Managing for impact in rural development: a guide for project M and E

This guide is about using monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to improve the impact of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)-supported projects working with rural poverty alleviation and rural development. The focus is on a learning approach to M&E that uses achievements and problems for better decision-making and accountability. It requires creating an M&E system that helps primary stakeholders, implementing partners and project staff learn together in order to improve their development interventions on a continual basis. Because the ultimate objective is to ensure the maximum possible benefit for the rural poor, they are the ones best placed to assess project impact. The Guide suggests ideas for implementing this and other forms of participatory M&E. It includes the following set of booklets with sections going through the steps of M&E: introducing the M&E guide; using M&E to manage for impact; linking project design, annual planning and M&E; setting up the M&E system; deciding what to monitor and evaluate; gathering, managing and communicating information; putting in place the necessary capacities and conditions; and reflecting critically to improve action. The guide kit also includes five annexes with a glossary of M&E concepts and terms; an annotated example of a project logframe matrix and logframe explanation; an annotated example of an M&E matrix; methods for monitoring and evaluation; and sample job descriptions and terms of reference for key M&E tasks.