Annabel Jackson Associates
Annabel Jackson Associates are experts in enterprise and evaluation. IGA and AJA have worked together for many years.
IGA, in partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates, was commissioned by Kilimo Trust to undertake an evaluation of the performance and impact of MATF which, by the time of the evaluation, had provided 66 grants to 55 projects.
MATF had been evaluated on many occasions and, at least at project level, appeared to have been pretty successful; Kilimo Trust was keen, however, "to evaluate MATF's success in spreading the lessons of the project more widely and to explore the extent to which MATF might have achieved transformational impact". Overall, we were very positive about the programme and teh difference that it was able to make to small holder farmers and herders.
The Performance Hub explains that improving performance is about achieving more and making more of a
difference. It is not about doing more, but it is about exploring whether things can be done better.
It is not something you do once but part of a continuous process of review and action. The Performance
Hub focuses on improving the overall performance of your organisation using some exciting and useful
approaches.
In partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates, we explored strategy amongst third sector organisations and prepared a 'how-to' guide and a number of very short cases studies. One of the reports that we wrote, Tools for strategic planning: What works best, has been published by the Performance Hub and is available from their website.
BEST - Advocacy Component: longitudinal impact assessment (2010-2015)
Business Environment Strengthening for Tanzania (BEST) was a major programme to promote regulatory and other reform within Government, with several omponents, with one exception all undertaken within government. One compnent, the Advocacy Component, funded by a consortium of donors, was managed outside of the government and existed to support private sector organisations (PSOs) to engage in private public dialogue and to advocate an improved business environment in Tanzania. It launched in 2006 and continued until 2019. In an attempt to explore whether support of this type could make a discernible and sustainiable difference, IGA, in partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates and Coffey (now Tetra Tech) International Development, undertook a five year longitudinal impact assessment funded by DFID (now FCDO). They worked with a small number of 'case study' business associations as well as regularly interviewing public officials and other stakeholders to assess the impact achieved by business associations supported by BEST-AC. Overall, BEST-AC was deemed to have been a success. More information on the programme and its impact is available.Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund (2008)
The Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund (MATF) was an initiative of Farm Africa that operated across Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda and managed from tehir Nairobi office. The goal of MATF was "to improve the livelihoods of rural and peri-urban communities in East Africa through agricultural innovations while enhancing productivity of natural resources". Its purpose was "to generate and promote socially and economically profitable agricultural models that could be replicated in other areas for wider impact". It was launched in 2002 with funding from Gatsby Charitable Foundation (GCF), one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts and Rockefeller Foundation. By 2008, grant support from GCF was being channelled through the Kilimo Trust. Kilimo Trust had started operations in East Africa in 2005 as a research entity and grant-giving organisation to support research that connected science with farmers and was initially itself funded by GCF.IGA, in partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates, was commissioned by Kilimo Trust to undertake an evaluation of the performance and impact of MATF which, by the time of the evaluation, had provided 66 grants to 55 projects.
MATF had been evaluated on many occasions and, at least at project level, appeared to have been pretty successful; Kilimo Trust was keen, however, "to evaluate MATF's success in spreading the lessons of the project more widely and to explore the extent to which MATF might have achieved transformational impact". Overall, we were very positive about the programme and teh difference that it was able to make to small holder farmers and herders.
Evaluating BEST Advocacy Component, Tanzania (2007-2008)
- preparing the monitoring and evaluation framework (2007, with Annabel Jackson Associates);
- undertaking the implementation support review (2008, with Annabel Jackson Associates)
NCVO Performance Hub (2006)

In partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates, we explored strategy amongst third sector organisations and prepared a 'how-to' guide and a number of very short cases studies. One of the reports that we wrote, Tools for strategic planning: What works best, has been published by the Performance Hub and is available from their website.
Incubator workspace feasibility studies (2004-2006)
Working with associate, Annabel Jackson, I undertook feasibility studies for a large number of incubator and managed workspace projects and incubation projects, including:- West Oxfordshire District Council (2005)
- Gravesham District Council (2004)
- Stratford on Avon District Council (2004)
- Wychavon District Council (2004)
- Darlington Borough Council (1999)