000 
primary grade students. Mercy Corps will categorize target schools by water consumption needs, 
available water sources, and identifies the ideal filtration/treatment solutions for each category of 
schools.
▪ The establishment of the water treatment system at each school will be complemented 
by an educational component designed to sustain the project's initiatives. 4
● Capacity Building, Local, Regional, and National Level: McGovern-Dole 2017 supports capacity 
development at the national, regional, and local levels through regional orientations, training, and 
follow-up coaching with government officials, school administrators, and parent committee members 
on accountability, management, and rational nutrition5
. The part of the project also includes training 
for parents on financial accountability and advocacy to inform and influence policy surrounding 
nutrition and school feeding.
● Provide School Meals: The main aim of McGovern-Dole 2017 is to provide daily school meals to 
primary school children in grades 1-4 in targeted schools.
o MC aims to provide daily school meals to children in 240 targeted schools during the first year 
of the project
o 420 targeted schools during the second year of the project. The first two years will be the 
focus of the MTE
o 350 targeted schools during the third and fourth years of the project, which does not fall 
within the scope of this evaluation.
● Training on Food Preparation and Storage Practices: McGovern-Dole 2017 trains school cooks in all 
the targeted schools to ensure they have the qualifications to prepare safe, nutritious meals for 
primary school children.
● Training on Good Health and Nutrition Practices: McGovern-Dole 2017also provides professional 
seminars on clinical nutrition for nurses based in program schools and community health centers6
.
Unlike the McGovern-Dole 2012 program, McGovern-Dole 2017 includes an active literacy and learning 
promotion component that seeks to increase the amount of time children in the targeted schools spend 
 
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 School cooks, teachers and support staff will be given key hygiene messages focusing on the link of water and sanitation with diseases, and to adopt 
safe hygiene and sanitation practices and how to maintain the water treatment systems.
5 Topics for training sessions will include management of school meals programs, government regulations and norms for school feeding, nutrition and 
sanitation practices, commodity storage, use of project monitoring forms and documentation, and monitoring the quality of meals provided.
6 These seminars are delivered by the WHO and UNICEF-certified national trainers and cover not only clinical knowledge, but also effective ways to 
communicate the information.
MERCY CORPS 14
reading and writing, both inside and outside of school. This component of the program supports multiple 
activities which fall under five broad categories:
1. School-based activities: Story time sessions in which older community members (parents or 
grandparents) read stories to children in schools, competitions for the best home-made early 
reader books, and organizing “reading buddies.”
2. Out-of-school reading clubs facilitated either by teachers or by older adolescents. In villages 
with no public libraries, reading clubs will be established using school libraries as a base.
3. Parents program: A 5-10-page manual based on the USAID Time to Read (TTR) Community 
Engagement module will be developed, which will then be distributed to parents through 
PTAs or Boards of Trustees at program schools.
4. Reading festivals: McGovern-Dole 2017 will organize several reading festivals at a location 
accessible to several schools in the area7
.
5. Public awareness campaign. McGovern-Dole 2017 will develop and produce 1-3 short videos 
with messages promoting reading at home. These videos will be targeted at parents and other 
caregivers and will be broadcasted through national and local TV stations. The scripts and 
scenarios for these broadcasts will be shared with the TTR and MoES, and their feedback will 
be received and incorporated into the final versions.
● Provision of Books and Supplementary Reading Materials: the program provides books and 
supplementary reading materials appropriate to reading levels, ages, and interests of early-grade 
readers in both Russian and Kyrgyz that meet these requirements and are approved by MoES.
● Training Teachers: the program also provides school-based Trainer of Trainers (ToT) in Positive 
Discipline (PD) to two representatives from each school selected from among the Deputy Principals 
for primary grades, Heads of the Methodology Units, and advanced teachers8
.
● Training Librarians: McGovern-Dole 2017 provides one, two-day training for school librarians, as well 
as relevant members of the school administration, to ensure continuous support and alignment of the 
library-based activities with the rest of the school activities9
.
While McGovern-Dole 2017 will run until 2021, this MTE will focus on 2017-2019, during this period the 
program supported 221 public schools across the country by providing over 2,000 metric tons of 
supplementary commodities (enriched flour, rice, split peas, and vegetable oil) to prepare daily hot meals for 
over 50,000 primary grade children in the 2019 school year. 
The full map of the project can be found in Annex 2.
 
7 Reading festivals will include a range of literacy-related activities, performances, puppet shows, competitions, and quizzes. Examples include 
International Children's Book Day (April 2nd) and the Day of National Literature in Kyrgyzstan (December 12th).
8 These trained staff then train other primary grades teachers in their schools during the mandatory Saturday teacher professional development 
workshops.
9 In communities with public libraries, these trainings will include public librarians as well to enhance and promote reading culture beyond the schools .
MERCY CORPS 15
Evaluation Purpose
Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan and USDA have commissioned a midterm evaluation of the McGovern-Dole Food for 
Education and Child Nutrition– Kyrgyzstan project (2017-2021). As identified in the evaluation ToR, this
midterm evaluation report covers September 29, 2017- present to assess the following:
• Progress towards indicator targets established at baseline and within program agreement
• Relevance and effectiveness of program interventions to date
• Quality and efficiency of implementation
• Incorporation of lessons learned and recommendations from previous McGovern-Dole 
evaluations
The findings from the data collection and report provide insights regarding program performance thus far and 
mid-course corrections for all key McGovern-Dole 2017 stakeholders. For this reason, the focus of the MTE was 
relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and generating actionable lessons learned/recommendations. The midterm 
evaluation report provides USDA, MC, and partners the opportunity to gauge program performance and 
implementation quality with the specific aim of identifying any program design or implementation challenges, 
which will be communicated to program staff as a vehicle for empowering the implementation team, partners, 
beneficiaries, and donors with the information necessary to inform how to appropriately address them and 
reorient the program. The evaluation is participative and data is sought from all stakeholders including 
participating schools, MoES representatives, STC, and MC, and various stakeholders to ensure that all 
perspectives are considered and the data collection yields findings that will inform program implementation 
during the final two years of the project. In line with this aim, the findings, recommendations and lessons 
learned from the assessment exercise will be shared with all employees involved in the program, program 
partners, beneficiaries and the donor - more specifically USDA Washington, Mercy Corps, GoK institutions such 
the MoES, MoH, participating school administration staff, local community, and various partners and 
stakeholders.
MERCY CORPS 16
Methodology
Evaluation Scope and Key Questions
This MTE report explores the McGovern-Dole 2017 program period from October 2017 - September 2019. The 
scope of the evaluation explores the entire project design, results, and outputs in order to gauge the 
performance of the program to date. Furthermore, to realize the pre-established objectives to implement a 
school feeding program in target schools throughout Kyrgyzstan and to improve the quality of nutrition/meal 
programming and education outcomes. More specifically, the MTE focuses on providing program stakeholders 
with critical information regarding targets, achievements, quality of implementation, and critical lessons 
learned and recommendations.
This MTE employed three of the five key evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency, which 
are appropriate given that this is the midpoint of McGovern-Dole 2017 and that the project is still being rolled 
out in a significant number of the targeted schools that have not received the entire McGovern-Dole 2017
program package of inputs and activities. The evaluation was guided by the following questions and sub￾questions as defined in the ToRs and revised by the consultant team during the inception phase.
Relevance: The extent to which the project interventions are meeting the needs of the project 
beneficiaries and is aligned with the country’s school feeding, nutrition, and/or development 
investment10
.
Is the McGovern-Dole program design appropriate and responsive to beneficiary needs and the program 
context? Key sub-questions include:
● Is the design appropriate to the context? (Training & Capacity Building, Commodities, Policy & Regulatory 
Work, Infrastructure (including WASH, Kitchens and Winterization and Literacy promotion)
● How do stakeholders perceive the program’s design and its activities? Is the project design appropriate 
and responsive to beneficiary needs in establishing and organizing the school feeding program?
● To what degree is program implementation aligned with the goals and objectives of the relevant 
government ministries (MoES, MoH)11?
● Does the project design and implementation approach integrate gender and diversity components?
● Is the program literacy component appropriate and conducive to the context, how might it be improved? 
What are the challenges to implementing the literacy activities?
● What changes or improvements to the project design or implementation approach could help improve the 
(1) impact and (2) sustainability of the project?
Effectiveness: The extent to which the project is on track to achieve its objectives. Effectiveness should also 
assess the extent to which the interventions contributed to the expected results or objectives12
.
To what extent is the McGovern-Dole program on track to achieve planned objectives, results, and outputs 
thus far? The sub-questions for effectiveness included:
● Is the program on track to meet indicator targets?
● Is the McGovern-Dole program executing all planned activities and outputs to date?
● Is the McGovern-Dole achieving the aims under each of the objective and project components?
 
10 https://www.fas.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2014-03/evalpol.pdf
11 Must get information regarding the literacy component.
12 Ibid.
MERCY CORPS 17
● What factors are facilitating the program achievement or acted as obstacles to achieving the McGovern￾Dole 2017 results and outputs?
● How do program staff and stakeholders perceive the effectiveness of the processes and resources used by 
the program?
● What key factors contribute to the variation in target schools’ degree of feeding program progress thus far 
as it relates to each of the program components and core activities (Training & Capacity Building, 
Commodities, Policy & Regulatory Work, Infrastructure (including WASH, Kitchens and Winterization and 
Literacy Promotion)?
● What changes are required to reinforce and improve program effectiveness and McGovern-Dole 2017
executions rates during the next 2 plus years that remain in the project life?
This is a midterm evaluation; therefore, the aim will be to assess the likelihood of the program achieving its 
target and identifying the challenges and obstacles to McGovern-Dole 2017 progress moving forward.
Efficiency: The extent to which the project resources (inputs) have led to the achieved results. An assessment 
of efficiency should also consider whether the same results could have been achieved with fewer resources 
or whether alternative approaches could have been adopted to achieve the same results13
.
How efficient is the McGovern-Dole 2017 project implementation and management? Sub-questions for 
efficiency will include:
● Has the program implementation had any major challenges, if so, what have they been?
● To what degree is feedback from the previous McGovern-Dole and stakeholder input incorporated into 
the program?
● Are program resources being managed efficiently?
● Is the management and oversight approach effective and appropriate to achieve the best project 
outcomes?
● Is the resource and personnel management for the McGovern-Dole project during the period under 
review?
● Have participating schools been able to mobilize the school contribution of 30% for infrastructure projects? 
What about in poor, high-altitude areas?
● Are there any critical ways that program efficiency and oversight (including M&E) could be improved at 
the beneficiary or MC level?
Evaluation Approach
This midterm evaluation design uses a mixed-methods approach with quantitative and qualitative components. 
As such, the data collection methodology includes desk review, systematic observation/diagnostics, surveys, 
Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and Group Interviews (GIs). To produce this evaluation, the report the process 
consisted of three principal phases; (1) preparation and desk review, (2) fieldwork and data collection, (3) data 
analysis, preliminary findings, and report writing and finalization. The evaluation methodology and report 
respect and fulfill USDA, MC, and DAC/OECD evaluation guidelines and policies; while balancing transparency, 
independence, and being as participatory as possible. Fieldwork for this evaluation was conducted from
October 7th
- 25th, 2019, by a two-person evaluation team and a local data collection firm.
 
