Monitoring and Evaluation Orientation 17 th May 2011 MCA Namibia

Presentation Overview Introduction Basic M&E Concepts MCA-N’s M&E expectations Overview of MCA-N’s grant-related M&E activities

Introduction A focus on results is one of the core principles on which the MCC was founded and an important aspect of this focus is the M&E of programs M&E helps to boost the effectiveness, accountability, and transparency of development assistance In the short-term, it improves management decision making and over the long-term, it contributes to better design of development projects MCC Policy for Monitoring and Evaluation guides MCA’s M&E requirements

Basic concepts of MONITORING AND EVALUATION Monitoring –systematic collection of data on specified indicators to provide indications of progress. Evaluation –measures the changes in individual, household or community income and other aspects of well-being that result from a particular project or program.

Basic concepts of MONITORING AND EVALUATION Activity – Actions taken or work performed through which inputs, such as funds, technical assistance and other types of resources are mobilized to produce specific outputs. Indicator – Quantitative or qualitative variable that provides a simple and reliable means to measure achievement of an intervention.

Basic concepts of MONITORING AND EVALUATION Input – Financial, human, and material resources used during an intervention. Output – The direct results of a project activity. The goods or services produced by the implementation of an Activity. Outcome –intermediate- or medium-term effects/results of an intervention’s Outputs. Objective –intermediate or long-term effects/results of an intervention’s outputs. Target – The expected results for a particular indicator to be met by a certain point in time.

7 Inputs Activities Outputs Outcomes Impact Indicators Assumptions/Risks Results-Chain

Result statements and Indicators to monitor results

9 All three conditions mustaddressedbe Principle of Results Based Planning Interventions must not only be necessary, but also sufficient to achieve the expected result If a problem is caused by three conditions

Results Language = Change Language Action Language  expresses results from the provider’s perspective  can be interpreted in many ways  focuses on completion of activities Change Language  describes changes in the conditions of people  sets precise criteria for success  focuses on results, leaving options on how to achieve them 10

Quality Criteria for a Results statement Is the scale/scope realistically within the control of you and your partners? Is it stated using change language? Make sure it is SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound Take reference to strategy out of sentence Result statement: Improved knowledge base of livestock producers in NCA 11

Don’t confuse indicator formulation with results statement ! An indicator is neutral, does not pre-judge or set targets, is therefore “empty of data”, i.e., data still has to be collected:  Indicator: % of all trained farmers in NCA using new farming technologies. NOT “90% of all trained farmers in NCA using new farming technologies.  Definition:  Denominator: # of trained farmers using new technologies  Numerator: Total # of Farmers trained  Baseline: 10%  Target Year 1: 45% and Target year 2: 95%

An indicator should… state whom/where /what is being measured: e.g. # of girls in x district be expressed in quantifiable units:  Unit of measure : %, number, ratio Or descriptive words Be disaggregated by sex whenever possible !

Quantitative statistical measures: number of frequency of % of variance with Qualitative judgments or perceptions: presence of quality of extent of level of Types of indicators

15 Checklist for INDICATORS Validity - Does it measure the result? Reliability - Is it a consistent measure over time and, if supplied externally, will it continue to be available? Sensitivity - When a change occurs will it be sensitive to those changes? Simplicity - Will it be easy to collect and analyze the information? Equality – Is the status or situation of women and men compared? Comparisons between ethnicity…geography? Utility - Will the information be useful for decision-making and learning? Affordability – Do we have the resources to collect the information? What baseline do we have?

MCA-N’s M&E expectations All Grantees are required to have M&E Plans specifying expected results, data collection processes, and reporting frequency M&E Plan: Objectives, Activities, Results, Indicators and definition, Targets, Data sources, Frequency Data collection Process: Who is going to collect data on indicators? How is data going to be stored? How frequent is data going to be collected? Are you going to collect baseline data before you intervention, how or who is going to do it? Reporting: Report back on indicators-How often? Who is going to compile the report?

Overview of MCA-N’s grant-related M&E activities (CS/INP) CS (WWW and Grantees) and (NRI and Grantees) INP activity implementation CS/INP Baseline surveyM&E Plans/Reports from GranteesData Collection Plan by Activity implementersCS/INP Evaluation

Overview of MCA-N’s grant-related M&E activities (LMEF) LMEF Activity implementation (Grantees) M&E Plans/Reports from Grantees LMEF Evaluation

THANK YOU!!! Q&A