EIT Food

Impact Assessment of the Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA) Programme

Open Impact worked with EIT Food to develop a social impact assessment of the Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA) programme, which aims to support female entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector. The programme, active in five countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey), provides training, mentoring and networking opportunities to participants, helping them develop their entrepreneurial skills and overcome gender barriers in the agricultural sector. The evaluation, based on the SROI (Social Return on Investment) methodology, analysed the social, economic and environmental value generated by the programme, focusing on three macro-areas of impact: socio-economic, knowledge and skills, and programme impact.

ADVISORS INVOLVED

Lorenzo Artibani, Mariamaweit Tegegne

Duration

January 2024 – May 2024

Type

Ex-post Impact assessment

Methodological approach

Co-design of the evaluation framework with EIT Food.
Data collection through surveys in five countries.
Integration of SROI methodology to measure social return on investment.
Creation of an interactive dashboard for data visualisation.

Findings

The analysis showed a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of 1.62, with a net social value generated of EUR 4.5 million.

The three main macro-areas of impact showed:

Socio-economic impact, with increased employment and networking opportunities for participants, generating a value of €4.5 million.
Knowledge and skills, with an increase in participants’ entrepreneurial skills, generating a value of 165,000 euros.
Impact of the programme, with an increase in the visibility and credibility of the EWA programme, with a value of EUR 27,000. .