Monitoring and Evaluation forWorld Bank AgriculturalResearch and Extension Projects:A Good Practice Note

Haryo M.Vindy TrianyWilliam Eric Manongga

What and Why?• Monitoring and evaluation systems are designed to inform

project management whether implementation is going as planned and whether corrective action is needed to adjust implementation plans.

• Provide evidence of project outcomes and justify project funding allocations

Monitoring Vs Evaluation

Monitoring

• Routine collection of information• Tracking project

implementation progress• Measuring efficiency• Question : “Is the project

doing things right?”

Evaluation

• Analyzing information• Ex-post assessment of

effectiveness and impact• Confirming project

expectation• Measuring impact• Question : “Is the project

doing the right things?”

Problem Issue• The natural uncertainty of research outcomes and technology

adoption and difficulties in establishing timetables for technology development and dissemination.

• Differences in project objectives of each stakeholder

Environmental Scanning

• A high level of pluralism—multiple partners, including farmers, farmers’ organizations, and various public and private sector actors

• Different objectives among stakeholders• Highly decentralized decision-making and information flows• Variable levels of capacity among partners involved in M&E.

Alternative Courses of Action• Implementation-focused approach • does not provide managers, stakeholders, or policy-makers with

an understanding of failure or success of the project in reaching the desired outcomes

• Result-based system• emphasizing project outcomes

Alternative Courses of Action (cont.)• Elements of Implementation Monitoring (traditionally used for projects):• • Description of the problem or situation before the intervention;• • Benchmarks for activities and immediate outputs;• • Data collection on inputs, activities, and immediate outputs;• • Systematic reporting on provision of inputs;• • Systematic reporting on production of outputs;• • Directly linked to a discrete intervention (or series of interventions); and• • Designed to provide information on administrative, implementation, and management issues as• opposed to broader development effectiveness issues.• Elements of Results Monitoring (used for a range of interventions and strategies):• • Baseline data to describe the problem or situation before the intervention;• • Indicators for outcomes;• • Data collection on outputs and how and whether they contribute toward achievement of• outcomes;• • Timelines expressed such as at mid-term and end-term;• • More focus on perceptions of change among stakeholders;• • Systematic reporting with more qualitative and quantitative information on the progress• toward outcomes;• • Done in conjunction with strategic partners; and• • Captures information on success or failure of partnership strategy in achieving desired outcomes.

Key Success Factors

• Project Development Objective (PDO)• Stakeholder• Data collection

Project Development Objective

Selection of Best Alternative

Result Monitoring

Recommendation• A strong and clear Project Development Objective is essential

for good project design• collect and use M&E data for the benefit of project primary

beneficiaries, project implementers, and project management