Evaluación de impacto del ahorro autogestivo en Querétaro: el caso del proyecto Cosecha Colectiva

This article presents the evaluation of the Cosecha Colectiva project, which advances rural development in Queretaro by promoting self-managed savings groups. It pursues two objectives: a) to assess the social impact achieved in participating communities, and b) to demonstrate the utility of three formativeevaluation tools (teoría del cambio –theory of change or ToC–, a “small wins” log, and failure reporting) for measuring short-termimpacts in applied research. A mixed-methods design combined document review, semi-structured interviews, participatoryworkshops, and situated reflection by the implementation team. The results indicate the consolidation of 19 self-managed groups led predominantly by women, the mobilization of more than four million pesos in internal loans, and the incorporation of the model into educational settings. Evidence of technologyadoption dynamics and external support through funding was also observed. The findings confirm the project’s impact anddemonstrate the feasibility of tracking short-term indicators using the selected tools; accordingly, their integration into publicuniversities’ evaluation procedures is proposed.