13 Ibid
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Preparation and Desk Review
Preparation for the evaluation began on September 23, 2019, with the signing of contracts, a close reading of 
the ToRs, and a preliminary discussion with the contracting officer to ensure that there was a shared 
understanding of the mission and aim of the evaluation exercise.
On September 17th, the evaluation team members and MC held a teleconference to launch the evaluation 
process. This call served as an opportunity for MC to clarify expectations and limitations for the evaluation 
exercise and answer questions regarding the way forward. MC Kyrgyzstan and MC HQ provided oversight and 
input to ensure quality control and alignment with agency and donor requirements.
MC has provided a comprehensive set of available documents to help inform the ET’s understanding of the 
McGovern-Dole 2017 project design in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the evolution of project implementation from 
inception through to the launch of this MTE. Most of the relevant project documents were shared with the ET 
after the contract signing on September 23, 2017. The key documents that were shared include but are not 
limited to, the following:
● McGovern-Dole 2017 proposal narrative and annexes;
● McGovern-Dole 2017 annual workplans;
● McGovern-Dole 2017 M&E Plan;
● McGovern-Dole 2017 baseline data and report;
● Biannual donor reports;
● Performance Management Plan containing information on program indicators and data collection 
methodology and tools;
● List of beneficiary educational institutions and key stakeholders;
● Program databases with information on participating schools, conducted training, grants and 
commodities provided;
● Indicator-specific databases, namely: school enrollment, attendance, number of meals provided, 
dietary diversity, usage of provided food commodities, etc.;
● Monthly reports from the field monitoring team with qualitative information on program 
implementation quality;
● Grant agreements for kitchen rehabilitation and infrastructure projects;
● Program success stories;
● Training materials on WASH, proper nutrition, and other topics covered during the program.
Given the Kyrgyz context, the documents reflect a mix of languages (English, Kyrgyz, and Russian) that are 
employed throughout the implementation of the project, and this is reflected in the program documents. All 
resources were utilized to inform the preparation of the evaluation’s methodological approach, data collection, 
analysis, and report writing. The fieldwork commenced on October 7th, 2019.
Data Collection and Fieldwork
Upon arrival in Bishkek, the evaluation team held a briefing meeting on October 7th, with the MC M&E 
Manager, local data collection firm and relevant MC staff to introduce the launch of the MTE, clarify the 
fieldwork and logistics, and prepare for the training of the local data collection firm. Erfolg was the local data 
collection firm recruited by MC for this assignment. In order to facilitate their work and comprehension, the 
ET provided a three-day training for Erfolg, which included testing the data collection tools in the field before 
launching the data collection.
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ET Data Collection: In line with the inception report, the ET conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive 
sample of key informants; including relevant MC staff, GoK representatives from localities and structures 
including MoES, MoH and participating school administrators, as well as nutrition staff that was not previously 
interviewed during the McGovern-Dole 2012 final evaluation. The interviews were semi-structured and 
garnered a good portion of the critical insights from program stakeholders at all levels to inform this report. A
total of 2-3 individuals were interviewed at each of the 10 primary schools that made up the sub-sample where 
the ET collected data. In addition the ET also interviewed a subset of GoK, DDoE, MC Representatives and 
counterparts, yielding a total of 48 interviews.
Table 1: ET Interviews
Type of institution Type of respondent Number of interviews
10 Primary Schools School admin (director or deputy 
director)
School cook
Literacy Teachers
Parents
10
10
3
10
Local government Ayil Okmutu administration 2
DDoE School Feeding Program focal 
points
3
National government MoES 1
Partners USAID TTR
STC Education STA
2
Mercy Corps M&E Staff
Program Director
Country Director
Senior Program Managers
7
Total 48
The local data collection firm executed a survey that included several open-ended questions with school staff 
from the same primary school constituencies targeted by the ET in the KII. This approach was piloted to solicit 
viable data regarding the McGovern-Dole 2017 midline performance on a larger sample of schools and to 
determine if this method is more appropriate to use with data collection firms during future evaluations and 
assessments.
Table 2 Local Data Collection Firm Interviews
Type of institution Type of respondent Number of interviews
70 Primary Schools School admin (director or deputy 
director)
School cook
Literacy Teachers
Parents
68
68
33
n/a
Total 169
Systematic Observation/Diagnostics: Both the ET and local data collection firm conducted the observation 
checklist to verify and assess the quality and completeness of the Primary School Winterization rehabilitation 
and Primary School Kitchen Rehabilitation projects.
Type of Diagnostic Number of Responses
Kitchen/Depot 77
Winterization 0
Reading Corners 33
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Data Cleaning and Analysis
During fieldwork, the ET captured all field notes in electronic form. The team aimed to organize and quality 
check data weekly. The electronic notes were shared with MC and safely stored on a weekly basis. Each team 
member was responsible for translating and ensuring that their notes are finalized for analysis by November 
10, 2019, following the conclusion of data collection. MC quality controlled the work of the Erfolg, reviewed 
and requested clarifications, when needed, on any internal discrepancies. As they collected data using a survey 
on a tablet, MC was able to assess data quality remotely using the ONA data collection platform.
Following fieldwork, once all data collection from the KIIs/GIs, survey data, document review, and structured 
site observations/diagnostic were completed, the ET assembled in the Bishkek office to prepare and conduct 
preliminary data analysis for an out brief which was conducted on October 23rd, 2019. To analyze and organize 
the data, the ET used a quotes sheet to highlight key insights and findings across the sample that was coded 
and organized by evaluation criteria and key questions. The survey and observations data were provided in a 
data set that was produced by the ONA mobile data collection platform.
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Limitations
While the McGovern-Dole 2017 MTE, benefited from many lessons learned from the McGovern-Dole 2012 final 
evaluation, that process is not without several limitations and challenges. Here we highlight the most crucial 
challenges to providing context to the data and the report:
● Evaluation Approach: The evaluation was principally led with a participatory ethos, which means that 
the implementing partner, MC, had a hand in guiding the evaluation. As a result, the MC team 
contributed to determining the sampling based on their knowledge of field conditions and program 
locations. This process was discussed and agreed upon with the ET in advance.
● Respondent bias: Interviewees may temper their responses to questions based on their interest or 
expected outcomes linked to program continuation or future programming. The ET has sought to 
triangulate data from document review and various respondents within the schools, GoK, and the 
community to ensure a more accurate picture of program performance.
● Oversight of external enumerators: The local data collection company contracted for this evaluation 
received a three-day training from the ET, but due to time constraints worked independently with 
continuous oversight from MC. To counter this, the ET designed and tested a survey for the Erfolg 
team to execute in the field, Erfolg participated in the test, debrief and tool revision following the test.
MC was overseeing the quality of work of the data collection firm because they were contracted 
directly by MC for all data collection services for the duration of the program.
● Time: The MTE was conducted in the context of several time constraints, which created pressure for 
the translation of materials, verification of the data collection tools, and planning of the sampling. This 
was compounded by travel and transportation challenges with flights to the South of Kyrgyzstan.
● Implementation approach: The McGovern-Dole 2017 has engaged a new cohort of schools in the SFP 
every year from 2017-2019. Literacy and learning promotion activities are still being rolled out. 
Therefore, the sampled schools are not at the same stage in the implementation process and the data 
must be contextualized to reflect this.
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Results
To explore the performance of McGovern-Dole 2017, at the midpoint of its implementation, the report critically 
explores three evaluation criteria, which include relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency. The criteria of impact 
and sustainability cannot be adequately explored at this stage of the program implementation. However, 
where possible, the ET will attempt to highlight any indicative data or findings regarding impact and 
sustainability. Therefore, this report will assess program performance and progress across the relevance, 
effectiveness, and efficiency criteria, evaluation questions, and indicators/targets/ objectives. This chapter of 
the report will also highlight criteria specific conclusions, ratings, recommendations, and lessons learned. To 
guide the rating and evaluation process, the following rating system will be employed to gauge performance 
and rate the project performance:
Table 4: Performance categories
Rating System for Evaluation Criteria
Highly Satisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 fully achieves and exceeds criteria standards and 
components
Satisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 almost entirely achieves criteria standards and 
components
Moderately Satisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 does not fulfill all criteria standards but 
demonstrates moderate completion of 70% of key components
Moderately Unsatisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 does not meet at least 50% of the criteria standards 
and aims
Unsatisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 does not meet 25% of the criteria standards and 
components
Highly Unsatisfactory McGovern-Dole 2017 fails to address any of the criteria standards and 
components
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Relevance
The report will begin with the relevance criteria to explore the extent to which the McGovern-Dole 2017
project interventions are meeting the needs of the project beneficiaries and is aligned with the country’s 
school feeding, nutrition, and/or development investments. Here, the report will highlight the 
appropriateness and alignment of the project with GoK policy, interest in terms of school feeding and literacy, 
as well as examine the design, appropriateness, and opportunities for improvement as it relates to eventual 
impact and sustainability.
Relevance EQ 1: Is the design appropriate to the context? To what degree is program implementation aligned 
with the goals and objectives of the relevant government ministries (MoES, MoH)?
To answer the above question(s), the ET will reiterate and refer to several key findings and data highlighted in 
the McGovern-Dole 2012 final evaluation because the foundation for the two program’s design, launch, and 
implementation manifest from the same root problems and social issues that USDA and MC sought to support 
the GoK to address and resolve. In line with the findings from the McGovern-Dole 2012 final evaluation results, 
McGovern-Dole 2017 is also highly relevant as it relates to school feeding.
Table 5: Survey Data
Is the program necessary, currently?
Yes 137
Somewhat 1
No 1
The main factor fueling the creation and implementation of SFPs in Kyrgyzstan since 2006, is due to low￾performance rates. In 2009 and 2006, Kyrgyzstan was the lowest performer in all three subject areas, including 
reading, mathematics, and science literacy, among all the participating countries in the PISA test administered 
by the OECD and a consortium of the world’s leading international testing organizations. Over 80% of the 
Kyrgyz students did not achieve the global standard in any of the subject matter areas.14 While there are many 
potential causes for Kyrgyzstan's poor performance on the PISA test, one that is undeniable is linked to food 
security and malnutrition as, “There are several reasons behind the learning crisis. First, children come 
to school unprepared — not enough stimulation of development at an early age, malnutrition of children, lack 
of basic preparation for school has its effects.”15 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the 
United Nations (quoted above), Kyrgyzstan is a low-income food-deficit country among 51 countries in the 
world, with around 26 percent of the population living in poverty.
Over the past decade, Kyrgyzstan has made significant progress in reducing both the prevalence of 
undernourishment from 9.7 percent to 6.4 percent and child stunting from 18.1 percent to 12.9 percent. 
However, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, and obesity increased significantly over the last few years, 
coexisting simultaneously. The levels of anemia and vitamin A deficiency in the population are high, above 35 
percent and 30 percent, respectively. Given the importance of school meals for ensuring the adequate nutrition 
of children, the Government adopted Resolution No. 734, “On the main directions of development of school 
feeding in the Kyrgyz Republic.” The Resolution tasks the MoES to take measures to improve the organization 
of school nutrition. In addition, on October 22nd, 2019, the GoK passed another law to support the sustainable 
institutionalization of the Kyrgyz national SFP16
. This law will provide the legal and institutional foundation for 
funding, equipping, sustaining, and staffing of the school feeding program at all levels from the school to the 
 
14 Halsey Rogers, March 23, 2018
15 https://24.kg/english/79321_Crisis_in_education_How_Kyrgyzstan_can_overcome_it/
16 There is a law that is being introduced into the legislation that improves on the 2006 law that focused on bun and tea. The law will cover the hot 
meal program needs, staffing, commodities, funding, and they will later develop regulations regarding the menu and tender and other issues. There will 
not be a standard menu because of regional differences, but they will have several standardized menus that the regions can choose between (Oct. 22, 
2019 MoES representative).
MERCY CORPS 24
national government. It reflects the work of WFP and MC in support of the GoK’s launch of the school feeding 
program nationally, their support for the policy, and institutionalization of the SFP. It also further illustrates 
the appropriateness and need for the program.
There is continuity between the findings from the McGovern-Dole 2012 evaluation and the McGovern-Dole 2017 
Midterm findings in terms of the relevance of the program. Participating schools and representatives felt that 
the school feeding program components are essential and highly relevant to their needs. One respondent 
stated:
“Before we did not have hot meals, we just had tea and buns or cookies, whatever the supplier offered. 
Maybe instead of tea, they could have compote (fruit-based infusion). We feel we needed the program 
to provide hot meals for primary school kids, and we would like it (the program) for all the kids; it 
influences the studies of the children. We feel it is useful, firstly, for the health of children; many do not 
eat in the morning before going to school. Also, some of the kids come to school to eat, and as a result, 
their performance is improved. There is also an improved impact on the (kids) performance in school. 
The education performance depends on the food.” (Oct. 21, 2019-SA)
The data suggests that the validity, relevance, and importance of the SFP across the actors from the national 
to school level is demonstrable and transparent. 171 of 172 survey respondents felt that the program was 
relevant and appropriate to their school's needs, including the schools that stated that they had an SFP before
the rollout of McGovern-Dole 2017. In addition, to further reinforce why the program is relevant, most 
respondents highlighted the fact that there was no school feeding program before the introduction of the SFP; 
in fact, only 28 of 13917 respondents claimed to have had SFPs before the McGovern-Dole 2017 program rollout. 
The SFP components of McGovern-Dole 2017 are relevant, have value, and are universally appreciated by 
government officials and school beneficiaries.
Relevance EQ 2: How do stakeholders perceive the program’s design and its activities? Is the project design 
appropriate and responsive to beneficiary needs in establishing and organizing the school feeding program?
When asked about the relevance of the program design and core components, respondents were very clear 
regarding the need for all the components that are included in the rollout of the school feeding program 
components of McGovern-Dole 2017, including the infrastructure, commodities, WASH, capacity building and 
winterization, which are all viewed as critical elements required for creating an enabling and empowering 
learning environment at schools for improved learning and academic performance outcomes. In fact, 171 of 
the 172 individuals surveyed felt that the program design was relevant and appropriate. Confirming and 
reinforcing that the SFP activities were deemed critical to the program, one respondent stated the following:
“It is very important that the program includes not just the feeding itself (equipment and 
commodities), but such important components like infrastructure and training & capacity building.” 
SA, October 14, 2019)
This respondent’s perspective highlights the ideas espoused by most of the interview respondents, which is 
that the program, and all its components, are critical and essential to the SFP success. In addition, while all the 
respondents highlight the value and importance of all the SFP components, they tended to emphasize the 
commodities and infrastructure components as the most valuable and useful. In fact, most schools repeatedly 
advocated for the continuation of the commodities distribution beyond the project life as a critical contribution 
to maintaining the school feeding quality and dietary diversity. In addition, many of the schools expressed 
interest in infrastructure activities, especially winterization. The SFP remains critical and relevant to the Kyrgyz 
context as it relates to policy, national priorities in Kyrgyzstan, and as through interviews and surveys with 
beneficiaries and program participants.
Relevance EQ 3: Is the program literacy component appropriate and conducive to the context, how might it 
be improved? What are the challenges to implementing the literacy activities?
 
17 Literacy teachers were not asked about the SFP, hence the lowered number of respondents from the total number of surveys.
MERCY CORPS 25
McGovern-Dole 2017, unlike McGovern-Dole 2012, includes a component to Establish Activities to Promote 
Literacy. The component seeks to increase the amount of time that children in the targeted schools spend 
reading and writing inside and outside of school. The program supports Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) to 
organize and implement family and community literacy activities independently. The activities include training 
of teachers in participating schools in positive discipline, in-school Story time sessions, in-class reading corners, 
training of parents in the importance of literacy using the USAID TTR methodology, the provision of 
supplementary reading materials, and a community level awareness-raising campaign.
Table 6: Survey Data
Is the Literacy Component useful
Yes 97
No 1
Unsure 6
It is worth noting that the content and design of the literacy promotion component of the McGovern-Dole 2017
was substantially altered to avoid some duplication between the activities in the USAID funded Time to Read 
program, which is a follow on from the USAID funded Quality Reading Program (QRP). When the McGovern￾Dole 2017 was designed, and the proposal submitted, it was shared with a USDA and USAID for review. 
However, USAID raised no concerns regarding the McGovern-Dole 2017 design and only requested that MC and 
USDA coordinate the implementation with the TTR program to avoid duplication18. An MC staff clarified:
At the proposal stage, USDA and USAID did not catch this overlap. In the process of verification of the 
award, USAID read the proposal and just asked to coordinate with the TTR project. (As a consequence), 
STC could not work in the schools where MC had already worked because TTR was working in the 
schools where they had previously implemented (McGovern-Dole 2012 and 2017). TTR took the schools 
that they worked in the previous years. (10/23/19- MC Staff)
This quote highlights the factors that led to the duplication between the two programs and MC’s eventual 
redesign of the literacy component from a literacy component to a literacy and learning promotion
component.19
 Secondly, the quote highlights a factor that will be explored in more detail in the effectiveness
section, which is that the project ToC and implementation approach had to be adjusted as part of the efforts 
to coordinate the McGovern-Dole 2017 literacy and learning promotion component with TTR; as a result of the 
scheduling and rollout of the SFP portion, to be followed by the learning and literacy promotion components, 
was abandoned due to the challenge of coordinating with TTR. This shifting in approach undermined the 
program's ToC and affected program implementation and success as it relates to this component of McGovern￾Dole 2017. This will be further explored in the effectiveness section.
The literacy and learning promotion components of the McGovern-Dole 2017 relevance is not as clearly 
acknowledged and lauded as the SFP. It is important to note that a MoES staff clearly stated they would have 
preferred that the literacy component resources be shifted to the SFP program components.20 At the school 
level, there was less knowledge and awareness of the literacy components, and most schools had not yet 
received the intervention. 33 of 33 Literacy teachers surveyed stated that the literacy and learning promotion 
components of McGovern-Dole 2017 were relevant. Some interview respondents were very positive about the 
benefits of the literary component stating:
 
18 The original approach assumed working directly with primary grade teachers to improve their skills with regard to teaching the five core reading sub￾skills and introduce them to new and effective practical methods and techniques for teaching these skills, adjusted to the local Kyrgyz context. The approach 
also placed a strong emphasis on the reading comprehension and the use of formative assessments to sensitively identify and support struggling learners. 
However, the new TTR project was planning to use the same approach in most of the same target schools during the first two years of the McGovern-Dole 
2017 program. 
19 In various interviews, MC staff could not confirm whether GoK officials were involved in the re-design of the literacy component. Also, the MoES 
representative interviewed stated that they were not consulted in the re-design
20 Interview with MoES representative on October 22, 2019.
MERCY CORPS 26
“We learned (in the positive discipline training) that the act of shouting and punishing/humiliating the 
children is not the most effective way to teach them. We were provided with materials and handouts 
on a USB. I appreciated the training and wanted to come back and share what I have learned.
Maybe we knew these methods before, but time changes. When I was a child, the teacher could yell at 
us, now we want to improve our approach. Time and attitudes change. Of course, it is not pleasant 
when a child is being yelled at. The school should have a different approach (to teaching and discipline) 
(10/21/19, SA).”
Moreover, the fact that TTR is working in many of the same schools providing actual training in literacy for 
teachers creates substantial challenges relative to the logic of the design and the ToC that guided the project.
● MC should have worked with GoK and USAID to determine whether the literacy component should be 
abandoned or shifted to math or arts. Some discussion with the beneficiaries would have led to a less 
convoluted literacy and learning promotion component that is hard to distinguish from the TTR 
program. MC should also be clear with nomenclature and avoid calling the promotion activities a 
literacy component. TTR was clearly a literacy focused project working in many of the same schools.
● MC should have taken more time to assess proposed literacy and learning promotion activities and 
determine the appropriate way forward to maximize the outcomes associated with this element of 
McGovern-Dole 2017. Acceleration of activities may not be enough to yield meaningful results.
Relevance EQ 4: Do the project design and implementation integrate gender and diversity components?
One of the main findings that emerged from the McGovern-Dole 2012 evaluation was linked to Gender 
Assessment, which is to be conducted and used to help inform redesign of activities under McGovern-Dole 
2017. The report stated:
Ensure that Gender and a Needs Assessment is conducted as part of McGovern-Dole 2017 launch
planning for Year 3 and adjust the project design accordingly (McGovern-Dole 2012 Final Evaluation 
Report).
Mercy Corps took this recommendation on board, and while the ET was conducting the McGovern-Dole 2017 
midterm evaluation, a gender assessment was being conducted to align with and fulfill this recommendation, 
which was accepted and acknowledged by both USDA in their review of the report and the Mercy Corps 
management response to the USDA comments and evaluation report.21 Given that the program had already 
started, the gender assessment was tailored to specifically address data needs of the Social Behavior Change 
(SBC) component that aimed to engage more men in its activities, but had experienced some difficulties with 
that earlier.
In addition, MC program staff were trained in gender and diversity as part of the recommendations proposed 
and accepted as part of the McGovern-Dole 2012 Final Evaluation. These findings show that within less than a 
years’ time, MC has taken significant actions to address the integration of gender into the McGovern-Dole 2017
based lessons learned and recommendations emerging from the Final Evaluation that was conducted in 
April/May of 2019.
The next phase is to determine how the findings from the gender assessment, what the participants learned 
from the gender and diversity training, and how this can be integrated into the McGovern-Dole 2017 during 
the last two years of the program implementation.
 
