Evaluation’s Role in Development Projects: Boosting Energy Efficiency in a Traditional Industry in Chad

Abstract This chapter illustrates the critical importance of evaluation in development projects. It explores the relevance, processes, and specifics of a project to introduce energy-efficient cook stoves in two traditional industries in Chad. Although Chad benefits from great solar potential given its location and being a Sahelian country, biomass accounted for 94% of the primary energy supply in 2008, and only 2.2% of Chadian households have access to electricity. The beer brewing and meat grilling sectors in particular use enormous quantities of limited and expensive firewood. Locally developed energy-efficient stoves for the two targeted sectors were available, but those technologies had not been commercialized and disseminated into the Chadian market. The project aimed to overcome issues of technology, financing, dissemination, resistance to change, and awareness to introduce and establish use of energy-efficient stoves in micro-scale food processing to achieve environmental and economic benefits, discussing the effectiveness of models introduced and adopted by project beneficiaries with related training. This chapter considers issues related to the project’s financing and sustainability and concludes with lessons provided by the evaluation, including engagement with targeted beneficiaries, awareness of local context, and consideration of size and scale for a demonstration project that can be scaled up in future programs.