Information about IFAD’s Support to Project Monitoring and Evaluation Systems:

"Managing for Impact in Rural Development: A Practical Guide for M&E"

Over the last decade, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes of development projects have been scrutinised and criticised by funding agencies, researchers and project staff themselves. Three demands have been most widespread: (1) more attention to assessing impact, rather than outputs, (2) more learning-oriented M&E, instead of only for accountability, and (3) more stakeholder participation in M&E, rather than information-extraction exercises. However, developing, implementing and maintaining project M&E systems that meet these demands is difficult. This has led many development agencies, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), to rethink the way they support and guide M&E work.

For IFAD, project M&E systems should ensure project relevance and impact for rural populations. IFAD's Office of Evaluation and Studies is co-ordinating the elaboration of a practical guide, with Irene Guijt and Jim Woodhill of ‘Learning by Design’. The Guide aims to support improved IFAD-supported project level M&E by providing practical ideas, suggestions, good practices and examples based on real applications. The Guide is not intended to serve as a ‘must do’ manual. It will particularly emphasise how M&E can help to achieve higher level results/objectives and impacts, to understand the reasons for successes or difficulty, and to adapt the project accordingly.

The Guide is primarily intended for the director and staff of Project Management/Coordination Units and M&E Units. Parts of the Guide will have considerable practical relevance for project implementation partners. It will also be an important resource for IFAD staff, consultants providing technical support to projects and staff within IFAD’s cooperating institutions.

Eight principles will guide the selection of material to be included in the guide and its writing, of which the indicative contents are presented in more detail below:

• thinking in terms of a learning systems approach to M&E
• emphasising the value of stakeholder participation in M&E
• focusing on concrete needs of IFAD-supported projects
• structuring the guide around everyday functions and tasks of stakeholders
• ensuring a common planning and M&E language
• integrating M&E into IFAD’s project cycle and management functions
• valuing diversity of methods and styles of working
• acknowledging the importance of structures and capacities for implementing M&E.

The Guide will be organized in three blocks as audience-specific ‘modules’.

Block 1: Introductory and Conceptual Overview Modules: Introduction to the guide, the project context and relationships plus implications for M&E, core concepts and principles of M&E

Block 2: ‘How-To’ Modules:

• 3 modules on ‘laying a solid basis for M&E’ – Managing for Impact, Designing an M&E Strategy, Developing an Operational M&E Plan
• 3 modules on ‘implementing M&E’ – ‘Ensuring Capacity-building for M&E, Dealing with and Communicating M&E Information, Preparing for and Conducting Learning Events

Block 3: Detailed Reference Modules: Glossary of M&E concepts and terms, M&E Methods and tools, detailed examples of M&E plans, logframe matrices, indicator lists, types of M&E software, training ideas, checklists for key actors in M&E.

For more information, please contact Mr. Mark Keating at IFAD: m.keating@ifad.org .

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