21 The first training was done in February 2019 for the program staff following the recommendations from the McGovern-Dole 2012 Final Evaluation 
and focused on the overall gender dimension in programming. In June 2019, second training was conducted to address recommendations and 
remaining questions from the first one. Based on the results of the post-test, it focused on the HR aspects of gender sensitivity and dynamics in the 
program team.
MERCY CORPS 27
● The training is a critical step in ensuring that staff consider gender and diversity in their daily work 
and planning. It will be important for the each of the staff to reflect and document how they will 
integrate what they learned from the training into their work.
● It will also be important for the McGovern-Dole 2017 program, and support staff, to hold a workshop
to determine how they will integrate findings from the gender assessment into the program during 
the final years of the project.
Relevance EQ 5: What changes or improvements to the project design or implementation approach could 
help improve the (1) impact and (2) sustainability of the project?
The reflections from program beneficiaries at the school level, regarding how the project design could be 
improved, were quite limited. Many focused on the continuation of the program, especially the commodities, 
more training opportunities, or the desire for infrastructure projects such as winterization, SFP related or WASH 
projects. Other ideas included contributions such as the following from various school level respondents:
● We would like a fruit garden, but MC said it is not profitable to plant an orchard because there are only 
two schools in the district. We need help with how to create an estimation of costs for the school 
winterization proposal. We had a bad experience with the construction of the kitchen because we made 
a bad budget estimate, so we ended up needing more money than expected. We would like support to 
avoid this problem. This is important because our contribution is 30% and if it is not done right, it raises 
the burden on the school. (Oct. 14, 2019, SN and SA joint interview)
● Please ensure that nutrition staff is commensurate with the school size. (Oct. 16, 2019)
● If the program is launched in other schools, we would like to support and advise other schools on how 
to implement the program at their schools, and we can coach and advise because of our experience 
with MC. (Oct. 18, 2019, SN).
● We request more information from MC, regarding the innovations and general information so that 
they can continue to build our skills and knowledge. (Oct. 21, 2019, SN)
● ….we would like to have more training. The last training was on the school management committee, 
and we would like more trainings like this. We find the trainings to be beneficial. After the trainings, 
we share what we learned with the school; we would like a ToT on how to properly disseminate the 
teachings and share with our colleagues and parents. We would like more promotional materials to 
give gifts to parents and children to inspire engagement and learning. We want branded items to give 
to the children. For example, UNICEF gives away more materials for branding and visibility. MC needs 
to improve visibility, so the community knows what they are doing. (Oct. 17, 2019, SA)
● Hot meals can be introduced in 5-6 classes as well. I already did the calculation, financed by parental 
contribution. The fact is that the parental contribution of 50 soms helps us a lot. (Survey respondent 
input)
The comments above came principally from the ET interviews with respondents and beneficiaries. Outside of 
the contributions cited above, the core recommendations from respondents focused on continued training, 
extension of the McGovern-Dole 2017 in the form continued distribution of commodities, and some references 
to the need for staffing to be commensurate with work levels. As it relates to the literacy components, the 
main recommendation was almost equally distributed between a need for more training, training on more 
topics, or no recommendations whatsoever.
● MC should consider the recommendations from the program participants and assess what they can 
include in the next two years of program implementation. The rest that is deemed relevant, but 
unfeasible, should be included in a report that MC will share with GoK regarding the status of their 
work, close preparations, and key recommendations for the GoK as they continue the program 
leadership without donor support.
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Relevance Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations, and 
Lessons Learned
Relevance Conclusion Rating Observations
The McGovern-Dole 2017 SFP 
component remains highly relevant 
and appreciated by respondents. 
However, the literacy component is 
viewed as necessary, but not with 
the same level of appreciation as 
the SFP program. Challenges with 
duplication with TTR, at the outset, 
led to redesign that shifted from 
literacy to literacy and learning 
promotion. Also, coordination with 
the TTR project disrupted the 
synchronization of the McGovern￾Dole 2017 implementation as it 
relates to the rollout of the two 
components of the program.
Satisfactory ● Like the McGovern-Dole 2012 program design, the SFP 
component of McGovern-Dole 2017 remains highly 
relevant and in line with the GoK policies and strategic 
aims.
● The literacy and learning promotion component had to be 
re-designed in order to address potential duplication with 
the USAID Time to Read project which worked in all the 
same schools as McGovern-Dole 2017. The redesign shifted 
away from literacy to the promotion of literacy and 
learning. The project does not teach literacy techniques to 
teachers but focuses on positive discipline techniques and 
literacy BCC activities.
● Combined with the fact that McGovern-Dole 2017 does not 
teach improved literacy techniques to teachers and the fact 
that TTR is working in the same schools on literacy, it will 
be hard for the design to have any attribution for the 
learning outcomes unless there is a comparative approach 
used at the evaluation stage to compare McGovern-Dole 
2017 schools with TTR schools that do not participate in 
McGovern-Dole 2017 or McGovern-Dole 2012. (EGRA 
would not be fitting in this context).
Relevance Recommendations Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty 
Bearer
1. MC should also be clear with nomenclature and avoid calling the promotion 
activities a literacy component when TTR is clearly a literacy-focused project 
working in the same schools.
January 2020 MC and 
literacy 
team
2. MC should organize another meeting with the GOK, school reps, to take stock of 
the literacy and learning promotion activities and determine the appropriate 
way forward to maximize the outcomes associated with this element of 
McGovern-Dole 2017. Acceleration of activities may not be enough to yield 
meaningful results.
ASAP GoK, 
School 
Reps, MC
3. Gender training is a critical step in ensuring that staff considers gender and 
diversity in their daily work and planning. It will be important for each of the 
staff to reflect and document how they individually will integrate what they have 
learned from the training into their work at the individual or component level.
ASAP MC
MERCY CORPS 29
4. It will also be necessary for the McGovern-Dole 2017 program and support staff 
to hold a workshop to determine how they will integrate findings from the 
gender assessment into the program during the final years of the project.
Once gender 
assessment is 
complete
MC
5. MC should consider the recommendations from the program participants and 
assess what they can include in the next two years of program implementation, 
and the rest that is deemed relevant but unfeasible should be included in a 
report that MC will share with GoK regarding the status of their work, close 
preparations and key recommendations for the GoK as the continue the SFP 
leadership without donor support.
September 2020 MC
6. USAID and USDA should ensure that duplication is avoided and addressed 
between USG-funded projects at the proposal stage through a systematic 
verification and validation mechanism.
ASAP USAID and 
USDA
Relevance Lessons Learned
1. When the problem with duplication between McGovern-Dole 2017 and TTR was identified, MC/STC should 
have worked with the GoK and other beneficiaries to develop and validate a revised approach and activities 
to ensure GoK and beneficiary buy-in. It is critical to work program stakeholders like GoK and USAID early
on to determine the program redesign to encourage the best outcomes. For example, MC, USDA should
have sought GoK regarding whether the literacy component should have been shifted to math, arts, etc. 
Meaningful discussion with the beneficiaries would have led to a less convoluted result than a literacy and 
learning promotion component that is hard to distinguish from the TTR program results, and that creates 
confusion at the beneficiary level.
2. It is great that MC has conducted gender training, and in the process of conducting the assessment, it will 
be pivotal that the training and assessments are used to inform program structure and implementation.
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Effectiveness
To explore the effectiveness of the implementation of the McGovern-Dole 2017 at the midpoint of the 
McGovern-Dole 2017 program cycle, with just over two years left on the 5-year program, the ET examined 
achievements against the pre-established targets, indicators, and objectives, jointly determined by MC and 
USDA. In addition to exploring the performance thus far, this section of the report will seek to identify the 
facilitators and the obstacles to program success for each of the program components. By highlighting the 
enablers and hindrances for program staff and donors, this will empower them with the information and 
opportunity to build on the facilitators and address the barriers to ensure continued and increased success. 
For further details regarding the output-level of McGovern-Dole 2017, a table with outputs and indicator 
results can be found in Annex 1.
Effectiveness EQ 1 & 2: Is the program on track to meet indicator targets? Is the McGovern-Dole program 
executing all planned activities and outputs to date? Effectiveness EQ 3: Is the McGovern-Dole achieving the 
aims under each of the objective and project components?
The McGovern-Dole 2017 program is a complex multi-sectoral program that has several components and key 
intervention areas as summarized in the program overview section of this report, however, for the purposes 
of analyzing the program we will structure the analysis into two principal clusters the first is SFP/enabling 
learning environment and the second is the Literacy and learning promotion. Within each of the clusters, there 
are various activities and outputs, which include capacity building, materials, infrastructure, and so forth, which 
the ET will examine relative to each cluster of activities and outputs.
Table 7: Monitoring Data
School Feeding Program (SFP)
Key Outputs McGovern-Dole 
2017 LoP Target
McGovern-Dole 2017 Status 
Sept 2019 (% of completion)
Number of Schools Served 434 (84+350) 84+138+219 = 511 (117%)
Number of Students Reached (SFP) 88,730 95,358 (107.5%)
Number of School Cooks certified 329 397 (F) 11(M) (124%)
# of SA trained in safe drinking water technologies 260 146 (56.2 %)
Number of daily meals provided 37,300,000 9,260,121 (24.8%)
Commodities provided to schools 2290 1492.821 (65%)
Number of individuals trained in child health and nutrition 
as a result of USDA assistance
121 290 (239.7%)
Number of Kitchen Rehabilitation 329 251 (76.3%)
Number of schools using an improved water source 413 411 (99.5 %)
# of Water Treat and Filtration Systems installed 130 135 (103.8%)
Number of individuals trained safe drinking water 
technology
130 459 (353.1%)
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SFP and Enabling Environment
To create an enabling learning environment for primary school-age children, McGovern-Dole 2017 seeks to 
provide daily school meals to primary school children in grades one through four in targeted schools. 
McGovern-Dole 2017's approach aims to create a sustainable school feeding program at participating schools 
as a vehicle for improving learning outcomes for primary school children. To do this, the program begins with 
rehabilitating school kitchens, which includes infrastructure, both building rehabilitation, and water source 
improvement. To this end, McGovern-Dole 2017 monitoring data summarized above highlights that to date, 
over 261 school kitchens have been rehabilitated, which also includes purchasing of new kitchen equipment to 
support the execution of the improved hot meal program in participating schools and improved water sources. 
McGovern-Dole 2017 supported improved access to safe drinking water through improved water supply in 411 
schools.
At this point in the project life, McGovern-Dole 2017 has reached the project has already achieved 76% percent 
of its target schools; according to the McGovern-Dole 2017 monitoring data, these schools have received all 
the requisite school infrastructure and equipment inputs as it relates to the improved water sources, 99% of 
the targets have been reached22. In both cases with the time left in the project McGovern-Dole 2017 is on track 
to achieve and surpass its targets. The evaluation data confirms that as far the kitchen rehabilitation, 123 of 
138 surveyed respondents stated that the kitchen repairs and equipment had been completed on time, with 
the rest saying that they were planned or unsure. Also, only 12 respondents claimed that the work was done 
late due to government funding, school funding or other reasons. The data suggest that there is clear alignment 
between the monitoring data provided by MC and the findings emerging from the evaluation data. McGovern￾Dole 2017 is on track and performing well as it relates to the rehabilitation and equipping of participating 
school kitchens.
Water filtration was not generalizable to all the schools; only schools with poor quality water from tap or source 
received this intervention (135 in total), so the performance on this variable must be interpreted. 59 of 129 
survey respondents stated their school had received a water filtration system, while 28 said it was planned all 
the rest stated this was not an intervention the received or anticipated their school receiving. All those that 
had received this intervention noted that it was conducted on schedule. The establishment of the water 
treatment system at each school was also complemented by an educational component designed to sustain 
the system’s proper usage and maintenance.
In terms of training of the school staff for SFP, including safe food preparation, management of commodities, 
and water systems, the McGovern-Dole Monitoring data highlights that all targets have been met relative to 
these variables. McGovern-Dole trains school cooks in all the targeted schools to ensure they have the 
qualifications to prepare safe, nutritious meals for primary school children. Moreover, the data for the school 
cooks trained followed the same trend, with 131 of 138 survey respondents stating that their school cook had 
been trained. In addition, interview respondents regularly lauded the quality of the training offered as 
illustrated by the interview excerpts below:
 
22 Improving water sources is typically part of the overall repairs done in selected schools over the summer, which must be completed prior to 
equipment installation. Therefore, at the time of the evaluation, more schools had completed repair works, including water sources, than received 
equipment, which was being delivered and installed in batches (usually grouped by district). 
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● I received the vocational cooking course and received the certificate, and I learned the appropriate 
cooking combinations and the best food temperatures. I also learned how to make bread and buns in 
the training. And how to ensure a nutritious and diversified diet with the right calorie count. (10/16/19, 
SN)
● This is the second year that we have a hot meal program, and we have water treatment and training. 
I supervised the rollout. We received equipment, water filtration, and training. They received washing 
sinks, and rehab of the kitchen and all the conditions required for the SFP, doe maker, pots dishes. We 
have 458 primary students, and they have two 50% shifts of students that eat. I am thankful that Mercy 
Corps supports our school and provides commodities. All the parents are thankful and happy with the 
program; the children are happy. We received flour, oil, peas, and rice twice a year. We get the 
commodities on time, and our contribution is the transport of the commodities to the school, and there 
are no challenges associated with this. They like the flour though they need all the commodities. We 
are thankful because of this flour and products from the US. (10/18.19, SA)
The quotes above highlight two key perspectives as it relates to the SFP interventions, the nutrition staff 
in the first quote highlight the benefit of the training for the school cooks emphasizing the knowledge that 
the individual gained that directly benefits and empowered them to do their work as a school nutrition 
staff, even going as far as to highlight technical knowledge related to food temperatures, calorie count 
and nutrition and diet diversity. The second quote, by a school administrator, reflects a wider appreciation 
for the program and how it works speaking to the equipment received, commodities, and training. Both 
quotes reflect the extensive experience that MC has with implementing the SFP and the successful results 
thus far.
Social Behavior Change
To support the effectiveness and reinforce the sustainability of the SFP program activities, McGovern-Dole 
2017 includes an aggressive Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) component. Below we highlight the main 
outputs as of the McGovern-Dole 2017 SBC activities:
Table 8: Monitoring Data
Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBC)
Key Outputs McGovern-Dole 2017 LoP 
Target
McGovern-Dole 2017 Status Sept 
2019 (% of completion)
SBC Training Themes covered Social mobilization, 
breastfeeding, 
complementary feeding, 
dietary diversity and anemia 
prevention, handwashing, and
junk food
Social mobilization, breastfeeding, 
complementary feeding, dietary 
diversity, and anemia prevention, 
handwashing, and junk food
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Number of Urban SBC events n/a23 12 marathons to support healthy 
diets and active lifestyle in small 
towns
Number of community-based change 
agents trained including GoK
representatives
2,105 87224 (41.4 %)
Sex dissag (3.8% M) (96.2% F)
Number of informational ads 
distributed through local media (TV, 
social media, etc.)
36 55 (152.8%)
Number of parents trained in child 
health and nutrition
2,105 872 (41.4%)
Number of SA trained child health and 
nutrition
260 146 (56%)
The McGovern-Dole 2017 SBC strategy is to work with parents and other community members. MC employs 
two separate approaches for the urban and rural populations. The outreach is different depending on the 
target community. They also work with mass media to distribute information regarding nutrition, sanitation, 
and hygiene. The two approaches and their implementation are presented below.
• Rural approach: McGovern-Dole 2017 materials are produced in two languages, Russian and Kyrgyz. 
They organize and conduct training on each of the core themes. In the 2018-2019 cycle, topics included 
breastfeeding, supplemental feeding 6-24 months, diet diversity, handwashing, reducing anemia 
among childbearing age women and children, social mobilization. In the recently started 2019-2020 
cycle, the topics are largely the same, but there will be additions and alterations based on the gender 
assessment results mentioned above. First, caretakers of the students in the school are trained to 
become volunteer Change Agents, and then they train other community members through informal 
information sharing. These Change Agents use informational materials, including brochures and 
leaflets, they then organize informal meetings, or they do door-to-door household visits, and they use 
the didactic materials provided by MC. McGovern-Dole 2017 seeks to engage 10 Change Agents per 
village who then reach out to 10-15 community members.
During the first cycle in 2018-2019, there were a total of 872 community Change Agents of the planned 
2105. It should be noted that only those who attended the full cycle of training were counted under 
this indicator. In fact, there were over 6,000 Change Agents registered in total.
To date, 151 communities/villages were covered by this component. The program did not include 
communities that were participating in similar projects by another organization (i.e. World Bank 
APNIP).
 
