Participatory Evaluation of Rural Development Programmes: a Qualitative Approach in the Case of Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings in Greece

The assessment of Rural Development Policy results and impacts is a very difficult and complicated process owing to the compound and multisectoral nature of the countryside. It is assumed that the assessment of Rural Development Programme impacts, in the way it is applied nowadays, is not able to satisfy the need for a deep and useful evaluation. The outcomes of evaluation should be a major tool for policy design. The Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF), which was introduced by the EU for the evaluation of Rural Development Programmes is criticized as a very “economic indicator” oriented system. Many data are required for the calculation of CMEF indicators, which are not available in a lot of EU member states. This research aims to identify problems and shortcomings occurred during the phases of rural development policy design, implementation and evaluation, which influence the success of such policy programmes. Based on a previous research, where network analysis was applied, the researchers made an attempt to examine the problems with the use of in-depth interviews and focus group. Measure for the modernisation of agricultural holdings in Greece was used as a case study. Complexity in processes, bureaucracy, delays, lack of data at regional and national level, lack “evaluation culture” seem to be the most crucial factors of failure.