Monitoring and Evaluating the Poverty Impacts of Agricultural Water Investments
Monitoring and evaluating (M&E) the poverty impact of agricultural water investments may allow some conclusions about returns on different types of investments and their contributions to poverty reduction. This paper recommends the following: involve beneficiaries early in the M&E process -- broad consultations and early involvement of users in the design and implementation of the M&E system will do much to build consensus and ownership; use beneficiary self-assessments and other participatory approaches so that assessments can be made midcourse -- there may be a long time lag in realizing a reduction in poverty from agricultural water-related projects, and the poverty impact often cannot be evaluated until well after a project ends; keep the number of indicators collected within manageable proportions; and ensure that a good baseline survey is undertaken -- without a proper baseline, it is difficult to monitor progress and evaluate the impacts of investments.
Summary: | Monitoring and evaluating (M&E) the
poverty impact of agricultural water investments may allow
some conclusions about returns on different types of
investments and their contributions to poverty reduction.
This paper recommends the following: involve beneficiaries
early in the M&E process -- broad consultations and
early involvement of users in the design and implementation
of the M&E system will do much to build consensus and
ownership; use beneficiary self-assessments and other
participatory approaches so that assessments can be made
midcourse -- there may be a long time lag in realizing a
reduction in poverty from agricultural water-related
projects, and the poverty impact often cannot be evaluated
until well after a project ends; keep the number of
indicators collected within manageable proportions; and
ensure that a good baseline survey is undertaken -- without
a proper baseline, it is difficult to monitor progress and
evaluate the impacts of investments. |
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