23 There was no established target for this activity in the Agreement since the activity was designed and proposed at a later stage. 
24 Trained in all 6 SBC themes.
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• Urban Approach: Last spring, McGovern-Dole 2017 selected 12 small cities to conduct urban 
information campaigns that include marathons, roundtables, and trivia competitions. The roundtables 
included local authorities, business, and civil society reps and presented an opportunity to determine 
the approach and activities that they will use to influence city-level strategies and budgets in line with 
the information and data presented during the roundtable. Health promotion materials were also 
disseminated and shared during the events. MC also invited health workers to provide basic health 
screenings for free as part of the SBC day activity.
• Mass media: McGovern-Dole 2017 conducted a mass media campaign where they worked with radio 
and TV companies on the regional level so that broadcast videos and emissions related to the SBC 
topics reinforce the events. Last year MC used the STC Spring Project to broadcast through the
participating TV companies. This year McGovern-Dole 2017 will create their own videos for the
dissemination of their own materials and videos. The Regional TV approach is more appropriate and 
accessible in the cities. They will target more than 20 cities this year (2019-2020).
The SBC strategy for the SFP is quite comprehensive; however, it should be noted that SBC did not include the 
literacy component. STC managed the SBC for the literacy component, and there was no overlap in the 
geographical approach. The analysis here should be contextualized by the fact that the approach for schools in 
semi-urban/urban environments does not use a grassroots SBC approach like the one used in rural 
communities. Analysis of performance for SBC, from the interviews, is quite positive, as presented below:
● The training was useful to the teachers and the parents. For the teachers, parents, and grandparents 
the training was helpful because they now use this knowledge at home. (10/16/19, SN)
● They now teach their children to wash their hands regularly, and they also teach women with young 
children to breastfeed their children properly and to make nutritious meals for the children. They 
learned that there should be exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months. I also want to thank the trainer 
(MC staff). (10/16/19, SN)
● SBC has no literacy component – they are treating this separately, and this may be a result of the fact 
that they were separately managed, now it might be good to merge the two. (10/7/19, MC staff)
The monitoring and evaluation data suggest that the McGovern-Dole 2017 SBC is performing well. This 
component will be further assessed through a representative household study designed to measure various 
nutrition variables and explanatory factors in the target communities. During the impact study MC will be 
examining whether the program has been able to impart knowledge and change behaviors at the household 
and community level linked to the six thematic areas that SBC training cover. The first part of the study is 
planned for December 2019, with a potential follow up a year later.
Infrastructure/Winterization
Another core component of creating an enabling learning environment for primary school students is linked to 
the Winterization and WASH components of the project. McGovern-Dole 2017 plans to provide school 
infrastructure rehabilitation grants to upgrade sanitation facilities in selected targeted schools. These 
competitive grants support the building and rehabilitation of latrines and water stations in targeted schools. 
McGovern-Dole 2017 also supports school infrastructure rehabilitation grants to upgrade school facilities in 
selected targeted schools. These grants support school infrastructure rehabilitation related to the winterization 
of facilities. However, as the table below highlights, no infrastructure projects had been conducted at the time 
MERCY CORPS 35
of the evaluation in participating schools25
. This suggests that MC will have to be very aggressive in the final 
two years of the project to ensure that all Infrastructure projects are completed in a timely and effective
manner.
Table 9: Monitoring Data
Winterization and WASH
Key Outputs McGovern-Dole 
2017 LoP Target
McGovern-Dole 2017
Status Sept 2019 (% of 
completion)
Number of 
Infrastructure/Winterization grants
50 0
Number of Latrines built or rehabbed 50 0
Literacy and Learning Promotion
Table 10: Monitoring Data
Literacy and Learning Promotion
Key Outputs McGovern-Dole 
2017 LoP Target
McGovern-Dole 2017
Status Sept 2019 (% of 
completion)
# of Supplementary Reading 
Materials Received
34,699 17997 (51.9%)
# of Librarians Trained 310 207 (46.5%)
# of Teachers Trained in Positive 
Discipline
1290 2045 (158.5%)
# of Reading Corners 2580 1175 (45.5%)
# of Reading Clubs/home-made book 
competitions
430 118 (27.4%)
# of Reading Festivals 42 14 (33%)
# of Parents trained in literacy 
promotion
6,450 3000 (46.5%)
McGovern-Dole 2017, unlike the McGovern-Dole 2012, includes an active literacy and learning promotion 
component that seeks to increase the amount of time children in the targeted schools spend reading and 
writing inside and outside of school. The principal components of literacy and learning are:
 
25 Yet, 12 school administrators surveyed claimed to have received winterization projects, which is due to the fact that some of the McGovern-Dole 
2017 schools had received grants through McGovern-Dole 2012 several years earlier while not being fully enrolled in the program (it was part of the 
program design). 
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• Training: McGovern-Dole 2017 provides school-based ToT in Positive Discipline (PD) to two 
representatives from each school selected from among the Deputy Principals for primary grades, 
Heads of the Methodology Units, and advanced teachers. These trained staff then train other primary 
grades teachers in their schools during the mandatory Saturday professional development workshops.
• Literacy Promotion: The program supports Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) to organize and 
implement family and community literacy activities independently after the project ends, which
includes Story time, reading clubs, parents training, reading festivals, and public awareness campaigns 
and supplementary reading materials appropriate to reading levels.
As discussed in the relevance section, this component of the project changed to avoid duplication with the 
TTR program and shifted to positive discipline training for educators and literacy promotion community-level 
activities to promote literacy outside of the classroom. Positive discipline is focused on praising children and 
redirecting behavior so that they get better performance; they concentrate on weaker children. The Kyrgyz 
education system focuses too much on the high performing students, and therefore it is not an inclusive 
system, and it is very formal26
. McGovern-Dole 2017 worked in 118 schools from 2018, and 325 were added 
for 201927. While the monitoring data here looks quite strong, the evaluation data suggest that the literacy 
and learning component has mixed results. For example, while 31 of 3328 respondents claimed their school at 
received positive discipline training, only 19 stated that parents had been trained, and only 25 claimed 
librarians had been trained. Lastly, only 17 of the 33 claimed to have reading corners.
This mixed performance was also reflected in the ET interviews at several schools that had received the 
program but did not remember having had the training. In other cases, respondents confused some activities 
with TTR. Also, during some interviews, respondents mentioned that they had recently discussed with 
McGovern-Dole literacy staff the day before, or they were working with McGovern-Dole 2017 literacy team 
staff on the day of our visit to their schools. Some stated that they had received the training but were still 
waiting on supplemental reading materials, or they had not received any monitoring visits. The evaluation data 
suggest some analysis is required of whether schools have received a comprehensive literacy and learning 
promotion package. In addition, as MC is merging the monitoring data from the literacy and learning promotion 
component, some work should be done to validate the quality and accuracy of that data. Respondent stated:
“I participated in the positive discipline training; they (the STC staff) trained the teachers. The PD 
training was very beneficial to the teachers, 4 teachers were trained, and it was 70-80% successful, the 
teachers then trained other teachers in this methodology. The PD is useful because the teachers are 
using this with the students, and I feel that this is a better approach to working with the children in the 
classroom.” (10/18/19, Joint SN & SA interview)
“We received a positive discipline training, a 3-day training, and I also did a cascade training with my 
colleagues. The (MC) training was organized at the district level, 3 teachers at this school were trained 
during MC training, and then they provided a cascade training to the other teachers (at our school).
 
26 In literacy class, kids are expected to speak in very formal language, but this is not what they speak at home. They are using formal language that 
the kids are not comfortable with or use regularly. (see interview with MC staff on October 7, 2019).
27 It should be noted that in the first cohort (118 schools), 2 schools eventually dropped out of the McGovern-Dole 2017 due to financial constraints, 
but the literacy promotion component had already been completed. Therefore, the total number of schools here is slightly higher than the total number 
of McGovern-Dole 2017 schools (84+137+219). 
28 While 46 of the 73 school administrators surveyed stated that their school had received literacy and learning promotion activities, we are only 
analyzing the data for the literacy focal points because it allows for exploration across several dimensions to comprehensively assess McGovern-Dole 
2017 performance for this component. 
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The training by MC for positive discipline was last year in October 2018. The training covers how to 
work with parents, positive discipline, the attitude of the adult person toward the child, no shouting,
and how to encourage the children, how to read to children. They (MC) also trained the librarians; they 
taught them to network with the rural libraries and how to encourage parents to read to the children 
and literacy promotion….We learned that the act of shouting and punishing/humiliating the children 
was not the most effective way to teach them. We were provided with materials and handouts on a 
USB. I valued the training and wanted to come back and share what I have learned.” (10/21/19; SA)
The evaluation data regarding the learning and literacy component suggest there are some very positive 
results, but they are inconsistent and require further verification and follow-up from MC. In addition, the senior 
leadership needs to apply some of the lessons learned from the SFP to the literacy and learning component 
regarding follow-up coaching and monitoring. Improved coordination and integrated management of the two 
components will also be important moving forward.
It should also be noted that there were initially no plans to collect midterm data for this indicator, only at the 
end of the program during the final evaluation. However, after MC took on former Save the Children staff, it 
was decided to conduct midterm data collection for this indicator using the same team of enumerators and 
experts to ensure consistency. Data collection is planned for the end of February-March 2020 (to be 
comparable with the baseline that was also conducted in February).
McGovern-Dole 2017 Success Factors
Effectiveness EQ 3&4: What factors are facilitating the program achievement or acted as obstacles to 
achieving the McGovern-Dole 2017 results and outputs? & What key factors contribute to the variation in 
target schools’ degree of feeding program progress thus far as it relates to each of the program components 
and core activities (Training & Capacity Building, Commodities, Policy & Regulatory Work, Infrastructure 
(including WASH, Kitchens and Winterization and Literacy Promotion)?
There are several factors that are contributing to the success of McGovern-Dole 2017; the ET will discern the 
most significant contributors to program success; as well as the challenges to the program success so that 
McGovern-Dole 2017 program implementation team and stakeholders can use this information close out the 
next two years of program implementation successfully.
Table 11: Survey Data
McGovern-Dole 2017 Success Factors (number of responses29)
Intervention School Administration
(78 respondents)
School Cooks
(78 cooks)
Primary Grade 
Teachers (36)
Total
Govt support 29 8 2 39
Admin support n/a 23 23 46
Parents support 0 18 14 32
Trainings 43 29 18 90
Kitchen repair n/a 41 n/a 41
 
29 More than one answer per respondent was possible; N/A means that the question or option was not asked of the respondent, because 
they did not receive or associate with this component or activity.
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Commodities n/a 27 n/a 27
High-quality 
materials
n/a n/a 7 7
Other 0 12 5 17
Unsure 0 3 0 3
The table above highlights three key success factors based upon survey respondent feedback that factor that 
was highlighted by all respondents was the training and coaching that was provided by MC, this by far is the 
component that all actors across the components felt was critical to the success of the program.
● There was a need for the program because the expertise that was offered has improved the quality and 
nutrition of the school feeding program. I also appreciate the WhatsApp group with other participants, 
and they share information and support one another. They discuss the equipment and ingredients and 
how to diversify the meals. (10/14/19, SN)
● I learned much that I did not know before, I gained valuable skills in the training that allowed me to 
gain skills and knowledge. After the training, Istarted observing what is happening in the kitchen. Now 
I have an idea of procedures and processes for cooking, now I cook fish in the oven and make porridge 
correctly. The food should not be overcooked to make sure that it is nutritious. (10/14/19, SN)
● … We are applying what we learned already. (I asked for an example and the vice principle stands up 
and states) I learned how to treat the school children, how to greet and interact with the kids to give 
them a positive spirit if the teacher is in a bad mood and just focuses on the negative the kids will 
perform negatively. So, every training has been high quality and useful and helped to develop ourskills. 
Even the parents have participated in trainings on nutrition, the cook, the parents and teachers were
all invited to a training at the outset of the program to launch the program, to explain the program 
and the approach. (10/17/19, SA)
The quotes above illustrate the perspective of stakeholders of both components the utility of the training and 
support provided by MC to build skills and capacity to implement the program and essentially do their work 
with renewed skills and improved practices. The school nutrition staff highlights the new skills and capacity to 
do their work implementing school feeding and school admin highlight the value of the training for positive 
discipline for improving the quality of teaching in the classroom, as well as the SFP related trainings impact on 
the successful launch the SFP program. The data clearly illustrates the value and quality of the training as a key 
facilitator of the success of the McGovern-Dole 2017 program. For school administrators this (training) was the 
most important success factor for the program, while for the school nutrition staff the kitchen rehabilitation 
and equipment were the most highlighted facilitator of success for McGovern-Dole 2017 implementation. 
Literacy teachers highlighted admin support as the most critical success factor for McGovern-Dole 2017.
Given the performance of the McGovern-Dole 2017 until now, there are clearly several key factors that 
significantly contributed to the program's success thus far some of the other factors highlighted during the 
stakeholder engagement and participation. Stakeholder participation and engagement, the collaboration 
between the schools, parents, MC, and the GoK has for the execution of McGovern-Dole 2017. The engagement 
and commitment of these actors was mentioned repeatedly by interview respondents a few select quotes are 
highlighted below:
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● “The joint work with the parents and teachers and the community helps to make the school feeding 
program successful.” (10/14/19, SN)
● “The parents support the program as well, they provide 70 som per month with cleaning supplies and 
they also contribute fruit and vegetables.” (10/14/19, SN)
● “The willingness of all the actors and their contributions is the cause of success. The parent's support 
was valuable, and they were very motivated and interested; they participated in the trainings as well. 
The children also really wanted to study and have these improve hot meals. There is a poor family with 
a boy that comes to school just for the sake of eating- it is important for poor families.” (10/21/19, SN)
● One respondent highlighted the true success factor, “The fact that the children are excited about 
eating is the main success facilitation factor because they were not eating before. “All stakeholders are 
motivated to support the wellbeing and success of the Kyrgyz children from the donor to each of the 
program stakeholders, are all contributing to the success of McGovern-Dole 2017 for the sake of the 
primary school children. (10/21/19, SN)
McGovern-Dole 2017 Implementation Challenges
Perceived challenges to program implementation will treated two levels in the report, here will focus on the 
data from the survey respondents, later the report look at the implementation issues and their consequences 
under Efficiency EQ1. The data suggest that most respondents feel like there were no major challenges to 
implementation:
Table 12: Survey Data
McGovern-Dole 2017 Challenges and Obstacles (number of responses30)
General Challenges
Intervention School Administration
(78 staff)
School Cooks
(78 cooks)
Primary Grade 
Teachers (36)
Total
Insufficient support from GoK 
(AYO)
6 n/a n/a 6
Insufficient parental support 3 n/a n/a 3
Insufficient equipment n/a 1 n/a 1
Insufficient funds n/a 3 n/a 3
Lack of materials n/a n/a 3 3
Staff left 1 1 n/a 2
Commodities arrived late n/a 1 n/a 1
MC delays 1 0 n/a 1
Other 28 n/a 8 36
None 38 44 23 105
 
