Rural Development Programme 2014–2023: assessing nine years of funding in Wales
The Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014–2023 was one of the Welsh Government’s principal mechanisms for supporting agriculture, environmental management and rural communities in Wales, funded through the European Union’s Rural Development Programme. Following the programme’s closure in 2023, Welsh Government commissioned an ex-post evaluation to provide a final assessment of its delivery, outcomes and impacts.
What we did
Wavehill supported the ex-post evaluation from its earliest stages. We first undertook a scoping study to assess the availability and quality of evidence, identify evaluation priorities and inform the design of the full evaluation.
The subsequent evaluation combined analysis of programme monitoring data, reviews of scheme and project-level evaluations, and interviews with Welsh Government officials and external stakeholders. A central element of the work involved synthesising evidence from multiple scheme-level evaluations to develop an overarching assessment of programme performance.
What we found
The evaluation brought together evidence from across the programme to assess its effectiveness, outcomes and value for money. By drawing together findings from numerous individual evaluations, the work provided a programme-level understanding of how RDP funding had supported agriculture, environmental objectives and rural communities across Wales.
Why it matters
The evaluation provided Welsh Government with a robust assessment of the programme once delivery had concluded and sufficient time had elapsed for impacts to emerge. The findings helped meet accountability requirements and generated lessons to inform the design of future rural development and agricultural support programmes in Wales following the transition away from EU funding.
For more information about this project, contact Endaf Griffiths – endaf.griffiths@wavehill.com.
