Resources

This brief paper provides a summary review of the methods and indicators used in the monitoring and evaluation of participatory development by multilateral, bilateral and NGO agencies which make up the monitoring and evaluation sub-group of the Inter-Agency Group on Participation. The different sections of the report summarise the strategies for monitoring and evaluating participation for each of the member agencies which responded to a survey that was distributed. Approximately four different conclusions can be surmised about the actual development of appropriate tools to measure performance in the area of participation within the various agencies. These include firstly; that considerable development is still required within the development agencies in this field, secondly; that there are as yet no precedents for indices of participation, thirdly; that most agencies define indicators at the level of individual projects or programmes rather than across their portfolios. Lastly, the question of monitoring and evaluation of participation is distinct from that of using participatory methods to monitor participation, though the two are related.

This paper summarises the findings of a two-year research project, which provided detailed case studies of the processes and impacts of 22 participatory watershed development projects, and discusses implications for the future of watershed development and policy. It argues that for soil and water conservation to be successful and sustained, project must see farmers as the solution rather than the problem and so put local knowledge and skills at the core of porgrammes.