30 More than one answer per respondent was possible; N/A means that the question or option was not asked of the respondent, because 
they did not receive or associate with this component or activity.
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Lack training n/a 2 n/a 2
Personal Challenges
Overworked n/a 4 n/a 4
Lack funds for training n/a 1 n/a 1
Lack admin. support n/a 0 n/a 0
None n/a 45 n/a 45
Other n/a 21 n/a 21
In general, the respondents to both interviews and the survey were hesitant to identify any program challenges 
or obstacles, as the table above highlights most respondents stated that there were no challenges associated 
with general project implementation or personal challenges linked to their own work. One school administrator 
interviewee expressed the most consistent feeling regarding the program stating:
“This is the second year that we have a hot meal program, and water treatment and training. I am 
thankful that Mercy Corps supports them and provides commodities. All the parents are thankful and 
happy with the program, the children happy. We receive flour, oil, peas, and rice twice a year. We get 
the commodities on time, and our contribution is the transport of the commodities to the school, and 
there are no challenges associated with this.” (10/18/19, SA)
Other was the second most common response in both categories, analysis of the open-ended responses from
the SA survey for the general responses highlight predominantly issues with the construction either quality, 
estimated cost, or timeliness of the work or funding the contribution by school or GoK. One reference is made 
to water supply issues and lack parental buy in and participation. As for SNs, 21 SNs stated that they had (or 
still have) personal problems in implementing the program. Some of these answers, however, simply duplicate 
the above options - for example, overload, and insufficient salary. Most of the answers to this open question 
boil down to the fact that in the first year, cooks experienced difficulties associated with a lack of knowledge 
and skills, and overcome these difficulties with the help of colleagues. The findings suggest that McGovern￾Dole 2017 needs to provide some support to schools for developing strategies for schools and the GoK to 
successfully manage infrastructure projects including the budget, oversight and quality control. Also, to a much 
lesser degree some issues related to the workload were hesitantly raised or indirectly raised during interviews 
and within the survey, particularly for school cooks.
School Nutrition Staff:
● My workload has increased substantially, I cook for 230 children, and there is one cook and 1 assistant 
in the kitchen. This is not to scale; 1 school has 43 students and while another school has 1 cook and
just 1 assistant to help the cook for 230 students. This is a challenge. (10/16/19, SN)
● The assistant cleans the floor, and the dishes, and we are cooking, and we are cleaning the tables, and 
we have too much work to cook the meals as well. We need more support in the kitchen (10/16/19, 
SN)
● I work in the school alone and she does not have time to attend the other children. I cook for 250 kids 
this year, 290 last year. I also manage the commodities and clean by myself. I had a cleaning lady last 
year and I paid her 100 som out of my pocket. Last year she was self-financing by selling pies and 
materials to pay for all the supplies. In November a cook assistant will be hired to support in November. 
(10/21/19, SN)
MERCY CORPS 41
● The main challenge was cooking because the recipes in the books and the practice of cooking are a bit 
different. The recipe in the cookbooks are wrong, in the book they say 12 kilos of rice, when she cooked 
it was too much and she had to adjust the recipes accordingly. The recipe proportions are off. 
10/21/19,SN)
School Administrators:
● We have been in the program for 2 years, last year they had a problem with the cook. The DDoE was 
not paying the cook, and only this year they have entered the program with the cook and having extra 
staff. Last year she was paid as a cooking assistant. This year she will be paid as a cook and will have a 
cook assistant. The DDoE told them they must wait; they are resolving these issues. The cook is now 
paid at the right rate with retro from September 2019. (10/21/19)
● We have already communicated with MC regarding the issue of salaries and staff. The MC staff advised 
that they speak with the MoES and follow the process, we have done everything, and after one year 
they are still stuck. Nothing has happened. We were too late in submitting the required paperwork; the 
budget was already dispersed so most likely we will have the augmentation in the next school year. We 
would like MC to facilitate the process, we want their help with a letter or other assistance so that they 
can have the process sped. (10/17/19, SA)
MC should consider providing guidance and recommendations for schools and GoK/MoES (1) regarding 
regulations for the grading and staffing requirements for school nutrition programs and (2) administrative 
timeline and process for schools to submit paperwork for nutrition staff to be graded and salaried appropriately 
on time. Both these actions should help to address the challenges raised as it relates related to workload and 
salary. The efficiency section EQ1 will also address the implementation problems experienced during the 
project implementation and their consequences.
Effectiveness EQ 5: How do program staff and stakeholders perceive the effectiveness of the processes and 
resources used by the program?
Table 13: Survey Data
McGovern-Dole 2017 Most Successful Component (number of responses31)
School Feeding and Learning Environment
Intervention School Administration
(78 staff)
School Cooks
(78 cooks)
Primary Grade 
Teachers (36)
Total
Kitchen repair 57 4 n/a 61
Kitchen equipment n/a 57 n/a 57
Winterization 5 n/a n/a 5
Latrine 7 5 n/a 12
Water filter 23 16 n/a 39
Commodities 40 39 n/a 79
Admin Trainings 43 n/a n/a 43
 
31 More than one answer per respondent was possible; N/A means that the question or option was not asked of the respondent, because 
they did not receive or associate with this component or activity.
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Cooking courses 37 40 n/a 77
SBC 35 n/a n/a 35
Literacy and Learning
Intervention School Administration
(78 staff)
School Cooks
(78 cooks)
Primary Grade 
Teachers (36)
Total
Positive Discipline Training n/a n/a 24 24
Parents Training n/a n/a 10 10
Librarian Training n/a n/a 7 7
Book Club n/a n/a 8 n/a
Reading Sessions n/a n/a 10 10
Reading Buddies n/a n/a 13 13
Homemade books n/a n/a 17 17
Home reading training n/a n/a 13 1
Audio books n/a n/a 13 13
Research Projects n/a n/a 3 3
The consensus regarding the McGovern-Dole 2017 program, from most participants was that the program was 
effective, most respondents spent quite a bit of time thanking MC and highlighting their interest in continuing 
their collaboration and participation in the McGovern-Dole 2017 program. Survey data demonstrates that the 
SFP activities viewed as most successful included the commodities coming in at #1 and cooking courses at #2.
Table 14. Survey Data 
Satisfaction with Commodities
Choice School Administration (78 staff) School Cooks (78 staff) Total
yes 68 66 134
no 3 2 5
Preferred Commodity
Choice School Administration (78 staff) School Cooks (78 staff) Total
flour 59 49 108
oil 6 6 12
peas 5 6 11
rice 1 7 8
Further analysis highlights that respondents were almost universally satisfied with the commodities, and when 
asked which commodity they preferred flour was by far the favor commodity. The kitchen repairs and 
equipment were very close 3rd & 4th response however, the SFP would not be possible without any of these 
contributions hence why the survey data clearly articulate this, and they also confirm that all components of 
the program are effective and successful.
MERCY CORPS 43
The only components that were not mentioned often as successful were the Winterization and WASH 
infrastructure components which given that according to the MC monitoring data no Winterization or WASH 
projects have been implemented for McGovern-Dole 2017. The only schools that may have had these projects 
yet are Extension schools that were part of the McGovern-Dole 2012 extension and included in the McGovern￾Dole 2017 project to ensure that they received a complete program package. The interviews reiterated this:
● We get commodities every 6 months and it is enough for our school’s needs. The trainings helped me 
to my job because before she had none of this knowledge and they used to cook differently before. 
Now the make many types of soup and pilaf and noodles. They show me the menu on the wall which is 
visible. (10/18/19, SN and SA joint interview)
● I am proud to work with MC, I heard about them before working with them and everything that was 
said was very positive. I like the way that MC works with us, I would like to continue to work with MC. 
There is a WhatsApp group where the SDs are communicating with each other regarding SFP.
Table 15: Survey Data
Additional Program Support Needed (number of responses32)
Intervention School Administration (78 staff) School Cooks (78 cooks) Total
Dining furniture 27 28 55
Utensils 18 27 45
Literacy training 12 2 14
Nutrition training 17 13 30
Follow up 
consultations
6 2 8
Community support 13 8 21
Local govt support 12 5 17
No request 15 22 37
The school feeding program is viewed quite positive by program participants; interview and survey data suggest 
that respondents are interested in continuing their work with MC and another program component like 
infrastructure. In addition, analysis of data regarding the timeliness of the program highlight the fact that very 
respondents stated the program was behind schedule in the few and limited cases were respondents 
responded that McGovern-Dole 2017 was behind schedule they mentioned that government funding or 
other/undefined was the cause.
As it relates to the Literacy and Learning Promotion activities, the survey respondents felt that the positive 
discipline training for teachers was the most successful component of the program. Homemade books were 
viewed as the second most successful component of the program. The findings linked to Literacy and Learning 
promotion could be influenced by the fact that in some cases the schools had not received the literacy 
component or did not receive the entire intervention at the time of evaluation. During the interviews a similar 
sentiment was expressed:
 
32 More than one answer per respondent was possible; N/A means that the question or option was not asked of the respondent, because 
they did not receive or associate with this component or activity.
MERCY CORPS 44
I feel the training was very effective, and it helped us develop our skills teaching the kids in the 
classroom as he said it was 70-80% successful. The librarians will also be trained soon as well. 
(10/18/19, SN and SA joint interview)
Given the findings above, under effectiveness EQ1 and the issues raised during the ET interviews, MC may want 
to analyze the performance of the literacy and learning promotion component to assess the level of 
implementation at each school, gauge how to improve implementation and develop a strategy to close out 
activities in the remaining two years of McGovern-Dole 2017. The SFP portion of the project was perceived as 
highly effective by most program participants, the findings reflect MC’s extensive experience with previous SFP 
and McGovern-Dole programming.
Effectiveness EQ 6: What changes are required to reinforce and improve program effectiveness and McGovern￾Dole 2017 executions rates during the next 2+ years that remain in the project life?
See lesson learned and recommendations section below.
Effectiveness Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations and 
Lessons Learned
Effectiveness Conclusion Rating Observations
The monitoring and evaluation 
data confirm that McGovern-Dole 
2017 is by in large is achieving 
many of its milestones and on 
target to achieve all pre￾established aims. However, there 
were issues relative the Literacy 
and Learning component and the 
infrastructure work.
Moderately 
Satisfactory
● Most of the indicators are at 45% or above. In fact, several 
have surpassed the targeted levels.
● No winterization or WASH infrastructure projects have been 
conducted to date.
● The SFP component seems to be outperforming the Literacy 
and Learning component. In fact, the literacy and learning 
component alone is solidly in the moderately satisfactory, 
while the infrastructure is the only factor that brought SFP 
into the moderately satisfactory category.
Effectiveness Recommendations Timeline and Prioritization Duty Bearer
1. SBC has no literacy component; MC should look at integrating 
literacy into the SBC planning and activities to the degree 
possible. (10/7/19, MC staff)
April 2020 MC
2. (1) Based on the household study results, an impact study should 
be designed to include clear questions regarding the SBC 
activities that occurred in the communities, their impact in 
addition to the questions regarding knowledge and behaviors at 
the household level. (2) Also, Literacy should also be included in 
the impact study, to look at community level knowledge and 
behaviors linked to learning and literacy promotion at the 
community level.
May 2020 MC
MERCY CORPS 45
3. MC will have to be very aggressive in the final two years of the 
project in order to ensure that all Infrastructure projects are 
completed in a timely and effective manner. It will be important 
to develop a very clear well-coordinated strategy with the 
infrastructure team with external oversight from an 
infrastructure expert.
May 2020 MC
4. The evaluation data suggest extensive analysis/assessment is 
required of whether schools have received a comprehensive 
Literacy and Learning Promotion package. In addition, as MC is 
merging the monitoring data from the Literacy and Learning 
promotion component into their databases, some work should 
be done to validate the quality and accuracy of that data.
April 2020 MC
5. MC senior leadership needs to apply some of the lessons learned 
from the SFP to the literacy and learning component regarding 
follow-up coaching and monitoring. Improved coordination and 
integrated management of the two components will also be 
important moving forward.
January 2020 MC
6. The findings suggest that McGovern-Dole 2017 needs to provide 
some support to schools for developing strategies for schools and 
the GoK to successfully manage infrastructure projects including 
the budget, oversight and quality control
September 2020 MC
7. MC should consider providing guidance and recommendations 
for schools and GoK/MoES (1) regarding regulations for the 
grading and staffing requirements for school nutrition programs 
and (2) administrative timeline and process for schools to submit 
paperwork for nutrition staff to be graded and salaried 
appropriately on time. Both these actions should help to address 
the challenges raised relates related to workload and salary.
September 2020 MC
8. MoES-level infrastructure is lacking, all school nutrition and 
teacher training relies on one person; MC, WFP, and USDA to 
advocate and support the construction of a MoES team that can 
fully oversee responsibilities for SFP as they prepare for the 
closeout and handover
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA, GoK
9. MC, WFP, GoK, and USDA need to develop an exit and handover 
strategy for all SFP interventions as they prepare to close out. 
The sustainability model mentioned in McGovern-Dole 2017
guidance as well as recommendations for MoES staffing and all 
other issues should be addressed in the exit strategy.
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA, GoK
Effectiveness Lessons learned
1. There is a disparity between the effectiveness of the SFP and literacy and learning components that are 
linked to the attempts to address concerns regarding duplication with TTR at the outset of the project and 
the fact the SFP and Literacy and learning components are managed like to separate projects.
MERCY CORPS 46
2. The MC monitoring approach and WhatsApp group are effective management and oversight tools that 
should be replicated across all components.
3. No Winterization or WASH infrastructure projects have been conducted thus far, therefore a substantial 
amount remains to be done in the remaining two years of the project. There were issues with the kitchen 
rehabilitation efforts that should be considered in developing a strategy for the future infrastructure
project.
MERCY CORPS 47
Efficiency
Efficiency 1: Has the program implementation had any major challenges, if so, what have they been?
The program implementation has been affected by several major challenges that the McGovern-Dole 2017
partners and stakeholders have had to work together to overcome. The challenges have included the 
following:
● At the outset of the McGovern-Dole 2017, the literacy component had to be re-designed due to 
overlap and duplication with the USAID TTR funded program. As a result, the literacy component was 
shifted to a learning and literacy promotion approach that focused on positive discipline and 
promoting literacy outside of the classroom. In addition, the program implementation approach was 
affected by the requirement to coordinate their work with the USAID funded TTR program, assuch the 
McGovern-Dole 2017 led by STC, was not able to follow their original plan of implementing the SFP 
followed by the literacy and learning promotion component, they were forced to work haphazardly in 
various schools where TTR were not working or had already completed their activities. Therefore, the 
approach of leading with SFP and following literacy and learning promotion activities were abandoned 
and McGovern-Dole 2017 just worked in the schools that were available with no consideration for 
activities linked to the rollout and implementation of the SFP activities. This disturbed scheduling and 
activity planning for McGovern-Dole 2017 literacy and learning promotion activities33
.
● Challenges with STC: Save the Children, McGovern-Dole 2017 implementing partner for the literacy 
component, announced their withdrawal from Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia in December 2018. In 
response, MC informed the USDA and negotiated an exit strategy with Save the Children to ensure 
continuous implementation of literacy and learning promotion activities under McGovern-Dole 2017. 
MC began oversight of the literacy and learning promotion activities July 2019. They have recruited 
the STC literacy team members and engaged their field staff to continue the literacy and learning 
promotion activities. In addition, MC was able to negotiate a creative sub-agreement with STC, which 
sees Asia Area Education Advisor based in DC providing support to the McGovern-Dole 2017
implementation. This unconventional approach demonstrates the creative and commitment to results 
on the part of USDA, MC and STC.
While the shifts and modifications did create challenges for the successful implementation of 
McGovern-Dole 2017, the adjustments have yielded positive outcomes and sought to make up for the 
challenges to program implementation. It is also worth noting that before its pullout MC allowed STC 
to implement almost as though the literacy and learning component was a separate set of activities 
on to itself with limited coordination and oversight for STC work on literacy and learning promotion. 
As a result, ET interview data suggested that there was some confusion regarding whether the 
intervention had been implemented or not and in some cases schools attributed TTR activities to 
McGovern-Dole 2017 literacy and learning promotion activities. While this was the case for the ET 
data, it should be noted that the survey data had more straightforward results relative to the literacy 
components; however, the coordination of activities between MC and STC was not as strong as it could 
have been, MC staff stated the following:
 
