About Course

Monitoring and Evaluation in Agriculture & Rural Development Training

Training on Advanced M&E in Agriculture & Rural Development

Category: Climate Change and Agriculture Training

Overview

The Expedition

About the Program

This Advanced M&E agriculture Training is designed to equip professionals with the tools and skills needed to effectively monitor and evaluate ARD programs. Participants will gain a solid understanding of how to design ARD projects using logical framework analysis, define and apply relevant indicators, and track performance over time. The course also explores methods for evaluating programs against set objectives, conducting impact assessments, and integrating gender considerations into M&E systems. By the end of the training, attendees will be prepared to manage M&E processes that support data-driven decisions in agricultural and rural development initiatives.

Certification is provided upon successful completion of the course, which is available through both in-person and virtual training options.

Objectives

By the end of this Advanced M&E agriculture Training, participants will be able to:

Understand the principles and practices of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) programs
Design ARD projects using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA)
Identify and define appropriate indicators for ARD initiatives
Monitor project performance across different stages of implementation
Evaluate ARD programs against defined objectives and targets
Integrate gender perspectives into M&E systems for ARD
Conduct effective impact evaluations to assess program outcomes

Target Audience

M&E officers and specialists in agriculture and rural development programs
Project managers and coordinators working on ARD initiatives
Government officials in agriculture, rural development, or planning departments
NGO and donor agency staff involved in ARD project implementation
Agricultural extension officers and rural development practitioners
Researchers and analysts working in agricultural policy or development fields

Course Modules

Module 1: Introduction to M&E

Definition of Monitoring and Evaluation.
Why Monitoring and Evaluation is important.
Key principles and concepts in M&E.
M&E in project lifecycle.
Complementary roles of Monitoring and Evaluation.

Module 2: Agriculture and Rural Development Policy issues

Economic contribution of agriculture.
Link between agriculture and rural development.
Agriculture and food security

Module 3: M&E Frameworks in Agriculture and Rural Development

ARD Conceptual Frameworks.
ARD Results Frameworks.
Logical Framework Analysis (LFA).
Log-Frame – Design of ARD projects using Log-Frante.

Module 4: Agriculture and Rural Development Indicators

Indicator metrics.
Linking indicators to results.
Indicator Matrix.
ARD indicator performance tracking.
Sector-wide indicators for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Specific indicators for Sub-sectors of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Indicators for Thematic Areas related to Agriculture and Rural Development.

Module 5: M&E System and M&E Planning in ARD

Documenting M&E System in the M&E Plan.
Components of an M&E Plan-Monitoring, Evaluation. Data management, Reporting
Using M&E Plan to implement M&E in a Project.

Module 6: Data Management for M&E in Agriculture & Rural Development

Sour of Data :information systems, survey, participatory poverty assessments, financial management tools
Use of different surveys in data collection for ARD
Participatory methods of data collection for ARD
Data analysis for ARD

Module 7: Gender integration in M&E for Agriculture and Rural Development

Gender integration during project activities design.
Gender indicators in ARD.
Cross cutting gender issues in ARD.
Measure of gender outcomes

Module 8: Performance Evaluation of Agricultural and Rural Development programs

Determining evaluation points from results framework.
Components of evaluations: implementation and process evaluations.
Evaluation designs- experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental.
Performance evaluation process.
Evaluation questions.
Evaluation findings sharing and dissemination.

Module 9: Impact Evaluations for Agriculture and Rural Development

Introduction to impact evaluation.
Attribution in impact evaluation.
Estimation of counterfactual.
Impact evaluation methods: Double difference, Propensity score matching.

Module 10: M&E Results Use and Dissemination

Use of M&E results to improve and strengthen ARD projects
Use of M&E Lessons learnt and Best Practices.
Organization knowledge champions.
M&E reporting.

Training Period

In-Person: 5Days
Virtual:7Days

Delivery Method

This program is taught through a mix of practical activities, theory, group work and case studies. Training manuals and additional reference materials are provided to the participants.