MSI Completes Landmark Trade Evaluation Report for USAID

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(18 July 2011) A team of evaluation experts from Coffey International Limited subsidiary Managment Systems International (MSI) and the University of Pittsburgh recently completed a landmark evaluation of U.S. “aid for trade” assistance to developing countries. It concludes that USAID and U.S. government programs have contributed significantly to trade capacity building (TCB). The evaluation found U.S. assistance to be statistically associated with measurable increases in the value of recipient countries exports.

These findings will be presented at the World Trade Organization’s Third Global Review of Aid For Trade on July 18th and 19th in Geneva. USAID’s Deputy Administrator for the Bureau of Economic Growth and Trade Eric Postel is leading the U.S. delegation and will be discussing the evaluation results. The WTO event will look at what has been achieved by developing countries as they have mainstreamed trade into their national development strategies and will assess the impact of donor resources.

The evaluation results found an association between the delivery of U.S. foreign assistance and increases in the value of recipient country exports. The study examined USAID trade assistance focused on private sector export expansion, trade enhancement policy reforms, increased participation in trade agreements and efficiency gains from trade facilitation assistance.

The evaluation determined that each additional $1 invested by USAID increases the value of developing country exports by $42 two years later.

USAID trade capacity building projects consistently achieved all or nearly all of their performance targets. The study found the best results occurred when using a combination of training, technical assistance and equipment, applying proven approaches for integrating improvements along each step of the process or promoting a public-private sector dialogue.

The report highlighted opportunities for improving the monitoring and evaluation of trade capacity building assistance, including more systematic use of a causal model of intended USAID trade capacity building results.

The evaluation is detailed in the report From Aid to Trade: Delivering Results/A Cross-Country Evaluation of USAID Trade Capacity Building, which can be found in the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) in three forms. The overall report presents the findings of a three-phase, cross-country evaluation of U.S. government trade capacity building, with a special focus on USAID. A smaller, summary report is also available. A third volume provides a broader look at aid for trade assistance delivered by U.S. government agencies.