33 Interview with MC Staff Oct. 7, 2019.
MERCY CORPS 48
“We (MC) had a focal point to help coordinate their work quarterly, these were not formalized 
meetings with minutes, and the main emphasis was on the bi-annual reporting. Otherwise, 
they only met with them quarterly for coordination and oversight. We were the interface with 
the partners so STC could not meet with the partners without MC. We never shared office 
space and we each worked independently.” (10/21/19. MC Staff)
As a result of the issues with overlap with TTR, STC pulling out of Central Asia and somewhat loose 
oversight and coordination of the literacy promotion component, there were some weaknesses in the 
quality of the performance observed by the ET during school interviews in addition (see effectiveness 
section for further details regarding literacy promotion component performance issues). Moreover, 
all schools either received the literacy activities this year 2019 or will be receiving them in the 
upcoming year.
● School Selection: school selection had to go through two rounds of assessment and verification this 
year due to a limited number of remaining schools not yet enrolled in either program (MC or WFP) but 
are meeting all program criteria. A MC staff member stated and clarified that:
“The school enrollment has been delayed by the Ministry’s participation in the selection 
process due to discrepancy in the selection and revisions from the MoES. In October 2018 we 
started the school enrollment was supposed to be completed in January 2019, but they are still 
enrolling, some of this is due to delays from the schools in meeting the requirements. we also 
worked on the enrollment of the schools in the summer ...the ministry (MoES) got involved, 
and they changed the list, and we had to work on this repeatedly; an (MoES rep) excluded a 
whole district except one school. Many eligible schools were excluded, and we (MC) had to do 
an assessment and revise the list ... in some cases, the school directors and administrators 
were not active, and MC had to push to get them involved and the schools to fulfill their 
requirements for eligibility. There was also some resistance to include the neediest schools 
because they lack the required infrastructure. We are able to work with the schools that 
required repairs and rehab to bring up to the existing standards, but we cannot build non￾existent facilities and infrastructure.” (10/23/19, MC Staff)
The challenges with the school selection will affect between 20 and 40 schools that, as a result, were not in the 
process of preparing over the summer of 2019 and as such despite their eligibility may not be able to participate 
in the program.
● Commodities: despite being the most appreciated and solicited aspect of the McGovern-Dole 2017 
program after the construction and rehabilitation of the kitchen facilities, commodities have been the 
subject of several challenges:
o First flour fortification levels were an issue: in 2016, the Kyrgyz Republic adopted new 
standards of iron fortification in flour when it joined the Eurasian Economic Union. The new 
MoH regulations require a flour fortification standard of NaFeEDTA is 15 mg/kg, +/- 20%. The 
MoH requires that the all-purpose flour is tested on iron enrichment levels during the 
commodity certification process for the customs clearance procedure. In January 2018, Mercy 
Corps initiated high-level discussions with the MoH, UNICEF, WHO, and WFP, and the 
Association of Producers of Enriched Flour and Wheat Products of Kyrgyzstan to look for a 
solution. While these negotiations are ongoing, Mercy Corps has requested USDA to provide 
MERCY CORPS 49
fortified flour with the specified iron content in line with Kyrgyz standards in order to avoid 
delays in customs clearance and distribution34
.
o There is an ongoing issue with the flour distribution, and over 64.2 MT of donated wheat 
flour out of the total 690.6 MT was not allowed for distribution by the Minister of Health 
due to a trace amount of GMO identified. The donor was immediately informed, and intensive 
discussion is ongoing with high officials at all levels including the Ministry of Health and MoES, 
as well as the US Embassy. A final decision is expected by the end of 2019 calendar year35
.
According to MC staff, this final issue related to commodities could result in a substantial amount of schools 
not receiving flour in their commodity basket. Given that flour is one of the most appreciated commodities 
among the schools and program staff interviewed and surveyed, due to its diversity and range of uses, many 
schools will be unhappy should this issue not be resolved. It could also have a substantial impact on the 
diversification of diets feasible at schools that no longer received this commodity36
.
Efficiency EQ 2: To what degree is feedback from the previous McGovern-Dole and stakeholder input 
incorporated into the program?
MC has demonstrated a strong commitment to incorporate and build on the lessons learned during the 
McGovern-Dole 2012, a management response to the report, and the USDA comments can be found in Annex 
III. While the evaluation team was in the field, MC was concurrently executing and planning the following 
studies:
1. A gender assessment to examine how better address gender issues as feasible during the final two
years of the program. These findings will also be quite useful to the GoK.
2. Staff were trained on gender in February and in June 2019, which is a critical step in ensuring that 
staff can use a gender-sensitive lens in the implementation of the program
3. Needs assessment for infrastructure and WASH was also being completed in October 2019. This 
reflects a change in the selection of schools for grant projects, the infrastructure study will allow them 
to select infrastructure projects based on need. The neediest and feasible will be prioritized. 
Winterization, latrines, water treatment. This is a significant design change from the previous 20 years 
of MC experience and work, it really seeks to be need-driven and will aim to prioritize those schools 
with the greatest needs for the infrastructure support and findings37. This assessment addresses both 
the recommendation to address WASH needs more effectively and to ensure that procurement for 
SFP school kitchens is proportional to the needs and size.
4. MC is also planning an impact study: the ongoing household-level study will serve as the baseline for 
an impact study after the conclusion of the program. The household study has 3000 households, and 
they are primarily families with kids from the schools enrolled in 2018 and 2019, a total of 150 schools. 
The study will look at behaviors and practices linked to nutrition and reading at home to see the impact 
on the program children’s health, nutritional and educational outcomes, as well as their families. 
 
34 MCGOVERN-DOLE17 Biannual Report #1, April 30, 2018.
35 MCGOVERN-DOLE17 Biannual Report #4, September 30, 2019.
36 Interview with MC Staff 10/23/2019.
37 Interview with MC staff 10/23/2019.
MERCY CORPS 50
5. MC adjusted their team size following the closeout of McGovern-Dole 2012, as such 17 staff were 
released, and MC recruited STC literacy staff and field consultants in line with the program
implementation needs.
6. MC has already held a Systems Review and Strategy session with a best practices document, 
according to the MC response to the McGovern-Dole 2012 Evaluation.
7. To improve collaboration with GoK (MoES and MoH) MC has joint work plans with the MoES and 
MoUs to guide their work and formalize their collaboration and partnership. MC also recruited a 
Government Liaison Officer to focus full time on identifying and resolving issues related to GoK and 
MC collaboration surrounding McGovern-Dole 2017.
8. Identifying Sustainability models, MC is still working with WFP and FAO on looking at various 
sustainability models such as greenhouse farming, vegetable and fruit gardens, tripartite (school, 
parents and local authorities) management committees for SFP and renting of school kitchens to 
generate revenues.
The interview data and document review confirm that MC has already made extensive efforts to address and 
apply lessons learned from the McGovern-Dole 2012 to their work on McGovern-Dole 2017 and beyond. There 
has been a clear good faith effort on the part of USDA and MC to build on experience and share lessons learned 
and best practices across the GOK, Mercy Corps, WFP and program stakeholders.
Efficiency 3 & 4: Are program resources being managed efficiently? & Is the resource and personnel 
management for the McGovern-Dole project during the period under the review?
Table 16: Overview of McGovern-Dole 2017 Financial Performance
27-Sep-17 through 30-Sep-2019 in USD
33127 - KG USDA 
MCGOVERN-DOLE CCC 
2017-21
USDA - CCC Months Remaining: 24
KYRGYZSTAN % Months Elapsed: 50%
Award Start 
Date:
27-09-17 Total % Spent: 38%
Award End 
Date:
30-09-21
Attribute Description Total Award
Budget
Total Actual
Expenditures
Unspent 
Balance
% Spent
ADMIN - Benefits 680,206 193,820 486,386 28%
ADMIN - Equipment 41,816 28,507 13,309 68%
ADMIN - Office 551,036 140,720 410,316 26%
ADMIN - Other 34,378 5,009 29,369 15%
MERCY CORPS 51
ADMIN - Professional Services 472,750 55,282 417,468 12%
ADMIN - Salaries 1,828,527 560,613 1,267,914 31%
ADMIN - Supplies 37,823 25,302 12,521 67%
ADMIN - Travel 118,215 67,357 50,858 57%
ITSH - Benefits 9,358 - 9,358 0%
ITSH - Internal Transportation 27,000 7,263 19,737 27%
ITSH - Salaries 54,252 13,046 41,206 24%
ITSH - Warehouse 82,800 47,609 35,191 57%
Building/Rehabilitation Kitchen 1,944,198 1,310,199 633,999 67%
Building/Rehabilitation: Sanitation 
facilities
277,423 4,597 272,826 2%
Building/Rehabilitation Schools 277,423 6,841 270,582 2%
Capacity Building - Local, Regional, 
& National
1,139,754 359,278 780,476 32%
Establish Activities to Promote 
Literacy
231,454 102,089 129,365 44%
Production of Books & Reading 
Materials
943,607 408,260 535,347 43%
Provide School Meals 987,914 190,616 797,298 19%
Training - Food Preparation & 
Storage Practices
165,824 103,456 62,368 62%
Training - Good Health & Nutrition 
Practices
344,279 205,426 138,853 60%
Training - Librarians 254,308 109,976 144,332 43%
Training - Teachers 340,711 156,215 184,496 46%
Improving Potable Water Quality 240,811 216,855 23,956 90%
Total Direct Cost 11,085,867 4,318,333 6,767,534 39%
Indirect Cost Allocation 1,667,314 773,571 893,743 46%
Total Award Cost 12,753,181 5,091,905 7,661,276 40%
The budgetary performance for McGovern-Dole 2017 is solid, as the Table 15, shows, to data globally, only 
40% of the overall McGovern-Dole 2017 budget has been spent, leaving over 60% of the budget left. When 
questioned about budget lines that were excessively low and or lines that were almost fully exploited the 
feedback was the following:
MERCY CORPS 52
● Regarding the 12% expenditure for Admin Professional service category, this budget line is dedicated to 
external Monitoring and Evaluation costs; as of now only the baseline evaluation has been executed, the 
mid-term is ongoing, and final evaluation will not occur until just before McGovern-Dole 2017 ends. 
Therefore, most of the cost and other related expenditures are still to come.
● Internal Transport, Storage and Handling of commodities (ITSH salaries and Benefits) are quite low. This 
is because MC hires warehouse employees on service contracts and not labor contracts. Therefore, they 
are not obligated to pay entitlements. Also, as the last batch of schools is integrated into the SFP, the staff 
salary and transport budget lines will reflect this augmentation in the expenditures.
● Rehabilitation, Winterization, and WASH infrastructure projects will all begin in the 3rd year of program 
implementation and given the project has not implemented any Winterization or WASH projects, 2% is 
appropriate.
● Providing school meals: at the proposal stage MC planned that employees would travel intensively to the 
field for monitoring commodity use; at the implementation stage, visits were decreased and refocused on 
quality and depth of visits rather than quantity. Also, instead of sending MC staff from Osh and Bishkek 
offices to the field, MC hired service contractors already based in the field. They are thus cutting expenses 
for travel. This reflects the MC decentralization approach with more field-based service contractors 
performing regular monitoring visits and reporting through WhatsApp and other electronic 
communication channels vs how it was budgeted originally when office-based MC staff would have been 
traveling from Bishkek for monitoring visits. Previously, MC had 8 full-time staff based in Osh and Bishkek 
who traveled for 2-3 weeks every month to monitor commodities consumption in schools. Because they 
were staff, there was a budget line for full-time staff drivers plus per diem / accommodation for all of them 
and then all the full-time benefits staff. MC estimates spending about 50-60% of the initial budgeted 
amount by the end of the grant. Therefore, "savings" have been reallocated to other program activities, 
mainly infrastructure.
● Improving potable water quality at 90%, however, given that all water filtration activities linked to kitchen 
rehabilitation for SFFP have been completed this expenditure rate is in alignment with program 
implementation.
The analysis of the budget and expenditure performance of McGovern-Dole 2017 as of September 2019, 
suggests that the budget management until now has been quite efficient and shows the strong alignment 
between program implementation and expenditure rates to date. Therefore, performance is rated quite highly 
on this dimension of efficiency38
.
Personnel Management
At the closeout of McGovern-Dole 2012, which, as discussed in the McGovern-Dole 2012 final evaluation, 
shared staff with McGovern-Dole 2017 some changes have been made in the personnel structure of MC, as 
well as the pull out of STC from the Central Asia Region. Below we summarize the key factors to note relative 
to the McGovern-Dole 2017 personnel management:
● They did not have sufficient budget to keep all the staff from the McGovern-Dole 2012, the proposal for 
McGovern-Dole 2017 only included 67 team members. In May 2019, 17 program officers (16 Program 
 
38 NICRA approved rate has changed from 18.5% to provisional rate 20.5%. MC has already submitted a budget modification request to USDA, and it 
is in the process of negotiation. Program implementation will not have substantial changes the program submitted adjusted Annual Work Plan for the 
donor approval as part of Modification process. 
MERCY CORPS 53
Officers and 1 Training Assistant) were released since their McGovern-Dole 2012 contracts ended, and now 
there are 72 full-time staff.
● MC utilizing hiring field-based service contractors so that they are not working during the summer when 
they have been no activities. The contractors are hired for a 9- or 10-month period when the program has 
activities that are ongoing, and they are released when schools are out of session. MC seeks to hire service 
contractors locally so that they diminished the cost for logistics and travel to the field. For the director 
level literacy staff, they were brought on as staff, but all the field staff is contractors with 9-10-month 
contracts. They are working independently with no office base. They have the scope of work; they have 
deliverables and deadlines, and they work independently. Thy interface with the managers regularly by 
phone and come into the office once a month.
● The disadvantages to the service contractor approach:
o Contractors have no benefits beyond their fees, and they cannot sign for or represent MC. So, for 
signing and food and materials they get this from MC full-time staff. They are only paid based upon 
their performance. In addition, the recruitment process must be repeated every year for service 
contractor positions. As such, despite significant flexibility, the workers have no job security and 
no benefits. In addition, MC invests in capacity building into these service contractors, and this 
investment is lost for MC if these workers leave to join other agencies with full employment 
contracts.
o Because MC is using the contract approach, the HR department is not leading or overseeing the 
hiring of contractors; the process is driven by procurement. HR is only supporting procurement 
HR is excluded from this process, and they are using an HR company to perform this part of the 
HR work.
● Another significant advantage of the service contractor approach is that it is not only cheaper, but it also 
allows MC to build and place capacity in the field at the local level.
● Another issue raised relative to personnel management is that the Government Liaison and SBC Program 
Officers are overwhelmed trying to provide support to the McGovern-Dole 2017 at the national level
working independently, MC should consider creative ways to increase support for their work. For example, 
establishing regional/ provincial level focal points for governance and SBC that they can work with to do 
this work may increase the impact of their work to enable McGovern-Dole 2017 success39
.
Personnel is being managed efficiently under McGovern-Dole 2017, however there is some consideration that 
should be given to providing benefits to contract staff such as health care and other entitlements or even sick 
days. The ethos of fair and humane treatment must be balanced with the pursuit of efficiency in this case.
Table 17: Survey Data
Program Resources were sufficient (number of positive answers)
Choice School Administration
(78 respondents)
School Cooks 
(78 respondents)
Total
Yes 35 34 69
 
39 Analysis and findings presented relative to the personnel performance. 
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Mostly 22 22 44
Somewhat 14 11 25
No 0 11 1
Also, interviews with the SBC and governance liaison suggest that some increased support for their efforts 
could be beneficial to increase staff effectiveness and results. The performance of the McGovern-Dole relative 
to personnel management suggests that McGovern-Dole 2017 is demonstrating a high-level performance on 
this dimension of efficiency.
As it relates to financial and personnel management, McGovern-Dole 2017 demonstrates strong results, while 
there are some caveats to consider, particularly as it relates to the use of service contracts and need for 
increased support for the Government liaison and SBC program officers, the project is generally rated high 
across these dimensions. From the perspective of program beneficiaries, the data suggest that most 
beneficiaries feel that the program resources were enough, see table 17 for further detail. This data indicates 
that the alignment between implementation and expenditures is also reflective of the beneficiary experience 
relative to program inputs and efforts to date.
Efficiency 5: Is the management and oversight approach effective and appropriate to achieve the best project 
outcomes?
The evaluation data suggests that there were some challenges with integrating the overall management of the 
two core components of the McGovern-Dole 2017 program. As discussed earlier, this can partially be attributed 
to the issues with re-design at the outside of the project which changed approach and synchronization of 
implementation as discussed in the relevance section. However, this is also due to the treatment by MC and 
STC of the two program components as two separate projects. In interviews with MC staff, they shared that 
they acquiesced to STC the literacy component because MC did not have literacy expertise and viewed STC as 
a peer organization not requiring oversight. When explaining how they coordinate their work, one MC staff 
stated:
“We had a focal point to help coordinate our work quarterly; these were not formalized meetings with 
minutes. The main emphasis was on the bi-annual reporting. Otherwise, we only met with STC quarterly 
for coordination and oversight. MC was the interface with the partners so STC could not meet with the 
partners without MC. We never shared office space, and we were working independently. Even the STC
database was not integrated with the MC USDA database. We did not coordinate the baseline; at the 
time, it was not coordinated; they treated it like two different projects. We (MC) participated, but there 
was not one integrated baseline.” (10/21/19, MC staff)
This quote highlights the lack of integration between the SFP and the literacy and learning component; as a 
result, the literacy and learning component did not have joint monitoring visits with SFP monitors or use the 
MC WhatsApp approach to creating shared learning communities for learning and literacy teachers or 
directors. In addition, the ability to validate and oversee implementation on a real-time basis was not afforded 
MC. During the interviews, the ET found that the WhatsApp groups and monitoring visitors were viewed as 
highly beneficial and helpful by school staff, who felt that them to maintain the quality of their work, this is 
expressed by a school nutrition staff in the quote below:
“… (Field Specialist) from MC come, and she provides monitoring and coaching on how to do my work, 
he comes once every 2 months. It is helpful; it is very good. If I do something wrong, they help me to do 
better.” (10/14/19, SN)
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This quote, as well as the data from table 18 regarding monitoring visits, illustrates that the majority of 
respondents had received monitoring visits, and almost all those school officials that had received monitoring 
visits found them to be useful. Conversely, during the interviews with school staff regarding the literacy and 
learning component activities,several stated that they had not heard from the literacy team since the previous 
training activity or event. The also mentioned that there was no use of WhatsApp to maintain contact or 
engagement remotely.
Table 18: Survey Data
MC Monitoring Visits Experienced (last year)
Choice School Administration 
(78 respondents)
School Cooks 
(78 respondents)
Total
Yes 55 51 106
No 16 17 33
MC Monitoring Visits Useful
Choice School Administration 
(78 respondents)
School Cooks 
(78 respondents)
Total
Yes 55 50 105
No 15 0 15
Unsure 1 1 2
The data suggest that MC should not only more closely integrate the oversight and coordination of the two 
components, which it must do now as a result of the withdrawal of STC from Central Asia, they should also 
apply lessons learned from their previous SFP experience and employ joint monitoring visits so that participants 
link the literacy activities to McGovern-Dole 2017. And like SFP, use WhatsApp groups as a means of sustaining 
engagement and learning between beneficiary teachers around learning and literacy promotion remotely. MC 
has substantial success with oversight and management of their SFP activities; they must employ some of the 
transferable practices and systems for oversight and quality control to the literacy and learning component.
Efficiency Q6: Have participating schools been able to manage to mobilize the school contribution of 30% for 
infrastructure projects? What about in poor high-altitude areas40?
Table 19: Survey Data
School Kitchen Rehabilitation Contribution Assessment
Assessment School Administrators (78 respondents)
Acceptable 37
Too high 12
Low 16
 
