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This Sourcebook provides a menu of core indicators for monitoring and evaluating ARD activities and develops a framework for a standardised selection of these indicators.
Ultimately, the objective is to improve the quality of monitoring and evaluation of agriculture and rural development programmes at the national and global levels.
Having the capacity to track results and to use that knowledge to learn what does and what does not work – or how to make things work better – makes M&E a powerful tool for improving development processes and outcomes. M&E is intrinsically challenging and requires a level of technical capacity often unavailable in developing countries. The challenge is greater in the poorest countries and in post-conflict situations where less-than-optimal conditions, in particular, the weak statistical capacity, can cause major difficulties.
This Sourcebook provides guidance on how to build the capacity needed for effective M&E in developing countries, starting with the identification and collection of the indicators. It suggests a number of approaches for determining which indicators to select given the different types of information that are most pertinent to different agricultural and rural activities, projects and programmes, and data availability.
In addition, an innovative feature of the Sourcebook is the presentation of a core set of standard ARD indicators, with the recommendation that they should be regularly compiled by all countries. These "priority indicators" should be the same in all countries so as to allow for country comparisons, and to facilitate the monitoring of ARD programmes and goals at the international level.
The Sourcebook identifies a core list of 19 priority indicators, as well as a menu of some 87 indicators that are categorized by sector, subsector and theme. It is hoped that countries may refer to and borrow from it when developing their own national ARD M&E programme.
Please note: The version provided here is the final draft of the sourcebook meant to inform and stimulate discussion. The sourcebook will receive its final layout and be formally published and printed in autumn 2008.
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