Lapses, infidelities, and creative adaptations: Lessons from evaluation of a participatory market development approach in the Andes

Abstract

Chapter 13 (Horton et al.) tries to assess the impact of a PMCA. The chapter provides a clear example in which neither experimental nor quasi-experimental approaches could be implemented. In PMCA, practitioners gather various market-chain actors together to brainstorm ideas for new agricultural products and better ways to market existing crops. PMCA was created both to link smallholders to markets through innovation, and to evaluate participatory interventions. Chapter 13 (Horton et al.) evaluates eight PMCA interventions, four of which they exclude from in-depth analysis because of significant departures from the PMCA protocol.