Monitoring

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Monitoring

• Monitoring forms part of the project cycle
• Project Identification
• Planning
• Appraisal - Decision
• Implementation Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Difference between Monitoring and Evaluation

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Source Sida Evaluation Manual
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Planning spectra

• Strategic plans
• Short and medium term planning (e.g. annual
  budget of the GoM)
• Projects and Programmes

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Monitoring

• Monitoring is carried out at different levels
• The concept monitoring is predominant in
  international co-operation

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Monitoring for whom and for what?

• Monitoring is primarily a management tool and the
  point of departure should be at the lowest level
  possible (practical)
• The monitoring information gathered at lower
  levels must also serve the needs of higher levels
• Too often lots of information is gathered and
  very little is ever used. Wasting scarce
  resources!
• Too often higher levels over-burden lower levels
  with demand for information! In some countries
  extension agents spend a major part of their time
  preparing reports!!!!

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Some levels

• Family (monitoring the activities of children)
• Village level
• District level
• Provincial level
• National level
• SSA
• Global
• Bottom-up approach very much needed!

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For example

• In a public extension system there may be 50
  districts involved out of a total of ??. There
  may be 250 extension agents. Reaching how many
  families?
• Each district would have to prepare a report for
  the national system.
• The number of families, male/female farmers
  visited per month is obviously one way to monitor
  the extension system

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Contd

• At the district level there is a need to think
  about the impact of the programme.
• What are the results of these visits?
• At the national level (and higher levels) the
  impact of the programme is obviously an essential
  question. - Development objective(s) and
  immediate objectives (outcome) are of key concern.

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Contd

• In addition there must exist a functioning
  accounting system simple in theory but
  difficult in practice
• At the national level one would like to know that
  the increase in the standard of living of the
  families in district 1,2,3 cost ?? MZM.
• Emerging focus on Performance Monitoring and
  Evaluation

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Performance monitoring and Evaluation - PME

• The following is largely based on a short
  publication by USAID
• The sub-title is Preparing a Performance
  Monitoring Plan - PMP
• It is mainly designed for the various operating
  units (responsible for more than one project)
• Can also be called on-going evaluation

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PMP

• A detailed definition of each performance
  indicator (objectively verifiable indicator)
• The source, method, frequency and schedule of
  data collection
• The office, team or individual responsible for
  ensuring data are available or on schedule
• How the performance data will be analyzed
• How it will be reported, reviewed, and used to
  inform decision makers

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The indicators should be SMART

• Specific
• Measurable
• Available at acceptable cost
• Relevant
• Time bound

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Why are PMPs important?

• assures that comparable data are collected,
• on a regular and timely basis
• it is important to think through data collection,
  analysis, reporting and review as an integrated
  process

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Plans for data collection

• A few key indicators for each strategic
  objective, strategic support objectives and
  special objectives and intermediate results (see
  LFA)
• Furthermore, it is useful to include in the PMP
  lower-level indicators of inputs, outputs, and
  processes at the activity level, and how they
  will be monitored and linked higher level
  objectives.
• Base line data should be available!

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Performance Indicators

• Detailed definition
• Including unit of measurement
• The definition should be detailed enough to
  ensure that different people at different times,
  given the task of collecting data for a given
  indicator, would collect identical types of data.

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Data Source

• Be as specific as possible (public entities,
  NGOs, private firms )
• Switching data sources often lead to
  inconsistencies
• Strengthening capacity might be necessary

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Data collection methods - consider

• The unit of analysis (individuals, families,
  communities, clinics, wells )
• Need for disaggregating data (gender, age,
  location )
• Sampling techniques
• Methods to be used for the sample

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To be considered

• Secondary data provide and explain the method
  used, source
• Quality and reliability. Secondary data often
  cheaper to obtain.
• Provide sufficient detail on the data collection
  or calculation method to enable it to be
  replicated

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Frequency

• Management needs for timely information for
  decision-making
• Frequency depends on the objective(s) every six
  months every 5 years.
• Responsibilities have to be assigned.

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Use of information

• The PMP should include data analysis, reporting,
  review and use
• How will the data be analyzed?
• Disaggregated data how will they be compared?
• How will actual performance be compared with
• Past performance
• Planned or targeted performance
• Other relevant benchmarks

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Cost effectiveness

• Plan for using performance data to compare
  systematically alternative program approaches in
  terms of costs as well as results.

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For discussion

• There are many donors (bi- and multi-lateral) and
  NGOs active in Mozambique
• Aid and emergency relief have become big business
• There is a tendency for each actor to have
• Its own reporting system involving financial
  reporting and monitoring
• Review teams
• Evaluation teams