Community Driven Development in the Philippines

Researchers partnered with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) to conduct a randomized evaluation of the impact of the KC program on multiple outcomes, including access to key services, the quantity and quality of participation in local governance around decision-making and implementation, and knowledge and awareness of local governance. The survey sample consisted of 198 villages (one randomly selected per municipality) and 5,940 households (thirty randomly selected per village). The 198 municipalities were paired within each province based on similar characteristics (99 pairs) and then randomly assigned through public lotteries to receive the KC program or serve as a comparison group.

The KC program trained the communities and their local governments, both at the village and municipal levels, in choosing, designing, and implementing public projects called “sub-projects." This was done through a five-stage program known as the KC Community Empowerment Activity Cycle (CEAC). Roughly one-third of villages receive sub-projects each year, although some villages may have received multiple sub-projects and others none over the course of the project. Most sub-projects are programmed to be implemented within six months; thus the stages of preparation, funding, and implementation generally took nine to twelve months and were called a cycle. The same process was repeated over three one-year cycles, with cycles two and three having a condensed CEAC phase since communities had already become familiar with the project and process.

Data for the estimate of outcomes and impacts of KC came from multiple rounds of data collection exercises, each involving several instruments including a household survey, village survey, a Structured Community Activity, qualitative focus groups, and qualitative key informant interviews. Each round of data collection was implemented by Philippines-based survey firms and overseen by the Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines and IPA.