Managing for results in development programmes – evolutions and the new AVANTI initiative
By AVANTI Team, September 2018
Evolving process
The focus on results and impact of development aid has not always been at the forefront. In the past two decades, however, international partnerships and declarations have called for greater accountability and transparency on the impact of development aid. Efforts have focused on strengthening results measurement through improved monitoring and evaluation (M&E) .
In light of global efforts towards Agenda 2030 and achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the development community will have to re-think and reform its way of operating because business-as-usual will not work. There is impetus for developing innovative approaches and tools to manage for results and to measure progress.
Without adequate in-country M&E capacities and systems in place, achieving and tracking development outcomes is challenging. Recognizing this shortfall, most efforts to date, both from IFAD and from other development partners, have focused on increasing internal capacities of their own institutions and the M&E activities of their projects.
There are currently insufficient efforts to systematically measure client capacities for results-based management in agriculture. It is therefore difficult to understand which capacities are in place, where the strengths and gaps are, how to measure progress, and how to build on and improve what exists to contribute to sustainable development planning and implementation. Furthermore, M&E in the agriculture sector has remained weaker in comparison to social sectors. While in health, education and other sectors there are relatively stronger M&E systems and capacities to collect data and measure results, weaknesses within the agriculture sector persist. IFAD can fill this gap, given its mandate to promote inclusive and sustainable rural transformation based on smallholder agriculture development.
To tackle these global challenges, IFAD is embarking on many initiatives to upgrade its self-evaluation systems, instruments and processes. The improvements to the self-evaluation architecture will be undertaken within the overall umbrella of the recently approved Development Effectiveness Framework (DEF), which aims to address the multiplicity of challenges encountered over the years in a holistic and systematic manner working on strengthening M&E particularly by building in-country M&E systems and capacities.
Changing mind-sets and new initiatives
To this end, IFAD has sponsored AVANTI, Advancing Knowledge for Agricultural Impact, a global grant to support national governments to improve their Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems. AVANTI, is an initiative that works through adapting the self-assessment tool CAP-Scan to AG-Scan, for the agricultural sector, to assess in-country M&E systems and capacities and identify the strengths and gaps, and come up with locally-driven solutions. Through facilitated workshops (AG-Scan) and dynamic knowledge sharing products and processes, selected members from government departments working in Agriculture and Rural development deepen their understanding of the challenges, opportunities and success factors around M&E. This assessment results in the development of a customized Action Plan for strengthening M&E capacities and systems.
AVANTI helps governments honour their commitment to improve outcomes in the rural areas. What counts is not development finance but the ability to transform resources into development results. That requires know-how in addition to money.
AVANTI complements the Program in Rural M&E (PRiME), a key initiative in the implementation of our development effectiveness framework. PRiME has become the flagship initiative for IFAD as a comprehensive global training and certification framework in rural development, targeted specifically at developing in-country M&E capacities.
Working together — we will contribute to improving the livelihoods of rural communities around the world. To learn how AVANTI is working worldwide, subscribe to our newsletter at www.avantiagriculture.org
AVANTI will be launched on 11 September 2018 at IFAD Rome. Learn more about the event, how you can join the livestreaming and participate in the discussion at http://www.avantiagriculture.org/avanti-launching-event/