40 This question was included in the MTE TOR at the beginning of the program before schools were enrolled. However, at the time of enrolment the majority 
of participating schools are not high-altitude, which actually reflects the population density and distribution in the country. No clearly high-altitude schools 
were included in the random sample due to their low proportion in this program compared to McGovern-Dole 2012. 
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Unsure 6
Source of Contribution
Source School Administrators (78 respondents)
Local govt 59
Parents 8
Private 0
donors 0
The data suggest that most survey respondents (37 of 71) found the contribution to the kitchen rehabilitation 
to be acceptable. However, there were a few (12 of 71) that felt the contribution requirement was too high. 
During interviews and in the survey data a few respondents shared challenges with getting inputs from the 
GoK or issues with contractors as the main challenge experienced during program implementation, which
aligns with the findings in table 18 above.
It should also be noted that while most contributions were provided by the GoK, in some cases parents and 
community members provided the financial contribution. Learning from its previous experience, MC is 
adjusting its approach to future infrastructure, moving away from a grant-based approach MC will be managing 
these activities directly. All construction, latrines specifically, will no longer be provided through a grant making
scheme, but instead, based on the ongoing infrastructure assessment, MC will determine the infrastructure 
projects through a needs-based approach and give the money to the contractors, which will in turn allow MC 
to conduct closer oversight and quality control of the construction process. MC is currently waiting for an 
amendment signature from USDA, so they will contract construction companies directly to implement the 
infrastructure projects. The priority infrastructure projects are critical and therefore will no longer depend on 
the school contributions. Also, the schools will no longer have interest to accept lowest bids with inferior 
quality work41. MC is building on the experience garnered through previous iterations of McGovern-Dole and
evaluation findings to identify solutions to challenges previously experienced with both school kitchen 
rehabilitation, winterization and WASH infrastructure projects. As previously stated, it will be necessary for MC 
to ensure that they have appropriate expertise and systems in place to oversee and quality control the 
infrastructure projects.
Efficiency 7: Are there any critical ways that program efficiency and oversight (including M&E) could be 
improved at the beneficiary or MC level?
See recommendations and lessons learned.
 
41
 Interview with MC Staff on October 21, 2019.
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Efficiency Criteria Conclusions, Recommendations and 
Lessons Learned
Efficiency Conclusion Rating Observations
McGovern-Dole 2017 is performing 
well across all the dimensions of 
efficiency. The evaluation data 
shows solid financial and personnel 
management performance; in 
addition, the MC leadership has 
been extraordinarily adaptive and 
innovative in the face of high-level 
issues with sub-recipients’
withdrawal, component, re-design 
commodities, and the closure of 
McGovern-Dole 2012.
Satisfactory ● This is an outstanding commodity problem that 
could leave many schools without one of the 
preferred commodity basket items, flour.
● The program is performing well in terms of 
efficiency in terms of financial and personnel 
management.
● The service contract approach provides strong 
advantages in terms of reduced cost and bringing 
capacity to the local level; however, contractors 
lose the right to benefits and job security.
● The kitchen rehab contribution was not a 
problem for the most; however, MC is shifting 
from the grant approach to a needs-based 
approach for future WASH and Winterization 
projects.
● MC will be integrating oversight and 
management of the two components, which it 
was not doing before STCs withdrawal from 
Central Asia.
Efficiency Recommendation Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
1. If MC and the GoK is not able to find a solution for the banned flour 
that has tested positive for GMOs by the GoK, it should prepare a 
strategy with the GoK of how they will inform schools well in advance 
so that they can prepare for the change in the commodity basket that 
the schools will receive.
ASAP MC, USDA, and 
GOK
2. MC should employ the best practices in oversight/monitoring and 
sustained/remote engagement across the components by conducting 
joint monitoring visits for Literacy and learning as well as SFP and 
introducing WhatsApp groups to the literacy and learning engagement 
and learning model.
January 2019 MC
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3. MC should consider a limited benefits package that can be offered to 
service contractors that will provide some support for healthcare and 
consideration of sick days.
June 2020 MC
4. MC leadership should consider reinforcing the SBC and governance 
liaisons with regional/provincial level focal points to help expand the 
effectiveness and impact of the program and SBC activities.
February 2019 MC
Efficiency Lessons Learned
1. MC should always fully integrate the coordination and implementation of the McGovern-Dole activities, 
regardless of the partner or agency background, to ensure consistent implementation, quality control and 
complete information in real time.
2. Many of MC SFP oversight and monitoring best practices can be transferred to the literacy and learning 
component to improve the quality and consistency of implementation. 
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Cursory Impact and Sustainability 
Observations
At this stage in the project, it is too early to discuss impact or sustainability; however, here will present a few 
quotes from participants regarding the indications of impact and sustainability.
Impact:
● “There is a big difference between last year and this year; the children can feel the difference because 
they call the bread clever because they know that it is fortified with iron. (A parent has joined the 
evaluation, and I asked about the clever bread); I hear from the children and the staff about the 
program. I am very thankful for the program. Sometimes the kids bring the bread home in their bag 
from school to share with their siblings. I sometimes compare the difference from his childhood, and 
the kids are doing much better now the program is helping his children.” (10/17/19, SA)
● “I have been involved in the program for two years as kitchen staff and was promoted two days ago to 
the school cook status. On the 15 of October, I had a birthday and learned that I was to be promoted 
from assistant rank to cook. I was so happy I was jumping up and down.” (10/21/19, SN)
● “My workload has increased substantially, I cook for 230 children, there is one cook and one assistant 
in the kitchen. This is not to scale: one school had 43 students and one cook vs 230 and just one assistant 
to help the cook.” (10/16/19, SN)
● “We only had tea and bun before the MC program. I feel that the SFP was needed for the school; the 
children are now eating well and learn. I came when the program launched, and it has helped the kids 
to learn more successfully.” (10/18/19, SA)
Already the project demonstrates some anecdotal positive impact on learning and child health as well the 
increase in school nutrition staff workload as highlighted by these excerpts from ET interviews above.
Sustainability:
● “I would like MC to continue to support the school because if the program stops, we will not have 
enough food to supplement the portions.” (10/16/19, SN)
● “The parents support the program as well; they provide 70 som per mouth with cleaning supplies and 
also contribute fruit and vegetables.” (10/14/19, SN)
● “The support that we have for the orchard is very helpful and the water treatment center, these things 
help the older kids as well as the younger kids. They all drink the filtered water and take fruit from the 
orchard. We can make more drinks and juices and have more fruit for the children.” (10/16/19, SN)
There is anecdotal data that suggests that like in McGovern-Dole 2012, parents remain the principal 
sustainability mechanism for the SFP. However, some schools have stated that they will be able to manage 
even after MC pulls out on the 7 som and tender provided by the GoK. MC must continue to work with WFP 
and the GoK on the sustainability model guidance and recommendations as part of their exit strategy and 
handover plan.
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Conclusions, Recommendations, and 
Lessons Learned
Conclusions
Relevance Conclusion Rating Observations
The McGovern-Dole 2017 SFP 
component remains highly relevant 
and appreciated by respondents. 
However, the literacy component is 
viewed as necessary but not with 
the same level of appreciation as 
the SFP program. Challenges with 
duplication with TTR at the outset 
led to redesign that shifted from 
literacy to literacy and learning 
promotion. Also, coordination with 
the TTR project disrupted the 
synchronization of the McGovern￾Dole 2017 implementation as it 
relates to rollout of the two 
components of the program.
Satisfactory ● Similar to the McGovern-Dole 2012 program design, the SFP 
component of McGovern-Dole 2017 remains highly relevant 
and in line with the GoK policies and strategic aims.
● The literacy and learning promotion component had to be re￾designed to address potential duplication with the USAID 
Time to Read project, which worked in the same schools as 
McGovern-Dole 2017, and the redesign shifted away from 
literacy to promotion of literacy and learning. The project 
does not teach literacy techniques to teachers but focuses on 
positive discipline techniques.
● Combined with the fact that McGovern-Dole 2017 does not 
teach improved literacy techniques to teachers and the fact 
that TTR is working in the same schools on literacy, it will be 
hard for the design to have any attribution for the learning 
outcomes unless there is a comparative approach used at the 
evaluation stage to compare McGovern-Dole 2017 schools 
with TTR schools that do not participate in McGovern-Dole 
2017 or McGovern-Dole 2012.
Effectiveness Conclusion Rating Observations
The monitoring and evaluation 
data confirm that McGovern-Dole 
2017 is by in large is achieving 
many of its milestones and is on 
target to achieve most pre￾established aims. However, there 
were issues relative to the literacy 
and learning component and the 
infrastructure work that require 
some attention and reflection from 
MC leadership.
Moderately 
Satisfactory
● Most of the indicators are at 45% or above. In fact, several 
have surpassed the targeted levels.
● No winterization or WASH infrastructure projects have been 
conducted to date.
● The SFP component seems to be outperforming the literacy 
and learning component. In fact, the literacy and learning 
component alone is solidly in the moderately satisfactory, 
while the Winterization and WASH infrastructure is the only 
factor that brought the SFP component into the moderately 
satisfactory category.
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Efficiency Conclusion Rating Observations
McGovern-Dole 2017 is performing 
well across all the dimensions of 
efficiency. The evaluation data 
shows solid financial and personnel 
management performance; in 
addition, the MC leadership has 
been extremely adaptive and 
innovative in the face of high-level 
issues with sub-recipients’
withdrawal, component, re-design 
commodities, and the closure of 
McGovern-Dole 2012.
Satisfactory ● This is an outstanding commodity problem that could leave 
many schools without one of the preferred commodity 
basket items, flour.
● The program is performing well in terms of efficiency in terms 
of financial and personnel management.
● The service contract approach provides strong advantages in 
terms of reduced cost and bringing capacity to the local level; 
however, contractors lose the right to benefits and job 
security.
● The kitchen rehab contribution was not a problem for the 
most; however, MC is shifting from the grant approach to a 
needs-based approach for future WASH projects.
● MC will be integrating oversight and management of the two 
components, which it was not doing before STCs withdrawal 
from Central Asia.
Recommendations
Relevance Recommendations Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
7. MC should also be clear with nomenclature and avoid calling the promotion 
activities a literacy component when TTR is clearly a literacy-focused project 
working in the same schools.
January 2020 MC and 
literacy team
8. MC should organize a meeting with the GOK, school reps, to take stock of the 
literacy and learning promotion activities and determine the appropriate way 
forward to maximize the outcomes associated with this element of McGovern￾Dole 2017. Acceleration of activities may not be enough to yield meaningful 
results.
ASAP GoK, School 
Reps, MC
9. Gender training is a critical step in ensuring that staff considers gender and 
diversity in their daily work and planning. It will be important for each of the staff 
to reflect and document how they individually will integrate what they have 
learned from the training into their work at the individual or component level.
ASAP MC
10. It will also be necessary for McGovern-Dole 2017 program and support staff to 
hold a workshop to determine how they will integrate findings from the gender 
assessment into the program during the final years of the project.
Once gender 
assessment 
complete
MC
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11. MC should consider the recommendations from the program participants and 
assess what they can include in the next two years of program implementation, 
and the rest that is deemed relevant but unfeasible should be included in a report 
that MC will share with GoK regarding the status of their work, close preparations 
and key recommendations for the GoK as the continue the SFP leadership without 
donor support.
September 
2020
MC
12. USAID and USDA should ensure that duplication is avoided and addressed 
between USG-funded projects at the proposal stage through a systematic 
verification and validation mechanism.
ASAP USAID and 
USDA
Effectiveness Recommendations Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
10. SBC has no literacy component; MC should look at integrating literacy into the 
SBC planning and activities to the degree possible. (10/7/19, MC staff)
April 2020 MC,
11. (1)The impact study should be designed based on the results of the ongoing 
household study and should include clear questions regarding the SBC activities 
that occurred in the communities, their impact in addition to the questions 
regarding knowledge and behaviors at the household level. (2) Also, Literacy 
should be included in the impact study to look at community-level knowledge and 
behaviors linked to learning and literacy promotion at the community level.
May 2020 MC
12. MC will have to be very aggressive in the final two years of the project in order to 
ensure that all Infrastructure projects are completed in a timely and effective 
manner. It will be important to develop a very clear, well-coordinated strategy 
with the infrastructure team with external oversight from an external oversight 
from an infrastructure expert.
May 2020 MC
13. The evaluation data suggest extensive analysis/assessment is required of whether 
schools have received a comprehensive literacy and learning promotion package. 
In addition, as MC is merging the monitoring data from the literacy and learning 
promotion component into their databases, some work should be done to 
validate the quality and accuracy of that data.
April 2020 MC
14. MC senior leadership needs to apply some of the lessons learned from the SFP to 
the literacy and learning component regarding follow-up coaching and 
monitoring. Improved coordination and integrated management of the two 
components will also be important moving forward.
January 2020 MC
15. The findings suggest that McGovern-Dole 2017 needs to provide some support to 
schools for developing strategies for schools and the GoK to successfully manage 
infrastructure projects including the budget, oversight and quality control
September 
2020
MC
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16. MC should consider providing guidance and recommendations for schools and 
GoK/MoES (1) regarding regulations for the grading and staffing requirements for 
school nutrition programs and (2) administrative timeline and process for schools 
to submit paperwork for nutrition staff to be graded and salaried appropriately 
on time. Both these actions should help to address the challenges raised relates 
related to workload and salary.
September 
2020
MC
17. MoES Ministry level infrastructure is lacking, all school nutrition and teacher 
training relies on one person; MC, WFP, and USDA to advocate and support the 
construction of a MoES team that can fully oversee responsibilities for SFP as they 
prepare for the closeout and handover
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA and 
GoK
18. MC, WFP, GoK, and USDA need to develop an exit and hand over strategy for all 
SFP interventions as they prepare to closeout. The sustainability model 
mentioned in McGovern-Dole 2017 guidance, as well as recommendations for 
MoES staffing and all other issues, should be addressed in the exit strategy.
ASAP MC, WFP, 
USDA and 
GoK
Efficiency Recommendation Timeline and 
Prioritization
Duty Bearer
5. If MC and the GoK is not able to find a solution for the banning flour that has tested 
positive for GMOs by the GoK, it should prepare a strategy with the GoK of how 
they will inform schools well in advance so that they can prepare for the change in 
the commodity basket that the schools will receive.
ASAP MC, USDA, 
and GOK
6. MC should employ the best practices in oversight/monitoring and 
sustained/remote engagement across the components by conducting joint 
monitoring visits for Literacy and learning as well as SFP and introducing WhatsApp 
groups to the literacy and learning engagement and learning model.
January 2019 MC
7. MC should consider a limited benefits package that can be offered to contractors 
that will provide some support for healthcare and consideration of sick days.
June 2020 MC
8. MC leadership should consider reinforcing the SBC and governance liaisons with 
regional/provincial level focal points to help expand the effectiveness and impact 
of the program and SBC activities.
February 2019 MC
Lessons Learned
Relevance Lessons Learned
1. When the problem with duplication between McGovern-Dole 2017 and TTR was identified, MC/STC should 
have worked with the GoK and other beneficiaries to find to identify and validate a revised approach and 
activities to ensure GoK and beneficiary buy-in. It is critical to work program stakeholders like GoK and 
USAID early on to determine the program redesign to encourage the best outcomes. For example, MC, 
USDA should have sought GoK regarding whether the literacy component should have been abandoned or 
shifted to math, arts, etc. Meaningful discussion with the beneficiaries would have led to a less convoluted 
result than a literacy and learning promotion component that is hard to distinguish from the TTR program 
results, and that creates confusion at the beneficiary level.
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2. It is excellent that MC has conducted gender training, and in the process of conducting the assessment, it 
will be pivotal that the training and assessments are used to inform program structure and 
implementation.
Effectiveness Lessons Learned
1. There is a disparity between the effectiveness of the SFP and literacy and learning components that are 
linked to the attempts to address concerns regarding duplication with TTR at the outset of the project and 
the fact the SFP and Literacy and learning components are managed like to separate projects.
2. The MC monitoring approach and the WhatsApp group are management and oversight tools that should 
be replicated across both components.
3. No Winterization or WASH infrastructure projects have been conducted thus far. Therefore, a substantial 
amount remains to be done in the remaining two years of the project. There were issues with the kitchen 
rehabilitation efforts that should be considered in developing a strategy for future infrastructure projects.
Efficiency Lessons Learned
1. MC should always fully integrate the coordination and implementation of the McGovern-Dole activities, 
regardless of the partner or agency background, to ensure consistent implementation, quality control and 
complete information in real-time.
2. Many of MC SFP oversight and monitoring best practices can be transferred to the literacy and learning 
component to improve the quality and consistency of implementation.
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Annex 1: Indicator Results 
Results from October 2017 up to and including September 2019
Indicator LoP Target Result to date Status
Number of educational facilities (i.e. school buildings, 
classrooms, and latrines) rehabilitated/constructed as a 
result of USDA assistance (kitchens)
329 251 76.3%
Number of schools using an improved water source 413 411 99.5%
Number of schools using an improved water source 
(water filtration systems) 130 135 103.8%
Number of educational facilities (i.e. school buildings, 
classrooms, and latrines) rehabilitated/constructed as a 
result of USDA assistance (schools)
50 0 0.0%
Number of educational policies, regulations, or 
administrative procedures in each of the following 
stages of development as a result of USDA assistance 
(stage 1)
3 1 33.3%
Number of educational policies, regulations, or 
administrative procedures in each of the following 
stages of development as a result of USDA assistance 
(stage 2)
2 1 50.0%
Number of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) or 
similar “school” governance structures supported as a 
result of USDA assistance
413 221 53.5%
Number of public-private partnerships formed as a 
result of USDA assistance (education) 453 327 72.2%
Value of new public and private sector investments 
leveraged as a result of USDA assistance 479,000 954330 199.2%
Value of new public and private sector investments 
leveraged as a result of USDA assistance (host 
government)
323,200 817336 252.9%
Value of new public and private sector investments 
leveraged as a result of USDA assistance (private sector) 155,800 131082 84.1%
Value of new public and private sector investments 
leveraged as a result of USDA assistance (other public 
sector)
0 5912 n/a
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Percent of students who, by the end of two grades of 
primary schooling, demonstrate that they can read and 
understand the meaning of grade level text
49 n/a n/a
Number of textbooks and other teaching and learning 
materials provided as a result of USDA assistance 34,699 17997 51.9%
Number of daily school meals (breakfast, snack, lunch) 
provided to school-age children as a result of USDA 
assistance
37,300,000 9260121 24.8%
Number of individuals benefiting directly from USDA￾funded interventions 93906 102431 109.1%
Number of individuals benefiting directly from USDA￾funded interventions (new) n/a n/a n/a
Number of individuals benefiting directly from USDA￾funded interventions (continuing) n/a n/a n/a
Number of Individuals benefitting directly from USDA￾funded interventions (water filters) 26,520 31372 118.3%
Number of individuals benefiting indirectly from USDA￾funded interventions 133,000 143037 107.5%
Number of school-age children receiving daily school 
meals (breakfast, snack, lunch) as a result of USDA 
assistance
88,730 95358 107.5%
Number of school-age children receiving daily school 
meals (breakfast, snack, lunch) as a result of USDA 
assistance (new)
n/a n/a n/a
Number of school-age children receiving daily school 
meals (breakfast, snack, lunch) as a result of USDA 
assistance (continuing)
n/a n/a n/a
Number of social assistance beneficiaries participating 
in productive safety nets as a result of USDA assistance 88,730 95358 107.5%
Number of students enrolled in schools receiving USDA 
assistance 88,730 95358 107.5%
Number of students regularly (80%) attending USDA 
supported classrooms/schools 79857 53590 67.1%
Number of individuals trained in safe food preparation 
and storage as a result of USDA assistance 329 408 124.0%
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Number of individuals trained in safe food preparation 
and storage as a result of USDA assistance (male) n/a 11 n/a
Number of individuals trained in safe food preparation 
and storage as a result of USDA assistance (female) n/a 397 n/a
Number of individuals trained in safe food preparation 
and storage as a result of USDA assistance (safe drinking 
water technology)
130 459 353.1%
Number of individuals who demonstrate use of new safe 
food preparation and storage practices as a result of 
USDA assistance
230 109 47.4%
Number of individuals trained in child health and 
nutrition as a result of USDA assistance 121 290 239.7%
Number of individuals who demonstrate use of new 
child health and nutrition practices as a result of USDA 
assistance
84 n/a n/a
Number of school administrators and officials trained or 
certified as a result of USDA assistance 1,021 435 42.6%
Number of school administrators and officials trained or 
certified as a result of USDA assistance (safe drinking 
water technology)
260 146 56.2%
Number of school administrators and officials in target 
schools who demonstrate use of new techniques or 
tools as a result of USDA assistance
714 215 30.1%
Number of teachers/educators/teaching assistants 
trained or certified as a result of USDA assistance 1,290 2045 158.5%
Number of teachers/educators/teaching assistants in 
target schools who demonstrate use of new and quality 
teaching techniques or tools as a result of USDA 
assistance
645 95 14.7%
Number of community-based change agents trained 2,105 872 41.4%
Number of informational ads distributed through local 
media (TV, social media, etc.) 36 55 152.8%
Number of child-friendly reading corners supplied with 
materials as result of USDA assistance 2,580 1175 45.5%
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Number of librarians trained or certified as a result of 
USDA assistance 310 207 66.8%
Number of cluster-level follow-up workshops 
conducted 87 23 26.4%
Number of reading festivals held by Parent-Teacher 
Associations or similar school governance structures 42 14 33.3%
Number of parents/caregivers provided with support as 
a result of USDA assistance 6,450 3000 46.5%
Number of home-made books competitions conducted 
in target schools 430 118 27.4%
Number of filtration systems installed 130 135 103.8%
Percentage of the installed filtration systems 
adequately operated and maintained by the school they 
serve
70 n/a n/a
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Annex 2: Program Map
The map below shows the location of the 350-program school added in 2018-2019 program years in all seven 
provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic
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Annex 3: Terms of Reference
McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition 2017-2021
Midterm Evaluation
Mercy Corps is seeking a team lead to plan for and conduct a midterm evaluation (MTE) for the McGovern￾Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition 2017-2021 program funded by the US Department of Agriculture 
(USDA). This Midterm Evaluation is commissioned by Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan.
Date: Aug 6, 2019
1) Program to be Evaluated
McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program
Funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Implemented between October 2017 and May 2021
This Evaluation will cover the implementation period of October 2017 – August 2019
2) Purpose of the Evaluation
This Midterm Evaluation will serve to assess the following:
● Progress towards indicator targets established at baseline;
● Relevance and effectiveness of program interventions to date;
● Quality and efficiency Implementation; and
● Incorporation of lessons learned and recommendations from previous McGovern-Dole evaluations.
The findings will be used to develop mid-course corrections and inform all key stakeholders on Program’s 
progress. For this reason, the main focus of the MTE will be effectiveness and generating actionable lessons 
learned.
3) Background
Mercy Corps has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1994. For over fifteen years, Mercy Corps has been providing 
nutritional and technical support to education institutions in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, including public 
schools, kindergartens, and vocational schools. Since 2017, Mercy Corps has served as the implementing 
partner of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child 
Nutrition program (McGovern-Dole). This program will run until 2021 and supports the National School Feeding 
Program developed by the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), which is a key stakeholder for this 
program.
In 2017-2019, Mercy Corps supported 221 public schools across the country by providing over 2,000 metric 
tons of supplementary commodities (enriched flour, rice, split peas, and vegetable oil) to prepare daily hot 
meals for over 50,000 primary grade children. In the new 2019 school year, MC plans to enroll another 200 
schools with almost 40,000 primary grade students into the program.
Another important program activity is rehabilitation of school kitchens and purchasing new kitchen equipment 
to enable them to serve hot meals to primary grade students on a regular basis. Mercy Corps also provide a 
number of infrastructure grants based on school needs, including construction or repair of sanitation and 
handwashing facilities, installation of heating systems and improved windows, etc. All infrastructure grants and 
kitchen rehabilitation are supported by local community contributions.
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Aside from providing commodities and infrastructure support for a successful school feeding program, Mercy 
Corps also builds and improves capacity of key stakeholders through a series of workshops and trainings on 
program management for members of school administrations, local government, and other beneficiaries. 
Moreover, Mercy Corps works with parents of primary school children to improve nutrition and hygiene 
behaviors at home through a network of trained community activists who distributed up-to-date information 
on key nutrition and hygiene topics.
Last but not least, all cooks working in the target schools attended professional courses to upgrade their skills 
with a focus on child nutrition and learn safe food preparation and storage methods.
4) Evaluation Design
i. Evaluation Methodology
The evaluation methodology will be a non-experimental study that will employ several collection tools to 
explore program results related to key program indicators, and to answer evaluation questions listed above.
Bidding evaluation entity is required to design and propose evaluation methodology including, but not limited 
to the following data collection methods:
· Quantitative analysis of existing monitoring data collected throughout the program against set 
indicator targets;
· Semi-structured interviews with key program staff, stakeholders from MoES and other relevant 
government bodies at district and community level;
· Structured interviews and observations carried out in a sample of program schools42;
· Document review;
· Qualitative methods such as contribution analysis, to understand the effectiveness of program 
interventions and how they led to the observed changes.
The details of the evaluation approach, including methods and design, will be further discussed and negotiated 
with the selected evaluation entity.
ii. Existing Program Information Sources
Mercy Corps will provide the selected evaluation entity with the following documents and data to support 
carrying out agreed upon evaluation activities:
· McGovern-Dole 2017 proposal narrative and annexes;
· McGovern-Dole 2017 annual workplans;
· McGovern-Dole 2017 M&E Plan;
· McGovern-Dole 2017 baseline data and report;
· Biannual donor reports;
· Performance Management Plan containing information on program indicators and data 
collection methodology and tools;
· List of beneficiary educational institutions and key stakeholders;
· Program databases with information on participating schools, conducted trainings, grants 
and commodities provided;
 
