Fredonia Agriculture Spreadsheet
USAID/EGAT's Office of Economic Growth sponsored an introductory course on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for USAID officers twice in 2009, first in September and again in December. The course, led by former USAID economist Dr. Richard Harber, provides an overview of the theory and mechanics of conducting cost-benefit analysis of projects, particularly in the USAID context. The course addresses the project cycle, from project design and appraisal, to project implementation and ex-post evaluation, reinforcing the differences between private and public investment projects, and introducing different approaches to identifying, estimating and valuing economic costs and benefits.
Dr. Mark Gallagher presented case studies on evaluating the benefits of two types of institutional reform programs: the first, an administration of justice project, based on a project designed for USAID/El Salvador in the early 1990s; and second, a business environment reform program, which focused on a recently completed USAID project in the Republic of Georgia. Other case presenters included Paul Mulligan from USAID's Energy office, who presented on evaluating the design of a biomass electricity project in Liberia; and Theresa Osborne, of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, on the MCC's approach to CBA in evaluating projects in MCC compact countries.
Course materials are available for download. These include projects in the roads, agriculture and water sectors.