CGIAR Asian Mega-Deltas Climate expert on the evaluation of an NZD 18.6 million agri-food systems research initiative in Asia’s river deltas, for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
We delivered for:
Independent evaluation of CGIAR’s Asian Mega-Deltas initiative for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), delivered through DT Global.
The assignment
ClientNew Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), through DT Global
ProgrammeCGIAR Research Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas, NZD 18.6 million
CountriesBangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Viet Nam
Year2026
Our roleClimate expert, desk-based evaluation
Food security in low-lying deltas
Deltas under pressure
Asia’s mega-deltas grow much of the region’s rice and feed millions of people, yet they are low-lying and exposed to floods, drought, salinity and sea level rise. Flooded rice paddies are also a major source of methane, so the way delta farmers manage water matters for both adaptation and emissions.
An independent view for the funder
CGIAR’s Asian Mega-Deltas initiative researches agri-food systems in the deltas, with practices such as alternate wetting and drying of rice fields. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded the initiative and needed an independent view of whether it delivered its climate and food security objectives, and at what value for money.
Climate outcomes, commitments and policy fit
Desk review of design and evidence
A review of the initiative’s proposal, theory of change and results framework, and its annual technical reports for 2022, 2023 and 2024, against the evaluation’s terms of reference.
Climate outcomes
Technical input on climate change adaptation, resilience and environmental sustainability: analysis of climate-related outcomes, including emissions, resilience and adaptation measures, and of environmental risks and long-term impacts.
National climate commitments
The initiative’s core practices, including alternate wetting and drying, mid-season drainage, the System of Rice Intensification, methane reduction in wet rice and climate-smart agriculture, traced through the NDCs of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Viet Nam, with the verbatim commitment and section reference for each. Viet Nam’s 2022 NDC update and Bangladesh’s 2021 NDC name alternate wetting and drying explicitly; Cambodia’s NDC 3.0 sets a 90,000-hectare target for intermittent flooding, with every agriculture measure conditional on international support; Indonesia’s second NDC commits to intermittent irrigation.
New Zealand policy fit
An assessment of the initiative’s design and outputs against three New Zealand policy documents: the International Climate Finance Strategy (August 2022), the International Cooperation for Effective Sustainable Development policy statement and the ASEAN Regional Plan (February 2025).
Findings and recommendations
Climate considerations integrated into the evaluation team’s findings and recommendations to the funder.
Services used on the evaluation
Monitoring, evaluation and learning
Projects in the library
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