42Appropriate sample size and sampling approach should be suggested by the consultant upon document review; it should be taken into 
consideration that the program is implemented in all 7 oblasts in the country. 
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· Indicator-specific databases, namely: school enrollment, attendance, number of meals 
provided, usage of provided food commodities;
· Monthly reports from the field monitoring team with qualitative information on program 
implementation quality;
· Grant agreements for kitchen rehabilitation and infrastructure projects;
· Program success stories;
· Training materials on WASH, good nutrition, and other topics covered during the program.
5) Team Composition, Roles & Responsibilities
This evaluation will be led by an independent consultant working in cooperation with the MC MEL Manager, 
key program staff (including Country and Programs Directors), government officials, and beneficiary 
institutions and individuals.
To successfully carry out this assignment, the consultant is expected to meet the following criteria:
· Lead Evaluator/Team Leader with at least 10-15 years of evaluation experience, particularly of long￾term development programs and complex and dynamic contexts;
· Experience with evaluating food assistance and/or school feeding programs will be a significant 
advantage;
· Expertise in designing mixed-methods evaluations and data collection tools, including providing 
training, troubleshooting during data collection, and conducting interviews and/or FGDs.
In addition to the technical skills and expertise outlined above, it would be advantageous to have the following:
· Technical expertise in nutrition, child nutrition, or food security;
· Knowledge of and field experience in the Kyrgyz Republic;
· Previous experience with carrying out evaluation assignments for USDA;
· Previous experience with Mercy Corps;
· Experience with programs based in educational institutions, particularly in the post-Soviet space.
For the data collection, MC Kyrgyzstan has a dedicated team of external local enumerators and interviewers 
that will carry out all required data collection assigned by the Team Leader.
i. Chart of Responsibilities
Level of Effort43
(workdays)
Activity Stakeholder
1 day Finalize MTE scope of work and timeframe Evaluation team, MC MEL Manager 
and key staff
2 days Conduct document review Evaluation team
5 days Develop evaluation methodology and necessary 
data collection tools
Evaluation team
 
43 Suggested Level of Effort should be used by the bidding evaluation entity to estimate budget based on the daily rates for the suggested 
team members and other associated expenses. 
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3 days Develop inception report outlining methodology, 
data collection plan and tools
Evaluation team
1 day Plan logistics: domestic travel, translators, 
translation of evaluation tools, drivers, vehicles, etc.
MC KG staff in coordination with HQ 
Desk and Evaluation team
½ day In-country briefing with the key program staff Team Leader, MC MEL Manager and 
key staff
4 days Train data collection team; test and finalize data 
collection instruments
Team Leader, Evaluation team
18 days Implement data collection (KIIs, FGDs, site visits and 
observations); simultaneous data entry
Evaluation team
½ day Post-fieldwork briefing with the key program staff Team Leader, MC MEL Manager and 
key staff
5 days Analyze data, including data provided by MC Team Leader, Evaluation team
5 days Prepare draft evaluation report Team Leader, Evaluation team
3 days Second draft Team Leader, Evaluation team
2 days Report finalization and presentation Team Leader
6) Description of Deliverables
i. Preliminary Schedule
The activities listed in the table above with the suggested level of effort should be carried out within the 
following preliminary timeline:
Document review, methodology design, tools development, inception report 
drafting and review
September 2019
Inception report submission with the data collection plan and finalized tools; 
in-country training of the data collection team
Last week of September 
2019
Field data collection in-country, including training on tools (3 weeks) October 2019
Data analysis and report drafting November 2019
Final MTE Report submission December 16, 2019
Exact dates for key deliverables and the overall evaluation timeframe will be discussed with the selected 
evaluation entity and specified in the contract.
ii. Report Structure & Content
The report must be written in English and follow the structure outlined below:
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● Cover Page, List of Acronyms
● Table of Contents
● Executive Summary: This section should be a clear and concise stand-alone document that 
gives readers the essential contents of the evaluation report, including a summary of major 
findings, lessons learned, and recommendations.
● Methodology: This section should be sufficiently detailed to help the reader judge the accuracy 
of the report and its findings.
● Limitations: This section should address constraints and limitations of the methodology, and 
the implications of these limitations for the findings, including whether and why any of the 
evaluation findings are inconclusive.
● Results: This section should provide a clear assessment of progress with respect to indicators 
/ targets / objectives and evaluation questions.
● Synthesis, Recommendations, and Lessons Learned: This is space for the evaluation team to 
think about the data and results and make concrete recommendations for current or future 
program improvements, pull out organization lessons learned, and generally comment on 
data and results.
● Conflicts of Interest: Disclose any conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of 
interest, including the interest of program staff in having a successful program.
● Annexes: These should include a complete file of data collection instruments in English and 
translations; list of stakeholder groups with number and type of interactions; TOR, data 
collection protocols used, etc.
The evaluation team is also required to submit cleaned datasets and original transcripts of all primary data 
collected for this evaluation and all photographs taken during field visits in electronic format.
7) Stakeholder Involvement and Plans for Dissemination
The key audiences for this FE will be USDA, MC program management and staff, local community and 
government partners such as the MoES and MoH, whose activities will be addressed in the evaluation, and 
other actors working to improve child nutrition and educational environment Kyrgyzstan.
MC Kyrgyzstan Senior Management Team will discuss the results and recommendations of this midterm 
evaluation and make a plan to address them to the extent possible during the remaining implementation 
period.
The midterm evaluation findings and recommendations, as well as the action plan, will be an important part of 
the final evaluation preliminary scheduled for the Spring 2021.
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CONTACT
UMA KANDALAEVA
Country Director | Kyrgyzstan
ukandalaeva@mercycorps.org
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization
powered by the belief that a better world is 
possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 
countries around the world, we partner to put bold 
solutions into action — helping people triumph over 
adversity and build stronger communities from 
within. 
Now, and for the future.
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Portland, Oregon 97204
888.842.0842
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