SAGA PROGRESS REPORT (12/03-12/04) &
UPCOMING WORKPLAN (1/05-12/05)

1. USAID Missions: 10 USAID Mission personnel were sent a questionnaire concerning their awareness of the SAGA research and technical assistance, the consistency of the SAGA research with Mission interests and priorities, and the responsiveness of the SAGA team to Mission requests. We have received 4 completed questionnaires. Their responses to all the questions were largely in strong agreement (49.2%) or agreement (39.0%); there were 11.9% responses that the respondents did not know. There were no disagreements.
   
   
2. Research Collaborators: SISERA personnel were contacted regarding interest in SAGA research and collaborations, and quality and relevance of research. Two of 8 respondents have returned the questionnaire. Their responses to 12 questions were largely in strong agreement (70.8%) or agreement (25.0%).
   
   
3. Stakeholders: 35 individuals were sent a questionnaire to evaluate their awareness of the SAGA research effort, the relevance of the research questions and output, and the impacts on policy. 14 completed the questionnaire: the overall responses to this questionnaire were agreeable: 44.4% of the answers indicated strong agreement and 34.6% were in agreement.
   
   
4. Questionnaires were sent to attendees of three workshops: “Ghana at the Half Century (ISSER/Cornell)” (172 attendees); “Qualitative and Quantitative Methods of Poverty Analysis (KIPPRA/Cornell)” (36 attendees); and “African Development and Poverty Reduction: The Macro-Micro Linkage (DPRU/TIPS/Cornell)” (186 attendees). The questionnaires had several questions about the meetings — how well organized was the meeting, how informative and relevant to the participant’s interests, and whether attendance was expected to lead to long-term skill enhancement or enhancement of research/output. At total of 76 questionnaires were completed. Twenty-nine (38.2%) strongly agreed that their attendance at the workshop had enhanced their understanding of the meeting topic; 42 (55.3%) agreed with this statement. The only question that elicited much disagreement was one asking whether the workshop provided enough time for hands-on learning. Twenty-six percent of the respondents disagreed, desiring more time spent with instructors.
   
   
5. Small Grants Recipients: The recipients of SAGA small grants (20) were sent questionnaires inquiring about the nature of the recipient’s experience with the SISERA institution, the quality of the collaboration, and possibility for future collaboration. To date, 11 of these individuals have responded. These recipients reported very positively: 51.9% of the responses indicated strong agreement; 36.4% of the responses showed agreement.
   
   
6. Host Institutions: A questionnaire for each recipient of a small grant was submitted to the host institution. Directors of the institutions were asked to evaluate the recipient’s performance, whether administrative arrangements were satisfactory, and their interest level in future participation in the program. Twelve institutions were contacted who have hosted the 20 recipients. We have received 4 evaluations thus far. Three of the four evaluations agreed that this was a positive experience (two strongly agreed), and the other one neither agreed nor disagreed.
   

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